NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved adoption of the 2040 Comprehensive Land Use Plan Update Tuesday.

The land use plan update, the first since 1991, was created after the county board approved hiring Bolton & Menk, Inc. to complete the update project that began in May 2025.

Public review and input included 438 written comments and 185 verbal comments. An online map-based survey received 212 public responses.

Bolton & Menk Senior Planner Mojra Hauenstein said the plan received lots of public feedback since the county hired them to do the project in May 2025.

“We heard people say protect farmland, building reuse and building only low-density housing on agricultural land and keeping trails in cities, not rural areas,” she said. “Other concerns were opposition to data centers, the county landfill, only developing property that already has municipal water and sewer, focusing growth near city infrastructure, growing local industrial and commercial jobs and being conservative with public costs.”

“I strongly support this. I’m excited about it,” said Commissioner Dave Borchert.

“We got lots of good (public) feedback on this,” said Commissioner Brian Braun.

Hauenstein said the land use plan is a policy document to be used as a roadmap/guide for future land use over the next 15 years.

Natural resources feedback concerns included protecting farmland, rivers, lakes, floodplains and wildlife habitat, limiting development near rivers and lakes, flooding and lake management concerns, especially Lake Hanska. Gravel pits and the county landfill were considered long-term, county assets.

Corn and soybean acreage heavily dominate County land production.

Brown County’s agricultural outputs are 131,214 acres corn for grain, 111,584 soybean acres, 6,860 hay acres, 3,248 vegetable acres, 244,365 hogs, 103,255 turkeys and 33,601 cattle, according to the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.

Two Minnesota State Water Trails offer kayaking and canoeing in Brown County. The 58-mile Cottonwood River State Water Trail is between Springfield and New Ulm where the river empties into the Minnesota River.

The Minnesota River State Water Trail covers 318 miles from Big Stone Lake (near Ortonville) to the Mississippi River.

Brown County snowmobilers have 200 miles of trails maintained by the River Valley Dutchmen Snowmobile Club with cooperation from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Trails are open Dec. 1 through March 31, weather permitting.

Public input showed interest in future trail/recreation loops to avoid avoid floodplains and wetlands including a Lake Hanska loop and promoting Cottonwood River canoeing.

Community input described Brown County as “offering a simpler, safer, family-friendly lifestyle with access to healthcare, locally-produced food, grocery stores and quality school.

Strategic employment recommendations include expanding healthcare training programs including CNA, LPN, RN to meet projected demand, adding apprenticeships and housing incentives for construction workforce growth and promoting housing and amenities for non-resident workers.

Community transportation input praised County Road 29 improvements and asked for more similar projects.

Hauenstein said Brown County population is projected to decline by about 45 people per year, creating a loss of 669 people and 297 households over 15 years. Brown County’s 2025 population of 25,756 is projected to fall to 25,087 by 2040.

According to the plan, if 1% of Brown County commuters became county residents with more available housing, the Brown County population would climb by 110 people per year, creating 49 new households per year, based on 2.25 persons per household.

Capturing 1% of commuters would boost Brown County population to 26,306 by 2030, 26,856 in 2035 and 27,406 in 2040.

The plan reported Essig has sewer capacity and four municipal wells that could support residential growth, according to community input.

Plan approval came on a motion by Commissioner Borchert, seconded by Tony Berg.