Carver County, MN Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

078 of the Carver County Code of Ordinances, "Conditional Uses: Additional Density Options," lets a landowner in the "A" Agriculture District obtain a conditional use permit for extra residential building eligibilities beyond the baseline of one home per 40 acres, but caps the result at no more than four homes on a quarter-quarter section (40-acre parcel) based on its configuration as of July 1, 1974. Three specific bonus paths exist. 5 acres each can be subdivided from land with mature tree canopy of 20-plus years or frontage on a comprehensive-plan-listed lake, and the option can be used only once per parcel of record from 1974.

The high amenity option in division (C) likewise allows up to three additional lots but caps overall density at four single-family units per 40 acres of amenity land. The conservation incentive in division (D) grants one or more additional building eligibilities, up to four homes per 40 acres, in exchange for permanently protecting, restoring, or enhancing natural resources such as wetlands, woodlands, prairie, bluffs, or shoreline, generally requiring about ten acres of conservation activity per eligibility, evaluated against a Department-developed scoring guide. A fourth path, the "one building eligibility incentive" in division (E), lets a landowner take just one extra eligibility under any of the other three options without triggering a full subdivision.

All four options are available only in townships that specifically authorize them in their township chapter of the comprehensive plan, require frontage on a public or township-accepted road, and cannot be combined with each other to create a hybrid density beyond what the conservation incentive itself allows, per divisions (A)(3) and (A)(4).