6.3. SR 03-21-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor John Dietz and Members of the City Council FROM: Peter Beck, City Attorney DATE: March 18, 2011 RE: Wapiti Park This memorandum is in response to the Council's request that I address the points made by counsel for Wapiti Park at the January 18, 2011 Elk River City Council meeting. Counsel for Wapiti Park subsequently sent Mayor Dietz an email dated January 27, 2011 with an attachment entitled "Annotated Notes on January 18 Presentation to Elk River City Council." This memorandum will address the major issues raised in that attachment, generally in the order they are raised in the attachment. First, some background. Wapiti Park is zoned R-lb and was issued a conditional use permit (CUP) in 1984. Subsequent to approval of the CUP, the city's zoning ordinance was amended such that campgrounds are no longer a conditional use in the R-lb zoning district. In 1999, the Wapiti Park store building burned down. In 2000, aten-year interim use permit (IUP) was approved to rebuild the store building. The ten-year IUP has expired, and Wapiti Park has applied for a new IUP for the store building for an additional ten years. To operate as it is currently, Wapiti Park: • must be a lawful use; • must have a valid IUP for the store building; • must have the necessary licenses for liquor sales; and • must have a valid campground permit from the Minnesota Department of Health. Although related, the only approval before the City Council at this time is the IUP for the store building. 1. Wapiti Park argues that the zoning ordinance amendment which eliminated campgrounds as a conditional use eliminated any obligation of Wapiti Park to comply with the conditions of its 1984 CUP. I find no authority to support that position. When the zoning ordinance was amended to eliminate campgrounds as a conditional use, Wapiti Park was a legal use so long as it complied with the conditions of its CUP. Therefore, it became a legal nonconforming