Stearns County, MN Ordinances (2026)

In the A-160 Agricultural District, Stearns County sets a flat 50-foot side and 50-foot rear building setback, plus a road-classification table controlling front setbacks that runs…

In Stearns County's Agricultural District A-160, the county's baseline primary zoning district covering most unincorporated farmland, Ordinance 439 caps total lot coverage at 25…

In Stearns County's residential zoning districts, homes and other buildings cannot exceed 35 feet in height. The limit applies uniformly across the R-20, R-10, R-5 and R-1 districts…

Stearns County's zoning ordinance sets acreage-based limits on chickens and other livestock outside cities. In the T-20, R-20 and R-10 districts, a one-acre parcel may keep up to 18…

Stearns County allows veterinary clinics as a permitted use in the Commercial (C) District under Ordinance 439, the county's Land Use and Zoning Ordinance. No conditional use permit or…

Stearns County caps dogs, domestic pets and companion animals over six months old at four per household in the T-20, R-20, R-10, R-5, Rural Townsite and R-1 zoning districts.

Stearns County allows Regulated Animals, the dangerous wild species defined by Minnesota Statutes section 346.155, only as that state law permits, and requires every owner to register…

Pets on Stearns County recreational trails must be attended and on a leash no longer than six feet under Ordinance 594, Section 7.1, and owners must clean up droppings; horses stay off…

Stearns County requires new and substantially improved structures in the Floodplain Overlay District to sit at or above the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation, set one foot above…

Stearns County overlays a Floodplain Overlay District on the floodway, flood fringe and general floodplain areas of the unincorporated county under Ordinance 439, Sec. 10.1. A…

Stearns County caps docks on subdivision common-access lots in its shoreland zoning: Ordinance 439 Section 10.2.12.C allows only one dock or fishing pier per controlled-access lot…

Stearns County requires an erosion and sediment control plan before construction of a new plat, or a commercial or industrial facility, under Ordinance 439, Section 7.10. The…

Stearns County requires a stormwater pollution prevention plan for new development in the unincorporated area that adds an acre or more of impervious surface, plus certain resorts and…

Stearns County exempts sheds of 150 square feet or less from a construction site permit but still holds them to setbacks, and caps residential accessory buildings on Shoreland riparian…

Stearns County requires the property owner to live in either the principal dwelling or the accessory dwelling unit itself, for both attached and detached ADUs, under Ordinance 439…

Stearns County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot, attached or detached, under Ordinance 439 Section 6.3. Attached units are capped at 40% of the principal home's finished…

Stearns County's Compliance Official inspects rental dwelling units under Ordinance No. 272 on a complaint basis or whenever a violation is suspected, presenting official credentials…

Stearns County runs a complaint-driven rental inspection program under Ordinance 272: the Environmental Services Director inspects during daylight hours on a complaint or reasonable…

Stearns County Ordinance 272 bars rental property owners and tenants from letting scrap materials pile up as rodent shelter and requires stored materials to sit at least 10 feet from…

Stearns County declares unlicensed or inoperative vehicles stored beyond the zoning-code limit, plus unsheltered junked cars, trucks, RVs and farm equipment, a public nuisance. The…

Any new or changed driveway access onto a Stearns County road needs a driveway access permit from the Public Works Director before any construction site or use permit can issue, and…

Stearns County regulates off-street loading through Ordinance 439, Section 7.19. Loading areas must be sized to handle the use's actual needs plus room to maneuver without spilling…

Stearns County restricts how long a recreational camping vehicle can sit on a residential lot. Under Ordinance 439, Section 7.22, only one permanent RV is allowed per parcel, and none…

Home and farm solar panels are a permitted accessory use countywide under Ordinance 439 Section 6.54.2: roof-mounted systems skip the construction site permit, but ground-mounted…

Stearns County requires all covered solid waste to move through the County's public collection system under Ordinance No. 193. No one may collect or haul waste in the county except…

