The Unreasonable Village of Williams Bay

Last month I had a real estate deal on a piece of vacant land in Williams Bay fall through. That a deal fell through isn’t newsworthy, rather it’s the reason that the deal fell through. The purchaser of this vacant parcel was required by the village to file for a variance in order to build on this platted parcel of land. The variance was supposed to be a slam dunk, but was denied by the board of zoning appeals. The reason? Because the lot didn’t meet the minimum lot width mandated by village ordinance. The problem here is that this parcel was a pre-platted lot in the village. It wasn’t a lot created by some form of land division, or some other recently created hindrance. Rather, this lot remains exactly the same as it was when the village was laid out roughly a century ago.

Common sense should tell us that if a lot is platted, and the setbacks and square footage requirements are met, that the lot should be buildable. The village was intimidated by a handful of neighbors who wish to see the lot remain an empty lawn. Easy to see why no one would want a house to be on what is now an empty grassy area. I live in a subdivision where I have vacant lots on two sides of my home. I don’t want homes to be built on those parcels either, but I can’t stop the inevitable. Vacant lots get homes built on them. Change happens. Improvements to real estate are made.

Let’s get reasonable in the Village and allow already platted lots, with their own tax key numbers, to be built on within reason. If these lots aren’t buildable, the village should refund property taxes previously paid on these parcels, and take them off of the tax rolls. To the village of Williams Bay; be reasonable and be accountable to the property owners that you’re elected to serve. www.williamsbay.org

A side note and personal first for my blog- I can’t resist putting a goofy picture of my son and a smallmouth bass that we caught this evening in Geneva.