Mary Beth Peranteau

Mary Beth assists individuals, associations, businesses and local governments in matters relating to real estate, zoning and land use, property rights disputes and navigable waters law.

Mary Beth advises clients in real estate transactions and land use matters including resolution of boundary disputes, quiet title actions, public dedication, annexation, restrictive covenants, access and other easements, homeowner’s association and subdivision law, environmental permitting and county and municipal zoning proceedings including rezoning, conditional use permits and variances.

Mary Beth’s practice includes land use and real estate matters arising in connection with the siting and development of energy generation and transmission projects. She serves as counsel to Wisconsin electric distribution cooperatives in regulatory compliance, policy and governance matters and member relations, renewable energy procurement and contracting.

Mary Beth is also well-versed in all aspects of water law, including pier and waterway protection regulatory permitting, dam regulation and riparian rights and related navigable waters matters. She also represents several Wisconsin inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts in regulatory and governance matters.

Mary Beth has extensive experience litigating land use and water law disputes before state and local administrative bodies and in the circuit courts and courts of appeal in the State of Wisconsin.

Property / Zoning Law & Litigation

• Represents individuals, associations and local governments statewide in administrative proceedings for zoning approvals and challenges.
• Prosecutes and defends adverse possession claims and boundary disputes, including disputed easement rights and rights in publicly and privately dedicated lands.
• Represented northern Wisconsin lake association in zoning litigation resulting in negotiated settlement permanently protecting riparian lands from development.

Navigable Waters Law & Litigation

• Represents individuals and associations in resolving riparian rights disputes and regulatory matters including easements, riparian boundary disputes and pier rights.
• Litigated a challenge by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to private individuals’ title to lands surrounding a flowage lake created by a historic dam based on adverse possession.
• Advise lake protection and rehabilitation districts in governance, regulatory compliance and lake rehabilitation project development and financing.
• Lead counsel representing citizens in state and federal litigation to enforce Wisconsin’s public trust doctrine, resulting in a trial court judgment enjoining the sale of publicly-owned waterfront property for private, commercial use, in Friends v. City of Sturgeon Bay, Door County Case No. 16-CV-23.
• Represented Wisconsin’s largest inland lake protection and rehabilitation district in DNR proceedings and litigation spanning over a decade, including a successful Wisconsin Supreme Court appeal, leading to the modification of lake water levels to positively impact recreational activity, property values, tourism and other lake-related commerce and municipal tax revenues. Rock-Koshkonong Lake District v. Wisconsin DNR, Appeal No. 2008AP1523.

Energy Law

• Counseled numerous Wisconsin member-owned electric utilities in the development of community solar facilities and member subscription programs providing renewable energy credits to offset residential electric bills.
• Advise numerous member-owned electric utilities in governance, member relations, easement and right-of-way, regulatory, contracting and other general counsel matters.
• Successfully litigated commercial dispute between generation and transmission utility and general contractor based on defects in the provision of emissions control equipment.
• Negotiated State water quality certification under the Clean Water Act for large hydroelectric project in connection with FERC relicensing.

Education

• University of Wisconsin Law School, J.D., 1996, cum laude
• Beloit College, B.S., 1989

Admissions

• Wisconsin, 1997
• Wisconsin Supreme Court
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

• Best Lawyers in America, Energy Regulatory Law, 2025; Environmental Law, 2025