AVR, Inc. v. City of St. Louis Park
Minnesota Court of Appeals
585 N.W.2d 411 (1998)
AVR (plaintiff) owned a ready-mix concrete plant that predated a 1990 city plan rezoning the area for residential use and phasing out such plants. The City of St. Louis Park (defendant) passed a 1992 ordinance requiring nonconforming property owners to negotiate an amortization period with the zoning administrator, weighing factors like the use's character and its burden on the owner versus benefit to the public. Based on expert findings that AVR had earned a 560% return and fully depreciated the plant, the city set a two-year amortization period. AVR sued, claiming the period was unreasonable; the district court granted the city summary judgment, and AVR appealed.
Whether a city may mandate that a property owner cease a nonconforming land use after a set amortization period through a rezoning ordinance, so long as the ordinance is rational and related to the general welfare.