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Brown Deer fights appeal of road decision

By: Beth Kevit, [email protected]//August 15, 2013//

Brown Deer fights appeal of road decision

By: Beth Kevit, [email protected]//August 15, 2013//

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Traffic on North Deerwood Drive crosses West Ruth Place in Brown Deer recently. Residents and the village are expecting a judge’s ruling soon in a dispute over who owns roads targeted for a renovation project. (File photo by Kevin Harnack)
Traffic on North Deerwood Drive crosses West Ruth Place in Brown Deer recently. The village is waiting on a Wisconsin Appeals Court to find out if a reconstruction project is legal. (File photo by Kevin Harnack)

The village of Brown Deer is seeking confirmation from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals that a reconstruction project on five roads is legal.

In February, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rick Sankovitz ruled the village owns North Deerwood Drive, West River Lane, West Ruth Place and North 42nd and North 43rd streets and does not have to pay to acquire land for the project. Sankovitz ruled the roads are “public highways” under state statute and, by law, are between 60 and 66 feet wide.

The proposed project includes renovating portions of each road, installing sidewalks and building storm-water retention ponds, among other things. Stark Asphalt Service Inc., Milwaukee, won the $2.3 million contract for the work.

While preparing for the project, the village learned the deeds of 51 property owners extended to the middle of the roads. Most property owners sold to the village their rights to the roads for about $200, but others held out. The village sued that group of property owners in December 2011, claiming Brown Deer owns the roads even if some deeds said otherwise.

Sankovitz agreed, and the property owners’ attorney, Hugh Braun, of Milwaukee-based Godfrey, Braun & Frazier LLP, in April appealed that decision.

According to court documents, Braun argued Sankovitz’s presumption the roads are of a certain width constitutes unlawful taking under the United States and Wisconsin constitutions. Some portions of the roads are narrower than presumed, and the village does not have the right to build sidewalks or other amenities, according to Braun’s argument.

The defendants have estimated the land Brown Deer claims to own is worth at least $95,368.

“The declaratory judgment action was a veiled attempt,” according to Braun’s brief to the appellate court, “to acquire the defendants’ property without compensation.”

Braun requested oral arguments, but the village’s attorney, Alan Marcuvitz, of Milwaukee-based Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, asked the appellate court to make its decision based only on briefs.

— Follow Beth on Twitter

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