Posted: May 27, 2009

River Hills — Robert Boucher asked what the village could do about development on a piece of property that abuts his.

It turns out, not much.

Boucher, who lives at 9070 N. Range Line Road, believes the development of a vacant 5.6-acre site at 9120 N. Range Line Road would cause water quality and quantity problems on his property. In a letter to the village in 2007, Boucher wrote that water draining from the neighboring property replenishes a pond on his property. He believes his pond helps stabilize runoff in the area and recharge the aquifer for wells. He also believes that much of the neighboring property is wetlands.

If a house were to be built on the vacant lot, his pond would lose its water source and likely would be degraded, Boucher wrote to the village.

Estate owns land

The vacant land has been owned by the Van Housen family for many years and is now part of a trust administered by M&I Bank and family members.

Daniel Van Housen, who attended a May 20 Village Board meeting where the issue was discussed, said the land has been for sale for three or four years. Another Van Housen parcel at 9090 N. Range Line was sold several years ago, he said. A house has since been built on that site.

Boucher, through a letter written by the chairman of the village Committee on the Environment, sought to have the Van Housen land delineated as wetlands by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, but SEWRPC cannot enter private property without the owner's permission. The committee also did not have authority to make the request, which only can be done by the village. Village Manager Tom Tollaksen withdrew the committee's request when he learned of it.

Since the Van Housen land is private property, Village Attorney William Dineen said the village has no legal right to take any action regarding it.

Wetlands need mapping

Boucher envisioned a situation in which a person would buy the land and then be unable to build on it. The village has a fill ordinance that would come into play if a request to fill were made, but any future development on the site is only supposition - as is any professional knowledge as to whether the site contains wetlands.

Two trustees, Wendy Walcott and Larry Boyer, said they thought the village should do more to map wetland areas and protect them from development.

"The DNR does not have a navigable waterway map (of River Hills)," Walcott said. "You need the permission of all the property owners (to create the map)."

Walcott said if she were in Boucher's situation, she would enlist the neighbors to buy the property in order to prevent development. The listing price is $500,000.

The Village Board, without any jurisdiction covering the sale of a private property, tabled the discussion by a 4-3 vote, with Boyer, Walcott and Cordelia Gelly voting no.

 

Mary Buckley can be reached at (262)446-6615.