Haen v. Renville County Board of Commissioners

495 N.W.2d 466, 1993 Minn. App. LEXIS 137, 1993 WL 27652
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedFebruary 9, 1993
DocketC9-92-1511
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 495 N.W.2d 466 (Haen v. Renville County Board of Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haen v. Renville County Board of Commissioners, 495 N.W.2d 466, 1993 Minn. App. LEXIS 137, 1993 WL 27652 (Mich. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

DAVIES, Judge.

Appellants, Francis and Ann Haen and Gary and Victoria Eekhoff, seek a peremptory writ of mandamus. On appeal from the partial denial of their petition, they argue the trial court erred in concluding that Renville County officials did not act arbitrarily and capriciously and also followed the proper procedures in approving ValAdCo’s application for a conditional use permit. We affirm.

FACTS

Respondent ValAdCo, a farmer-owned cooperative, seeks to build a hog breeding facility in section 34 of Crooks Township in Renville County. Appellants live near the site. The site is zoned A-l Agricultural, which permits the facility, but only with a conditional use permit.

In its application for a conditional use permit, ValAdCo answered the question asking for a description of the conditional use request by stating, “Rezoning to the A-2C Classification for operation of a hog farrowing to feeder pig facility.”

The county planning commission held a public hearing on ValAdCo’s application on September 17, 1991, and the matter was continued until October 1, 1991. The October meeting was announced at the September hearing. The commission held another public hearing on March 17, 1992. The Renville County Zoning Administrator published notice of the September and March hearings and sent notices of these hearings to neighboring property owners and local governments. The published and mailed notice stated:

ValAdCo requests reclassification of the parcel of land described above from A-l and [sic] A-2C for the purpose of construction and operating a commercial hog farrowing to feeder pig facility.

At the March 17 meeting, the planning commission recommended to the county board that ValAdCo’s application be denied.

The county board of commissioners met on March 24, 1992, to consider the planning commission’s recommendation. No notices of the county board meeting were published or mailed. The board, contrary to the planning commission’s recommendation, approved

the conditional use permit application of ValAdCo for zoning reclassification from A-l to A-2C for the purpose of establishing a commercial hog breeding and gestation facility.

The board resolution, thus, merged the requests for a conditional use permit and rezoning. Each commissioner orally listed the reasons for his or her decision, but the board made no written findings.

Appellants then filed a petition for a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering respondents to enforce the county zoning ordinances. Specifically, appellants sought a writ ordering the Renville County officials (1) to publish notice of the board's intent to amend the zoning ordinance before taking that action; (2) to hold separate hearings on the issues of rezoning and the conditional use permit; (3) to return ValAdCo’s conditional use application because it sought an improper use; and, finally, (4) to vacate the approval of the rezoning and the conditional use permit because the proper proce *469 dures had not been followed. ValAdCo was allowed to intervene in the matter.

The trial court, determining that published notice of an intent to consider rezoning is required, granted appellants’ petition for a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering the board to give such notice before holding a meeting to rezone. The trial court also vacated the zoning reclassification because the proper notice had not been given.

But on the key issue, the trial court denied appellants’ petition seeking invalidation of the conditional use permit. The trial court concluded that county officials had followed the proper procedure in approving the conditional use permit. The trial court determined that the board was not required to give notice, that it considered the required factors as specified in the ordinance, and that it did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when it granted the permit. The trial court further stated that because section 34 had not been rezoned properly, ValAdCo would have to comply with the regulations for the existing A-l zone when building and operating its facility. Those regulations, with which ValAd-Co is ready to comply, relate to vehicle parking.

ISSUES

I. Did the trial court err in giving partial relief on the peremptory writ of mandamus?

II. Did the Renville County officials follow the proper procedures in granting the conditional use permit?

III. Did the board act arbitrarily and capriciously in granting the conditional use permit?

ANALYSIS

On appeal from a trial court’s order denying a petition for mandamus relief, we will reverse the trial court’s decision only when “there is no evidence reasonably tending to sustain the trial court’s findings.” Popp v. County of Winona, 430 N.W.2d 19, 22 (Minn.App.1988) (citing State ex rel. Banner Grain Co. v. Houghton, 142 Minn. 28, 30, 170 N.W. 853, 853 (1919)), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. Nov. 23, 1988). We need not defer to the ultimate conclusions of law reached by the trial court. Id.

A writ of mandamus may be issued “to compel the performance of an act which the law specially enjoins as a duty resulting from an office.” Minn.Stat. § 586.01 (1990). A county taxpayer may petition for a writ of mandamus requiring a county board to enforce the county zoning ordinances. Minn.Stat. § 394.37, subd. 4 (1990); Scinocca v. St. Louis County Bd. of Comm’rs, 281 N.W.2d 659, 860-61 (Minn.1979). To obtain the writ of mandamus, a petitioner must show that the board had a clear and present duty to perform the act requested or, if the act was discretionary, “that failure to perform it ‘was so arbitrary and capricious as to constitute a clear abuse of discretion.’ ” McIntosh v. Davis, 441 N.W.2d 115, 118 (Minn.1989) (quoting Baker v. Connolly Cartage Corp., 239 Minn. 72, 74, 57 N.W.2d 657, 658 (1953)).

I.

Appellants first argue that a petition for mandamus must be granted or denied in its entirety and that the trial court erred by granting only partial relief. We disagree. A trial court considering a petition for a peremptory writ of mandamus “may grant the relief in any form consistent with the case made by the complaint, and embraced within the issues.” State v. Weld, 39 Minn. 426, 429, 40 N.W. 561, 562 (1888); see also State ex rel. Babcock v. County of Chisago, 115 Minn. 6, 8, 131 N.W. 792, 792-93 (1911) (court not required to either grant or deny petition for peremptory writ of mandamus seeking payment of an incorrect amount but instead could grant peremptory writ ordering payment of correct amount). Accordingly; the trial court was not required to either grant or deny appellants’ petition for relief in its entirety, but instead was free to grant relief in a form consistent with the case made.

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495 N.W.2d 466, 1993 Minn. App. LEXIS 137, 1993 WL 27652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haen-v-renville-county-board-of-commissioners-minnctapp-1993.