Twin Cities businessman sues city of East Gull Lake over his controversial helicopter

A Twin Cities businessman is suing the city of East Gull Lake over his controversial helicopter that the city says is unauthorized at his lakeshore vacation home.

The litigation is the latest development in this lakes country saga more than four years in the making. Debate first took flight over Doug Schieffer’s helicopter in 2020 when he submitted building plans for a private helipad. He says he’s not violating city code by storing his helicopter on his $4.5 million property.

But the city says it doesn’t allow helipads, and the city further says that the taking off, landing and storage of helicopters is not authorized. Images of Schieffer’s airborne helicopter were submitted by the city in response to Schieffer’s lawsuit, filed in November in Cass County District Court.

“It’s not all allowable use,” said East Gull Lake Mayor Dave Kavanaugh. “It’s been like that and it hasn’t changed at all. It seems like this has been going on for a long time. ... But it’s not allowed in our city.”

Asked if the city would ever allow helicopters or helipads in the future, Kavanaugh said “I doubt it.”

But Schieffer, 50 of Webster, Minn., said he’s not backing down. “Put restrictions on me and let’s move on, because this is really dumb. And in the meantime, I’m doing it.”

“I’m sure they will stand firm, and so will I,” Schieffer continued. “I will never go away on this. And there’s a lot of reasons for that. It’s just a few people that have made a lot of noise in the city in opposition to it. They have no rhyme or reason. They can’t stop me.”

After receiving numerous complaints and reports of his helicopter taking off, landing and being stored on his property — even Schieffer self-reported a landing Jan. 31, 2023 — the city sent a notice of violation to Schieffer Aug. 18, 2023, then again Sept. 1, 2023, and gave final notice Feb. 14, 2024. All notices demanded him to discontinue unpermitted activities immediately.

On May 15, the Minnesota Department of Transportation issued a cease and desist order to Schieffer. MnDOT informed Schieffer that his helicopter activities directly violate Minnesota law and his seaplane base license, which is for a Cessna seaplane, not a helicopter.

But the city says in court records that his “unpermitted activities and violations ... remain ongoing.”

Schieffer appealed the violation notices twice. The city denied his appeals this summer, then he unsuccessfully appealed the denial, so Schieffer took civil action.

He is represented by the Minneapolis law firm Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson. Attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment, but in an interview last week, Schieffer said “the vast majority of my close neighbors don’t care, and there’s no harm to them.”

Schieffer said lawn mowers and chain saws are louder than his helicopter. “Everyone’s got a right to make noise,” he said, adding that he rejects the argument that he can’t even store his helicopter on his property.

“That’s absolutely insanity,” he said. “To say that someone can’t store something? Whatever. They don’t have a leg to stand on. The burden of proof is on them.”

Jason Kuboushek, with the law firm Iverson Reuvers in Bloomington, is representing the city. He said it remains a zoning violation.

“They’ve had complaints from neighbors,” Kuboushek said. “They continue to get complaints from neighbors. Neighbors have attorneys that are complaining. The city just wants it to end.”

The Gull Chain of Lakes Association (GCOLA) said in a letter to the Minnesota Star Tribune that Schieffer has been violating the city’s land use ordinances since August 2023 and throughout 2024.

GCOLA said Cass and Crow Wing counties don’t allow helicopters, so “why should the city be an outlier and allow one individual to land/take off his helicopter in the shoreland district with total disregard for the laws of the city, his neighbors, lake users, the shoreland environment, and the citizens of the city and Cass County?” the letter states.

Kavanaugh said he’s not aware of another helicopter owner in East Gull Lake advocating for the city to adopt regulations to allow for private helipads and helicopters. He said to his knowledge, an ordinance would be for the benefit of Schieffer, who isn’t a full-time resident.

Schieffer, the president of Northland Concrete & Masonry Company, LLC in Shakopee, said it will come down to legal definitions and terminology in court.

A hearing is scheduled Jan. 8 before District Judge Jana Austad, who will have 90 days to make a determination.

The two parties seem to disagree, in part, on the definition of “airport.”

City ordinance defines an airport as “Any premises used or intended for use for the landing and taking off of aircraft including any structures used or intended for use for aircraft services.”

Schieffer said he thinks the city believes the ordinance is written as such to keep him from having his helicopter on his property. “I believe the exact opposite, and it would take a court to actually put a ruling on that,” he said.

The city and GCOLA have urged the court to enforce the land use ordinance and approve a permanent injunction ordering Schieffer to eradicate all violations and prohibit him from similar violations on the property in the future.

Schieffer argues that he can land on his barge all day long if he wants. He said his property is licensed as a private airport.

But it’s undisputed that his property is located within the city’s shoreline residential zone, where airports are not permitted.

East Gull Lake is equipped with a seaplane base at nearby Steamboat Bay and an airstrip at Madden’s Resort. The city is mulling whether to allow hangars at the public airport.

The helicopter drama began in 2020 when Schieffer submitted plans to build a helipad on his lakeshore property for his Bell 206L4, a six-passenger craft. But with no zoning ordinance for private helipads, East Gull Lake officials considered drafting helicopter regulation. Some neighbors pushed back.

“They told me to design and to build my place with hangar incorporated into it, and I did. And the naysayers out there, I mean, the city even said it in a meeting, ‘you know that there’s just too much opposition,’” Schieffer said. “At this point the opposition is all about spite.”

Since then, the topic has hovered at several council and commission meetings, but no resolution or ordinance passed in Schieffer’s favor.

So what’s he using that helicopter for anyway?

“We do work all throughout the Midwest with my company,” Schieffer said, adding that he owns “a portion of many companies, but I’m not going to disclose what those are.”

“So there are times where it allows me to travel for work and with other entities that I am a part of. ... And getting home for, say, kids sports, it’s important, and other health stuff within my family. And just trying to be the best dad I can be and be there as much as I can for my kids, but yet also be there for work. And yet, also, it’s a passion.”