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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance 1014MU210\5\960017.v4 ORDINANCE NO. 1014 CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW COUNTY OF RAMSEY STATE OF MINNESOTA AN ORDINANCE ADDING A NEW CHAPTER 38 TO TITLE III OF THE MOUNDS VIEW CITY CODE REGARDING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS THE CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW ORDAINS: SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Mounds View hereby amends Title III by adding a new chapter as follows: Chapter 38: Discriminatory Covenants 38.001 Findings 38.002 Definitions 38.003 Discharge of Discriminatory Covenants 38.004 Discriminatory Covenants Prohibited 38.999 Penalty § 38.001 Findings. (A)Discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to prevent persons of color and non-Christian individuals from buying or occupying property in certain areas, and they were common throughout the United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s; and (B) The purpose of discriminatory covenants was to racially and religiously homogenize communities by excluding persons of color and non-Christian individuals from Mounds View. These tools segregated the metro area and built a hidden system of apartheid; and (C) In 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to expose the racist practices that shaped the landscape of the metro area. Mapping Prejudice researched restrictive covenants in Ramsey County and created the first-ever comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American city. As of February 2024, the project mapped 5458 covenants in Ramsey County, including 531 covenants in Mounds View; and (D) An example of a covenant in Mounds View declared that "No person or persons other than of the Caucasian race shall be permitted to occupy said premises or any part thereof”; and (E)The discriminatory covenants exist in Mounds View throughout the city; and (F)Restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable. Legal efforts to eliminate Discriminatory Covenants include Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory Covenants and the Minnesota legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new covenants, but existing covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and (G)As a result of these judicial and legislative actions, today, Minnesota law and federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal prohibitions extend to the refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed, circulated, or posted, any limitation, specification, or Ordinance No. 1014 Page 2 law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal prohibitions extend to the refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed, circulated, or posted, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status; and (H) In 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law authorizing property owners to individually discharge or renounce discriminatory covenants by recording a discharge form in the county property records; and (I) Discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership, accumulation of wealth, property transfers, mortgage eligibility, rental eligibility, property values, property tax base, internet access, and more. Discriminatory covenants fortified systemic racism and compounded economic divestment in specific communities within Ramsey County; and (J) The State of Minnesota, including the City of Mounds View, recognizes the harm that Discriminatory Covenants, and the racial, religious, and other discriminatory practices that they represent, cause to society in general and to the individuals who are adversely affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination through the presence of discriminatory covenants in the public land records; and (K) The City of Mounds View disavows and condemns the past use of discriminatory covenants and prohibits discriminatory covenants from being used in the future. § 38.002 Definitions. "Discriminatory Covenant" means any restrictive covenant filed against any property that restricts to whom property may be conveyed based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status. § 38.003 Discharge of Discriminatory Covenants. (A) Required. No person shall sell, give, or transact a change in title or property ownership of real property with one or more buildings or structures, without receiving a certificate from the city. (B) Application. Unless the property owner already has a certificate for a property, the owner or owner's representative is required to obtain a certificate before the property is sold, gifted or transferred, and before the owner or owner's representative enters into any contract for deed or other transaction changing the party responsible for the property. (C) Issuance of Certificate (1) A certificate shall be issued by the city if - (a) The applicant submits title evidence showing no discriminatory covenant for the property. (b) The applicant submits documentation showing the discriminatory covenant has been discharged. Ordinance No. 1014 Page 3 (c) The applicant submits the form required to discharge discriminatory covenants to the city for filing with Ramsey County. The City may provide notary and mailing services. The certificate shall not be issued unless the form is accepted and filed with Ramsey County. (d) The applicant files the required form to discharge the discriminatory covenant at the time of closing. (D) City Records. The city shall maintain a list of all properties that it has been informed have a discriminatory covenant and a list of all properties for which a certificate has been issued. § 38.004 Discriminatory Covenants Prohibited. Discriminatory covenants are prohibited in the City of Mounds View and may not be filed against any property in the City. 38.999 Penalty. Violation of this section shall not result in a petty misdemeanor or criminal prosecution. Violations of this Chapter shall be charged as an administrative offense subject to City Code, section 130.002. SECTION 2. In accordance with Section 3.07 of the City Charter, City staff shall have the following summary printed in the official City newspaper in lieu of the complete ordinance: On July 22, 2024, the City Council adopted Ordinance 1014, adding a new chapter 38 to Title III of the Mounds View City Code regarding the discharge of Discriminatory Covenants. A printed copy of the ordinance is available for inspection during regular business hours at Mounds View City Hall and is available online at the City's web site located at www.moundsviewmn.org. SECTION 3. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days from and after its passage and publication, in accordance with Section 3.09 of the City Charter. Introduction and First Reading by the Mounds View City Council on: July 8, 2024. Second Reading and Adoption by the Mounds View City Council on: July 22, 2024. Publication Date: Attest: i Brian Beeman Assistant City Administrator (SEAL)