Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 60 - Towns.
60.22 - General powers and duties.

60.22 General powers and duties. The town board:
(1) Charge of town affairs. Has charge of all affairs of the town not committed by law to another body or officer or to a town employee.
(2) Charge of actions. Has charge of any action or legal proceeding to which the town is a party.
(3) Village powers. If authorized under s. 60.10 (2) (c), may exercise powers relating to villages and conferred on village boards under ch. 61, except those powers which conflict with statutes relating to towns and town boards.
(4) Jurisdiction of constable. Shall determine the jurisdiction and duties of the town constable. A town constable who is given law enforcement duties by the town board, and who meets the definition of a law enforcement officer under s. 165.85 (2) (c), shall comply with the minimum employment standards for law enforcement officers established by the law enforcement standards board and shall complete training under s. 165.85 (4) (a) 1.
(5) Pursue certain claims of town. Shall demand payment of penalties and forfeitures recoverable by the town and damages incurred by the town due to breach of official bond, injury to property or other injury. If, following demand, payment is not made, the board shall pursue appropriate legal action to recover the penalty, forfeiture or damages.
History: 1983 a. 532; 1987 a. 237; 2013 a. 214.
There is a four-part test in evaluating whether a municipality may regulate a matter of state-wide concern: 1) whether the legislature has expressly withdrawn the power of municipalities to act; 2) whether the ordinance logically conflicts with the state legislation; 3) whether the ordinance defeats the purpose of the state legislation; or 4) whether the ordinance goes against the spirit of the state legislation. Anchor Savings and Loan Ass'n v. Madison EOC, 120 Wis. 2d 391, 355 N.W.2d 234 (1984).
The state regulatory scheme for tobacco sales preempts municipalities from adopting regulations that are not in strict conformity with those of the state. U.S. Oil, Inc. v. City of Fond du Lac, 199 Wis. 2d 333, 544 N.W.2d 589 (Ct. App. 1995), 95-0213.
A town with village powers has the authority to adopt ordinances authorizing its plan commission to review and approve industrial site plans before issuing a building permit. An ordinance regulating development need not be created with a particular degree of specificity other than is necessary to give developers reasonable notice of the areas of inquiry that the town will examine in approving or disapproving proposed sites. Town of Grand Chute v. U.S. Paper Converters, Inc., 229 Wis. 2d 674, 600 N.W.2d 33 (Ct. App. 1999), 98-2797.
A town board exercising village powers is not entitled to purchase land and contract for construction when doing so would conflict with statutes relating to towns and town boards. The village board power to acquire land and construct buildings under s. 61.34 (3) is in direct conflict with s. 60.10 (2) (e) and (f), which relates to towns and town boards and which confers that power of authorization on the town meeting. Town of Clayton v. Cardinal Construction Co., 2009 WI App 54, 317 Wis. 2d 424, 767 N.W.2d 605, 08-1793.
The line distinguishing general police power regulation from zoning ordinances is far from clear. The question of whether a particular enactment constitutes a zoning ordinance is often a matter of degree. Broad statements of the purposes of zoning and the purposes of an ordinance are not helpful in distinguishing a zoning ordinance from an ordinance enacted pursuant to non-zoning police power. The statutorily enumerated purposes of zoning are not the exclusive domain of zoning regulation. A more specific and analytically helpful formulation of the purpose of zoning, at least in the present case, is to separate incompatible land uses. Multiple factors are considered and discussed. Zwiefelhofer v. Town of Cooks Valley, 2012 WI 7, 338 Wis. 2d 488, 809 N.W.2d 362, 10-2398.
Permitting general town regulation of shorelands under village powers conflicts with the statutory scheme of ss. 59.692 and 281.31, which, by their plain language, appear to deliberately exclude towns from having shoreland zoning authority, except in the circumstance identified in s. 59.692 (2) (b) [now s. 59.692 (2) (b), (bg), and (bm)]. Hegwood v. Town of Eagle Zoning Board of Appeals, 2013 WI App 118, 351 Wis. 2d 196, 839 N.W.2d 111, 12-2058.

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