Plan Commission — Minutes

Town of West Bend Plan Commission Minutes Thursday January 22, 2026 6:30 PM Town of West Bend Town Hall 1. Order of Business. A. Call Meeting to Order. Chairman Holz called the meeting to order at the Town of West Bend Town Hall at 6:30 PM, accessed via Zoom and telephone. B. Roll Call. Present were commission members Michael Holz, Julie Ihlenfeld, Jeff Kenkel, Brad Kopp, Dave Moore, Donna Schneider, Mark Wagor, and Zoning Administrator Ben Greenberg. C. Approval of Minutes from December 4, 2025 meeting. Moore made a motion to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Wagor and passed unanimously. 2. NEW BUSINESS A. Conditional Use Permit to allow a principal structure to exceed the maximum permitted height on a shoreland lot less than fifty (50) feet in width at 5910 N. Lake Drive (T13_1130100); Curtis and Molly Maurer, owners; Highland Builders, LLC, applicant Motion by Holz to open the public hearing. The motion was seconded by Kenkel. Motion carried unanimously. Zoning Administrator Greenberg summarized the request. The CUP allows construction of a new single-family residence with an attached garage that exceeds the maximum permitted building height for shoreland lots less than fifty (50) feet in width. A modern survey prepared in connection with the current application measured the lot width at 49.97 feet. As a result, the property is treated as being less than fifty (50) feet in width under the zoning ordinance, which limits the maximum height of a principal structure to twenty-five (25) feet rather than thirty-five (35) feet. David Konrath, 5906 N Lake Dr, stated he has no problems with the CUP. The town received an email from Steven and Darcy Hoch, 5902 N Lake Drive: Mr. Greenberg, the purpose of this email is to let you know we support the conditional use permit to allow the new home of Curtis and Molly Maurer to exceed the 25' height limitation. We will be in South America next week and cannot attend the public hearing. Please let me know if you have any questions. Wagor asked about the size of the structure. Height of the structure is 30.17 ft. Contractor Shane Pionkowski, 7049 Kettle View Dr, stated it is an allowable CUP for existing lot. Motion by Schneider to close the public hearing. The motion was seconded by Kenkel. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Moore to approve the CUP to allow a principal structure to exceed the maximum permitted height on a shoreland lot less than fifty (50) feet in width at 5910 N. Lake Drive based upon conditions in report dated 1/15/2026. Motion seconded by Wagor. Motion carried unanimously. 3. OLD BUSINESS A. Conditional Use Permit Amendment to allow an increase in the maximum number of children allowed at the daycare located at 5190 S 18th Ave, (T13_0890400); Ogres and Onions LLC, owner; Fields and Flowers LLC, applicant; (application 2025-14) Motion by Holz to open the public hearing. The motion was seconded by Schneider. Motion carried unanimously. Zoning Administrator Greenberg summarized the CUP and Site Plan request. The daycare would like to expand the building, change garage to outdoor classroom, and increase the maximum number of children permitted on-site from 60 to 150. Stormwater and wastewater items are missing for the Site Plan Review. Some additional information has been submitted. The owner finalized parking plan with landscaping berm. Zoning Administrator Greenberg spoke with Washington County and the owner. Washington County stated that until a plumber can provide wastewater calculations, the County cannot assess the system. The County has done estimates, but they are not licensed plumbers. There are several unknowns. There is no grading or stormwater for the town engineer to review at this point. Site will need to be updated. Greenberg explained that Act 67 changed how communities enforce CUP conditions. Information needs to be applicable. There needs to be substantial evidence. A decision is not based on popularity, but on measurable information, such as traffic and safety. Chairman Holz summarized correspondence. The town received several letters of support from employees and parents of kids who attend the daycare. Items include great social interaction, great learning environment investment in education for working parents and community. Families feel safe leaving their children there, and their children feel safe there. Staff have personal connections with children. Community would benefit. The town received several letters from residents who are not in support of the request. Items include visual impact of building, negative in residential neighborhood, septic system concerns, detrimental to character of neighborhood, increased noise, water runoff, water table, outdoor lighting shining in yards, noise of teachers talking to students, concerns over children being out all day, existing noise, construction phase will be dirty, dusty, and disruptive, traffic on 18th Ave, drop off/pick up, increase in number