Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/07/2016

Home

Zoning Bulletin March 25, 2016 I Volume 10 I Issue 6 Citation: Meleyco Partnership No. 2 v. City of West St. Paul, 2016 WL 281229 (Minn. Ct. App. 2016) MINNESOTA (02/25/16) This case addressed the issue of whether a tenant's cessation of retail activities triggered the discon- tinuance of a property owner's use of a nonconfoiiiiing sign, such that the nonconforming use was abandoned after one year pursuant to the city's zoning ordinance. The Background/Facts: Meleyco Partnership No. 2 ("Meleyco") owned property in West St. Paul (the "City"). In 1971, Meleyco law- fully erected a pylon sign on the property. More than two decades later, the City enacted an ordinance that restricted the use of pylon signs. Meleyco's pylon sign thereafter constituted a legal, noncon- forming use that was grandfathered under the City's zoning ordinance (the "Ordinance"). City Ordinance § 4.2(1) provided that: "[a]ny Structure or Use lawfully existing upon the Effective Date of this Ordinance may be continued at the size and in the manner of operation existing upon such date except as hereinafter specified." Specifically with regard to signs, the City's Ordinance § 37.7(1) provided that: "A Sign that is legally established upon the effective date of this Ordinance may be continued at the size and in the manner of operation existing upon such date except as specified in this Section." The Ordinance further provided that: "Whenever the use of a Legally Established Noncon- forming Sign is discontinued. . .any future use. . .shall be in conformity." (City Ordinance § 37.7(1)(a)(v).) Under the City Ordinance, discontinuance of a use of a'legally nonconforming sign for more than one year was presumed to be abandonment of the nonconforming sign use. In 1997, Meleyco entered into a lease with Pawn America, which gave Pawn America the right to use the property and the pylon sign through April 30, 2014. In November 2012, Pawn America discontin- ued its retail operations at the property, but it continued to use the property for storage and other business -related purposes through the end of its lease term, which again was April 30, 2014. With regard to the pylon sign, in April 2013, Pawn America covered the pylon sign, effectively making it blank. In February 2014, the City's zoning administrator sent Meleyco a notice stating that the sign was considered abandoned since the prop- erty had been "vacant" since November 2012. Meleyco appealed. The City's committee of adjustments upheld the zoning administra- tor's decision. The committee agreed that: (1) "The cessation of operations by Pawn America constituted a discontinuation of the use ©2016 Thomson Reuters 3