ROCKVILLE, Minn. - A legal dispute between neighbors on Grand Lake in the central Minnesota town of Rockville reached new heights when a Stearns County judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs and ordered the removal of a lake home.
But attorneys for the owner of the home about 13 miles southwest of St. Cloud said Wednesday they expect to appeal.
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In April 2015, Kathleen Mimbach, along with her grandson Matt Mimbach, applied for four building permits with the city of Rockville to renovate her cabin. They were granted those permits in May of 2015, and began construction later that fall.
A lawsuit filed in April 2016 by neighbors Thomas and Holly Ruether argued the project violated city ordinances related to setback requirements from their property line to the north. They also argued the Mimbachs misrepresented facts in applications with the city, including the size and scope of the project as well as setback measurements.
In her ruling last week, Stearns County District Court Judge Vicki Landwehr stated, "Plaintiffs' loss of privacy and diminished use and enjoyment of their property are great and irreperable injuries which cannot be adequately redressed by legal remedy."
Harry Burns, whose firm Burns Law Office represented the Ruethers in the case, said his clients reached out numerous times to city officials to try to address violations without going to court.
"Obviously, we are pleased with the judge's decision," Burns said. "Filing a lawsuit was the last resort for my clients."
In May of 2016, the Ruethers filed a motion seeking temporary injunctive relief to halt the home's construction, but that motion was denied by Landwehr.
However, the ruling on that motion included a warning to the Mimbachs that, "because the plaintiffs may prevail at trial, any additional expenses they incur to complete the construction project may only serve to increase the amount of their economic loss if the home is ultimately ordered removed after trial."
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The Mimbachs continued with construction, the cost of which increased after warping discovered in basement-level walls led to a decision to replace the entire foundation. The original footings remained in the same location.
Kathleen Mimbach, who is in her 90s and whose family has owned property on the lake since the 1930s, said through her attorneys Wednesday she plans to appeal the ruling. They say the Mimbachs complied with all city requirements and made no illegal expansion of the property's footprint.
"We disagree with the judge's ruling, and we plan to file some post-trial motions," said attorney Thomas Jovanovich of Jovanovich, Kadlec and Athmann, P.A. "There likely will be an appeal."
