The Met Council has in place several mechanisms that protect the integrity of the Regional Parks and Trails System and its individual parts of the system, including:

• Long-range plans: The long-range plan defines acceptable activities within a system unit. The regional park implementing agencies must receive Met Council approval before proceeding with any activities inconsistent with the existing Met Council-approved master plan.
• Restrictive covenants: Regional park implementing agencies are required to record restrictive covenants on lands purchased with regional funds, to ensure that the land remains in regional recreation open space use in perpetuity, unless the Met Council agrees to a change.
• Metropolitan Land Planning Act: Proposed plans of local governments that have a substantial impact on or represent a substantial departure from the Regional Parks and Trails System Plan may be subject to a required plan modification by the Met Council to ensure that the system is protected.
• Metropolitan significance: Proposed development projects outside of the Regional Parks and Trails System that have a substantial impact on or represent a substantial departure from the Regional Parks and Trails System Plan may be required to undergo a review for metropolitan significance (Minn. Stat. 473.173, Minn. R. Ch. 5800), with up to a one-year delay in development if the project is found to adversely affect the system.

These standards and guidelines are used to determine a substantial impact on or a substantial departure from the Regional Parks and Trails System:

• Impacts on the use of Regional Parks and Trails System facilities include, but are not limited to traffic, safety, noise, visual obstructions (for example, to scenic overlooks), impaired use of the facilities or interference with the operation or maintenance of the facilities.
• Impacts on natural systems include, but are not limited to, the impact on the level, flow, or quality of a facility’s water resources (lakes, streams, wetlands, groundwater) and impact on a facility’s wildlife populations or habitats (migration routes, breeding sites, plant communities).
• A proposed project is considered to have an impact on the system if it may preclude or substantially limit the future acquisition of land in an area identified in the Regional Parks and Trails System Plan.

The Met Council may require plan modifications to local comprehensive plans, updates, or amendments if they:

• Are more likely than not have adverse and substantial impacts on the current or future intended uses of the Regional Parks and Trails System lands or facilities
• Are likely to have adverse and substantial impacts on lands that are officially recommended for acquisition in an adopted policy plan.

There is a strong case for intervention in situations where potentially adverse land uses are proposed after a location for a Regional Parks and Trails System facility has been adopted by the Council in the system plan section of this policy plan. Local governments will be notified of any changes to the 2050 Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan following Council adoption of the changes and will be given nine months to bring local plans and ordinances into conformance with the Council’s plan.

The Council will review local comprehensive plan amendments and environmental documents to ensure that Regional Parks and Trails System locations and facilities are protected from land uses or projects that represent substantial departures from the Regional Parks and Trails System plan; or are likely to have a substantial impact on the Regional Parks and Trails System. For more information about the Met Council’s review methodology of comprehensive plans please refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook.

Substantial departures from the Regional Parks and Trails System plan or impacts on the Regional Parks and Trails System may include, but are not limited to:

• Plans that do not acknowledge the presence of the Regional Parks or Trails System unit
• Projects that create safety issues for Regional Parks and Trails System users
• Projects that impair the use and enjoyment of the Regional Parks and Trails System unit due to excessive noise, air pollution, or water pollution
• Projects that interfere with the operation and maintenance of the Regional Parks and Trails System unit
• Projects or plans that ultimately prohibit or significantly reduce the realization (i.e., acquisition, development, and operation) of Met Council approved long-range park and trail plans.

Where appropriate, the Met Council will initiate or accept for initiation a metropolitan significance review of specific projects if it is necessary to help protect the Regional Parks and Trails System.

In the implementation of local comprehensive plans, local governments shall not adopt any official controls, such as park dedication and subdivision ordinances, that permit activity in conflict with the metropolitan system plans—including the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan (Minn. Stat. 473.858, subd. 1). When a new subdivision is created, the local government must include land for a planned regional trail or be in conflict with the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan and state statute.

