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Item No: 6B <br />Meeting Date: July 20, 2011 <br />Type of Business: Public Hearing <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br /> <br />To: Mounds View Planning Commission <br />From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate <br />Item Title/Subject: Proposed Code Amendments for Variance Language <br /> <br />Introduction: <br /> <br />In May 2011, Governor Dayton signed the state code changes made by the Minnesota <br />Legislature about the wording used for variances. The Mounds View City Attorney has <br />recommended that the City amend the City Code and Zoning Code to be consistent with the <br />state language. <br /> <br />Discussion: <br /> <br />During the 2011 Legislative Session, a proposal to change state code language regarding <br />variances was proposed by the League of Minnesota Cities and supported by many cities in <br />Minnesota. These changes were proposed after a ruling about a variance case was made by <br />the Minnesota Supreme Court. A few years ago, the City of Minnetonka approved a variance <br />and an opposing neighbor sued the city. The lower courts all ruled in favor of the City of <br />Minnetonka. The neighbor was adamantly against the variance and appealed the case all <br />the way to the Minnesota State Supreme Court. The Supreme Court made a surprising <br />ruling stating that the City was in error and should not have approved the variance based on <br />the literal interpretation of the variance language. The Supreme Court specifically referred to <br />the meaning of the word “hardship.” The primary change to the variance language is <br />removing the word “hardship,” and replacing it with “practical difficulty.” <br /> <br />Staff requests that the Planning Commission see the attached draft ordinance to review the <br />proposed language change. The changes are indicated by deleting the stricken language <br />and adding the underlined text. <br /> <br />Recommendation: <br /> <br />The Planning Commission should review the proposed City Code and Zoning Code <br />amendments, take testimony from staff and hold the public hearing. Resolution 947-11 is <br />attached for the Commission to take action on. <br /> <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> Heidi Heller <br />Planning Associate <br />