The Minnesota Appeals Court has a lot of power, but in the case of Lance Johnson vs. Cook County, local zoning ordinances trump the state.
An August 4, 2009 Minnesota Court of Appeals decision ruled in favor of Johnson, who had taken Cook County to court when his request to rezone his Lutsen property was denied in 2001. The property, which fronts Highway 61 between Isak Hansen and the
” Caribou Trail, had been zoned single family residential (R-1) but became general commercial (GC) upon the decision of the Court of Appeals.
The decision was based on the failure of the Cook County Planning Commission to provide Johnson written notice of its decision within 60 days.
Because a commercial zoning designation would be inconsistent with both the county’s 1997 Land Use Guide Plan and the Lutsen Town Center Plan that was added to the Land Use Guide Plan in 2004, the county board voted August 7 to request that the Planning Commission return the property back to a residential zoning designation.
The Planning Commission held a hearing Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Lance Johnson was not in attendance, but he had hired a stenographer from Cloquet to record the meeting.
Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson told the commission that his office had received five letters expressing support for rezoning the property back to residential status.
Nelson stated that despite the Court of Appeals ruling, the county has the right to make the zoning change. On behalf of the county, the Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust (MCIT) is appealing the judges’ decision. The August 4 ruling could have ramifications for counties across the state, and MCIT wanted to pursue the case.
Planning Commissioner Lloyd Speck wondered why Johnson would take the issue to court if he knew the county could zone the property back to residential anyway.
Planning Commissioner John Barton wanted to know where the MCIT case stood. It seems like a “whack-a-mole” kind of thing, he said, to “take Mr. Johnson down now” while the court case is still pending.
Nelson wasn’t sure of the current status of the appeal but said MCIT’s legal advice to the county was to stick to its zoning ordinances.
Is there any power behind the court’s ruling? Barton wondered. It seems unbalanced to rezone it back tonight with the case pending and the applicant not here, he said. To rezone it tonight, he continued, would be to “short circuit” what could come out of the appeal.
What would happen if the property were sold and developed as commercial now while it’s still commercial? Commissioner Shari Baker asked. A lot of community input went into the county zoning ordinance and the Lutsen town plan, she said.
Commissioner Sam Parker said he supported the rezoning but wished he could hear Johnson’s reasons for why this was so important to him.
Commissioner Richard Olson made a motion to rezone the property back to residential and to accept the finding and considerations outlined in a report of the situation read by Tim Nelson at the beginning of the meeting.
Lloyd Speck seconded the motion.
“I’m just not comfortable rushing this through,” said Barton. He said he would prefer to let Johnson keep the current zoning status until the higher court responds.
“We have a set of rules to follow,” said Speck. If Johnson wants to spend his money fighting it, he can, but he’s going against what the community has already decided, he said.
The board voted 6-1 in favor of rezoning the property back to residential. John Barton cast the sole nay vote.
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