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<br />Page 6 - July 25, 1997 <br /> <br />Z.B. <br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />Citizens again appealed to a court, which overturned the board's decision <br />and ordered that the use variance be granted. The board appealed again. <br />DECISION: Affirmed. <br />The property was unique, and Citizen's hardship was not self created. <br />Though Citizens knew the property was grandfathered as a restaurant and knew <br />the septic problem existed, it did not foresee that the problem would be severe <br />enough to shut down the restaurant. <br />Citizens tried to sell the property as a restaurant and failed. It considered <br />various options for fixing the problem, but none of those options worked. <br />Because the property could not produce a reasonable return without a variance, <br />Citizens was entitled to a variance. <br />* Editor's note: Zoning Bulletin reported on this stage of the case in the May <br />1996 issue. The citation for that decision is 638 N. Y.S.2d 179 (1996). <br /> <br />Zoning Change - Owner wants land rezoned agricultural so he can build <br />airport <br />Lindteigen v. City of Bismarck, Supreme Court of North Dakota, Docket <br />No. 960375 (North Dakota) 1997 <br />Lindteigen owned property in Lincoln Township, N.D., just south of <br />Bismarck. Several years before, a grass airstrip was on the property, but a <br />previous owner stopped using it before 1986, when the land was rezoned from <br />agricultural to rural residential. <br />When Lindteigen bought the property in 1992, he didn't first check the <br />property's zoning classification. Although zoned residential and surrounded by <br />residential developments, the property was being farmed as a nonconforming use. <br />Lindteigen wanted to establish a private airport on the property, with a <br />surrounding residential development. The development's homeowners would <br />have access to the airstrip and hangar space for private airplanes. For the landing <br />strip, he proposed using the concrete base of an unused feed bunker, in a location <br />different from that of the original grass landing strip. <br />In 1994, Lindteigen sought a zoning change and platting of the property to <br />establish the residential subdivision and airport. The Bismarck Planning <br />Commission denied the request, so Lindtergen submitted an application for the <br />subdivision, but not the airport. The planning commission and the city <br />commission approved the residential plat. Without the landing strip, Lindteigen's <br />application didn't require a zoning change. <br />Two years later, Lindteigen sought to have the property's undeveloped <br />portion rezoned as agricultural, and asked for a special-use permit to build a <br />private airport there. At a planning commission hearing, residents opposed the <br />plan, expressing concerns about noise and threats to public safety. <br />The planning commission denied the application, so Lindteigen appealed <br />to the city commission. At a city commission hearing, residents again voiced <br />concerns over the proposed airport. The city commission, after considering <br />potential effects on noise levels and community welfare, denied the application. ~ <br />