The Court affirmed the Circuit Court's order reversing the Dane County Board of Adjustment's decision to deny the University of Wisconsin-Madison the ability to build a build a radio station tower. The Court found that the University of Wisconsin-Madison's radio station tower is a "governmental use" so it meets the requirements of conditional use permit in the A-1 Agriculture District Exclusive under the Dane County Zoning Ordinance.
A landowner applied to the Dane County Board of Adjustment (BOA) for a conditional use permit in the A-1 Agriculture District Exclusive under the Dane County Zoning Ordinance to build a radio station tower for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's use. The Town of Montrose and individuals within the town appealed to the BOA that the proposed tower was not government use and alleging that it would be not in keeping with the statutory requirements for A-1 Exclusive Districts because of its size, obtrusiveness, lights, and other features. The BOA determined that a tower for a University of Wisconsin-Madison student-run radio station was not "governmental use" because the testimony failed to show that operation of such a radio station by the University of Wisconsin "is an integral part of its educational mission."