Frustrations Mount Over Dirt Piles In Sturgeon Bay

Door County is renowned for its beautiful landscape, but giant piles of dirt are obscuring the waterfront view in Sturgeon Bay, where leaders want the dirt leftover from a failed waterfront hotel project to be removed.

But pending litigation is getting in the way.

The dirt sits on an acre of land downtown on the city’s west side along the Bay of Green Bay. It was supposed to be used in a hotel development project, but the project was blocked by a lawsuit from a citizen’s group several years ago, and ground was never broken. Now, the city is embroiled in a lawsuit with the project’s developer.

All the while, the dirt piles have sat in their current location since 2015, said Sturgeon Bay City Administrator Josh VanLieshout.

He said the dirt was shipped to its current site from the construction of a water retention pond in the city, and has been determined to be “clean fill,” meaning it’s not contaminated or weedy.

“They are not exactly glamorous piles of dirt. They are just that, they are piles of dirt,” VanLieshout said.

The hotel developer, Bob Papke of Sawyer Hotel LLC, is suing the city over the failure of the project.

Papke told the Green Bay Press Gazette his company owns the dirt piles and would like to see the piles removed, but the dirt has value because it is considered “clean.” The snag is there are no current plans to move the dirt because of the litigation.

In April the Sturgeon Bay City Council ordered Papke to move the piles. If the dirt isn’t moved by the deadline, the city council will revisit the matter.

VanLieshout said it could be an expensive proposition.

“If you think about it, an acre of dirt that is 15 to 16 feet high, that’s going to be some real money to haul this stuff away,” VanLieshout said.

A newly elected city councilwoman said the dirt came up while she was campaigning this spring.

Kelly Avenson represents the area near the piles and said she would either like to see them moved or spread out to use as fill for potential future development projects.

Avenson said the “massive” piles of dirt have become an eyesore.

“It blocks the complete view of the water and anything in that area when you’re driving past it,” she said.