About six weeks after the Walworth County Zoning Agency ruled in favor of allowing a conditional use permit for a new hotel on Lake Beulah in East Troy, the Lake Beulah Management District filed a lawsuit to reverse the ruling.
The County Zoning Agency and Walworth County are both named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed July 27 in Walworth County Circuit Court, with Lake Beulah Management District serving as the plaintiff.
The CZA gave its nod of approval June 16 to a proposed hotel, the latest of the submissions the owner has made for the property. The Zoning Agency had postponed a decision on the property in May, saying it needed more information on the potential impact of a 60-room hotel.
That included a more detailed study on how water use might affect lake levels and traffic patterns at the intersection near the site.
The land, a 2.94-acre property, is zoned B-3 (waterfront business) and R-1 (single-family residence. Owner Summit Smith Development – John Theisen – have tried to propose numerous different projects for the site, none of which have been fully approved.
The hotel would replace the current Lindey’s on Beulah building with a smaller footprint.
The lawsuit also states a number of other complaints, including:
• The zoning agency failed to provide written notice of the proposed conditional use to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 10 days prior to the May 19 hearing (where the subject was tabled by the CZA);
• The zoning agency, county attorney Michael Cotter and the county’s Land Use and Resource Management agency did not provide the plaintiff due process and fair play;
• The applicant and the Land Use and Resource Management agency incorrectly advised the zoning agency that it lacked the authority to require an environmental impact assessment, well study, pump test and well inspection;
• The applicant and the Land Use and Resource Management agency overstated the DNR’s jurisdiction in the matter of the well; and
• The decision failed to consider or incorporate any of the Town of East Troy’s requested conditions for the CUP.
For the full story, please see the print edition in any Walworth County SLN Publication.
