By Greg Ambrosius
Today (Dec. 15) was the final day we had to file an appeal to the Madison Court of Appeals regarding the approval of the Faulks Bros. sand mine permit on the Iola Car Show grounds.
While we still feel that this permit is not in compliance with Waupaca County ordinances, we have chosen not to appeal. Faulks Bros. will be allowed to begin mining next spring, and this project is likely to continue for 11 years, if not longer.
Why didn’t we appeal? Mainly because after three-plus years of fighting the county and Faulks, we are financially and emotionally drained. The plaintiffs have spent over $60,000 in legal fees (with help from donations) on our two appeals and it would take tens of thousands more in legal fees for this case to go to the Court of Appeals. There are now only two plaintiffs still living here, not three, so the expense was just too high.
Also, Kewaunee County Judge Jeffrey Wisnicky said one thing in his judgment in October that makes the success of an appeal very tough. We have constantly stated that this permit is not in compliance with the Township of Scandinavia’s Comprehensive Plan, as the township not only agreed with that, but then-Chairman Gary Marx wrote a 61-page report that showed all the ways it wasn’t in compliance with the plan.
Still, Judge Wisnicky wrote: “The Board counters and the Court agrees that the Board (and not the Town) is tasked with determining whether the conditional use is consistent with all relevant comprehensive plans.”
That’s the killer. What the judge is saying is that every Comprehensive Plan in the state is as useless as the paper it’s printed on. The county will determine if the permit is in compliance with the community’s Comprehensive Plan, not the township!
Have you ever heard the phrase: “You can’t beat city hall?” Well, you can’t beat the Waupaca County Planning & Zoning Department when they decide what is right or wrong. They have done everything in their power to make sure Faulks Bros. got this permit from the beginning (even overturning the original vote that denied the permit), and in the end, they win. You can’t beat city hall.
In order to get this permit, Waupaca County ordinance Chapter 34.14.5.1(b) states that the permit “must be consistent with all relevant aspects of the town and county Comprehensive Plans.”
Just for the record, as stated above, the Township of Scandinavia unanimously voted twice that this permit was not in compliance with the 2030 Comprehensive Plan.
Just for the record, Faulks’ Bros. own lawyer told the Waupaca County Board of Adjustment that they weren’t in compliance with the Township of Scandinavia Comprehensive Plan because it was outdated and not updated since 2007 (both of which are false; the plan is good through 2030, and it has been updated multiple times, including once in 2024).
Just for the record, even the Iola Car Show says the permit isn’t in compliance with the Township’s Comprehensive Plan. Said Executive Director Joe Opperman on Oct. 21: “In my opinion, it doesn’t really fit that plan very well, nor should it be expected to. At the time it was written, nobody knew about this resource in this location.”
Just for the record, the Waupaca County Planning & Zoning Committee voted 3-2 to deny this permit on Aug. 22, 2023. The county attorney and director then held two closed-door meetings and got one board member to ask for a “reconsideration” vote. Without any new evidence, any new testimony or any public input, two board members changed their votes, and the permit was suddenly approved 4-1.
Yet even though both parties admitted it wasn’t in compliance with the township’s Comprehensive Plan and thus not in compliance with Waupaca County ordinance Chapter 34.14.5.1(b), the county alone determines if the permit is in compliance or not. The Board of Adjustment voted 4-1, saying it was in compliance with the township’s Comprehensive Plan when even the township and the permit holders said it wasn’t. Explain that one, please!
Game over. City hall wins. Even though few in the Township of Scandinavia want this decade-long sand pit in a neighborhood where seven residences are within 500 feet of the pit, the county says we have to have it. So much for any new housing in this area of the state.
Faulks wins. The Iola Car Show wins. The environment and our neighbors/community lose. They may have won, but only because they don’t care what the residents asked for in the Comprehensive Plan, and only because the county allowed this.
Sorry, we couldn’t take it one step further, but the cards are stacked. Sometimes you just can’t beat city hall, even when a township doesn’t want it. Stay ready in your own communities because this precedent-setting case can now happen to anyone in any community. As the board chairman said at the end of the Oct. 25 hearing: “They have to go where the sand is.” Yikes.
