State v. City Of Rochester

268 N.W.2d 885 (1978)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

A 1.18-acre tract of land was owned by the A.C. Gooding Trust. It was located three blocks away from the central business district in Rochester. The eastern part was zoned R-2, and the western one-third was zoned R-1. The land was surrounded by multi-family dwellings, single-family homes, a 24-unit apartment, and a 35-unit condominium. Diagonally across the street, the Mayo Clinic owned a vacant lot that was zoned institutional. The Trust entered into an agreement to sell the land to Younge contingent upon rezoning to R-4. Younge wanted to build a 60-unit condominium later amended to a 49 unit. It was submitted to the Rezoning Commission, and it was recommended that it be tabled to study if the land use plan should be amended. The Commission recommended that the application be denied as inconsistent with the city’s land use plan, which called for low-density residential use of the property. The City Council rejected the Commission’s recommendation and passed the rezoning to R-4. There was no written reason or findings to support the rezoning. Minutes from the meeting showed that the council was worried about the city’s expanded housing requirements and that this land was close to downtown in a neighborhood with two border streets having high-density housing. Ps are individual owners of residences abutting the property that appeared at the public hearing and protested the rezoning. Ps filed a suit on April 8, 1977, challenging the validity of the rezoning ordinance seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The court denied the requested relief. Ps appealed.