Zoning investigation details scores of potential Bangstad violations

Round 2 of Oneida County’s hearing to yank the zoning permit for Kirk Bangstad’s Minocqua Brewing Company will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, August 2, at the Woodruff town hall, with the county’s zoning committee set to render judgment on a massive investigation that stretched on for a year and logged 80 separate items and scores of potential and alleged permit violations by Bangstad and his company.

The hearing to consider revoking, amending, or suspending Bangstad’s administrative review permit (ARP) to operate a retail outlet at his Front Street property will resume at 1 p.m. Wednesday after it was abruptly adjourned last week during tumultuous testimony by Bangstad. 

Bangstad’s application for a conditional use permit (CUP) for an outside beer garden at that location will follow the ARP hearing. 

At the revocation hearing last week, acting committee chairman Mike Timmons adjourned the meeting in the middle of Bangstad’s testimony after repeatedly warning Bangstad to stick to the issues of his alleged permit violations and possible revocation and stating that Bangstad’s testimony about property history and other businesses, as well as his politics, was not relevant to the issue at hand. 

At one point, Timmons admonished Bangstad “one more time”; Timmons then asked Tyler Young of the Oneida County sheriff’s office to remove Bangstad. Young declined to do so. 

Timmons finally called for a five-minute recess, but Bangstad kept talking. Bangstad also refused to move to the hallway to talk to his attorney in Madison, who was waiting to counsel him by phone, saying he “would prefer to finish my statement.”

Timmons was chairing the meeting in the absence of committee chairman and county board chairman Scott Holewinski, who was out of the country.

On Thursday, Timmons said he adjourned the hearing because he could not get Bangstad to stay on track in his testimony.

“I asked for order, to bring it back to topic, and it was on revocation, suspension, or adjustments and that was it,” Timmons told The Lakeland Times. “I asked him three times politely prior to taking the break, and after I said we were taking a break, when he wouldn’t comply, he went off on a total tirade from there, and we tried to come back in the room and even his attorney told him to please be quiet and to call him.”

Instead of calling his attorney, Timmons said, Bangstad just got louder.

“We felt there was no other way than just to stop it because I couldn’t get it back under control without taking drastic measures,” he said.

At the time of Bangstad’s ongoing statement, Bangstad’s attorney, Lester Pines, was listening by phone after having made an earlier statement to the committee by phone. Timmons also said this week the Oneida County sheriff’s officer who declined to remove Bangstad cited freedom of speech.

“Technically it was,” Timmons said. “He was out of order, but at the point it was the lesser of two evils.”

Timmons said the whole sequence of events was unnecessary and that he felt for those residents unable to speak because, in Timmons’s view, Bangstad disrupted the meeting and shut it down, getting what he wanted for at least a week, but also denied the public a chance to voice their opinions.

“I feel sorry even for his supporters because they came down there and wanted to talk, and I couldn’t let them,” he said. 

When the hearing resumes, public comment will be on the agenda, Timmons said.

Just prior to Bangstad’s testimony and his refusal to stop his testimony, or to keep it on track as Timmons directed, or to take a break — Bangstad implored that he feared he would not be let back in the hearing room if he left — or to confer with his attorney, that attorney had assured the committee that Bangstad wanted a better relationship with the committee.

Pines told the committee he had been in significant contact with county corporation counsel Mike Fugle about the issues at hand during the 10 days prior to the hearing, and that he had sought to ensure that there would be improved lines of communication between Bangstad and the county.

“And I assured counsel, and I want to assure the committee, that the company wants to make sure that it is cooperative with the county and is responsive to the county,” Pines said. “So then I have suggested that when there is communication with Mr. Bangstad or the company generally about a concern regarding whether or not the permit is being followed, that I be informed at the same time.”

Scores of violations

Prior to Bangstad’s testimony, Oneida County zoning director Karl Jennrich distributed to the committee — and verbally summarized — an investigation timeline that contained 80 separate entries, with scores of potential and alleged violations on a multitude of days between July 29, 2022 and July 25, 2023.

The entries consist mainly of staff photos taken at the site with staff details and notations explaining the photos, such as “Two tents with tables & chairs outside with people consuming alcohol,” or “one tent, chairs, and two coolers outside.” 

Other notations simply listed “Dumpsters,” presumably listed because they were unscreened. Another ledger item listed on multiple days was of an outside clothing display rack. 

On May 15 of this year, staff observed and photographed a Smokehouse Barbeque Food Truck: “[Minocqua] police spoke with operator; Operator disconnected truck, left, and came back. Flag taken down and stuff started to get put away.”

On another day a number of signs was photographed: “Lady Justice, Woke, Love Wins, The New Hope for Wisconsin.”

By far the most common details were of tents, dumpsters, and outside display clothing racks, as well as “Tables and chairs set up outside”; and “People sitting and standing at tables.” As Jennrich had informed Bangstad and his attorney in prior correspondence, such as on August 2, 2022, providing outdoor seating was contrary to the ARP.

As reported before, the county did issue citations for violations but, as the timeline states, the department received “no responses regarding violations.”

It’s important to note that not every photo or entry was a violation. One photo was of “Tables and chairs set up inside only.”

But the department’s documents clearly show Bangstad was in business outside the building, in violation of the ARP, and alleged or potential violations were noted on more than 40 days. For example, the department cited an August 29, 2022, Facebook post from a customer who posted that he had a good time at the Minocqua Brewing Company.

