The South Dakota Supreme Court reversed a circuit court decision on an agricultural land zoning dispute.
MRose Development sought to rezone land near Swan Lake in Turner County so they could build lakefront houses.
Turner County turned down that request after neighbors spoke against the development at a public hearing.
In the Supreme Court briefing released this week, Jonathon Schumacher, who owned land the dispute was about, said Swan Lake residents were unhappy with the proposed development.
"'They don't want any more neighbors. They don't want...outside people coming in...They do not want us to 'ruin their sunset,'" Shumacher said of the residents in a cross-examination.
MRose took the matter to circuit court, arguing the county gave into public pressure didn’t provide a reason for denying the request. That court ruled in the developer's favor.
The county appealed. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision, saying the court misinterpreted state zoning laws. Justices also said MRose failed to provide evidence the county acted arbitrarily, in part because there were no notes taken at that original public hearing.
"There is no clear statutory requirement that a county board of commissioners record its meetings, make a verbatim transcript or provide an explanation for its policy decisions. And we cannot judicially create one," the opinion said.
Due to this fact, justices said the county could not be held to the standard of arbitrariness needed to overturn the zoning decision.
