4 - Rezoning from Forest Management to Commercial (continued), Coutore, Stellar Properties of MN

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notices. Notice was published in the official newspaper and an article about the project was written. Despite the fact that your client may not have been notified on that specific property, Mr. Couture was individually notified of the rezoning project in reference to other property he owns within the City. Our records indicate that he was directly sent a notice that stated, among other information,that"The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on July 21,2005 to rezone the City." The notice directed him to a web site and/or City Hall to find out more information, if he so desired. It is not unreasonable to assume that Mr. Couture would have considered all of his holdings in the City when receiving this notice, since the notice did not specify a specific parcel but alluded to a City-wide project. Although it is the practice of the City of Pequot Lakes to provide notice, in a very technical sense,the City was not required to individually notify Mr. Couture, or whoever the property owner was at the time, of the rezoning. Minnesota Statute 462.357, Subdivision 3, states (underline provided for emphasis): Subd. 3. Public hearings. No zoning ordinance or amendment thereto shall be adopted until a public hearing has been held thereon by the planning agency or by the governing body. A notice of the time, place and purpose of the hearing shall be published in the official newspaper of the municipality at least ten days prior to the day of the hearing. When an amendment involves changes in district boundaries affecting an area of five acres or less, a similar notice shall be mailed at least ten days before the day of �- the hearing to each owner of affected property and property situated wholly or partly within 350 feet of the property to which the amendment relates. For the purpose of giving mailed notice, the person responsible for mailing the notice may use any appropriate records to determine the names and addresses of owners. A copy of the notice and a list of the owners and addresses to which the notice was sent shall be attested to by the responsible person and shall be made a part of the records of the proceedings. The failure to give mailed notice to individual property owners, or defects in the notice shall not invalidate the proceedings, provided a bona fide attempt to comply with this subdivision has been made. The notice was published in the official newspaper more than ten days prior to the hearing. Since the property in question is greater than five areas, an individual notice is not required as per our interpretation of this Statute. Even without this technical point, it is clear that the City made a"bona fide attempt"to notify all of the property owners within the City of the change. You also question why we did not notify Mr. Couture directly based on the information in the file. As you can understand,the property owner database that the County maintains is the best available data. The City is not in a position, and it would not be a productive use of staff time,to go through the hundreds of property files that we have to compare those records to the database of the County. It is not reasonable to suggest that this should have been done. We understand your claim of a vested right to a commercial zoning classification. Having provided the amended Staff comments and the statements within this letter,we will request that 14084 Baxter Drive, Suite 7 Baxter, MN 56425 (218) 828-3064 www.communitygrowth.com