Oconto City Council adds outdoor event venues, wedding barns to city code, despite neighbor's protest

Kent Tempus
Green Bay Press-Gazette
A map included in the lawsuit challenging the city of Oconto's decision in February to allow Oconto Riveria a three-year trial run to host weddings and other outdoor events shows the property where the events will be held and the neighbors along Robin Lane who are opposed.

OCONTO – Over the vehement objections of a neighbor, the Common Council on Wednesday added outdoor special event venues and wedding barns to the list of conditional uses available to property owners in the city.

The unanimous vote, made with virtually no comment, will allow Riley Sowle and his wife Anita Jensen to request a conditional use permit to operate their business, Oconto Riviera.

Sowle and Jensen will now have to seek the permit, which would be taken up by the Plan Commission. Its decision can be appealed to the council.

The couple, who were granted in February a three-year trial period to host events outside their picturesque barn, sought the change, saying customer uncertainty stemming from the trial period and a lawsuit filed by the neighbor had “crushed” the business.

“We vow to do our best to make it not a nuisance to the area, to make it asset to the area, an asset to the community, to be something Oconto can be proud of,” Riley Sowle told the council during the public comment period.

Riley Sowle, co-owner of Oconto Riviera, addresses the Oconto City Council at its special meeting on June 29.

Neighbors Dale and Heather Thomson in May sued the couple and the city, contending an outdoor venue isn't allowed under city zoning code, city officials knew it violated city’s ordinances when they approved it, and that the trial violated state law because it was not consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan.

They are asking for a court declaration that the three-year trial is illegal, along with an injunction barring the use of the property on McDonald Street for outdoor events.

Dale Thomson, who also spoke during public comment, said a recommendation by the Building Inspection Ad Hoc Committee to change ordinance doesn’t follow the proper procedure laid out in city ordinances.

He also said the city has not acted on his complaint at that meeting that people at wedding were inside the barn, which he contended was not legal because it not up to commercial business standards. Thomson called bias and a lack of enforcement by the city.

Dale Thomson of Oconto, who is opposing the location of a business near his residence, listens during the Oconto City Council meeting on Wednesday.

“Why the rush to illegally change an ordinance?” he asked.

“Since the violation reported at last ad hoc committee meeting, the city has done absolutely nothing,” Thomson added. “Instead of shutting them down on a state building code violation, there’s a push to give them a more permanent ordinance.”

Thomson, whose property on Robin Lane shares a portion of the property line with the Sowle and Jensen’s property, had voiced opposition to location of the business at numerous city meetings.

“Commercial businesses aren’t allowed in residential neighborhoods, they never have been, and they never should be,” he said.

Sowle said there are several such businesses in neighborhoods in the city, and in any event, their property is next to the four-lane highway through the city, while the Thomson’s back porch is more than a football field away.

Sowle also said that Thomson was misreading city codes, contending that they state any public body or “private petitioner” may apply to amend an ordinance.

He said he intended to submit the conditional use application Friday.

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Contact Kent Tempus at (920) 431-8226 or ktempus@gannett.com