All right, good evening.

We will call the Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 Plan Commission meeting to order.

We will start with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please rise.

I Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

All right.

Next up, we have roll call.

I'm just going to go down the line.

So Commissioner Keller, I'll start with you.

All right.

Alder Person Olson.

Here.

All right.

Commissioner Frank Hoore?

Here.

All right.

Next up.

Granger.

Granger is here.

Next up.

Walner Walmer's here.

Excellent.

And we uh Alder Person Wells is absent.

All right.

Uh first up we have public comment.

Is there anyone here for public comment?

So note that this is not the public hearing time, but yes.

If you want to come up, you know the drill.

I do.

Good evening, Lisa Salb 434 Madison Street.

So I am here in regards to uh the discussion about the zoning code.

Um I see that there were some changes that were made to the map, and now there is a new zoning map, which is uh dated 616 26.

Um what uh I want to bring to your attention yet again is that the historic overlay over the Blair property has been removed over the bottom half of the property.

I will remind you that in on June 20th, uh 1994.

Uh I have a statement here.

It was through the common council.

Um, and it is for the establishment of a special district H overlay Historic District for historic Madison Street.

Um that overlay has been um cut off.

Uh there's no reason for that to be cut off.

And um if the and the zoning map should not, the new zoning map should not um be approved with the Blair's property um being destroyed like that.

Um we have been fighting so long and we will continue to fight.

Um if this goes through like this, I suggest you remove the September 1st date for getting this approved because we will take all measures that are necessary to protect the historic Blair property.

So please um be serious when you when you take a look at this.

Um again, if you look at the current zoning map, the historic overlay goes through the whole property, and even in um 1937 when the police department was built on that area, they avoided that historic area and they built right next to it.

They did miss a little bit, there's a little bit of a corn at there that is on the Blair property, but um this is something that needs to be taken seriously, and I please do hope that you look at that way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other public comment?

All right, moving right along.

We have our consent agenda.

Is there anything to be removed from consent agenda?

Oh, sorry, thank you.

Did I skip something?

I did.

Approval of minutes.

We'll backtrack.

Um is there a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting?

Uh Commissioner Franccour.

So move.

All right, is there a second?

Second.

Commissioner Granger seconds.

Uh all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No.

All right.

So those minutes are approved unanimously.

Consent agenda.

Is there anything to be removed from consent agenda?

Nope.

All right.

Then we will move right along to our public hearings.

Uh first up, we have the conditional use permit for 202.

Charlie, if you would like to start, please.

All right.

Uh so this is 202 Westminster Drive.

It is just to the north of Roberta Avenue on Western on Westminster Drive near South High School.

That's uh in the uh bottom right corner of the map there.

Uh this is a uh single family home.

Uh and it's uh zoned RS3.

Uh so it is in a residential neighborhood.

And the applicant would like to uh operate uh home-based business uh selling cigars there.

Uh the business will be called Bite Me Cigars.

Um it'll be operated out of a uh humidor in the basement of the house with an area of approximately 150 square feet.

Uh so this is the these are the photos that the applicant has uh supplied.

Uh he has stated that he plans to uh the cigars will be shipped to two to Westminster Drive.

Uh they'll be repackaged for sale there and relabeled.

Um they'll be mailed or delivered to customers.

So there won't be customers on the property ever.

There will be no employees other than the applicant who is a resident of the house.

And then all the inventory will be stored within the home, not within any kind of accessory structures or anything like that.

So there the code currently has two categories for home-based businesses.

One is a home occupation and the other is a home industry.

Home occupations are permitted in all of the residential zoning districts.

And those have to be approved by the plan commission as a conditional use.

Staff feels that this will have very much the same impact as any other home occupation would.

So staff recommends approval of a conditional use permit for buying me cigars at 202 Westminster with the one condition that the applicant must apply for a tap tobacco products retailer license from the clerk's office, along with any other uh required permits or licenses that might be required by state or federal government.

Thank you.

Is the applicant here?

Hi.

Hi.

If you'd like to come up, um, if you would like to add anything, that would be great.

If not, you're fine.

Um did you want to add anything?

I think we covered all the bases.

Excellent.

Is there anyone from the public that wishes to speak on this item?

No.

All right.

Then we're going to close the public hearing.

We're going to move on through all of the public hearings, and then we'll go to the action items for everybody that's out here.

Um so next up we have the conditional use permit for 2211 Southwest Avenue theme.

Good evening.

So this is 2211 Southwest Avenue.

Here we have the picture of the site, an aerial image.

Um Fast Pitch Factory.

They are looking to open a youth sports training facility in the southern building on this lot.

There are two buildings.

The two buildings are separated by a gate, and this leads to a parking lot in the rear or parking area in the rear.

The applicants would occupy the suites that have been circled, and there will be a parking stalls, parking spots in front of this, these circled suites.

And then a picture looking west at the neighboring suites.

The applicant uh stated that they have in their lease agreement with the lot owner, they have keys to access the gate and park in the rear of this building.

Um that would be only as needed parking, but parking would usually be in the front.

Uh this is facing a fence that is along the east side of the property.

There it is used heavily for storage of vehicles, equipment, trailers, uh garbage.

Um the applicant can work it out with the owner if that needs to be moved or not.

Um so the hours of operation for this project would be Monday through Friday uh from 4 p.m.

to 8 p.m.

And then on the weekends from 10 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

Wanted to note that this is largely outside of business hours, so we don't think it will really interfere with um industrial or commercial traffic.

It would have no employees as it is just a training facility.

Coaches would arrive with uh team members and access the building to practice.

Uh all activities would be indoors.

Um state, there would be six team parking stalls, eight in the front, eight in the rear.

Uh the two suites would be about 7,000 square feet.

Um I did call the applicant to clarify um the suite situation.

Uh this was three suites prior, but uh one was sort of uh walled off before the applicants uh began talking to or signed any lease with the owner.

So staff recommends approval uh for the fast pitch factory at 2211 Southwest Avenue uh with a few conditions.

The parking spaces need to be uh striped according to city standards and regulations.

The building inspection department um stated that there should be a licensed professional to do a walkthrough and um determine if there needs to be any modifications to the building.

This would be sprinklers, uh bathrooms, anything like that.

And then the fire department would also like an egress plan to ensure uh safe entry and exit.

Excellent.

Uh start is the applicant here.

Excellent.

Is there anything that you would like to add at this time?

Excuse the funding if you've got the basis.

I always like a good pun.

Uh is there anyone from the public that wishes to speak on this item?

No.

All right.

Oh, go ahead, Maria.

Not from the public, but for the commissioners, I'd like to um introduce Thane, our uh new intern uh for community development.

Thane's uh student at Unit University of Wisconsin Milwaukee studying urban planning, and we're happy to have him here.

Yes, and from the mayor, you're doing a great job so far.

Thank you.

All right, uh anyone from the public?

No.

All right, we will um move on to our business section.

So um first up we have action on the public hearing, so we'll start again with the 202 Westminster Drive, Bite Me Cigars.

Um is there uh are there any comments or questions from the commissioners?

Uh Alder Person Molson.

I agree with staff that this seems like it would be a business that wouldn't uh impact their neighbors in any significant way, so I'd like to make a motion to uh approve the conditional use permit with the condition about the that's written here on this screen.

All right, is there a second to the motion?

Uh Commissioner Granger.

All right, we've got a second.

Are there any additional comments from the commission?

All right, then we have a motion and a second.

Um all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye, aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

That motion passes unanimously.

Um moving right along.

2211 Southwest Avenue Fast Pitch Factory.

Um, are there any comments or questions from the commission?

All right, is there a motion?

I motion to approve the conditional use permit for the fast pitch factory.

Excellent.

Thank you, Commissioner Granger.

Is there a second?

Striping the lot and making sure that it's all code requirements.

Is your microphone on?

Thank you.

Now it's on.

Now it's on, sorry.

All right.

So just to reiterate, you did make the motion to uh approve the conditional use permit with all of the staff recommendations.

Correct.

Thank you.

Is there a second?

Uh Commissioner Franco.

Yes.

You are the second.

Excellent.

Are there any additional comments?

No.

All right.

Uh, all those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

That motion does pass unanimously.

Next up we have the rezoning petition from RM3 to RM3 PUG multifamily residential with the planned unit development overlay for 600 Maple Avenue.

I will let Charlie start.

All right.

And so we have both the rezoning, PUD rezoning and the final site plan and architecture review.

And I'll just do one presentation for both of those.

Thank you.

