Court Opinion

ID: 9655976
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:29:01.272949+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:25.420321
License: Public Domain

DAVID T. PROSSER, J.
¶82. (concurring). I join the lead opinion in this case for several reasons. First, the law on zoning variances must be reexamined and clarified. Second, “the State's reliance on Wis. Admin. *664Code § NR 116.13(2) in these circumstances is disturbing. Third, the result of an affirmance would be unjust.
¶ 83. I wholeheartedly support the lead opinion's call to overrule State v. Kenosha County Board of Adjustment, 218 Wis. 2d 396, 577 N.W.2d 813 (1998). A strong argument can be made that the Kenosha County Board of Adjustment should not have granted a variance to the property owner in that case because the variance would have permitted the construction of a deck within 64 feet of the shoreline, thereby breaching the 75-foot setback standard. Nonetheless, in overturning the Board's decision, the court virtually obliterated the authority of boards of adjustment to grant area variances under limited but reasonable circumstances.
¶ 84. The State's reliance on the administrative rule to block the variance here requires more extended comment.
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¶ 85. The Warnings received a building permit on April 25, 1984. They built a home relying on that permit. Their ranch home with basement was constructed 96 feet back from the center of a state highway and between 350 and 400 feet away from a small river.
¶ 86. Eleven years later, the Warnings applied for a permit to add a ground level sun porch to their home. The Outagamie County Zoning Administrator denied their request, indicating that the basement violated the Outagamie County Shoreland-Floodplain-Wetland Ordinance (the Ordinance) because it was below the regional flood elevation.
¶ 87. After they received the denial, the Warnings petitioned the Outagamie County Board of Adjustment for a variance to keep their basement and *665become eligible for a new building permit.1 They appeared at a public hearing on November 1,1996, and presented their case. They explained that there had been no attempt to violate the Ordinance. They had obtained a building permit and relied on the building permit. Their attorney, Richard Carlson, stated that it would have been easy, before construction of the house, to elevate the basement by adding additional fill if the Warnings had only received notice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Warning expressed surprise that basements were a problem. Barbara Warning commented that "all the homes in the neighborhood are much lower than what we are and they all have full basements, but they were built before the ordinance was put into place." David Warning added: "No one knew that you could not have a basement there. I mean everybody up and down the whole road has got basements in." When the zoning administrator was asked by a board member whether there were other homes in the neighborhood with basements built prior to the ordinance, he acknowledged that there were "a lot of them."
¶ 88. The zoning administrator opposed the variance. He was joined in opposition by Richard Koch, Water Management Coordinator for the Lake Michigan District of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), who had received notice of the hearing, as the Ordinance requires. In an October 31,1996, letter to the Board and in his personal appearance before the Board, Koch argued that the Warning ranch *666home was "an illegal structure" in violation of the Ordinance. Koch wrote that the "Board of Adjustment cannot grant the requested variance because the variance criteria in section 16.40(4) of the ordinance cannot be met (e.g., any 'hardship' is self-created). .. .1 ask the Outagamie County Board of Adjustment to deny the application.. .for a variance to allow a basement floor to remain below the Regional flood elevation" (emphasis added).
¶ 89. Both the zoning administrator and the DNR representative framed their arguments in terms of the Warnings' inability to satisfy the criteria for a variance under the Ordinance. Neither the zoning administrator nor the DNR representative cited Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2)(June, 1996) as prohibiting the Board of Adjustment from granting any variance in these circumstances.
¶ 90. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant the requested variance. The Board reasoned that the Warnings' hardship was caused by the Town of Bovina and its former building inspector who had negligently issued a building permit without obtaining clearance from the County. "The hardship is not based solely on economic gain or loss, [but] the loss [from filling in the basement] would be substantial." The Board also felt that the proposed addition to the home would comply with the floodproofing requirements because the sun porch would be two feet above the flood protection elevation.