In accordance with the Met Council’s Imagine 2050 approach, increasing population densities in urban areas is preferable to scattered developments throughout the rural and agricultural areas of the metropolitan region. Increasing population densities adjacent to urban Regional Parks and Trails System units is not a detriment to those units if the development is designed in ways that ensures:

• Natural features and systems, as well as scenic views of the Regional Parks and Trails System unit, are not impacted
• Public access is provided to the regional park and trail
• Current residents are considered before, during, and after the park or trail has been improved
• Operation and maintenance of the unit can be completed without interference.

The Met Council will work cooperatively with local governments to help ensure urban development and land uses in areas adjacent to Regional Parks System units occur in ways that preserve the integrity of the Regional Parks and Trails System.

Park and trail land conversions are rare instances where competing conditions occur within regional park and trail boundaries that require regional park or trail land to be used for something other than parkland. An example of a land conversion is removing park land for a transportation interchange improvement. Land conversions are challenging for the regional park implementing agency because they are complex and often originate from reasons outside of the agency’s scope of work. The Met Council reviews land conversion requests in relation to the regional park or trail’s long-range plan, as well as, for consistency with this land conversation action and other Council systems and policies.

Lands in the Regional Parks and Trails System will only be converted to other uses if approved by the Met Council through an equally valuable land or facility exchange as defined below:

“Equally valuable land” is defined as land that:

• Is contiguous to the Regional Parks and Trails System unit containing the land proposed to be exchanged (within the same park/trail unit). This approach is the preferred option.
• Has comparable or better natural systems or features
• Could provide comparable or better recreation opportunities than the land being released from the covenant.
• The replacement land has comparable or better natural systems or features
• The replacement land has comparable or better recreation opportunities than the land being converted
• No other reasonable alternative exists and where all other provisions of this policy can be met.

In exceptional circumstances, the Met Council may accept as equally valuable land the addition of land located in another unit of the Regional Parks and Trails System. This approach is a less desirable option than securing contiguous land in the same unit. It is viewed as the second-best option where:

An “Equally valuable facility exchange” is defined as an exchange of land for facilities when recreational benefits and/or natural system benefits are increased as a result of the exchange. For example, some land within a regional trail corridor may be exchanged to widen a highway if a highway department constructs a trail overpass or underpass of the widened road at no cost to the regional park implementing agency. This approach is the third best option, less desirable than the above two.

The Met Council will consider conversion of regional park or trail land to other uses only if the conversion will not harm the Regional Parks and Trails System.

The Council will review land conversion requests using the criteria below. If the Council approves the conversion request, then the long-range plan boundary will be updated in the System Plan and the Geographic Information System dataset, to reflect the changed boundary. Any removals or replacements that are outside of the current park or trail boundary will require a boundary adjustment. This may be accomplished through a secondary Council action.

Land Conversion Criteria

The following criteria will be used to determine whether Regional Parks and Trails System lands may be exchanged for other land or a facility.

Issues with respect to the existing park system unit:

• Whether the regional park system unit can continue to function as originally planned, meeting Council standards for sites and site attributes established for the particular type of park system unit (regional park, park reserve, trail greenway or special feature)
• Whether environmental features (e.g., wildlife habitat, water quality) will be adversely affected and can be protected or mitigated with the new use
• Whether the loss of land or function will be made up through acquisition of a site with comparable characteristics adjacent to or in the immediate area of the current location.

Issues with respect to the replacement land or facility-for-land exchange:

• The land area needs of the proposed project or facility exchange is desirable
• The specific site requirements for the proposed project are unique to the area proposed for conversion
• Whether the proposed project is consistent with Council policies
• Whether the proposed project is of greater benefit to the region than having the regional park system unit remain in its current state.

Restrictive covenants

The Met Council requires that a restrictive covenant be recorded on all land that has been acquired for the Regional Parks and Trails System using Met Council funds. The restrictive covenant ensures the parkland is used in perpetuity for Regional Parks and Trails System purposes and ensures that there is no sale, lease, mortgage of the parkland or other conveyance, restriction, or encumbrance filed against the property unless the Met Council approves the action in writing and the Met Council’s approval is recorded on/with the parkland.