So this is 600 Maple Avenue.

It is at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Park Avenue.

This is the former, I think it was the first Church of Christ Scientist, but it has been vacant for a number of years.

As you can see, zoomed in a little on the property, it's primarily the church, and then a large parking lot area in the rear, which currently has two driveways onto Park Avenue.

So here that that's uh the parking lot is from ground level.

And uh the applicants would like to uh to remove the church and uh build a uh 10-unit uh apartment facility uh for families that uh experience families that are experiencing homelessness.

Uh family promises an organization that uh uh that serves families uh families that are having uh housing issues and families specifically experiencing homelessness, uh and they would like to uh have a facility uh to provide housing for them uh on an on an emergency basis.

Uh so the uh the the building will consist of 10 apartments on two stories um on the first story that'll be two two bedroom units and uh one three bedroom unit as well as a community lounge space and an office.

Uh second floor will be two one-bedroom units, three two bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units.

So that's again 10 units total.

Um the zoning district for this uh area is RM3 multifamily residential, which in the base zoning uh there is no restriction on the number of units that are allowed.

Uh however, there is a restriction based on the lot area.

Uh, there's sort of a complicated formula uh with different uh lot area requirements for based on different units.

Uh so the code requires 2500 square feet per any one bedroom unit, 3,000 square feet per two-bedroom unit, and 3,500 per three-bedroom or larger uh apartment units.

So uh with two one-bedroom units, five two-bedroom units, and three three-bedroom units that uh comes to 30,500 square feet that would be required based on that lot area requirement.

Um the actual lot has an area of 26,340 square feet, so it's about 4,000 square feet short of that uh uh that requirement, which is why uh the applicants uh are requesting uh plan unit development overlay.

Um that's important also uh that it's that specific uh area that's uh six tenths of an acre, uh which does not meet the minimum in the code for uh for a plan unit development.

Uh the code requires residential PUDs to have a minimum area of one acre.

Uh but the code does allow the plan commission uh at its sole discretion to approve planning planning it uh development districts that are less than an acre, um, provided the plan commission requires and the developer agrees uh to incorporate supplemental design elements or other site enhancements.

Um so the code states that supplemental design elements and site enhancements can include, but are not limited to public art installations, artistic bike racks, enhanced landscaping, upgraded architectural facility features and materials, fountains, plazas, clock towers, outdoor seating areas, preserved historical features, um additional uh pedestrian elements or amenities or other design elements.

Uh so there is quite a bit of leeway uh for the plan commission to uh to determine whether or not a project uh meets those requirements.

Uh so just uh to go through the uh uh the design of the building.

Um it will be uh primarily uh LP smart side uh composite siding, uh primarily green colored uh lab siding with brown colored uh uh vertical board and batten siding in in uh um some vertical accent features uh around the building.

Uh around the base of the building will be a brick, a tan colored brick uh mason or tan colored brick uh foundation course.

Uh and then also uh the they'll be adding some uh awnings and porch areas at the front entrance and at a side entrance facing out towards uh towards Maple Avenue.

Uh so this is the that was the the south elevation facing park, uh which will be the main entrance, and then also uh this is the east elevation facing maple, uh west uh facing towards the uh towards the parking lot, and then to the north will be very similar, facing towards the adjacent property.

Uh and the applicants will be adding a uh privacy fence to screen the property from the adjacent properly property immediately to the north.

Um this is the existing site plan.

Uh so the green here is the is the parking lot, and the red is the existing building.

Um so the parking lot will be reduced quite a bit in size, and it'll be reduced from two uh to one uh driveway entrance onto parks park avenue.

Uh it'll be 18 total parking spaces.

Uh the code uh currently would require 19 spaces for uh for 10 for the the number of units based on the uh that that would this 18 spaces or 19, I guess, is almost uh two parking spaces per unit based on the location in the city uh near uh near transit uh and near uh other um uh walking in a relatively walkable neighborhood, and also based on the population, staff feels that that uh 18 spaces uh should be more than uh sufficient, but that is uh an exception that the plan commission would need to approve.

Umscaping the applicants have uh also uh one thing to note that there will be some uh bike parking.

There's a bike rack uh indicated by the number 11 there uh right in front of the uh the front entrance.

Uh for landscaping, the applicants are showing uh foundation plantings around uh three sides of the building.

Uh they haven't added any around at the north side because uh they don't believe that will be visible with the privacy fence, uh as well as some ornamental trees uh in the the yard facing uh park avenue.

Uh staff feels that uh additional uh supplemental design element that could be included uh to get uh the the project to uh to the level that that would be acceptable for the smaller uh lot size for the for the PUD requirements uh could include additional trees or landscaping uh along Maple Avenue to uh to enhance that uh uh that side of the property facing facing Maple Avenue and facing Cutler Park.

Um the applicants did add um some additional landscaping uh along the uh the parking lot area as well, uh but they have not added any uh on the the section uh facing the adjacent property or um in the northeast corner because uh they've stated that a lot of that will be uh used for snow storage.

Um there's also a uh dumpster enclosure indicated in the northeast corner of the parking lot.

The applicants have stated that that will be a masonry enclosure to match uh to match the masonry on the building.

Um other exception that the uh plan commission will have to be approved will have to approve is for uh lighting in the parking lot.

Uh there is one uh parking lot light that's indicated in blue here on this photometric plan where the uh where the lighting spillover will uh uh exceed the amount required uh by the zoning code slightly, it's a maximum of a half a foot candle and it will be seven-tenths of a foot candle.

Uh so that is something that can be approved as part of the planned unit development agreement as well.

Um staff feels that uh that is not an issue since it's it will be adjacent to uh another parking lot uh for another church uh to the west.

So staff recommends approval of the PUD rezoning uh from RM3 multifamily residential to RM3 with a planned unit development overlay, and staff recommends approval of final site plan and architectural review uh for family promise at 600 Maple Avenue with the conditions that again the planning commission will need to approve an exemption to the zoning code's parking requirements and as part of the PUD to the light spillover and density requirements.

The parking requirements can be approved just for a regular uh regular site plan and architecture review that the light spillover uh needs to be part of the PUD.

Um and then the planning commission will also need to determine that the proposed development includes supplemental design elements or site enhancements which meet the standards for allowing a PUD under one acre.

Um the plan commission could determine that that the design as submitted meets those that requirement.

Uh but uh if you would like to uh require additional uh additional elements, um staff recommends adding additional landscaping along the east side of the building uh facing Maple Avenue.

Um lighting color temperature may not exceed 4000 K, and the applicant should provide uh detail of the building lights uh to ensure that they're they're gonna be shielded so they're directed downward uh prior to issuance of building permits, and then uh engineering department comments would be addressed.

Thank you.

Um I know the applicant is here.

Uh is there anything that you wish to add?

Um otherwise I would love it if you would be able to come up here because I'm sure there are some questions.

Good evening.

Uh Brian Griebel uh with VJS.

Joe Ness, I'm executive director for family promise.

So um two of the two of the items I just wanted to further clarify in terms of uh you know the conditions of approval, uh, one being parking.

There have been conversations with the neighboring facility uh about the possibility of a some sort of cross-access agreement if the you know parking became an issue because that they have a very large parking lot there.

Um so there have been discussions, nothing's been formalized at this time uh for that.

Uh and then with the light spillage, uh it is an existing light.

Um so that one is there.

Uh that is that is not one we put there.

So, you know, we we are not tied to that light either way on that one.

So anything else you wanted to add?

No.

All right.

Um are there any questions or comments from the commission or motions?

Uh Commissioner Franco.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I I didn't remember reading uh any comment about the staffing of the facility when you have residents there.

So we um would not have staff 24-7.

Um if we did, it would be a volunteer that would be almost like a um an AmeriCorps type arrangement where they would actually be living in the facility.

Um, but that's something that we're working through a bit yet.

Um staffing during the day, we have uh family advocates or case managers that would be working with the families and available to them uh during the day.

Oh, thank you, Joel.

I I was asking more in relationship to parking.

If you were gonna have staff, was that part of the parking when we look at this?

We're gonna maintain the building we have now, and that will be our staff offices.

So we won't have staff that will be parking there.

Okay, thank you.

Any additional comments?

I will say, as somebody who lives in the neighborhood, I'm actually really excited for this project.

So yes, Alder Person Molson.

Yeah, I think it's a great idea and a great facility and a good use of this space and uh good location for having uh folks have access to various city and county services.

So I would like to make a motion to what are we doing?

