Zoning Law
The City of Minneapolis is rewriting zoning rules for the first time in decades. This is a historic opportunity for the City to better protect public health.
When zoning was established nearly 100 years ago in cities across the country, it played a major role in segregation and the concentration of unwanted, toxic industries in lower income and communities of color. As a systemic policy tool that has codified land-use segregation across our city, we must be intentional in the details of this zoning rewrite to ensure the health of our families today, and for generations to come.
MCEA and Community Members for Environmental Justice (CMEJ) have identified three demands we want from the City as they finalize the specific, technical, language of Minneapolis’ zoning laws. Take our joint online action to help support these important demands.
Our demands:
The public, and especially environmental justice neighborhoods, must have meaningful notice and involvement in planning and zoning decisions that pose pollution risks.
Buffers that protect public health need to be required between where people live and industry that poses pollution risks.
Our zoning rules need to prevent existing polluting facilities from using special provisions to increase their toxic impact on communities.