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A state appeals court has upheld decisions that denied a company a permit to build a golf course near a state park along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had approved a permit that would have allowed Kohler Company to fill in wetlands during construction of an 18-hole golf course in Sheboygan County near Kohler-Andre State Park.
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A golf course proposed by Kohler Co. along the Lake Michigan shore was approved by the state Department of Natural Resources — despite serious concerns by DNR staff about its potential impact on rare habitat.
But an administrative law judge later overturned the DNR’s decision granting that permit, and a circuit court upheld the judge’s finding.
Kohler appealed that decision, but the Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the previous decisions denying the company the permit, WLUK-TV reported.
The court found in part that “substantial evidence” supported the administrative law judge’s finding that when the DNR issued the permit, it did not have sufficient information to assess whether the project would have significant adverse impacts to the wetlands.
The court’s ruling also found that the judge “did not err in reversing the DNR’s decision without modifying the permit.”
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Archeologists have unearthed human remains of Native Americans during excavations of the site along Lake Michigan where Kohler Co. wants to build an 18-hole golf course. The rapidly eroding Lake Michigan shoreline is also raising questions about the future of the project.
