A motion by the village of Sister Bay to dismiss a lawsuit filed by four short-term rental (STR) owners was denied in court proceedings last Friday.

According to court records, Door County Judge Jennifer Moeller issued a written decision dismissing the village's motion after hearing oral arguments last month. The lawsuit, filed last September, stems from the four STR owners challenging the village of Sister Bay’s limit on the number of bedrooms allowed in a short-term rental property.

The four STL owners are Nick and Tara Froemming of the Cherry Cabana, Hunter and Jessica Clinton of Starkhaus, John and Erin Wilson of The Sister Bay Haus, and Mark and Caley Swanson. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty of Milwaukee represents them.  

The first claim in the complaint filed last year challenges Sister Bay’s ordinance limiting STRs to just four bedrooms. This is based on the Wisconsin right-to-rent law, which states that a municipality “may not enact or enforce an ordinance that prohibits the rental of a residential dwelling.”  

Sister Bay Administrator Julie Schmelzer, named in the original lawsuit along with the village, was dismissed as a co-defendant in the case last month.

The four STR owners were denied a temporary injunction last November that would have prohibited the village from enforcing the four-bedroom, 12-person limit on the number of guests who can sleep in the rental.

A summary judgment could decide the lawsuit if both parties agree to it or by a court trial in the future.