Plan Commission Meetings and Agendas

PLAN COMMISSION MINUTES
April 14, 2022 – 7:00 pm
Village Hall
235 Hickory Street, Pewaukee, WI 53072

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

President Knutson called the meeting to order at approximately 7:00 p.m.
Plan Commission members present: Comm. Jim Grabowski, Comm. Theresa Hoff, Comm. Belt, Trustee Craig Roberts, and President Jeff Knutson. Excused: Comm. Cheryl Mantz and Comm. Ryan Lange

Also present: Village Planner, Mary Censky; Village Attorney, Matt Gralinski; Village Administrator, Scott Gosse; and Village Clerk, Casandra Smith. Village Contracted Engineer, Tim Barbeau.

2. Public Hearings - None.

3. Citizen Comments – None.

4. Approval of the Minutes:

a. Regular Plan Commission Meeting Amendment – March 10, 2022
Comm. Grabowski motioned, seconded by Trustee Roberts to approve the minutes of the March 10, 2022, Regular Plan Commission meeting as presented.
Motion carried 4-0-1; Comm. Belt abstained.

5. Old Business

a. Review and possible recommendation to Village Board on updates to the Village of Pewaukee Comprehensive Plan – 2035.
Planner Censky presented the updated version of the Village of Pewaukee Comprehensive Plan-2035. Censky stated that there are a few areas that will be updated after the 2020 Census information is fully available, therefore, after Waukesha County updates its Comprehensive Plan, the Village will capture their data and update the pertinent sections and bring it back to the Planning Commission and Village Board for approval as an amendment at that time.
Trustee Roberts motioned, seconded by Comm. Grabowski to recommend approval of the Village of Pewaukee Comprehensive Plan-2035 to the Village Board as presented.
Motion carried unanimously.

b. Review and discussion regarding possible updates to the Village’s ‘Off-Street Parking Requirements’ as setforth in Chapter 40, Article VII, Division 2. of the Village Code.
Planner Censky presented the B-1 and B-3 district parking requirements in relation to each use along with surrounding communities' parking requirements. Censky noted that she has not noted any professional planning services working on a change regarding revised accepted parking standards or requirements due to the apparent shift with employees working remotely and/or the change in the economy since Covid. Discussion followed regarding the different areas to be addressed with the consensus of focusing on strip malls within the Village. Censky stated that she feels comfortable surveying developers to get their opinion on what they feel is appropriate for parking requirements.

6. New Business

a. Review, discussion and possible approval of a Sign Code Waiver request for Northwoods Marine to place a 56.2 square foot tenant wall sign on the façade of the building at 601 Ryan Street where 30 square feet is permitted by Code. The tenant/applicant is represented in c/o business owners Peter Drees and Pewaukee Signarama. The property owner is Society of St. Vincent DePaul of Waukesha County. This 10-acre site is zoned B-1 Community Business.
Planner Censky explained that Northwoods Marine, a tenant of 601 Ryan Street asked for a sign code waiver to place a 56.2 sq. ft. sign at the business due to the setback of this building being over 800 feet from Ryan Street so it’s very hard to get noticed by customers. This request is thought to be reasonable when comparing it to the other signs within the strip mall area, the scale of the wall it’s attached to and the setback of the building. Discussion followed regarding the precedence set to give sign code waivers.
Comm. Grabowski motioned, seconded by Comm. Belt to approve the sign code waiver request for Northwoods Marine to place a 56.2 sq. ft. sign to the facade of the building at 601 Ryan Street as presented and for the specific reasons explained above.
Motion carried unanimously.

b. Review, discussion and consultative feedback to the applicant regarding possible exceptions to the rear yard requirement for a limited subset of lots in the Glen at Pewaukee Lake subdivision. The applicant is Cornerstone Development in c/o Joe Orendorf and John Wahlen, and Alan Peters of True Vine Development. This property is zoned Residential Infill-Redevelopment Overlay District.
Planner Censky stated that Cornerstone has requested that the rear lot line offset/yard requirement be amended for twelve identified lots. Currently, the development is marketing homes to sell and about 12 lots have limitations to where some of the styles of houses would not allow the deck to be built off the back due to existing offset requirements. Allowing the referenced lots to have decreased offsets would give the applicant more ability to market and sell customizable homes. Cornerstone representative, Joe Orndorf of W282N4427 Summerset Ln, Pewaukee explained that the developer is now starting to work on home designs and they want to ensure that all homes being offered will work on all lots within the new development. There are about 12 lots where room for a deck is not possible due to the rear setback currently in place and he asked for a 10' modification to the rear setback on those identified lots. Discussion followed regarding the proposed lots and the impact they would have on the existing neighbor's properties. The applicant responded to Comm. Hoff and stated that all other lots have plenty of room for decks it is only the identified 12 properties where this is a concern so they would not be coming back in the future asking for more exceptions. Discussion followed on which lots would be most important to approve. Cornerstone representative, Joe Orendof, stated that they will come back next month with a proposal based on the feedback received.

