Burger King Sues City for Menards Decision

After at the end of 2011, the home improvement store’s eastern neighbor, , has sued the city.

According to , Burger King alleges that the city gave “custom” approvals to Menards that wouldn’t have been available to all and the resulting new superstore would be detrimental to the business.

at a Dec. 13, 2011 Richfield City Council public hearing to approve the store plat—which immediately followed the approval of a conditional use permit. Reps also presented a proposal to move the restaurant to the northwest corner of the property. However, that it had attempted to strike that very deal with the restaurant, but it fell through for financial reasons and plans moved ahead.

Burger King reps threatened legal action if the measures were passed that December night, however, it was a little too late as far as the council was concerned. The final plat approval was passed unanimously.

Currently, Stark said that the mediation process is underway, but felt the city would come out on top.

“We all feel pretty good about our chances in the lawsuit, but we’ll see what happens,” Stark said. “We took photos. You couldn’t see the restaurant before [from Nicollet Avenue], and you won’t see it after. No change.”

Richfield Patch will update readers as more information becomes available.

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