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18-CV-21-2546
STATE OF MINNESOTA DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF CROW WING NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, Court File No. 18-CV-21-1715
Plaintiffs, FINDINGS OF FACT
Vs. CONCLUSION OF LAW
ORDER FOR JUDGMENT
City of Crosslake, Minnesota and its AND
Planning Commission/Board of JUDGMENT
Adjustment,
Defendants.
The above captioned matter having come on for hearing on the 9" day of March,
2022 before the Honorable Matthew Mallie and Plaintiff's Larry M. Anderson and Kim C,
Anderson having appeared by Zoom with their attorneys, Charpentier & Lange and
Raymond A. Charpentier; and
Defendant having appeared by its attorneys, Breen and Person and John Bradley
Person.
NOW THEREFORE, the Court makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
That Plaintiff's, Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, own a tract of land in the
County of Crow Wing, State of Minnesota legally described to-wit:
That part of Government Lot Eight (8), Section Seven (7), Township One
Hundred Thirty-seven (137), Range Twenty-seven (27), described as follows:
Beginning at a point which is 630.28 feet due North and 286.29 feet due East
of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8 thence running North 52
degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds East 125.43 feet to a point which is 706.91
feet due North and 385.59 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said
Government Lot 8, thence North 7 degrees 29 minutes West 165 feet to a
point which is 870.51 feet due North and 364.11 feet due East of the
Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence 74 degrees 29 minutes
West 194 feet more or less to the Easterly shoreline of Hidden Lake, thence
Southerly along said shoreline to its intersection with a line bearing South 68
degrees 1 minute West from the point of beginning, thence North 68 degrees
1 minute East to the point of beginning and that part of said Government Lot
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8 Section 7, Township 137, Range 27, described as follows: Beginning at a
point which is 730.23 feet due North and 415.81 feet due East of the
Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence running North 7 degrees
29 minutes West 45.81 feet to a point which is 775.65 feet due North and
409.85 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8,
thence North 82 degrees 31 minutes East 3 feet more or less to the Westerly
shoreline of the Channel as constructed between Hidden Lake and the Pine
River Channel, thence Southerly along said shoreline to its intersection with
a line bearing North 52 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds East from the point of
beginning, thence South 52 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds West 17 feet more
or less to the point of beginning.
That Plaintiff's applied for variances as shown on Exhibit 20 which is attached hereto
and made a part hereof.
That the parties agree that the tract owned by Larry M. Anderson and Kim C.
Anderson does not have a “building envelope”.
That the lack of a “building envelope” would not allow the building of any structure
on the tract owned by Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson without a variance from the
zoning ordinance of the City of Crosslake.
That Exhibit 104 submitted to the court allows the court an aerial view ofthe subject
tract.
That Exhibit 104 allows the court to visually find that the Anderson tract is
substantially larger than most tracts in the general vicinity.
That existing structures are prevalent on most tracts in the vicinity of the Anderson
tract, though many of those lots are of lesser size than the Anderson tract.
That many variances have been granted by the City of Crosslake in the vicinity of the
Anderson tract so that structures could be placed on those tracts.
That at the suggestion of the Board of Adjustment, Anderson’s reduced the requested
house size from three bedrooms to two bedrooms.
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18-CV-21-2546
That at the suggestion of the Board of Adjustment, the Anderson’s changed the
location of the proposed structure so that trees on the Anderson tract would be preserved.
That the City of Crosslake had adopted a “Findings of Fact” form for use in evaluating
variance requests and that form was used by the Board of Adjustments at Exhibits 6, 7 and
8.
That the form referenced above specified that the Board of Adjustment was to weigh
its answers to the six YES/NO questions set forth on the form in determining whether to
grant or deny a variance request.
That the Crosslake Zoning Administrator “advised” the Board of Adjustment that
State law required that if any of the six questions were answered “No” that the Board of
Adjustment was required to deny the variance.
That no member of the Board of Adjustment questioned the accuracy of the Zoning
Administrator expressed statement regarding the necessity to deny a variance request once
a negative answer was given to any of the evaluation questions.
