# St. Anthony Village *A city in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, Minnesota, and the defendant in a 2014 federal RLUIPA suit over a 2012 land-use denial.* St. Anthony, also called Saint Anthony Village, is a [[Minnesota]] city that straddles Hennepin and Ramsey counties.[^1] The 2020 census counted 9,257 residents. The same source places 5,621 of them in the Hennepin County portion and 3,654 in the Ramsey County portion, but those two figures sum to 9,275, not 9,257.[^1] The city council has five seats, a mayor and four members, each elected to a four-year term.[^1] The project's at-issue record states that the city rejected the [[Abu Huraira Islamic Center]] in 2012. It further states that the United States sued under [[RLUIPA]] in 2014 and that the center opened under a federal settlement.[^2][^3] This record does not carry the filings themselves: the complaint, the docket number, the settlement date and the settlement terms. The at-issue entries name justice.gov and mprnews.org as their sources, and the pack does not include those pages.[^2] The record does not establish which council members voted on the 2012 denial. It also does not establish which federal administration brought the suit.[^2][^3] ## Who The five-member council, made up of the mayor and four council members, governs the city.[^1] The earliest claimant named in the record is Franklin Steele. He was a storekeeper at [[Fort Snelling]] and staked a claim east of St. Anthony Falls in 1838.[^4] In the federal matter, the at-issue record names the Abu Huraira Islamic Center as the applicant whose project the city denied. It names the United States, acting through the Department of Justice, as the party that sued the city.[^2][^3] The 2010 census recorded 8,226 residents in 3,848 households, 2,054 of them families. The median age was 43.1 years.[^5] Ten years earlier, the 2000 census recorded 8,012 residents in 3,697 households, 2,007 of them families.[^5] H. Timothy Vakoc was once associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in the city. He was the first U.S. military chaplain to die of wounds received in the Iraq War.[^6] ## When - **1838**: Franklin Steele made his claim on the land east of the falls. He did not begin developing it until 1848, after which it grew into a milling and trading center like [[Minneapolis]], which lay west of the falls.[^4] - **1858**: The settlement was formally organized as the Township of St. Anthony.[^4] - **1872**: Minneapolis annexed most of the township, an area that covers much of present-day Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis. About 1,000 acres of mostly farmland to the north kept the St. Anthony name and stayed unincorporated.[^4] - **1945**: Township voters approved incorporation as a village, 167 to 57. The state contested the result, arguing that the area was too rural and agricultural. The [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] sustained the incorporation; the record does not give the year of the ruling.[^4] - **1950s**: The St. Anthony Shopping Center was built. It was Minnesota's first strip mall and was owned by the Batista family of Cuba.[^4] - **October 1961**: Apache Plaza opened as the tenth indoor shopping mall in the United States. Southdale, the first, had been completed in October 1956, about 15 miles to the southwest.[^4] - **2004**: Apache Plaza was torn down. The Silver Lake Village shopping area later took its place.[^4] - **2006 and 2008**: St. Anthony Village High School won state baseball championships. The 2006 title was the first for ISD 282.[^4] - **8 June 2006**: The city dedicated Salo Park, in the Silver Lake Village development, to its sister city of Salo, Finland.[^7] - **2012**: The city rejected the Abu Huraira Islamic Center, according to the at-issue record.[^2] - **2014**: The Department of Justice sued under RLUIPA, according to the at-issue record. One entry describes a two-year contest between the city and the center.[^2][^3] - **Undated in this record**: The matter resolved by settlement, and the center opened.[^3] ## Where The city lies about 4 miles northeast of downtown Minneapolis.[^8] [[United States Census Bureau]] figures give a total area of 2.37 square miles. Of that, 2.25 square miles is land and 0.12 square miles is water.[^8] Silver Lake Road runs the full north–south length of the city and takes its name from Silver Lake in the northwest. County Highway 88 is another main route, and Interstate 35W crosses the southern edge at the St. Anthony Boulevard exit.[^8] Silver Lake lies almost wholly inside the city limits. Silverwood, a county park run by the Three Rivers Park District, sits on its shore.[^9] The city is part of the St. Anthony-New Brighton School District, ISD 282.[^10] ## In the at-issue record Four entries in the project's at-issue record concern the city. Three come from the Anoka package and one from the Stearns package. The record treats the 2012 denial, the 2014 suit and the settlement as the documented sequence, and treats the rest as the entries' own argument.[^2][^3][^11][^12] Each entry's cited anchor is a January 2025 White House presidential action on illegal discrimination. That page does not itself document the St. Anthony matter.[^2] - **AI-Anoka-031** (rank 31): This entry sets out the 2012 denial, the 2014 RLUIPA suit and the opening under settlement. It then argues that a religion-based denial in [[Coon Rapids]] would be "a pre-litigated loss with a Minnesota docket number".[^2] - **AI-Anoka-082** (rank 82): This entry states that the city contested the center for two years before the federal suit and settlement, and that the center opened regardless.[^3] - **AI-Anoka-086** (rank 86): This entry states that the city's hearing transcripts became Justice Department exhibits. The record carries neither the transcripts nor the exhibits, so it does not establish what they contain.[^11] - **AI-Stearns-053** (rank 53): This entry states that the mayor of [[St. Cloud]] said publicly in 2017 that a proposed refugee moratorium would likely violate the [[Equal Protection Clause]]. It cites the St. Anthony suit and settlement as the prior Minnesota precedent.[^12] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), lead section. Establishes the name, counties, 2020 census population and county split, and council structure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Anoka-031 (*Council_Vote_Brief_FactCheck_2026-09-01.md*). States the 2012 rejection, the 2014 RLUIPA suit and the opening under federal settlement. The entry's listed sources (justice.gov, mprnews.org) are not in this pack. Its anchor, cited here, is the White House presidential action (January 2025), which does not itself document the St. Anthony matter. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^3]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Anoka-082 (*Council_Vote_Brief_FactCheck_2026-09-01.md*). States the two-year contest, the suit by the United States, the settlement and the center's opening. Cited via the entry's White House anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^4]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), History section. Covers Steele's 1838 claim, 1858 organization, 1872 annexation, the 1945 incorporation vote and court challenge, the shopping centers, and the 2006 and 2008 baseball titles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Demographics section. Gives 2010 and 2000 census counts and the 2010 median age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Notable people section. Covers H. Timothy Vakoc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Sister city section. Covers Salo, Finland, and the 8 June 2006 Salo Park dedication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Geography section. Gives location, Census Bureau area figures and main routes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^9]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Parks and recreation section. Covers Silver Lake and Silverwood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^10]: Wikipedia, *St. Anthony, Minnesota* (revision 1378468868, retrieved 2026-10-27), Education section. Identifies the St. Anthony-New Brighton School District, ISD 282. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony,_Minnesota [^11]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Anoka-086 (*Public_Comment_3min_2026-09-01.md*). States that the hearing transcripts became DOJ exhibits. Cited via the entry's White House anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^12]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Stearns-053 (*Kleis_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-01.md* §VIII item 1). Covers the St. Cloud mayor's 2017 statement and the St. Anthony RLUIPA suit and settlement. Cited via the entry's White House anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/