A Blaine couple are suing the city after officials denied their request to build a backyard housing unit for a homeless family.
Homeowners Alex and Lynda Pepin argue the City Council unlawfully rejected their application for a permit to build a detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU). The backyard tiny homes are often called mother-in-law suites or granny flats.
“Ultimately we understand the legal claim is our property rights, but we are not trying to do this to make sure our rights are met,” Pepin said at a news conference Tuesday explaining the decision to file the lawsuit, represented by the nonprofit Institute for Justice. “Ultimately, we feel like there’s a group of people who are being discriminated against and don’t have a voice in this.”
He spoke from his driveway, in between neighboring homes with yard signs that read: “No ADU. NO SECOND HOUSE ON LOT,” with arrows pointed at his house.
Blaine city spokesman Ben Hayle said in a statement that “the City Council followed Minnesota law and Blaine city code when considering and ultimately denying” the permit application.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Anoka County District Court, lists the city, Mayor Tim Sanders and council members as defendants.
Attorney Ari Bargil, with the Institute for Justice, said Blaine’s decision to deny the permit was “zoning abuse personified.”
Bargil said the Pepins complied with the city’s rules, but “the City Council denied them their accessory dwelling use permit. Not because of where the ADU was going to go or what it was going to be constructed out of. But because of who it feared was going to live there.”