Plan Commission Meeting

1 VILLAGE OF SISTER BAY 2 HYBRID PLAN COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 3 TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2025 4 SISTER BAY-LIBERTY GROVE FIRE STATION – 2258 MILL ROAD 5 APPROVED 6 7 1. Call to Order & Roll Call 8 Chair Bhirdo called the meeting to order at 5:31 P.M. and took roll call. She introduced new 9 commissioner, Skip Heidler. 10 11 Present: Plan Commission Chair Denise Bhirdo, and Commission members Nate Bell, Patrice 12 Champeau, Laurel Harff, Skip Heidler. 13 14 Excused: Commissioner Ron Kane. 15 16 Staff Member(s): Village Administrator Julie Schmelzer. 17 18 Others: In person were Kurt Harff, Louise Howson, Mike Laszkiewicz, Richard and Jeannie Hoffman, 19 Nick and Mary Deviley, Mark Rukamp and Jamie Sprutles of Alliance Construction, MaryKay Shumway, 20 and an unidentified man and woman. Virtually were John Blossom, Terry Wolf of the Historical 21 Society, Kevin Havlovitz of Alliance Construction, Steve Bacsi, Bjorn Johnson, Ellie Soderberg-Guger, 22 Louise Howson, and an unidentified person by phone number 920-634-9297. 23 24 2. Approval of Agenda 25 Motion by Champeau, second by Harff, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried 26 unanimously. 27 28 3. Approval of March 25, 2025, Meeting Minutes 29 Motion by Harff, second by Champeau, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried 30 unanimously. 31 32 4. Comments, Correspondence and concerns from the Public 33 (None) 34 35 5. Discussion/Action items: 36 (a) Development Agreement; 11 Unit Hotel with Manager’s Unit; Chalet Lane; Hoffman Family’s 37 Investment Properties, LLC (Richard & Jeannie Hoffman) 38 Sent to committee members was a staff report, draft Development Agreement, and plans previously 39 reviewed and tentatively approved the previous month. 40 41 Schmelzer briefly summarized a letter from the Hoffmans’ attorney, William Woodward of the von Briesen 42 law firm. Richard and Jeannie Hoffman were present to offer comment. Woodward questioned why the 43 proposed Development Agreement, Section 1.1., included language about if the improvements were not 44 made by May 20, 2027, the Agreement becomes void and minimum assessed value payments would be 45 required. Hoffman explained that due to the economy, the unknown impact of tariffs, and concerns over 46 his family’s future unknown financial situation, he did not know if he could complete the project by the  1 date in the proposed Agreement. Bhirdo asked if Hoffman needed more time and offered an approval 2 date of July, resulting in a completion deadline of July 15, 2027. Hoffman felt the extension would help, 3 with Bhirdo suggesting if that timeline did not work, he should let the Plan Commission know prior to the 4 July Board meeting so the schedule for completion could be revisited; fellow commissioners concurred. 5 6 Discussion then focused on the light poles and the commissioners stressed the poles should not exceed 7 20’ in height. Hoffman stated the poles would not exceed 20’ and he actually preferred poles lower in 8 height. By consensus the Plan Commission agreed the proposed Development Agreement should clarify 9 20’ is the maximum allowable height. 10 11 Heidler questioned the height of the building in that it exceeded 35’ in height. Schmelzer explained the 12 application for site plan and architectural review was submitted prior to the recent code amendment 13 about how height is measured, adding the plan was the same plan previously approved. 14 15 Motion by Champeau, second by Bell to withhold sending the proposed Development Agreement to the 16 Board for approval until the July 2025 Board meeting, with additional language regarding the light poles, 17 and, if Hoffman needed more time, he was to let the Plan Commission know prior to the July Board meeting 18 so the Agreement could be reviewed for a possible later effective date and completion schedule. Motion 19 carried unanimously. 20 21 (b) Change of Use & Architectural Review; Waterfront Museum; 10697 N Bay Shore Dr. 22 (Village Boathouse); Sister Bay Historical Society 23 John Blossom, from a group trying to preserve a boat known locally as the ‘Jack Bunda boat’, and Terry 24 Wolf, from the Historical Society, were present virtually. Both have an interest in converting the Village 25 boathouse to a waterfront museum. The museum would be operated by the Historical Society, who would 26 also undertake renovations. 27 28 Schmelzer read a letter into the record from Bjorn Johnson regarding parking for the change of use. 29 30 Members had been sent a staff report with renovation drawings and information about the change of use, 31 required parking and parking available. Schmelzer explained the parking calculations and what was 32 available, indicating any approval should condition a 6’ wide sidewalk parallel to the water on the west 33 side of the existing parking area. There were concerns over whether an elevator would be required and 34 if the restrooms were to code for the proposed use. Blossom indicated no elevator was required, and the 35 restrooms would be to code, but he could have the architect put these matters in a letter format so the 36 Plan Commission knew they were considered and addressed. Also questioned was the loss of revenue 37 the Marina will face when the second floor is converted from an apartment to an exhibit space; Marina 38 Committee Acting Chair, Louise Howson, said that is to be addressed in a future contract with the 39 Historical Society. Wolf added the Historical Society will be renovating the boathouse, at a cost of several 40 hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the museum will be a community asset. 41 42 By consensus the commission agreed to tentatively approve the renovation, pending the elevator and 43 restrooms issues are satisfactorily resolved at their next meeting. A Development Agreement will be 44 required. 