Plan Commission Meeting Summary - August 25, 2026
Plan Commission Meeting Summary - August 25, 2026
The Manitowoc Plan Commission met on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers and via Zoom. All members except Dietrich and Jay Gemin were present, constituting a quorum. The meeting addressed two public hearings for conditional use permits, an update on the zoning code rewrite, and routine approvals.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 7, 2026 Plan Commission meeting were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Warming Shelter (PC 11-2026): Three members of the public spoke in support of the conditional use permit for a temporary warming shelter at 2601 S 10th Street.
- Ken Walters (2703 S 23rd, Apt 4), a volunteer with over 600 nights at the shelter, thanked the commission, city council, and community for supporting the shelter. He shared a story of a woman who achieved sobriety and stable housing after using the shelter.
- Pastor Matt Sauer (1819 S 25th Street) stated that the shelter serves local residents—83 unique individuals last winter, of whom 57 out of 64 survey respondents lived in Manitowoc County and 44 within the city. He emphasized safety, noting that building inspection, police, and fire departments had walked through the building and found it met conditions. He asked the commission to approve the permit.
- Pastor Heather Inkek of St. Paul Lutheran Church (1519 20th Street, Two Rivers) reported that neighbors surrounding the church expressed joy and excitement about providing the service.
- TJ Potter Trucking (PC 12-2026): No public comments were offered.
Discussion Items
- Warming Shelter (PC 11-2026): Staff recommended approval with conditions. Commissioner Dan Horning moved to remove conditions N (76-night limit per individual) and O (lottery system for more than 12 guests), arguing the commission should decide on land use, not operations. After discussion clarifying that those conditions were not legally required but were meant to gather data, the motion passed unanimously. Condition C (maximum 12 guests) was modified to state that the shelter shall not exceed the legal limit determined by police, fire, and building inspection for life safety, but not less than 12. The permit will be forwarded to the Common Council on September 21, 2026.
- TJ Potter Trucking (PC 12-2026): Staff recommended approval per attached conditions. The property at 2800 Viebahn Street is a 15.3-acre parcel historically used for industrial lay-down. The applicant will clean up, regrade, and add gravel and dust palliatives. Operating hours: 7 AM to 5 PM Monday–Friday with limited Saturday mornings. No neighbor calls were received. The commission approved the conditional use permit unanimously.
- Zoning Code Rewrite (Old Business 26-0062): Staff provided an update. The rewrite will change Chapter 15 to Chapter 35, update the subdivision code (Chapter 21), and separate the floodplain ordinance. A new zoning map will be provided. Concerns were raised about property owners becoming legal non-conforming; staff noted they are trying to minimize such cases but recognize some changes may be inevitable. The next meeting is September 23, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Warming Shelter CUP: Approved (unanimous) with conditions C (maximum occupancy set by fire/safety but ≥12) and removal of N and O. Referred to Common Council on September 21, 2026.
- TJ Potter Trucking CUP: Approved (unanimous) with standard conditions.
- Zoning Code Rewrite: Update provided; public hearing to be scheduled; next meeting on September 23, 2026.
- Adjournment: Motion carried unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
There is a sign-in sheet, and Jen also has one if someone wants to speak. I don't think your microphone's on. You're all good? Yeah. Okay. It is six o'clock. We'll call the plan commission meeting to order at this time. Welcome to those in attendance. And to the commission, we have all members except Dietrich and Jay Gemin. Leave. Correct. So we do have a quorum. Approval of the minutes from July 7th. Is there a motion to approve? Second. Motion and a second discussion. Second by Horning, I believe, or Steinbrenner, I don't know which one. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed. Motion carried unanimously. All right. We have two public hearings this evening. First one is the neighborhood of Mantua County, Inc. doing business as Mantua Corm and Shelter, conditional use permit. Request for a temporary warming shelter at 2601 South 10th Street. Paul, if you want to go through this. Okay. There we go. So the map on the screen, the area in cross-ash, crosshatch yellow is the subject property. It's on South 10th Street, just north of Vaughn. To the west is Calvary Cemetery. To the north, east, and south is basically residential. A little bit further south on V Bond is some commercial at Car Wash and a convenience store. So the neighborhood of Manitow County has identified St. Paul Lutheran Church on South 10th Street as a temporary warming shelter for up to 12 guests for 150-day operating period. Last year the warming shelter was located in a Lakeshore Cap building, which was at 702 State Street. Staff from building inspection and police and fire walk through the location on South 10th Street. And they're fine with the location from like a building code, life safety issue. There are a couple minor things that they're working through, but nothing major. Transitional housing is defined as housing intended to provide the support needed for temporary occupants who lack a fixed regular and adequate nighttime residents to move into long-term housing, and which is usually offered as part of a transitional program that helps homeless individuals and families become independent through counseling, job training, child care, skills training, and health care assistance. One, is it reasonably reasonably necessary for the convenience and welfare of the public? Two, is it in harmony with the character of the surrounding area? Will it have minimal effect or no effect on the surrounding property values? And again, there's also the condition use permits are governed by state statute. And we've talked about this multiple times. Where we're we're basically commission use permit has to be issued with the conditions. Conditions have to be accepted by the requester. And in the future, if there's some conditions that are not being followed, then the council can go and pull the condition use permit. Um we've never actually had to do that in any condition use permit that we've issued.
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