MEQUON, Wis. — Heavy machinery is on the ground, and a silt fence has gone up at the site of a proposed 12-lot subdivision on Pioneer Road — even as a lawsuit challenging the land's sale heads toward a September trial.
WATCH: Mequon family claims they had right to buy farmland now under development
Jim Freck, who lives near the proposed Riverland Meadows development, brought emails, court documents, and other information to TMJ4's Let's Talk community listening session last week to raise the alarm. TMJ4 has since obtained copies of the court documents directly from the Ozaukee County Circuit Clerk.
"We certainly don't need another subdivision in our area, but it's beyond our control," Freck said.
Jim's neighbors, the Kemp family, filed suit late last year. The Kemps farmed the land as an extension of their own operation from 2020 until their lease expired at the end of 2025. Dan Kemp said the land was critical to the future of the family farm owned by his parents, Michael and Brenda.
"Having that land to be one big piece would solidify that farm for generations to come," Dan Kemp said.
At the center of their lawsuit is a right of first refusal clause — an agreement the Kemp family says entitled them to purchase the 59-acre property before it could be sold to anyone else.
Kemp said his parents secured the right of first refusal clause in their lease with the property's original owner, requiring written notice before any sale could proceed. That notice, he said, never came.
"The developer pretty much showed up on the property one day and said that an offer was put onto this, and the former owner signed off on the offer, giving them new ownership, to them, awarding it to them," Kemp said.
A copy of the lease filed in Ozaukee County Court and reviewed by TMJ4 states the Kemps should have been notified in writing. The specific passage of the lease is handwritten, not typed.
"When you have a project that's just plowing forward, you just feel like there's not enough watchdogs on the project," Kemp said.
As for the status of the construction, TMJ4 contacted the City of Mequon for answers, given it approved the project's development agreement last year. The city attorney said that, without an injunction, the city has no control over the issues raised in the private lawsuit and cannot halt any progress without an injunction.
Tim Lindau, the lawyer for developer Steve Kearns, said no injunction is currently on file and that the Kemps were properly notified of the sale.
"Our position is set forth in the pleadings filed with the Court," Lindau said in a statement to TMJ4 News. "The facts clearly show that our client purchased the land in a bona fide offer with the Seller. The Seller notified Mr. Kemp of the pending offer and Mr. Kemp did, in fact, have actual knowledge of the offer and elected not to purchase the land. We are confident that the court system will agree with our client after hearing the facts of this dispute."
TMJ4 also reached out to an attorney for the original landowner Tuesday but did not receive a response.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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