Town of Germantown

Town of Germantown

Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

June 30, 2026

Present: Commission Chairperson Keith Korbein, Commissioners, Tamaya Loewe, Mike Edwards,

Joe Witmer, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Michaele Korbein

Absent:  Zoning Administrator Dick Martin       

Also present:   owner of Rise-N-Grind, owner of Germantown Junction Store, Brad Pavloski,

Mark Loewe, Luke Bacher

–Call to Order

The Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chairperson Keith Korbein at the Germantown Town Hall at 5:30pm.

–Pledge of Allegiance

–Verification of proper posting  Michaele Korbein verified proper posting in three places and online. 

–Possible approval of meeting minutes

Joe Witmer made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 11, 2026 Planning Commission Public Hearing and the June 11, 2026 Planning Commission meeting, seconded by Mike Edwards; motion passed 4/0. 

–Discussion and possible approval of fees/fines for Ordinance 64 Short Term Rental and Ordinance 65 Room Tax

Noted possible correction might be needed for wording of what was approved for fees/fines for Ordinance 64 from the last meeting.  All reviewed and let the wording stand.

–Implementation of STR and RT ordinances and applications

 Updated STR application, STR certificate, and RT forms were reviewed, with several adjustments to be made:  on the STR application, remove the fifth item/checkbox from the STR application and in the compliance statement, change the word “ordinance” to “ordinances”; on the STR certificate, change the word “Expiry” to “Expiration” and fill in the date since all will expire on same date; and then leave the RT forms as is.  Joe Witmer made a motion, seconded by Mike Edwards, to approve the applications and forms as adjusted; motion passed 4/0.

As for implementation, these forms and fees as approved last meeting will be put on the Town Board’s agenda for their approval. Also, the Town Board will appoint an interim tourism board.

–Discussion on Transient/Peddlers permit/license

Conditional use permits may be required, depending on what is already permitted for the location where a transient/peddler business may want to be, what they want to do there, and per what is allowed in the Zoning Ordinance Use table.  A Conditional Use permit is for specific use on the land, not on the business, until the use is no longer being done. Discussed making a simpler permitting process instead.  Mobile food truck/trailer vendors should have their state and county permits.  One concern is on them operating short-term or long-term on another businesses’ property.  Further discussion is needed on how to regulate, length of time doing business in the town, types of businesses allowed, etc.  Need to look at what other municipalities and the county do/allow and how they permit.

–Training

Chairperson  Keith Korbein and Deputy Clerk Michaele Korbein attended the Zoning Board of Adjustment & Appeals Workshop at Waushara County presented by Lynn Markham, who is a Land Use Specialist at UW Stevens Point.  First, there was light discussion on zoning, noting that a Zoning Board of Appeals would handle variance applications, not a planning commission.  Then, discussion continued with the workshop’s main focus of  how to decide on variances, standards for variances, incorporating town recommendations, and how to create legally defensible decisions, followed by working through several variance scenarios.  This information is also in the Zoning Board Handbook 2^nd Edition 2006 that members should have.  A link to this Variance information and the training video similar to what was presented will be forwarded to the members to view. 

–Next Meeting  The next meeting date will be Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 5:30pm.

–Adjourn  The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted by

Michaele Korbein, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer