Country Village in Burnsville seeks new license

Owners of a Burnsville apartment complex that fell into such disrepair that the city shut it down have applied for a rental license to reopen part of the property.

Lindahl Properties submitted an application in May for a license that would cover three of the six buildings at the Country Village complex, near Hwy. 13 on Burnsville's western edge.

The City Council was to consider granting the provisional license last week but postponed that until the required inspections could be completed at the owners' request.

"The ball is in their court for them to call when they want those done," said Jenni Faulkner, the city's community development director. "We started and went through some of the units but we need to go through the rest."

For now, the city has labeled Lindahl Properties' request a provisional license because it does not include all 138 apartments in six residential buildings at the complex.

Jeffrey Lambert, a lawyer representing Lindahl Properties, said the owners hope to reopen those three buildings to generate some income that could be used to repair the other three.

He said 90 percent of the repair work in those three buildings has been completed, but that the owners decided to wait until later this month to go before the City Council.

"Collectively, we decided to wait until everything is 100 percent done," he said. "We don't want any glitches."

Lambert said Lindahl Properties has been working for months to make the required fixes.

"With all the things that were done, I think it will be evident that their intent is to keep this up to code," Lambert said.

If the license goes forward at the next meeting, he said, Country Village may be open for new tenants in August.

The city revoked Lindahl Properties' rental license after the owners missed a January deadline to fix fire code violations. Over the months the city spent working on the problems, inspectors reported insect infestations, broken plumbing, mold, sagging ceilings and electrical problems.

Residents, many of them low income, had to move out in early March because the apartments could not be occupied without a license.

The case, which came to light when firefighters responded to an kitchen fire at Country Village and another resident stepped forward with a jar of dead insects, prompted the city to review the ordinance that governs the more than 8,900 rental housing units across the city.

Changes under consideration include annual fees for property owners and regular building and fire code inspections.

Katie Humphrey • 952-746-3286