By Sara StrongLuverne’s City Attorney has been asked to meet with attorney Don Klosterbuer to address a possible violation of the city’s land division ordinances that took place in May. City Attorney Ben Vander Kooi and Klosterbuer will discuss whether a real estate transaction complied with city subdivision ordinance.The property at issue involved the late Harvey Ball and his widow Barbara Ball, 107 East Lincoln Street.Barbara Ball was represented privately by Klosterbuer, who was also city attorney at the time of the request.Ball requested that the city allow her to divide her property in order to sell the garage on one side of the property. The city denied the request in April 2003 because the Planning Commission and City Council determined the subdivision would have violated city code. After receiving notice, the property and garage were sold to Al Stroh.Klosterbuer was notified that the city denied the subdivision request by Jeff Haubrich, a lawyer in Klosterbuer’s firm, who was serving as interim city administrator at the time.Klosterbuer said the property was split by decree filed in the Harvey Ball estate, not by deed. Therefore, the transaction wasn’t against what the Council voted.He said, "The transaction was based on what I felt was a reasonable legal position and a permissible course of conduct."A split by decree is not prohibited by the ordinance.The city denied the division request because residential zones don’t allow storage facilities without a primary structure on the parcel.The width of 50 feet and depth of 58 feet violate code requirements, which are 70 feet in width and 100 feet in depth. The total area is 2,900 square feet, when the code requires a minimum of 7,000 square feet.At the time of the subdivision waiver request, it was argued that the property was served by a public road and wasn’t in need of any future planning or development, so a waiver would be reasonable. The Council may waive platting requirements when no development issues are involved.The Luverne City Council brought up the Ball property issue at a recent meeting because other property divisions have come into question.Councilman David Hauge said he was particularly troubled because Klosterbuer wrote city ordinances.In 1992, then City Administrator Steve Perkins and Klosterbuer were concerned about adhering to subdivision policies and procedures. The city sent a letter to the Rock County Recorder and all attorneys and real estate brokers in 1992, reminding them to follow subdivision regulations.