Uh approve the uh PUD uh final site plan at 600 Maple Avenue with all staff comments.

All right, I'll actually second that one since I'm in the neighborhood.

Uh do we do does the motion need to specifically say that we're approving the uh number of parking spaces and put this back?

Yeah, if you can pull up the comments, yes, yes.

We're okay with the number of parking spaces, we're okay with the light spill and the density requirements.

That's all in the motion.

Thank you.

Yes.

And I still second that motion.

Are there any additional comments before we vote?

Uh Commissioner Franco.

Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't know we were going to go so fast here.

Uh, number one, I wanted to ask uh in terms of the height of the building compared to the height of the other multi-floor homes in that same area.

It's not particularly higher.

I couldn't tell from the exhibit.

It's uh so it's two stories, which is common.

Uh the roof, since it's a little bit larger and it is a pitched roof, uh, that that does um the total height.

Uh that was something that staff had asked uh to be the applicant to see if they could reduce it.

Um they did reduce the total height from 45 feet to 40, I believe.

Um from for the preliminary to final.

So it would be a total height of 40 feet, and then um the as the zoning code defines it, it's to like the middle of the roof uh, you know, the average of the the height of the roof, that would be about 30 feet.

the total height uh that was something that staff had asked uh to be the applicant to see if they could reduce it um and they did reduce the total height from 45 feet to 40 I believe um be from for the preliminary to final so it would be a total height of 40 feet and then um the as the zoning code defines it it's to like the middle of the roof uh you know the average of the the height of the roof that would be about 30 feet so it'll it'll be a little bit higher in terms of the the total height just based on the roof but um otherwise it will be generally within the and that fits in with the neighborhood I think right yeah there are plenty of of two story buildings I just had one other question comment Joel uh because this is a different use of that land and it's a different architecture it's something totally new a little taller than the other residents had you had any discussion about having some kind of uh I think meeting sounds too formal but something that acquaints the neighborhood with what's about to happen.

Uh yes in fact we already met with some of the neighbors we had about 20 folks show up we the church uh behind a scene our hosted that for us um and you know there were some questions but I think after helping people understand what we're about that um they were good with that and certainly when we get to a point that we're about to start construction we would do another meeting with the uh neighbors it's uh it's always helpful to have their support because this is going to the common council yep and so it's nice if everybody supports it when it's there.

Thank you.

Yeah and I I can back Joe up on that I was at that meeting um and and it was a generally favorable response.

You did a great job at answering the questions of the and concerns of the neighbors um so I appreciate that you were proactive with that so thank you.

Thank you.

Any additional comments or questions before we vote yes go ahead is the existing church by any chance on any historic register in Waukesha?

Not as far as I know.

No we didn't see any historic registry there.

Okay no it's not all right thanks.

Anyone else all right then we do have a motion and a second uh all those in favor please say aye.

Right aye.

Any opposed is that the resulting motion that was the rezoning motion yes.

Uh so next up we have the final site plan and architectural review uh for 600 Maple Avenue family promise.

Are there any additional comments or questions regarding the final site plan and architectural review.

All right then I will make the motion to approve the final site plan and architectural review um with all staff comments for 600 Maple Avenue Family Promise.

Is there a second?

Alderperson Molson second all right just checking any additional comments no all right um all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed all right then that does pass uh unanimously yeah welcome to the neighborhood yes thank you thanks thank you very much um next up we have a final site plan and architectural review for 445 Madison Street Salvation Army Charlie all right uh so this is the Salvation Army uh of waukesha county at uh the intersection of Madison Street and third street uh just up the hill from City Hall uh here's their their building from Madison Street um as you can see they they have a couple of entrances that face out towards the intersection um the property the building and the and the associated parking take up most of the property the property uh um has an area of I believe it's under uh one acre um and uh at as Madison Street is on a hill um since those those areas are um level uh the remainder of the property uh is mostly uh steep hill with um with retaining walls um the applicants uh would like to add they have a uh um a vehicle that they use for uh disaster relief uh efforts uh which is you can see in the the lower right of this picture uh it sort of looks like uh uh an ambulance but it's it's used by the salvation army for their uh efforts um they need to have it stored inside during the winter um and they have had an agreement with the fire department for the past several years um but they uh they aren't gonna be able to do that anymore uh so they would like to add a new garage on their property uh they had considered a number of of locations um including uh one location attached to the uh the small yellow uh one story building um in this photo uh but they have ultimately determined that uh any of the other locations that they could could have considered uh either would have involved removing a large percentage of the parking or uh would not have been worked because of the hill um so instead they would like to add an attached garage uh onto the building uh facing uh third street uh right at the at the top of the hill um it'll attach to the end of the of the building as as it is there uh so here you can see it uh in this elevation um so again it'll it'll be a two uh a two-car garage uh attached onto the building that'll be built into the hill uh at that uh at that section of the building um and it'll be again this is uh from the rear uh it'll have an area of about uh two thousand square feet total that which will consist of both the garage and uh uh

Uh so here you can see it uh in this elevation.

Um so again, it'll it'll be a two uh a two-car garage uh attached onto the building that'll be built into the hill uh at that uh at that section of the building.

Um and it'll be again this is uh from the rear.

Uh it'll have an area of about uh 2,000 square feet total that which will consist of both the garage and uh a hallway attaching it to the existing building as well as a stairway that will uh lead down to the uh down to the parking area.

Um here it is attached to the the full building.

Uh the building itself will have uh siding uh which will match uh generally an architectural style, which will match the the existing building.

Uh be red brick siding with a uh masonry base uh as well as uh uh sort of a mansard roof to uh to match the rest of the building.

Um here it is from the uh from the south.

Uh the foundation section will extend down the hill uh to the terrace below, so that will be a large uh section of the foundation which will match the the lower level of the uh of the building.

And again, this will face into the parking lot area, so it'll have very little uh visibility from uh any public any public area, and then here's the the Madison Street fell at facing elevation.

Uh the applicants uh have designed this building to line up with the uh with the front of the building as it uh uh as it faces third street, so there will be no visibility uh from Madison Street.

Um the building at the the new uh garage itself will uh be set back 11 feet from the uh from the third street right of way and from the third street sidewalk.

Uh so as you can see uh in this uh this overhead, the applicants have shown it with the with the vehicle uh backed into the uh into the garage, and they've stated that they intend to always back it into the uh into the parking area.

Um if they were to drive it straight in and then back it out, uh the the vehicle would be over the sidewalk before it could be you know before it would would before the windows would clear the uh edge of the garage before there would be visibility uh necessary, not visibility uh directly around.

This is this does not meet the 25-foot uh street yard setback requirement for the uh I1 institutional zoning district.

Uh they did receive a uh variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals to allow this uh in May.

Um staff had requested as part of that variance uh adding a condition that they would add a backup mirror since uh we can't there's no way to enforce uh a requirement that they would back in every time.

Um so we've requested that uh uh a backup mirror would be added.

Um the Board of Zoning Appeals did approve the variance with that uh with that requirement, uh, but we believe that it would be more enforceable if it's also a requirement on the uh plan commission's approval if you do approve a site plan and architecture review for this.

Uh so we're recommending approval with uh with that condition as well.

So again, here it is from Third Street, and you can see the the sidewalk there.

Again, the attention is for it for the the new garage to line up with the front of the building uh as it bumps forward closer to uh closer to Madison Street.

Um and the applicants had noted uh in the Board of Zoning Appeals uh application that Third Street is a very low traffic street, uh it is not a through street.

Uh there are a couple of houses, um, one apartment building uh and then the uh salvation army's secondary parking lot are the only uh the only access onto it.

So staff recommends approval of final site plan and architectural review for the Salvation Army at 445 Madison Street with the conditions that uh uh backup mirror will be added to the building at the garage entrance to improve visibility, and that engineering department and fire department comments will be addressed.

Thank you.

Uh are there any additional comments from the applicant?

I can see that you guys are there.

Hi.

No additional comments.

Are there any comments or questions or motions from the commission?

Commissioner Frank Ork.

Thank you, Mayor.

If we're ready for a motion, sure.

I'd be happy to recommend the approval of the final site plan and architectural review for the Salvation Army at 44-5 Madison Street with the following conditions.

A backup mirror must be added to the building at the garage entrance to improve visibility and the engineering department and fire department comments must be addressed.

Excellent.

I'll second that motion.

Are there any additional comments or questions before we vote?

Alder Per Simmelton.

I'm not overly concerned about having to enforce backing into the garage so you can pull out forward because that seems like it would make the most sense to do it that way.

