Agenda - Council - 02/08/2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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easement because conservation easements are passive easements, not active ones. As a result, cities will have to re-record the easements every 40 years in order to maintain them. This will result in a significant administrative burden and increase costs for local units of government due to staff time, legal fees, and recording fees. Additionally, Minn. Stat. § 500.20, entitled "Defeasible Estates," provides in subd. 2a that private covenants, conditions, or restrictions that affect the title or use of real estate cease to be valid 30 years after the date of the instrument creating them and they may be disregarded. This provision was initially enacted in 1988. Minn. Stat. ch. 84C regarding conservation easements was enacted in 1985, and Minn. Stat. §§ 84.64-.65 regarding conservation restrictions were originally enacted in 1974. Because conservation easements and conservation restrictions are not listed among the restrictions that are not subject to Minn. Stat. § 500.20, subd. 2a, it is possible to conclude, by negative implication, that subd. 2a does apply to the conservation easements and conservation restrictions created by earlier enacted statues. This conclusion is inconsistent with the language in Minn. Stat. § 84C.02(b) that "a conservation easement is unlimited in duration unless the instrument creating it otherwise provides." Response: The League of Minnesota Cities supports legislation that excepts holders of conservation easements from re-recording the easements under the Minnesota Marketable Title Act and that clarifies that Minn. Stat. § 500.20, subd. 2a, does not apply to conservation easements and restrictions. 17 SD-7. Racial Equity in Minnesota Issue: Since the earliest days of its history, race and racial inequity issues have been present in Minnesota. Land acquisition and ownership, discriminatory covenants restricting homeownership to white Minnesotans, and patterns of systemic, structural, and institutional racism have brought the state to experience some of the worst racial disparities in the country for employment, housing, education, health, criminal justice, and law enforcement. Explicit and implicit bias toward people of color are prevalent in public policies and other rules governing Minnesota residents. Racial equity is accomplished when race can no longer be used to predict success, and we have government and systems that work for all. The data is readily available from the U.S. Census, the state demographer, and local government. For example, Minnesota ranks 50th in the nation for median income equality and 49th in homeownership equality. The killing of George Floyd and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color have further highlighted the critical need to overhaul our laws, policies, and practices to address systemic racism. Racial demographics are continually changing throughout the state. According to the state demographer, 20 percent of Minnesota's population are people of color. All racial groups have recently increased in the state, but between 2010 and 2018, Minnesota has added five times as many people of color as white residents. While every city may be in a different place, the need for racial equity and the need to repair past racial harms touches all communities, from the most racially diverse cities to cities with very few or no people of