Plan Commission - Public Hearing — Agenda

Town of Merton Public Hearing To Consider the Conditional Use Request to Operate a Small Food Production Facility In the Preparation, Bottling, and Distribution of Ketchup and Sauces that will be Distributed to Wholesalers, Retailers, and Restaurants at W335N6085 Stone Bank Road – Tax Key MRTT0362-986 November 19th, 2025 Present: Chairman Klink, Commissioners Griffin, Queoff, Olson, Siepmann, and Good, Attorney Van Kleunen, Planner Haroldson, Waukesha County Representative Evan Hoier, and Deputy Clerk Claas Absent: Commissioner Caliendo Also Present: Dale Bergman, Mark Brue, Duke Maynard, Patrick Bergman, Dave Brunclick, Scott Susek, Evan Lampsa, and others. The Public Hearing was called to order by Chairman Klink at 5:50 p.m. Planner Haroldson read the Public Hearing Notice and the letter submitted by Susie Oman. Chairman Klink said she sent some pictures which the Plan Commissioners all have. Planner Haroldson reviewed the history of Dottie’s and stated the building has a history of baking and food production. Planner Haroldson said typically production would require an M-1 zoning district, but since it has a history of food production, the Plan Commission could consider a Conditional Use Permit for other uses. Chairman Klink recused himself because Duke Maynard, owner of the property, is a family friend. Lampsa stated he started the company six years ago and he’s just trying to build a good business. Part of the reason they were attracted to this property was because they knew it had been used as a bakery and food production for which they figured it would save them some steps not only in some of the organizational items but also in the actual setup. He referred to Maynard for the history of the building. Maynard said he never had anyone personally come to him with any complaints about their operations. It's very well taken care of from a cosmetic standpoint. He stated that business is getting tougher all the time with competition coming in. The area is changing. Maynard said he doesn’t see why this could be denied. They’ve been at that location since 1962. He owns the properties directly adjacent to it that are well kept up. He doesn’t know who is complaining and what the major issues are. As a business operation, there haven’t been any real negative things at all over the years that he’s aware of. He sees no reason at all to not approve this. Commissioner Griffin asked what they are doing. Currently they are not producing anything there. They do have a truck that they are using pretty sparsely right now. That will be used for deliveries. The plan is to use it as a production facility for their products with pretty much all modern and new technology and the newest machinery available. It is pretty quiet. Right now they produce it in two places; one in Wisconsin and one in Nebraska. They would like to bring it all in house here and support the community and jobs in the area. He would say that when they were looking at the property it had been on the market for a bit. He doesn’t know a better use for it because it’s in a unique location where there can’t be super heavy truck traffic, but it is good for a food type facility. Right now they just have it for warehousing, and they’ve been doing a lot of work to get it up to code. They want it to look really nice for them and their customers. They have a conference room now that they painted and carpeted. Walls are all brick and there is insulation above the ceiling. They tested and said you can’t hear anything when outside. Commissioner Griffin asked if they would be using that whole back building. Lampsa stated the building directly to the west there’s a dock to the north to the front area; about 7,000 square feet. Commissioner Queoff asked if they would be sourcing their ingredients locally. Lampsa said most of them are already. There are some ingredients that can’t be grown in Wisconsin. All the bottles, packaging, labels, etc. come from Wisconsin. Planner Haroldson said the bigger concern is not for the use or the facility because it has a long history of that, but the concern is for the parking. They need ten spots. There is not a plan of operation for that parcel. The complaint is driven by We Energies trucks, the Asplund truck, boats and trailers. That is the concern. Planner Haroldson clarified they have 10 employees, so they need 10 spots. Lampsa said they have 3 spots in the front and there’s 7 in the middle parking lot to the west that they can use for employee parking. Planner Haroldson stated she just wanted to bring the parking out because they have concerns and the neighbors do too. It’s not screened from the residential houses even though it’s a business district. Maynard said they used to have 100 employees and they had more parking issues back then they have now. They used to run 4 semi’s out of there with deliveries coming in. They also had 6 of their own bakery trucks on the road. Maynard said the complaints about the trailers are not an issue. They can leave. Most of them are his. The parking lot is taken care of. It’s clean. He’s asked the neighbors, the Droegkamp’s, about putting up a fence. Maynard said they are the only ones who should be concerned about it, and they have no problems with it. He has offered to put up a fence already. Any activity in the community is good for his business. Chairman Klink asked if they were going to operate everyday of the week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Is that going to be their limit. Lampsa said they don’t entirely know. That was more of an ambitious estimate. It’s more to give them some breathing room in case they need to come in earlier or stay later. Commissioner Good asked if the building is big enough now to handle all their production if they’re bringing it from Nebraska. Lampsa said it is. They’re actually installing a smaller production line. Right now, they would basically max out the capacity of their small line. If they do outgrow it, or they have other customers, or something else happens, they would either keep producing here or they would also look at other options to compete at capacity. Right now the capacity from what they’re taking is not an issue. Planner Haroldson asked if this was a 5- or 10-year plan. Lampsa said it’s probably a 5-year plan. He said if they invest in making this facility work for them, they’re probably not going to leave that facility, they would just be at capacity elsewhere. To do this all over again, they might as well keep what they have there. Commissioner Griffin asked if they are currently remodeling. Lampsa said they are light remodeling and are working with the Building Inspector. They need a permit for a wall to separate the front office space from the food production area. That provides office space for their employees and a welcoming area for people coming in. and it separates the areas which is required for what they’re doing. They are doing mostly cosmetic – shelving, painting. They do have the framing up. They are operating offices there. Attorney Van Kleunen asked for clarification. He stated they have three parking spaces in the front, and they mentioned there would be parking on the west side of the structure and questioned how many parking spots there would be. Lampsa said up to seven on the west parcel. Maynard said to keep in mind that there are some renters taking spaces too. When they’re talking about boats, he’s assuming that’s one of them. He said he should have rights to retain stuff that he owns there. The public hearing was opened for public comments and concerns. There were none. The public hearing was closed at 6:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Holly R Claas Deputy Clerk