Stearns County's Land Use and Zoning Ordinance No. 439 requires any trash enclosure or recycling collection area at a non-residential property to be screened on at least three sides by…

Under the county's Solid Waste Ordinance No. 431, any hauler licensed to collect solid waste in Stearns County must keep source-separated recyclables out of the trash stream and cannot…

Stearns County bans unauthorized accumulation or dumping of solid waste under Ordinance No. 193, gives the Solid Waste Director power to order cleanup within 10 days, and backs the…

Under Ordinance No. 193, the county's Solid Waste Director can impose mandatory recycling requirements district by district and must guarantee every county-provided hauling customer…

Stearns County does not fix weekly pickup days in its ordinance; instead Ordinance No. 193 requires every property in a solid waste district to receive and pay for collection service…

Stearns County bans burning yard waste inside the shoreland overlay's most sensitive zones. Ordinance 439 Section 10.2.13.F states that burning of yard waste is prohibited within the…

Stearns County shields working farms from nuisance complaints and subdivision pressure through Ordinance 439. Section 7.2 protects any agricultural operation in the county's…

Stearns County shields farms in its Agricultural Districts from being found in violation of the ordinance's general nuisance standard just because new neighbors move in nearby. Land…

Stearns County confines principal adult-use businesses to the Industrial district and requires them to sit at least 1,500 feet from homes, schools, day cares, libraries, parks, liquor…

Stearns County lets a resident run motor vehicle repair out of their home in agricultural districts, but only under Section 6.43 of the Land Use and Zoning Ordinance: a filed site…

Stearns County requires a county license before anyone can retail sell tobacco outside of cities and towns that already license tobacco sales themselves, under Ordinance No. 206, with…

Stearns County requires a construction site permit before anyone erects, alters or moves a structure, or excavates footings, foundations or basements, anywhere in the unincorporated…

Stearns County Ordinance 272 requires every interior wall and ceiling in a rental dwelling unit to be free of flaking lead paint as part of its building maintenance standards…

Stearns County Ordinance 272 requires every exterior door of a rental dwelling unit to have a safe, functioning lock, and requires multiple family buildings to use locking devices on…

Stearns County Ordinance 272 requires every rental dwelling unit to be supplied with a functioning carbon monoxide detector, on top of the fire and smoke alarm requirements of the…

Stearns County requires nuisance complaints in writing, naming the complainant. The Environmental Services Director then inspects the property during daylight hours before any…

Stearns County bans open accumulations of junk, debris and overgrown vegetation on unimproved property that harbor rodents or create a fire hazard. The Environmental Services…

In unincorporated Stearns County, a structure damaged by fire, water, wind, decay or age that endangers public safety is a declared public nuisance under Ordinance No. 392. The…

Stearns County's Solid Waste Ordinance No. 431 prohibits open burning or incineration of solid waste anywhere the County Board has determined that trash collection service is…

Fires along Stearns County recreational trails must burn only in a fireplace, portable fire grill, stove or fire ring under Ordinance 594, Section 6.1, and every fire must be attended…

Stearns County bans fireworks and explosives outright inside every county park. Ordinance No. 696 § 5.2 makes it unlawful for any person to possess or use firecrackers, other…

Stearns County zones cannabis retail, delivery, testing, transport and wholesale businesses into the Commercial District as a permitted use, while cultivation and manufacturing are…

Cannabis businesses in Stearns County must sit at least 1,000 feet from a school and 500 feet from a day care, residential treatment facility, or a public park attraction regularly…

Stearns County Ordinance 272 sets minimum habitability standards for every rental dwelling unit in the unincorporated county and townships: working kitchen facilities, heated and…

Renting a home in unincorporated Stearns County as a Vacation/Short Term Rental requires an Interim Use Permit for rentals with more than eight occupants or more than one rental per…

Stearns County caps overnight occupancy at a Vacation/Short Term Rental to what Lodging Ordinance 661 allows per bedroom plus two, or one person per 75 gallons of daily septic design…

