In an August 31st post on his website, John Mesenbrink, a candidate for Credit River mayor, claims that he and others brought a lawsuit against the City of Credit River because they believed “that the Council did not follow its own ordinances and rules” in reviewing and denying the applications to reclassify and rezone approximately 139 acres to commercial and industrial use. There is more to the story.
What Mesenbrink does not explain is that the city ordinances set the requirements for the information that needs to be included in applications for development and rezoning. Then, and this is the part that Mesenbrink leaves out of his post, the Credit River City Council needs to review development rezoning applications for consistency with the city’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which is the city’s guide for long-term growth.
In his final decision issued on February 19, 2026, the Scott County District Court judge states that Council Member Bill Markert “provided an extensive and meticulous analysis, detailing numerous inconsistencies between [Mesenbrink’s] application and the standards in the Comp. Plan.” The judge ruled that the Credit River City Council’s subsequent 5-0 vote “properly denied the Comprehensive Plan Amendment…[and] the Rezoning and Preliminary Plat applications—which sought Commercial/Industrial zoning and subdivision—were properly denied as being inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan.”
In the post, Mesenbrink states “Look up the lawsuit and check for yourself.” To assist residents in reading the Scott County District Court decision to understand the reasons for the city’s denial of the Mesenbrink applications and then the court’s decision upholding the denials, click the download button below to open the court decision for reading.
Mesenbrink Lawsuit Court Decision