Wisconsin Supreme Court PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) – What is a “sidewalk”? What is a “pedestrian way”? And was Egg Harbor within its rights to condemn land to build such a path?
Those questions are among the issues the Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to decide, according to a notice from the state Friday.
Egg Harbor condemned part of the land where the Shipwrecked Brew Pub and Restaurant is located along Highway G, in order to build a sidewalk to alleviate pedestrian safety concerns.
The owners, identified in the suit as Sojenhomer, sued, but the circuit court ruled a sidewalk is different than a pedestrian way while ruling for the village. The distinction is key, as state law says property may not be acquired by condemnation for a ‘pedestrian way.’ The property owners appealed, and in a March decision, the state Court of Appeals ruled against the village, saying a sidewalk falls under the definition of a pedestrian way, as defined by state law.
Now, the case is headed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
According to the court’s summary, this is the issue before the justices: “Do the recently enacted prohibitions on condemnation for “pedestrian ways” set forth in Wis. Stat. 32.015 and Wis. Stat. 61.34(3)(b), prohibit Wisconsin municipalities from exercising their condemnation powers pursuant to Wis. Stat. 61.34(3)(a), to widen and reconstruct a road when a sidewalk will be located within the right-of-way?”
No date for oral arguments has been set. A decision will be released several months after that.
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