Edina's zoning code needs major overhaul, audit finds.
The Edina Planning Commission heard preliminary findings from a comprehensive audit of the city's zoning code on April 11, revealing significant structural problems and a heavy reliance on special development agreements that make it harder for developers to know what they can build.
The audit, conducted by H KGI, a Twin Cities-based consulting firm, identified multiple issues with how Edina's zoning rules are organized and applied. The code suffers from inconsistent formatting, confusing district definitions, and a numbering system that's difficult to navigate. More significantly, the audit found that Edina has 22 different zoning districts with minimal differences between many of them, creating unnecessary complexity.
A major disconnect exists between what Edina's comprehensive plan allows and what the zoning code actually permits. The comprehensive plan allows densities up to 150 units per acre in some areas, but current zoning districts cap out around 17.4 units per acre. This gap has forced the city to rely heavily on Planned Unit Developments (PUDs)—special agreements negotiated case-by-case for individual projects—to achieve the density the city wants. Staff member Carrie Liz explained that this approach was intentional: "The idea was to do a PUD and do that negotiation to increase density to match the comprehensive plan."
However, this system creates problems. Large portions of the city, particularly on the east side, have older homes on lots that don't meet current minimum size requirements, making them technically non-conforming. Complex rules—like one requiring a 500-foot median radius calculation for lot sizes—add to the confusion and often force property owners to seek variances. The reliance on PUDs also frustrates developers and residents because projects can deviate significantly from existing zoning, and landowners can be left with restrictive zoning if projects fall through.
Commissioners expressed interest in simplifying the system by creating more flexible base zoning categories that align with the comprehensive plan, allowing more development to happen "by right" without special negotiations. This would make the development process more predictable while still allowing the city strategic control through clearer upfront standards. The audit recommendations include reorganizing the code by topic, using tables for clearer standards, and implementing a new numbering system. No votes were taken during this work session, which was informational only.
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Votes (1)
Planning Commission Work Session: Zoning Code Audit Preliminary Observations
H KGI presented their initial findings from the ongoing audit of Edina's zoning and subdivision codes. The presentation covered structural issues within the code, such as inconsistent formatting, disparate article lengths, and confusing definitions of districts. It also delved into the city's zoning districts, highlighting the proliferation of specialized 'planned' districts and PUDs, which have been used to compensate for a lack of flexible base zoning. A significant finding was the wide gap between the density allowances in the Comprehensive Plan and those in the current zoning code. The discussion also touched upon the high number of non-conforming lots and overly complex dimensional standards (like the 500-foot median radius rule for lot size and averaged setbacks). Commissioners and staff engaged in a dialogue about the implications of these findings, particularly the city's reliance on PUDs, its impact on development predictability, and the desire for more clear, by-right zoning with predefined standards.
Notable Quotes (8)
you all uh all know that we're we're doing an audit of our zoning code um so over the years staff the commission Council we've identified a lot of issues so um contracted with h KGI here to do just an audit of the of the zoning ordinance and tonight they're going to talk through of what they've seen and some preliminary observations and get some feedback from you all so all right all right thanks
The objectives for the code audit are to uh evaluate the overall structure and the usability of the code uh and that includes zoning and subdivision uh align those codes with the comprehensive plan 2040 plan and then the small area plans that you all have uh focus on the zoning districts and the supplementary regulations that's the code language we don't use that word supplementary and day-to-day uh language but you have a big supplementary regulations part of your code and so staff had wanted us to focus on that and then lastly is development procedures and standards specifically the site planine review procedure the Pud and the subdivision ordinance really related to the uh lot split issue
I'll just quick jump in there so this is what we've talked about is we're our comprehensive plan in our zoning there's a little bit of a disconnect there as we started that 2008 comp plan went into 2018 the idea was to do a PUD and do that negotiation um to increase density to match the comprehensive plan um but because we're so out of whack and um we've talked a lot about aligning our zoning with the comprehensive plan um to do things more by right so that's kind of that's how it basically that's how it came to be as you all know um on our work plan so just thought I'd throw that in for some context yeah great and the last thing is interest in reducing the city's Reliance on puds and the uh older planned what are called Planned districts
yeah and they're so similar PRD 2 and three are almost identical but they were tailored for a specific project but they were slate slly different so some of those yeah we should we should um combine together but the other piece of it we have formulas for how many units you can get in those districts and they come nowhere near what the comprehensive plan would allow so we need to when we get to fixing these things we need to look at densities and make it simp much simpler not formula D we have those densities in the slides we can look at that
yeah because what we haven't done is with the Pud we've allowed greater height but we didn't go in and amend the overlay map that's something I want to not sure how to address it
Edina was from like the 40s and 50s small Lots very much like Minneapolis and then as you get more car spoly and culde saacs and whatever the lot sizes got bigger so our standard lot size just became bigger so the whole east side of the city is non-conforming yeah and then when the West Side started had develop that's when they came up with that median average you got to calculate all the Lots within 500 ft so that means more Varan
The uses align it's just the densities that don't but then yeah the issue too is when they do request those rezonings we have nothing to reone it to other than use a PUD right 100 years ago the Supreme Court case that allowed zoning to happen in cities said that you had to have a plan so you couldn't just spot zone so you the city had to have a plan for that and that's how comprehensive plans came about so you have to have a comprehensive plan and that has to match the zoning or a developer can come in and say it doesn't match but I can you know the complant says this so I should be able to do that
can't treat everything like a special flower which means both city council and planning has to be okay with giving up a certain amount of control within the parameters that you set abolutely that's true which is probably why you have all the little puds and the fake puds and because it was it was an element of control for that specific project on that specific piece of land yeah
Ordinances & Resolutions (7)
The primary zoning code chapter under audit for structure and content.
The subdivision code chapter under audit, particularly concerning lot splits.
The city's long-range plan, which the zoning code is intended to align with, particularly regarding residential development flexibility and density.
Additional planning documents referenced for alignment with zoning and subdivision codes.
The ordinance governing Planned Unit Developments, which is frequently used for new projects and is a focus of the audit.
An existing overlay district that sets height limits, noted for inconsistencies between its map and PUD approvals.
One of the city's two identified overlay districts.
Source document
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Other Topics from This Document
Zoning Districts and Densities Analysis
Impact of Non-Conforming Lots and Overly Complicated Standards
PUD Overuse and Control vs. Predictability
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