The Court of Appeals of Minnesota (“Court”) in a July 12th Opinion addressed an issue arising out of the proposed construction of a photovoltaic solar energy system (“System”). See In the Matter of the Application of United States Solar Corporation and USS Water Fowl Solar LLC for a Conditional Permit, 2021 WL 2909044.
The issue involved the denial of the System’s application for a conditional use permit (“CUP”).
United States Solar Corporation and USS Water Fowl Solar, LLC (collectively “Solar Corp.”) applied to the McLeod County, Minnesota, (“County”) Planning Commission (“Commission”) to construct a .5-MW system on 10 acres of farmland. The Commission recommended to the County Board (“Board”) approval subject to certain conditions.
The Court of Appeals of Minnesota (“Court”) addressed in a February 8th Opinion an insurance company’s denial of coverage related to a herbicide containing the chemical glyphosate that was introduced into a mink farm water system. See Lang Fur Farms, Inc., et al. v. Bird Island-Hawk Creek Mutual Ins. Co., 2021 WL 416404.
The denial of coverage was based on two exclusions in the insurance policy:
• Chemical-or-Biological materials (“Chemical Exclusion”)
• Anti-Concurrent-Causation Exclusion (“Anti-Concurrent Exclusion”)
The Court’s Opinion provides that Lang Fur Farms and one of its owners (collectively “Lang Fur”) obtained an insurance policy in part from Bird Island – Hawk Creek Mutual Insurance Company (“Bird Island”).
AIM Development (USA), LLC v. City of Sartell, 2020 WL 7134863.
The issue considered was whether the landowner discontinued its legal nonconforming use for more than one year.
AIM Development (USA), LLC (“AIM”) began operating in 1984 a storage and disposal facility for nonhazardous, nontoxic industrial waste (“Landfill”). The Landfill was a permitted use at that time. However, in 1989 the City of Sartell (“Sartell”) rezoned the property. Nevertheless, the Landfill continued operating as a legal nonconforming use from 1989 to 2012. The operation was considered a legal nonconforming use because it was collecting waste generated exclusively as part of the operation of an adjacent paper mill.