Wisconsin appeals court reverses lower court’s ruling, Osceola apartment plan can proceed
The St. Croix Scenic Coalition did not have standing to challenge the Village of Osceola's approval of a proposed 99-unit apartment complex along the St. Croix River, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a Polk County Circuit Court judge's ruling last April that the proposed Osceola Bluffs Development violated state St. Croix River protections and impedes views along the river bluffs. The appellate court also instructed the circuit court to dismiss a petition challenging the Village's approval of the development.
In a 15-page decision, the Court of Appeals ruled that the petitioners – a group of local residents known as the St. Croix Scenic Coalition – did not have standing to challenge the Village's approval of the project. "A petitioner must demonstrate that he or she sustained 'actual damages or will imminently sustain actual damages as a result of the final decision on the application for approval,'" according to the decision.
The apartment complex was approved by Osceola officials in July 2023, and was contested by St. Croix Scenic Coalition. Throughout the approval process, coalition members questioned the proposed building height and the visual impacts, eventually leading them to file a lawsuit last August.
"The St. Croix Scenic Coalition failed to plead sufficient facts to have standing as it failed to allege real, then-existing, injuries to its individual members, or that the individual members reasonably faced such injury in the near future as a result of the Village's decision to approve the residential development application," according to the appellate court's ruling.
"The alleged mere possibility of future harm, and harm that is factually indistinguishable from damages that impact the public generally, was insufficient to meet this standard."
Forest Lake-based developer Gaughan Cos. plans to build a new apartment complex on site of the former Osceola Medical Center, located at 301 River St., which has been vacant for more than 15 years.
"Gaughan is excited to see this project to completion," said Dan Hebert, the company's senior vice president, adding that construction is slated to begin next year.
Plans call for the three-story apartment complex project, which includes a retail unit and a restaurant, to rise just over 44 feet. Town ordinances set maximum building heights at 35 feet in that part of Osceola near the St. Croix River.
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The Village of Osceola Board approved three permits for construction, but Polk County Circuit Court Judge Daniel J. Tolan ruled, in reversing the approval from the Village, that the development would rise above the tree canopy along the river bluffs, and would prove to be "visually conspicuous" from the river.
Development along that area of the St. Croix River is bound by Wisconsin state statute, which lays out standards for the Lower St. Croix River National Scenic Riverway.
James Johnson, attorney for the St. Croix Scenic Coalition, said Wednesday that he had not yet had a chance to talk to his clients about the appellate court's ruling.
Among the Coalition's options, should they choose to proceed: file a motion for reconsideration with the Court of Appeals, or appeal the Court of Appeals' decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
