Green Bay Common Council Meeting – October 21, 2025: Comprehensive Plan Adoption and Zoning Reform Debate
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Green Bay Common Council Meeting – October 21, 2025
The Green Bay Common Council met on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, to adopt the Go Big Green Bay 2050 comprehensive plan, discuss zoning reforms, and consider several routine items. The meeting included a public hearing, recognition of awards, and extensive debate on amendments to the comprehensive plan. The council voted unanimously to adopt the plan with multiple amendments but held the zoning code amendments for further review.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from the previous meeting and the current agenda were approved unanimously.
- Reappointment to a city board was approved without discussion.
- Reports from the Improvement and Services Committee (except item 1), Protection and Policy Committee (except item 3), Police Department operator licenses, and Plan Commission (except items 1 and 4) were approved en bloc.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Noel Halverson, President and CEO of NeighborWorks Green Bay and a former planner, expressed full support for the comprehensive plan, calling it an excellent tool to guide future growth.
- Greg Kirschling, a Green Bay resident and representative on the Brown County Planning Commission, spoke about the need for improved bike trail connectivity. He highlighted a gap on Packerland Drive between West Mason Street and Highway 29, which prevents a continuous trail from the South Bridge to the Mountain Bay Trail. He urged the council to include language in the plan to connect city trails with neighboring municipalities and to make Green Bay a biking destination.
- Jennifer Sunstrom, representing the Northeast Realtors Association, spoke in support of the comprehensive plan and the zoning amendments, citing the housing crisis. She described the emotional toll on clients unable to find affordable housing and stressed that the proposed changes go beyond minimal tweaks.
Discussion Items
- Comprehensive Plan Adoption (Go Big Green Bay 2050): The council considered the plan and entertained several amendments:
- Alder Prophet moved to add language on pages 45, 46, and 67 of the plan to emphasize connecting bike networks to other municipalities. The amendment passed unanimously.
- Alder Grant moved to add language regarding incentives and possible city funding sources for infrastructure for new housing projects. Adopted unanimously.
- Alder Johnson moved to add language about a design review process for public infrastructure projects, emphasizing that design quality should be prioritized. Adopted unanimously.
- Alder Johnson also proposed a land swap for Veterans Park to free up land for development and create a more visible veterans memorial. The motion failed 6-6 after debate, with some council members expressing concern about lack of stakeholder input and the specificity of changing the future land use map.
- Alder Presley moved to add a paragraph on green stormwater infrastructure in the context of complete streets. Adopted unanimously.
- Zoning Code Amendments (93 changes): The first reading of the zoning code amendments, which are part of the comprehensive plan implementation, sparked significant debate. Alder Johnson moved to hold the item until the next council meeting, citing the inability to access the documents due to the city website being down and the need for more resident input. Alder Prophet opposed the hold, noting that a second reading allows for further amendments. After a vote, the motion to hold passed 8-4. The related ordinances (first reading items 2-10) were also held.
- Traffic Signal Repair Contract: The council amended the report from the Improvement and Services Committee to include an alternate bid item for conduit interconnection, awarding the contract to Voltart Electric Service Inc. for $416,620. Approved.
- License Amendment (Date Correction): The Protection and Policy Committee report included a license amendment with an incorrect date. The council conditionally approved the item, requiring the applicant to correct the date.
Key Outcomes
- Go Big Green Bay 2050 Comprehensive Plan: Adopted unanimously (12-0) after incorporating multiple amendments. Staff will include the amendments (bike connectivity, housing incentives, design review, green stormwater infrastructure) and present a final version for council review. The plan supersedes the previous 2006 comprehensive plan.
- Zoning Code Amendments (First Reading): Held to the next council meeting (expected November 11, 2025) to allow more time for council and resident review. The council will revisit the 93 changes, with the possibility of additional amendments before the second reading.
- Traffic Signal Repair Contract: Awarded as amended (base bid plus alternate) to Voltart Electric Service Inc. in the amount of $416,620.
- License Amendment: Approved conditionally, subject to the applicant correcting the date of the application.
- Resolutions: Adopted unanimously via roll call (with one abstention on item 3).
- Plan Commission Item 1 (Zoning Changes): Held, as the council voted 8-4 to postpone consideration.
- Ordinances First Reading (Items 2-10): Held in alignment with the zoning code hold.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at approximately [time not specified].
Meeting Transcript
All right, call to order the meeting of our common council for Tuesday, October 21st, 2025. Clerk. Yes, thank you, Your Honor. We have 12 members in the room voting and 12 members of the Civic Club. All right, thank you so much. Now please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for our invocation. Under God with the discourse. And for invocation, uh Alder Hinkfis has requested a moment of quiet contemplation. All right, thank you. Now on to approval of the minutes. Motion to approve made by Alder Delee and seconded by Alder Ritterbush. Any changes. Seeing none, all in favor will say aye. Aye. Oppose nay. The ayes have it, the minutes are approved. Approval the agenda. Motion to approve made by Alder Stevens and seconded by Alder Eck. Any uh changes here or amendments. Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Oppose nay. The ayes have it. And that agenda is approved. Report by the mayor. Um we've got uh a number of things obviously on the agenda tonight. Um comp plan and then some associated um zoning reforms that have been brought forward in collaboration um with a number of uh interested groups. Um but a lot of thanks go to our planning planning staff for the the comp plan, obviously, but also these um this list of uh zoning reforms. Um I think as anyone who's paid attention um to housing prices in the city, the state, the country over the last few years, you know, understands that um there's only been one direction, and that's been up. And so I think we're in the position of doing everything we absolutely can within reason to keep those housing costs in check and you know, working with nonprofits like neighborworks and habitat for humanity as well as our home builders and our realtors, and as I said, our our in internal planning staff here. These are some really solid recommendations that I think have a lot of uh validity and and validation from some of these uh outside experts, and so um you know would would love to adopt them certainly by the end of the year. Um I know Alders, you know, have just maybe gotten these or gotten uh wrapped their heads around them within recent days, but really hoping that that we can get on board with the bulk of them and and push them forward given you know the housing uh crisis that we're all facing here and experiencing in the city of Green Bay. Um so that's it from me. Um turn it over to the council for any announcements. Alder Ritterbush. Uh I just want to thank uh excuse me, the city of Green Bay for their increased contribution on the United Way. As a board member, I'm pretty proud of uh uh God of the newsletter that there's been an increase. Um I also want to announce that the United Way has a centennial gala Saturday, November 8th at uh Lambeau Field. Um you can buy tickets on the website, the United Way website. I'd love to see some of my fellow council members uh be there and support. Uh it's not often you get a nonprofit that's in the uh you know in the area for a hundred years doing the things that they do for for our residents in Brown County. So that's all thank you. Absolutely great organization. Uh other announcements. Seeing none. We'll move along to recognitions and awards. We've got a couple of fun ones tonight. Um, two awards. One, the Green Bay Metro Fire Department received the first responder of the year award. Um, sorry.
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