Because I don't think any driver is not going to want to back blind onto the street.

So I don't think we need to really worry about that.

Uh, because it makes sense for that location.

And um given the extreme hill they have it makes sense to put the garage in the location they chose.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Any additional comments?

All right.

Uh then all those in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

That motion does pass uh unanimously.

Thank you.

Uh next up, we have the final site plan and architectural review for 1101 West St.

Paul Avenue.

INEO.

Doug.

Thank you.

And let me get this.

Alrighty.

So this is for INEO.

Um, they've had a couple smaller projects before you on the beginning part of this year.

And I think very beginning of the year we had a consultation about a larger addition.

This is now the final plans of that addition.

There's going to be um about 84,000 square feet in size.

And then also with this, uh, the next item is a certified survey map.

So I'll just go through the whole presentation and then ask for two uh motions at the end if you're if you're comfortable with that.

Uh so here's the location.

Um or more commonly known as Waukeshaw Engine for people who have been living here for a while.

Um on the south side of St.

Paul Avenue.

Uh here's the intersection with Prairie Avenue.

And then uh Moreland Boulevard comes in down at towards the west end of their main building.

Um, the addition is proposed to be at the southwest end of that main production facility that they have there.

Uh, there's a sort of an RD building over to the west that is to remain.

Um, the main addition will be to this again, the southwest end of this building and take up the majority of this area where there's currently parking in this section.

So here's the uh existing building in brown, and then the new addition here in blue, and then all of the gray that's around it will be um redone pavement for the new traffic flow that will be for this facility.

The new um they're bringing a new engine line into the facility, and it's gonna be a much larger engine than they produced here in the past.

Um so they're gonna have to change the traffic flow to be able to get these engines out.

Currently, there's a big uh so the production will end at at this corner of the building where the the blue addition is.

Um it's kind of a steep driveway coming in across from Moreland Boulevard down in.

They can get empty trailers in, but once they're full with the new engine, they won't be able to make the uh clearance up with the steep grade there.

So the uh new traffic flow, the empty trailers would come in through uh across from Moreland Boulevard, come to the back of the site.

Uh, there'd be loading docks back here to load up, and then they would travel further to the east along the back of the building and then tie into the driveway out onto Prairie Avenue to get out at a much softer grade, and then back up to St.

Paul to either go up to I-94 south uh to the highways that direction.

Um, so there'll be a lot of new pavement put in, including the large area of cement in the middle here where the loading docks would be, and then the heavy-duty um pavement around the perimeter to handle the new traffic flow behind the building.

Uh so here, just in addition, kind of showing the details of where that uh new pavement will be.

Um, the the additions of the new pavement.

Also, with this, they'll be doing uh a lot of utility work.

There's currently stormwater and sanitary sewers that go through this area that will have to be relocated.

Actually, the sanitary sewer in this section between the the buildings is a public sanitary sewer.

Um they'll be vacating that and taking it over as a private sanitary sewer, um, and then bringing it around the new addition in a new location and tying back into the public sewer where it crosses under the river.

And this is just a close-up, then showing where that concrete would be, where the new loading bays would be, and then continuing along the building all the way over to where that ties in with the existing driveways out onto Prairie Avenue.

And then I mentioned that utility work.

So the areas in green will be the new sanitary lines, which will be going in behind the building and to the west of the building.

And then they're all I mentioned they'll be relocating the sanitary sewer.

So the green was a storm sewer.

Sanitary sewer will be in red.

You can see a new location for that coming down between the two buildings, coming over, and then here's where it ties in to the public sanitary that makes the river crossing, and then on to the treatment plant.

With the new sanitary sewer, as you notice, there's a lot of pavement here and then a lot of new roof space.

So to handle uh stormwater treatment, they're going to use uh under ground uh facilities to handle that.

And uh they'll be located on the west and south ends of the building.

Uh so here on the west, you can see these larger uh gray portions are going to be the underground storage facilities for stormwater.

And then as you go around farther on the south to the east end of the building underneath the the new pavement, there'll be another uh large underground storage facility for stormwater to help with the water containment and those high storm events.

As far as the new floor plan goes, this is a zoom in of that, just the addition then the 84,000 square foot addition off the south west corner of the building.

That area in gray would be the existing building.

Um can see on the floor plan, they've colored it up in different areas.

So there's again 84,000 square feet.

Um they have areas in pink for the finished processing areas of the engines.

Um, also the test cells in blue.

Um, this was the uh one of the main reasons for the uh addition is to get the new test cells in.

Um the control rooms are to the south of that on the back side that run the to operate in the test cells.

Um there's also a new paint booths being added in the purple area as well, and then the the uh shipping areas would be off here in the green side.

As far as the architecture goes for the building, um mostly will be done with uh concrete panel, um, both smooth and and striated versions.

Uh so you can see on the elevations here where the vertical lines are, it's a little more striated, and then the smooth panels done in a couple of earth tone brown colors that'll kind of tie in with the the old brick and colors of painting that are on the existing building as it is now.

Um, also there will be some corrugated metal panel.

Uh they showed it here in red, just to kind of highlight the corrugation.

Um the act, the true color will be this panel to the uh right, which is a dark bronze, which wouldn't show up, show the corrugation off as well.

So it will be the dark bronze, which will tie in nice with the browns that they're using on the building, not the uh bright red, as you see there.

Uh so on this picture, this would be the north elevation on the top that faces directly out onto St.

Paul Avenue.

They've added a series of clear story windows across the top to further break up that facade.

Um again, that's the striated on top with the smooth panel below, and a couple of overhead doors as you come along to the um what would be the uh east side or south side of the building, actually, or no, east, I guess it would be the west side of the building, it's labeled east here.

It confused me for a second, sorry.

It'd be the west side of the building facing further down uh St.

Paul, couple overhead doors, then you can see where the uh the concrete material kind of blends down and brings the uh the striated version down farther, and then further to towards the um south side of the building, and on this west elevation is where the the corrugated comes in, and they keep the corrugated all to the back side of the building uh going along the rear.

And then here would be that south side of the building.

Um in white, they're showing where the corrugated metal panel would be, and then back to the concrete panels as you go further to the east.

Um the control room area and the test cells is where that corrugated metal panel would be.

Um we did note that the uh corrugated panel, this is going all the way down to the ground, and as you recall, they're redoing the traffic pattern, so it's all gonna be pavement for the new truck flow along there.

Staff just brought up concern that you know there could be some issues with uh maintenance if there's any kind of vehicle conflicts with that wall.

Um, they felt comfortable in having some bollards in the area to protect that, and so that's what they would like to go with.

Um, it will be not visible to the public.

I'd be at that rear side of the building.

Um so we pointed out that it could be an issue for them in the future, uh, but they're comfortable going with the corrugated down to the ground at that location.

And the building is about uh I think it's 42 feet in in height, um, similar to some of the taller build taller sections of the other portions of the manufacturing building.

And then there'll be a couple new stacks coming up for the uh test cell area, and those will match uh very similar to the other existing stacks that are on the building now where they've tested other engines.

So here is a picture of the current facility.

Here you can see some similar um smoke stacks coming up or exhaust vents.

Um then here's the the currently there's a parking lot in this area, and this is where the Moine uh expansion will happen, coming off to the uh west of the building, and then curving around to the south behind it.

And they gave us some renderings to kind of show how this would better look.

So here you can see that same view from St.

Paul with the new addition.

Um again, still set back a ways from St.

Paul, so it won't be imposing right up to the street, like the office portion of the building is as you head further to the north.

Um you can see then that the new building actually hides the the new stacks quite well behind there in the back.

Um, and then here's the view from the back side.

Um, so you can see the the darker color they you put in now for that bronze panel, how that ties in nicely with it.

Um then the the new pavement pattern that comes around the south and then would keep keep on going.

They did give us a photometric.

Um trust me, I I zoomed in and it does meet all of our standards for the uh light light throws.

Um then the uh couple of light fixtures that they'll be using LED fixtures, of course, and we just wanted to remind them that there'd have to be uh a color temperature of 4,000 K or less for the LED light temperature.

And then I mentioned there is a new certified survey map that's coming along with this.

Um the bulk of the property is on one parcel, but there are two parcels up here along the intersection with Prairie Avenue.

Um to avoid them having to make a bunch of cross-access easements to themselves to allow all this vehicle traffic to happen and for any future development that may occur.

Um, just cleaning up all these lot lines made a lot of sense to do with this project.

