Opinion ID: 1822350
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Heading: Zoning and the City of Mounds View's Comprehensive Plan

Text: A zoning statute or ordinance is one which, by definition, regulates the building development and uses of property. Orme v. Atlas Gas & Oil Co., 217 Minn. 27, 13 N.W.2d 757, 761 (1944). Municipalities use zoning to regulate land use particularly because it is impractical to deal with each use made of land and buildings. McQuillin Mun Corp § 25.07 (3rd ed.2000). Therefore, the creation of districts or zones and the classification of those districts is a vital part of any zoning plan. See State ex rel. Berndt v. Iten, 259 Minn. 77, 81, 106 N.W.2d 366, 369 (1960) (citations omitted). These districts serve the paramount purpose of encouraging the most appropriate use of land. See Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365, 388, 47 S.Ct. 114, 71 L.Ed. 303 (1926) (noting no serious difference of opinion exists regarding validity of laws designed to minimize dangers of fire, overcrowding, and collapse, and necessity of excluding offensive trades from residential districts); Iten, 106 N.W.2d at 369 (observing that it is not unreasonable for a legislative body to assume that separation of the commercial and residential areas would insure better use of municipal services) (citation omitted). Mounds View's comprehensive plan creates a number of districts, including several business districts, a CRP district, a PF district, and others not relevant to our consideration here. In establishing such districts, Mounds View executed the policies and goals underlying its comprehensive land plan. See SuperAmerica Group, Inc., a Div. of Ashland Oil, Inc. v. City of Little Canada, 539 N.W.2d 264, 266-67 (Minn.App.1995); Minn.Stat. § 462.357, subd. 1 (2002). The various sections of the comprehensive plan are to be construed together, as they relate to the same subject matter and to each other. Chanhassen Estates Residents Ass'n v. City of Chanhassen, 342 N.W.2d 335, 339 (Minn.1984). Mounds View's designation of business and commercial districts and the uses assigned therein must be viewed with an eye toward the federal and state laws prohibiting the placement of billboards in areas not considered primarily business or commercial in nature. Here, Mounds View has established several types of business districts, allowing such diverse uses as grocery stores, motels, restaurants, boat sales, bowling alleys, and department stores. Mounds View's comprehensive plan states that the purpose of the business districts is to provide for the establishment of various types of commercial and service activities. In contrast, Mounds View's comprehensive plan establishes that in the PF district, where the golf course is located, only the following uses are permitted:  public buildings and uses  public parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, parking areas, and golf courses  public sewers, water lines, and water storage areas  public streets, easements, and other public ways, highways, and thoroughfares  treatment and pumping facilities and other public utility and public service facilities. Further, unlike the business districts, the PF district has an explicitly stated public purpose: to provide for land areas, waterways, and water areas owned, regulated, or controlled by the city. Distinctions between municipal and private property are a reasonable basis for zoning districts. See McCarter v. Beckwith, 247 A.D. 289, 285 N.Y.S. 151, 154 (1936); McQuillin Mun Corp § 25.123 (3rd. ed.2000). Eller Media and Mounds View argue, correctly, that municipalities are statutorily authorized to engage in proprietary activities. See, e.g., Southern Minnesota Mun. Power Agency v. Boyne 578 N.W.2d 362, 364-65 (Minn.1998) (holding that legislature granted a municipal entity authority to run a utility like a private corporation). They further contend that a wide variety of activities are conducted in the PF zone, including operation of a water treatment plant, a city office complex, a water tower and golf course. This fact, in conjunction with the fact that the properties surrounding the golf course are in districts zoned industrial, warehouse, or office park, lead Eller Media and Mounds View to the conclusion that the PF district is zoned for business or commercial activities within the meaning of Minn.Stat. § 173.02, subd. 9. Finally, they contend that the PF zone is a district established as most appropriate for commerce, industry, or trade within the meaning of 23 C.F.R. § 750.703(a). In drawing these conclusions, it is apparent that Eller Media and Mounds View rely on the uses of the area surrounding the PF district to inform their argument as to what should be allowed within the PF district. There is simply no support in zoning law for such a contention. Similar characteristics in adjacent and surrounding areas do not require that adjoining territories be zoned the same. Lockard v. City of Los Angeles, 33 Cal.2d 453, 202 P.2d 38, 45 (1949); cf. Geneva Inv. Co. v. City of St. Louis, 87 F.2d 83, 91 (8th Cir.1937) (holding that property in restricted area adjoining property in less-restricted area did not render the ordinance invalid), cert. denied 301 U.S. 692, 57 S.Ct. 795, 81 L.Ed. 1348 (1937). Attenuating their argument even further is the fact that much of the area that Mounds View and Eller Media direct us to consider is located in the City of Blaine, not Mounds View. As such, its character and zoning cannot be considered as relevant here, particularly as Mounds View would have had no authority to direct the zoning in a neighboring community. See, e.g. Cummings v. Lawson, 28 Or.App. 573, 559 P.2d 1316, 1317 (1977) (regarding zoning, any act by city beyond its jurisdiction has no effect and does not preclude other governmental bodies from exercising jurisdiction over the project). To conclude otherwise would eviscerate the very power given to elected municipal officials to govern within their jurisdiction and could create a domino effect with one governing body's decisions affecting the zoning decisions in neighboring communities. This is neither the law nor sound public policy. Finally, the mere fact that under Mounds View's zoning scheme golf courses are permitted uses in both the PF and business districts does not render the PF district a commercial district. [6] Indeed, golf courses are permitted in residential districts of most municipalities. See 3 Kenneth H. Young, Anderson's American Law of Zoning § 17.30 (4th rev. ed.1996). For example, the city of New York permits golf courses in both residential and commercial zones. Id. That golf courses and residential homes may be compatible uses in a residential district does not support a conclusion that a residential district is a district zoned as most appropriate for commerce. This, however, is the analytical approach that is being urged upon our court in reference to Mounds View's PF district. [7] In summary, we are cognizant that the overriding purpose of land use in Mounds View's PF districts is the public character of the land use and dedication to public needs and access. The commissioner recognized as much in finding that the PF zone was not a business area, noting that merely by creating a PF district separate and distinct from that of commercial zones, the city has recognized a difference between areas zoned for business and areas zoned for public purposes. In the commissioner's view, Mounds View clearly knew how to zone for business, commercial and industrial areas and had specifically done so in its comprehensive plan. Accordingly, we presume that the comprehensive plan reflects the underlying policies and goals of the City of Mounds View. We further read the comprehensive plan and give each zoning district meaning. When we do so, it is clear that, by specifically designating a public facilities zone, Mounds View intended to make that district distinct from its business district. As such, the contention that the PF zone is most appropriate for business fails. Indeed, Mounds View's and Eller Media's attempt to frame the PF zone as a business area also fails under the Minnesota zoned for business, industrial, or commercial activities test. [8] For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and hold that Mounds View's public facilities district, a district that by definition designates municipal land for public use, can be considered neither a business area under Minnesota law nor a district most appropriate for commerce, industry, or trade under federal law. It is thus impermissible for Mounds View to place billboards upon the golf course property located in the public facilities zone. Reversed.