That one Board of Adjustment member went as far as stating that he would be
reluctant to allow anything to be built on the Anderson tract.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
That Andersons, in conjunction with the City of Crosslake have established the basis
for a “practical difficulty” in the use of the Anderson tract since they agree that the
ordinance restrictions eliminate any “building envelope” despite the large size of the tract
compared to the tracts in the vicinity.
That Andersons are legally entitled to reasonable use of their tract of land.
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18-CV-21-2546
That the Crosslake Zoning Ordinance, without the grant of any variances, denies the
Anderson's of any reasonable use of their property, and ignores the practical difficulty of
using a tract that has no building envelope.
That the Crosslake Board of Adjustment improperly applied the statutory
requirements in evaluating the appropriateness of granting the relief requested by
Andersons.
That a remand of the matter to the Crosslake Board of Adjustment to modify it’s
erroneous decision is inappropriate and only allows the City the opportunity to try to
identify ways to justify its inappropriate actions.
That Plaintiffs, Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, are entitled to a judgment
ordering that the City of Crosslake grant their variance requests.
ORDER FOR JUDGMENT
Let Judgment be enter accordingly, forthwith.
Dated at Brainerd, Minnesota, this day of , 2022.
BY THE COURT
By
Honorable Matthew Mallie
Judge of District Court
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18-CV-21-2546
JUDGMENT AND DECREE
I hereby certify that the above Conclusions of Law constitute the Judgment and
Decree of this Court.
Dated at Brainerd, Minnesota, this day of , 2022.
BY ORDER OF THE COURT
Dana Anderson
District Court Administrator
By
Deputy Clerk
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18-CV-21-2546
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Preview
18-CV-21-2546 STATE OF MINNESOTA DISTRICT COURT COUNTY OF CROW WING NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, Court File No. 18-CV-21-1715 Plaintiffs, FINDINGS OF FACT Vs. CONCLUSION OF LAW ORDER FOR JUDGMENT City of Crosslake, Minnesota and its AND Planning Commission/Board of JUDGMENT Adjustment, Defendants. The above captioned matter having come on for hearing on the 9" day of March, 2022 before the Honorable Matthew Mallie and Plaintiff's Larry M. Anderson and Kim C, Anderson having appeared by Zoom with their attorneys, Charpentier & Lange and Raymond A. Charpentier; and Defendant having appeared by its attorneys, Breen and Person and John Bradley Person. NOW THEREFORE, the Court makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT That Plaintiff's, Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, own a tract of land in the County of Crow Wing, State of Minnesota legally described to-wit: That part of Government Lot Eight (8), Section Seven (7), Township One Hundred Thirty-seven (137), Range Twenty-seven (27), described as follows: Beginning at a point which is 630.28 feet due North and 286.29 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8 thence running North 52 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds East 125.43 feet to a point which is 706.91 feet due North and 385.59 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence North 7 degrees 29 minutes West 165 feet to a point which is 870.51 feet due North and 364.11 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence 74 degrees 29 minutes West 194 feet more or less to the Easterly shoreline of Hidden Lake, thence Southerly along said shoreline to its intersection with a line bearing South 68 degrees 1 minute West from the point of beginning, thence North 68 degrees 1 minute East to the point of beginning and that part of said Government Lot S:\Clients\RAC\RAC\ANDERSON\Larry & of Fact, Kim\Zoninz\Findings etc.032222.wpd 18-CV-21-2546 8 Section 7, Township 137, Range 