Shawano County hires attorney for land dispute

A local woman says she is starting to see change on the Shawano County Board of Adjustment.

Carney Garcia recently reported violations to Shawano County regarding property that is shared on Shawano Lake. Garcia’s original complaint stemmed from two homeowners who built into a shared lot without pulling permits and used 2-foot setbacks, as opposed to 25-foot setbacks.

After claiming that the Board of Adjustment quickly voted to pass an after-the-fact variance for the deck during its April 14 meeting, Garcia filled a writ of certiorari against the board. A writ of certiorari is a request for a higher-up board to review the judgment of a case.

“In response to the writ, the county has hired attorney Andrew Smith, who seems to be well-versed in municipal law and in the operation of county boards,” said Garcia.

Garcia said that she noticed a difference in how the June 9 meeting was operated.

“It seems like he may have already had an influence on the Board of Adjustment,” said Garcia. “The board seemed to apply the variance criteria when making their decisions. In fact, their long periods of silence proved that they were making decisions with an abundance of caution. It was definitely an improvement from the last meeting.”

According to Garcia, the Wisconsin statute for approving variances has three criteria — there has to be a hardship, it can’t be against public interest and the variance has to be valid due to conditions that are unique to the property.

“The board did not use that at all at the April 14 meeting,” said Garcia. “There should never be an after-the-fact variance granted, because that means that someone did it and didn’t care. That is why we had to file the court case.”

She added that the board was going through everyone’s request and identifying if that criteria fits at the June 9 meeting.

“I do believe that it is because they are talking to the attorney,” said Garcia.

Garcia also said that at the June 9 meeting, a discussion arose centered on how each town board should get a letter explaining the rules required by the State of Wisconsin for variance approvals.

“That fact that the towns could get training in this is such a positive thing,” said Garcia. “Shawano County is growing, so towns should be trained.”

NEW Media contacted both Shawano County and Smith for comment, but neither replied by press time.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com