Political Involvement
On January 28, 1998, Rep. John Gard wrote a letter
to Secretary Meyer, to share his position on the Harry House shoreland
zoning case. It was Gard's position that the case be dropped by the
DOJ due to the fact that the Brown County Board of Adjustment had already
granted a variance. He finished his letter by stating, "I think
their request [the Harry's] has tremendous merit. I hope you [Sec.
Meyer] will ultimately agree."(5)
On March 17, 1998, Secretary Meyer personally
visited the Harry House site in Suamico. Only two days after his
visit, Secretary Meyer sent a letter to Attorney General, James Doyle,
requesting that the state take no further action in the case.
In his letter, Secretary Meyer blamed procedural
errors by the Brown County Circuit Court as the main problem, not the aesthetic
issue. Therefore the Justice Department should dismiss the case and
the variance would once again be granted to the Harry's. Secretary
Meyer ended his letter by stating, "The legal resources of the Justice
Department assigned to assist DNR in its environmental programs are limited.
Based on the unique facts of this case, the Department requests that no
further legal action be pursued in this matter."(6)
Another Shoreland Case
DNR staff are proud of their recent victory on
a similar issue, achieved May 27, 1998. The Wisconsin Supreme
Court settled a 3 year DNR enforcement case: State of Wisconsin vs.
Kenosha County (also called the "Huntoon Case"), case #96-1235, overturning
the variance a lakeshore property owner had received from the Kenosha County
Board of Adjustment to extend a recreational deck from her cabin, within
the 75 foot shoreline setback.(10) The
Wisconsin Supreme Court stated:
"One of the purposes of zoning laws is that variances should be granted sparingly. Only where the applicant has demonstrated that he or she will have no reasonable use of the property, in the absence of a variance, is an unnecessary hardship present."Given the intense effort DNR invested in achieving this Supreme Court decision, it's ironic that the Harry House case was dropped during the same time period.
The following sections of this report discuss key details:
Back
to Front of this DNR Report
Why
Protect Shorelands and Shoreland Facts
Conclusion
and Recommendations
Methods
and References