So they're gonna turn this all into one lot at this time, and that will be a uh 34-acre 38.775 acre lot.

Uh, when the once they bring all three of these parcels under one, and then here's the picture of that uh certified new certified survey map all under one lot again, 34.7775 acres.

Um, so at this time, staff is recommending approval of the final site plan and architectural review for the 84,000 square foot expansion with all department comments and concerns to be addressed.

Again, reminder that the LED color temperature must not exceed 4,000 K.

Um, that and that a city engineering department concurrence letter will be required before building permits are issued, and then also just a reminder that if there are any new signage with the project, it will need to get signed permits before any signage would be were to be installed, and then for that certified survey map, we recommend again approval of that with uh all city department comments and concerns to be addressed.

Thank you.

Um, are there any is the applicant here?

Yes.

Do you have any additional comments that you'd like to add?

I don't think so at this time.

Uh pretty well.

Excellent.

Thank you.

I know that wasn't on the mic except for the public because I know everyone is watching.

Uh, there were no additional comments.

Uh, are there any questions or comments from the commission?

Uh Commissioner Catholic.

Doug, so the building is gonna displace parking.

And I'm assuming that there's um double shift at this company.

So you have twice as many cars at some point, switching places.

Where does the parking go?

They're still looking at options for how they want to handle the new parking.

Their main um focus at this time was to get the approvals in place to know that they could do this addition.

Um, and then their next step is to solve their parking solution.

They have some options in mind, and they're looking at other solutions.

Um, and they maybe be at a point where they can address that further.

And they maybe be at a point where they can address that further, but since my last conversation with them a couple months ago, their main focus was first to get the building approval done and then handle the parking with the future plans that may be coming back to the blank commission.

Okay.

I notice that typically there's a ton of parking on St.

Paul both sides to support the building.

So yes.

With this new engine line they will be bringing in more employees though and they do recognize there they are going to have a need for some additional parking.

Did you want to come up and speak to that afternoon Ryan Landcore with RA Smith we're the site civil to answer the question when parking is you know currently right now the the staff that's there is pretty minimal for the in the manufacturing facility most of the parking that you actually that's actually being used on a day to day basis is the RD building and those cars will be moved there's currently plenty of parking for the operations as kind of Doug mentioned that um there's gonna be a kind of a long ramp up of this facility so the first part is to get these test cells operational get that facility up and running and as things move on as Doug mentioned there's um things that are being done to like you know bring bring additional parking as they once they realize what the full potential because there's a long ramp up for us so it's kind of a get this part up and running get the test facility going have the new engines you know coming in and then as the facility continues to upgrade and more people bring it brought in that those the parking will be adjusted as needed.

Yeah I guess from my perspective I I don't disagree with you or just more of a if it was one shift there's probably enough room on the northeast side of the building but when you have two and three well probably third shift isn't a big deal but first and second shifts has to acquire basically cars for both shifts at one point in time.

So at some point it will be three shifts and so um one of the things that we that's been discussed is to mitigate that is to will we have the staggered shifts so it won't be full shift changes where you need the double so there'll end up being a staggered process you know there again operationally that that's that's that's the kind of the target like I said right now there's plenty for the foreseeable future until they ramp up further but when they get that point their additional parking is being looked at also like I said the staggering of shifts to like I said mitigate that that it's surge for parking at that one time to basically get people in and out in a more fluid motion versus everybody in you have that need double the part basically you need double the parking that they're looking at because I they'll that's one of the things is as part of their facility is in and moving forward is mitigating some of those concerns because they have those same concerns.

Yeah I understand okay thank you that was my question.

Oh excellent that was my question too so perfect that's all right we're all on the same page uh are there any additional comments or questions or motions um I will make the motion then to approve the final site plan and architectural review for 1101 West St.

Paul INIO with all staff comments uh as listed is there a second uh commissioner Granger seconds any additional comments before we vote all right all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed all right looks like that motion does pass six to zero um next up oh I scrolled too far uh next up we have the certified survey map for 1101 West St.

Paul Avenue Avenue INEO um are there any additional comments uh regarding the certified survey map no uh alder personal it's not really about the CSM but uh thank you very much for your investment in our city yes thank you very much all right I will make the motion to approve the certified survey map for 1101 West St.

Paul Avenue INEO with all staff comments is there a second I'll uh commissioner Frank Corp uh is the second any additional comments no um all those in favor please say aye aye aye any opposed all right that motion does pass unanimously next up we have a consultation for 809 Phillip Drive uh the gun company am I saying that correctly as far as I understand the excellent all right Charlie take it away all right so uh this is 809 Phillip Drive uh it's right between Sentry Drive and Prairie Avenue uh just to the south of College Avenue this is a large uh industrial park area uh the gunned company uh currently occupies the facility at 809 Phillip Drive which is on the right of this uh this overhead uh they have office and and uh manufacturing facility uh they they produce um uh composite materials that are used in electrical components uh there was actually on the the plan commission agenda last month uh you approved on the consent agenda a um an application to add a new outdoor storage tank uh at their current facility

They have office and manufacturing facility.

There was actually on the plan commission agenda last month.

You approved on the consent agenda a an application to add a new outdoor storage tank at their current facility.

And they would like to add, they would like to add a 110,000 square foot addition, which would connect to the this existing building and then take up a large portion of the lot to the west.

So obviously that will have to be combined with the two lots will have to be combined.

From when this area was served by the railroad, so that will have to be uh vacated, most likely.

The applicant will have to work that out prior to uh bringing this back for any kind of a site plan review uh approval.

Um this is the the current facility.

Uh as you can see there's a small two-story office uh portion uh and then an additional portion at the other corner of the facility with the large uh manufacturing uh building in between that's partially screened by trees along the uh Phillip Drive uh uh right along the street.

Um here it is from the overhead, and you can see it's broken up by the the uh differences in the building.

Uh you can also see the adjacent property uh to the west.

That was from the north, so to the west is uh is to the right in that photo.

Uh going south on the existing uh facility um moving back uh further onto the lot where there's limited visibility from neighboring properties.

Uh it is just a very standard utilitarian uh manufacturing building.

Um so the uh the proposed addition would be in two um in two sections.

Uh the one section would connect directly to the existing building, and then the other one would would connect to that section.

Um as you can see, they would be adding some parking uh at onto the uh existing uh driveway area, and then another a secondary driveway on at the west side of the property, which would run around to the rear of the building.

Um the exist the one section that would the smaller section which would attach to the existing building uh would be uh primarily a warehouse space.

Uh so you can see that they have uh some shelving indicated in the in the uh in that section as well as a loading dock, which would be onto the south uh south side of the building, uh so the the driveway that would run to the west of the existing building or the of the new building uh would connect to that loading dock area on the south side.

And then the uh this is I believe not a to scale uh but this is the other section which uh would include some office uh at the northern portion of it as well as uh a large manufacturing area.

Um again, they're proposing some new parking uh as well as some driveways which would connect into the existing driveways, uh, as well as some uh pretty extensive landscaping uh along the north uh property boundary facing Phillip Drive that would include some shade trees and ornamental and and evergreen trees, uh as well as foundation plantings around the building, uh, and then plantings in the uh the parking lot landscape areas uh in that parking area as well.

Uh to the south, there'll be additional parking and then that new uh loading dock area into the um into the the warehouse section of the addition.

Um they are proposing a uh stormwater pond uh at the south corner of the property, as well as a uh potentially a uh driveway uh connecting this facility to uh SPX Transformer, the the SPX Transformer plant, which is to the south.

Uh the applicants have stated that they they do quite a lot of business with SPX and it would be more convenient for them to connect directly to uh the SPX property without having to go out onto the city street.

Um there is in between uh this property and and SPX, there is a large um large section of actually city right-of-way.

