Village of Hobart v. Brown County

1. The Village of Hobart appeals a summary judgment granted in favor of Brown County and the Brown County Solid Waste Management Board. The trial court concluded the Village was equitably estopped from enforcing its zoning laws because the County reasonably relied on the Village's erroneous representations that a waste transfer station could lawfully be constructed on a particular site. The Village argues the summary judgment should be reversed because: (1) a municipality cannot be estopped from enforcing its zoning ordinance; (2) the County did not reasonably rely on any action or inaction of the Village when it constructed the station; (3) Wis. Stat. § 13.48(13)(a)1 does not provide the County with an alternative basis to justify the transfer station's construction; and (4) the County did not obtain vested rights.2 2. We conclude that when considering whether to issue an injunction for a zoning violation, a circuit court can apply equitable estoppel to bar a municipality from enforcing a zoning ordinance. Nevertheless, we hold that equitable estoppel was not proven here. We further conclude that the transfer station's construction and operation cannot be justified by either Wis. Stat. § 13.48(13)(a) or on a vested rights theory. However, we remand this matter to the circuit court for further proceedings so that the circuit court can determine whether this is one of those rare cases where other equitable considerations justify denying the Village's request for an injunction. Therefore, we reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.