Stearns County requires the owner or emergency contact of a Vacation/Short Term Rental to keep noise within Minnesota Rules chapter 7030 standards and to enforce quiet hours from 10…

Stearns County gives a Vacation/Short Term Rental owner one written warning per permit cycle when the Department documents a violation, before pursuing revocation, while a clean record…

Family day cares in Stearns County must meet single-family setback and appearance standards, keep at least 50 square feet of outside play area per child, and hold a state or county day…

Stearns County allows home occupations only when clearly incidental to the home, run solely by residents, confined to the dwelling and attached garage, and free of outdoor storage or…

A Stearns County home occupation may not generate excessive customer or client traffic that is detrimental to the character of the surrounding properties, under the same zoning section…

Stearns County does not maintain a general list of banned invasive plants. Instead, within mapped native plant community areas where Ordinance 439 otherwise bars clearing, Section…

Stearns County's Land Use and Zoning Ordinance No. 439, Section 7.7, protects native plant communities the Minnesota DNR identified on its 1999 County map. Any parcel that overlaps a…

In Stearns County's A-160, A-80 and A-40 agricultural districts, any tree removal tied to a new residential building envelope on tracts over ten acres has to be minimized as part of…

Stearns County's Recreational Trails Ordinance sets the traffic rules bicyclists must follow on county trails: keep to the right, pass only on the left when safe, yield at crossings…

Stearns County treats electric-assisted bicycles under Minn. Stat. Sec. 169.011, subd. 27 as non-motorized vehicles on County Recreational Trails, letting them use the same treadways…

Stearns County's zoning ordinance limits how billboards and other signs can be lit. Flashing, rotating-beam illumination is banned outright, flood lights must aim directly at the sign…

Stearns County's zoning ordinance requires that lighting for off-street parking areas, signs and other structures be hooded or otherwise controlled at the source. Section 7.15 applies…

Stearns County bans tobacco, e-cigarettes and vaporizers in designated zones along its County Recreational Trails under Ordinance 594, Section 4.4, with the Parks Director setting and…

Stearns County bans using cannabis products in any public place, including its parks, trails, streets, and sidewalks. Ordinance No. 696 § 17.4 folds the county park rule into the…

Stearns County makes it unlawful to urinate or defecate anywhere in a county park except in a designated restroom or portable restroom facility. Ordinance No. 696 § 5.5 groups the rule…

Alcohol is restricted, not banned, at Stearns County parks. Ordinance No. 696 requires a permit or a Director-designated area to drink at Quarry Park & Nature Preserve, bars alcohol…

Stearns County requires a permit from the County Highway Department before closing any part of a county right-of-way for a block party, street dance, or similar recreational gathering…

Any group of 50 or more people using a Stearns County park needs a permit first. Ordinance No. 696 § 18 lets the Director issue, charge a fee for, refuse, or revoke park-use permits…

Retaining walls in Stearns County's Shoreland Overlay District need a shoreland alteration permit under Ordinance 439 Section 10.2.14.I before they can be built. Wall height is…

Stearns County's zoning ordinance caps residential fences at six feet under Section 7.12.1.A, but a fence inside the required front yard cannot exceed four feet. No fence may sit in a…

Stearns County parks are open year-round, but each park closes at an hour the County Board fixes by resolution and reopens the next morning. Anyone in a park during closed hours…

Every swimming pool in unincorporated Stearns County must be enclosed by a wall or fence at least six feet high with a self-closing, lockable gate that keeps out uncontrolled access…

Stearns County does not require a construction site permit to build a residential swimming pool. The only building-side approval that can apply is a shoreland alteration permit under…

Amplified sound is banned by default in Stearns County parks. Ordinance No. 696 § 18.9 prohibits stereos, PA systems, and amplifiers unless the user first gets a Director-issued…

Stearns County caps garage sales at any residential property in the unincorporated area to ten total days of operation per calendar year. The limit sits in the zoning ordinance's…

Stearns County's A-160 agricultural zoning district, its most restrictive rural district at one home per 160 acres, allows no density bonus at all, except through the conservation…