Plan Commission — Minutes

Regular May Plan Commission Meeting Monday, May 6th, 2025 5:30 PM The meeting was posted on April 29th, 2025 at the Bayfield Town Hall and the town website. Plan Commission members Carol Fahrenkrog, Robert Feyen, Jim Steffenson, Robert Meierotto, Annalisa Bermel, and Dennis Clark were in attendance. Clerk Kelly Faye was also present. Chairman Chuck Finn was excused. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairperson Carol Fahrenkrog at 5:30 PM. Public Comment: None. Communications and Correspondence: Clerk Faye provided a summary of recent correspondence. Public comments received related to the Pikes Bay Sanitary District boundaries were shared with the Plan Commission and Town Board members prior to the meeting. Discussion and possible approval of minutes of Plan Commission Meetings of January 28th, 2025 and March 4th, 2025: A motion was made by Clark, seconded by Meierotto, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Bayfield Area Trails Update: None. Old Business Discussion and possible action on request from Bayfield County Zoning Department to complete and send back Zoning Code Rewrite Worksheet: Fahrenkrog suggested a separate meeting be scheduled to allow time to go over the worksheet. She said she spoke to Charlie Ray about the lack of Town of Bayfield representation on the Zoning Rewrite Advisory Committee. The response seems to have been that they can’t includeeveryone that wants to participate on the committee. People can attend the meetings as members of the audience. There will be four meetings total. Annalisa stated that she sent two applications to request being included in the committee that detailed her qualifications. It appears she was turned down. She requested that record of this was noted for the minutes. A motion was made to request that the Bayfield Town Board write a letter to the Bayfield County Zoning Department expressing concerns that Annalisa Bermel’s application was denied and that there is not currently a representative of the Town of Bayfield on the County’s Zoning Code Rewrite Advisory Committee, seconded by Meierotto. Motion carried. New Business Discussion and recommendation to Bayfield Town Board on Conditional Use Permit Application from John McRee & Heather Reagan- after-the-fact- Shipping Container/Intermodal Container in a R=RB zoning district for Tax ID 4893, located at 34425 Weber Road: Discussion took place about the current rules related to this type of structure. Steffenson stated that he only has concerns if the container was going to be visible from the road. It was suggested that maybe there should be a time limit for how long the container can be at the location. Discussion took place about the inability of the town to enforce conditions. A motion was made by Feyen, seconded by Meierotto, to recommend that the Bayfield Town Board recommend that the Bayfield County Zoning Department approve the application (without conditions). Motion carried. Discussion and possible recommendation to Bayfield Town Board on Pikes Bay Sanitary District Boundaries: Bermel asked how many properties in the district receive service. Clark replied that about 200 individual properties and about 277 including the marina condos. Discussion took place about the number of people in the district that are not connected to the system. Fahrenkrog reviewed the options for removal of areas from the district as confirmed by the Town Attorney Max Lindsey including 1) A petition by landowners and 2) Pike’s Bay Sanitary District requests the Town Board remove the properties. Fahrenkrog asked the Pike’s Bay Sanitary District Commissioners in attendance if they plan to expand. Clark stated they do not have current plans to expand but not entirely true that they don’t plan to expand at all. He suggested that it improves property value to be able to have a connection to the system so some people are now asking for one. Town Board Chairman Hoopman was in attendance and asked if Pike’s Bay Sanitary District has an opinion on changing the boundaries. He wants a recommendation from PBSD so he knows what to tell people. A motion was made by Meierotto, seconded by Steffenson, to recommend that the Town Board send a letter to the Pike’s Bay Sanitary District requesting a written opinion, as well as to request a culture of transparency between the Town and the Sanitary District. Motion carried. Discussion of Plan Commission role/projects after Bayfield County Zoning changes and how it relates to monthly meeting schedule: Discussion took place about what Chairman Hoopman and the Town Board want the Plan Commission to be working on at this time. Meierotto asked whether a meet-as-needed meeting schedule would be appropriate. Bermel commented that she believes communicating with the Bayfield County Zoning Code Rewrite Team will be important in the upcoming months. Hoopman suggested that the Plan Commission should continue meeting every month for at least the next three months. It was agreed that meeting immediately prior to the Bayfield Town Board Meetings, on the second Monday of the month, would work best for everyone’s summer schedule. It can then be changed back to the normal schedule as needed later. It was decided to meet at 5:00 PM on the second Monday of the month for June, July, and August, and then re-evaluate the schedule. Set date for next Plan Commission Meeting: Monday, June 9th, 2025 5:00 PM. Adjourn: A motion was made by Clark, seconded by Feyen, to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 6:38 PM. Minutes respectfully presented by: Kelly Faye, Clerk.