County faces two land use-related lawsuits

WALKER - Two lawsuits have been filed against Cass County recently, according to information County Administrator Robert Yochum released Wednesday.

Michael C. Rollins filed a petition in Cass County District Court Jan. 20. He claims the county board Dec. 20 acted on "an erroneous theory of law" and "arbitrarily and capriciously" when the board denied his request after public hearing for a road on Bear Island in Leech Lake.

In another suit filed in January in Minnesota Court of Appeals, Theodore Mellby, Susan Kadrmas, Dan Kadrmas, David Morris, Barbara Morris, Louis Schropp and Louis Group LLC maintain Cass County Planning Commission erred Nov. 22 in granting landowner Bryan Walker preliminary plat approval and a planned unit development conditional use permit for Tall Pines, also known as Pine Way, on Ten Mile Lake.

The plat consists of nine residential lots and one common lot on 8.93 acres. It includes 200 feet of shoreline.

Those opposing the Tall Pines approval object to the dwelling units not being clustered and the units being permitted mooring sites, "effectively making the tract in question into an access lot not allowed by law and allowing more permanent mooring sites than permitted by law."

This lawsuit bypasses district court, because Cass County recently amended county zoning regulations to send zoning issue appeals directly to Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Yochum said Wednesday Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust consulting attorney Scott Anderson reviewed the county's zoning laws last year before recommending changes, many of which the county board adopted. His recommendation to drop the district court appeal option was in response to the fact most district court decisions on zoning issues get appealed to the Court of Appeals.

Bypassing one level of court actions diminishes legal costs for both the county and those filing suit, Yochum said.