Petition refiled to annex land in town of Washington

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) - Laverne Stewart, Todd Hauge and CDPG Developers LLC. are again looking to annex their land to Eau Claire city limits.

The land is currently in the town of Washington, and officials with the town said they do not support the proposal.

In early February, a judge ruled against the annexation, saying the petition that was filed can’t be a unanimous approval petition without signoff from Eau Claire county.

“The property owners have refiled another annexation petition and this time, filing it as a majority rather than petition rather than a unanimous petition,” Douglas Hoffer, Eau Claire Deputy City Attorney, said. “The first was filed as unanimous. The court said they believe in order to be unanimous, that needed the county’s signature. While we respectively disagree with that result, the owners have decided to simply refile it as a majority annexation petition.”

With a majority property owner petition, Hoffer said the approval from Eau Claire County is no longer necessary.

“There’s no question this time that the county signature is not needed,” Hoffer said.

Micheal Peterson is the chairman of the Town of Washington and said the town had a written agreement with the city of Eau Claire stating it would not annex property outside the service sewer area.

Peterson responded to the petition, saying in part:

“We are firmly against the annexation and would strongly advise the city council members to honor the agreement that we have with them,” Peterson said.

Annexing the proposed land would allow the city of Eau Claire to extend its water and sewer services into the new city limits. The petitioners are hoping to develop residential properties on that land.

The Eau Claire City Council will have the first reading of the new petition at the March 14 meeting. Council members are expected to vote on the petition on March 28.

Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved.