Kaylen Stiever v. Lake County

CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 16, 2026
Docketa251183
StatusUnpublished

This text of Kaylen Stiever v. Lake County (Kaylen Stiever v. Lake County) 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
Kaylen Stiever v. Lake County, (Mich. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).

STATE OF MINNESOTA IN COURT OF APPEALS A25-1183

Kaylen Stiever, et al., Appellants,

vs.

Lake County, Respondent.

Filed March 16, 2026 Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded Larkin, Judge

Lake County District Court File No. 38-CV-24-170

John P. Lesch, Lesch Law Firm, LLC, St. Paul, Minnesota (for appellants)

Kristin C. Nierengarten, Molly M. Fischl, Squires, Waldspurger & Mace P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondent)

Considered and decided by Larkin, Presiding Judge; Cochran, Judge; and Segal,

Judge.

 Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10. NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINION

LARKIN, Judge

Appellant homeowners challenge the district court’s dismissal of their negligence

and mandamus claims against respondent county for failure to state a claim upon which

relief can be granted. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

Appellants Kaylen Stiever, Jason Stiever, Stephen Brown, and Geoffrey Tolley

reside on Stanley Road in Two Harbors.1 JBL Industries is located across the street from

the appellants’ residences. The property on which JBL operates is owned by Jack Lax.2 In

March 2020, Lax, on behalf of JBL, applied for and received a conditional use permit

(CUP) for the property from respondent Lake County. In August 2021, Lax, on behalf of

JBL, applied for an expanded CUP for the property, which would authorize certain

commercial use. In September 2021, the county granted the expanded CUP with several

conditions.

Also in September 2021, appellants began to document violations of the CUP

conditions and to report those violations to the county. Appellants ultimately alleged that

JBL’s conduct resulted in excessive noise, particulate matter, and visual blight. In July

2023, a representative for the county sent appellants an email stating, “I have enough to

prove that there is a problem and violation of the conditions of the permit. I am doing my

1 Because appellants’ complaint was dismissed under Minn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(e) for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, we accept all allegations the complaint as true. Walsh v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 851 N.W.2d 598, 606 (Minn. 2014). 2 Neither JBL nor Lax are parties to the underlying lawsuit.

2 best to work with the Planning Commission and other County leadership to resolve the

problem . . . I will be working with our Attorney regarding a notice of revocation.”

Appellants’ amended complaint alleges that, in August 2023, the county held a

hearing and “the record established that [Lax] was persistently and openly violating the

terms of the CUP.” The amended complaint further alleges that the county “failed to

terminate Mr. Lax’s CUP, and failed to hold a hearing to consider evidence of the CUP

violations.”

Appellants sued the county, making three claims: negligence, inverse

condemnation, and a request for mandamus relief. The county moved the district court to

dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court

granted the county’s motion and dismissed appellants’ amended complaint in its entirety.

This appeal follows.

DECISION

Appellants challenge the district court’s dismissal of their negligence and

mandamus claims for failure to state claims upon which relief can be granted.3 A complaint

“shall contain a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled

to relief and a demand for judgment for the relief sought.” Minn. R. Civ. P. 8.01. A district

court may dismiss a complaint if the plaintiff “fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can

be granted.” See Minn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(e). “A Rule 12.02(e) motion raises the single

3 Appellants do not challenge the dismissal of their reverse-condemnation claim.

3 question of whether the complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted.”

Martens v. Minn. Mining & Mfg. Co., 616 N.W.2d 732, 739 (Minn. 2000).

“A claim is sufficient against a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim if it is

possible on any evidence which might be produced, consistent with the pleader’s theory,

to grant the relief demanded.” Walsh, 851 N.W.2d at 603. “To state it another way, under

this rule a pleading will be dismissed only if it appears to a certainty that no facts, which

could be introduced consistent with the pleading, exist which would support granting the

relief demanded.” Id. at 602 (emphasis omitted) (quotation omitted). It is “immaterial

whether or not the plaintiff can prove the facts alleged.” Martens, 616 N.W.2d at 739.

We review a rule 12 dismissal de novo. Krueger v. Zeman Constr. Co., 781 N.W.2d

858, 861 (Minn. 2010). We “consider only the facts alleged in the complaint, accepting

those facts as true and must construe all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving

party.” Bahr v. Capella Univ., 788 N.W.2d 76, 80 (Minn. 2010) (quotation omitted). But

we consider the complaint in its entirety, which includes the facts alleged in the complaint

and attachments to the complaint. See Martens, 616 N.W.2d at 740 (“[O]ur obligation is

to review the complaint as a whole, including the documents upon which respondents rely,

to determine whether as a matter of law a claim has been stated.” (emphasis added)); see

Minn. R. Civ. P. 10.03 (“A copy of any written instrument which is an exhibit to a pleading

is a part of the statement of claim . . . set forth in the pleading.”).

4 I.

Appellants contend that the district court erred in concluding that they failed to state

a claim for negligence. “Negligence is generally defined as the failure to exercise such

care as persons of ordinary prudence usually exercise under such circumstances.”

Domagala v. Rolland, 805 N.W.2d 14, 22 (Minn. 2011) (quotation omitted). The elements

of a negligence claim are “(1) the existence of a duty of care, (2) a breach of that duty, (3)

an injury, and (4) that the breach of the duty of care was a proximate cause of the injury.”

Id. “In the absence of a legal duty, the negligence claim fails.” Gilbertson v. Leininger,

599 N.W.2d 127, 130 (Minn. 1999). “The existence of a duty of care is a threshold question

because a defendant cannot breach a nonexistent duty.” Doe 169 v. Brandon, 845 N.W.2d

174, 177 (Minn. 2014).

“Minnesota law follows the general common law rule that a person does not owe a

duty of care to another . . . if the harm is caused by a third party’s conduct.” Id. at 177-78.

And, “[i]t is a basic principle of negligence law that public duties created by statute cannot

be the basis of a negligence action . . . .” Cracraft v. City of St. Louis Park, 279 N.W.2d

801, 805 (Minn. 1979). Accordingly, “a municipality does not owe any individual a duty

of care merely by the fact that it enacts a general ordinance.” Id. at 806. Instead, “[a] duty

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Related

Cracraft v. City of St. Louis Park
279 N.W.2d 801 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1979)
Krueger v. Zeman Construction Co.
781 N.W.2d 858 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2010)
Lorshbough v. Township of Buzzle
258 N.W.2d 96 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1977)
Thiele v. Stich
425 N.W.2d 580 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1988)
Bahr v. CAPELLA UNIVERSITY
788 N.W.2d 76 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2010)
Big Lake Ass'n v. Saint Louis County Planning Commission
761 N.W.2d 487 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2009)
Martens v. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co.
616 N.W.2d 732 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2000)
Radke v. County of Freeborn
694 N.W.2d 788 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2005)
Gilbertson v. Leininger
599 N.W.2d 127 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1999)
Laura L. Walsh v. U.S. Bank, N.A.
851 N.W.2d 598 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2014)
Domagala v. Rolland
805 N.W.2d 14 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2011)
Doe 169 v. Brandon
845 N.W.2d 174 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2014)

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Kaylen Stiever v. Lake County, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaylen-stiever-v-lake-county-minnctapp-2026.