GOP moves to relax property regulations

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican legislators have introduced a pair of bills that would relax private-property regulations and bar local governments from imposing special highway weight limits on vehicles used for propane shipments.

Rep. Adam Jarchow and Sen. Tom Tiffany’s bills were sparked by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month concerning a St. Croix County ordinance that barred the Murr family from selling or developing a vacant lot adjacent to another lot they owned. The Murrs argued that, because they couldn’t break up their land and sell part of it as they saw fit, they were entitled to  government compensation. The court rejected those contentions.

The first bill proposed by Jarchow and Tiffany would let the Murr family sell or develop the lot and block municipalities from prohibiting the sale of lots adjacent to a lot owned by the same entity.

The second bill would prohibit municipalities from imposing special or seasonal weight limits on vehicles used for propane deliveries.