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Sec. 78-5. Purpose. <br />(a) Guiding principles. <br />(1) The city is growing in population from a rural agricultural community to a rural residential community. <br />Use of land for residential purposes is considered primary with other uses viewed as supporting this <br />use. While present commercial or industrial activity, where consistent with residential use and other <br />guiding principles, will be protected by ordinance or conditional use permit, it is not the intention to <br />expand or allow all such commercial or industrial activity to a degree where it conflicts with the <br />primary residential use and the other guiding principles. The continued use of land for farming and <br />similar purposes will be protected by ordinance or conditional use permit where sufficient acreage <br />allows such use to continue without conflict with expanding residential use. <br />(2) The maintenance of open space and the avoidance of overcrowding of land is a basic guiding principle <br />in this plan. In addition to avoiding the ill effects of excessive, intensive land development, it is the <br />policy to also avoid the threat to public health which occurs with excessive crowding of private sewage <br />disposal systems on substandard building sites. <br />(3) The city has recognized that many of the open space policies which have previously provided the basic <br />direction of the land use policies have proven to be inadequate. It is now clear that on -site disposal <br />systems must not be allowed on any site of less than two acres. It is now clear that the physical <br />characteristics of the city make the extension of public services such as sewer extremely expensive and <br />almost impossible in some areas. The city and other governmental agencies have learned that the <br />premature development of open areas can be costly and disastrous to the environment. <br />(4) Of paramount importance to the citizens of the city and to the citizens of the metropolitan area is the <br />preservation of Lake Minnetonka and the wetlands that provide the only practical system of filtration <br />and purification of the stormwater so vital to the preservation of Lake Minnetonka and the <br />groundwater supplies in the area. The disastrous effects of intense residential and commercial <br />development within the city, and especially in those areas adjacent to Lake Minnetonka and the <br />wetlands, are painfully evident. The adoption of additional regulations, rezoning of certain areas and <br />the creation of larger lot sizes in unsewered areas is mandatory in order to protect the safety, health <br />and welfare of the citizens of the city. <br />municipal <br />(b) Intent and purpose. This chapter is adopted for the purposes of: <br />(1) Protecting the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience and general welfare; <br />(Supp. No. 20, Update 2j <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />Created: ie2i-e7-19 16:12:49 [E9T] <br />Commented [LO1]: I would like to delete this and just <br />reference the comp plan —Confirm with Soren <br />10 <br />