Tammy Loncorich, Relators v. Kevin Buss, McLeod County Board of Commissioners

868 N.W.2d 755, 2015 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 820, 2015 WL 4877708
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 17, 2015
DocketA14-1734
StatusUnpublished

This text of 868 N.W.2d 755 (Tammy Loncorich, Relators v. Kevin Buss, McLeod 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
Tammy Loncorich, Relators v. Kevin Buss, McLeod County Board of Commissioners, 868 N.W.2d 755, 2015 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 820, 2015 WL 4877708 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

CHUTICH, Judge.

Relators Tammy Loncorich and several of her neighbors challenge a conditional use permit granted to respondents Kevin [757]*757and Kelsey Buss by respondent McLeod County Board of Commissioners. Because granting the conditional use permit was not arbitrary, unreasonable, or capricious, we affirm.

FACTS

This dispute involves a small feedlot of approximately 27 acres that the Busses are attempting to establish near Hutchinson and the applicability of three sets of land-use ordinances: the McLeod County Zoning .Ordinance, the McLeod County Feedlot Ordinance, and the Hutchinson Joint Planning Area Zoning Ordinance.

The McLeod County Zoning Ordinance (the County Ordinance) applies to all areas in McLeod County that are outside city limits. Under state law, however, Hutchinson and McLeod County enacted a joint planning area agreement that gave the McLeod County Board of Commissioners the authority to regulate use of land in an area of up to two miles beyond Hutchinson city limits. See Minn.Stat. §§ 462.357, 471.59 (2014). This area is known as the “Hutchinson Joint Planning Area,” and the Hutchinson Joint Planning Area Zoning Ordinance (the Joint Planning Ordinance) governs use of land in this two-mile radius.

The proposed feedlot is located within this two-mile area, but the parties dispute whether the proposed project is subject to the Joint Planning Ordinance or the County Ordinance that governs “Urban Expansion Districts.” This determination matters because new feedlots are allowed as a conditional use in the former but not in “Urban Expansion Districts” established by the latter. In addition, all feedlots in McLeod County are regulated by a special McLeod County Feedlot Management Ordinance (Feedlot Ordinance).

To obtain a conditional use permit for a new feedlot under the Joint Planning Ordinance, an application must be made to the city zoning administrator. Hutchinson, Minn., Joint Planning Area Zoning Ordinance (“HJPA”) § 20, subd. 2 (1997). That application is then forwarded to the Hutchinson Joint Planning Board, an advisory board, which makes a recommendation to the McLeod County Board of Commissioners (the county board) as to whether the application should be approved or denied. Id., subds. 3, 4 (1997). The county board makes a final decision upon the application. McLeod County, Minn., Zoning Ordinance (“MCZO”) § 17, subd. 6 (1981).

In addition to a conditional use permit, a feedlot operator must also obtain a feedlot permit in accordance with the Feedlot Ordinance. HJPA § 22, subd. 5 (1997); MCZO § 21, subd. 5 (1981); McLeod County, Minn., Feedlot Management Ordinance (“MCFMO”) § 4.002 (2003). By its terms, the Feedlot Ordinance requires that proposals for new feedlots of less than forty acres apply for and receive a conditional use permit before any Feedlot Ordinance permit will issue. MCFMO § 7.001(h) (2003).

The Busses first applied for a condition-, al use permit for this same property some time before April 2013. Athough this conditional use permit was initially granted, it was later vacated after a district court determined that McLeod County failed to properly amend the Joint Planning Ordinance section allowing new feedlots to be established in the Hutchinson Joint Planning Area and upon which the permit was contingent.

In August 2014, after the county again amended the Joint Planning Ordinance, the Busses filed another application for the conditional use permit at issue here. The permit was to establish a new feedlot on an existing property less than 40 acres in size. The property was more than a half-[758]*758mile from the Hutchinson city limits and the Busses planned to have approximately 381 animal units1 in the dairy operation.

Although the Minnesota Department of Agriculture supported approving the permit, other nearby residents — including several of the relators here — continued to oppose the project. During the approval process, relators claimed that the proposed project threatened their property values, threatened their use and enjoyment of the property, and violated ordinances and rules.

The McLeod County Joint Planning Staff recommended approving the permit with the following conditions: (1) the Bus-ses must maintain and keep active a McLeod County or Minnesota Pollution Control Agency feedlot permit; (2) the Busses must keep more than 50 animal units on the property at all times; (3) trees should be planted along a neighboring property line; (4) the maximum limit shall not exceed 399 animal units; (5) any future expansion shall not encroach on a 840-foot setback from the concrete floor of the milking parlor to the closest residence; and (6) any infractions of the feedlot permit or ordinances shall be reported for review and action.

On September 17, 2014, the Hutchinson Area Joint Planning Board (the planning board) held a public hearing regarding the conditional use permit application. The McLeod County Zoning Administrator addressed the planning board. He noted that because the Busses lacked adequate acreage, a manure management plan would need to be created. He also stated that the McLeod County Feedlot Committee recommended approving the application.

The planning board noted its irritation with receiving a large amount of opposing submissions just before the 4:00 p.m. deadline, but it decided not to table the issue to consider the public input it received that afternoon. The planning board did consider written materials opposing the project that it had previously received, and it opened up the meeting for any comments. Several members of the public asked questions and voiced concerns at this meeting, and the Busses also spoke at length about the feedlot. The planning board unanimously voted to recommend that the county board approve the permit application.

On September 30, 2014, the ' county board held a meeting at which it discussed the Busses’ application. It then adopted the following findings:

1. The [conditional use permit] will not alter the character of the area, which is agricultural.
2. The proposed feedlot is on the site of a previous feedlot.
3. There are already up to 7 existing feedlots in the Joint Planning Area.
4. There are agricultural structures already present on the property site.
5. Because there are other existing feedlots in the area, that mitigates any adverse effect.
6. A goal of McLeod County’s Comprehensive Plan is agriculture preservation.
7. The [conditional use permit] has been recommended to be approved by all underlying advisory boards.
8. There is only 1 neighbor directly affected.
[759]*7599. There are several conditions attached to the [conditional use permit] to ensure compliance, as well as to reduce fumes/odor to neighboring property-owners.

The county board accepted the recommendations of the Joint Planning Staff to impose the six conditions listed above, but it reduced the maximum number of animal units allowed from 399 to 300.

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Bluebook (online)
868 N.W.2d 755, 2015 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 820, 2015 WL 4877708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tammy-loncorich-relators-v-kevin-buss-mcleod-county-board-of-minnctapp-2015.