Alex Jerome and Ameena Samatar purchased a vacant building that the City of St. Paul previously had declared to be a nuisance. After their purchase, the city suspended its nuisance-abatement process to give them an opportunity to rehabilitate the building. But after several months and multiple hearings, Jerome and Samatar failed to satisfy the city’s requirements for a further suspension of the nuisance-abatement process. After several extensions of time, the city council eventually adopted a resolution that ordered the building to be either repaired or removed within 30 days.
The court concluded that the city council’s decision was not arbitrary, capricious, oppressive, or unreasonable, and was supported by substantial evidence; that the city’s procedures were not unlawful, irregular, or contrary to city ordinance; and that the city did not violate Jerome’s and Samatar’s rights to due process.