Minutes

TOWN OF CRESCENT MINUTES FOR TOWN PLAN COMMISSION MEETING WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2025 7:00P.M., CRESCENT TOWN HALL Call to Order: Chairman Pazdernik called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. at the Crescent Town Hall. The meeting has been properly posted and distributed in accordance with the Wisconsin Open Meeting law and the facility is handicap accessible. Committee members present: Michael Pazdernik, Chair, David Holperin, Secretary, Jim Altenburg, Connie Anderson, Niina Baum. Media present: Beckie Gaskill, Lakeland Times. Approval of the Agenda: Motion by Holperin to change the order of the agenda, moving item 2 to the end of discussion period. Second by Anderson, motion carried. Motion by Holperin to approve revised agenda, second by Anderson. Aye: all. Nay: none. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve minutes of the May 21, 2025 meeting made by Holperin, second by Altenburg. Aye: all. Nay: none. Motion carried. Public Comment: None Discussion: Potential New Committee Members Information was shared about the efforts to find residents willing to serve on the committee to fulfill the remaining terms of recently departed members Lindsay Novak and Jonathan Jacobson. Pazdernik indicated that he has had a few residents approach him, but he is looking for geographic representation (i.e., not all from the same lake or same road) and who can demonstrate a passion for wanting to serve. Holperin indicated that he had received some positive responses but would continue to try to gather a few more candidates for consideration. Discussion/Motion: Review the “Background to The Comprehensive Plan” Holperin opened the discussion by asking if everyone had the opportunity to review the one-page document created by Jonathan Jacobson that could serve as an appropriate “Introduction” page to future readers of our Comprehensive Plan (“The Plan”), and whether or not there were any questions or revisions to consider. Hearing none, Holperin passed around a document that he had prepared that addressed some verbiage and phrases throughout the document. As one example, instead of referencing “…state statutes…”, the Holperin version cited the specific Wisconsin State Statute governing comprehensive plans. One other modification involved changing the oft- repeated phrase “planning committee” to simply “plan committee”. Following a reading of the revised edition, a motion was made by Holperin to accept this edition and to send it to the Full Board of Crescent for passage at an upcoming meeting. Second by Altenburg. Ayes: all, Nays: none. Motion carried. Discussion: Chapter 3 of “The Plan” Holperin started the discussion by noting that our committee seems to be stuck in one gear over the issue of finding a long-term solution for the township in preventing the development of certain businesses/industries/ entities whereby the majority of the residents (if not all) would find objectionable. He then listed the many endeavors we’ve taken to date, including presentations from state officials, county experts, reviewing other township models, engaging in exercises designed to create awareness and enlightenment of potential problematic development, and much more. Holperin then revealed that he had an epiphany, which was that we were in avoidance, for whatever reasons, of considering (for purposes of discussion) the one possible tool that could be the best long-term solution … potential expansion of our current zoning. [Note: Town of Crescent is currently zoned “General Use” throughout]. That is to say, why are we not learning more about zoning, how it works, how to implement it, how other townships have used it, and more. Holperin then encouraged the others to be open to the idea of moving in this direction. He specifically noted that any future action would first require at least one, or possibly several, open meetings and feedback from as many of our residents as possible, and who would want their voices heard. Anderson brought up the subject of “permitted use” zoning vs “conditional use” zoning as cited in the Oneida County Comprehensive Plan, taken from Chapter Nine. [Holperin passed around a one-page description of the 15-subject subdivisions of Chapter Nine so that attendees could get an idea of the breadth of the zone areas that exist in the county.] Holperin then informed the group about a recent discussion with Scott Ridderbush, Land Use Specialist, Oneida County Planning & Zoning, and his offer to attend a future committee meeting to broaden our education of zoning. Holperin also informed the group that Ridderbush had told him previously that he was certain that our township had adopted Oneida County Zoning back in 2007. It was noted that our committee may have either not had that information or that we could have been given the wrong semantics by some of the invited presenters of the past two years, and so we would like to have some time to further clarify this potential revelation. It was mentioned that in 2007 the Oneida County Land Use and Zoning were different as Sugar Camp, Monico, and Enterprise Townships were all un-zoned, unlike today. Little time was spent discussing the Presque Isle model of using an ordinance as the solution for protective purposes, other than to note that they have had their model in place for a very long time and must have had a way to enforce it. Holperin said he will reach out to either their board chair or a sitting supervisor when he can find some time and report back to our committee. Discussion: Comparison of the Oneida County Land Use Map to the Town of Crescent Land Use Map #5 Holperin held a brief discussion on some of the visual and notational differences between the two maps. This was an opportunity for the committee to take in some of the subtle differences, but also to take a moment to reflect upon our areas that contain relatively vast amounts of open forest land and agricultural areas compared to the lakes and developed shoreland areas. Map 5 should be central to many of our future discussions. Anderson asked if perhaps we should consider bringing back the “Future Use” map that was voted to be removed from The Plan at the April 2024 annual meeting. Discussion, no action taken. Holperin concluded the discussion of the map noting that we should try to quickly get up to speed on zoning and then try to determine if that could be a practical consideration. Holperin called for an initial discussion on zoning with a focus on business corridors and agriculture at our next meeting, to be held on July 2 nd. Motion to Adjourn: Motion by Holperin to adjourn. Second by Altenburg. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:34pm.