06/04/1990 Park Board Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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-2- LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY AND JUDICIAL REVIEW A municipality's -authority to require property dedication or an equivalent cash amount for park and playground purposes resides in Minnesota Statutes as amended (MSA) , Chapter 462.358, Subdivsion 2b, which in part states: go (-Subdivision regulations) . . . . may require that a reasonable portion of any proposed subdivision be dedicated to the public or preserved for public use as parks, playgrounds, trails, or open space; provided that (a) the municipality may choose to accept an equivalent (emphasis added) amount in cash from the applicant for part or all of the portion required to be dedicated to such public uses or purposes based on the fair market value of the land no later than at the time of final approval, (b) any cash payments received shall be placed in a special fund by the municipality used only for the purposes for which the money was obtained, (c) in establishing the reasonable portion to be dedicated, the regulations may consider the open space, park, recreational, or common areas and facilities which the applicant proposes to reserve for the subdivision, and (d) the municipality reasonably determines that it will need to acquire that portion of land for the purposes stated in this paragraph as a result of approval of the subdivision." In 1972, the City of Bloomington adopted a park dedication regulation pursuant to Minnesota Statutes and implemented it on a 33 lot residential subdivision by requiring the developer to make a cash dedication of $ 19,200 ($ 582/dwelling) . The City was subsequently challenged by the developer in district court on the constitutionality of both the City Code and Minnesota Statutes. The district court ruled in favor of the City and plaintiff appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court on the on the constitutional question of taking property without just compensation (Minnesota, Art. 1, Sec. 13; and United States, Fifth Amendment) and the inappropriate delegation of legislative powers to municipalities pertaining to subdivision dedication requirements . The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the lower court on August 13, 1974 [246 N.W. 2d 19] on all the issues raised on appeal. Bloomington's ordinance provided that, as a general rule, "it is reasonable to require" as a condition of subdivision approval, dedication of 10 % of subdivision property for parks or the contribution of an equivalent amount of cash. The Court ruled that this legislation was not on its face a taking of property without just compensation.