Fridley zoning process gets a legal test

Star Tribune Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:46:52 GMT
Lawsuit could slow Northstar plan

A Fridley landowner says the city has prevented him from developing his property next to a planned station. The city of Fridley's plan to build a station along the Northstar rail line will have to overcome another obstacle: a lawsuit filed by the owner of a piece of land next to the proposed station. In the suit, filed in federal court Friday, the property owner, Jeffrey Nielsen, alleged that the city is keeping his land under strict zoning regulations because it wants to use the parcel as a parking lot for the possible Northstar station. The city has until Jan. 3 to respond, and City Manager Bill Burns said Tuesday that the city is in the process of retaining an attorney. Nielsen also alleged that the city has prevented him from developing his 10-acre property for the past 11 years. His suit seeks damages in excess of $13.25 million.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

Indoor skydiving?

Star Tribune Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:10:18 GMT
Blaine is wary of using eminent domain

A developer with a vision for a more than $150 million sports and entertainment complex seeks the city's help to secure nearby properties. ... Donnelly Development Group, of Edina, described the project as an asset to "Blaine's identity as an amateur athletics center for the Midwest." Plans include a hotel and indoor water park, fitness center, restaurants, indoor go-carts, a lake and a public square for sports ceremonies, even indoor surfing and skydiving. Donnelly's group asked for the city's help in getting the nearby property owners to sell, saying industrial properties would be a detriment to the visual appeal of the project. "What you're asking is for us to condemn these [properties]," City Council Member Russ Herbst said. "I'd have to think long and hard about that." Herbst was joined by virtually every council member in voicing concern about using eminent domain as a development tactic, although support for the project's goals and features was unanimous. Donnelly's group is a spinoff of a previous developer that proposed a smaller version of the complex in 2005. The current project represents 30 developable acres on a larger site that encompasses 63 acres, he said. James Determan, who owns between three to four acres of the industrial property at the heart of the issue, said he is willing to move if the price is right. So far, it hasn't been, he said. "If they want to use eminent domain, I'll fight them to the end," he said. "I don't think it's legal to use eminent domain unless it's for a public use, and that's not a public use. It's a private development project." Also at issue is the amount of public subsidy the developer is seeking. The group wants a property tax break that is estimated at roughly $13 million over 15 years. Council Member Dick Swanson called that figure "awe inspiring." ...

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;PropertyTax;Metro;]]

Your land is my land

Star Tribune Wed, 28 May 2008 02:57:01 GMT
Plan for new homes on former Carriage Hills Golf Course moves forward

A controversial plan for new homes on the former Carriage Hills Golf Course moved one step forward when the Eagan Planning Commission recommended approval of preliminary development plans Tuesday night. But Eagan residents will still weigh in on the fate of the land at a November referendum, part of a legal settlement reached this spring after a four-year legal battle waged against the city by the golf course's owner and a developer. Many residents have fought to preserve the 120-acre site as green space, while landowner Ray Rahn and Wensmann Realty have argued that they should be able to develop it.

[[keywords: LandUse;Metro;]]

More paths to protection through public ownership

Pioneer Press Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:27:01 -0600
Development banned from large nature center parcel

A large expanse of the Thomas Irvine Dodge Nature Center is off limits to developers for good. A deal struck between Dakota County and Dodge puts 156 acres into the county's Farmland and Natural Areas Program and keeps it free of development. The acreage â€" known as the Lilly property â€" is in Mendota Heights, while the nature center's other 160 acres are in neighboring West St. Paul. "It's the gem of Mendota Heights," said Ben Van Gundy, the nature center's executive director. "It's very scenic and right where the people are â€" it's only about four or five miles from downtown St. Paul â€" so getting the highest level of protection that there is was very important." Although there is no immediate development threat, the legal agreement is the best way to ensure the land is never sold or developed, he said. "I think the community can rest easy that it will be a natural area forever," Van Gundy said.

More information on the Dakota County program
[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

As American as free speech zones

Star Tribune Wed, 21 May 2008 03:06:48 GMT
Bloomington ordinance lays out rules for protests during GOP convention

The city worked with the ACLU to come up with a plan to balance the rights of free speech with keeping order. Bloomington has passed an ordinance outlining when and where legal protests will be allowed within the city during the upcoming Republican National Convention. The City Council, after negotiating with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, approved the ordinance 6-1 Monday night but with significant changes. "We wanted to remove all impediments to working this out," said Sandy Johnson, Bloomington's associate city attorney. Among the revisions to the original ordinance is the elimination of insurance and security deposit requirements the ACLU believed would limit the number and size of protests. "After hearing our objections, they did make substantial changes," said ACLU legal counsel Teresa Nelson. "This version of the ordinance is much improved."

