Citizens v. Plymouth Congregational Church, A03-190.

• Decision Date: 02 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. A03-190.,A03-190.
• Citation: 672 N.W.2d 13
• Parties: CITIZENS FOR A BALANCED CITY, et al., Appellants, v. PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Defendant, Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, Respondent, City of Minneapolis, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

672 N.W.2d 13

CITIZENS FOR A BALANCED CITY, et al., Appellants, v. PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Defendant, Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, Respondent, City of Minneapolis, Respondent.

No. A03-190.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

December 2, 2003.

Michael O. Freeman, DeAnne M. Hilgers, Courtney M. Rogers, Lindquist Vennum, P.L.L.P., Minneapolis, for appellants.

Mary Cullen Yeager, Deborah J. Mackay, Faegre Benson, L.L.P., Minneapolis, for respondent Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation.

Jay M. Heffern, Minneapolis City Attorney, Carol E. Lansing, Assistant City Attorney, Minneapolis, for respondent City of Minneapolis.

Considered and decided by KLAPHAKE, Presiding Judge; SCHUMACHER, Judge; and PORITSKY, Judge.¹

OPINION

ROBERT H. SCHUMACHER, Judge.

Citizens for a Balanced City and numerous individuals (collectively Citizens) appeal from the district court's summary judgment, which found that respondent City of Minneapolis had not acted arbitrarily, capriciously, or unreasonably in granting respondent Plymouth Neighborhood Church Foundation a spacing ordinance waiver, a conditional use permit, and a maximum occupancy variance. We affirm.

FACTS

In early 2001, the Foundation, a faith-based-non-profit organization, purchased an abandoned 140-bed nursing home located at 1920 LaSalle Avenue. The Foundation intended to convert the space into the "Lydia House," a supportive housing facility, consisting of 40 efficiency apartments designed as permanent homes for adult men and women who are currently homeless or living in temporary shelters and are disabled because of mental illness, chemical dependency, or HIV/AIDS. The Foundation considered 1920 LaSalle a prime location because Plymouth Congregational Church is located across the street and already operates related programs, the proposed residents currently reside in the area, and Simpson Housing Services — the supportive services provider — is in close proximity. The Foundation considered the location unique and did not believe an acceptable alternative location existed.

Because the proposed location was within an Office Residence 2 zoning district, the Foundation was required to obtain relief from certain zoning ordinances before proceeding. First, supportive housing is allowed in an Office Residence 2 zoning district as a conditional use, which requires a permit from the city. Second, a new supportive housing facility must be located at least a quarter-mile from certain types of existing facilities. There is no procedure for obtaining a variance from this spacing requirement. Third, the Foundation must obtain a variance from Minneapolis because Lydia House would be serving more than 32 residents.

At least seven facilities of the type covered by the spacing requirement currently exist within a quarter-mile of 1920 LaSalle Avenue. Those facilities include (1) 180 Degrees Inc., a community correctional facility; (2) People Incorporated Nancy Page Program, a community residential facility; (3) Oak Grove Residential Treatment, a community residential facility; (4) NU Way House, a community residential facility; (5) Home Away for Girls, a community residential facility; (6) Project Foundation, a community residential facility; and (7) Children's Residential Treatment, a community residential facility. None of these seven facilities appear to offer permanent housing to Lydia House's proposed residents.

In 2001, Foundation filed an application for a conditional use permit and a maximum occupancy variance and sought a spacing ordinance waiver, alleging the Fair Housing Amendment Act prevented the application of the spacing ordinance in this instance. Area neighborhood organizations sponsored the Lydia House Task Force to evaluate the potential impact Lydia House might have on the neighborhoods. The task force concluded Lydia House would have a detrimental impact and submitted a report to the city planning department stating the conditional use permit, variance, and waiver should not be granted. The planning department prepared a report detailing the facts and arguments the city planning commission should consider.

The commission reviewed the Foundation's application and the planning department's report and held public hearings. At the conclusion of the final hearing, the commission voted to grant a spacing ordinance waiver as a reasonable and necessary accommodation under the Fair Housing Amendment Act, to grant the conditional use permit, to grant the maximum occupancy variance, and to adopt the planning department's findings of fact.

Citizens appealed the planning commission's decision to the Minneapolis City Council. In November 2001, a public hearing was held before the city council's zoning and planning committee. The committee subsequently recommended that the city council deny the appeal and directed staff to prepare findings of fact. The city council unanimously adopted these findings and denied the appeal. Included in these finding was a conclusion that the Fair Housing Amendment Act mandated Minneapolis grant a spacing ordinance waiver because it was a necessary, reasonable accommodation for disabled persons.