It's not a street that goes through there, but uh it is uh right of way rather than rather than an easement.

the the SPX Transformer plant which is to the south uh the applicants have stated that they they do quite a lot of business with SPX and it would be more convenient for them to connect directly to uh the SPX property without having to go out onto the city street um there is in between uh this property and and spx there is a large um large section of actually city right of way it's not a street that goes through there but uh it is uh right of way rather than rather than an easement um and uh the public works department has noted that that is a uh there are two sewer lines which are are very large uh diameter lines that carry uh both storm and sanitary uh large portion of this of the city's uh storm and sanitary sewer to the uh water treatment treatment facility to the west uh so they are open to the potential of uh of having them having a uh driveway that would cross the that uh right of way uh but they really want to make sure that it's done in such a way that it doesn't impede the public works department access to those sewer lines uh the property to the west uh it where the right of way continues there um that goes through another manufacturing facility and they do have some issues with getting into that uh into those the lines underneath that facility so they want to make sure that they don't run into the same problem in this case um going to the uh the architecture of the building um these are the renderings of the north side uh so this will be um precast uh uh panels uh that that's what they're showing currently uh around the the exterior of the building um and they're also showing um clear story windows at at intervals around the entire exterior so uh this is the north side facing towards Phillip Drive and uh this is the south side facing uh facing towards the the loading dock and towards the south of the property um so they are indicating just uh a standard um white uh panels uh with again with clear story windows um around the entire exterior uh staff would would uh recommend that uh they consider uh some additional uh glass especially in the office section uh at the north north corner of the building um and then also potentially some changes in in color or texture to break up the the panel but in general this is fairly consistent with uh with similar manufacturing facilities uh in other other areas in the city uh so this is to the south where you can see the new loading loading dock area and then um west facing towards uh some additional some other uh uh manufacturing facilities and then the east elevation will face towards the existing uh building so the the plan commission shouldn't take any action uh tonight uh again this is just a consultation so it's not up for a vote at this point uh but uh you should provide feedback uh regarding uh this will likely be assuming the new zoning code is approved and has an implementation date of september 1st uh this would be uh reviewed with the uh the the design standards in the new code so there will be some exceptions that will likely be necessary so uh you should uh kind of provide some feedback on your willingness to grant those uh exceptions to the design standards excellent so yes we will not be taking action on this tonight um i'm gonna start with some feedback that came from alder person wells who couldn't be here tonight i'm just gonna read it exactly as he wrote it so that way it's very clear that it's coming from him and not from me uh so alder person wells says I don't have any significant concerns or comments on the agenda aside from the consultation for the item the gun company uh my ask of the applicant would be a higher level of finish and architectural detail than we might expect from another light industrial site manufacturing tends towards the utilitarian and that has its place like over the bypass at Travis and Wilmont um it can also be more polished and given the proximity to the river and Bethesda Park that's what we should aim for.

I think additional variation on the textures of the walls and robust plantings with depth and height can go a long way to achieve a polished look without an exorbitant cost.

I think this development is going to do a lot to set that future tone and standard.

Are there any additional uh feedback items Alderperson Molson are you sure those comments were related to the INIO project and then that's why with the park yeah actually you know that's funny that you say that because as I was reading it I think that you might be right um so yeah I think that you are correct in that so a little late on those but uh yeah I think you're right.

Well I agree with Alderman Wells Commissioner so for this gun company project I I happen to drive out there and see that they have got plenty of room for a a new big thing.

I'm so excited that they think that this would be necessary and uh I'm very supportive I did not see anything in particular that I didn't like about the plans.

I think what they did is very consistent with the neighborhood, and um with the road to SPX, that's kind of between neighbors to me.

I don't I don't think there's uh much to be concerned with.

So I think it's a wonderful project, and thank you.

Commissioner Frank Work.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I agree with Commissioner Wells.

I agree with Beth's comments.

Um I drove out there today too.

I I picked the wrong time.

Because as it turned out, when I turned into the parking lot, the western part rather than the eastern entrance.

I did the same.

Okay, and was a shift change.

Although they were all very friendly.

They they didn't look like they were in a big brush.

But I think um if you could help me orient myself, I came in on prairie.

And with regard to Beth's comments and Jack's comments, uh Commissioner Wells' comments about elevating the finishes and the architectural interest of the expansion.

Uh the prairie site is very lovely with the with the mature trees and that whole area is um to me it was a surprise.

I've never gotten that far down on Prairie.

The amount of manufacturing and industrial um business that we're doing in the city in that area.

So I think that as they explore that expansion, and I'm thinking that the expansion is where the employee parking lot is on the western side, and then all the greenery that goes further from that.

Am I correct about that?

Yes.

Okay.

So I think that um because you enter on Phillips, I believe, uh, that that is a road, and we should have some curb appeal and some architectural interest, even though we don't want to compromise everything.

We want to stay um make sure that we understand what the function of the building is, but there are ways to um address that.

Um we have Commissioner Um Keller here who can assist with that and maybe wants to make a comment or two also, because even though you have a large presence, you can do things with color and with some um details that give you uh an inviting appearance and say that this community is interest long-term in its appearance and its function.

So it's a treat that um they have a reason to expand their business to this degree, and so I support that concept, but I would like to join my fellow commissioners in asking that the architecture and the whole approach be considered to be their A game.

Excellent.

Um Alder Prison Molson.

Uh, just to make the record clear, I believe that our Alderman Wells' comments were about the INIO project.

So I was agreeing with him about the INEO project with respect to this specific project about the gun company.

I like their design as is, and I do not think that they need to upgrade the the uh design elements.

So I'm specifically disagreeing with Commissioner Brinkur.

Thank you.

All right, I hope we're all very clear.

Were there any other uh comments?

Commissioner Keller.

I love disagreeing with people.

I disagree with you.

So so what you got basically is a big white or gray box with not a lot of detail.

Um windows that are monotonous and so forth.

I think if you look at all the big box warehouse manufacturing buildings are being built in the last five to ten years, they've really spent some time and effort to delineate the exterior, even though they're void of windows and innies and outies and all that other stuff.

So this building is a blank canvas that needs to be improved with color windows, height difference, all kinds of things that are certainly within the purview of the building development.

So I would expect this to come back and look much more sophisticated uh on the next submission.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other comments for the gun company?

No.

All right.

So again, we are not taking any action on this item tonight.

So um we have provided the necessary feedback.

So we'll move on to the next.

Do you have any questions for us?

Please feel free to come up.

I wasn't sure if I was allowed there.

Yeah, absolutely.

If you have any questions, yes, please go ahead.

Um good evening.

Uh John Coots with MSI General.

We're the design build partner for the gun company.

We put the packet together.

We've been working with uh them for a couple years on this project, and uh they are uh national company, and so they've been deciding where to expand amongst a number of uh facilities that they have.

So we're excited that they're considering Waukeshaw.

Uh the packet was submitted uh based on some suggestions from uh Doug and the team to get the feedback you gave.

So we appreciate that.

Uh certainly agree with uh some of the comments.

This industrial park is certainly um this will be one of the nicest looking buildings in that industrial park, and we want it to be, and so we will come back with a more sophisticated uh submittal, but we wanted to at least get some of the concepts in front of you uh for feedback.

We are working with them.

We anticipate hopefully having a resubmittal in August or September uh that uh addresses it.

But um beyond that, I I I'm not aware of the new design standards you mentioned, Charlie.

So I'll have to uh make sure we get a copy of those.

We've been working under um what we've worked under with Walker Show over the last four or five years.

So um I think that's my only question on that is what are the new design standards.

So I'm sure we will get that information.

Um beyond that, I yeah, I don't think I have anything else other than thank you for your time and feedback and appreciate you clarifying because I was also noting that I don't think those comments were for our projects, so I'm glad we solved that.

So thank you.

Yes.

Um, so we will actually be talking about our updated zoning code uh if you want to stick around for a little bit.

I might watch it later.

So is there any questions for me or anything else that uh commissioner brinker?

You know, thank you, Mayor.

Just a short one.

Um when I was there today there on the uh what would be the north side, I believe.

Uh there are a lot of pallets, there are a lot of uh trash containers, etc.

So I'm making an assumption, and maybe you could comment about this expansion will accommodate some more storage and the ability of the business to put the pallets somewhere else.

Sure.

Um that area is zoned.

Uh there are zoning accommodations for outdoor uh storage, like you saw.

So I we're certainly working with them, but they're uh um they're a high volume business, and so they do have pallets like that moving in and out, and I believe um there may be some screening requirements we have to look at, but it to say that they're gonna eliminate that at that particular facility probably isn't gonna happen, but we can certainly work with them on maybe some other ideas.

You'll notice right next to them is a large refuse company source, you know, that their business is dumpsters, so I mean they're moving things in and out, but that is heavy industrial zoning that has those allowances currently.

Maybe it's changing, but um, yeah, good comment.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Any other comments or questions?

All right, thank you.

Hopefully we'll see you in a few months.

Yes.

And we aren't gonna make you stick around for the next part of this.

So you can work with Charlie.

Thank you.

Um, all right.

Next up we have review and possible action on a request by Habitat for Humanity uh to waive impact fees for the construction of two new single family homes.

Jeff.

Uh yes, no, my slides just disappeared.

