Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 04/20/2015 - Joint with Planning Comm

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RELEVANT LINKS: Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 1(c). Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 3(a). Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 3(c). Tollefson Dev., Inc. v. City of Elk River, 665 N.W.2d 554 (Minn. Ct. App. 2003). Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 2(a). Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 2(c). Hans Hagen Homes v City of Minnetrista, 728 NW 2d 536 (Minn. 2007). Johnson v Cook County, 786 N.W.2d 291 (Minn. 2010). Minn. Stat. § 15.99, subd. 2(b). Building permits are issued pursuant to the State Building Code to regulate the construction process, they do not regulate the use of land that may occur in a particular zoning district. Therefore, they are not "related to zoning." 2. Applications A request must be submitted in writing on the city's application form, if one exists. A request not on the city's form must clearly identify the approval sought on the first page. The city may reject a request not on the city's form as incomplete, if the request does not include information required by the city. The request also is considered incomplete if it does not include the application fee. The 60 -day time period does not begin to run if the city notifies the landowner in writing within 15 business days of receiving the application that the application is incomplete. The city must also state what information is missing. If a city grants an approval within 60 days of receiving a written request, and the city can document this, it meets the time limit even if that approval includes certain conditions the applicant must meet. Subsequently, if the applicant fails to meet the conditions, the approval may be revoked or rescinded. An applicant cannot use the revocation or rescission to claim the city did not meet the 60 -day time limit When a zoning applicant materially amends their application, the 60 -day period runs from the date of the written request for the amendment, not from the date of the original application. However, minor changes to a zoning request should not affect the running of the 60 -day period. 3. Denials If an agency or a city denies a request, it must give written reasons for its denial at the time it denies the request. When a multimember governing body such as a city council denies a request, it must state the reasons for denial on the record and provide the applicant with a written statement of the reasons for denial. The written statement of the reasons for denial must be consistent with reasons stated in the record at the time of denial. The written statement of reasons for denial must be provided to the applicant upon adoption. State statute provides that the failure of a motion to approve an application constitutes a denial, provided that those voting against the motion state on the record the reasons why they oppose the request. This situation usually occurs when a motion to approve fails because of a tie vote, or because the motion fails to get the required number of votes to pass. League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 1/20/2015 Planning Commission Guide Page 20