Court rules in favor of North Mankato homeowner and his natural yard

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - A state appeals court has ruled in favor of a North Mankato man whose unmanicured yard was declared a public nuisance.

Retired botany and physics professor Ed Borchardt just wanted a natural lawn to help with the flow of wildlife.

While the City of North Mankato recently passed a natural lawn ordinance, officials say Borchardt’s yard doesn’t meet the standards of the new ordinance.

The appeals court on Monday said a city cannot declare a nuisance “based on little more than neighbors’ displeasure with the property’s appearance.”

Borchardt says he’s noticed something different this year than in years past.

”We’ve got sunflower plants that every fall the goldfinch would come in and the plants would just bob up and down with the goldfinch. I have not seen a single goldfinch this year, so what I set out to do was to just help the birds and so forth. I didn’t set out to prove anything,” Borchardt said.

North Mankato officials say they need to take some time before responding.

“It is a public nuisance, and we believe that the court sided with the city, however, they didn’t, and again now we just need to investigate what options we have moving forward,” North Mankato Community Development Director Michael Fischer explained.

The case has been going on for roughly two years.

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