My screen is broken again.

Did it turn off again?

What is it?

All right.

Why does it keep turning it off?

Yeah, okay.

I think it's now swearing.

Okay.

Um I'll just kind of go over their their um next phase next thing that they're working on first, and I'll kind of go over the request.

So um as they're wrapping Habitat Community is wrapping up the Dominica Park subdivision over on the kind of southeast um the southeast side of the city, the redevelopment of the arrow shade um property.

Uh as they're finalizing that, um Pro Healthcare had purchased a lot of properties in the vicinity of Waukeshaw Memorial Hospital.

Um not needing for their um you can kind of see the new um expansion project where they have the entrance, the new entrance there.

So they have a few properties that they acquired that they um tore the houses down, but no longer need them.

So there are two properties on Caldwell, one twenty-eight.

Um and I apologize, I think it's one twenty-six.

Um so there's two properties on Caldwell, each one of those will have a single family home, and then there's one on Madison Street.

Um, and that would have a duplex on it.

So their concept would be sort of similar style to um Dominica Park.

Um neighborhood scale, like fits in with the existing neighborhood, detached garages, the Vashier Driveway on the Caldwell property.

And then the duplex in Madison also looks very similar to the ones that they have in Dominica Park.

Again, trying to keep in with the same thing they do over there, trying to keep um so the houses fit in with the existing homes in the neighborhood.

Um typically when you pull a permit, um impact fees are assessed at the time of building permit.

Um and those impact fees cover future facility needs, so it can't be covered.

You can't use it for like you know the regular butt operating budget, but for facilities for um parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, and then any additions or improvements to the um wastewater treatment plant and the library and the police and police department.

So one of the things that is allowed is we can waive those fees, but what would have to happen is the plan commission would make a recommendation to the common council who then makes a decision on waiving the impact fees, and we feel that the justification there's two two justifications we have here.

One is since we can waive them for lower cost housing.

The income level of habitat families is between 40 to 80 percent of the area and median income, which would definitely fall into that category of low-cost housing.

Um, and then all three of these lots previously had homes on them, and while typically you wouldn't assess uh impact impact fees to like a redevelopment like that.

Our code doesn't specifically call that out.

So we think that there's justification here to waive those impact fees for under the low-cost housing criteria.

The other thing of note is we've done this with other habitat developments, um Prairieville and the homes on White Rock as well as Domenica Park.

Those were done via planned unit development.

We wrote into the PUD ordinance, which was approved by Plan Commission and Council.

In this case, there's no PUD, they're just doing straightforward development, so they have to go through the waiver uh request this way.

Um so with that, we would recommend granting the waiver for all impact fees for the new homes being developed by Habitat for Humanity.

Um at 128134 called 134 Caldwell Street and 909 Madison Street.

Thank you.

Are there any comments, questions, or motions from the commission?

Commissioner Frank Ward?

No, Commissioner Granger.

I motion to approve the waiver for the impact fees.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Commissioner Frank Work.

I'd like to second it, but I have a question.

Yep.

Uh Jeff.

We're not talking about a lot of money here.

Are we?

Um, I mean, each home is like I think it's almost up to $5,000 per home that they'd be assessed for in impact fees.

Really?

Yeah.

Okay, that makes the second even stronger here.

So, yeah, so it's one of the ways that they can cut the cost of um low-cost housing.

Is the impact fees a good way to reduce that?

And again, given that there were homes on here before, and the facilities already took into account those.

We we don't see the need to almost they didn't do impact fees back when these homes were developed in the area, but um that's another justification for it.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'll agree with Commissioner Francour.

Uh, I think that this is the perfect reason to waive these impact fees.

So thank you.

Um, are there any additional comments?

All right, then all those in favor of waiving the impact fees for 128, 134 Caldwell, and 909 Madison Street for Habitat for Humanity.

Please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Uh all those opposed.

All right.

That motion does pass unanimously.

Uh next up, everyone's favorite, the zoning code update.

I will let Charlie take it away.

All right.

Um, as all of you know, uh the plan commission, council, uh city staff, and consultants have been working on the zoning code rewrite uh since January of 2024.

Um you've reviewed numerous drafts of the code, and uh the entire code was uh was in front of you all uh at the beginning of April uh for recommendation of approval to the council.

Um and and you did vote to recommend approval.

It's been reviewed by the council since then.

Um, and uh we're hoping to bring it back to the council for the final approval finally uh on July 7th.

Um but we do have a couple of uh of things that were fixed uh since the uh April, the April drafts that you reviewed.

Uh so we just wanted to bring them back uh for you to uh review those uh uh one more time.

Um so first the uh we've had a couple of uh of updates to the zoning map.

Um this is so from the uh the zoning map that you review at the beginning of April.

Uh it did not properly show the existing planned unit development overlay areas.

Um so this is just an example.

There were a number of other areas throughout the city where it wasn't properly shown.

Um, but uh the area that's circled is uh the uh Glenett Standing Stone at the end of Tenny Avenue.

Um both sides of Tenny Avenue there should be uh should have the PUD overlay, and then the section that where it does properly show the overlay in that April map, it didn't show the underlying zoning.

Uh so that has now been corrected in the the current map.

It does show all of the existing PD overlays.

We're not changing any uh any of those overlays or removing or adding or anything like that.

Um and then uh the other significant change to the map was uh the mixed-use node overlays.

Uh in one of the last uh last changes to the uh to the code, the acronym for those districts had been changed from where it's currently S or it's shown here as SMUN-O, so suburban mixed use node overlay district.

We thought that was a little bit of a mouthful.

Uh same the same goes for the uh regional commercial node overlay where it was RCN-0 that was corrected in the code uh as of April, but had not been corrected on the map, so that correction has been made as well.

So that now properly shows it as SN and RNO.

Um, and then the map has been updated to show uh all of the uh the PUD overlay areas.

Um so you can see though those are the uh the kind of angle dash areas of the map.

So that Glenett Standing Stone area has been corrected as well as a number of other areas that just in this section of the map uh as well as the rest of the the PUD areas throughout the city.

Um one other change that was made uh since uh April or this spring, uh we've had the uh rezoning for 223 Southwest Avenue.

Um so that has also been included, so that's now uh it would be it has been rezoned to B1 uh from its residential, previous residential zoning, uh so that would be added as the mixed-use commercial zoning in the new uh the new code.

Um at the same time uh the city attorney uh city attorney's office has been going through the entire code and reviewing it, um, making sure uh updating it, the formatting so that it can be added into the city's minicode system, but also uh doing sort of one last double check uh to make sure everything uh meets the standards that that uh they feel are appropriate for uh legally defensible code.

Um there are a few sections where they've uh recommended and we've made some changes.

Uh they've emphasized that none of the ideas in the code have changed uh from what was reviewed earlier, uh but there are some sections where the wording uh they feel is is more meets meets their standards.

Um so this is just one example.

I'm not gonna go through every single example, but uh one example uh where and I have a one more uh where they uh have made a couple changes.

This is to the sign section.

Um so the this is exempting uh certain types of signs that are exempted from uh regulation by the uh by the zoning code.

Um so this at the top, the subsection A, uh the code exempted public signs.

They didn't feel that public signs was clear enough, so they uh reworded that to government and utility signs, which was the intent.

And then there were two sections where uh when we had redone the code in 2019, um the attorney's office had wanted to make sure that we added uh exemptions for signs that are carried by individuals.

So for instance, individuals who are protesting, um they did not want the city to be put in a position where somebody is saying, hey, you need to you need to be telling all these people that uh you can't carry any signs, um, and then also uh murals and works of art that don't advertise any business product or service.

Uh those are not considered to be signs and they don't have to meet the same sign area requirements.

Uh so they wanted to make sure that that uh those exemptions were included.

Um that they had been left out as an oversight, so those have been added back in.

Um another example, um, they had reworded some uh several uh of the definitions uh throughout the code.

Uh all of them are in that definition section, but they had rewarded reworded a number of them uh to be a little more bit more clear.

Um this one example is uh to the definitions of yards.

Uh the drafts that had been uh previously reviewed had included a definition which is very similar to the definition in the current code, and the attorney's office felt that it doesn't properly design define a yard since it's a definition of the shortest horizontal distance from the street to the building.

Um it also leaves a uh uh sort of an area that's in between the edge of a of the defined yard and actual yard.

Um this the new definition is an actual definition of a yard, um, which means it's it's the portion of the yard that extends across the full uh portion of the lot and it is inclusive of the area between uh the line that's defined and the structure.

