Damakant Jayshi
The Wausau City Council on Tuesday sent a proposal to rezone a segment of Stark Street back to the Plan Commission amid concerns over safety and heavy commercial vehicles moving through the street.
The proposal would rezone property from two-flat residential to an urban mixed zone, making way for a parking lot at 519 Stark St. But some alders and a neighborhood resident are opposed to the plan as it now stands.
Alders Becky McElhaney and Lisa Rasmussen said they opposed the rezoning because that would likely open doors to commercial vehicles passing through an alley, putting residents with small children and students from a nearby school at risk.
The lot was purchased by Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Homes and Cremation Services last year. According to documents shared at the Plan Commission in May, the owner of the funeral home, Greg Zoromski, wants to construct a new parking lot at the site.
Residents Richard and Elizabeth LeClair live at a property adjacent to the proposed parking lot. They petitioned the mayor and the Plan Commission, among others, in May objecting to the rezoning. In their petition, the LeClairs said the commercial parking lot would lead to vendors for the funeral home trying to exit into the alley, which could lead to safety issues.
Dustin Vreeland from Vreeland Associate Land Surveyors & Engineers told the commission that there is only one exit and no vehicle could use the alley. Vreeland, who is spearheading the design, repeated that assertion at the council meeting on Tuesday.
The Plan Commission approved the rezoning on May 16 after City Planner Brad Lenz said the proposal was about rezoning and not the design of the parking lot. The owners will have to come back to the commission and the council with the design. The city could then decide to approve or reject the proposal.
On Tuesday, Randy Fifrick, economic development manager from the city’s Department of Community Development, circled back to the distinction that was pointed out by Lenz. Fifrick told City Council that there are two separate issues – zoning changes and the design of the lot. He also cautioned the council about the implication of rejecting rezoning recommendations from city staff. The Assistant City Planner had recommended the rezoning to the Plan Commission, saying it fits with the city’s zoning code.
“You need to tie back (to) the criteria that is on our zoning code,” Fifrick said on Tuesday, after alders repeated their concerns. “Just be careful of what you are trying to do.”
Alder Michael Martens agreed with the city staff on the message going out and said this was the third rezoning request in recent months that the council was discussing.
“This is going to have a chilling effect on development in the city,” Marten said, adding that developers might not bring forward projects for development if they think the city will not consider any rezoning request. He said he is against micro-managing requests but remained open to the Plan Commission taking a look at the proposal again.
Both McElhaney and Rasmussen said they are aware of the need for business but also wanted to ensure the safety of residents. McElhaney said she is open to approving the parking lot proposal but not in the form it was before the council.
Before the vote to refer the matter back to the Plan Commission, Rasmussen said the Plan Commission should address all concerns expressed at the council on Tuesday and bring back a new proposal that addresses the issues. Initially, she had proposed tabling the proposal to allow the staff time to rework the proposal.
The vote was 8-2, with Alders Lou Larson and Dawn Herbst voting against the motion to send the proposal back to the Plan Commission. Larson, who is chair of the Capital Improvements and Street Maintenance Committee, wanted the matter referred to CISM, saying it involved infrastructure. Herbst is a member of the Plan Commission that had approved the rezoning request on May 16. One alder was absent on Tuesday.
