Yard case headed for trial in Oconto County Circuit Court

OCONTO – A court victory on the local level won’t resolve a dispute involving The Yard — an Oconto beer garden now closed — as an Oconto County Circuit Court judge said he will allow the city attorney’s appeal to continue.
City Attorney Frank Calvert filed the appeal in July, according to a court document.

Courtney Sowle, owner of The Yard, said she is looking for an attorney to defend her because she will be out of state during the winter months. As a pro se defendant — or acting on her own behalf without hiring legal counsel — Sowle filed a motion to dismiss the case that was heard Oct. 29.

Oconto County Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley denied the motion at the hearing and allowed the city attorney to challenge the municipal judge’s decision in a new trial, Sowle said.

“I was just trying to avoid redoing the entire trial again,” Sowle said, wanting to save taxpayer dollars from going through a new trial. But Conley said the case will continue, she added on Nov. 7.

The dispute involves citations Sowle received from the city alleging violations of the city’s zoning ordinance, she said.

At stake for the city is about $2,700 to $3,500 in fines it could collect if it wins on appeal, but Sowle has said the city is continuing the case because it doesn’t want to acknowledge its missteps.

“Now that it has gotten this far, it’s had a significant damage to my business and to my reputation,” Sowle told a reporter in September.

Besides the citations and fines she received, Sowle attempted to resolve differences with the city, but decided to close The Yard’s beer garden and look for a location elsewhere.

Instead of paying eight fines for $333 apiece, Sowle pleaded “not guilty” in municipal court before Municipal Judge Cheryl Young, who sided with Sowle in May and dismissed the violations, saying Sowle had every right to operate her business, according to Sowle’s account.

Calvert filed an appeal in July, asking the Oconto County Circuit Court to reconsider the municipal court’s decision, according to a court document. By requesting a “de novo” trial Calvert has asked the Circuit Court to start the case over.

Calvert has accused The Yard of operating the beer garden without a conditional use permit, while Sowle said “beer garden” didn’t appear on the city’s list of uses requiring conditional-use permits when she opened the garden in 2022. She said The Yard had received a permit to sell alcohol.

“Under Wisconsin zoning law, lawful existing uses prior to a zoning change are grandfathered and may continue without the new permit,” Sowle said in an Nov. 7 email in response to a reporter’s request for comment.

Sowle has said the dispute resulted in her closing the beer garden, which she owned and operated on property she had purchased in Oconto.

At an Oct. 29 hearing, Conley didn’t dispute the municipal court’s finding, Sowle said. The municipal court judge had ruled The Yard was in compliance with the law and said the city had failed to provide a violation occurred, Sowle said.

Calvert didn’t respond to a reporter’s request for comment. City Administrator Brittney Burruel said, “I cannot comment on any current legal matters.”
In the motion to dismiss, Sowle said, “even if all factual allegations were accepted as true, they do not establish a violation of the ordinance.”

Sowle also said the city’s zoning code doesn’t prohibit alcohol sales in the district where The Yard operated, and she noted the city had approved the Yard’s use and issued a liquor license. The city also had awarded alcohol licenses to another bar or tavern in the same zoning district, Sowle said. This information was presented in Sowle’s legal filing and hasn’t been verified.
On Oct. 29, Judge Conley set a scheduling conference Dec. 15 for a trial. “Conley did say that I had strong points in my motion to dismiss and he will hear my argument on those during trial,” Sowle said in an email.