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;V-myr^y i/ ■.IV <br />l <br />y <br />tyy TO: <br />•!i‘i : .V <br />Chairman Kelley and Planning Commission Members <br />Ron Moorse, City Administrator <br />FROM: <br />DATE: <br />Michael P. Gaffron» Asst. Planning & Zoning Administrator <br />July 15, 1992 <br />SUBJECT: Proposed Zoning Code Amendment - Styrofoam Dock Flotation <br />SuBODBary <br />t As a result of complaints by lakeshore property owners and at the <br />request of the Lake Use Committee, staff has drafted an ordinance <br />providing for the elimination of non-encased bead type styrofoam used <br />for dock flotation purposes. The problem with such material is that <br />^he styrofoam beads break off in chunks or individually from the <br />styrofoam blocks, and float around the lake typically accumulating on <br />the windward shorelines. This creates an aesthetic nuisance, although <br />the MPCA doesn't seem to think this creates any degradation of water <br />quality. The proposed ordinance provides for a 3 year phase-out of <br />unencased styrofoam used for docks. <br />fe-.; <br />List of Exhibits <br />A - Proposed Ordinance Draft <br />B - Letter from MPCA 4/10/92 <br />C - Product Literature on One Possible Alternative (This is not <br />an endorsement) <br />.0-biSCUSSiOA <br />:V'- <br />•'I”. • <br />V- <br />The Impetus for the proposed ordinance is the styrofoam bead <br />accumulations with which a number of lakeshore property owners have <br />had to contend. The most visible sources have been from Minnetonka <br />Boat Works and Lakeside Marina, with lesser amounts apparently coming <br />from Windward Marina. The bead accumulations resulting in complaints <br />have been mainly in Tanager Lake and the south shore of Maxwell Bay. <br />^ere are likely a number of private docks also using styrofoam. <br />K-‘- <br />There are foam products on the market that are not formed from <br />expanded polystyrene beads. Generally, these homogenous foams such as <br />urethane foam or isocyanurate foam, do not break do%m into individual <br />beads or chunks of beads, and have not become apparent as a problem. <br />Logic, then, suggests that styrofoam bead products either need to <br />be eliminated from use or altered/encased to eliminate the litter <br />problem. <br />SiiLS*'