27, described as follows: Beginning at a point which is 730.23 feet due North and 415.81 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence running North 7 degrees 29 minutes West 45.81 feet to a point which is 775.65 feet due North and 409.85 feet due East of the Southwest corner of said Government Lot 8, thence North 82 degrees 31 minutes East 3 feet more or less to the Westerly shoreline of the Channel as constructed between Hidden Lake and the Pine River Channel, thence Southerly along said shoreline to its intersection with a line bearing North 52 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds East from the point of beginning, thence South 52 degrees 20 minutes 30 seconds West 17 feet more or less to the point of beginning. That Plaintiff's applied for variances as shown on Exhibit 20 which is attached hereto and made a part hereof. That the parties agree that the tract owned by Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson does not have a “building envelope”. That the lack of a “building envelope” would not allow the building of any structure on the tract owned by Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson without a variance from the zoning ordinance of the City of Crosslake. That Exhibit 104 submitted to the court allows the court an aerial view ofthe subject tract. That Exhibit 104 allows the court to visually find that the Anderson tract is substantially larger than most tracts in the general vicinity. That existing structures are prevalent on most tracts in the vicinity of the Anderson tract, though many of those lots are of lesser size than the Anderson tract. That many variances have been granted by the City of Crosslake in the vicinity of the Anderson tract so that structures could be placed on those tracts. That at the suggestion of the Board of Adjustment, Anderson’s reduced the requested house size from three bedrooms to two bedrooms. $:\Clients\RAC\RAC\ANDERSON\Larry & of Fact, Kim\Zonin3\Findings etc.032222.wpd Page 2 of 5 18-CV-21-2546 That at the suggestion of the Board of Adjustment, the Anderson’s changed the location of the proposed structure so that trees on the Anderson tract would be preserved. That the City of Crosslake had adopted a “Findings of Fact” form for use in evaluating variance requests and that form was used by the Board of Adjustments at Exhibits 6, 7 and 8. That the form referenced above specified that the Board of Adjustment was to weigh its answers to the six YES/NO questions set forth on the form in determining whether to grant or deny a variance request. That the Crosslake Zoning Administrator “advised” the Board of Adjustment that State law required that if any of the six questions were answered “No” that the Board of Adjustment was required to deny the variance. That no member of the Board of Adjustment questioned the accuracy of the Zoning Administrator expressed statement regarding the necessity to deny a variance request once a negative answer was given to any of the evaluation questions. That one Board of Adjustment member went as far as stating that he would be reluctant to allow anything to be built on the Anderson tract. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW That Andersons, in conjunction with the City of Crosslake have established the basis for a “practical difficulty” in the use of the Anderson tract since they agree that the ordinance restrictions eliminate any “building envelope” despite the large size of the tract compared to the tracts in the vicinity. That Andersons are legally entitled to reasonable use of their tract of land. S:\Clients\RAC\RAC\ANDERSON\Larry & of Fact, Kim\Zoninz\Findings etc.032222.wpd Page 3of 5 18-CV-21-2546 That the Crosslake Zoning Ordinance, without the grant of any variances, denies the Anderson's of any reasonable use of their property, and ignores the practical difficulty of using a tract that has no building envelope. That the Crosslake Board of Adjustment improperly applied the statutory requirements in evaluating the appropriateness of