Minutes of the Town of Cross Plains

Plan Commission Meeting

August 20, 2007

 

PRESENT:

COMMISSION MEMBERS: Jim Boland, Chair; Carl (Pat) Jones, Vice Chair; Mike Coyle; Ken Esser; Wayne Parrell; Jeff Baylis; Amelia Williams

CONSULTANT: Arnold Harris

TOWN OF CROSS PLAINS BOARD SUPERVISORS: Harold Krantz; Bob Bowman; Vera Riley; Clerk Ann Walden

Approximately 45 citizens

7:30 PM – 11:00 PM

 

Jim Boland called the meeting to order.  Amelia Williams called the roll. After finding all commission members, three board members, the town Clerk, and about 45 citizens in attendance, Williams read the minutes from the July 30 meeting. Approval was moved by Jones, seconded by Coyle, and passed.

 

REZONE MATTERS:

  1. Dave and Kathy Austin (ref. Petition #9763) in section 29 asked that their parcel be rezoned from A1-EX to RH-2 to put the property in compliance, and that a relocation of the lot lines be approved so that a second lot (2.88 acres) might be more easily sold.  Baylis made the motion to approve, seconded by Williams, and it passed 7-0. A special meeting of the Town of Cross Plains had been scheduled for the following day to consider this rezone before the August 28th meeting with the County.
  2. Hawthorne and Stone Development1 (H&S): Present from H&S were Janice Faga, Charles Buck Sweeney (lawyer from Axley Brynelson), and Peter Conrad. Sweeney presented a new plan for a remapping the old Uebersetzig Farm and the Showers properties on Timber Lane north of Shovelers’ Sink, in sections 13 and 24 respectively. Sweeney presented a plan which had been revised from the plan rejected in March.  He maintained that the new plan met all of the criteria in the present Land Use Plan (1981) for a map amendment to change the zoning from A1-EX to an “unsewered development district”. Sweeney explained how the plan met the points on Page 7. (A copy of his outline is available from the secretary)

Janice Faga spoke next, saying that prime farmland was protected, with connectivity for the Ice Age Trail and parking for the Parks Division.  Also, a trail system has been worked into the map.  They plan to phase-in the plan over years, working with the town on a agreeable schedule. If Parks funding became available, open space would be available for purchase at a later time. She emphasized that this is only a concept, and that other issues such as roads, storm water, drainage, deed restrictions, lot layout, etc. will come later.  She said,“This is just the tip of the iceberg.” Also, that the County would make sure that such issues as water runoff and sewers were addressed later.

 

 

A lengthy question session followed:

Uses of the 339 acres:  240 are now rented by Mike Coyle for crops.  66 two-acre lots are envisioned in the plan. Paths for walking, and a corridor to the Ice age trail.

Compatibility with the Land Use Plan:

Some citizens felt that the 1/35 acre should be retained, out of fairness to all citizens, and wonderment was expressed that a proposal could be made so soon after the earlier rejection. This type of remapping had not been done since inception of the plan in 1981. Timing of the request:

Citizen speakers also asked to wait for the Comprehensive Land Use plan’s completion before taking this step, and thought a moratorium on such development was a good idea. Some questioned the wisdom of locating a suburb near a wildlife/hunting area.

Speaking in favor of slowing down the process and further study were Garry Williams, Loren Ziglin, Howard Lerner, Louise Klopp, Paul Julius, David Roka (about Shovelers’ Sink), Mike Evert (about urban sprawl), Dan Hall and others.

Procedures: Confusion mounted as the question of the need for a Public Hearing came up, and as pressure to recommend the remap amendment to the board became evident, the following motion was made by Baylis, seconded by Williams:

            MOTION 1: “That the Commission postpone decision on a recommendation to the board on changes to the Land Use Plan and map amendments until the land division portion of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan is complete.” 2-5 against.(Baylis & Williams yes)

MOTION 2:  We will review the application of the map amendment and refer it to the town board for legal advice as to how to proceed. …. And a simplification of this motion, in an amendment moved by Parrell, 2nd by Jones:

AMENDED AS: We will refer the map amendment to the board for advice on how to proceed.   Passed unanimously.

 

3. COMMERCIAL REZONE Inquiry

Jim Wills and John Peterson asked for a “conceptual approval” for changing zoning of 10 acres east of the ball field on the South side of Mineral Point Road from A1-EX to C-2 commercial.  The intended usage: 4 commercial parcels, using one of the four lots for some type of storage, like maxi storage.

Since this change might also qualify for a map amendment, the commission was reluctant to grant the request.  It was tabled until next month for further consideration.           

Harris maintained that both petitions, Faga’s and Will’s, were complex and required more study, because each has far-reaching consequences for the town. Stefi Harris said it was a good case for a public hearing. All agreed that we should proceed carefully with possible map amendments.  Wills replied that they just wanted to discover how the town feels about it.

 

MOTION: Williams moved, seconded by Jones, that we table the issue for further study and discuss it next month. (passed 7-0)

 

 

End of REZONE portion of the meeting

 

 

 

INTERNET WEB SITE

Williams asked that her idea for a web site be accepted. Bob Bowman felt that the Commission did not have to ask the board for money unless the commission spent more than was in their budget. There was agreement that mature documents could be put on the web, and in the local libraries for the public.

MOTION: Esser moved,  seconded by Baylis, to accept the web site proposal and pay for it out of our budget. Passed 7-0.

 

THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

            The survey questionnaire was revised for consistency and clarity. Williams brought up the Farmland Preservation Act, wanting to ask how many of the landowners in the Town took advantage of its tax benefits.  This was rejected, and it was mentioned that this information might be available elsewhere.

 

A MISPLACED DRIVEWAY OR ADDRESS

Sherry Mader explained to the commission and board members about the problem that her address is on Old Sauk Pass Road, but her driveway is on Cleveland Road.

 

PROCEDURES

            Bowman discussed the one-page proposal he had given the Commission. He requested that the Commission members be prepared to speak about the issue at the next Board meeting. He referenced State Statute 62.23 as governing the third point, for reference.

 

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

            Jim commented that this was too long, so we need to shorten it up

 

THE NEXT MEETING A work session was scheduled for Tuesday, September 4, to start at 8:00 PM with the following items to be included in the agenda.

1)      Finalized survey questionnaire

2)      Bowman’s paper.

3)      Review of text for the chapters 1, 2, and 3.

4)      Commercial zoning discussion.

Esser moved to adjourn,  seconded by Coyle.

 

COMMISSION MEMBER ACTION ITEMS:

Jim Boland: agenda for Sept 4th meeting to Amelia by Friday, August 24th !

Harris: 1. Final version of the Survey Questionnaire for Williams to distribute

            2. Maps to Williams for the Web site

All: See above for Sept 4th meeting.

 

Submitted by Amelia Williams, August 22, 3007

Emailed to the Commission members and to and to Ann Walden for publication on the Web. Mailed to Pat Jones.