Plan Commission Meeting - March 25, 2026: Approvals for Smart Trust Development, Lifeway Expansion, and Consultations for Innio and Aries Industries
Plan Commission Meeting - March 25, 2026
The City of Waukesha Plan Commission met on March 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers, City Hall. 6 members were present (Joan Francoeur presiding, Elizabeth Moltzan, Jack Wells, R.G. Keller, Jennifer Wallner, Heather Granger) and 1 absent (Shawn Reilly). The commission approved the February 25, 2026 minutes, passed the consent agenda, and then took action on three linked Smart Trust items, a Lifeway expansion, and held consultations for Innio and Aries Industries. A special meeting for the new zoning code was announced for April 1, 2026.
Consent Calendar
- Final Site Plan & Architectural Review – 804 Corporate Ct, Milwaukee Motorwerks: Approved final plans for a 5,130 sq. ft. parking lot expansion in the M-3 Limited Business and Industrial Park District.
- Final Site Plan & Architectural Review – 620 Northview Road, Hanger Building: Approved final plans for a new 7-unit hangar building at the Waukesha County Airport in the A-1 Airport District.
- Minor Site Plan & Architectural Review – 1820 E. Main Street: Approved plans to replace vinyl siding with horizontal LP Smartsiding in cannon steel color and re-roofing in the B-4 Office Business District.
- Final Site Plan & Architectural Review – 2525 Aviation Drive, Two Hangar Buildings: Approved final plans for two new hangar buildings on lots 620D and 620E at the Waukesha County Airport in the A-1 Airport District.
- Minor Site Plan & Architectural Review – 1317 Arcadian Avenue, Johns Root Beer: Approved plans for a storage shed behind the building in the B-3 General Business District.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Pro Health Care (Smart Trust development): Attorney Jim Walden stated that Pro Health had relied on the city's 2020 approval of a T-intersection for five years, and that changing it at the last minute would jeopardize the project. He emphasized that the campus would be fully taxable.
- Smart Family (Smart Trust development): Attorney Tom Schmitzer noted that the family had spent considerable time and money based on the earlier T-intersection approval, and that a through street would affect already-installed sewer lines and reduce developable lots.
- Lifeway noise concerns: Scott Knutson (809 Magnolia) described a continuous jet-engine roar from the existing facility, measured at 60 decibels at 4 a.m. from a quarter mile away. He requested noise mitigation conditions on the expansion. Jim Francioni (810 Magnolia) echoed the concerns, emphasizing the character of the noise. Patrick Kemmerling (1116 El Doro) supported the statements and called for noise mitigation.
- Alderman Piper (representing Lifeway area): Expressed support for the Lifeway expansion and assured residents he would hold the company accountable for noise issues.
Discussion Items
- Smart Trust – Certified Survey Map, Rezoning, and Final Site Plan (Summit Avenue/Country Crest Lane): The three linked items involve vacant land west of Meadowbrook Road and north of Summit Avenue. The applicant proposed a T-intersection at Country Crest Lane and the future private drive into the Pro Health campus, while the Department of Public Works recommended a through street. Planning staff and the applicant argued that the T-intersection would separate residential and institutional traffic, improve safety, and discourage cut-through traffic. The city engineer (consultant Josh Meyerhoffer) cited driver expectations and steep grades as reasons for a through street. The commission approved all three items with the T-intersection as proposed, and directed engineering to study the location of stop signs as the site develops.
- Lifeway – Final Site Plan & Architectural Review (2101 Delafield Street): Lifeway proposes a ~43,000 sq. ft. addition (originally listed as 47,000 sq. ft.) at the rear of their industrial building for new packaging lines, representing a $48 million investment. The addition will add landscaping along Northview Road and a new sidewalk. Neighbors raised concerns about existing noise from cooling towers; Lifeway representatives acknowledged a bearing issue and stated they are working on mitigation. The commission approved the plan with conditions that all staff comments be addressed and an engineering concurrence letter obtained before building permits. The vote was 5-1 (R.G. Keller dissenting, citing the unresolved noise issue).
