Appeals court finds Brookfield overstepped in requiring developer to pay for street connecting subdivisions.

• Date: 22 April 2022
• Author: Beck, Nate

Byline: Nate Beck, nbeck@dailyreporter.com

An appeals court on Thursday found the city of Brookfield improperly sought to compel a developer to pay for a public road through a planned subdivision in a closely watched land use case.

The decision from the Wisconsin's District II Court of Appeals sided with developer Bridget Fassett, who argued the city of Brookfield wrongly demanded she pay to install a public street in exchange for approving a proposed subdivision on 5 acres of land off Gebhardt Road in the city. The court's ruling is recommended for publication, meaning it could set precedent for other land use cases in Wisconsin.

Interests that include the Wisconsin Builders Association, Wisconsin Realtors Association and NAOIP-Wisconsin intervened in the case. Rodney Carter, a partner at Husch Blackwell who represented Fassett, said development interests saw...