[[keywords: Officials;Metro;]]

A different easement path

Star Tribune Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:12:11 GMT
Wanted: Land with a permanently spectacular view

To protect water quality, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has begun buying -- and selling -- land.

Moving aggressively to save the woods, wetlands and meadows that can naturally remove pollutants from storm water before it reaches Lake Minnetonka, the watershed district has outlined 17,000 acres, mostly in the far western suburbs, where it would consider buying open land.

Initially the water board plans to spend about $2 million a year for land acquisition. Over the next 10 years the total could reach $30 million.

The watershed district is moving into real estate acquisition because new home construction upstream of Lake Minnetonka is the greatest impending threat to water quality in the lake, said Mark Ten Eyke, manager of the land conservation program for the watershed district.

One of the district's first purchases was a picturesque 38.62 acres near Painter Creek in Minnetrista, where it plans to restore prairie along a tributary to the creek and keep most of the land free from development forever. The district paid $778,100 for the tract on Jan. 4, 2006, and plans to recoup $350,000 by selling 7 acres for three home sites overlooking the protected open space.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Living;Metro;]]

the accompianing graphic:
Star Tribune Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:46:21 GMT
A NEW LAND CONSERVATION ZONE

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, (MCWD) has entered the real estate market. Under a new land conservation program designed to promote clean water, the district will consider buying any land that may go on the market in the areas outlined below. In many cases, the district would buy the land and impose permanent easements to protect open space and then resell it as a choice piece of property with a view that will never change.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

Group sues itself, may lose.

Star Tribune Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:24:04 GMT
'Model' community goes to war with itself

The Jonathan Association in Chaska is mired in a bitter power struggle; many want to disband. Since opening, the original community has been absorbed by the city of Chaska, and the Jonathan Association -- while it has provided amenities -- is locked in a bitter internal power struggle that is threatening to drown members in a sea of debt and acrimony. "It's local politics run amok," said Mike Sibley, a former member of the Jonathan Association board, which is at the center of the dispute. The controversy reads like a TV soap opera script pitting neighbor against neighbor amid shouts and whispers about financial improprieties, questionable elections, hidden agendas and internal power struggles. The only thing missing is an evil twin brother coming back from the dead. A majority of the board wants to break up the association -- the largest such group in the state with more than 2,900 households -- or significantly reduce its scope by allowing neighborhoods to secede. "Most people don't think they're getting their money's worth," said Tom Davis, president of the Jonathan board and among those pushing for the break up. "Everybody pays the same dues" -- about $195 a year per household -- "but not everybody gets the same services." The board's attorneys have estimated that it could cost $125,000 to $150,000 to prepare for a legal battle in which the association would sue itself in hopes a judge will rule that more than a dozen neighborhoods were added illegally after 1979, when the original developer of Jonathan went out of business.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

Consultant accountability

Star Tribune Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:49:53 GMT
Consultant sued over Red Lake shootings

Families and former school employees say the firm's crisis management plan didn't work. The families of people killed or injured in the 2005 Red Lake shootings are suing a Bloomington-based environmental consulting firm that sold the school district a crisis management plan. Lawyers for the nearly two dozen families said Tuesday that MacNeil Environmental Inc. failed to create a safe school environment and to properly train students, staff and law enforcement about what to do in a crisis situation. They claim that the Red Lake district gave MacNeil thousands of dollars in taxpayers' money to prepare for emergencies such as the March 21, 2005, shootings that left 10 dead -- including the teenage gunman. "MacNeil sold a security plan that didn't work," said Elliot Olsen, a Minneapolis attorney who represents Steve Cobenais, one of the most severely injured students. "We intend to show that had MacNeil done its job, these deaths and injuries would have been prevented."

[[keywords: Legal;Metro;]]

Don't stand on your land, you're blocking my view!

Star Tribune Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:02:10 GMT
Golf courses make good neighbors, until the owners want to sell

Course owners in Andover and elsewhere who want to redevelop their land for profit are finding bitter neighborhood opposition. They also are finding that, sometimes, their property rights end at the city hall's door. ... Nationwide, rising land values and diminished demand are an incentive for golf course owners to sell out. Last year, U.S. golf course closures outpaced openings, according to the National Golf Foundation. The same was true in 2006. But many golf courses are zoned as open space; thus cities can prevent development of the property. That's sparking battles between course owners and cities around the metro area. It's happened in Eden Prairie, where a course owner had planned to sell his struggling course to a housing developer for as much as $18 million; in Plymouth, where the city recently removed two courses from restrictive zoning but kept another in it; and in Eagan, where the city denied an owner's request to rezone. That last case is still in court. In each city, neighbors and residents have leaned on public officials to maintain the space they've counted on for their views, their recreation and their property values. ... Left unanswered in that case was a question of whether a city's decision to deny a request might trigger a claim for "inverse condemnation," or "taking of the property," said Tom Grundhoefer, chief legal counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities.

