Opinion ID: 2222133
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The University of St. Thomas

Text: BGEA alleges they were situated similarly to another property owner, the University of St. Thomas (St. Thomas), whose properties within the originally proposed District were approved for demolition. BGEA notes that four of St. Thomas's buildings that were described as contributing in the Zellie report are now demolished, while the four BGEA buildings, three of which were contributing, are still standing and part of the District. BGEA asserts that St. Thomas received vastly different treatment at the hands of the City than did BGEA, with no rationale for doing so in the record, a practice that is prohibited by our holdings in Northwestern College, 281 N.W.2d at 869, and Hay v. Township of Grow, 296 Minn. 1, 7-8, 206 N.W.2d 19, 23-24 (1973). We have held in multiple cases that [a] zoning ordinance must operate uniformly on those similarly situated. Northwestern College, 281 N.W.2d at 869; accord Hay, 296 Minn. at 7-8, 206 N.W.2d at 24. Disparate treatment of two similarly-situated property owners may be an indication that the local government is acting unreasonably or arbitrarily. See Northwestern College, 281 N.W.2d at 868-69. In Northwestern College, two Christian colleges had applied for permits to expand their facilities. Id. at 867. The Arden Hills City Council denied Northwestern College's permit application, alleging that a college was incompatible with an area zoned for residential use. Two months earlier, however, the council had approved a permit for Bethel College, which was also a college building in an area zoned for residential use. We determined there was no reason to treat the two colleges differently, and reversed the denial of Northwestern College's permit application as arbitrary and a violation of due process. Id. at 869. We do not agree that BGEA and St. Thomas were similarly-situated property owners who received disparate treatment. There were more similarities between Northwestern College and Bethel College than there are between BGEA and St. Thomas. In Northwestern, both applicants were Christian colleges, in the same type of zoned area, applying for very similar types of permits, and the city council approved one and denied the other within a span of two months. St. Thomas and BGEA are both nonprofit entities that owned contributing properties within the large district that Zellie originally proposed, but the similarities end there. BGEA chose to challenge the designation of the District in the first instance, which the City determines using the criteria in Code § 599.210. [9] St. Thomas did not challenge the inclusion of its property within the District, but instead requested a certificate of appropriateness from the HPC, which the City determines using criteria in Code § 599.350(b) (2001). [10] The standards involved in deciding the two questions are divergent and make these property owners dissimilar in the type of relief sought. Because the appropriateness of demolition considers factors other than the contributing status of the property, these properties were not similarly situated. In addition to the City reviewing BGEA's and St. Thomas's requests using different criteria, the properties of BGEA and St. Thomas were situated differently within the Harmon Place area. St. Thomas's buildings were concentrated on a block in which a very small area was taken up by contributing buildings, while BGEA's buildings, especially 11 and 12, were in the heart of the northeast subdistrict. We conclude that the City did not act arbitrarily in treating BGEA's and St. Thomas's buildings differently. We conclude that the City of Minneapolis did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in designating the contested northeast portion of the District as historic. Under a higher standard of review we might reach a different result, given the somewhat marginal historic value of this area. Our decision is constrained by the significant deference that we accord the quasi-judicial actions of local governments and the broad and subjective criteria for historic designation set out in the ordinance. [11] Because the historic designation meets the criteria in the ordinance, the City made findings in favor of its decision, and the City's findings are supported by the record, we conclude the designation of the Harmon Place Historic District is neither unreasonable, arbitrary, nor capricious. Reversed. BLATZ, C.J., took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.