Amphitheater landowner cited for work on property without permit Posted 7/6/01 by John Gessner Staff Writer The owner of the proposed Black Dog Amphitheater site in Burnsville has been charged with a misdemeanor for placing fill on the site without a permit. Michael McGowan of the R.B. McGowan Co. was cited June 21, after city officials confirmed that fill was being placed on the property. McGowan didnít have a needed city permit to do the work, said Community Development Director Craig Ebeling. The work also violated a Metropolitan Council edict barring work on the property until completion of a metropolitan-significance review of the controversial amphitheater project. Ebeling said the fill was being placed in an area on the property, located south of the Minnesota River and west of I-35W, that had been previously dredged for possible use as a marina. McGowan did do some work on the property this spring when the city ordered the company to lower its flood-control levee to comply with city ordinance. The Metropolitan Council issued permits for that work. City officials recently talked with McGowan about the possibility of filling in the marina area, which could help the company settle charges of illegal filling on the property leveled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ebeling said. ìSomeone in their group interpreted that as being a clearance from the city to go ahead and do it,î Ebeling said. ìIt never was that. They had some miscommunication within their ranks. Whatever happened, unfortunately, it is a violation of city ordinance and a violation of the stay the Met Council had placed there.î He said Burnsville officials were alerted to the activity by officials in Bloomington. ©Thisweek Newspapers