¶ 91. The State, at the request of the DNR, sought certiorari review in circuit court. The State advanced several arguments but repeatedly asserted that the Board had violated Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) by granting the variance. The Warnings, in *667turn, insisted that the State had waived that argument by not making it before the Board. Circuit Judge John A. Des Jardins agreed with the Warnings. In affirming the Board, the court found that the Warnings had at all times acted in good faith, that they had suffered a hardship that was not self-created, and that "the DNR did place into argument before that board a number of issues, but did not raise the issue of §NR 116.13(2) being more restrictive than the Outagamie County Floodplain-Wetland Ordinance, and it was not raised before the Board of Adjustment." The court therefore concluded that the issue had been waived.
¶ 92. Had the State stopped at this point, after having lost twice, this case about the legality of a 17-year-old basement never would have come to this court. But the State refused to stop. It appealed, and the court of appeals reversed. After addressing the Warnings' eligibility for a variance under the Ordinance, the court of appeals held that "even if the Warnings could meet the above requirements, we conclude that WIS. ADM. CODE § NR 116.13(2) forecloses the issuance of a variance to the Warnings for a basement that is below the regional flood elevation." State v. Outagamie County Bd. of Adjustment, No. 98-1046, unpublished slip op. at 8-9 (Wis. Ct. App. Sept. 22, 1998). The court observed that the State had not raised this issue before the Board of Adjustment:
The State did not raise this issue before the board. The State argues, disingenuously, that it did not waive its argument under WIS. ADM. CODE § NR 116.13(2) because it was not a party at the administrative level. Although perhaps not a party in form, it certainly was in substance. The State appeared before the board and advanced arguments in objection to the Warnings' request for a variance. *668Generally, issues not raised before the agency cannot be raised on judicial review. See Goranson v. DILHR, 94 Wis. 2d 537, 545, 289 N.W.2d 270, 274 (1980). The Warnings, however, have failed to respond to the waiver argument and, therefore, it is deemed conceded. See Charolais Breeding Ranches v. FPC Secs., 90 Wis. 2d 97, 109, 279 N.W.2d 493, 499 (Ct. App. 1979).
Id. at 9 n.5.
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¶ 93. After a board of adjustment has made its decision on a request for a variance, a person who is aggrieved by the decision, such as the applicant or the State, as well as an enumerated list of other interested persons, may commence an action in the circuit court "seeking the remedy available by certiorari." Wis. Stat. § 59.694(10).2 The State followed that course in this case.
¶ 94. In a certiorari action reviewing the decision of a board of adjustment, a court shall accord a presumption of correctness and validity to the board's decision. Snyder v. Waukesha County Zoning Bd., 74 Wis. 2d 468, 476, 247 N.W.2d 98 (1976) (citing Richard W. Cutler, Zoning Law and Practice in Wisconsin, § 15, at 63 (1967)). In the context of this case, once the Board of Adjustment issued a variance, the State had the burden of overcoming the presumption of correctness of the Board's decision.
¶ 95. Subsection (10) of Wis. Stat. § 59.694 specifically authorizes the circuit court to take additional evidence. In this case, the circuit court did not take additional evidence and was not urged by the State to *669do so. Hence, the standard of review is limited to: (1) whether the Board kept within its jurisdiction; (2) whether it proceeded on a correct theory of law; (3) whether its action was arbitrary, oppressive, or unreasonable and represented its will and not its judgment; and (4) whether the evidence was such that the Board might reasonably make the order or determination in question. Kenosha County, 218 Wis. 2d at 410-11; Snyder, 74 Wis. 2d at 475.
¶ 96. When courts apply these standards, they are not entitled to substitute their views for the discretion of boards. In State ex rel. Brookside v. Jefferson County Board of Adjustment, 131 Wis. 2d 101, 120-21, 388 N.W.2d 593 (1986), this court said:
The Snyder court interpreted these four standards as requiring the circuit court to defer to the decision of the Board unless the Board's decision is "unreasonable and without a rational basis. . . .Thus, the findings of the board may not be disturbed if any reasonable view of the evidence sustains them.
. . .The court may not substitute its discretion for that committed to the board by the legislature." 74 Wis. 2d at 476. We conclude that in Snyder the court adopted the same standard of review for statutory certiorari as for common law certiorari, at least when the circuit court takes no evidence.
