The two-person ad hoc settlement committee, working to end the impasse over the future of a piece of property on Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront, has issued a statement calling on the city and its Waterfront Redevelopment Authority to accept a negotiated settlement on the matter. The statement, provided by Alderpersons Laurel Hauser and David Ward, indicates that consensus was built by the eight participants in the discussion over two days and 12 hours. In essence, the agreement indicates that the waterfront friends group that sued the city over designation of the ordinary high water mark in connection with a proposed hotel would drop its lawsuit and the city would forego its decision to ask legislators to determine the high water mark for the DNR.
Reasons for approving the settlement include: a 64,000 square foot lot for development, the ability to move the process along so that the judge can lift his injunction and sign off on the deal, the realization that litigation will cease, the ability to talk with developers unencumbered, the elimination of legal appeals that could carry on years, and the community wants the matter resolved.
The Sturgeon Bay City Council and the Waterfront Redevelopment Authority must each sign off on the settlement. However, the WRA at its last meeting voted to table action, putting the matter on hold for the time being.