45 46 (c) Courtesy Review; Residential Condominium; Off Highway 57; Alliance Constr. & Nicholas 47 Deviley 48 Staff previously sent the commissioners a staff report and preliminary layout of the proposed -2-  1 development. Mark Rukamp of Alliance Construction submitted a Preliminary Plan Review of information 2 his company was using to design the proposal. Mr. Deviley, the property owner, explained his intention 3 was for the lots to sell for approximately $60,000, and to offer creative financing, including GAP financing, 4 to those that could not afford the purchase price of a unit. Rukamp said they were working on designs 5 for the duplex and triplex buildings. 6 7 Bell questioned if the development would allow short-term rentals and Deviley indicated the deeds would 8 be restricted to prohibit them. Bell also questioned if the easement to the south would be a road and 9 extended someday, and Deviley explained the easement is for utilities and has no village access. The 10 private roads were discussed briefly with Rukamp explaining the sharp curve would be ‘softened’ as they 11 did the final engineering. 12 13 Heidler asked if the pavilion would be open to the public, with Rukamp explaining it would be for 14 condominium association owners and guests, but it is along the trail, so presumably pedestrians on the 15 trail would stop by, but there are parking stalls on the plan in front of the pavilion for anyone arriving by 16 car. Heidler also questioned the unit designs and how far the garage entrances extended from the 17 building; Rukamp said the designs were preliminary and would be redesigned to meet code. 18 19 The group discussed the limited access road that would intersect Highway 57 and acknowledged the 20 driveway for the new aquatic center, to the west, would have to relocate their driveway to come off of 21 the new road. 22 23 Bhirdo expressed support saying the development was designed to resemble a true neighborhood. Other 24 members supported the concept with no opposition voiced. 25 26 (d) Draft Request for Proposals; Housing Development & Park; Northwoods Drive & Ava Hope Ct; 27 Village of Sister Bay 28 Commissioners reviewed a staff report and draft Request for Proposals (RFP) that was emailed to them 29 as part of the meeting packet. Schmelzer indicated the affordability language was revised, per the 30 recommendation of the Housing Committee. 31 32 The members reviewed the RFP and indicated they should set a density for the property and by consensus 33 did so at 20 units. They also agreed by consensus buildings should not exceed two stories. Schmelzer said 34 she would make the revisions and send the RFP out for solicitation. 35 36 (e) Draft Text Amendment & Rezone Petition; R-4 Zoning; Former Wiltse Property & Former 37 Logerquist Farm; Village of Sister Bay 38 Schmelzer referenced the staff report sent to commissioners. By consensus the members agreed the R-4 39 dimensional standards should specify the road setback would be measured from the furthest extension of 40 the building, such as a porch; the former Wiltse site should be rezoned to Small Lot Residence (R-4) with 41 the area that cannot be served by sewer and water rezoned to Park/Recreation (P-1); and, the former 42 Logerquist site be rezoned whereby the west half would be Institutional (I-1) and the east half 43 Park/Recreation (P-1). Schmelzer indicated she would schedule the public hearings on the R-4 44 amendment and two map amendments as soon as possible. 45 46 (f) Draft Text Amendments; Ch. 66; Dark Sky Lighting 47 Bell was tasked earlier with developing proposed Dark Sky lighting regulations and explained after further 48 review, he didn’t think the village should change what they have in the code but instead look at the -3-  1 streetlights and see how they can be converted to Dark Sky friendly lighting. Schmelzer explained that 2 the Parks, Property & Streets Committee was looking at converting the lights along Highways 42 and 57 3 to be Dark Sky Approved, and WPS has already converted many of the bulbs to meet Dark Sky initiatives. 4 5 Bell added the village needed to look at the lighting at the Sports Complex. Heidler pointed out the code 6 still allows for halide lights, and that it should be removed from the code. Harff raised concern over string 7 lights, especially when the lights are left on all day. Bell suggested the village amend their Nuisance Code 8 to address lights that are left on all day. 9 10 6. Quarterly Permit Report 11 Schmelzer indicated the report in the meeting packet was inaccurate and she is aware there were more 12 permits issued than was put in the packet. This would be updated at the six-month report, which is in 13 July. 14 15 7. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 16 Schmelzer shared information from the county that they would now be charging for address assignments, 17 so the village would need to update their fee schedule, and possibly code, to collect the new fee. 18 19 Referral to the Parks & Streets Director to research and hopefully convert the lighting at the Sports 20 Complex to Dark Sky Approved lighting. 21 22 To be scheduled for future discussion and possible code amendment: deleting halide lighting from the 23 Zoning Code and amending the Nuisance Code to address lighting that is left on all day and is a distraction 24 to neighbors. 25 26 8. Next Meeting 27 It was confirmed the next regular meeting would be May 27, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the large meeting room at 28 the Sister Bay-Liberty Grove Fire Station. That meeting would include public hearings regarding a text 29 amendment to the R-4 dimensional standards, and two map amendments. 30 31 9. Adjournment 32 Motion by Heidler, second by Harff, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 33 8:09 p.m. 34 35 Respectfully recorded and submitted by Julie Schmelzer, Village Administrator -4-