Livonia Township
Livonia Township is located in Sherburne County, 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities. The township almost completely surrounds the City of Zimmerman. Many of the residents of Livonia commute to the Twin Cities for work, but they say the commute is worth it to live in a community with a strong rural character and low property taxes.
See what Livonia Township Board Chair Don Sherper has to say about his community’s plans for its future and how CGO has made a difference.
CGO Project Overview
Leveraging previous investments in planning formed the basis of the township’s work with the CGO program. Livonia Township had recently attempted to create a Comprehensive Plan but disagreed as to how a rural community like Livonia should grow. CGO’s professional assistance allowed Livonia’s citizens to incorporate their opinions and visions into their Comprehensive Plan. Livonia conducted open houses around their future vision and sought guidance on thoughtful land use, taking into account neighboring sprawl, natural resources, economic challenges, county plans and the plans of their neighbor: the City of Zimmerman. They have developed a series of goal statements to guide this work. Additionally, they updated the township’s road standards to save on maintenance costs, and updated their capital improvements plan to align with land use objectives in the comp plan. They boldly pursued a strategy for sharing a limited amount of land use authority with Sherburne County. This includes a memorandum of understanding to implement the following goals:
- A policy for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of new growth
- Establish a Subsurface Sewage Treatment System (STSS) monitoring program to ensure ongoing inspection and monitoring of sewage treatment systems
- Establish a limited set of land use codes to create a local process for regulating subdivisions, limited infill, towers, mining and other significant land use requests
- Establish an overlay district that designates areas for aggregate extraction, including a local ordinance and permitting process that supplement county regulations
Project Goals
- Efficient land use
- Natural Resource Protection
- Housing Options
- Leadership Development
Project Objectives
- Work to create a Comprehensive Plan that is based on the felt needs of local citizens
- Work with the planning and zoning authority – Sherburne County – to make sure zoning ordinances are in line with the township’s new plan
- Create a Memorandum of Understanding between Livonia Township and Sherburne County to give more influence to Livonia on development applications that are proposed to happen in the township
- Revise road standards for the township to save on future maintenance costs, which will help keep property taxes reasonable
- Update the Capitol Improvement Plan
Project Deliverables
- Finalized Comprehensive Plan (township is located outside of MUSA)
- Updated road standards; Updated capital improvements plan.
- A Memorandum of Understanding is being negotiated with Sherburne County to negotiate significant land use decisions that impact the township and its Comprehensive Plan
Maps of Livonia Township
Several maps showing Livonia Township’s geography are provided below. The maps are 11” x 17” (but can be printed at 8-1/2” x 11”) and in PDF format.