MONROE - After more than two and a half years of work, the City of Monroe's plan to rezone property outside city limits has been abandoned.
The Joint Extraterritorial Zoning (ETZ) Committee voted 4-0 Wednesday night to drop the ETZ ordinance.
Monroe Town Chairman Ali Mayer introduced the motion. Monroe Town Board member Steve Digman seconded it. Paul Sniff was absent; Committee Chairman Nate Klassy did not vote.
The city's interim ETZ ordinance will expire May 31. The committee will cease to exist, and no future meeting dates were set. The committee members' three-year terms end May 31.
State statutes say because the ordinance did not pass, the city must wait two years before trying to establish another ETZ ordinance.
The ordinance would have rezoned property lying about three-quarters of a mile around the boundary of the city in the Town of Monroe into commercial, highway and agricultural transition zones.
Monroe Mayor Ron Marsh said he was "disappointed in the action."
The committee has three members from the City of Monroe Plan Commission and three from the Monroe Town Board.
Klassy and Ron Spielman, representing the city, and Mayer and Digman, representing the town, declined to comment after the meeting.
But several town property owners in attendance were pleased with the outcome.
"I'm glad it's going the way it is. I'd like to see ETZ go away for a while," said Curt Wyss, who owns 102 acres on the city's northeast boundary with the town.
Robert Rufi, who lives in Sylvester township but owns land in Monroe township, has been a vocal opponent of ETZ. Rufi questioned the legality of the committee and its meetings since the ETZ interim ordinance was extended in November, three days after the original interim ordinance expired Nov. 9.
"I think what had to be done was done," he said.
Harley and Nancy Altmann own 116 acres on the east side of the township that have been in the family since 1912. The ETZ plan would have zoned the land for commercial use. The couple say they want to keep their land agricultural and were worried the ETZ ordinance would pass.
"We don't need a zone," Nancy Altmann said. She called the committee vote Wednesday night "very good."
"They've chewed us up enough times," said Harley Altmann, whose quarter section (160 acres) was reduced in the 1970s by Wisconsin highways 11/81 and 59 cutting through it.
"I'm glad it (the vote) went the way it did," Harley Altmann said. "I want it to not ever change, if it doesn't have to. Why can't it stay agricultural?" he said about his land.
All zones under the interim ETZ ordinance will revert to county zoning status at midnight May 31, according to Angela MacLennan from City Attorney Rex Ewald's office.
Mayer told the committee the ordinance did not have the support of residents in the township.
"They're not in favor of it. Truthfully. I think it should be dropped. The Town Board feels about the same way," he said during the meeting.
Digman and committee member Bill Hartwig agreed. They said residents had told them "to drop it."
"I'm hearing the time's not right," Spielman told Klassy. "We're swimming upstream."
Spielman said he was not convinced approving "a watered down version" of the plan was something the committee should do.
"It's not effective for either side," he said.
"I think it's not the right time, either," Mayer said. "I'd like it back to the way things were. When you (the city) still wanted to annex, you'd come and tell us."
The city declared its original intent to exercise ETZ jurisdiction in August 2005 and passed an interim ETZ ordinance Nov. 1, 2005.
The Joint Extraterritorial Zoning (ETZ) Committee voted 4-0 Wednesday night to drop the ETZ ordinance.
Monroe Town Chairman Ali Mayer introduced the motion. Monroe Town Board member Steve Digman seconded it. Paul Sniff was absent; Committee Chairman Nate Klassy did not vote.
The city's interim ETZ ordinance will expire May 31. The committee will cease to exist, and no future meeting dates were set. The committee members' three-year terms end May 31.
State statutes say because the ordinance did not pass, the city must wait two years before trying to establish another ETZ ordinance.
The ordinance would have rezoned property lying about three-quarters of a mile around the boundary of the city in the Town of Monroe into commercial, highway and agricultural transition zones.
Monroe Mayor Ron Marsh said he was "disappointed in the action."
The committee has three members from the City of Monroe Plan Commission and three from the Monroe Town Board.
Klassy and Ron Spielman, representing the city, and Mayer and Digman, representing the town, declined to comment after the meeting.
But several town property owners in attendance were pleased with the outcome.
"I'm glad it's going the way it is. I'd like to see ETZ go away for a while," said Curt Wyss, who owns 102 acres on the city's northeast boundary with the town.
Robert Rufi, who lives in Sylvester township but owns land in Monroe township, has been a vocal opponent of ETZ. Rufi questioned the legality of the committee and its meetings since the ETZ interim ordinance was extended in November, three days after the original interim ordinance expired Nov. 9.
"I think what had to be done was done," he said.
Harley and Nancy Altmann own 116 acres on the east side of the township that have been in the family since 1912. The ETZ plan would have zoned the land for commercial use. The couple say they want to keep their land agricultural and were worried the ETZ ordinance would pass.
"We don't need a zone," Nancy Altmann said. She called the committee vote Wednesday night "very good."
"They've chewed us up enough times," said Harley Altmann, whose quarter section (160 acres) was reduced in the 1970s by Wisconsin highways 11/81 and 59 cutting through it.
"I'm glad it (the vote) went the way it did," Harley Altmann said. "I want it to not ever change, if it doesn't have to. Why can't it stay agricultural?" he said about his land.
All zones under the interim ETZ ordinance will revert to county zoning status at midnight May 31, according to Angela MacLennan from City Attorney Rex Ewald's office.
Mayer told the committee the ordinance did not have the support of residents in the township.
"They're not in favor of it. Truthfully. I think it should be dropped. The Town Board feels about the same way," he said during the meeting.
Digman and committee member Bill Hartwig agreed. They said residents had told them "to drop it."
"I'm hearing the time's not right," Spielman told Klassy. "We're swimming upstream."
Spielman said he was not convinced approving "a watered down version" of the plan was something the committee should do.
"It's not effective for either side," he said.
"I think it's not the right time, either," Mayer said. "I'd like it back to the way things were. When you (the city) still wanted to annex, you'd come and tell us."
The city declared its original intent to exercise ETZ jurisdiction in August 2005 and passed an interim ETZ ordinance Nov. 1, 2005.