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

AuthorBeck, 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 the case's potential to shape how municipalities can compel builders to shoulder the cost of public infrastructure.

The court's decision found Brookfield's requirement that Fassett give up a portion of the 5-acre parcel for a public road, then pay to have it built amounted to an unconstitutional taking of private property. While cities have powers to dedicate land for public use, the decision shows developers must be compensated for giving up land for public projects, Carter said.

"I think communities are going to be more careful when they require that extraction without compensation," he said. "If cities are going to require dedications of land, I think they're going to look harder at that."

Brookfield city officials did not return a message seeking comment by press time Friday.

Fassett sued Brookfield in January 2020 after seeking to develop a five-home subdivision on a parcel of land that sits between two other housing developments in the city. On either side of the property, existing subdivisions contain dead-end roads -- each named Choctaw Trail -- that lead to Fassett's property.

When Fassett submitted plans to develop the parcel, she proposed leaving the dead-end roads as they are. But Brookfield officials favored another plan for the site, connecting Choctaw Trail with a new road running through Fassett's land...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT