Town extends permit suspension again

The Belgium Town Board this month agreed to not issue conditional use permits for another three months as its zoning ordinances are updated.

Either a moratorium or suspension has been in place since summer with a two-month extension approved in December.

Supr. Bill Janeshek said this is the final  time he will support an extension.

“I will not be voting if there’s one that comes up after three months, so make sure we get it done,” he said.

The Plan Commission has been working on updating the ordinances after the state passed Act 67, which limited local control over CUPs. The town initially put a moratorium on issuing permits.

The commission took into account recommendations from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission in redoing the ordinances, Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks said.

In December, the Town Board suspended permitting procedures on the advice of its new attorney. The suspension is essentially the same as a moratorium but is legally different.

Work on the zoning ordinances was completed in December but Parks said he didn’t receive the documents from the attorney until days before the Town Board’s Feb. 3 meeting. The Plan Commission needs to review the changes before board approval.

After the moratorium expired, the board voted to suspend issuing CUPs in December for legal reasons.

The town switched attorneys last year, and new attorney Paul Alexy recommended a suspension instead of a moratorium, which  accomplishes the same thing but is legally different.

“It’s not breaking news, but attorneys don’t always agree with each other so we’re following the lead of this attorney,” Parks said.

“This is the simpler and more defensible position for the town to take.”

The state’s passage of Act 67 caused the town to rewrite its ordinances.

Town Chairman Tom Winker said towns and municipalites had a little more leverage before Act 67.

He said the town needs to adjust what it does to what “big brother, the State of Wisconsin” wants it to do.

The changes, Parks said, would only impact future conditional use permits, not permits already issued.

The Plan Commission was scheduled to review the zoning ordinances at its monthly meeting on Wednesday.