Yard case headed for trial in Oconto County Courthouse

OCONTO – Oconto resident and business owner Courtney Sowle has hired attorney Anthony Steffek to represent her in a civil case the city has filed against her that’s headed for a June trial.

Steffek — a shareholder at Renning, Lewis & Lacy, a Green Bay law firm — serves as outside general counsel to companies, school districts and municipalities. He represented Sowle at a Dec. 15 hearing in the Oconto County Courthouse, where a judge scheduled a May 12 pre-trial and June 1 trial, according to court documents.

Steffek confirmed to a reporter he is representing Sowle, but said he doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Sowle thought the city would release her from unpaid fines from citations the city had filed against her for alleged zoning violations related to The Yard — an outdoor beer garden Sowle opened in 2022 next to Holtwood Park, which is now closed — after a municipal court dismissed the case last summer.

But in an appeal filed July 29, City Attorney Frank Calvert asked the Oconto County Circuit Court to reconsider the municipal court’s dismissal of the case, according to a court document. Calvert didn’t respond to a reporter’s request for comment.

City of Oconto City Administrator Brittney Burruel has said she couldn’t provide any details on the matter because it is an open case.

Sowle said The Yard provided a place to socialize and enjoy a game of horseshoes, volleyball or Connect 4. After the city denied a liquor license for the Yard in April 2024, the business became licensed at a brewing and distilling location at 142 Huron Ave., the site of the old feed mill, Sowle said.

Sowle ran into one issue after another with the city in 2024, she explained.

For example, the city issued a citation for a hot-chocolate event The Yard hosted in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce’s Winter Wonderland holiday lights event at Holtwood Park. Sowle said she spent a full day cleaning up The Yard’s site and re-opening it for the event and no alcohol was served, yet she still received a citation.

Instead of paying eight fines for $333 apiece for zoning violations — or an estimated $2,700 to $3,500 — Sowle pleaded “not guilty” to the citations in municipal court in 2025. According to Sowle, Municipal Judge Cheryl Young dismissed the citations and said Sowle had every right to operate her business.

The case has damaged Sowle’s business and her reputation, she said.

Acting on her own behalf, Sowle filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on Aug. 18, while on Sept. 3 Calvert asked the court for a trial. A hearing scheduled for Oct. 10 was postponed to Oct. 29, when Oconto Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley denied Sowle’s motion to dismiss and scheduled a Dec. 15 conference, when the pre-trial and trial dates were set, according to Oconto County court records.

Sowle, who owns rental properties in Oconto as well as out of state, then said she would hire a lawyer to represent her at trial. Steffek appeared on Sowle’s behalf Dec. 2, according to court documents.