Opinion ID: 2222133
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Specific Properties

Text: BGEA argues that the City gave no reason for including certain noncontributing properties in the District, while other noncontributing properties were excluded; that apartment buildings and surface parking lots should not have been included in the District; that the inclusion of only the part of building 13 facing Harmon Place was indicative of arbitrariness; and that no reasons were given to support the inclusion of the properties facing Hennepin Avenue. Based upon our independent review of the record in this case, we cannot conclude that the City acted unreasonably, arbitrarily, or capriciously in designating properties to be included in the District. The City gave contemporaneous rationale to support the inclusion and exclusion of all the properties that BGEA contests. The findings issued by Zoning detail the reasons for including the properties facing Hennepin Avenue, designating the block including building 13, and retaining certain noncontributing properties in the District. The Zellie report supports the District's overall historic value and its comportment with the criteria in the ordinance. All necessary levels of city and state agencies approved the designation of this area as historic. The full District encompasses 31 buildings, the majority of which (23) an expert has deemed are contributing to the historic character of the area. Even the disputed northeast portion of the District has a reasonable number of contributing buildings (15 out of 20). Some of BGEA's complaints stem from changes in the District's boundaries that were made by the City as the proposed historic designation made its way through various levels of city government. After receiving critiques of its larger, original proposed District, the City acted to ameliorate the economic effects of the designation on local property owners by splitting the District into two sections, whose combined area was significantly smaller than the original proposal. Downsizing the District and redrawing its boundaries was a rational response to the issues raised by property owners. In addition, it was rational for the City to include the areas with the highest concentration of contributing buildings (especially the buildings facing Harmon Place, the heart of the District) and to attempt to achieve recognizable boundaries for the historic District. We are concerned about the sufficiency of the reasons given for the inclusion in the District of only the part of building 13 facing Harmon Place and the Hennepin Avenue properties, given the somewhat marginal historic value of the northeast portion of the District. Nevertheless, evaluating the City's determinations in the light of an ordinance with subjective and broadly-defined criteria for designation, we cannot conclude that the City's decision-making was not rational. Therefore, we conclude that the City's decision to include or exclude certain properties within the District was supported by legally sufficient reasons and was not unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious.