Manor Hills apartment project scheduled for 2024 jury trial

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 11—ROCHESTER — A

lawsuit filed by 11 neighbors

of a proposed apartment complex at the southern end of the Country Club Manor is set to go to a jury early next year.

The lawsuit was filed against the city of Rochester in August 2022, after Rochester's

Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance

making way for the proposed project, dubbed Manor Hills, and the

Rochester City Council denied an appeal

filed by residents.

A jury trial in the lawsuit is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2024, with both parties expected to meet to discuss alternatives for resolving the dispute by Dec. 4, 2023.

In their court action, Terry Fields, Tammy Nelson, Deann Lichte, Marty Klann, Tom Soricelli, Dave Madson, Terry Getting, Melissa Fulton, Rebecca Johnson, Virginia VanAllen and Dennis Noltee state the variance and proposed construction will increase the potential for flooding on their First Street Northwest properties, along with other negative impacts associated with greater housing density.

Flooding has been amid concerns the group

has raised since development of the site started being publicly discussed.

The proposed development calls for a 72-unit apartment building to be constructed by Titan Development and Investments.

Titan's plan for the site, which is approximately 2.3 acres of nearly 30 acres People of Hope Church, 3703 Country Club Road SW, purchased as it prepared to build its church, is to develop affordable housing using state tax credits.

Before construction can begin, Rochester Community Development and Public Works staff have said the developer must prove the construction will not result in future runoff stormwater affecting the neighboring properties.

The neighbors' lawsuit states the action shouldn't have gotten this far due to state restrictions related to the nearby waterway, and they are asking the court to nullify the city's approval of the variance.

In a response to the lawsuit, Justin L. Templin, a partner in the Eden Prairie-based Hoff Barry law firm, stated the city denies any wrongdoing in the process providing the variance and asks the court to dismiss the complaint.

The lawsuit has postponed planned construction of the Manor Hills project.

Under a April 18, 2022,

development agreement

with the city, construction was expected to start by Aug. 1, 2022, in exchange for nearly $860,000 in local assistance through

tax-increment financing

provided over a 20-year period, which was intended to keep rents below market rates and affordable to people earning 50% to 60% of the area median income.

The

agreement deadline was extended

in November to give Titan Development and Investments until Aug. 1, 2023, to start the project, with the expectation that the project would be completed by the end of 2024.