Town of Germantown

Planning Commission Meeting

MINUTES

Town of Germantown Town Hall
N7560 17th Avenue
New Lisbon, WI 53950
September 8, 2021

Present: Commission Chair Shannon Armel, Commissioners Keith Korbein, Ken Jax, Mick McCormick, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Michaele Korbein

Absent:  Commissioners Gervase Thompson and Mick McCormick, Zoning Administrator Dick Martin

Guests: William Bittner

Call to Order

Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chairperson Shannon Armel at the Germantown Town Hall at 5:35 p.m.

 Pledge

Possible approval of meeting minutes.

Mick McCormick made a motion, seconded by Ken Jax, to approve the August 12, 2021 minutes.  Motion passed 3-0.

Work session on signs, sign ordinance and sign fees from fee schedule.

Discussion included review of previous items discussed for changes and changes to the Fee Schedule.

-Section 5(A)(6)(e) had the following in parenthesis added, to now read:  “… directional, (including ATV, UTV, and snowmobile signs), and…”.

-Section 6.0 under ‘General Standards’ was the location noted where it was added that “Only one on-premises advertisement allowed per business/property”.

-Section 5(A)(3)   “The Zoning Administrator shall act within 30 days…” was to be changed to “The Zoning Administrator shall approve or deny within 30 days…”. 

-Section 5(A)5  “If there is a public hearing, the Zoning Administrator’s decision may be delayed until 45 days after the application.” was replaced with “The Zoning Administrator may take up to 45 days from the application.”

-Section 5(A)(6)(a)(4)  A capital “S” was added to the “ hall be…”.   

-Section 5(A)(6)(a)(5)   The latter part of the sentence was removed:  “and shall not project higher than the highest permanent freestanding sign on the property.”

-Section 5(F)(1)  Wording of “Sign Owner” to be changed to “Sign Officer” throughout.

-Section 6(A)(1) was removed, so then Sections 6(A)(2) and 6(A)(3) will be re-numbered as 6(A)(1) and 6(A)(2).

-Section 6(A) does state that the # of on-premises signs allowed is 1 per business on the property. 

-Section 6(G) does state that the # of off-premises signs allowed is 2 per a business.

-The responsibilities and wording of “Sign Officer” vs “Zoning Administrator” will be reviewed throughout and wording will be adjusted.

-Section 5(F)  “Sign Officer” wording to be changed to “Sign Owner”.

-Political signs must be removed with 5 days after an election. 

-Construction signs can be up during construction and must be removed after completed.

-Section #5 (A) (6) (a) (1) was revisited, that discussion was tabled on, from last month re: developers with hundreds of lots and signs on each individual lot, plus a big sign near the development’s entrance showing lots for sale.  The question was if and how the big signs were originally permitted.  If not permitted, then they are illegal as they are larger than the allowed size for exempted signs.  We would need to see if they are permitted as permanent or temporary; if, temporary, then they would be illegal as they would be up longer than the 30 days allowed for temporary signs.

To help know more of what are sign and other permits are being issued, Ken Jax made a motion, seconded by Keith Korbein, to recommend that the Zoning Administrator make his monthly report to the Board to be more detailed to include types of permits issued for signs, new construction, remodeling/additions, driveways, conditional use, and any other.  Motion passed 3-0.

 Adjourn.

Next meeting will be September 23, 2021 immediately following the 5:30pm public hearing for a conditional use permit for CitySide Storage.

 Ken Jax made a motion, seconded by Keith Korbein, to adjourn at 6:33pm.  Motion carried 3-0.

 Respectfully Submitted,

Michaele Korbein

Deputy Clerk/Treasurer