CITY OF WAUPUN

PLAN COMMISSION

MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 MEETING

(Approved 10/21/15)

  1. Call to Order:
    The Plan Commission met at 4:45 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall, Waupun.
  1. Roll Call:
    Members Present: Kyle Clark, Fred Lueck, Richard Flynn, Elton TerBeest, Nancy Vanderkin and Derek Drews
    Member Excused: Jerry Medema
    Staff Present: Zoning Administrator Susan Leahy and City Attorney Daniel VandeZande
  1. Chairman Clark called for the approval of the minutes of the August 19, 2015 meeting. Motion by Vanderkin, seconded by Flynn to approve the minutes of the August 19, 2015 meeting. Motion carried, unanimously, minutes approved.
  1. Public Hearing – Penny Behm – application for a Conditional Use Permit for a retail store as a home occupation at 217 Brandon St. Chairman Clark read the call of the hearing and its purpose. Penny Behm appeared and provided a floor plan of the first floor of her home. City Zoning Administrator Leahy said she has not seen the floor plan, therefore she cannot confirm that this proposed home occupation would or would not exceed the maximum 25% floor area allowed for such a home occupation.
    Ms. Behm indicated she would be using her living room for her general store. She said she would be selling candles, lamps, dinner ware, dishes, T-shirts, TV’s, etc. She would also sell patriotic home decor items. She may also sell candy, do printing and copying, gift wrapping and if the post office allows her, post office services and shipping services. She would also sell cushions for chairs, curtains, etc. She said she has a long driveway so there would be plenty of off street parking. The consensus of the committee is the proposal appears to be a retail store and not a typical home occupation defined in the Code. Furthermore, her neighbors were not notified through the Public Hearing notice about all of the other general merchandise items that she actually intends to sell, which are not produced on the premises. What she is proposing is a retail store in her home and her neighbors should be informed of this proposed use of her home.
    Motion by Clark, seconded by TerBeest to table further discussion on this Conditional Use Permit application until 4:45 pm, Wednesday, October 21, 2015 so Ms. Behm’s neighbors can become more informed of the proposed use of her home. Motion carried, unanimously.
  1. Public Hearing – Conditional Use Permit application for a sign at 315 S. Madison St., Pella Lutheran Church. Chairman Clark, read the call of the hearing and its purpose.
    Representatives from Pella Lutheran Church and Flyway Signs appeared and discussed the proposed replacement sign. They propose to replace their changeable copy board sign having the dimensions of approximately 4’ x 10’ with an approximate 4’ x 8’ electronic sign. They would like to share information about their services and events, as well as share community information. The proposed sign would be slightly smaller than the existing information sign. The staff noted they had received letters and phone calls from neighbors who have concerns on the brightness of the proposed electronic sign.
    Lueck noted that Section 16.11(4) Type 1 sign allows sings for religious institutions provided it does not exceed 8 sq. ft. in area located on the premises. Presently, there are four (4) double faced signs at this location that presently exceeds the maximum size by nearly 100 sq. ft. The new sign will be slightly smaller than the present message board. Lueck said he is not a fan of these electronic signs infront of businesses, especially churches as they remind you of Las Vegas and he feels a church doesn’t need this type of sign.
    Lauren Herlache of Flyway Signs said this sign has a dimmer on it that can be used at night. The sign would scroll messages and has a high resolution display. Dick Flynn noted concerns of neighbors in the area. Some signs in the City turn off at 10:00 pm and some have dawn to dusk lights 24/7. It was suggested that the permit be granted, but revisited after three months to review adjoining neighbors concerns with the lighting.
    Motion by Vanderkin, seconded by TerBeest to grant a Conditional Use Permit for Pella Lutheran Church at 315 S. Madison St. to erect an electronic message board in place of their present message board on the condition that the sign is dimmed at night and that the Plan Commission will revisit the permit after 3 months to see if there are any concerns with the lighting of this sign with the neighbors.
    Vote: Drews, TerBeest, Vanderkin, Flynn, Clark – “AYE”
    Lueck – “NAY”
    Motion carried, 5/1.
  1. Discuss / Approve Site Plan for Waupun Memorial Hospital. A representative speaking for the Waupun Memorial Hospital indicated that they need a larger bulk oxygen storage area for their hyperbaric chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the medical use of oxygen at a level higher than the atmospheric pressure to treat wounds, decompression sickness, and annerobic infections. Waupun Memorial needs a larger oxygen farm then they presently have. The site is to be located on the NW corner of the hospital complex.
    Motion by Flynn, seconded by Drews to approve the site plan to replace the existing oxygen farm on the Waupun Memorial Hospital property, 620 W. Brown St in accordance with the submitted plans, and all necessary local and state approvals. Motion carried, unanimously.
  1. Discuss proposed ordinance for a Billboard Sign. City Attorney Daniel VandeZande discussed a draft ordinance to allow for one billboard advertising sign to be visible to traffic proceeding along Hwy 151. Lueck questioned the word “permitted” in subsection 6 as it conflicts with the term “Conditional Use” later in the draft. Attorney VandeZande agreed “permitted” should be removed. Lueck also questioned the term “off premises” vs. on premises and City owned property vs. private property. He also suggested a definition of a billboard sign should be included in the ordinance and whether there would be a minimum or maximum size for a billboard and the difference between an electronic and non-electronic bill board sign. He also wondered if the explanatory figures for signs at the back of the Zoning Ordinance would be changed to show a figure of this new type of sign such as the present figures of the other type signs allowed by the Ordinance.
    Attorney VandeZande said that he would make some small modifications to the draft and the staff can proceed with setting up the required public hearing for the ordinance amendment and rezoning of the site to a commercial or industrial zone for this type of sign along Hwy 151. A copy of the ordinance draft should also go to the Department of Transportation for their review.
    Motion by Clark, seconded by TerBeest to have Attorney VandeZande discuss the proposed ordinance with the Committee of the Whole. Motion carried, unanimously.
  1. Motion by Vanderkin, seconded by Lueck to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried, meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Fred Lueck

Secretary