[[keywords: LandUse;Metro;]]

Should cities have recall? Case study in Northfield

Pioneer Press Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:01:23 -0700
Northfield, Minn., mayor accused of using 'improper influence' to aid son's development project

Allegations surfaced this week that Northfield's mayor improperly used his authority to secure a city-owned liquor store deal for his son. ... City Council Member Jon Denison said he was among several members who asked Lansing to step aside in October, at least until the investigation was complete. Lansing refused. "I've had a number of people ask me what the next step is and how can we remove the mayor," said Denison, who took office in January. "And we can humbly request that he step aside in the best interest of the city, but we can't force him out." Denison said he voted for Lansing in 2004 and "frankly, want my vote back." He said the mayor should leave his position for good. "I was born and raised in this city and have lived here for 35 years, and I like to think I have the best interest of the city in mind when I make decisions and cast my vote," Denison said. "I've been extremely disappointed to know that this is the mayor's behavior." City Council Member Arnie Nelson refused to comment on the allegations. "We were told to refer questions to the city attorney," he said.

[[keywords: Legal;Officials;Metro;]]

Northfield Mayor still dumfounded

Star Tribune Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:28:01 GMT
Turmoil builds over report of Northfield mayor's abuses

Northfield Mayor Lee Lansing said Tuesday that he has no plans to step aside after an investigator's report found that he abused his power by working behind the scenes to promote personal and family interests. The mayor said that he was "dumbfounded" by the findings, which were presented to the City Council on Monday night, and that if he did act improperly, it was "certainly not intentionally." The findings are the latest troubling news for the college town, where the mayor sued the City Council this fall and the police chief shocked residents this summer by telling them that hundreds of young people might be on heroin. Monday's report fueled frustrations and raised questions about whether a shake-up at City Hall is on the horizon. "I'm hearing my constituents complain, 'Why hasn't the mayor resigned?'" said City Council Member Jon Denison.

[[keywords: Legal;Officials;Metro;]]

Bricks are not flexible

Star Tribune Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:52:57 GMT
Lake Street developer cites arbitrary demands in suit

Basim Sabri says a city requirement for certain building exteriors is unfair. The city says it's law. Lake Street developer Basim Sabri has sued Minneapolis over a city requirement that his proposed condo development be finished all in brick. Sabri's lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court contends that the city is applying the brick exterior requirement arbitrarily to his planned 77-unit development a block north of Lake between Pleasant and Pillsbury Avenues. The city approved Sabri's site plan in April but rejected his plans to incorporate stucco and cement into the development. It incorporates the brick building once occupied by Midwest Machinery, plus an extensive addition. ... Sabri contends that his right to due process was denied and that the city is replete with mixed stucco-brick exteriors. He is asking that a judge declare the brick requirement unenforceable and is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

The public record gets more public

Star Tribune Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:40:09 CST
State makes court case information available online

The state judicial branch is starting a public access system that allows Web users to find basic information about court cases without having to make a trip to the courthouse. The free system went online Friday. For now, access is limited to court-created documents -- for example, motions created by attorneys won't be available online. But the online system will list various actions in court cases, similar to a docket. It will allow people to monitor a case from a remote location, then go to the courthouse for complete paperwork when necessary.

[[keywords: Legal;Metro;]]

Undercurrents

Star Tribune Fri, 02 May 2008 03:07:52 GMT
Stop talking about fire or face losing your jobs, Oak Grove administrator warns

Oak Grove hits city officials -- including the fire department -- with a gag order after a fatal March 5 fire. ... Referring directly to the March 5 fire and criticism of the department discussed at City Council meetings Monday and April 14, the memo states: "All Employees, including Paid on-call Fire Department personnel, City Council members and City staff need to immediately stop talking about or commenting, publicly or privately, on tactical responses, opinions about employment matters or observations about the same." The memo further states that a pending investigation "will severely be compromised by continued comment and attempts to influence others with public comment." It says employees who fail to follow the directive not to talk "shall be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.''

