CHAPTER III

LAND USE

In order to properly plan for and promote acceptable forms of physical development, it is necessary that the existing land use patterns within the county be identified and briefly discussed. Only in this manner can the public officials of Morton County hope to establish and maintain the proper relationships between existing and future land use

types within the county. The existing land uses within Morton County are identified in the remainder of this chapter and Exhibit 12 illustrates their existing relationship within the county.

AGRICULTURAL LAND

Of all counties in the United States, Morton County ranks 60^th in the number of acres of cropland. In 1997, Morton County had 565,363 acres (883 square miles) of cropland, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. Cropland represents approximately half of the acreage of all agricultural land in the County.

MORTON COUNTY FARMS

(1997 USDA Census of Agriculture, and 1999 Morton County Tax Records)

 Exhibit 11

In North Dakota, Morton County ranks first in the number of cattle raised as well as the number of milk cows. Likewise, the county ranks first in the number of acres of silage harvested.  Morton County ranks 18^th in the state for spring wheat production with 215,000 acres harvested in 1996.

Exhibit 12 – Current Land Use Map

 
The history of agriculture in Morton County dates back to the Native Americans who originally lived along the Missouri River and derived part of their diet from agriculture.  The first European homesteaders were granted 160 acres to farm.  As modern machinery replaced hand and oxen labor, the farms started to increase in size because the original 160 acres was not large enough to maintain a family farm.  Today family farms range in size from 640 acres to over 10,000 acres.  Modern farming and ranching practices will continue to improve and family farms will continue to increase in size as the number of farms declines.  The chart shows that the rate of decline in the number of farms will slow over the next decade.

Exhibit 13

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URBAN LAND USES

The urban land uses in the county for the purposes of this plan comprise all commercial, industrial, residential, recreational and agricultural uses which take place within the incorporated municipalities of the county. The county has no zoning authority within these incorporated city limits or within cities’ extraterritorial zones.

The reach and extent of a city’s extraterritorial zoning authority is based on its population. State law has established that “A city may, by ordinance, extend the application of a city’s zoning regulations to any quarter quarter section of unincorporated territory if a majority of the quarter quarter section is located within the following distance of the corporate limits of the city (NDCC 40-47-01.1).

a.      One mile if the city has a population of less than 5,000.

b.      Two miles if the city has a population of 5,000 or more, but less than 25,000.

c.      Four miles if the city has a population of 25,000 or more. 

Of all the incorporated municipalities in Morton County, only one, Mandan, has a population of more than 5,000, allowing an extension of the extraterritorial zone to two miles beyond the corporate boundary. At the time of this printing, Mandan has not extended its extraterritorial zone beyond one mile but has plans to do so in the future.

 One concern of extraterritorial zoning is that the County Board of Commissioners is obilgated to represent the interests of the residents who pay County tax but they cannot do so for their constituents residing in the city’s extraterritorial range. Another concern is that the County remains responsible for providing road maintenance and other services yet has no zoning authority to regulate development in the extraterritorial zone.

 One solution would be to create a joint zoning board comprised of city and county representatives to share in decisionmaking and guide development within the extraterritorial zones of the County.  

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RESIDENTIAL LAND USES

Residential uses within Morton County are those land uses of a nonfarm, residential nature occurring outside incorporated communities, in rural fringe corridors, near scenic or recreation areas and in the unincorporated villages located throughout the county. In recent years there has been a decided trend for people to build residences outside urban areas for the purpose of enjoying a rural environment with scenic views and wide-open spaces. Other factors contributing to increases in rural subdivisions have been the improvements to the rural transportation system, the installation and subsequent extensions of a rural water distribution system, and the fact that farmers can make a greater profit by subdividing their land than by growing crops.

As growth in the rural sector continues, strict zoning and subdivision regulations should be enforced so as to ensure the most appropriate type of development possible. The county supports rural residental growth yet is obligated to promote orderly development.  

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 COMMERCIAL LAND USES

Commercial areas in the rural sector of Morton County are located in relatively few areas throughout the county. In general, such areas are located on junctions of highways and cater to services and entertainment for motorists. The development of the interstate highway system promulgated several such areas in the county. Discretion must be used in approving further commercial areas, especially of the highway-strip variety, for they have a tendency of attracting rural residential developments as their adjacent uses. 

With the rapid growth of information technology businesses, consideration should be given to those commercial uses which do not require the same level of public services and facilities as conventional commercial uses. Such new E-business activities may include more home occupations, telemarketing, and data processing.

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INDUSTRIAL LAND USES

For the most part industrial uses outside the cities of Morton County include manufacturing plants, energy related industries, and sand and gravel operations. The Mandan Municipal Airport is also classified as industrial.

 In general, industrial uses are unusual in that they are considered compatible with few other uses of the land, therefore in planning for such uses, consideration must be given for appropriate open space or buffers to separate industrial uses from those of a commercial, residential or recreational nature.

The potential for further expansion of industry in the rural sector of Morton County can be enhanced by planning for new industrial locations and infrastructure. Currently, industrial zoned land is very limited in the County and new locations for industrial sites should be considered. Quick access to roadways of adequate strength, rail transport, and availability of water are some of the site selection factors.  

If and when the lignite resources within the county are mined, large tracts of land will undoubtedly be moved into the industrial classification. Exhibit 3 illustrates the approximate location of lignite reserves within the county.  

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PUBLIC AND RECREATION LAND USES

The land uses categorized under public and recreation areas designates those areas throughout the county owned, managed or leased by either state, federal or local government for the purposes of promoting recreation, leisure-time activities, game management, waterfowl production or for the preservation of historical, scenic, archeological, or natural areas. Such areas as the Fort Lincoln State Park and the Northern Great Plains Experiment Station are also included within this classification. A detailed inventory of not only county but municipal parks and recreation areas is presented in the Appendix.

 Public park and recreational areas only account for approximately 10,000 acres² within the county, but contain some of the most varied scenic, historical and wooded areas the county has to offer. These areas include most notably large sections of the Missouri River Valley and game management areas throughout the county. Recreational dwellings are becoming popular in or near such areas and pose a definite threat to their fragile environments.

²The total acreage for park and recreation areas does not include municipal parks, surface water acres on any rivers within the county, nor does it include the lands comprising the Agricultural Experiment Station in the county.  

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 TRANSPORTATION

As are other rural counties, Morton County is very dependent on its transportation network for the provision of goods and services. The county highway system and the county (farm-to-market) roads are especially important to the agricultural sector for they represent the only means for getting produce to the market areas. Exhibit 14 identifies the primary transportation routes in the county and their relationship to the county's incorporated communities.

Exhibit 14 – County Highway Map