Hartland Sportsman's Club, Inc. v. Town of Delafield

827 F. Supp. 562, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10179, 1993 WL 274040
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 22, 1993
DocketNo. 92-C-665
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 827 F. Supp. 562 (Hartland Sportsman's Club, Inc. v. Town of Delafield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartland Sportsman's Club, Inc. v. Town of Delafield, 827 F. Supp. 562, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10179, 1993 WL 274040 (E.D. Wis. 1993).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

MYRON L. GORDON, Senior District Judge.

The plaintiff, Hartland Sportsman’s Club, filed its complaint on July 2, 1992. The complaint raised three claims against the defendants, the town of Delafield and the individual members of the board of supervisors of the town.

A trial to the court commenced on June 29, 1993; subsequently, the parties submitted proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. This opinion constitutes the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

[564]*564 I. Background

This court has original jurisdiction over this action as it involves a federal question under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(3). The plaintiff, Hart-land Sportsman’s Club, Inc. [Hartland], is a Wisconsin non-profit corporation. The defendant, town of Delafield, is a political subdivision of the state of Wisconsin. The individual defendants, Robert T. Audley, Barbara A. Hansen, Norman Knas, Peter Kowal-kowski and James Ward are and were at all relevant times the duly elected supervisors of the town board of the town of Delafield.

In 1955, members of Hartland received approval from the town board to erect a gun club facility. By 1957, Hartland was in operation. In 1968, Hartland applied to the town of Delafield for a building permit to construct an indoor small bore range. In connection with the application .for' a building permit, Hartland applied to the town for conditional use status. (Plaintiffs Ex. 3; Defendants’ Ex. 103.)

Hartland’s contention that it withdrew its application for the conditional use permit prior to consideration of the application by the town board is not adequately supported by the record. On October 14, 1968, the town issued a conditional use permit to Hartland which set hours of operation, limited the number of traps and duck towers permitted at the Hartland facility, limited club membership to 200 persons and provided that the town board retained the authority to review the conditions of the permit “whenever it has reasonable cause to believe that any of the conditions ... are being violated.” (Plaintiffs Ex. 4; Defendants’ Ex. 104.)

In addition, paragraph 12 of the 1968 conditional use permit reserved for the board the jurisdiction to “alter or change the conditions of [the] permit if reasonable cause for doing so is shown” but only “upon hearing, after due notice is given to the applicant.” (Plaintiffs Ex. 4; Defendants’ Ex. 104.)

In 1973, without requesting or receiving-approval from the town of Delafield, Hartland purchased an additional five acres of land to the east of its premises.

As early as 1977, gunfire noise emanating from Hartland became a concern to Hartland and its surrounding neighbors. At such time, Hartland took steps to alleviate the noise problems, including the construction of a berm. (Defendants’ Ex. 187.) Notwithstanding these efforts, complaints about the noise by the neighbors of Hartland and other residents of the town of Delafield surfaced again in 1985. Negotiations and meetings ensued between Hartland and the town of Delafield amicably to rectify the noise problem but were largely unsuccessful. (Defendants’ Exs. 141,159 and 161.) As part of the negotiations and discussions between Hartland and the town of Delafield, a conditional use permit which purported to update the 1968 conditional use permit was proposed by the town board. (Plaintiffs Ex. 19.) Such proposal was never enacted by the town board.

In the late 1980’s, Hartland added sporting clays to the club’s facility. As a result, the number of users of the facility increased. According to the May 2, 1990, minutes of Hartland, the popularity of sporting clays was so great that Hartland was experiencing “problems trying to handle the influx of new shooters each week to the open shooting programs.” (Defendants’ Ex. 154)

Following the addition of sporting clays, complaints to the town from neighbors and other town residents concerning gunfire noise increased. In January 1991, 51 residents of the town of Delafield filed a petition with the town which complained about the gunfire noise and asked the town to “initiate a program to effect the immediate elimination of all gunfire noise produced by users of the Hartland Sportsman’s Club.” (Defendants’ Ex. 130.) A copy of the petition was forwarded to Hartland by the town clerk on January 7, 1991. (Defendants’ Ex. 144.)

In response to the petition, the town scheduled a town board meeting to hear the complaints of the citizens and to receive the response of Hartland. The town board passed a resolution and notice on May 16, 1991, which scheduled the meeting for June [565]*56518, 1991. (Defendants’ Exs. 133 and 145.) The resolution and notice provided, in part:

WHEREAS, it has been represented to the Town Board and to the Town Plan Commission of the Town of Delafield, that the conditions of the conditional use permit have been violated by the Gun Club; and
WHEREAS, such alleged violations have consisted of among other things, the following:
1. Failure to adhere to the time limitations contained in the conditional use permit; and
2. Failing to obtain written permission form the Town Board for certain special activities; and
WHEREAS, said alleged violations, if true, may constitute a public or private nuisance in the immediate neighborhood of the Gun Club, because of allegedly intolerable noise and other adverse conditions;
* * * # *
WHEREAS, the Gun Club at no time sought or obtained from the Town of Dela-field an additional conditional use permit covering the additional 5 acres acquired by the Gun Club on January 19, 1973; and
WHEREAS, on January 4, 1991 a petition signed by fifty-one (51) residents of the Town of Delafield was filed with the Town Clerk, requesting the Town of Delafield to “initiate a program to effect the immediate elimination of all gun fire noise produced by users of the Hartland Sportsman’s Club”; and
WHEREAS, the density of the population of the Town has appreciably increased since 1968, and the Town has become more urbanized since that time;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Town Board of the Town of Delafield, that a public hearing shall be held on the 18th of June, 1991, at 7:30 p.m., before the Town Board of the Town of Delafield, at N14 W30782 Golf Road, Delafield, Wisconsin 53018-2117, to consider:
(1) Possible changes of the conditions of the conditional use permit issued by the Town of Delafield on October 14, 1968, to the Hartland Sportsman’s Club, Inc. and (2) Comments of the public generally and of the fifty-one (51) petitioners in particular, relative to the Gun Club....

(Defendants’ Exs.

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827 F. Supp. 562, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10179, 1993 WL 274040, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartland-sportsmans-club-inc-v-town-of-delafield-wied-1993.