July 27th, 2026 Public Hearing Minutes

Genesee Plan Commission Public Hearing Minutes July 27th, 2026 Chairman Tesch called the Joint Public Hearing to order at 6:00 p.m. Present was Chairman Tesch, Town Supervisor Yatzeck, and Plan Commission Members Buck and Toole. Also present was a representative from Waukesha County, Kasandre Slotty. Also present was Planner Lyons and Deputy Clerk Workman. Absent was Plan Commission Member Engelking. Plan Commission Members Fedak and Christiansen recused themselves. Chairman Tesch read the Public Hearing Notice. Kasandre Slotty gave an overview of the requested project and spoke on the County view. She stated that the petitioner has been in the process of applying for this Conditional Use for about 3 years and Fedak and German have been very forthcoming and have compromised many things for the County to feel comfortable. She also stated that the county has received no comments regarding this issue up until the Public Hearing date. Planner Lyons gave an overview of the Conditional Use request from the Town’s perspective. Planner Lyon’s spoke on the changes the Town recently made to the zoning code which allows agritourism in the Town of Genesee. Chairman Tesch then opened the public hearing up for comments. John Heintz Taylor, 318 N. Main St, North Prairie, stated that he does not think that this Conditional Use request should fall under an agritourism category because it does not meet the USDA’s definition of Agritourism. He thinks that having campsites can cause problems with campfires and campfires cause concerns for the health and safety. He stated that there is no farm- related education stated in their request which is also a large part of agritourism. He stated that there has been no traffic studies or noise studies to show impact of this request. He also spoke on the ability of emergency services to get to the back of the property if there was an emergency. (Full letter labeled Exhibit A) Mike Connell, S55W31537 State Road 59, stated that he lives across the street from the property and he agrees with the comments from John. He stated that the property is not a working farm and therefore doesn’t meet the definition of agritourism. He stated that the area is a residential, agricultural neighborhood and public events should not be taking place there. He wants to know how many campers will be allowed and who will enforce the conditions. He also stated that he thinks the parking will allow for more than 50 people events. Duke and Carlyn Wagner, S55W31493 State Rd 59, stated that they rented the property in the 2000’s from the Yatzecks and understand why the property owners want to share it with the public. They stated that they are neither for or against the request, but feel like more detail should be ironed out. They feel like the petitioners are working with everyone involved to come up with the best plan. Doug Fedak and Nina Gaydos-Fedak, S54W31794 County Road ZZ, stated that Becky Fedak is their daughter. They stated that the property they currently live on was split off from the property in question. They said that the owners just want to share this beautiful property with the public. They also stated that what the petitioners want to do is small scale and won’t have much impact on the land or traffic and noise. They stated that the petitioners are going to continue to improve the property. Heidi Johnson, speaking as owner of Genesee Aggregate, stated that the property in question butts up to an active, permitted quarry property. She stated that per MSHA, public must be kept out of an active mining site and the quarry already struggles with trespassing. Heidi is concerned that bringing public events to the adjoining property could cause more unintended trespassing. She wants to know how the petitioners plan to address this. She feels that it is a public health and safety issue. Jen Schimelfenyg, S39W31553 Wern Way, stated that she is a friend of the petitioners and they are very conservation-minded. She stated that the petitioners want to allow the public to be an active part of land stewardship. She feels that what the petitioners are requesting is a part of agritourism. Becky Fedak and Peter German, the petitioners, stated that this has been a 5-year process of going back and forth and reconfiguring the request. It was stated that the events will be 50 people or less. The petitioners stated that they are currently in the process of putting the land into a conservation easement and therefore it will never be turned into a subdivision. It was stated that the barn may come back in the future for event use, but that it is currently not being sought by this request. The vision for this request is to connect people to the land and create a community. The petitioners stated that they will do whatever necessary to discourage trespassing onto the quarry land. The vision is small scale. Kasandre Slotty stated that the fire department came out and looked at the property and they stated that the barn can be used for agricultural activities, such as farm tours or educational events, but any public events would not be permitted as it currently stands. Mareth Kipp, S54W32292 County Road ZZ, stated that she runs a family farm just down the street from said property. She stated that it is already difficult to take farm equipment up and down the road from field to field with the current traffic situation. She is concerned that more traffic would make this even more difficult and dangerous. She stated that she likes the idea of the land being put into a conservation easement but that doesn’t negate the traffic issues. Samuel Connell, S55W31537 State Road 59, stated that he is concerned that people leaving any events held on said property could be impaired driving. He stated that he was struck by an impaired driver and it affected him financially with farming equipment being out of commission. He wants more detail on how the petitioners are going to prevent people from leaving drunk. Chairman Tesch then asked three times if there were any more comments. There were none so it was brought back to the table. Yatzeck asked a clarifying question about why this request needs a Conditional Use to begin with. Planner Lyons provided clarification. Buck asked about enforcement policies. The County will take point on enforcement for the rustic campsite. The Town will enforce the Conditional Use for the event space and the Plan of Operation. Planner Lyons stated that the conditions in the Conditional Use have to be reasonable and measurable. This item will be on the August Plan Commission Agenda for review and decision. Buck made a motion to close the Public Hearing. The motion was seconded by Yatzeck. The motion was approved 4-0. The hearing was closed at 7:08 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Rachel Workman Deputy Clerk