By Greg Ambrosius

It looks like the Township of Scandinavia wasn’t the only municipality in Wisconsin that followed its guidelines in denying a non-metallic mining permit.

Just this week, the Village of Kronenwetter denied Milestone Materials a non-metallic mining permit because it failed to meet at least four of the five criteria for a Conditional Use Permit. The Village’s Plan Commission cited its own Comprehensive Plan and the permit’s adverse impact on nearby properties and public health to deny the permit.

According to the Wausau Pilot & Review, the permit was denied on a 6-1 vote. The same lawyer representing Faulks Bros. in our appeal, Mitchell Olson, represents Milestone Materials and states that the Village didn’t follow state law. This case could follow the same path that our case followed after the Township denied Faulks Bros. a permit on a unanimous vote.

Here’s the complete story, which thanks to local journalism, is now available here.

Local Comprehensive Plans should be followed, and the counties should respect them. Don’t be surprised if this case gets appealed to the county level and pressure is put on those officials to overturn this local decision. The playbook seems to work, despite what county ordinances say.