Contends CUP app was incomplete with missing information

PRESS RELEASE

On Monday, Feb. 19, Christa Westerberg of Pines Bach LLP filed an appeal against the Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Committee for its decision to approve a sand mine permit to Faulks Bros. on the Iola Car Show grounds. The Committee had reversed its earlier decision to deny the permit on Jan. 23, instead approving the permit by a 4-1 vote.

Westerberg filed the appeal on behalf of three families, whose residences border the proposed sand mine in the Township of Scandinavia. Named in the appeal are Laura and Ron Scott, Greg and Chris Ambrosius, and Ken and Joanne Mentzel. A total of seven residences are within 500 feet of the proposed mine. The appeal to the Waupaca County Board of Adjustment notes that “the CUP application was incomplete, missing information required in multiple portions of the County’s ordinances” and lists five examples.

This appeal comes after 6-plus months of meetings that the Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Committee held on this permit. The Township of Scandinavia’s Planning and Zoning Committee unanimously denied the permit on May 3 and the Township of Scandinavia’s Board also unanimously denied the permit a week later. Chairman Gary Marx wrote a 61-page report on why the permit was not in compliance with the Township’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

The Waupaca County Planning and Zoning Committee had one public meeting on July 12 and then held another public meeting on Aug. 22 where the board voted 3-2 to deny the permit. Faulks Bros. then filed an appeal and after two closed-door meetings between County Attorney Diane Meulemans and the board, board member Cindy Hardy then chose to make a motion on Oct. 30 to reconsider the vote. Hardy, Joe McClone, and Wayne Wilfeur had voted against the permit on Aug. 22, but two months later Hardy with a seconded motion from DuWayne Federwitz wiped that vote off the books.

Meulemans advised the board that they were just to use testimony from July 12 in their decision to re-vote and no new evidence could be considered. Yet, on Jan. 23, Hardy and Wilfeur joined Federwitz and Chairman Jim Nygaard in approving the permit, 4-1, with only McClone again voting no. With no new evidence, it was a drastic change in opinion on the legality of the permit.

The appeal states that the “appellants respectfully request that the Waupaca County Board of Adjustments reverse the Planning and Zoning Committee’s decision and deny the Conditional Use Permit for the non-metallic mine on the Iola Old Car Show Inc.”

For more information on the appeal and to read the appeal go to our website.