- Innio – Consultation (1101 W. St. Paul Avenue): Innio presented conceptual plans for an 83,000 sq. ft. addition to create a state-of-the-art test facility for a new engine line. The addition would be on the southwest corner of the existing 600,000 sq. ft. building, with no new impervious surface. Commissioners expressed excitement about the project but asked for consideration of noise mitigation (given nearby residences) and aesthetic improvements (e.g., murals) to the concrete tilt-up construction. No formal action was taken.
- Aries Industries – Consultation (576 Elizabeth Street): Berg Management proposed a 7,500 sq. ft. metal building addition to create a drive-through assembly line for robotics equipment, along with repaving, landscaping, and a secure parking area. The addition would be on the north side adjacent to railroad tracks. Commissioners provided feedback: prefer a solid fence instead of chain-link with privacy slats, a landscape plan avoiding arborvitae, and better integration of the addition's appearance with the existing building. No formal action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Smart Trust CSM (PC26-0010): Approved unanimously (6-0) with conditions that all city comments be addressed except those related to the T-intersection layout, which was approved as proposed.
- Smart Trust Rezoning (PC26-0011): Approved unanimously (6-0) with conditions to rezone 9.78 acres from T-1 to I-1 Institutional (7.76 acres) and Rs-3 Single Family Residential (2.02 acres).
- Smart Trust Final Site Plan (PC26-0020): Approved unanimously (6-0) with conditions that all city comments be addressed except T-intersection layout, and that engineering study stop sign placement as the site develops.
- Lifeway Final Site Plan (PC26-0021): Approved 5-1 (R.G. Keller dissenting) with conditions that all staff comments be addressed and an engineering concurrence letter obtained before building permits. The commission noted the noise issue is not part of the plan but encouraged Lifeway to resolve it by June 1.
- Innio Consultation (PC26-0022): No action taken; feedback provided to the applicant.
- Aries Industries Consultation (PC26-0019): No action taken; feedback provided to the applicant.
- Special Meeting: A special Plan Commission meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, 2026 to consider the new zoning code.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call the uh regularly scheduled March 25th, 2026 meeting of the Plan Commission to order. My name is Joan Frank Hoare, and I'm one of the commissioners. As you can see, Mayor Riley is not with us this evening. He has spent the day in Wassaw. He's participating in a round table and a networking opportunity to bring developers to city like ours. And tomorrow he'll be presiding as the president of the Urban Alliance meeting, and uh is not able to be with us this evening. He asked if I would preside the meeting tonight. So now that we are officially uh called to order, I'd like you to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands under God and Justice for all. Thank you. We'll now have roll call. Wells here. Jennifer Walner here. Frank Hourrier. Beth Moulton here. Granger here. Thank you. We have a quorum and can proceed tonight. We also have a an attendee this evening that has filled out a public comment card. So this is a section in our agenda where public comments are welcome. But I would also uh let this person and all of you know that there are public comment sections attached to each one of the items on our agenda tonight. So I'm going to ask if Scott uh would like to be speaking now in public comment, or would he like to reserve his comments until that item is on the agenda that he wants to address? Um I can wait until the lightweight. Okay, well, thank you, Scott. I'm sorry, I didn't have anything. And do you wish to speak now or do you want to speak to an item on the agenda? Okay. Okay. Okay. And you didn't need to do this, so that's perfectly fine. We'll welcome your comments when you when the agenda item is up. Our next item of business is approval of the minutes and the minutes were from February 25th, 2026. I'd be happy to entertain a motion. I move to approve the minutes. I'll second. Thank you. Um Commissioner Melson makes the motion and Commissioner Keller seconds it. Is there are there any corrections, additions, or deletions from the minutes? Seeing none, we're ready to vote. All those in favor of approval say aye. Aye. Uh opposed. So it's a unanimous vote approving the minutes. Uh the next part of our agenda is labeled consent agenda, and those items are items that have been addressed by the staff and are recommended for approval to the plan commission with discussion or not. So I'm going to pause for a minute and ask if there are any plan commissioners who have any of the items on this agenda that they would request to be removed. Seeing none, then in essence, these uh recommendations on the consent agenda are approved unanimously by the commission. That then takes us to our first business item. And as a matter of fact, there are three items that are all tied to one another. And we will have a presentation, I believe, Robin, um, uh, that will address all of the issues affecting all of those items on the agenda.
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