c. Review, discussion and possible recommendation to the Village Board for approval of the Final Plat of The Glen at Pewaukee Lake subdivision. This 14-acre, 46-lot final subdivision plat is zoned Residential Infill-Redevelopment Overlay District. The applicant is Cornerstone Development in c/o Joe Orendorf and John Wahlen, and Alan Peters of True Vine Development.
Planner Censky stated that Cornerstone Development submitted a plat that is consistent with the preliminary plat presented at a past meeting. If the changes in 6b are approved they can be noted on the final plat map and it would be more advantageous if the exceptions are approved before the filing of the map. Engineer Barbeau reviewed the map with the Plan Commission and recommended approval with the conditions as presented in his staff memo. True Vine Development representative, Alan Peters explained that on lots 25 and 32 the property lines changed to include preserving trees and allowing the current owners to maintain the land that they have requested to continue to use. With the approval to recommend the final plat to the Village Board, the developer will work on completing the recommendations from Waukesha County, Wis DOA, the Village Engineer, and the Village Planner before the Village Board's approval. Discussion followed regarding some of Waukesha County's comments.
Comm. Grabowski motioned, seconded by Trustee Roberts to approve the Final Plat of The Glen at Pewaukee Lake Subdivision with the following conditions from the Village Planner, Village Engineer, and Waukesha County:
Village Planner Recommendations:
1. Applicant to comply fully with any/all requirements as setforth by the Wis DOA in their review of this plat;
2. Applicant to comply fully with any/all requirements as setforth by the Waukesha County in their review of this plat;
3. Applicant to comply fully with any/all requirements as setforth by the Villages Consulting Engineer in his review of this plat;
4. Applicant to fulfill all obligations of the Development Agreement associated with this plat which may be pre-requisites to the final plat approval, and/or prior to placement of Village signatures onto and recording of the final plat.
Village Engineer Recommendations:
1. Proper names are provided for the Owner’s Certificate
2. The individual lot line distances do not total the overall line distances for the following segments:
a. Lot 8 and Outlot 3 along Lifestyle Lane
b. The northerly line of Outlot 4 and Lots 11-20
c. The right-of-way line along Lots 2 – 6
d. The easterly Lines of Lots 31-33
3. There are numerous easements shown on the plat. Those easements should be defined under separate documents and the recorded document number for each easement shown on the plat.
4. Language should be added to the vision corner details stating that the purpose is to provide an area of clear vision at the intersection of two streets. No plantings, trees, fences or other obstructions shall be placed in the triangle that does not provide clear vision.
5. I suggest that the issue related to quit claiming land to Lot 25 be addressed prior to execution of the final plat if at all possible to eliminate any future confusion.
6. There are two notes on Sheet 5 of 6 that indicate Outlots to be fractionally owned. I am not sure of the need for the note related to Outlots 3 and 4 in the first note. If the intent is to state that there is a drainage easement on those lots, I suggest that a separate note be included that states something to the effect of “Outlots 3 and 4 are encumbered by a Stormwater Maintenance Agreement recorded as Document No. _____.
Waukesha County Recommendations:
1. Prior to recording the plat, a revised informal copy of the plat addressing the outstanding conditions of this certification letter shall be forwarded to Waukesha County for review.
2. All easements, such as proposed or existing drainage ways, access, storm sewer, sanitary sewer and/ or utilities easements shall be shown on the plat. Any related recorded documents numbers shall also be noted on the plat.
3. The Outlot notes that describe indivisible fractional ownership on Sheet 5 shall include language similar to the following. “Each individual lot owner shall have an undividable fractional ownership in Outlot(s) No. and Waukesha County shall not be liable for any fees or special assessments in the event they become the owner of any lot or outlot in the subdivision by reason of tax delinquency”.
4. General notes No. 5 and No. 6 are in conflict with regard to ownership of Outlots 3 and 4 and shall be clarified. One of the notes states that they are under ownership of all lot owners and the other identifies ownership by only select lot owners.
5. We question the intent of the Developer retaining Outlot 2. Small Outlots are liable to fall into tax delinquency. Please convey the intent of Outlot 2 to Waukesha County.
6. Since variable rights-of-way are shown, the Village should verify that any required dedications are shown correctly on the plat.
7. According to the soil survey of Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, lots in this subdivision may contain soils with seasonal high groundwater located less than 3 ft. below ground surface. We recommend that soil testing be done on lots containing such soils. Unless the developer can demonstrate by soil tests or other supporting data that conventional basements would clear the highest anticipated groundwater level by one (1) foot, minimum basement floor elevations should be stated on the plat or master grading plan. At a minimum, the following note shall be placed on the plat:
“Although all lots in the Subdivision have been reviewed and approved for development with single-family residential use in accordance with Section 236 Wisconsin Statutes, some lots contain soil conditions that, due to the possible presence of groundwater near the surface, may require additional soil engineering and foundation design with regard to basement construction. It is recommended that a licensed professional engineer design a basement and foundation that will be suitable to withstand the various problems associated with saturated soil conditions on basement walls or floors or that other special measures be taken. Soil conditions should be subject to each owner’s special investigation prior to construction and no specific representation is made herein.”
8. Consider renaming the south portion of Sandy Circle located between Wisconsin Avenue and the proposed lot 6.
9. If easement access across lots 30-33 is limited to a prescribed number of lot owners, we recommend the Village require signage to prevent use of the easement by unauthorized users.
10. The Village should specify the minimum requirements for private roadways, and we recommend that the Developer’s Agreement contain long term maintenance obligations that will be disclosed to all of the lot owners.
11. Given the small lot sizes and sloping terrain, we recommend that the Village require a Master Grading plan for the development.
12. Since part of Lot 25 may be conveyed (per the plat notes), we recommend the Village require a building envelope on Lot 25 to ensure that all future building and structures meet setbacks from any future (modified) lot lines.
13. If the Village has any restrictions relative to the height of plantings, berms, fencing, signs or any other structures within vision corner easements, they shall be specified in the notes.
14. The Waukesha County Park and Open Space Plan calls for bicycle accommodations along Wisconsin Ave. We recommend the Village determine if bicycle accommodations, either now or in the future, should be considered.
Motion carried unanimously.

7. Citizen Comments – None.

8. Adjournment
Trustee Roberts motioned, seconded by Comm. Grabowski to adjourn the April 14, 2022, Regular Plan Commission meeting at approximately 8:47 p.m.
Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Casandra Smith
Village Clerk