The following words and terms, whenever they occur in this article,
are defined as follows:
BUILDABLE LOT
Land that meets the criteria of the legal description of a lot, meets the requirements of §§
240-9,
240-10,
240-11 and
240-12 of this article, and satisfies any water-related restrictions that may be required as certified by a wetland determination performed by the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District. In addition, at such time as a building permit may be sought, the owner must possess a housing right and provision for frontage on a public road as specified in this ordinance.
BUILDING PERMIT
Approval by the Eureka Township Building Inspector to construct
a specific building in Eureka Township. If the permit application
is for a single-family dwelling, applicant must possess a housing
right on the intended lot.
CAP OF FOUR DENSITY LIMIT
A restriction on the total number of houses and housing rights
that may exist in a quarter-quarter section. Verified grandfathered
rights are not limited by this restriction.
CLUSTER
Previous term for the act of relocating a housing right to
another quarter-quarter section within an owner's contiguous
property. Superseded and expanded in this chapter by the broader term
"transfer."
DWELLING UNIT
A residential building or portion thereof intended for occupancy
by a single family, but not including hotels, motels, boarding or
rooming houses, or tourist homes.
EARTH-SHELTERED HOMES
A single-family residential structure partially below ground,
which is water-proofed to sufficiently provide a low-humidity interior
environment, is not designed for the future installation of an upper
floor and is designed to meet or exceed all state building code standards
for fire safety, window area and other requirements.
GRANDFATHERED LOT
A term of convenient reference in this ordinance representing
a pre-April 12, 1982, lot of record. Any lot which is one unit of
a plat heretofore duly approved, one unit of an auditor's subdivision
or a registered land survey, or is separately described in a deed,
contract for deed, or other legally sufficient instrument of conveyance,
and which was filed in the Office of the Dakota County Recorder on
or before April 12, 1982. Also to be considered as a grandfathered
lot shall be a parcel delineated on a certificate of survey prepared
by a Minnesota-licensed land surveyor, and which was filed in the
Dakota County Surveyor's Office on or before April 12, 1982 (Ord.
2010-1, 6-15-2010). A lot that has been verified as having grandfather
status shall not lose its grandfather status due to a boundary change
by higher authority, such as widening of a public road right-of-way
or a court order. To protect possible grandfathering of a lot that
has not yet been verified as qualifying for grandfather protection,
if it has its boundary changed by outside higher authority, the owner
may provide evidence of boundary matching to the date of the imposed
change rather than the current date of the owner's application.
A grandfathered lot that after creation and recording was subsequently
consolidated by Dakota County's initiative with an abutting lot
for the purpose of real estate sale or county tax consolidation, shall
be deemed a buildable lot for single-family residential purposes provided
it meets all of the following requirements: (Resolution 54, 4-9-2007,
Resolution 59, 8-13-2007, Ord. 2010-6, 12-13-2010)
(1)
The lot(s) involved in the consolidation shall be re-created to conform to the exact boundaries and dimensions as they existed when the lot of record was originally created (Resolution 54, 4-9-2007). However, any such recreated lots that are substandard are then subject to the provisions of §
240-10.
(2)
The re-creation of the lots shall be completed through an approved
lot split that shall be approved by the Eureka Township Board and
filed in the Office of the Dakota County Recorder prior to application
for any building permit (Resolution 54, 4-9-2007, Ord. 2010-6, 12-13-2010).
(3)
Any use or structure currently existing on the recreated lots
shall conform to all building setback and driveway requirements of
this article (Resolution 54, 4-9-2007).
HOUSING RIGHT
The prerequisite eligibility to apply for a building permit
to build or place a single-family residential dwelling on a qualifying
lot as described and under the conditions of this article. There are
four types of housing rights:
(1)
GRANDFATHERED RIGHTA housing right recognized as existing on a verified grandfathered lot. Building a house on a grandfathered lot is not subject to the cap of four density limit of its quarter-quarter section. Once a house is constructed, the right becomes permanent and is no longer subject to boundary change effects. If a house is not in place, the right may be transferred to another lot in Eureka Township under provisions of this chapter.
(2)
NATIVE RIGHTA housing right created by Agricultural Zoning as a permitted use prescribing one housing right per quarter-quarter section of the public land survey. A native right is fully controlled by its owner (excluding any property owned by railroad and easements of record) and if no house is present, it is eligible to be transferred to another property eligible to receive it under provisions of this chapter. Where more than one house existed in a quarter-quarter section as of May 1, 2022, the house with the earliest date of construction shall be deemed to possess the native right of that quarter-quarter section. If a quarter-quarter section has had its native right transferred away prior to May 1, 2022, the lot with the oldest house shall be deemed to have a permanent grandfathered right unless it is known that it received a transferred right.
(3)
SHARED RIGHTThe interim status of a native right in an undeveloped quarter-quarter section with two or more properties under different owners. A shared right is not eligible to be transferred out of the quarter-quarter section because it is not yet fully controlled by one owner. The first owner to claim the shared right, apply for a building permit and start construction within the time limits specified in this chapter has permanent use of the native right. The right is no longer a shared right.
