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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN COURT OF APPEALS A08-0767 Eagan Economic Development Authority, Respondent, vs. U-Haul Company of Minnesota a/k/a U-Haul Co. of Minnesota, et al., Appellants, Randall J. Quam, et al., Appellants, Larson Training Services, Inc. d/b/a Larson's Automotive Repair Services, Appellants, vs. Minnesota's Credit Union, et al., Respondents Below, Irma L. Parranto, et al., Respondents, Jamal D. Ansari, et al., Respondents Below. Filed May 19, 2009 Reversed Ross, Judge Dakota County District Court File No. 19-CX-07-030126 Robert B. Bauer, Jessica L. Sanborn, Severson, Sheldon, Dougherty & Molenda, P.A., 7300 West 147th Street, Suite 600, Apple Valley, MN 55124-7580 (for respondent Eagan Economic Development Authority) Patrick J. Kelly, Kelly and Lemmons, 7300 Hudson Boulevard, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55128 (for respondent Stratford Holding, LLC and American Accounts & Advisers, Inc.) Daniel L. Scott, Anthony J. Novak, Paula Duggan Vraa, Larson King, LLP, 2800 Wells Fargo Place, 30 East Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN 55101 (for appellants U-Haul Co. of Minnesota and Amerco Real Estate Company)

Steven J. Quam, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., 200 South Sixth Street, Suite 4000, Minneapolis, MN 55402 (for appellants Randall J. Quam and Sandra K. Quam) Gary G. Fuchs, Elizabeth E. Rein, Gary G. Fuchs, Attorney at Law, P.A., 3440 Federal Drive, Suite 100, Eagan, MN 55122 (for appellant Larson Training Services, Inc.)

Considered and decided by Ross, Presiding Judge; Toussaint, Chief Judge, and Johnson, Judge. SYLLABUS 1. The existence and extent of an economic development authority's power to

condemn property is a question of law subject to de novo review on appeal. 2. A city resolution may condition or limit the power of eminent domain

transferred by the city to an economic development authority. 3. When a city delegates control over a development project to an economic

development authority, the economic development authority's power to condemn is limited to that which the city could exercise and actually transferred to the development authority with respect to the project. OPINION ROSS, Judge This appeal concerns the condemnation of three commercial properties by the Eagan Economic Development Authority (EDA) in the City of Eagan's Cedar Grove Redevelopment District.1 The contesting property owners, Larson Automotive Repair Services, Competition Engines, Incorporated, and U-Haul Company of Minnesota, argue
1

The EDA condemned 31 parcels in the initial action, but only six of the property owners initially objected and three have appealed to this court. 2

that the district court erred by granting the EDA's quick-take condemnation petition. Specifically, the property owners contend that the taking was not authorized by law; that the taking was not supported by findings of public purpose or necessity; and that the EDA's use of the statutory "quick-take" procedure was improper. Because we conclude that the EDA exceeded the scope of its delegated condemnation authority, we reverse the district court's order granting the EDA's condemnation petition. FACTS The property owners' parcels sit southeast of the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Highway 13 within the "Cedar Grove Redevelopment Area" that Eagan and the EDA established in 2001. Cedar Grove was targeted for redevelopment because the city and the EDA found that the area fell short of its economic potential and concluded that "redevelopment would not occur solely through private investment within the reasonably foreseeable future." An independent review determined that "parcels consisting of 70% of the area of the district are occupied by buildings, streets, utilities, paved or gravel parking lots . . . and more than 50% of the buildings . . . are . . . substandard." In October 2001, the city enacted Resolution 01

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