05-02-2002 Parks Commission Agenda

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George A. LeTendre Attorney at Law 3900 Northwoods Drive Suite 250 St. Paul, MN 55112 Telephone (651) 482-8900 Facsimile (651) 482-8909 April 1, 2002 Mr. Joel R. Hanson City Administrator City of Little Canada 515 Little Canada Road Little Canada, MN 55117 Re: Palmen's v. City of Little Canada Dear Mr. Hanson, ;g V;.... .<Lr SENT VIA FACSIMILE & U. S. MAIL I am in receipt of your facsimile of an alleged interim ordinance that attempts to restrict development of two parcels of property owned by my clients. The Mayor has not signed this ordinance. Please provide me with an executed copy of the ordinance. Also, please provide me with the following: 1. A complete copy of the minutes of the meeting wherein the ordinance was passed. The ordinance reads in part: "the Little Canada City Council has authorized staff to conduct a study and to analyze existing uses,". When did the City Council make said authorization? Please provide me with a copy of the minutes of the meeting wherein said authorization was made. The ordinance attempts to limit the development on property described as: PIN No. 08 29 22 32 0010. The legal description of this property is: Lot 1, Block 1, Little Canada Mid Oaks. The ordinance cites Minn. Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4 as authority to limit development of the property. Said Statute provides that "No interim ordinance may halt, delay or impede a subdivision which has been given preliminary approval prior to the effective date of the interim ordinance." This parcel is part of an existing subdivision and therefore cannot be regulated by the cited Statute. We believe the interim moratorium is arbitrary, capricious and unlawful. It singles out one specific property/owner. The law is clear that "A municipality must exercise the authority for the purpose of protecting the planning process. A municipality may not arbitrarily enact an interim moratorium ordinance to delay or prevent a single project." Medical Services v. Cify of Savage, 487 N.W.2d 263, 267 (Minn. App. 1992). My clients will be deciding shortly if they will bring a declaratory action to overturn the moratorium.