(4)
TRANSFERRED RIGHTA fully controlled housing right that has been moved to another property or legally conveyed to another property owner's property. The transfer of a native right or a grandfathered right converts it to a transferred right. Transferred rights are also eligible to be transferred.
HOUSING RIGHT TRANSFER
The two-step process of moving a housing right from a sending
property to a receiving property within Eureka Township. The receiving
property may have the same owner or a different owner. Upon Town Board
approval, the first step removes the right from the sending parcel
and converts the right to a transfer right subject to completion of
the second step. The second step, which must occur within the time
limits specified in this ordinance, places the transfer right on the
receiving parcel. The time allowance is to provide reasonable opportunity
to complete other possible steps such as transaction closing(s) or
a land subdivision or lot split that may be needed before the second
step can be fulfilled.
INTERSECTION
Two roads that meet at a ninety-degree angle whose use would
interfere with each other.
LANDLOCKED LOT
A parcel that does not include frontage on a public road. It may have a housing right, but a building permit will not be approved unless the application includes permanent provision for public road access as prescribed in §
240-12.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF A LOT
The metes and bounds public land survey language describing
the boundaries of a lot, parcel, or property. For convenience in referencing
the language of a legal description, Dakota County normally assigns
a Property ID to each parcel. During the lot split or land division
process, a plat or survey document may use a temporary designation
for each new parcel description. The temporary designation can be
used on Town documents until the Dakota County PIN codes are received,
at which time the Town shall update its records for consistency.
LOT
A term of convenience referring to the phrase "lot of record"
in this chapter.
LOT AREA
The area of a lot in a horizontal plane bounded by the lot
lines.
LOT DEPTH
The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and
the rear lot line of a lot.
LOT LINE
The property line bounding a lot, except that where any portion
of a lot extends into the public right-of-way, the line of such public
right-of-way shall be the lot line for applying these ordinances.
LOT LINE, FRONT
That boundary of a lot which abuts an existing or dedicated
public or private street, and in the case of a corner lot it shall
be the shortest dimension on a public or private street. If the dimensions
of a comer lot are equal, the front lot line shall be designated by
the owner and filed with the Town Board (Resolution 59, 8-13-2007).
LOT LINE, REAR
That boundary of a lot which is opposite the front lot line.
If the rear line is less than 10 feet in length, or if the lot forms
a point at the rear, the lot line shall be a line 10 feet in length
within a lot, parallel to and at the maximum distance from the front
lot line.
LOT LINE, SIDE
Any boundary of a lot which is not a front lot line or a
rear lot line.
LOT OF RECORD
Any lot which is one unit of a duly approved plat, one unit
of an auditor's subdivision or a registered land survey, or is
separately described in a deed, contract for deed, or other legally
sufficient instrument of conveyance. See also "grandfathered lot."
LOT SLIVER
A portion of a straddle lot whose presence in a quarter-quarter
section is insufficient for a dwelling to meet the required setback
plus five feet. Because no portion of a dwelling may exist in the
sliver portion of a lot, the sliver portion of the lot does not count
toward the cap of four density limit. A sliver may also be a lot or
portion of a lot whose dimension or shape will not meet current lot
standards for a single-family dwelling.
LOT SPLIT
Division of an existing parcel of land into two or more parcels, or a boundary change between two or more adjacent parcels, or a combination split of two or more properties resulting in new parcels with different shared boundaries (see also Chapter
216, Subdivision of Land). All surveys for lot splits must include a plat or survey of the new parcels and the required legal descriptions to record the split. A split or land division of a parcel abutting a public road cannot create a new parcel that is landlocked without public road access as set out in §
240-12 and §
198-2.1. Results of lot splits are not lots of record unless and until it has been filed with the Office of the Dakota County Recorder.
LOT WIDTH
The maximum horizontal distance between the side lot lines
of a lot measured at the dwelling location.
LOT, CORNER
A lot situated at the junction of and abutting two or more
intersecting streets, or a lot at the point of deflection in alignment
of a continuous street, the interior angle of which does not exceed
135°.
LOT, SUBSTANDARD
A lot of record which does not meet the minimum lot area,
structure setbacks, or other dimensional standards of current ordinances.
LOT, THROUGH
A lot which has a pair of opposite lot lines abutting two
substantially parallel streets, and which is not a comer lot. On a
through lot, both street lines shall be front lot lines for applying
an ordinance.
PLAT
A map or chart of a lot subdivision or community showing
boundary lines, improvements on the land and easements prepared for
recording or recorded at the Office of the Dakota County Recorder.
SERVIENT ESTATE
A parcel which has a permanent driveway easement imposed
upon it in favor of another parcel so that parcel can satisfy roadway
access or road frontage requirements.
SHARED DRIVEWAY
A private driveway used by two to four property owners to provide access to dwellings or buildings on their respective properties for which construction, maintenance and cost sharing is set forth in a legal agreement among the parties and approved by Eureka Township. See §
198-2.1 for applicable standards.
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING
A freestanding (detached) permanent structure, designed for
habitation by human beings, designed for one family.
STRADDLE LOT
A lot that has a presence in two or more quarter-quarter
sections.
SUBDIVIDE
The division by plat or deed of a piece of property into two or more lots, plots, sites, tracts, parcels, or other land divisions. See also "lot split" and Chapter
216.