Star Tribune
North Oaks buildout to continue after settlement between James J. Hill descendants and the city
The messy legal battle between North Oaks and the city’s founding family and master developer — the heirs of legendary St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill — is finally over.
The result is that the exclusive Ramsey County suburb of 5,300 will be built out over the next decade according to the Hill family’s vision, despite initial resistance from a majority of the City Council.
The North Oaks Co., owned by Hill’s great-granddaughter Mari Harpur and her husband, Doug, now has the city’s approval to build out the final phases of the private community.
That includes lots for 37 single-family homes, 73 townhomes and 74 condos — adjacent to 900 acres of open space that comprise the largest conservation easement held by the Minnesota Land Trust in the metro area, said Mark Houge, president of North Oaks Co.
The only approval still needed is for 17 additional lots for single-family homes, he said.
“The Harpurs are really proud of the work they’ve done to get us where we are today,” said Houge, noting the ongoing emphasis on environmental stewardship. “Each day the value of that conservation easement becomes more evident.”
But it’s taken months of litigation and hours of contentious City Council meetings to get to this point, he said.
The public dispute roiled the affluent bedroom community, best known for its natural setting and its privacy. Uninvited visitors can be ticketed for trespassing by simply driving on the city’s private roads.
City officials did not return requests for comment. But according to a news release, they were “pleased to have resolved this litigation” and looked forward to working with the North Oaks Co. in the future.
The release added that the litigation will not affect North Oaks’ insurance premiums. The city relied on the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust for legal council.
The Hill family’s history with North Oaks dates back to 1883, when Hill purchased more than 5,000 acres for farming. His descendants inherited the property, and in the 1950s created a community with spacious lots, ample privacy and an emphasis on preserving its natural beauty.
Mari Harpur bought out her siblings in the 1990s and mapped the buildout of the community with an eye toward environmental stewardship. Newer homes are clustered together to allow for open natural space.
City leaders approved that concept in 1999 as part of a planned development agreement. Since then, that agreement has been amended multiple times and construction has commenced in phases.
But a new majority of City Council members elected in 2020 was skeptical of the 1999 agreement and its amendments. The council denied final approval of the townhome development in the fall of 2021, citing failure to meet applicable regulations, and earlier this year withheld final approval for 16 single-family home lots.
The North Oaks Co. filed suit challenging both council denials. At a hearing in the case in February, Ramsey County District Judge Patrick Diamond said city leaders’ actions appeared to “border on disingenuous.”
In April, the City Council reversed itself and approved both the townhome and single-family development.
“It was exactly as was originally presented by the company, in conformance with the terms of the development agreement between the city and the company,” Houge said.
Diamond ruled in July that the council’s reversal made the North Oaks Co. suit and the company’s request for damages largely moot. Earlier this month, the city and company agreed to dismiss one remaining claim related to public records and the Minnesota Data Practices Act, ending the litigation.
Houge said an independent appraiser estimates the North Oaks Co. lost $1.5 million due to the delays and changing market conditions.
“Interest rates have doubled from 3 to 6 percent, and construction costs have gone up 20 percent,” Houge said. “That will ultimately be born by the homeowners.”
The company considered appealing the judge’s ruling on damages but ultimately decided against it. “We didn’t feel it was fair to penalize the entire community for the actions of four council members. The residents would have paid,” Houge said.
The Harpurs, who own a residence in North Oaks, sent out a two-page letter to every household in the city earlier this month providing a timeline of the dispute and explaining the outcome.
“For 70 years we have had a good working relationship with the city. Hopefully we are near the completion of our development and we can get back there,” the Harpurs wrote. “We are proud of what we have created for the community.”
Star Tribune
Former Hubbard County official, school bus driver gets six-year sentence for sex crimes against students
A former Hubbard County commissioner and school bus driver was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for sex crimes involving minors.
Daniel J. Stacey, 60, was charged in April 2023 with criminal sexual conduct and electronic solicitation of a minor, both felonies, in Beltrami County District Court. He was then charged in November with nine additional felony counts related to criminal sexual contact with a minor.
