The city of Burnsville violated residents’ rights under state and federal laws when it enforced city code violations at a Burnsville trailer park in 2015, a Dakota County judge ruled Wednesday.
District Judge Colleen G. King found that the city’s proactive crackdown on carports, awnings and visible garbage cans at the Rambush Estates Manufactured Home Park was motivated by prejudice against low-income people and minorities.
“Burnsville made an intentional decision to establish a proactive code enforcement process because of the number of ‘ethnically diverse’ people moving into the city and that they ‘do not know how to take care of their property’ because it is ‘not in their culture,’ ” King wrote in her 45-page decision.
The judge cited statements attributed to Burnsville officials in 2012, including Mayor Elizabeth Kautz and former City Council member Mary Sherry.
Sanctions have not yet been determined.
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