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MEMORANDUM <br /> <br /> <br />TO: General Public <br /> <br />FROM: City Attorney <br />City of St. Anthony <br />DATE: September 8, 2016 <br /> <br />RE: Lowry Grove Manufactured Home Park Closure <br /> <br />On June 15, 2016, the City of St. Anthony received from Continental Property Group notice that <br />it had purchased the Lowry Grove manufactured home park (“the Park”). The notice also <br />contained a closure statement indicating that Continental Property Group intends to close the <br />Park by March 15, 2017. <br />When the City receives a closure statement from the owner of a manufactured home park, it <br />automatically becomes subject to certain duties imposed by state and city law. The Minnesota <br />Statutes require the City to schedule a public hearing on a park closure when a closure <br />statement concerning that park is received. Minn. Stat. § 327C.095, subd. 3. The St. Anthony <br />City Code requires that a public hearing be held within 90 days of receiving a park closure <br />statement. St. Anthony City Code § 111.094. <br />The Minnesota Statutes and City Code further require that the following tasks be completed <br />during the public hearing: <br /> <br /> Review the closure statement, St. Anthony Code § 111.094; Minn. Stat. § 327C.095, <br />subd. 4; <br /> <br /> Review and evaluate the impact the closure may have on displaced residents and <br />the park owner, St. Anthony Code § 111.094; Minn. Stat. § 327C.095, subd. 4; <br /> <br /> Inform displaced residents that they may be eligible for payments from the Minnesota <br />manufactured home relocation trust fund under Minnesota Statute Section 462.A.035 <br />as compensation for reasonable relocation costs, Minn. Stat. § 327C.095, subd. 4; <br />and <br /> <br /> Appoint a neutral third party to act as paymaster and arbitrator, with decision-making <br />authority to resolve any questions or disputes regarding any contributions to the trust <br />fund by the park owner and disbursements from the trust fund to home owners. Id. <br />Minnesota Statutes preempt, or override, all provisions of the City Code relating to <br />compensation of manufactured home owners displaced by the park closure. Id. at § 327C.095, <br />subd. 15. <br />We are aware of the existence of a lawsuit challenging the legality of the sale of the Park to <br />Continental Property Group. The City has neither the authority nor the competence to judge <br />such a dispute. Nor does the City have any discretion under the law to modify the legal duties it <br />must undertake upon receiving a closure statement. Accordingly, a public hearing on the <br />closure of Lowry Grove Manufactured Home Park must be held by September 13, 2016.