[[keywords: Legal;Officials;Metro;]]

Inclusionary Zoning

Pioneer Press Sat, 5 Jul 2008 06:56:39 MDT
The good news about, and good reasons for, affordable housing

The Pioneer Press' three-part series on affordable housing in the suburbs sheds light on a critical public policy issue. But readers could easily come away with an impression of hopelessness: neighbors angrily condemning affordable housing developments, residents of those properties feeling embattled, cities piling on regulations, and developers forced into building only luxury housing. That's not the full picture of affordable housing in the suburbs. Nor does it reflect the fact that there is good reason to believe we can do better in making our communities welcome to all. ... One of the most promising and underutilized tools for generating affordable units is Inclusionary Zoning. With IZ, a city expects a developer to include some affordable units in his or her new development in return for providing incentives to make it work financially for the developer. Typically, we look mostly to government subsidies to make housing units affordable; the beauty of IZ is that it can produce affordable units for households in the $40,000-income range without government subsidies. More than 400 cities in the U.S. have adopted some form of IZ, including Boston, Denver, Chicago, New York, and many smaller cities. For IZ to work, cities have to make sufficient concessions so that developers don't have to build the affordable units at a loss. The most common concession is a density bonus â€" allowing the developer to build more units on the same parcel of land. Even modest increases in density can have a boost for affordability, and the good news is we now know how to design higher-density housing to avoid the problems of the past. A number of cities here now use density bonuses, but we can do much more with this and with other incentives cities can offer. Many cities want to do the right thing in diversifying their housing supply; they just need more tools such as IZ. Now is a great time for citizens to play a role in nudging their local government in the right direction. All metro cities are rewriting their comprehensive plans for submission to the Metropolitan Council by the end of this year. Cities must include in those plans how they will meet their affordable housing goals for the next decade. Showing up at a public hearing and urging local officials to adopt IZ and similar strategies is one small but effective step toward more inclusive communities. Tim Thompson is president of the Housing Preservation Project, a St. Paul-based public interest law firm that uses legal and advocacy strategies to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing. His e-mail address is tthompson@hppinc.org. More information on the role of local governments in affordable housing is available at www.TCHousingPolicy.org.

[[keywords: Housing;Metro;]]

Democracy

Star Tribune Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:44:57 GMT
Editorial: Suburban school case is a cautionary tale

Lind's actions bode ill for Prior Lake-Savage district. ... His election also raises the question: What made more than 3,000 voters support someone who had been fired for improper interaction with students? ...

[[keywords: Legal;Schools;Officials;Elections;Metro;]]

Oops

Pioneer Press Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:26:46 -0700
Town Center bankers expect to be indicted

The CEO and a former top executive of the north suburban bank that financed the failed Ramsey Town Center in Anoka County are targets of a federal criminal probe and expect to be indicted, records show.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Officials;Metro;]]

Mendota Heights: call your easement insurance agency

Star Tribune Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:47:21 GMT
Land purchase saves a slice of state's past

Pilot Knob now has 25 acres of land preserved as a permanent natural resource. Eighteen acres of Pilot Knob, a cherished tract of Minnesota history that was under threat of townhouse development just a few years ago, will be preserved as open space in a deal completed Thursday. The nonprofit Trust for Public Land conveyed the land to the city of Mendota Heights, which will manage that tract and 8 1/2 acres purchased two years ago. The land will be returned to its natural state with prairie grass and oak trees for use as a passive-use park, said Bob McGillivray, the TPL's senior project manager.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

Some private easement talk up north

Star Tribune Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:20:42 GMT
Mark Johnson and Bud Stone: Who owns the forest? It's no small matter

The fragmentation of the North Woods has an impact just as clear-cutting and fires do. ... What can we do about it? First, we can manage our nonindustrial private woodlands more intensively for timber and wildlife habitat. Second, we can make better use of a tool called working forest-conservation easements. Conservation easements are legally binding agreements with landowners that keep the forestland in private hands, but prevent the land from being developed. Under conservation easements, the landowner is allowed to live on and use the land in environmentally sustainable ways. Landowners also may receive tax benefits. At the same time, the working forest-conservation easements we support allow the public to have access to the land forever for a variety of recreational uses. Beyond the environmental and recreational benefits, the land also continues to provide economic benefits for the area, such as jobs and property taxes.

[[keywords: LandUse;Legal;Metro;]]

Eagan Charter Commission ruling

Star Tribune Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:07:02 GMT
Ruling may be beginning of the end for Eagan charter group

A Scott County judge said the City Council, which had tried earlier to disband the effort, has the power to fill seven seats. The council will announce its picks next week. The days of the controversial Eagan Charter Commission may be numbered, after a judge released a ruling Tuesday that a majority of its members can be appointed by the Eagan City Council. Council members interviewed 21 applicants Tuesday night for seven seats on the Charter Commission that they were ordered to fill by Scott County Chief District Judge William Macklin. Mayor Mike Maguire took pains to inform the applicants that they weren't interviewing for the job of ending the commission, but to serve on it. "It's up to the commission to decide whether or not to disband it," he said.

[[keywords: Legal;Officials;Metro;]]