“We stopped by last week and thoroughly enjoyed the tap room and an Evers Ale while sitting outside,” the quoted post stated. “Our stop was made complete when a white Miata drove by and the two passengers gave all sitting there the middle finger salute. Ten minutes later an SUV drove by and the driver shouted ‘Let’s go Brandon, you Communists.’ The 10-12 of us got a big laugh. Truly, Minocqua Brewing is an oasis of sanity among a desert of right wing desperation.”

There were also Facebook posts showing “outside sales with Mr. Bangstad in the photos,” though that promoted concerns that the posts could not be used unless the person taking the screenshot could be located and asked to testify.

The timeline also shows that the department issued three citations. Bangstad was found guilty on all three of the citations by default, meaning he did not appear, and was ordered to pay $452.50 per citation. As of this week, according to court records, Bangstad has paid none of the citations.

Holewinski, town weigh in

County board and zoning committee chairman Scott Holewinski could not attend the ARP revocation hearing last week because of a long planned trip out of the country, but Holewinski did weigh in with a letter to the committee and to the public attending the meeting, which Jennrich read.

The message addressed both Bangstad’s ongoing violations, as well as his ongoing claims that other businesses have received favorable treatment, especially by obtaining parking waivers, while he has been punished for his politics.

“I felt it was time and important to stop sending out threats to Mr. Bangstad about his continuing violations and have the committee decide if they felt it was necessary to consider amending, suspending, or revoking his ARP,” Holewinski wrote of the decision to schedule the revocation hearing.

“There is a lot of history to this ARP which will be presented today,” he wrote. “Mr. Bangstad has tried to get what he wants by using politics to divide the public with false statements instead of following the laws and ordinances that apply to everyone. As far as I know, every business in Minocqua that has been given a parking exemption still has their original parking requirements. The exemptions were for additional parking as part of the expansion of the business.”

As for Bangstad’s ARP, the county requirement was for seven parking spots, Holewinski observed, and he received a waiver of one, requiring him to provide six spots.

“To get outside seating with his CUP [conditional use permit for a beer garden] required a total of 31 parking spots,” he wrote. “His CUP application only had 1 parking spot on his property and 5 spots on property owned by someone else. We could not approve his CUP as presented.”

As for the new-found pledge of cooperation and the better relationship promised by Pines, Holewinski called attention to two previous emails Bangstad had sent promising just that, both sent prior to submitting his first CUP application.

One of those emails was to Minocqua town chairman Mark Hartzheim.

“I’ve decided to stop fighting the Town and adhere to the original terms of my ARP if the county decides to go that way,” Bangstad wrote. “I’d like to apologize for the public ridicule I’ve heaped on you and other members of the board over the last several years. While I disagree with the outcome of many of the town board’s decisions, I’d like to move forward with less animosity and friction.”

Bangstad said he would love to share a beer with Hartzheim in his new building and talk about how he could bring more unity and positivity to the town.

In the second email, sent from Bangstad to Holewinski, Bangstad apologized for targeting Holewinski “for ridicule in past public posts about how I felt I was being singled out and treated unfairly by the town and county.”

“I still believe that has happened, but I shouldn’t have gone about it in the way I did and should have tried to work within the system to achieve my goals,” he wrote. “I know being the county chair is not an easy job, and you don’t deserve me heaping scorn onto you from my customers. I hope you can forgive me and that we can move forward in positivity and cooperation.”

In his message last week to the zoning committee and to the public, Holewinski said there were certain requirements of an ARP for every business.  

“Mr. Bangstad was given those requirements and agreed to them as every other business in the county has been given for an ARP they received,” he wrote. “From early on he began deviating from those requirements and wants his followers to believe that the actions of the Planning and Zoning Committee have everything to do with his politics rather than following the requirements.”

But the committee’s job is to set the requirements for ARPs and have the zoning department oversee them, Holewinski wrote.  

“If possible or practical every ARP or CUP would have inspections to make sure the conditions are met, but the reality is that in our county that has not been feasible or cost effective,” he wrote. “The department must rely on the leads they are given.”

Bangstad complains of unfair treatment, Holewinski wrote, but the truth is just the opposite.

“Mr. Bangstad’s apologies and promises have been less than trustworthy and his actions have distorted the facts,” he wrote. “He wants the people to believe he is the victim of selective enforcement when he doesn’t know the facts behind other business’s ARP requirements. Rather his preference seems to be that this committee practice selective unenforcement of his ARP requirements.”

The town of Minocqua sent a message too, pointing out that, in its view, Bangstad still wasn’t meeting other elements of the ARP.

“Aside from the dumpster and outdoor service violations, no mention is made of the other items that continue to be out of compliance with the conditions of the ARP,” the town letter stated, one of which was that Bangstad neither applied for nor obtained a DOT permit to remove existing accesses and construct a new access. 

“The new access was not constructed to Wisconsin DOT specifications,” the town wrote. “The owner was well aware that a permit was required prior to closing off accesses and constructing a new one. This is a continuous violation with DOT and the ARP condition. Additionally, the required driveway access license with the town was never entered into by the owner.”

The new access recently constructed by Bangstad does not comply with state DOT requirements, according to Wisconsin DOT Rhinelander staff, the message continued, and, to date, required parking spaces have not been designated or delineated.

“The required curb has not been installed along the east lot line, causing customers to drive over property and onto to public sidewalk and highway curb,” the town stated.  

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.