Town of Germantown
Official Website of the Town of Germantown, Juneau County, WIPlanning Commission Meeting
MINUTES
Town of Germantown Town Hall
N7560 17th Avenue
New Lisbon, WI 53950
April 13, 2022
5:30 p.m.
Present: Commission Chair Shannon Armel, Commissioners Ken Jax, Keith Korbein, Mick McCormick, Gervase Thompson Zoning Administrator Dick Martin, Mick McCormick, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Michaele Korbein
Absent: None
Guests: Kevin Hoag and Steve Laridaen of Lake-N-Woods
Other members of the public
-Call to Order
Planning Commission meeting was called to order by chairperson Shannon Armel at the Germantown Town Hall at 5:30 pm.
-Pledge of Allegiance
-Possible approval of meeting minutes.
Keith Korbein made a motion, seconded by Mick McCormick, to approve the minutes from the March 2, 2022 Planning Commission meeting. Motion passed 5-0.
Ken Jax made a motion, seconded by Keith Korbein, to approve the minutes from the March 2, 2022 Planning Commission public hearing. Motion passed 5-0.
-Discussion and possible approval of Petition to Re-zone Lake N Woods property at 40th St. & Zilinski Lane
Questions asked of Kevin Hoag and Steve Laridaen:
Will the 70’ setback sound barrier will be the current trees -yes.
Will this be for permanent seasonal camping -yes.
Does this have Sanitary District approval -yes. Minutes show where the Town Board approved it to be accepted into Sanitary District #1.
Are there rules of the park -yes, in the packet provided.
There are two points of entry/exit off of Zilinski. Will there be an emergency exit on the west side (on 40th) -yes, only for emergency. It is not mapped out yet.
Comparison made between Summer Hideaway and this proposal.
Is a drainage plan available -no, it is pending the outcome of this meeting.
It will have some water features in it.
Discussed information on spot zoning, definition, and that a proposed use needs to be consistent and alignment with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. So, it fits the overall use in comprehensive plan as the town is recreational; but the Land Use map says the area should be residential.
Per the assessor, area taxes on neighboring parcels should not be affected by a change in zoning here.
The proposal will be available for the public.
Question on how the re-zoning process works with the County: The Town’s Planning Commission makes their decision and recommendation for the Town Board, if approved it then goes to the County for the special exception permit for wetlands, and if approved there then it goes back to the Town Board. Conditions can be put on their conditional use permit.
Question on how much weight should be put on the public’s input from the hearing. Note that a decision on this tonight will not set a precedence for other projects.
Ken Jax made a motion to grant the Petition to rezone Lake N Woods property at 40th St. & Zilinski Lane and recommends same to the Town Board, seconded by Mick McCormick. Motion passed: 4 approve, 1 against.
-Discussion and possible approval of a Conditional Use Permit for Lake N Woods property at 40th St. & Zilinski Lane
Ken Jax made a motion, seconded by Mick McCormick, to approve a Conditional Use permit for an RV (recreational vehicle) park on the Lake N Woods property at 40th St. & Zilinski Lane, subject to County and DNR approval, and recommends same to the Town Board. Motion passed: 4 approve, 1 against.
-Work session re: camping in Camping Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance and Nuisance Ordinance
Verbiage from the camping ordinance is being incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance, essentially the definitions section and section 3 of the Camping ordinance into a new section 2.9 of the Zoning ordinance. Conditional Use chart needs to be in editable Word format so that can also be updated. Attorney Curran relayed to Shannon that the Town can continue to do camping permits with it being in the Zoning ordinance. Those changes to the Zoning ordinance will be made in red for the next meeting.
-Work session on Short Term Rentals and on fees/fines in Fee Schedule
Question what the purpose was of regulating short term rentals -safety and revenue stream. If room tax is collected, 70% of it must be used for marketing and tourism, promotion, development for the transients, also a convention center. Town is already a recreational area; question if it needs additional publicity or a convention center, and do we really need to encourage visitors.
Question if there could be a license or flat fee and how those fees could be used.
Question if to require a room tax, would the affected property have to be re-zoned.
Thoughts were to leave this alone, as may not be worth the hassle, especially in administering it, and it could possibly even cost the Town to have this. The Town has enough other ordinances that can cover issues that arise from renting. WI State Statutes 66.0615 covers room tax, for anyone to read.
This subject will be tabled.
-Adjourn.
Next meeting will be April 20, 2022 after the two public hearings.
Keith Korbein made a motion to adjourn seconded by Ken Jax. Motion passed 5-0.
Meeting adjourned at 6:30 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michaele Korbein
Deputy Clerk/Treasurer