Case Name: White v. Village of Sister Bay

Type of Case: Preserving Democracy Project 

Court: Door County Circuit Court

Filed On: June 20th, 2024

Current Status: Our temporary injunction was granted and there is a hearing set for June 26th.

The Lawsuit: Wisconsin law gives homeowners the right to rent their home on a short-term basis. Wis. Stat. § 66.1014. Property owners also have a right under Wisconsin law to continue a non-conforming use after a change to local zoning laws, preventing municipalities from retroactively applying zoning changes to existing properties. Yet Sister Bay has taken the position that, by applying for a short-term-rental license, properties lose any vested non-conforming features of their property.

Village Ordinance § 18.56(F) also gives property owners a right to appeal the denial of a short-term-rental license to the Village Board of Trustees. Defendants violated that plain legal right by: (1) failing to create an “Appeal Form” or adopt an “appeal fee,” which, per the ordinance, are required to appeal; (2) refusing to provide the Whites with any appeal form or inform them of the amount of the fee when they asked for it; and (3) rejecting their attempt to appeal for failing to pay a fee that doesn’t exist.

Background: WILL and Attorney Bjorn Johnson have filed a lawsuit against the Village of Sister Bay on behalf of their clients Captains Cottage LLC, a short-term rental in the Village for unlawfully refusing to issue Captains Cottage a permit to rent the property.

CASE DOCUMENTS

• Summons and Complaint with Exhibits, June 20, 2024
• Notice of Hearing, June 21, 2024
• Signed Temporary Restraining Order, June 21, 2024