Land Conversion Proposals with no Equally Valuable Exchange

The only instance in which the Met Council will consider a consent to easement or land conversion where no land is required to be exchanged is if the:

• Proposed change is a benefit to the regional park or trail
• The Met Council approved long-range plan continues to be able to operate as planned, or is in a better state after the improvement
• The proposed change does not change the above-ground use from regional recreation open space, nor does it adversely impact the quality or function of the natural area
• The proposed project does not have the potential for a cumulative or material impact on the regional park or trail’s recreational opportunities, natural areas, or cultural resources.

The Met Council reserves the right to determine if the magnitude of the conversion proposal warrants an equally valuable exchange or a long-range plan amendment. Additionally, this provision does not exempt the proposal of requirements from other funding sources. Refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook for more information about funding requirements.

The growth in wireless cellular and broadband systems and implementation of the regional public safety radio system has resulted in requests that Regional Parks and Trails System land be leased for antenna towers or that towers be located on or near Regional Parks and Trails System lands. Each of these radio frequency communication systems relies on grid placement of towers. Co-location of antennas on fewer towers is not always possible, however, because the size of a particular grid varies from one system to another. In addition, co-location of antennas on one tower may not be possible if it causes frequency interference between the antennas. Federal laws allow local governments to regulate the placement of towers as long as there is no ban preventing reasonable market access for that communication system.

Generally, antenna towers for telecommunication services and the regional public safety radio system are prohibited on park and trail lands within Council-approved long-range plan boundaries unless certain criteria are met. Regional park implementing agencies must prepare a focused long-range plan amendment on the proposed tower placement for the Council’s review and approval. For more information about the process and requirements related to including telecommunication towers within a regional park and trail boundary, refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook.

Regional wastewater infrastructure

Regional wastewater conveyance facilities are sometimes located in regional parks or trails to serve the unit and/or other areas. The Met Council works cooperatively with regional park implementing agencies to locate facilities when needed. In situations where the Met Council establishes a new wastewater utility or needs to repair existing infrastructure in the regional park or trail, they will work to restore the park or trail to a similar or better condition than they found it. Collaborative opportunities between the Council and regional park implementing agencies to educate visitors about the importance and benefits of the Regional Wastewater System are encouraged.

To provide sanitary sewer services to Regional Parks and Trails System facilities and/or to implement the regional wastewater system plan, the Met Council will work cooperatively with regional park implementing agencies to locate regional wastewater conveyance facilities on Regional Parks and Trails System lands in a manner that minimizes the impact on existing and planned park system facilities and natural resources.

If the Met Council is maintaining regional wastewater infrastructure on existing Regional Parks and Trails System land without an easement, the Met Council shall have the option to negotiate the terms of an easement. For new Regional Parks and Trails System facilities, the Met Council reserves the option to include an easement for a future regional wastewater infrastructure as a condition of a Met Council grant used to acquire land, provided that the conveyance is consistent with the Met Council-approved long-range plan.

Other utilities

To distribute electricity, natural gas, oil, drinking water, and other utilities, it may be necessary to place underground conduits/pipes or above ground transmission poles/towers on Regional Parks and Trails System lands. Such utilities may be needed to serve visitors at that Regional Parks and Trails System unit, as well as to serve the greater community.

Utilities should be placed in a way that minimizes impacts on the Regional Parks and Trails System unit’s natural systems and on its existing and future recreation and visitor support facilities, while providing reasonable access to the utility line for repair and maintenance. The Met Council will consider utility easements through the land conversion program discussed in Action 2 of this section.

Easement Criteria

Regional park implementing agencies may either sell or grant a utility conveyance (an easement, conditional use permit, or a license) to the utility provider. The utility provider may have to pay for the easement, conditional use permit, or permit based on the benefit the utility provides to the Regional Parks and Trails System unit. Agencies must follow the System Protection Process for land conversions described earlier in this section for Council consideration of utility easement conveyances. Utility conveyances should specify the following information:

• The location of the utility, access to it, and time limit of the conveyance
• How the project area will be improved to a similar or better state
• How the long-range plan will continue to be implemented.