Rochester Joint Airport Zoning Board Meeting - December 3, 2025
Rochester Joint Airport Zoning Board Meeting - December 3, 2025
The Rochester Joint Airport Zoning Board (JASB) convened for its first meeting in over a decade to reconstitute the board, elect leadership, and receive a technical briefing on updating the airport zoning ordinance. The meeting focused on expanding the board's jurisdiction to align with new state statutes and the airport's 2021 master plan, which includes a precision approach requiring protection out to 10 miles. Despite concerns raised regarding representation, the board formally established its chair and vice chair, adopted operating procedures, and scheduled a follow-up technical meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Adoption of the agenda by motion, second, and unanimous vote (Aye).
- Adoption of Robert's Rules of Procedure by motion (by Commissioner Gupta) and second (by Commissioner Glenn), passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- A member of the public expressed concern regarding the lack of representation from elected officials from the city of Stewartville and high forest township, noting that the board directly affects them and that the original convening process may have overlooked this requirement.
Discussion Items
- Board Composition and Jurisdiction:
- Consultant Evan Barrett (Mead & Hunt) explained that while the board includes representatives from the City of Rochester (4 appointees) and four surrounding counties (2 from each of Dodge, Fillmore, Malorie, and Olmsted counties), Fillmore County declined to send representatives after the statutory 60-day notice period.
- Commissioner Kenworthy expressed dissatisfaction with the exclusion of the City of Stewartville and specific townships (Rochester, Rockdale, High Forest), arguing that the board is excluding affected municipalities by only inviting county representatives.
- Consultant Barrett clarified that under Minnesota Statute 360.063, the board is statutorily limited to inviting county representatives and City of Rochester appointees to avoid a board size of roughly 40 people, though municipalities within those counties are technically covered by the county representatives.
- Zoning Ordinance Updates:
- The board discussed the need to update the ordinance due to 2019 state statute changes, revised MNDOT rules from earlier in 2025, and the 2021 airport master plan.
- Key physical changes cited include the shift and extension of the secondary runway to the southeast and the addition of a third precision instrument approach, which expands the protected airspace surface to 10 miles.
- Commissioner Keene noted historical context regarding a 1990s sound remediation project involving a golf course, questioning if city council actions at the time were within legal authority or if the JASB should have been involved.
- Impact on Local Jurisdictions:
- Commissioner Kenworthy and others sought clarification on whether the JASB's adopted overlay supersedes local jurisdiction authority. Consultant Barrett confirmed that under the new statute, the JASB ordinance is legally binding on all affected jurisdictions; they are required to incorporate it into their local codes and enforce it, with the overlay taking precedence only where it is more restrictive than existing zoning.
- The distinction between the "Model Ordinance" and a "Commissioner Standard/Custom Ordinance" was discussed, with the consultant recommending the Model Ordinance as the standard path forward.
Key Outcomes
- Leadership Elections:
- Randy Schubring was nominated and unanimously elected as Chair of the JASB.
- Patrick Keene was nominated and unanimously elected as Vice Chair.
- Process Direction:
- The board received a briefing that the new zoning ordinance will likely result in a smaller Zone A (4,000 feet max) and Zone B (2,000 feet max) compared to the previous total of the runway length (9,000 feet), effectively reducing land use restrictions in outlying areas.
- The consultant confirmed the board acts as the Board of Adjustment for these specific decisions unless otherwise assigned.
- Next Steps:
- The next meeting was scheduled for Friday, January 23, 2025, at 10:00 AM.
- Agenda for the next meeting includes a detailed technical presentation on the proposed Model Ordinance and the Custom Ordinance alternative to guide the board's decision on which path to pursue.
- Public Notice:
- The meeting was recorded and will be posted on the city's website. Public comment periods will remain open at all future meetings.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, uh good morning, everybody. I'll go ahead and start the meeting. Uh, my name is Brent Carlson. I'm the Deputy Rochester City Attorney. I was the one that was sending out a lot of uh the emails. So I want to thank you all for being here this morning. Um the local people know, but we've been working on getting the the joint airport zoning board together for uh probably well over a year now. So it's nice to actually uh have everybody in one spot and and uh start moving forward with what we need to have this board decide. Um so how this is gonna work. The the joint airport zoning board hasn't met for at least a decade. So um kind of the purpose of today's meeting will be to do some introductions, uh elect a chair and a vice chair, and then we've got our consultant from Meet and Hunt here that will kind of give you all an overview as to what decisions we're looking for this board to make in the months ahead. Um so kind of consistent with city procedure. We'll start the meeting with an open comment period. I'll kind of run the meeting until we get to a chair elected. So is there any member of the public that would like to speak? If so, you have four minutes to do so. I don't yeah, I'm sorry, I was just gonna make a comment. We'll look into uh what we had like um representation here. I do realize this started in 1957, but uh we don't have any seem to have any representation from elected officials from the city of Steward Bill or even high forest television for all that matter. So okay, I think that is uh very important because it does directly affect them. Sure. And we can talk about um if it's okay, maybe we'll talk through that in other business. Um and uh that is a consideration that we didn't consider when we were uh convening the Jazby. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak? Seeing none, we'll close the open comment period and we'll do the roll call. Ed, you want to do that? Sure. Commissioner Schubring, Commissioner Seconds. Commissioner Schuberg here, Commissioner Keene here, Commissioner Woodward, Commissioner Gupta here, Commissioner Sunjam. Sure. Commissioner Mueller here, Commissioner Peterson. Commissioner Peterson. Yeah, yeah, sorry, yeah. Commissioner Kenworthy, that's me. Commissioner Glenn. Here. Commissioner Light. I'm Nana Commissioner. I am the environmental services director for Malin County. Sure, of the board. Yeah, okay. Oh, I'm sorry, yeah. My apologies. That's okay. Everyone here is but Commissioner Peterson. Okay, so we have a quorum to proceed uh here this morning. Uh so number three on our agenda is to do staff and board member introductions. Um, like I said, I'm Brent Carlson, Deputy City Attorney. Primarily handle the manage the civil side of the city attorney's office here in Rochester. One of my duties is to advise the airport.
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