¶ 97. In certiorari review at common law, this court reviews the record of the board. Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc. v. Sauk County Bd. of Adjustment, 183 Wis. 2d 1, 8, 515 N.W.2d 256 (1994). The first step in the review is to determine which facet of the board's action is challenged. "We then apply the portion of cer-tiorari review applicable to that facet of the Board's action." Id. (citing Snyder, 74 Wis. 2d at 476).
*670¶ 98. In the circuit court, the State asserted that the Board's decision "was beyond the Board's jurisdiction, erroneous and inadequate as a matter of law, and unsupported by the evidence."
¶ 99. The Board's action interpreting the Ordinance was unquestionably subject to judicial review in line with the four traditional standards of review noted above. It is very disturbing, however, that appellate courts have reviewed Board action on the basis of legal objections that never were raised before the Board.
¶ 100. Courts normally will not review an issue raised for the first time on appeal. Allen v. Allen, 78 Wis. 2d 263, 270, 254 N.W.2d 244 (1977); Clay v. Bradley, 74 Wis. 2d 153, 161, 246 N.W.2d 142 (1976); Segall v. Hurwitz, 114 Wis. 2d 471, 489, 339 N.W.2d 333 (Ct. App. 1983). The failure to make a timely objection constitutes waiver of the objection. Saenz v. Murphy, 162 Wis. 2d 54, 63, 469 N.W.2d 611 (1991); Allen, 78 Wis. 2d at 270.
¶ 101. The waiver rule is a rule of judicial administration, although not an inflexible one. Wirth v. Ehly, 93 Wis. 2d 433, 444, 287 N.W.2d 140 (1980); Northern State Power Co. v. Hunter Bd. of Supervisors, 57 Wis. 2d 118, 132-33, 203 N.W.2d 878 (1973). Consequently, a court should be reluctant to fault a board of adjustment for not considering a legal argument that was never made. To expect clairvoyance from a board about an unstated objection to the board's action disrespects the board, undermines its authority, encourages gamesmanship, and alters the nature of certiorari review. It also deprives an adverse party of the opportunity to address the objection and make a record before the board.
¶ 102. In this case, the State changed its position when it appeared in circuit court. It contended that *671Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) was more restrictive than the County Ordinance and superseded the Ordinance. The circuit court ruled that the State had waived this objection. Thereafter, the State devoted less than two pages of its brief to the court of appeals to make the argument that § NR 116.13(2) is the controlling law. Nevertheless, the court of appeals decided that the Warnings constructively conceded that the State's point had not been waived by failing to answer the argument.
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¶ 103. The state's decision to rely on Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) forces close examination of this rule, which reads:
(2) RESIDENTIAL USES, (a) Any structure or building used for human habitation (seasonal or permanent), which is to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, structurally altered or moved into the fioodfringe area shall be place [sic] on fill with the finished surface of the lowest floor, excluding basement or orawlway, at or above the flood protection elevation. If any such structure or building has a basement or crawlway, the surface of the floor of the basement or crawlway shall be at or above the regional flood elevation and shall be floodproofed to the flood protection elevation in accordance with s. NR 116.16. No variance may be granted to allow any floor below the regional flood elevation. An exception to the basement requirement may be granted by the department, but only in those communities granted such exception by the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) on or before March 1,1986.
Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) (June, 1996).
*672¶ 104. There should be no mistake about what the State is up to here. It is seeking retroactive application of a rule that did not exist in its present form until after the Warnings had built their basement. The present form of the rule was not enacted until almost two years after the Warnings' house was constructed.
¶ 105. The rule in question, Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13, was part of a substantial revision of § NR 116 in 1986. The change took effect March 1,1986. Cr. Register, Feb. 1986, No. 362. The revision entailed a significant toughening of § NR 116, which is evident in a number of sections. For example, the definition of "variance" was rewritten. The pre-1986 definition of "variance" in § NR 116.03(29) read:
VARIANCE. A variance authorizes the construction or maintenance of a building or structure in a manner which is inconsistent with dimensional standards contained in the flood plain zoning ordinance. A variance can only be granted by the board of adjustment/appeals. A variance shall not permit a use of property otherwise prohibited by the flood plain zoning ordinance; it may permit deviations from dimensional standards.
Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.03(29) (Register, Oct., 1985, No. 358) (emphasis added).
¶ 106. The revised definition of "variance" reads:
"Variance" means an authorization by the board of adjustment or appeals under s. NR 116.21(4), for the construction or maintenance of a building or structure in a manner which is inconsistent with dimensional standards contained in the floodplain zoning ordinance.
Note: A variance can only be granted by the board of adjustment or appeals. A variance may not permit a use of property otherwise prohibited by the *673floodplain zoning ordinance or allow construction not protected to the flood protection elevation; it may, however, permit deviations from dimensional standards.
Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.03(49) (June, 1996) (emphasis added). The revised definition seeks to exclude elevation from the scope of dimensional standards so that construction for a lawful use that does not meet a certain elevation cannot receive a variance based upon inconsistency with a dimensional standard.
¶ 107. The pre-1986 provision on residential uses in floodfringe areas (outside the floodway) was contained in Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.14(2) and read:
(2) RESIDENTIAL USES, (a) Any structure or building used for human habitation (seasonal or permanent), which is to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, or moved into the flood fringe area shall be placed on fill, with the finished surface of the first floor at or above the flood protection elevation. If any such structure or building has a basement, it shall be flood proofed in accordance with s. NR 116.16. Any community that is eligible for the federal flood insurance program must comply with the HUD standards which currently do not allow basements in flood plain areas. An exception to that basement requirement may be granted by HUD, but only on a community-by-community basis.
Wis. Admin Code § NR 116.14(2) (Register, Oct., 1985, No. 358) (emphasis added).
¶ 108. In the old subsection, the focus is on the first floor elevation and floodproofing for a basement. That is very different from the revised rule that contains the sentence: "No variance may be granted to *674allow any floor below the regional flood elevation." Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) (June, 1996).
¶ 109. The pre-1986 provision on nonconforming uses in floodfringe areas appeared in §NR 116.15(4) and read:
(4) FLOOD FRINGE AREAS, (a) No modifications or additions to any existing structure or building in the flood fringe area shall be permitted unless such modifications and additions comply with the applicable regulations for that particular use in flood fringe areas as contained in the local ordinances.
(b) Where compliance with the provisions of par. (a) would result in unnecessary hardship, and only where the structure will not be either used for human habitation or be associated with a high flood damage potential, the county, city or village may grant a variance from those provisions, using the criteria listed below. Modifications or additions to structures or buildings which are protected to elevations lower than the flood protection elevation may be permitted if:
1. Human lives are not endangered;
2. Public facilities, such as water or sewer, are not to be installed;
3. Flood depths will not exceed 4 feet;
4. Flood velocities will not exceed 2 feet per second; and
5. The structure will not be used for storage of materials described in s. NR 116.14(6).
Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.15(4) (Register, Oct., 1985, No. 358). This old subsection requires compliance with a local flood fringe ordinance. It authorizes prospective *675variances under certain conditions and variance to nonconforming structures for modifications and additions.
¶ 110. The revised provision appears in § NR 116.15(3) and reads:
(3) FLOODFRINGE AREAS, (a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), no modification or addition to any nonconforming building or any building with a nonconforming use in the floodfringe area may be allowed unless such modification or addition has been granted by permit, special exception, conditional use or variance and the modification or addition is placed on fill or is floodproofed in compliance with the applicable regulations contained in s. NR 116.13(2).
Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.15(3) (June, 1996). This revised subsection refers back to § NR 116.13(2), with its "no variance" language.
¶ 111. The old administrative rules allowed variances for basements under certain circumstances. The present administrative rules allow "no variances" for basements.
¶ 112. What is the authority for these sweeping changes in Chapter NR 116? The Department of Natural Resources explained that Chapter NR 116 repeals and recreates rules interpreting Wis. Stat. § 87.30. Wisconsin Dep't of Natural Resources, Order of the State of Wisconsin Natural Resources Board Repealing and Recreating Rules, WR-14-84, at 1 (Nov. 22, 1985). A careful review of § 87.30 reveals that nothing in the statute either now or in the past has absolutely prohibited variances from being issued by a county board of adjustment in these circumstances. Section 87.30 was not amended in the period before the 1986 revision, so as to require a dramatic revision of Chapter NR 116. In *676fact, the DNR justified the changes to Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13 as adherence to federal law:
6. Basement and Dry Floodproofing Standards. The language addressing basement development standards in s. NR 116.13 has been revised to more closely reflect what is required in the National Flood Insurance Program's floodplain management regulations. As a result, no residential development or variances for such development will be allowed to occur below the regional flood elevation. A community-wide exception to the basement standards applies to those municipalities which received the exception from the federal government prior to the effective date of the proposed rule.
