State ex rel. Carter v. Harper, Inspector of Buildings

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed a judgment quashing an alternative writ of mandamus and dismissing a dairy operator's petition to compel issuance of a building permit. The court upheld the City of Milwaukee's comprehensive zoning ordinance as a valid exercise of the police power, holding that restrictions on property use may be imposed to promote the public welfare, convenience, and general prosperity and not only health, morals, and safety. It further held that incidental property damage from such regulation is not a compensable taking, that prohibiting enlargement of an existing nonconforming dairy building in a residence district is reasonable, and that the ordinance's public-service corporation exemption is a valid classification rather than class legislation. No separate opinions were filed.