MN Appeals Court Upholds Revocation of a Conditional-Use Permit for Campground Housing Mobile Home Park and Campsites

Axelson owned the Hidden Valley Campground located in Goodhue County. From 1982 until 2012, the campground operated under a CUP that permitted a campground containing 20 mobile home park sites and 200 camp sites, provided that the campground “not encompass any further area.” After a flood destroyed several campsites, Axelson petitioned the county to modify the CUP to allow for additional campsites, but the board denied his application. Two years later, Axelson applied to amend the CUP to permit 100 additional sites and to install a septic system, and the board denied his request again. Respondent Goodhue County Board of Commissioners revoked the conditional-use permit (CUP) governing the Hidden Valley Campground after it determined that pro se relator Cory Axelson expanded the size and location of the campground in violation of the CUP’s condition that the campground not encompass any further area.

The board considered a “Resolution of Revocation,” citing five reasons to revoke the CUP: (1) “Unauthorized Expansion of the Campground,” (2) “Relocation of the Campsites and Campground Roads,” (3) “Exceeding two hundred (200) campsites,” (4) “Operating a campground without a License,” and (5) “Lack of a valid State Disposal System (SDS) Permit.” The court found that the board did not act unreasonably in determining that the campground now encompasses a greater area. Because it could affirm the board’s decision on the basis of a single reasonable stated rationale, the court did not address the board’s remaining justifications for terminating the CUP. As to Axelson’s due process claim, the court held that the board provided Axelson with sufficient protections to ensure that it considered his viewpoint before voting to terminate the CUP, and therefore did not violate Axelson’s right to due process. Accordingly, the court upheld the board’s decision revoking the conditional-use permit.

Axelson v Goodhue County Board of Commissioners, 2015 WL 1514160 (MN App. Unpub. 4/6/2015)

The opinion can be accessed at: http://mn.gov/web/prod/static/lawlib/live/archive/ctapun/2015/opa141179-040615.pdf