granting the relief requested by Andersons. That a remand of the matter to the Crosslake Board of Adjustment to modify it’s erroneous decision is inappropriate and only allows the City the opportunity to try to identify ways to justify its inappropriate actions. That Plaintiffs, Larry M. Anderson and Kim C. Anderson, are entitled to a judgment ordering that the City of Crosslake grant their variance requests. ORDER FOR JUDGMENT Let Judgment be enter accordingly, forthwith. Dated at Brainerd, Minnesota, this day of , 2022. BY THE COURT By Honorable Matthew Mallie Judge of District Court $:\Clients\RAC\RAC\ANDERSON\Larry & of Fact, Kim\Zonin\Findings etc.032222.wpd Page 4 of 5 18-CV-21-2546 JUDGMENT AND DECREE I hereby certify that the above Conclusions of Law constitute the Judgment and Decree of this Court. Dated at Brainerd, Minnesota, this day of , 2022. BY ORDER OF THE COURT Dana Anderson District Court Administrator By Deputy Clerk S:\Clients\RAC\RAC\ANDERSON\Larry & Kim\Zonin 3\Findings of Fact, etc.032222.wpd Page a of 2 et 18-CV-21-2546 ee +2021 Ge {TY o g Lakes LEGEND 24314 OFFICE NISSWA, TT NORMAL Areq DENCTES CENGTES DENOTES DENCTES SMILEY (218) MN ES GENERAL RFPE i/ POOL AEA % x SET = RUSH Surveying, eee POWER FOUND 56468 DRAINAGE TELEPHONE +0" ROAD, 961-0090 HIDDEN 1232.5 ELEVATION ARE bea 172°x14” SEVELGRMENT POLE SURVEYING UC, re SUITE 1AKE OX MONUMENT = (NG/D ARROWS LAKE IRON C ME rear PIPE LAXE 29) 1229.57 AAD WITH NGVD STS 29 CAP SET DELINEATED HETLAND ZO 3 Wh ; ¥ he py ~~ | \ Lo Sass Recorg So Ny . 7 TROT AND Drowing SOUTHWEST & 286.25 WNC SAREE ka IS sgone FIEY CORNER dy/dete: 630.29 Di ER o CUT (7 EAST J FTET GOVT OF DUE LOT DE Prepared & Nea Lamy far: [| YA & 8255 OF ~WORTH Lakeshore, CoVTr PONT DME NGRMAL Lar Kim AND WON § interlachen 77 8SOUTHWEST GENERAL POOL IS 304.11 € ELEV RUSH B08) BENCH FEET (RAs) ELEVATION CORNER = Road DIE DEVELOFMENT FET LUE CONT MARK Anderson 7233.00 LAKE oF = SUE NORTH TAST MCh IN PP LAKE 1225.57 5 AK] 730.23 NAVD 415.81 25 FEET | i to # 2 £351 7.&. 3. 3. J. Z 1. feet East 737. feet East ! That 364.11 its thence LEGAL Treaty Govern Chenneldegrees GENERAL to of Government of pare 3 more «7 /- PID No the The the 1 1788 ection Range 25.43 as feet EGS Zoning CONCRETE # PANS South Contours Proposed Bearings Distances Wetlands ar nt of sents Sec point COVERED intersection 487 I 487 5Q. TOTAL BITUMINOLS GRAVEL Soul 27, search duefeet - minute propesed NOTES FT. TOTAL GaRAGE HOUSE GRAVEL 52 PROPOSEDLat ith Lot Jess DESCRIPTION: (27), Southwest Part & 6, to 7, Cubic 14070657 Cubic are constructed which East Crow shown were for shown 5IDWALK PORCH TRIVIWAY ato a Goveenrrent St £ast with Bulding Shoreiand degrees is REMOVED of descoibed the line a thence based thence to paint Yerds Yards 0 house of are the described comer carne: Wing easements line to delineated 20 775.55 Lot {PART Twp to os Meight road and FROM as between North the Easterly bearing North of based of whict; be be. be as Eight is 7 is OF IMPERVIOUS feet or Southwest NAVD THE minutes point County, by 82 said follows: said 28 move surface garage moved, upon ANPERVIOUY South 18), Rolows Gov't THE due of Hidden shoreline 83. GROSS 30 137, feet. Brinks 3728258 EXISTING 706.91 degrees is North degrees restrictions, PROZOLED are the AREA begi a 68corner S31 £37C¢384 500 1,850 North of 1,700 Government Section AREA Government Beginning AREA Lake 52 seconds 29 feet PROPERTY slab Crow 31 of Beginning actual. 150. inning Watland Minnesota AND and degrees Lot Hidden {34 and due on aes said Seven t at Rge FT.) IMPERVIOUS degrees 8" minutes ! Wing recorded APLRIOLS West Lot minutes Lot ee and 8, a1 ST. the 8, 8, under 409.85 Dore: Terry licensed grade. must Service. !MPERVIOUS 17 Lake, 2(7), Nonh hereby 20 ne Minnesota. point DESCIBED or Pie that minute West County Fast feet point 27 be thenceGovernment Terns thence my feet and 3 GROSS 7. Township minutes panthence which GROSS River LAND 165 IN AREA Ls certif Propased CALCULATIONS due West feet CALCULATIONS of unrecorded, more direct 74 ich