Wisc. Supreme Court: Beloit subdivision meets public purpose doctrine.

• Author: Anderson, Tony

Byline: Tony Anderson

The state Supreme Court has determined that the Town of Beloit's use of tax money to develop and sell a municipally-owned subdivision appropriately fell within the guidelines of the public purpose doctrine.

The state's high court in a 5-2 decision found that the expenditure of tax dollars to develop the infrastructure of a 24-lot subdivision benefited the community and therefore was appropriate. Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley dissented.

Justice N. Patrick Crooks, writing on behalf of the majority court stated, "[W]e hold that the combination of the town's enunciated goals of creating jobs, promoting orderly growth, increasing the tax base, and preserving and conserving an environmentally sensitive area for the benefit of the citizens of the town is a legitimate and valid public purpose under Wisconsin statutes, case law, and the United States and Wisconsin Constitutions."

Land in Hand

In its decision, the court noted that the Town of Beloit owned the property on and off since the mid-1960s. During the 1980s, the Town tried to sell the land, which was 55 acres at that point, to a businessman, but that effort failed. During the early 1990s, the Town sold part of the land to the Department of Natural Resources for a natural conservancy district.

The Town retained a 20.4-acre parcel, which became the Heron Bay Subdivision and was zoned for single-family residential use. In 1997, following a variety of attempts to find private individuals to develop the land, the Town adopted a master plan for town development and decided to develop the subdivision on its own. The Town of Beloit Board approved a preliminary plat for 36 lots and forwarded it to Rock County. The County then gave conditional approval for 24 lots on the land, along with other conditions including a 300-foot-wide easement, providing an environmental corridor along the Rock River.

The Town approved the modified plat, but also brought a court action. In 1999, the Town filed a petition for a writ of certiorari complaining that Rock County did not have authority to impose some of the conditions it had placed on the subdivision. During that same period, the town approved spending $600,000 in tax revenue for development of waste and sewerage work to serve the new subdivision and land beyond.

The Green-Rock Audubon Society and two other people filed a motion to intervene along with a complaint charging that the Town exceeded its authority by developing the subdivision without a public purpose. The Town moved for summary...