Cedar-Riverside Environmental Defense Fund v. Hills, Civ. No. 4-73-592.

• Decision Date: 29 July 1976
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 4-73-592.
• Parties: CEDAR-RIVERSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND, a Minnesota non-profit Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Carla Anderson HILLS, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

422 F. Supp. 294

CEDAR-RIVERSIDE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND, a Minnesota non-profit Corporation, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Carla Anderson HILLS, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 4-73-592.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Fourth Division.

March 29, 1976.

Order May 14, 1976.

Order July 29, 1976.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John H. Herman, M. Sue Wilson and Timothy Regan, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiffs.

Mel I. Dickstein, Minneapolis, Minn., for federal defendants.

David Graven and James Holmes, Minneapolis, Minn., for Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Jerome F. Fitzgerald, Minneapolis, Minn., for City of Minneapolis.

Wayne G. Popham and Loren Tucker, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendant Cedar-Riverside Associates, Inc. and its affiliated companies.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER FOR JUDGMENT

The above matter came on for trial before a Special Master, Edward J. Parker, on May 27, 1975, on issues made by the Amended Complaint.

The Special Master having heard the evidence, considered the exhibits, the arguments of counsel and being fully advised in the premises, makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. To the extent some of the Findings of Fact contain Conclusions of Law, they are adopted as such. Said Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law will be submitted to the Court for its Order for Judgment.

PROCEDURAL FINDINGS OF FACT

The Parties

(1) The plaintiffs in this action are the Cedar-Riverside Environmental Defense Fund, a Minnesota non-profit corporation composed of members who live or work in Cedar-Riverside; the individual plaintiffs are persons who live or work within or near the Cedar-Riverside Urban Renewal Area, some of whom are students at the University of Minnesota; the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group — University of Minnesota Local Board, the Model Cities Planning Council, the Model Cities Policy Board, and the Cedar-Riverside Project Area Committee, the citizens advisory committee to the Minneapolis Housing Authority on renewal in the area, all of which are organizations interested in the Cedar-Riverside area. All plaintiffs have proper standing to bring this action, having shown they are directly affected and suffer injury in fact.

(2) The defendant Carla Anderson Hills is the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Thomas T. Feeny is the Director of the Minnesota HUD Area Office; Otto Stolz is the Director of the HUD New Communities Office; and Richard H. Jefferson is the Chairman of the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA). The defendants Cedar-Riverside Associates (CRA) and its affiliated companies, Cedar-Riverside Land Corporation, Cedar-Riverside Land Company, and Cedar-Riverside Properties, collectively referred to in these findings as "Cedar-Riverside Associates", together with the defendant Batzli Electric Company, are private developers in the urban renewal area. The defendants Augsburg College, Fairview Hospital, and the University of Minnesota are institutions located within the urban renewal area.

The Project

(3) This action involves the Cedar-Riverside Urban Renewal Area, an area of approximately 336 acres located in the City of Minneapolis, bounded by Interstate 94 on the south, Interstate 35 on the west, and the Mississippi River on the north and east. The area is located between the main campus of the University of Minnesota and downtown Minneapolis. The private development in the urban renewal area consists of approximately 100 acres. It is a part of the New Communities Program and is being constructed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 4511 et seq. It is designated as the "Cedar-Riverside New Town in Town."

(4) The Urban Renewal Plan for the Cedar-Riverside area was adopted in 1968, following a period of study and planning by city agencies and community groups that began in the early 1950's. The adoption of the plan involved a finding that the area was blighted and in need of urban renewal.

(5) At one time the Cedar-Riverside area had a population of about 20,000 people, but over the years the deterioration of the neighborhood, university and hospital expansion and freeway construction caused a drop in population to a low of about 4,000 people. Cedar-Riverside Associates owns most of the property in the New Town. Only about 30 to 50 homes are owned by other persons.

(6) The development plan for the New Town contemplates a ten-stage residential and commercial development program that will cover the period from about 1972 to 1991. Upon completion, approximately 12,500 dwelling units and 2,500,000 square feet of commercial or cultural space is anticipated. A population is projected of between 25,000 and 30,000 people. The plan contemplates total clearance and new housing at 125 dwelling units/acre.

(7) Stage I of the project has already been built. It consists of approximately 1,299 dwelling units which house about 2,500 people in a combination of high-rise and low-rise structures. On August 30, 1971, HUD filed the first EIS on the project.

The Litigation

(8) On December 13, 1973, the plaintiffs began this action challenging the adequacy of the first Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), challenging compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. § 4332 et seq., the Clean Air Act of 1970, 42 U.S.C. § 1857 et seq., the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), Minn.Stat. § 116D.01 et seq., and the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, Minn.Stat. § 116B.01 et seq.

(9) At a hearing on March 22, 1974, on motions of defendants to dismiss the suit, HUD indicated to the Court its intention to prepare a second environmental impact statement on Stage II. The Court ordered an EIS on Stage II and the Cedar-Riverside project at maturity. This was embodied in a subsequent stipulation that was executed by the parties and approved by the Court on July 30, 1974. Thereafter the action was held in abeyance pending the filing of the new EIS on Stage II and the project at maturity.

The Federal and State Environmental Impact Statements

(10) The Minnesota Environmental Policy Act, Minn.Stat. 116D.01 et seq., empowers the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council to require an EIS for major actions of government agencies in the State of Minnesota. On August 21, 1974, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council designated the defendant Housing and Redevelopment Authority as responsible agent to prepare an EIS covering the Cedar-Riverside New Town Project, Stages II through X.

(11) After HUD prepared a draft of the EIS, it was distributed for review and comment on October 15, 1974. The EIS was circulated to 123 entities, consisting of 15 federal, 13 state, 2 regional, 2 county, 4 city, and 21 institutional and private agencies. Public hearings on the draft EIS were held in Minneapolis on November 25, and 26, 1974, by HUD and by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, to afford those interested an opportunity to comment on the draft statement. Extensive written comments and oral testimony were received on the draft. HUD filed the final EIS for Stage II and the entire Cedar-Riverside New Community Project on February 10, 1975. After the final EIS was filed, there was no further response or comment on it either by the plaintiffs in this action or by any other persons, other than this litigation which was commenced forthwith.

(12) The EIS was prepared over a nine-month period. It involved the services of thirty persons in HUD, plus seven consultants. In addition, other personnel from the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the City of Minneapolis, Cedar-Riverside Associates, and the Metropolitan Council were involved in developing factual data for the EIS.

(13) On March 6, 1975, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority submitted to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council the final federal EIS. The EIS was forwarded to the Environmental Quality Council for filing without comment by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

(14) The Minnesota statutes and regulations require additional factors to be considered in a state EIS including: (1) The impact of state government on any federal controls associated with the proposed action; and (2) The multi-state responsibilities associated with the proposed action. These additional state requirements were included in the final federal EIS, at the request of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Other additional procedural and substantive requirements of MEPA not satisfied in the HUD EIS are discussed at VII, infra.

(15) Under the regulations of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council, the Council has 45 days from submission to it of the final EIS to take action requiring revision or change. The Minnesota Environmental Quality Council took no action on the adequacy of the EIS within the 45 day period, indicating in its minutes the co-terminus authority of this court to review the EIS's adequacy. The defendants also concurred in this jurisdiction.

SUBSTANTIVE FINDINGS OF FACT

I. THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT IS INADEQUATE BECAUSE IT FAILS TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT DATA ON THE PROJECT'S ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS TO ALLOW ASSESSMENT OF COUNTERVAILING INTERESTS, THE FEASIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVES OR A FULL ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS.

A. Economic considerations relating to the feasibility of this project as proposed and the range of reasonable alternatives are not discussed. The EIS is inadequate in the absence thereof because of the notice to HUD of the need for major changes in the financing of the project provided by the Landauer Report.

1. The EIS, Section 2.2.2.3(f), identified an intimate relationship between land economics and the high-rise character of development. The Landauer Report, a financial evaluation of the feasibility of the Cedar-Riverside project prepared by Landauer Associates real estate consulting firm for HUD in October, 1974,...