So uh just to give an example, uh this was uh something that the Board of Zoning Appeals reviewed earlier this year, uh, where there was a street yard that was defined by the code and side yards, but there's a whole section of what is actually yard that is not included in that definition.

This is an issue in the current code, and it just hadn't been fixed.

Uh so they fixed it to make sure that uh that that's included.

Um so there have been a number of small changes like that.

Again, none of the ideas are changed, but uh the it is enough of a change that we felt that it should be brought back to the plan commission for your uh review before going to the council.

We are anticipating that that would go to the council for a final vote on approval as well as a final public hearing on July 7th.

Uh, and then we are still hoping to uh have an implementation date of September 1st.

Uh subdivision standards um when this was brought uh for previous approval um the or previous review uh we had noted sub summer of 2026 as we are in the summer of 2026.

Uh we're not ready to bring those back to you for the final approval for that section yet.

Um that's subsection eight.

Currently, it's the standalone chapter 23 of the of the current code.

Um so that will be later this summer, potentially early fall, um, and it and chapter 23 can can exist uh as a standalone chapter until then.

Um and then as we had noted previously, expect further updates.

Um there will be sections that uh uh where the changes don't work exactly as they're anticipated.

There are sections where we're trying something new and we may want to revise uh the way that uh that it's being tried.

Um so we will expect this to be a living document.

We expect to have um have updates both in the near term and in the long term.

So staff recommends approval of the new zoning ordinance to replace chapter 22 and chapter 27 of the current code.

Thank you.

I'm gonna start with my question.

Um so under the signs, um, under exempt signs specifically um calling out murals and other works of art, um, as everyone in this room very likely knows.

We have a number of murals, especially in the downtown area.

Um how specific are we getting with the term advertising?

And I might be getting nitpicky here, but we have a number of um murals that have the brand name Les Paul.

Um we also have a mural or at least two murals that I can think of off the top of my head that include signage for Carroll University, which is a private entity, um, as you enter lot three from Clinton.

Um, and then also uh the one that's on the building for discount liquor uh includes reference to discount liquor.

Um is are those things considered advertising?

I would argue that they don't, but I just want to make sure that we're being very clear about what is considered advertising when we're when we're looking at this.

Right.

And then yeah, this is a long-standing exemption.

Um generally when we have murals, they you know they're reviewed by the public art committee not as signs, and they don't uh they don't get uh they don't have to be reviewed under the they don't need a sign permit or any of those kind of reviews.

Um most of those are long standing enough that I don't have personal memory of them.

I know the uh the discount liquor one, I think we did make them have a sign permit for just the discount liquor.

I remember a code enforcement issue with them many years back, uh, but I don't remember all the details.

Uh we have had other applications.

Uh in some cases, we have people that are trying to get around the requirements of the sign code, putting up I think there was a large mural for a Taco Bell uh where they they wanted they had some taco art on the building, and we said that that would have to be reviewed as a sign, so they didn't end up doing it.

But in general, if it's if it's artwork, um it's it's not reviewed as a sign, and there is a little bit of discretion there, but it's it's um if there's a logo, we would generally require it to be reviewed.

Yeah, go ahead.

I can add a little bit to some of those ones downtown when they did the guitar town murals.

They did allow, I think when we brought it through public art and plan commission, we allowed tiny, like if you look at the cornucopia one on River French, there's a tiny pick and save logo.

I think we allowed it like a really small one on those.

And that was kind of they paid for the mural, so I think that was some sort of negotiation between the council and the guitar town group.

And then we've also made exemptions for things like exempt brands.

So if you look at um down on Arcadian, I can't think of the bar.

What's the bar name down there by John's Rootbeer?

Um I can't think of the name.

Yeah, Billy D's.

So on the outside abilities, you look and they have a bunch of beer signs, but it's all for brands that no longer are being brewed.

So there's a few different things.

So we try to make sure, yeah, that it's not being used for signage, but there that was kind of the history on how the names got on some of these other murals.

Right, like the foxhead that's on discount liquor is another example.

Perfect.

Yeah, that I figured that was true of kind of extinct brands, but um, and and I would argue that a lot of them are representing iconic aspects of our community, so I can see why they would be exempt even though they're representing brands.

So I appreciate that clarification.

Uh I believe Commissioner Frank, where you had a comment or question?

I have a question.

Uh Charlie, when you started, you talked about um overlays and so forth.

Do you have a comment about the request or the question that was posed in the public comment section tonight about the the elimination, it sounded like something was present in an old zoning code and it was removed.

Is there really a relationship between historic designation and the zoning code?

Well, so we do have uh the historic preservation overlay is shown on the on the zoning map.

You can see it in the uh in this this section, uh that you can see the edge of the college avenue and Laughlin Avenue Historic Districts there, as well as a couple of uh um individually designated properties.

Um so that's the the purple uh line on on this uh this section of the of the zoning map.

Um the we are not changing the historic preservation at all overlay at all.

The uh uh the sections that are shown, we are very confident are the existing uh locally designated historic districts and uh individual local landmark properties.

There is a map that has been connected to the zoning code in the past, uh, which is it shows every property that's ever been surveyed for potential eligibility to the national register, including any that were found to not be eligible, as well as some that are on the national register but are not local landmarks, those are separate designations.

Um the Madison Street Historic District, uh, when it was created, it ran through what was the property at um 434 Madison Street, uh the Blair House property.

Um the Blair House had an individual designation, which predated the the Madison Street Historic District that was only a national register designation, not a local designation.

Um that did include the whole what was at that time the whole uh property, but the Madison Street Historic District ran through it in the same uh with the same boundary that the National Register District has.

Um it did not include any portion of the property that was later split off or that was later when 434 Madison Street was split off when it was uh conveyed to the Solves when the city um when the city transferred the property to them.

Uh the portion below was not included, the section that was 130 Delafield Street uh did not have any historic designation at the local level, which is why uh the the uh proposed department project did not go to the landmarks commission uh when it was up for review.

Um that is a confusion, I guess, that might exist because that's that map had been shown along with the zoning map uh in some, you know, when it was printed in the past, but that was never uh designated there.

So this comment about something was there and it was removed because of what we're doing is not accurate.

That's right.

It was it the Madison Street Historic District when it was uh when it was locally designated, uh followed the lines of the National Register District, and it at that time went through the property at 434 Minas Street.

So it's consistent with the current property boundaries.

Actually, if anything, this is showing it a little wider than it is because the brown boundary added a little bit of a triangle that was not in the designation, uh, but that doesn't really matter for the local designation since the landmarks commission doesn't review site work, and you wouldn't be able to put a building there.

So to clarify, because I know we've had extensive conversations about this, um, there was a map that included um essentially information about potential historic districts that aren't actually historic districts that were attached at one point to one of the many agendas that we've had on this item.

Well, it was attached to previous zoning maps that that were you know that would be got it.

Yeah.

So it was information that's was out there that was attached to the zoning map, but isn't actually the the correct historic overlay, um, which is what we're seeing in this item that is the accurate historic overlay.

Nothing has changed, it's just that other documents are representing something else that may pro provide some confusion for for people, including us probably.

Yes.

So thank you for that clarification.

Does that answer your question for uh Commissioner Franklin?

Thank you.

Sorry, I asked the same question earlier.

Any other questions or comments?

Uh Commissioner Keller.

Charlie, can't you just uh regarding signage, can't you just grandfather the existing signs that's in existence now and then go forward with you know signs that aren't uh considered advertising?

Uh yeah, that that would existing signs would be considered uh would be grandfathered.

So that gets all those the large wall murals and carroll and so forth, it's out of play, it's not an issue going forward.

It's different.

Yep.

Okay.

Any other comments or questions?

Do you need a motion?

Uh yes, if you have a motion, that would be great.

I just wanted to make sure everybody was able to say their piece.

Okay.

All right, Commissioner Frank Work.

Uh huh.

Thank you, Mayor.

I would move then that the plan commission approves of the new zoning ordinance to replace Chapter 22 zoning and chapter 27 signs an outdoor advertising in their entirety, and I believe recommend that to the common council.

Excellent.

Commissioner Granger, I think you've got the second.

All right, any additional comments before we vote?

All right.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No.

All right.

Closing the chapter on that one.

Well, until it goes to council.

All right.

Uh is there anything else from uh community development?

I know Jennifer's not here, but Maria, do you have anything?

Nothing.

All right.

Thank you all.

I really appreciate it.

Unless there are any objections, we are adjourned.