As previously reported, WCLRA and the Washburn County Board of Supervisors are part of a movement across Wisconsin calling for the repeal of those provisions in the 2015 budget bill (Act 55) that significantly altered shoreland zoning in Wisconsin. The most sweeping of the changes is the elimination of counties’ rights to adopt local shoreland ordinances stronger than the DNR’s minimum standards. Click here to read our earlier article about WCLRA’s resolution or visit the Wisconsin Lakes website for a complete description of the changes and up-to-date information on the process.
On October 9, 2015, S.B. 307 was introduced by our Sen. Janet Bewley and others to completely repeal the shoreland zoning changes and restore local control. Rep. Nick Milroy a co-sponsor of this bill.
In addition, the Plum Lake Association in Vilas County has hired a pair of experts, attorney Bill O’Connor and lobbyist Mary Panzer, to draft and promote a bi-partisan bill. This effort has been supported by numerous other lake associations including WCLRA. Their bill, which reportedly may call for a partial repeal, had not been introduced at the time of this writing.
We encourage you to read the information on the above sites and contact your state senator and state representative to let them know how you feel about this issue.
Washburn County’s state senator is Janet Bewley. She can be reached at: (800) 469-6562 or Sen.Bewley@legis.wi.gov. Our state representative for the northern part of Washburn County is Nick Milroy who can be reached at: (888) 534-0073 or Rep.Milroy@legis.wisconsin.gov. Our state representative for the southern part of Washburn County is Romaine Quinn who can be reached at: (888) 534-0075 or Rep.Quinn@legis.wisconsin.gov.
