State Senator Tom Tiffany met opposition to changes in state shoreland zoning regulations while attending the Oneida county board meeting.
He faced sharp questions from board members, then about a dozen members of the public about taking local control away from counties and weakening water protections. Many in the audience questioned Tiffany putting in a motion late in the budget process that takes away the ability of counties to regulate beyond less stringent DNR rules.
Tiffany said it was balancing property rights versus government regulations...
"....some people are treating this like all regulation is gone. That's just not the case. Read (state shoreland rules laws) there's still significant regulation there that's protective of the resource. I believe it balances with people's private property rights...."
He said he took the action after no action resulted from meetings to modify shoreland rules.
But many people questioned Tiffany inserting a policy change into the budget bill including fellow Republican and Supervisor Jack Sorenson among others...
(Jack Sorenson)..."when you went beyond that to take away local control, that's where we parted company..."(Karl Fate)..the people of Wisconsin deserve to know where ACT 55 came from and whose money was behind it..."(Michael Murphy)..."why these changes could not have been put through the ordinary process of legislation instead of sticking it into the budget....?"
Later, a county resolution asking the legislature not to allow non-budget items into the budget bill was passed 19-2.
