Sanimax Loses Suit Over City’s Rendering Plant Restrictions

Sanimax USA LLC failed to revive free speech and equal protection claims against the City of South Saint Paul, Minn., over an odor ordinance and zoning restrictions on its rendering plant.

In an effort to create a “new image,” the city—once a meatpacking industry hub—began in 2014 to enact a series of ordinances to reduce odor pollution in the industrial zoning district along the Mississippi River. A proposed 2017 ordinance would have rezoned the industrial area, excluding rendering plants from one area and requiring a conditional permit for them in another area.

In 2019, the city enacted a zoning ordinance ...