- Contacted City of Columbus in January of 2020, and spoke with B. G., City Planning Technician of the City of Columbus, before I purchased the property to find out what the City’s building requirements are at my location.
- He provided me with the same, explaining that the zoning was Rural Residential, and the minimum home size.
- I also sent ideas of the type of home I intend to build, and realizing that there were wetlands on the property, I asked him whether there were any special considerations for permitting. He said that F. W., Wetland Specialist of the Anoka Conservation District and/or Sunrise River Water Management Organization, per B. G., who said, whatever Ms. W. says about the buildable area will govern.
- I confirmed with Mr. G. that I’d follow up with F. and employ her services to get it pinned down.
- In discussing some of the details of my home build, I also explained that I have many of the materials and equipment that I will use in building my home onboard my fifty-three-foot trailer, which I expected to use on the site during construction. All of my finishing materials, tools and equipment would be accessed from that trailer.
- B. asked me what I would do with the trailer afterwards, and I told him that I’d probably sell it, but that I may turn it into a recreational vehicle, but I wasn’t sure, yet.
- B. sent me the City’s code concerning the trailer, explaining that it was definitely permitted to be on the site since A.) it would be used for construction and B.) Up to 2 unlicensed trailers are allowed on my property, and in fact, my trailer is licensed.
- Later Mr. G. contacted me with a question from E. M., City Administrator of the City of Columbus, the about the way my trailer is licensed, and I explained that it has a permanent license, whereas it’s not in use for commercial purposes, it’s strictly for personal use and isn’t used for commercial purposes, and licensed as a recreational trailer.
- Per my attached emails, you’ll note that Mr. G. told me that the trailer was fine, then later indicated that it was not, despite the fact that the City Ordinance specifically states it’s permissible.
- I arranged for Ms. W. to visit the property, after having illustrated and explained the type of home I wish to build. Ms. W. invoiced me for $75.00 for the initial site visit, which I paid.
- I contacted Mr. G. from my office email account, which contains a caricature of my likeness, where it became clear that I’m a protected class individual. Suddenly, my trailer was stated to be “commercial”, and the question as to whether I would be permitted to park it on my nearly five acre property was raised by Ms. M., who scheduled a City Council hearing to discuss it, even though, I had never requested it.
- I requested a meeting with Ms. M., and attended the same, Mr. G. as well as Mayor Preiner were also at the meeting.
- Ms. M. made it clear that she would prefer I not build a home on the site, stating that the DNR or Ms. Winey or some authority would find that the wetlands or some other factor would prohibit it in some way. Ms. M. said that she’s highly influential with the City Council and that whatever decisions they make, they would see things her way, regarding my development of the property or keeping my trailer on the property for construction or other purposes.
- Ms. M. finally relinquished, stating “okay, you can put your trailer on the property.” However, she questioned me: “are two years long enough for you to get your building done and to get your trailer off of the property or do something else with it”. I responded that the City ordinance allows me to keep it there indefinitely, but within reason, my project should be done in two years, so I can remove the trailer, by selling it or converting it into a RV, as I have been considering.
- Mayor Preiner asked me to email them a plan of how I would expect the conversion of the trailer to look, so I later followed up accordingly.
- Weeks later, I was contacted by Mr. G. via email who said my trailer was considered to be commercial, could not be parked on the property according to their revised code interpretation. I complained to Mr. G. and Ms. M. that we had gotten all of this cleared up in our meeting, weeks earlier, and I was satisfied that, as earlier agreed, I’ll remain in compliance with the City’s code, upon moving my trailer to my property. Ms. M. and Mr. G. had also brought it to my attention, by showing me aerial depictions of the properties in the area on a projection screen, that my eastern neighbor was currently encroaching on my property and that, at least one of their buildings do not meet setback requirements from the lot line that they share with my property, yet they were giddy about the fact that they had no intention to enforce it. Also, my western neighbors have what Mr. G. described as “lean to” built in the wetlands area, without securing a permit of any kind, and they have no intentions of enforcing either a permit or removal of the structure from the wetlands, whilst being quite adamant that I mustn’t install any sort of decking in the wetlands, albeit permissible by law, and that I must not park my trailer on my site, even for the purpose of building my family’s home.
- Mr. G. and Ms. M., told me to take the matter up with their City Council, just as Ms. M. had directed me to do, before our meeting, because she was again switching her opinion on the matter. The City of Columbus contacted their contracted City Attorney, who in turn contacted me directing me to do the same and stating that any future communications that I have with the City will be through him, since, according to him, I had threatened them with a federal complaint.
- My neighbors and I have properties that are zoned: “Rural-Residential”. I also provided an aerial photo of my neighbor, Mr. Polvony’s property, to the south, noting, that he has multiple fifty-three-foot commercial trailers on his property, perhaps a dozen or more, and that the only difference between him and myself is that I am a protected class individual, a black person. We have the same zoning, although Mr. G. was quick to point out that my neighbor has a acquired a special permit, the permit he possesses was intended to be temporary, and Mr. Polvony has operated a fully-scaled commercial business, utilizing massive commercial vehicles for many years. I only wanted to park my trailer on site during construction, and then to sell it or convert it to a camping vehicle. Ms. M. had also admitted that the City’s Attorney had cautioned her before our meeting that she was not permitted to give me disparate treatment, however, that was the very thing that she was doing.
- Mr. G. and Ms. M.’s response was that they can’t police everybody in the neighborhood. I also asked them whether it is permissible for a Commercial Truck Driver to park their rig on their property, but they provided no response.
- Ms. W. was supposed to perform the service of wetlands delineation for me, as she had been hired to complete, but in the spring of 2020, when it was time for me to have the project completed, she simply refused. I asked her whether her schedule permitted her to complete it as anticipated, she said no, but rather “I’m just not going to do it.” She then made up an excuse about my not having all of the setbacks on the property cleared, pursuant with her conversations with Ms. M. and Mr. G.. This refusal of service was discriminatory, Ms. W., instead directed me to find someone else, but not to hire them, because she didn’t expect the City of Columbus to approve any permits for me. I countered that, I had already completed the septic site design, and in fact, provided her and the City with a copy, and that it was clear that I would meet all of the necessary setback and site development requirements for a small home, just as I had first anticipated. She is aware that I am currently a Real Estate Investigator, and have represented MNDOT, the MNDNR and many other organizations, and had completed my investigation of the property that I own with the City of Columbus, the Septic Design Engineer, and all that was left to establish the buildable area was her wetlands flagging and my site survey. Ms. W. refused, and even when I hired an Engineer to complete the task for me, in her stead, Ms. Winey attended a site visit on behalf of the City, and changed the lines so that I had a little less buildable land. Notwithstanding, The City of Columbus agreed that I have land sufficient to build a home, in the end, but still refused to allow me to park my trailer on my property. In the interim, my trailer has been burglarized, at it’s secured storage location and I’ve been sufficiently damaged, because I no longer have the materials available, that I intended to use in my home’s construction, and fear that the City of Columbus will continue to manifest extreme prejudice against me, as I apply for building permits and enter the home construction stage on a future occasion.
My attached emails, aerial depictions, and the corresponding zoning codes, provide prima-facie evidence of the City of Columbus and Anoka Conservation District and/or Sunrise River Water Management Organization’s unlawful, racially motivated discriminatory acts towards me.
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