Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
People interested in reviewing a proposed rewrite of the city’s zoning code have more time to do that after the Shawano Common Council voted Wednesday to delay action on the item.
The Plan Commission recommended approval of the new code, but some concerns were raised about whether the public had enough time for input.
About half a dozen people attended the commission’s public hearing Wednesday; about the same number who attended an open house last month.
Three people spoke, mainly with questions about how residential properties would be buffered from commercial development and what effect the proposed new landscaping requirements would have on getting financing for projects.
But one speaker, Anthony Zielinski, questioned why the city needs to replace a roughly 60-page zoning code with one that’s well over 200 pages.
“Why are we coming out with something that seems to be very complicated?” he said.
Mike Slavney, of consulting firm Vandewalle and Associates, said the new code goes into greater detail, laying out procedures for such things as permits and variances, and has more graphics than the existing code.
Slavney said the additional detail in the code would save the city the cost of additional staff.
“It’s like having a city planner on staff without having to pay one,” he said.
The commission voted 7-1 to recommend the code for adoption to the Common Council. Mayor Lorna Marquardt, who normally chairs the commission, was not present.
Commission member Dave Passel cast the sole no vote, saying more time was needed to review the code.
Realtor Terry Hilgenberg, who did not speak at the public hearing, instead voiced his concerns to the Common Council, which convened after the Plan Commission meeting.
Hilgenberg said he hasn’t reviewed the code and isn’t necessarily opposed to it.
“I’m opposed to how it’s being ram-rodded through this community without public input,” he said.
Alderman Bob Kurkiewicz noted that two council members and the mayor were absent, and suggested the issue could be postponed.
“It would be prudent for us to hold it over,” he said.
The council voted 4-0 to place the item on its December agenda.
The proposed code would replace the one that has been in effect for 31 years.
It would put a premium on landscaping for any new development, setting a score that proposed developments would have to meet. They would get points toward the score for various types of landscaping included in the site plan.
The requirement would only apply to new development and to those portions of existing properties that are significantly remodeled or expanded.
The new code would toss the “legal nonconforming” designation for properties that don’t fit in with the zoning in their neighborhoods.
The code would reserve its most rigid requirements for downtown Shawano, which under the proposed new zoning map would run from the 100 block of North Main Street to Presbyterian Street on the south and would promote two-story storefront buildings with no setback from the sidewalk.
Any proposed renovations, designs or projects in that area would be closely scrutinized by the city, down to which storefront colors would be appropriate.
The code was last adopted in October 1983. Though it has been frequently amended, this is the first complete overhaul in 31 years.
The city budgeted $50,000 for the project.