Opinion ID: 2122123
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Timing Requirement

Text: Pawn America first argues that Minn.Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4(a), requires a study to be under way or authorized before a city may adopt an interim ordinance, based on the statutory language is conducting studies or has authorized a study to be conducted. Because the City authorized the study at the October 1 city council meeting at the same time the City adopted the first reading of the interim ordinance, Pawn America contends that the interim ordinance was invalid. The statute does not specify whether the study must be authorized prior to the adoption of the first reading of an interim ordinance, or prior to the final adoption of an ordinance; it merely provides that a municipality may adopt an interim ordinance. Minn.Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4(a). The city charter provides that every non-emergency ordinance must have two public readings, unless a reading is waived. This suggests that the ordinance at issue here was not adopted until two public readings occurred. Accordingly, reading Minn. Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4(a), in conjunction with the city charter supports the City's claim that the zoning study was authorized on October 1 before the City adopted the interim ordinance on October 8 when the City adopted the second reading of the ordinance. Nevertheless, even if we interpret the word adopted in Minn.Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4(a), to mean the adoption of the first reading of the interim ordinance, Pawn America's argument is still flawed. The statutory language provides that a city may adopt an interim ordinance if the city is conducting studies or has authorized a study to be conducted. Minn.Stat. § 462.355, subd. 4(a). At the October 1 city council meeting, the City adopted the first reading of the interim ordinance in the same motion as the resolution authorizing the zoning study; therefore, there was a simultaneous authorization of the study and adoption of the ordinance. Although the plain language of the statute certainly contains a temporal requirement by stating that a city may adopt an interim ordinance if it is conducting studies or has authorized a study to be conducted, that requirement is met when the authorization of the study and adoption of the ordinance occur at the same time. We conclude that even under the strictest of interpretations, the City did not adopt the interim ordinance until it authorized the study, thereby satisfying this statutory requirement.