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Stat. S 62. 23 has. Wis. Stat. S 62 . 23 (7) (d) is a similar statute <br /> for protests of rezoning petitions on the city level. Under Wis. <br /> Stat. S 62.23 , the court has firmly upheld the use of buffer zones <br /> by developers as a valid method of defeating a statutory protest <br /> that raises the vote requirement to better than a majority. <br /> In Prescher v. Wauwatosa, 34 Wis. 2d 421, 431 (1967) , the <br /> court held that only those landowners adjacent to the land where <br /> the proposed change is to be made, and not those adjacent to the <br /> borders of a whole zoning district in which a specific area is <br /> being rezoned, are to be considered valid protesters. <br /> In Rodgers v. Village of Menomonee Falls, when a developer <br /> created a buffer zone within his parcel, the court was asked to <br /> determine whether the measurement for protest purposes under Wis. <br /> Stat. § 62 .23 should be from the edge of the entire parcel of <br /> property, or only from the edge of the portion of the parcel <br /> actually subject to change. The court held: <br /> . . .where an applicant for a zoning change seeks to avoid <br /> the necessity of a larger than majority vote by creating <br /> a buffer zone of 100 feet between that portion of his <br /> property sought to be rezoned and the lands of adjacent <br /> property owners, such action is valid and avoids the <br /> requirement of such larger vote. Id. , at 570, quoting 1 <br /> Rathkopf, The Law of Zoning and Planning (3rd ed. 1969) , <br /> ch. 28, sec. 28-1-11J . <br /> Therefore, the court determined that the measurement for statutory <br /> protest purposes should be from the edge of the property actually <br /> changed, and not from the boundary of the parcel wherein the area <br /> of proposed change lies. <br /> Finally, in Herdeman v. City of Muskeego, 116 Wis. 2d 687 <br /> (1983) , the court was faced with a developer who, to avoid a <br /> statutory protest, amended its rezoning petition after a statutory <br /> protest was filed. The court held that a petitioner may amend its <br /> rezoning petition for such purposes. Id. , at 689. The court also <br /> held that only those amendments that cause a substantial change in <br /> the proposed ordinance as originally advertised must be re-noticed. <br /> Id. , at 690-691. Additionally, if the fundamental character of the <br /> proposal remained unchanged, no new rights will be created, and no <br /> additional notice is necessary. Id. , at 691. <br /> Therefore, due to MLI's amendment, the statutory protest filed <br /> in this case no longer meets the statutory requirements, and should <br /> not affect the voting requirements of the Dane County Board. <br /> 2 <br />