Following the city council's decision, Citizens appealed to the Hennepin County District Court. The parties submitted cross-motions for summary judgment. In January 2003, the district court granted the Foundation's motion for summary judgment.

ISSUES

1. Do Citizens have standing to challenge Minneapolis's zoning decisions?

2. Was Minneapolis's grant of a spacing ordinance waiver to the Foundation a reasonable action required by the Fair Housing Amendment Act?

3. Was Minneapolis's grant to the Foundation of a conditional use permit and a maximum occupancy variance reasonable?

ANALYSIS

1. Minneapolis challenges Citizens' standing to challenge its zoning decisions arguing Citizens has not complied with general standing doctrine and that they are not "aggrieved persons" under Minn.Stat. § 462.361, subd. 1 (2002). When a party does not have standing, a court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter. Annandale Advocate v. City of Annandale, 435 N.W.2d 24, 27 (Minn.1989) (stating standing is essential to court's exercise of jurisdiction). Because standing is essential to a justiciable controversy, standing can be raised at any time. See Lucio v. Sch. Bd. of Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 625, 574 N.W.2d 737, 739 n. 2 (Minn.App. 1998),

review denied (Minn. Apr. 30, 1998).

Standing is acquired when a party has suffered some "injury-in-fact" or when a party is the beneficiary of some legislative enactment granting standing. State by Humphrey v. Philip Morris Inc., 551 N.W.2d 490, 493 (Minn.1996)

. Standing to address zoning decisions is statutorily granted. Minn.Stat. § 462.361, subd. 1. The statute provides:

Any person aggrieved by an ordinance, rule, regulation, decision or order of a governing body or board of adjustments and appeals acting pursuant to sections 462.351 to 462.364 may have such ordinance, rule, regulation, decision or order, reviewed by an appropriate remedy in the district court, subject to the provisions of this section.

Id. (emphasis added). Because standing is statutorily defined in this case, Minneapolis's reliance on "general standing doctrine" or "injury-in-fact" analysis is misplaced. See Philip Morris Inc., 551 N.W.2d at 495.

The proper focus for a standing determination under Minn.Stat. § 462.361 is whether the party seeking review is an "aggrieved" person. A person is "aggrieved" when a municipality's action adversely "operates on his rights of property or bears directly upon his personal interest." Stansell v. City of Northfield, 618 N.W.2d 814, 819 (Minn.App.2000) (quotation omitted), review denied (Minn. Jan. 26, 2001). Additionally, a party must allege "particularized injuries" to his or her property rights or personal interests. Id.

Here, Citizens alleged the following harms would result from Minneapolis's actions:

(1) [A] hyper-concentration of those with mental illness or chemical dependency rising to the level of one-third of the population in the defined neighborhood[;]

(2) [E]rosion of the neighborhood's well-established diversity[;]

(3) [I]ncreased crime and behavior requiring police intervention. Block patrols have experienced difficulty recruiting patrol walkers as a result of the existing level of crime and threatening conditions. The addition of Lydia House increases the population needing protection from crime and threatening conditions and increases the likelihood of incidents requiring police intervention[;]

(4) [I]ncreased resources from those living and working within the defined neighborhood, in particular to assist a project that has been poorly organized and developed by a group lacking experience and expertise in providing for this population[; and]

(5) [D]eterrence of positive new business development, deterrence of retaining current businesses and deterrence of families moving into the neighborhood, resulting in a decline in the livability of the neighborhood and an increase in blight. This includes the loss of the Turtle Bread development at Nicollet and Franklin subsequent to ... [Minneapolis's] granting of the waiver for Lydia House.

These statements demonstrate particularized injuries to Citizens' rights of property or their personal interest. We conclude Citizens is an aggrieved person under Minn.Stat. § 462.361, subd. 1 and therefore, has standing to challenge Minneapolis's zoning decision.

2. It is undisputed that the proposed residents of Lydia House are disabled, Lydia House is a supportive housing facility requiring a spacing ordinance waiver, the Fair Housing Amendment Act applies to municipal zoning ordinances, and Minneapolis determined the Fair Housing Amendment Act required them to grant a waiver because it was a reasonable and necessary accommodation for disabled persons. But Citizens argue the district court erred in finding the federal Fair Housing Ame...