This lawsuit, filed on behalf of two taxpayers against the Town of Eureka, challenges an onerous permitting scheme imposed by Eureka on livestock farms known as CAFOs. This permitting scheme requires, for example, applicants to pay $1 per animal unit before receiving a permit for a new or expanded livestock facility, even though state law imposes a $1,000 cap on any such permit fees. Eureka’s scheme also requires that an engineer or geoscientist attest to the applicant’s plans for transportation, waste, animal health, odor and air pollution, property values, and more. On top of all that, the scheme further requires that applicants reimburse the Town “for all legal services, expert consulting services, and other expenses which may be reasonably incurred by the Town in reviewing and considering the application.” This lawsuit challenges these requirements and more on the ground they are preempted by Wisconsin’s Livestock Facility Siting Law, Wis. Stat. § 93.90.
