Public Works Standards

About the Standards

The following Design and Engineering Standards are developed by the City of Blaine Department of Public Works. The purpose of the Design and Engineering Standards is to establish minimum requirements for the design and construction of streets, storm drainage, water, sanitary sewer, and electrical systems within the City of Blaine's jurisdiction.

Good design of projects is a goal of the City of Blaine Department of Public Works. These standards are intended to apply to all physical development within the city's jurisdiction. Compliance with these standards does not relieve the designer of the responsibility to apply conservative and sound professional judgment. These are minimum standards and are intended to assist, but not substitute for competent work by design professionals. The city may at its sole discretion due to special conditions and/or environmental constraints, require more stringent requirements than would normally be required under these standards.

Special Facilities

These standards do not include design of special facilities, such as: pump stations, reservoirs, or sewage lift stations. These special facilities require unique design requirements and will be subject to individual review by the City of Blaine Department of Public Works. Please refer to Title 17 of the Blaine Municipal Code for Zoning or Subdivisions and Short Plats.

Request for Changes or Deviations

Requests for changes or deviations to the standards shall be reviewed and approved by the city. The decision to grant, deny, or modify the standards shall be based upon evidence that the request can meet the following criteria:

  • The change will achieve the intended result in a comparable or even superior design and a better quality of improvement
  • The change will not adversely affect safety and/or operation
  • The change will not adversely affect maintainability
  • The change will not adversely affect useable life of the improvement