Court Opinion

ID: 9686693
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:01:06.997547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:21.392622
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, PAUL H., Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent and, in doing so, join in most but not all of Justice Hanson’s dissent. I do not read federal and state prohibitions on the placement of billboards as narrowly as Justice Hanson does, either explicitly or implicitly, in his dissent. Nor do I necessarily agree that what the City of Mounds View has done is an “innovative solution to serious budgetary concerns.” Nevertheless, I agree that what the city has done is permitted under the law and that the commissioner’s denial of the billboard permits was not supported by substantial evidence.
*16Justice Hanson properly concludes that the focus of the federal law is not on “labels” that are used to describe zoning districts, but rather is on the appropriate use of the land in the district. Further, Justice Hanson and the court of appeals correctly conclude, as articulated by Justice Hanson in his dissent, that the “proper focus of the definition of business areas is on the use, not the ownership of the property.” (Emphasis added.)
When the facts of this case are viewed within the context of this properly-defined focus, there is no merit to the commissioner’s assertion that Mounds View’s action in granting the permits constitutes spot zoning that is inconsistent with its comprehensive zoning plan. The Bridges Golf Course is located in a triangular-shaped parcel of land bordered on the east by Interstate Highway 35W, on the southwest by U.S. Highway 10, and on the north by 85th Avenue N.E. While part of this triangular-shaped parcel is within the city limits of Blaine, the whole of the parcel consists of land bounded by major highways or streets, all of which is consistently used for commercial or business purposes. That Mounds View has chosen to place a nine-hole golf course in the middle of this commercial and industrial triangle does not so change its character that the construction of billboards is no longer possible because to do so would violate federal and state law.
For these reasons, I agree with the dissent’s analysis and conclude that the action taken by Mounds View, whether one views it as good or bad policy, is permitted by law. Therefore, I would affirm the decision of the court of appeals and direct the commissioner to issue the requested permits.