Stacey pleaded guilty in June to four felony counts as part of a plea deal that dropped the remaining charges. His attorney, Joseph Tamburino, declined to comment Friday on the sentence, and officials with the Nevis school district did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Stacey resigned from the Hubbard County Board in January 2023 and was placed on leave from his school bus job during an investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) that began after the parent of a Nevis student filed a complaint.
In an email Friday, Hubbard County Administrator Jeffrey Cadwell said he had no comment other than that Stacey’s actions “did not occur within the course and scope of his duties with the County and the County was completely unaware of them.”
According to a criminal complaint, Stacey offered to mentor a 13-year-old male on his bus route. He brought the boy to his property, asked him to watch pornography and tried to touch him in a sexual manner, court documents state.
The boy told investigators that Stacey told him not to tell anyone, and helped him rehearse what to say about doing chores at his property. Investigators said they found footage showing times Stacey would deactivate the school bus camera when the boy was the only student left on the bus.
A second criminal complaint outlines similar allegations against Stacey with a minor who was 14 years old.
Star Tribune
Woman charged as investigation into attack on north Minneapolis homeless shelter continues
A 33-year-old woman has been charged with two felonies in connection with an attack on a north Minneapolis homeless shelter that forced 54 women and children to relocate last week.
Eureka D. Riser, 33, of Minneapolis, is charged with second-degree rioting with a dangerous weapon and first-degree damage to property, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. She was in custody Friday, a day after Minneapolis police confirmed her arrest.
Riser, also known as Eureka Willis, is alleged to have been in a group of at least three people who on Sept. 5 went to St. Anne’s Place, 2634 Russell Av. N., and threatened residents, smashing doors with a baseball bat.
Residents were forced to vacate the shelter, leaving it boarded with plywood and watched over by armed security. Building managers estimate that property damage amounts to more than $10,000, according to the county attorney’s office. Additional charges may be brought against others involved.
“This violent attack on some of our most vulnerable community members, unhoused women and children, in a place where they had gone to seek shelter and safety cannot be tolerated,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.
Hoang Murphy, the CEO of People Serving People, which operates the shelter, said earlier this week that the four-hour episode was the culmination of an argument between shelter residents and neighbors over street parking that started days earlier and spilled over into violence.
According to the criminal complaint, which cites surveillance footage, Riser allegedly swung a baseball bat against the shelter’s doors, shattering glass while residents were inside. Another member of the group pointed what appears to be a gun at the front door of the building, the complaint says.
Residents have since been relocated to a hotel for safety reasons, costing People Serving People $9,000 a night — a figure that Murphy called unsustainable.
A man who was shot and wounded by sheriff’s deputies in east-central Minnesota while resisting arrest received a six-month jail term Friday.
Leo H. Hacker, 71, was sentenced in Pine County District Court in connection with his guilty plea in two cases of assault, and obstructing and fleeing law enforcement in connection with his clashes with deputies in February 2023.
Hacker’s sentences will be served concurrently and includes Judge Jason Steffen setting aside a three-year sentence sought by the County Attorney’s Office. Steffen’s terms also include five years’ probation and community work service.
According to the charges in each case and related court documents:
On Feb. 21, deputies tried to pull over Hacker’s pickup truck on a gravel road about a mile from his Pine City home. As two deputies approached his vehicle, he drove toward them. Both deputies opened fire on Hacker and wounded him.
Hacker was wanted at the time on charges of second-degree assault and obstructing law enforcement in connection with allegations that he pointed a gun at a deputy outside his home on Feb. 14 and angrily defied orders to drop the weapon.
At one point, Hacker warned the deputies that if they did not leave, he would return with “something bigger,” the charges quoted him as saying.
The deputy was there to seize Hacker’s SUV stemming from a dispute over his unpaid attorney fees, the charges read. However, law enforcement outside the home “determined that based on the totality of circumstances, it was in the interest of safety to leave the scene at that time” and instead seek a warrant for Hacker’s arrest, the criminal complaint continued.
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