A. Chiropractic RelocationA
CITYOF
CHANHASSEN
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Ohanhasseq MN 55317
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
DATE: October 30, 2003 -.x.
SUB J: Dr. Susan Lecy, Chanhassen Chiropractic Center's
Relocation Issue
Attached you will find a letter from Tom Scott, City Attorney outlining
background on the Chanhassen Chiropractic Center's relocation issue. The
court has decided that the city is required to appoint an independent third party
to hear Dr. Lecy's appeal of staff's decision. However, the court also ruled that
the city was not required to incur the expense of appointing a third party. Mr.
Scott suggests that either one or three members of the City Council be selected
to hear the appeal.
Staff will be looking for direction from the City Council on how you would like
to proceed regarding this matter.
ATTACHMENT
1. Letter from Tom Scott dated October 30, 2003.
The City of Chanbassen · a growing community with olean iakes, quality schools a charming downtown Briving bus nesses ,~'~indin,q trails and beautiful parks A great place i',) k,e work a!(J )la~,
October 30, 2003
Mr. Todd Gerhardt
City or' Chanhassen
7700 Market Boulevard
P. O. Box 147
Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317
Re:
Dr. Susan Lecy, d/b/a Chanhassen Chiropractic Center, P.A.
Relocation Issue- Appeal Hearing
Dear Todd:
I will be present at the City Council's work session on Monday, November 10 at 5:00
p.m. to discuss the procedure for handling this appeal.
By way of background for the Council, in May of 2002 you denied the relocation claim
of Dr. Susan Lecy, the current owner of Chanhassen Chiropractic Center. The claim relates to
the Chiropractic Center's occupancy of the building located at 681 West 78th Street (old bank
building) which the City acquired in 1996. Dr. Donald Kristenson, who then owned the
Chiropractic Center, was allowed to continue his lease until April 1,2002. Dr. Lecy bought out
Dr. Kristenson's practice in January of 2002 and moved onto the premises for three months
before she moved to her current location in Chanhassen. She then requested that the City pay her
relocation benefits. Thu lease is between the City and Chanhassen Chiropractic Center, P.A.
After you determined that Chanhassen Chiropractic was not eligible for relocation
benefits, Dr. Lecy went to Court and took the position that the City was required to appoint an
independent third party to hear her administrative appeal of your decision. The Court ruled that
the City was not required to incur the expense of appointing a third party to hear the appeal.
It is now time to proceed with the appeal. As an alternative to the full City Council
hearing this matter, we recommend that the Council appoint either one Council member or a
three-member Council panel to hear and decide the appeal. The hearing would be informal and
would consist primarily of a review of various documents and presentations by myself, City
staff; Dr. Lecy and her attorney. The hearing would be conducted in the Council chambers so
that it can be videotaped. I would anticipate it taking approximately two hours.
15~m~, 317 · E',~.~;m&lc Ofticu ~,2'nrur ° 1 ~S0 (;~rp,~r~ttc (~untcr Curve ' Earl;Ut, MN 55121
Mr. Todd Gerhardt
October 30, 2003
Page 2
We feel that it simply would be much less cumbersome for either one Council member or
a three-member Council panel to handle the appeal compared to the tull Council.
Under the relocation statute and rules, an eligible business owner who is displaced as a
result of an acquisition is generally entitled to reimbursement for moving expenses and certain
expenses in connection with reestablishing their business at the new location. The business
owner can also make a claim for a payment in lieu of actual expenses up to a maximum amount
of $20,000.00.
!f the Council agrees with our recommendation, a motion should be adopted at the
regular meeting appointing either the one individual or three-member panel to hear and decide
the relocation appeal. If the decision is to have the full Council hear the appeal, we will need to
discuss scheduling. It could be handled as the last item at a regular meeting or we can set up a
special meeting.
Please call if you have any questions. Otherwise, ! will see you on November l0th at the
Council work session.
Best regards,
Campbell ,KnutsOn
Pro./'essi¢~al ASsociation
/
By: ~ -
Thomas M. Scott
TMS:cjh
cc: Mr. Jon Morphew