Deal? Wayzata Accepts Lawsuit Settlement as Church Reviews Terms

A final settlement appears likely in a lawsuit involving the  and the , potentially ending several years of, at times, contentious litigation.

Detailed terms of the settlement agreement were prepared by a majistrate judge and made public earlier this week. The document is attached in its entirety to this post. Wayzata's City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to accept the apparent resolution.

A joint statement included in the proposed settlement agreement states that "the City of Wayzata and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka have reached a court-aided settlement of the lawsuit against the city. Both parties agree that the certainty of a settlement was in their respective best interests and would avoid the uncertainty of protracted and expensive litigation."

While Mayor Ken Willcox called the matter "resolved," a statement issued Thursday stressed the church had yet to officially sign off on the deal. 

"We understand that on Tuesday evening Wayzata’s City Council took action on a proposed settlement agreement related to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka’s lawsuit against the city," attorney Samuel Diehl wrote on behalf of the church. "The Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka was not informed that this action would take place, and we have not yet seen the resolution and specific settlement proposal that were approved by the city council."

Discussion of the lawsuit was not on Tuesday's agenda due to what city officials said was the short time frame between receiving the formal agreement and the meeting's scheduled start.

Diehl went on to write that the church "appreciates that the city has finally taken some action related to this settlement after more than six months of discussions" but that the church has "not approved or signed any final settlement agreement at this time."

The dispute between the church and city began in 2008, when a development application was submitted to the city seeking to rezone property on the 2000 block of Wayzata Boulevard East from low-density, single-family residential (R-1) to public/institutional for the purposes of constructing a new church. A member of the church’s congregation owns the land, although the church has secured an option to buy the parcel.

The application was denied by Wayzata's City Council, and the church sued—charging that Wayzata’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan is discriminatory and denies the church its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The suit spent the next several years making its way through U.S. District Court, at times publicly causing friction between the parties. 

The city and church attended a court-ordered settlement conference back in Decemeber and were finally able to reach an agreement in principle. Results of that conference form the core of the formal agreement made public this week.

Nuts and bolts of settlement:

• The City of Wayzata will pay the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka $500,000, plus attorney fees and other costs, once the church completes a formal application process to build a new church. Payment of the $500,000 is not an admission of liability, according to the settlement's terms.
• Both the City of Wayzata and Unitarian Church of Minnetonka will release each other of all claims against the other once accepted and signed by both sides.
• Use of the property upon which the new church will be built must conform to a church as defined by city code and customarily incidental to a church.
• The following must be submitted by the church and approved by the city before a new church is built and the city disburses the $500,000: a Planned Unit Development application, rezoning and Comprehensive Plan amendment to allow for the construction of a new church, planning and construction plans, site plan review, design review and final state application.

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