NEWS Siegel Brill attorneys Obtain favorable ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court for their developer client Siegel Brill attorneys Tony Gleekel and Wm. Christopher Penwell represented Wensmann Realty, Inc. and Rahn Family Limited Partnership in a case in which the Minnesota Supreme Court recently issued a decision favorable to Wensmann and Rahn.  The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that if a landowner is denied any reasonable use of a property by a City’s denial of a requested amendment to the City’s Comprehensive Plan, that the landowner is entitled to just compensation for that taking of the property.  The Supreme Court decision allows Wensmann and Rahn to continue to pursue their claim against the City of Eagan for just compensation for the Carriage Hills golf course property in Eagan, MN. Rahn owned and operated Carriage Hills golf course in Eagan, MN, from 1996 to 2004.  Due to substantial operating losses for the golf course in its last several years, Rahn agreed to sell the property to Wensmann, an Eagan-based residential developer.  The purchase agreement was contingent on the City of Eagan’s approval of a change in the City’s Comprehensive Plan to allow low density residential development of the property.  When the City denied Wensmann’s and Rahn’s requested amendment based on neighborhood opposition and a desire to preserve the property as a golf course, Siegel Brill commenced the action against the City on behalf of Wensmann and Rahn, and asserted a takings claim.  In its July 12, 2007 decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and held that if the golf course is no longer an economically viable use of a property and if there is no other reasonable use of the property, the City’s refusal to change the comprehensive plan is a regulatory taking for which the property owner is entitled to just compensation. Lead trial counsel Wm. Christopher Penwell noted the importance of the decision for Wensmann, Rahn, and other property owners.  “This is a very important decision for property owners whose long-standing use of their property has lost its economic viability,” Penwell said.  “This decision gives notice to cities in Minnesota and around the country that the cost of preserving open space cannot be placed on the back of a single property owner without providing the property owner just compensation ” For further information, contact Wm. Christopher Penwell or Tony Gleekel