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Board
of Appeals Meets Tuesday to Review Plan Commission
Approval of Sunseeker’s Development By
Davida Amenta Staff
Writer ShorewoodNewsroom.com SHOREWOOD,
Wis. (April 11, 2021) -- The village Board of Appeals will meet Tuesday,
April 13 at 5:30 p.m. to review the Plan Commission’s Feb. 23
decision to grant an exception to the parking requirement for a proposed
four-family multifamily housing project at 2420 E. Capitol Dr. The
vote was 5-1. Commissioner Eric Couto was the only “no” vote. A
group of Stowell Avenue residents appealed the commissions’ decision – the last
hurdle for the proposed housing development by Catalyst Partners before going
to the Village Board for final approval. Except
for providing adequate on-site parking, the proposed development for the northwest
corner of East Capitol Drive and North Stowell Avenue meets all requirements
of current zoning. As
proposed, the development will include 43 parking spaces on the ground floor.
The developers have proposed including another eight spaces through the
Village’s on-street parking permit program, for a total of 51 spaces. The property
is in the Residential Congested Area, which limits parking during the day to
two hours for all but residents. But the daytime permits are not available to
residents of multi-family buildings. Future tenants would be able to
park on the street overnight using the overnight on-street permit program.
But during daytime
hours they would need to find parking outside of the RCA. Given
the liberalization of overnight parking adopted by the Village Board and
effective January 1, 2021, the Plan Commission essentially concluded that
current parking requirements of 1.75 spaces per unit are no longer relevant. North
Stowell Avenue residents appealed the Plan Commission’s decision, concerned that
the development would have negative impacts on parking and traffic congestion
in the immediate neighborhood. The appellants cite State law that requires
that the Plan Commission reference “substantial evidence” regarding 13
requirements. They claim that the Plan Commission failed to consider
each of 13 requirements and that little or no “substantial evidence” was
presented. Regarding traffic impacts, the developer’s representative
offered no actual study or data but responded, “I could not give you an
honest answer on that. I was just working off what we’ve typically
seen.” The appeal also cites circular reasoning on the part of the village
planner and confusing responses from the village attorney. According
to the League of
Wisconsin Municipalities, all variance applicants must show that the
requested variance will
not be contrary to the public interest. This criterion requires the
zoning board to consider the purposes of the ordinance at issue and determine
“whether the relief
requested is consistent with the public interest such that the variance
should be granted, or whether a variance would subvert the purpose of the
zoning restriction to such an extent that it must be denied.” Trustee
Tammy Bockhorst, a former president of the League of Wisconsin
Municipalities, attended the Plan Commission and described the project as
exciting. She addressed the Commission twice saying, “You’ve heard
that there is not an appetite necessarily for six-story developments in this
Village. I’m not sure where you’ve heard that from, but we will have a very different board in a couple of months and the
chatter around six stories have been built in this Village and will continue
with the most likely with the vision that we have from Vision 2025.”
The landowner of the property is Paul Hackbarth, the owner of two businesses
in Shorewood, Camp Bar and the Atrium. He is
a major financial contributor to the campaigns of both Trustee Bockhorst and
incoming Village President Ann McKaig. Asked
whether it is appropriate for a trustee to lobby a village commission, Trustee Bockhorst responded: “When isn’t it appropriate.” On
April 13th, the Board of Appeals may affirm or reverse the
decision of the Plan Commission. The Board or Appeals can also send the
decision back to the Plan Commission for further consideration. Return to ShorewoodNewsroom.com |