Winery plans put on hold due to survey map snafu

Plans for a winery in the Town of Grafton have been put on hold after an error in a certified survey map was caught at the 11th hour. 

The Anton Vincent Winery would be built at the southeast corner of the intersection of Highway 32 and Ulao Parkway. The land is being sold by We Energies.

During a Town Board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, officials discovered the certified survey map for the winery that was intended to separate 19 acres from a 274-acre property had overlapping legal descriptions. 

Town Engineer Kevin Kimmes said the two lots must have been combined during the application process. 

“I don’t think we have a document in front of us that we can approve tonight,” he said. “I hate to be difficult, but we found all of this out this afternoon.”

Applicant John Weber asked the board to move forward with the process, but the supervisors agreed the survey map must be redrawn to ensure the appropriate tax keys are included on the map.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s not our problem,” Weber said. “It’s only tax key cleanup, and I ask the board to move forward with the process.” 

Ozaukee County Register of Deeds Ron Voigt said a misunderstanding led to all of the existing parcels being combined in the certified survey map.

“I thought I was simplifying people’s lives (by combining the parcels),” Voigt said in a phone call to the board. “I didn’t think I would be causing any problems.”

We Energies is also selling residential lots that are also mislabeled on the same map, officials said. 

“They are still selling parcels, and this could lead to a bigger mess in our property records,” Town Chairman Lester Bartel said.

The board unanimously agreed to deny the land division for the winery and directed town staff to instruct We Energies to create a new certified survey map.

Officials said they expect the winery to be approved once the map is corrected.

“It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” Bartel said.

“The worst thing that would’ve happened is that we approved this and a month later we would have figured all of this out.”