DCPREZ-0000-04596 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

4it n y . . . . . , s: f � 3 I 20 SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN. [OCT. Just v.Marinette County,56 Wis.2d 7. 194 N. W. 159, 162, the court held a statute which limited the height of buildings surrounding the state capitol to be unnecessary for the public health, safety, or welfare and, thus, to constitute an unreasonable exercise of the police power. In all these cases the unreasonableness of the exercise of the police power lay in excessive restric- tion of the natural use of the land or rights in relation thereto. Cases holding the exercise of police power to be reason- able likewise provide no assistance to Marinette county in their argument. In More-Way North Corp. v. State Highway Comm. (1969), 44 Wis. 2d 165, 170 N. W. 2d 749, the court held that no "taking" occurred as a result of the state's lowering the grade of a highway, which necessitated plaintiff's reconstruction of its parking lot and loss of 42 parking spaces. In Wisconsin Power & Light Co. v. Columbia County (1958), 3 Wis. 2d 1, 87 N. W. 2d 279, no "taking" was found where the county, in relocating a highway, deposited gravel close to plain- tiff's tower, causing it to tilt. In Nick v. State Highway Comm., supra, the court held where property itself is not physically taken by the state, a restriction of access to a highway,while it may decrease the value of the land, does not entitle the owner to compensation. In Buhler the court held the mere depreciation of value was not suffi- cient ground to enjoin the county from enforcing the ordi- nance. In Hasslinger v. Hartland (1940), 234 Wis. 201, 206, 290 N. W. 647, the court noted that "[a]ssuming an actionable nuisance by the creation of odors which make occupation of plaintiffs' farm inconvenient . . . and im- , pair its value, it cannot be said that defendant has dis- possessed plaintiffs or taken their property." The Justs rely on several cases from other jurisdictions which have held zoning regulations involving flood plain districts, flood basins and wetlands to be so confiscatory as to amount to a taking because the owners of the land