Res 2024-12 Just Deeds CovenantsCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
RESOLUTION NO. 2024 —12
RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS,
DISCHARGING DISCRIMINATORY COVENANTS ON CITY -OWNED PROPERTY, AND
APPROVING PARTICIPATION IN THE JUST DEEDS COALITION
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants were tools used by real estate developers to
prevent Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and non-Christian individuals from
buying or occupying property in certain areas, and they were common throughout the
United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of discriminatory covenants was to racially and
religiously homogenize communities by excluding BIPOC and non-Christian individuals
from Mendota Heights. These tools segregated the metro area and built a hidden
system of apartheid; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the University of Minnesota founded Mapping Prejudice to
expose the racist practices that shaped the landscape of the metro area. Mapping
Prejudice researched restrictive covenants in Minnesota and created the first -ever
comprehensive map of racial covenants in an American city. The project mapped 255
restrictive covenants in Mendota Heights; and
WHEREAS, an example of a common covenant in Mendota Heights declared that
No part of said premises shall ever be used or occupied by or sold, conveyed, leased,
rented or given to Negroes, or Mongolians or Hebrews or any person or persons of the
negro race, or Mongolian race or Hebrew race or blood; and
WHEREAS, the City of Mendota Heights owns two parcels of land that contain a
discriminatory covenant, parcel ID 274530000174 and parcel ID 274530000173; and
WHEREAS, restrictive covenants are no longer enforceable. Legal efforts to
eliminate Discriminatory Covenants include She((ey v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948)I in
which the United States Supreme Court prohibited courts from enforcing Discriminatory
Covenants and the Minnesota legislature in 1953 enacted statutes that prohibited new
covenants, but existing covenants were still legal in Minnesota until 1962; and
WHEREAS, as a result of these judicial and legislative actions, today, Minnesota
law and federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale or lease of housing based on race,
color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public
assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or familial status and those state and federal
prohibitions extend to the refusal to sell or to circulate, post or cause to be printed,
circulated, or posted, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, color,
creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance,
disability, sexual orientation, or familial status; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law authorizing property
owners to individually discharge or renounce discriminatory covenants by recording a
discharge form in the county property records; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory covenants promoted and established residential racial
segregation, which historically and currently has impacted property ownership,
accumulation of wealth, property transfers, mortgage eligibility, rental eligibility,
property values, property tax base, internet access, and more. Discriminatory covenants
fortified systemic racism and compounded economic divestment in specific
communities within Dakota County; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, including the City of Mendota Heights,
recognizes the harm that Discriminatory Covenants —and the racial, religious, and other
discriminatory practices that they represent —cause to society in general and to the
individuals who are adversely affected by racial, religious, and other discrimination
through the presence of discriminatory covenants in the public land records.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Mendota
Heights that:
1. The City of Mendota Heights regrets and condemns the past use of discriminatory
covenants and prohibits discriminatory covenants from being used in the future.
2. The City Attorney is directed to investigate and to identify any real property owned
or leased by the City that contains discriminatory covenants and to prepare and
record an affidavit or request an examiner's directive discharging such discriminatory
covenants pursuant to Minnesota Statute § 507.18, subd. 5.
Adopted by the City Council of Mendota Heights, Minnesota this 2nd day of April 2024.
CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF MENDOTA HE/IGHTS
cc�.cCJ v
Stephanie B. Levine, Mayor
ATTEST:
ancy Bauer, City Clerk