UPPCO files lawsuit in Wisconsin over zoning
UPPCO files lawsuit in Wisconsin over zoning
Claims it curtails development plans
By LAURA KIRBY, DMG Writer
MERRILL, Wis. — The parent company of the Upper Peninsula Power Co. has sued a Wisconsin county and two townships for allegedly impeding their ability to sell land for residential development.
Wisconsin Public Service Corp. is seeking damages from Lincoln County and the townships of Scott and Harding for failing to respond after the company objected to rezoning decisions made by the governments in 2004.
The complaint filed June 16 in Lincoln County Court details 1,300 acres of WPS lands surrounding its Alexander Hydro Project.
The company had planned to sell 200 of those acres to developers Naterra Land since 2004, said WPS real estate director Roger Trudeau. However, Lincoln County re-zoning in December of that year prohibited building year-round homes and prevented subdivision of the small Scott township parcel.
Rezoning made the planned sale for development unfeasible, and objections by WPSC were ignored, Trudeau said.
WPS is also in the process of selling land around several flowages in the U.P. to Naterra Land, including 1,700 acres at Bond Falls flowage in Ontonagon County.
The Lincoln County acreage in question falls in the Scott, Harding and Merrill township boundaries. The town of Merrill is not included in the suit because it reversed Lincoln County’s zoning decision.
From the 1960s until December 2004, zoning of the properties in Scott and Harding allowed for 30,000 square foot lots and year round residences, under a Recreation and Residential category.
When Lincoln County rezoned the Harding parcels of 26 and 112 acres each in 2004 it was given a forestry designation, which allows for one seasonal dwelling per 35 acres.
The Town of Scott parcel was rezoned to rural lands 2, also in 2004.
In 2005, WPS filed a petition with the Lincoln County Zoning Department to have the three parcels rezoned to Rural Residential, which permits the type of development planned by Naterra Land.
Among WPSC’s objections included the fact that WPSC’s 37 acres with the RL2 zoning now could not be subdivided. In addition, neither of the parcels are suitable for timber harvest, and both lie adjacent to areas already zoned as residential, Trudeau said.
“WPSC received assurances from the county and townships that (they) had one year to change the zoning classification,” and therefore withdrew the objection,” Trudeau said.
In 2005, WPS filed a petition with the Lincoln County Zoning Department to have the three parcels rezoned to Rural Residential, which permits the type of development planned by Naterra Land.
Those requests were denied, Trudeau said. The company is seeking damages of about $4 million from the defendants.
“(WPS) is requesting to be compensated for the loss in value of the property or to have residential zoning restored,” he said.
Lincoln County attorney Nancy Bergstrom said rezoning was completed throughout the whole county as part of a “Comprehensive Land Management Plan” and didn’t just target lands marked for development.
The plan included about four years of “public hearings and notices as well as legal notices,” in shaping people’s vision for the county, which ultimately did not involve development by Naterra she said.
“The county’s position would be that WPSC had the same kind of public notice to engage in this process as everybody else did,” said Bergstrom.
“The reason they have a rezoning plan that they don’t like is because they didn’t come to the party.”
Trudeau said that WPSC sent representatives to public meetings on the rezoning process. He noted some of those making comments on the matter requested that the rezoning be denied to keep WPS property as undeveloped and available for the use of the general public.
“A great deal of opposition came from residents living on Lake Alexander that did not want to allow more boats and docks on the water.”
The case has been assigned to Lincoln County Branch I Judge Jay Tlusty. A trial date has not been set.
Laura Kirby can be reached at lkirby@mininggazette.com
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