Westling v. City of St. Louis Park

157 N.W.2d 56, 279 Minn. 366, 1968 Minn. LEXIS 1206
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 1, 1968
Docket40973, 41091
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 157 N.W.2d 56 (Westling v. City of St. Louis Park) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westling v. City of St. Louis Park, 157 N.W.2d 56, 279 Minn. 366, 1968 Minn. LEXIS 1206 (Mich. 1968).

Opinion

Otis, Justice.

Plaintiffs seek a writ of mandamus to compel the trial court to order a settled case (41,091). Defendants and intervenors resist the petition and in addition move to dismiss plaintiffs’ appeals from two orders denying a new trial (40,973).

These proceedings arise out of an action seeking a declaratory judgment compelling the city of St. Louis Park to issue plaintiffs a permit to erect an apartment building in an area zoned for single-family dwellings only. It is the contention of plaintiffs that because the *368 property in question is low and swampy the expense of preparing the soil for single-family dwellings equals or exceeds the amount which can be realized from the sale of the property if devoted to its authorized use. Plaintiffs assert that as to them the ordinance is therefore confiscatory and invalid.

The trial court found that the land in question and the surrounding area had been subject to a zoning ordinance since 1932 which prohibited construction of multiple-family dwellings; that plaintiffs had developed the area and sold lots to intervenors and others on which plaintiffs had constructed single-family dwellings; that the city’s planning commission and council could find that the erection of an apartment building would depreciate the value of the surrounding property; and that inasmuch as intervenors had purchased property in reliance on the existing zoning restrictions, plaintiffs were estopped from seeking to rezone for purposes inconsistent with the existing zoning ordinance. 1 In reaching its decision, the court found that one of the two parcels here in question was of negligible value under existing zoning restrictions, but that plaintiffs had faffed to prove both parcels to be valueless as presently zoned. The court concluded that the refusal of the city to rezone was not unreasonable and dismissed the complaint.

The court’s findings and conclusions were signed on July 15, 1965. They did not direct the entry of judgment, and judgment was not then entered. The trial court noted in the record, however, that all of the parties thereafter apparently proceeded on the assumption that judgment had in fact been entered after a 30-day stay.

The issues here for decision arise as a result of the failure of defendants and intervenors to serve plaintiffs with written notice of the filing of either the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and dismissal or the two orders denying a new trial which followed. 2

*369 On July 23, 1965, plaintiffs petitioned the city for leave to reclaim the property in question by draining the land, removing the peat, and replacing it with solid fill.

On August 2, 1965, plaintiffs moved for a new trial on the minutes of the court under Rule 59.03(3), Rules of Civil Procedure, which motion was denied on August 19, 1965. 3 Thereafter plaintiffs sought and secured an order of the court dated August 30, 1965, extending for 30 days the time prescribed by Rule 59.07 within which to order a transcript. 4 Thereafter plaintiffs secured three successive extensions, the last of which was granted on January 31, 1966, with the following admonition by the court:

“I have continued this matter to April 15, 1966 for the reason that the Planning Commission of the City of St. Louis Park meets either the first or second week of each month. This continuance will give them opportunity at three meetings to consider the request for a permit for drainage and fill. If they have not acted by that time, it would be an indication to me that there is no intention of the council to act and this matter should be concluded by appeal.
“Since the matter could be disposed of should the City of St. Louis Park act favorably upon the Westlings’ application for the drainage and fill permit, I do not believe it is right to put the plaintiffs here to the expense of ordering transcripts unless they are necessary.
*370 “No further extension will be granted in this case unless all attorneys involved agree to such extension.”

The plaintiffs permitted the last extension to expire on April 15, 1966, without ordering a transcript.

On January 16, 1967, the city council of St. Louis Park denied plaintiffs’ application to reclaim the land in question. Thereafter plaintiffs brought a second motion for a new trial on April 22, 1967. In support of their motion, plaintiffs’ counsel alleged in an affidavit that the defendant city of St. Louis Park had repeatedly represented to and assured plaintiffs that permission would be granted to reclaim the land; that plaintiffs relied on these assurances; and that the ultimate decision to refuse the reclamation permit was newly discovered evidence which conclusively demonstrated the land was valueless since its only contemplated use was a ponding area.

The second motion for a new trial was denied on June 9, 1967, and judgment entered on that date. A transcript was finally ordered on June 16, 1967. On June 19, 1967, plaintiffs appealed from the orders denying a new trial of August 19, 1965, and June 9, 1967, and from the judgment of June 9, 1967.

On September 11, 1967, plaintiffs’ motion for an order settling the case was denied. These mandamus proceedings followed.

We have determined that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to order a settled case and that without a settled case the orders appealed from must be affirmed.

In a memorandum accompanying its order of September 11, 1967, the trial court held that the plaintiffs waived their right to notice of the filing of the decision of July 15, 1965, by moving for an extension of the time in which to order a transcript in August 1965. The court was of the opinion that the time for obtaining a transcript as a matter of right under Rule 59.07 began to run on April 15, 1966. Recognizing the discretionary power of the court to extend the period as set forth in Rule 59.07, 5 it concluded its memorandum by stating:

*371 “* * * A grant of discretion is not a grant of unbridled license. Fourteen months have expired since the expiration of the last extension of time. At some period of time the Court’s rightful authority to act in a case must cease. Causes must not, in any legal system, be permitted to have no end. The defendants and intervenors have assumed, with justification, that this matter was at rest and have acted under such assumption.
“For the foregoing reasons, the motion of plaintiffs has been denied.”

The plaintiffs concede that our decision in Doyle v. Swanson, 205 Minn. 40, 284 N. W. 874, permits the trial court to find that plaintiffs waived their right to notice of the entry of the order of August 19, 1965, denying a new trial.

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Bluebook (online)
157 N.W.2d 56, 279 Minn. 366, 1968 Minn. LEXIS 1206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westling-v-city-of-st-louis-park-minn-1968.