08-04-10-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

In land use cases, Minnesota courts are looking for a sufficient record of the reasons given by a city to grant or deny an application request. The reasons given by a city must be legally sufficient and have a factual basis. Minnesota case law and statutory law demand that the reasons for a city's decision on a land use case be articulated in the official record. For this reason, Staff prepares written finds of fact within the planning case report received by the Planning Commission. The findings of fact can, and should, be amended by the Planning Commission if they vote to recommend a different outcome than one recommended by Staff. Furthermore, the Planning Commission may be asked to address a specific review criterion by stating a finding of fact in their motion to approve or deny. This happens most often when Staff feels that a particular application, and its merits, could be interpreted in more than one way. In cases where the findings need to be further developed, the Planning Commission or City Council can table the application to provide staff with time to write proper findings provided the application will not exceed the 120 day review period. Staffs Role Staff s role is to prepare accurate reports outlining the background of a pp articular application, p and reviewing it against the requirements of the Zoning Code. Staff is also tasked with ensuring that the City is following the proper timeline in order to ensure that the time review limitations in State Statute 15.99 are met. In most planning cases, the City must make a decision within 60 days of receiving an application but may extend the review period an additional 60 days if needed. Beyond those 120 days, the City must receive written approval from the applicant for additional review time. In addition, Staff prepares an analysis of the application, findings of fact for the record, and the motion language to approve, table, or deny the application. In some communities, Staff is asked to provide a recommendation in the report based on their professional opinion of the facts of the case. It is useful to reflect on current practices from time to time in order to ensure that the information provided to the Planning Commission, and the format in which it is presented, is as effective as possible. Staff is requesting a brief conversation during the work session to discuss Staff s role and if there are aspects of planning case reports that the Planning Commission would like to see adjusted. Possible ZoninLy Code Amendments In light of the recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling regardingvariances, it may be a good time Y to review the Arden Hills Zoning Code for opportunities to make amendment that will circumvent the need for some variance requests altogether. There are certain types of variance requests that are more common than others. It is possible for the City p g to adopt changes to the 6