Restore Property Rights For Waterfront Property Owners
PROTECT OUR PIERS AND PUT A STOP TO DISAPPEARING DOCKSLEGISLATION
Senate Bill 46 / Assembly Bill 37
Restoring the Right to Place a Pier on Flowages
WRA VICTORY: PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW
For more than 140 years, all Wisconsin waterfront property owners had the right to place a pier to enjoy the Badger State’s wonderful waterways.
A decision by the Wisconsin courts could have taken that right away for those who live on flowages. With that decision, landowners and small businesses, which invested thousands of dollars on their waterfronts to improve and enhance their property, were on the verge of losing the right to place any pier along the water’s edge — just because someone else may own the ground under a man-made lake.
The Legislature has now passed a new law to permanently to permanently protect pier rights for ALL waterfront property owners, including those who live on the 260 flowages throughout Wisconsin. This legislation will preserve the property rights of ALL waterfront property owners, by protecting their piers and keeping their docks from disappearing.
This proposed common-sense legislation falls in line with Wisconsin’s rich tradition of property rights.
Resources
Pierless in Paradise
On January 23, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in Movrich v. Lobermeier, held that riparian owners on a flowage do not have a right to place a pier.
Waterfront Pier-Placement Rights Restored After Evers Signs ‘Protect Our Piers’ Bill
People living on flowages in Wisconsin once again have a legal right to extend a pier from their property.
LEGISLATION
Senate Bill 46 / Assembly Bill 37
Resources
Pierless in Paradise
Wisconsin has approximately 260 flowages around the state.