of children, vision issue – hill up the road from daycare, and concerns about size of well to the property. Mary Jo Frasier, 5199 Juniper Ln, had concerns of increased noise, flooding, visual obstruction, light pollution, and traffic impact of scope of the expansion referring to letter received 1/20/2026. Sean Fraser, 5199 Juniper Ln, stated he is opposed to expansion, not opposed to daycare. Lori Studee, 5185 Juniper Ln, had concerns about noise and stated the daycare should be in a commercial area. Jeff Lang, 5173 Juniper Ln, on Zoom, referenced detail letter sent to town regarding noise, stormwater, septic, water, visual impact, traffic, parking, and congestion, which are all actionable items and not feelings. Joyce Schuett, 5175 S 18th Ave, stated her driveway is across the street from the daycare. Her concerns were tripling the number of children, trees buffering noise, will be louder in summer, property value going down, preserving nature, commercial building in residential district, traffic, property lights, light from cars, garbage in ditch, which is more frequent during weekdays, and concerns of water table. Joyce Schuett also stated the yard has been maintained well since the new owners. Jacci Gambucci, 3229 Old Hickory Pl, stated she is opposed to expansion due to increased traffic, noise, and impact to home values and quality of life, and stated she also understands the need for daycare. Cindy Zimmer, 3291 Old Hickory Pl, stated to look at the spirit of CUP issued in first place, which allowed for 60 children, not 150 children. Morgan Hemp, daycare owner/operator, stated she invests in employee education, there would be 124 kids, 30 more for outdoor classroom. Outdoor time is scheduled from 9:15 am – 11 am and 2:30 pm - 5 pm. 80% of children are picked up by 4 pm. 4 kids are picked up between 4:45 pm and 5:30 pm. Washington County Sheriff sits in parking lot three times per week. Therese Huss, 3240 Woodhill Ct, stated she hears the noise when she works from home. The noise will increase with building expansion, and it is not the right location. Hugh Jones, 1310 Vogt Dr, on Zoom, stated the following actionable items: water table runoff, daycare is what’s good for the community, growth is inevitable, and noise isn’t a problem all the time. Greg Scheimemann, owner, talked to Washington County and he is aware they would need to update septic and lights are pointing south. He also doesn’t want to put money into well, septic, and the water table before knowing if it will be approved. Motion by Holz to close the public hearing. Motion seconded by Schneider. Motion carried unanimously. Motion carried unanimously. Kenkel stated in 2008 the building was vacant and then changed to daycare. The houses were there first and the use came letter. It is a good use of an old building, but it is in the wrong spot. It is messing up the traffic situation. Kenkel lives on 18th Ave and stated there are issues with traffic coming out of daycare. He stated we are a rural residential township, and this expansion violates character of residential neighborhood. Wagor stated we don’t have a complete application. Moore stated it doesn’t meet the zoning criteria and doesn’t see how we could approve even if we have a complete application. Schneider stated what’s there can stay. The site plan is incomplete for stormwater and septic, which could alter the property and affect size of the building. A berm is proposed for the east lot line, but there isn’t a landscaping plan for the rest of the property. Owner stated they aren’t changing how they are going to conduct stormwater. Schneider stated it is not fair to have applicant provide more information if plan commission will deny the request. Motion by Kenkel to deny request due to wrong use and too intense for rural town and stated it’s spot zoning. Moore seconded motion and stated the daycare is a good use as is. Motion carried unanimously. B. Site Plan Review for an addition to the existing daycare located at 5190 S 18th Ave, (T13_0890400); Ogres and Onions LLC, owner; Fields and Flowers LLC, applicant; (application 2025-15) Additional information is needed regarding stormwater, erosion, parking, and septic for the Site Plan Review. The CUP is required for the site plan. Motion by Holz to deny existing site plan due to not having the CUP permit at this point. The motion was amended to add with criteria for site plan approval is not provided. Amended motion was seconded by Schneider. Motion carried unanimously. 4. CORRESPONDENCES (none) 5. Comments from the public for items not on the agenda Ihlenfeld stated request from John Behrens to update zoning ordinance with clarification of setbacks to buildouts. 6. Report from Zoning Administrator (no packet materials) 7. Adjournment Next meeting is February 26, 2026. Wagor made a motion to adjourn at 7:41 PM. The motion was seconded by Schneider and passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Julie Ihlenfeld, Plan Commission Secretary 2/4/2026