Wisconsin Dep't of Natural Resources, supra, at 2.
¶ 113. This writer's research has unveiled no federal regulation that absolutely prohibits the issuance of a variance for residential basements below the base flood elevation in a flood fringe area. On the contrary, 44 C.F.R. § 60.6 (2000) entitled, "Variances and exceptions," reads in part:
(a) The Administrator does not set forth absolute criteria for granting variances from the criteria set forth in §§ 60.3, 60.4 and 60.5. . . .While the granting of variances generally is limited to a lot size less than one-half acre (as set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section), deviations from that limitation may occur.
¶ 114. The State cannot point either to a state statute or a federal regulation that absolutely prohibits a board of adjustment from granting a variance for a building used for human habitation in a floodfringe area. Consequently, as the lead opinion observes, Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13(2) is inconsistent with Wis. Stat. § 59.694(7) and appears to exceed statutory *677authority when it deprives a county board of adjustment the discretion to issue any variance in an entire class of cases.
¶ 115. Over the years, the State's uncompromising administration of the floodplain protection rules has led to several legislative measures that preclude a literal interpretation of Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.13. For instance, Wis. Stat. § 87.30 has been amended several times since 1986. The section now explicitly permits the repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a nonconforming building damaged or destroyed by a nonflood disaster. Wis. Stat. § 87.30(Id). This statutory allowance is inconsistent with a literal reading of the administrative rule. In addition, the statute prohibits the DNR from promulgating any rule or imposing any restriction that:
(a) Results in an ordinance or other regulation containing provisions for floodproofed residential basements that are more restrictive than those imposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(b) Allows the department to deny an exception for such basements if the federal emergency management agency has granted an exception under 44 CFR 60.6.
Wis. Stat. § 87.30(1g).
¶ 116. Subsection (lg), authored by Representative John Ainsworth, who represents the Village of Shiocton and the Town of Bovina in the Wisconsin Assembly, permitted the Village of Shiocton to enact a floodplain ordinance. with basements below the regional flood level after the Village received a FEMA *678exception in 1998.3 The Village of Shiocton is one-half mile south of the Warnings' home.
¶ 117. Thousands of buildings across the state were built in floodfringe areas before the enactment of floodplain regulations. The language in Wis. Admin. Code §NR 116.13(2) cannot be read literally without depriving counties and the DNR of the ability to deal reasonably with these "existing lawful" structures. Wis. Admin. Code § NR 116.03(34). If the law did not afford some reasonable means to address variances for nonconforming structures, it might not pass constitutional muster. Cf. Building Height Cases, 181 Wis. 519, 532, 195 N.W. 544 (1923) (holding that an act of the legislature limiting the height of buildings was not applicable where substantial rights of a party had vested before the act was enacted); County of Sauk v. Trager, 113 Wis. 2d 48, 56, 334 N.W.2d 272 (Ct. App. 1983), aff'd, 118 Wis. 2d 204, 346 N.W.2d 756 (1984) (finding that where substantial rights have vested, zoning ordinances cannot be applied retroactively).
¶ 118. The State has not played fair in this case. I join the lead opinion to return some common sense to the administration of our law.

 Our focus here is the basement, not construction of the sun porch. The variance application was a request to deviate from the basement flood protection elevation requirements. Construction of the proposed sun porch is a distinct and separate occurrence that would have ensued only after the favorable granting of the variance from basement elevation requirements.

Wisconsin Stat. § 59.694(10) is the former Wis. Stat. § 59.99(10) (1993-94).

 Sherry Breiting Rindt, Basements Are Missed When They Are Missing, The Post-Crescent, June 4, 1999, at Bl.