When to Amend Your Plan

If your local government modifies any part of its adopted comprehensive plan, you must submit a comprehensive plan amendment to the Council for review. Amendments may be needed for:

  • Neighborhood or small area planning updates
  • Land use changes for a proposed development
  • Adjustments to forecasts or the Metropolitan Urban Service Area (MUSA)
  • Policy or land use category revisions
  • Routine updates, such as public facilities changes
  • System statement updates impacting the community

Amendments to 2040 Plans will not be accepted after October 1st 2028. 

Before submitting a comprehensive plan amendment for Council review:

Adjacent Review Period Waiver

The Council may shorten or waive the review period for some amendments that meet all of the below criteria, but approval is required before submission. Contact your Sector Representative before completing your amendment.

  1. The amendment involves a site of 40 acres or less;

  2. The amendment does not change the community’s growth forecasts or the TAZ allocations; and

  3. The amendment site is either:

    • More than one quarter (1/4) of a mile from an adjacent jurisdiction, or

    • Beyond the distance or area which the local government’s adopted ordinances require notice to adjacent or affected property owners, whichever distance is less.

Waivers must be approved prior to submittal to the Council for review. Contact your Sector Representative for more information.

The Metropolitan Council may administratively review certain amendments without Council action if they meet specific criteria. Administrative Reviews take about 15 business days. Contact your Sector Representative before submitting.

Eligible Comprehensive Plan Amendments must satisfy all of the following:

  1. Meet the submittal requirements of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act (MLPA) for content and be determined to be complete for review by the Council.
  2. Conform to the regional systems plans.
  3. Are consistent with Council policies, including Thrive MSP 2040 and housing policies.
  4. Are consistent with local applicable controls, or the jurisdiction submits evidence that the local controls will be modified to be consistent with the proposed amendment.
  5. Are consistent with the Metropolitan Urban Service Area (MUSA) Implementation Guidelines if residential units are proposed.
  6. Are compatible with the plans of affected and adjacent jurisdictions.
  7. Proposes a changed forecast that falls within five percent of the Council’s current forecasts.
  8. Propose a land use change resulting in an increase or decrease in development capacity of less than 250 housing units, determined by using the midpoint density to calculate the difference between proposed allowable units and current allowable units
  9. Propose a land use change affecting less than 80 acres unless the land use change supports enrollment in the Metropolitan Agricultural Preserves Program.
  10. Propose a land use change to guide land at no more than one unit per 40 acres to meet the requirements of the Metropolitan Agricultural Preserves Program (Minn. Stat. Ch. 473H) if the land impacted is enrolled in the Program.
  11. Does not have the potential for a cumulative impact.

Amendments meeting the criteria above may still be required to have full Council review if needed and as determined by Council staff.

Submit Online

We’ve created an online tool for submitting your comprehensive plan updates, amendments, and supplemental materials. This tool simplifies the process, reduces paper use, and speeds up review.

Visit your Community Page for the submittal tool and refer Resources page for detailed instructions.

Registration required to use the portal. 

Submit By Mail

We still accept hard copies of plan update. You must still email a copy of the Plan to the Reviews Coordinator. Hard copy submittals must include:

  • Comprehensive Plan Update Application Form
  • Include a searchable PDF copy of your entire plan and appendices, not a scanned image.
  • Comments from adjacent and affected jurisdictions
  • A copy of your adopted local resolution authorizing the plan to be submitted for review. 

Mail your plan to us at:

Reviews Coordinator
Metropolitan Council
390 North Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55101

All content here should be verified with ES

Local Water Management Plans

Local water management plans that are submitted as comprehensive plan amendments may be reviewed administratively if they meeting all of the following conditions:

  1. The plan conforms to Council policy plans and regional systems plans.
  2. The plan does not present a substantial departure from regional plans or present a substantial impact on regional systems.
  3. The plan includes ordinances or refers to adopted ordinances as identified in the Council’s 2040 Water Resources Policy Plan (WRPP) to aid in plan implementation.
  4. The plan includes all required elements of local water management plans as outlined in the 2040 WRPP.

 Local Water Supply Plans

Local water supply plans that are submitted as comprehensive plan amendments may be reviewed administratively if they meet all of the following conditions:

  1. The plan is consistent with Council policy plans.
  2. The plan is not proposing new wells in the Mt. Simon Hinckley aquifer.
  3. The plan is not proposing interconnection with other communities as the main source of water for the community.
  4. The plan is not proposing a residential gallons/capita/day of more than 100 gallons per capita day (gpcd).
  5. The plan includes all required elements of a local water supply plan as outlined in the 2040 WRPP.
  6. The community does not have any known significant contamination problems with their water supply source.