Guide to Community Planning in Wisconsin by Brian W. Ohm	Preface & Acknowledgements
	Title Page          Table of Contents        Chapter 1

Preface & Acknowledgements

Across Wisconsin, issues related to community growth and change are the focus of debate in many local communities and state agencies. This book is meant to serve as both an educational tool and a reference work for people interested in better understanding the planning process and the complex legal framework for local planning in Wisconsin.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the planning process, state statutes, and court cases related to land use. It also summarizes some of the state programs available to local governments engaged in community planning processes. It is not intended as the definitive treatise on land use law in Wisconsin. Rather, the book provides a blended overview of both the legal framework for planning and planning tools and devices.

Many years have passed since appearance of the last set of publications addressing planning law issues. In 1966, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission published Planning Law in Southeastern Wisconsin, written by Professor Jacob H. Beuscher of the University of Wisconsin Law School. This work provided a brief overview of planning and plan implementation law in Wisconsin. A second edition was published in 1977. In 1967, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education for Wisconsin published Zoning Law and Practice in Wisconsin, written by Milwaukee attorney Richard W. Cutler. In 1979, the University of Wisconsin-Extension published the Land Use Handbook which also focused primarily on zoning. Richard A. Lehmann, then of the Department of Governmental Affairs for UWEX, was the principal author of that work. While the chapter on zoning in this book builds upon the important contributions of the Handbook, planning and land use law has substantially expanded since these earlier publications.

In light of the increasing complexity and breadth of community planning issues in Wisconsin, several people helped in the development of this book. Steven Ventura, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies and Soil Science at UW-Madison, wrote the section on geographic information systems which appears in Chapter 4. Mary Edwards, Director of the Wisconsin Land Use Research Program at UW-Madison, wrote the section on fiscal impact studies which also appears in Chapter 4. The Wisconsin Land Use Research Program provided funding for Geoff Herbach, a former graduate student in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at UW-Madison, who served as a project assistant for parts of this book. The Wisconsin Land Use Research Program is funded by the Wisconsin Agriculture and Natural Resources Consortium and the Wisconsin Food System Partnership, which is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Susan Fox, Bureau of the Environment, Department of Transportation, wrote most of Chapter 9 summarizing the state’s various transportation programs related to local and regional planning. Dreux Watermolen, Land Use Team Leader, Department of Natural Resources, wrote Chapter 10 summarizing the Department of Natural Resource programs which impact local planning activities. Ronald Schaffer, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Steven Deller, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, and David Marcoullier, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, wrote Chapter 13 on Economic Development.

George Hall, Director Of Municipal Boundary Review, Wisconsin Department of Administration, provided helpful materials for the annexation/incorporation/cooperative agreement sections in Chapter 8, including the chart comparing the different cooperative agreements. Janet Niewold, Michael Wyatt, and Paul Benjamin, staff to the Farmland Preservation Planning program at the Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection, provided information for Chapter 11 on Agriculture.

The author gratefully acknowledges the many people within UWEX who helped review the book. A special thanks goes to land use attorney Richard Lehmann, Madison, and planning consultant Lindberg Ekola, Duluth, for their helpful review and insights.

All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 1997-1998 edition. Land use law, like other areas of the law, is a complex and changing field. This book is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.