Tim Ryan tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Two weeks after tabling the request because of a possible conflict with the city code, the Shawano Plan Commission granted a conditional use permit Thursday for a storage facility at Pomp’s Tire Service.
The commission held a public hearing on the request on Oct. 5 and seemed poised to approve it then, but a neighbor’s complaint about noise from the business raised additional issues that put the approval in doubt.
Much of Pomp’s work, including service on semi tractor-trailers and dump trucks, is performed outside, even though the city code requires repairs and other work on vehicles to be done entirely within a closed building.
The business has been in operation at that location, 126 N. Andrews St., since 1965.
A revamped city code went into effect early last year that doesn’t allow for a business like Pomp’s in the zoning district it occupies.
However, the code allowed existing uses to continue even if they were in conflict with the new zoning.
The rub in Pomp’s case was the acquisition of an adjacent lot where the 3,600 square-foot storage facility was being proposed.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said at the Oct. 5 meeting that the new facility could be considered an expansion of its existing non-conforming use.
While non-conforming uses are grandfathered in, they are not allowed to expand their footprint in districts where that use conflicts with the zoning code.
There was some discussion about separating the business and the storage unit into separate parcels, but the city code doesn’t allow for a stand-alone storage unit in that district.
The commission tabled the matter until further research could be done.
The issues holding up approval had apparently all been resolved when the commission called its special meeting Thursday.
“When we spoke to our consulting firm who helped us write the code, reviewed the code, and really what we concluded was, they’re not changing the service itself,” said Assistant City Administrator Eddie Sheppard.
He said the addition of a storage facility doesn’t qualify as an expansion of their service, as long as none of that service is performed on the new parcel being acquired.
The conditional use permit for the new facility was unanimously approved by the commission.
Zoning Administrator and Building Inspector Brian Bunke said he also conducted a sound test to address the noise concerns raised by a neighbor.
“They’re allowed to go 15 decibels over ambient (sound), and it was less than five over ambient,” he said. “So they’re well within their rights as far as the noise level goes.”
The Pomp’s case is not the first time there has been some initial confusion when it comes to interpreting the city’s relatively new zoning code.
Recently, the plan commission was also stalled in granting approval for a bed-and-breakfast facility because of a question over the commission’s authority to limit the permit to the current property owner rather than granting it in perpetuity to the property.
Like Pomp’s, the permit was ultimately approved after the initial delay.
Bunke said after the meeting that it’s not unusual to have some confusion with a new code.
“With every new code, you’re going to have things that you need to re-read several times and make sure that they’re proper,” he said. “That’s part of the growing pains of having a new zoning code. It’s 250 pages, and to get through and know every word that’s in there, it takes a little bit. And every situation is different, so it takes a little bit.”