Free Land Giveaway

On Oct. 4, the Town of Sturgeon Bay supervisors received a request for vacation (abandonment) of a portion of a town road as well as some undeveloped roads within a subdivision. This request originated from owners of two different salvage yards within that subdivision. 

Because Door County zoning has ruled that these salvage yards are an existing nonconforming use, they have not been required to follow requirements for a typical salvage yard: simple things such as screening (fencing) the salvage material and removing junk from right-of-ways.

Should the Town of Sturgeon Bay agree to road vacation, it would transfer nearly six acres of town property to the adjacent property owners. Most of the land would go to current owners of the salvage yards. Based on the average appraised value of land in that subdivision, this is approximately $60,000 worth of land the town would give away. I feel that the Town of Sturgeon Bay should get something in return!

Suggestions include simple things such as screening (fencing) the salvage yards from roads and neighbors, setback of junk for proper fire protection, removing all human-made materials and scrap from the remaining town right-of-ways. These are similar to zoning standards for other salvage yards, and they could be a pre-condition prior to town vacation of existing road right-of-ways.

Visit Sturgeon Boulevard: See for yourself. It’s a town road you probably never knew existed! It’s located just outside Sturgeon Bay city limits, south of the intersection of Buffalo Ridge Trail and Canal Road, next to Crossroads at Big Creek’s Ida Bay Preserve.

Please let the town supervisors know your opinion on giving away town property without conditions that improve not just the neighborhood, but the town and all of the county. You can find telephone numbers and addresses of the Town of Sturgeon Bay supervisors at townofsturgeonbay.us/contact.html, or email [email protected]. 

Richard Propsom

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin