In Village of Chenequa v. Jill Dahlquist (2019AP001145), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld a village parking ordinance.

Facts 

The Village of Chenequa has a parking ordinance that generally prohibits parking on all Village highways and street. Jill Dahlquist drove into town to do some fishing, saw no “no parking” signs, and parked her car on a city street. She got a parking ticket. She appealed the ticket on the grounds that the parking ordinance violated state law.

Decision

The Court of Appeals began by noting that an ordinance receives  every presumption in favor of its validity. Dahlquist argued that the ordinance’s regulation—essentially barring all highway and street parking—exceeds the enabling authority granted by the legislature, making the ordinance invalid and unenforceable.

The court found that to the contrary, “Under WIS. STAT. § 349.13(1e)(a), ‘local authorities’ are empowered to regulate parking by ‘prohibit[ing], limit[ing] the time of or otherwise restrict[ing]’ it. Therefore, the Village is expressly and specifically authorized to prohibit parking on Village highways and streets.”