COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND RELEASED NOVEMBER 12, 1996 |
NOTICE |
A party may file with the
Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of
Appeals. See § 808.10 and
Rule 809.62, Stats. |
This opinion is subject to
further editing. If published, the
official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. |
No. 96-0334
STATE
OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF
APPEALS
DISTRICT III
LORENZ CADUFF,
and CAROL CADUFF,
Plaintiffs-Respondents,
v.
ZONING BOARD OF
APPEALS
FOR RUSK COUNTY,
Defendant-Appellant,
TOWN OF WILLARD,
Defendant.
APPEAL from a judgment
of the circuit court for Rusk County:
FREDERICK A. HENDERSON, Judge. Reversed.
Before Cane, P.J.,
LaRocque and Myse, JJ.
PER
CURIAM. The Zoning Board of Appeals for Rusk County appeals a
judgment reversing its decision partially denying Lorenz and Carol Caduff a
zoning variance. The Caduffs applied
for a variance allowing them to retain an already constructed deck, stairway
and landings within seventy-five feet of the ordinary high water mark of a
navigable waterway. The Zoning Board
granted the Caduffs a variance allowing only 132 square feet to remain within
the setback area. The trial court
reversed the board's decision, concluding that the zoning ordinance was
ambiguous. Because we conclude that the
ordinance is not ambiguous, we reverse the judgment.
An ordinance is
ambiguous when it is capable of two or more reasonable interpretations. Wagner Mobil, Inc. v. City of Madison,
190 Wis.2d 585, 595, 527 N.W.2d 301, 303 (1995). The rules for construction of statutes and ordinances are the
same. Sauk County v. Trager,
113 Wis.2d 48, 55, 334 N.W.2d 272, 275 (Ct. App. 1983). When the words are clearly defined by the
ordinance, we apply only the definition contained in the ordinance. Republic Airlines, Inc. v. DOR,
159 Wis.2d 247, 253, 464 N.W.2d 62, 64 (Ct. App. 1990).
The seventy-five foot
setback ordinance is not ambiguous. The
Rusk County Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance defines setback as "the minimum
horizontal distance." This
language is not susceptible to more than one interpretation. A horizontal distance is one that has no
vertical dimension. A measurement up
the slope is not a horizontal measurement.
The fact that it is difficult to measure the correct distance or that
the ordinance does not specify a method for calculating the distance does not
make the ordinance ambiguous. State
v. Ambrose, 196 Wis.2d 768, 776, 540 N.W.2d 208, 211 (Ct. App. 1995).
By the Court.—Judgment
reversed.
This opinion will not be
published. See Rule 809.23(1)(b)5, Stats.