07-12-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Katie Larsen March 12, 2021 Page 2 In response to enforcement letters sent by the City following adoption of the Stable Ordinance, Mr. Stowe, a lay person acting without benefit of legal counsel, acquiesced to the City’s demands and applied for a CUP for a commercial stable, which was approved on November 9, 2020 (“2020 CUP”). The November 9, 2020 City Council meeting minutes (“Minutes”) in which the council discussed the 2020 CUP application indicated confusion as to the status of the SUP: “Mayor Rafferty received confirmation that the former conditional use permit expired recently or long ago. Staff suggested it was mostly likely a long time ago.” Minutes 139-140. These assertions contradict the 2018 Staff Report, and the City has provided no foundation to support the assertion that the SUP had expired. The 2020 CUP was subject to several conditions that significantly limited the Arena operations, proposing to curtail and diminish horse operations that have remained unfettered at the Property for the last fifty years. The conditions included a maximum of 12.5-25 animals, a new and unreasonable restriction on the 30,000 square foot Arena. In addition, the City demanded that Mr. Stowe surrender the SUP in exchange for the CUP. Upon review of these facts, this office has concluded that the SUP remains a property right held by the Property’s owners and that the City has not lawfully terminated the SUP. Mr. Stowe will not surrender his rights under the SUP in exchange for an inferior and unnecessary CUP. The Commercial Stable Ordinance is Inapplicable to the Property Minnesota law provides that “any nonconformity, including the lawful use or occupation of land or premises existing at the time of the adoption of an additional control under this chapter, may be continued, including through repair, replacement, restoration, maintenance, or improvement, but not including expansion, unless . . . the nonconformity or occupancy is discontinued for a period of more than one year.” Minn. Stat. Sec. 462.357, subd. 1e. This law establishes minimum protections from government overreach to ensure that newly- adopted ordinances and land use controls are not used to force the removal of an existing legal use. Here, the Arena use was established in 1968 under the SUP. Despite occasional use for other activities (including a BMX racing track) the Property continued to operate as an Arena, as was overtly and unequivocally acknowledged in the 2018 Staff Report. Again, the 2018 Staff Report unambiguously stated that the Arena has operated as a horse training and selling facility for the past 20 years and is considered a commercial stable under the zoning ordinance. Accordingly, the Arena remains a legally nonconforming use. Mr. Stowe has every right to continue the uses allowed by the SUP, free from any City performance standards only just instituted by the Stable Ordinance. This would include, but not be limited to, the Stable Ordinance’s cap on the number of animals that may be maintained on the Property. The enforcement letters issued by the City failed to acknowledge the Stowe’s legal rights. Mr. Stowe was never required to apply for a new CUP because the use of the Property for horse operations simply continued the longstanding, legally nonconforming property use.