Casey’s nears end of long road to OK for Port store

After years of delay, it seems as if construction of a Casey’s General at the northwest corner of Grand Avenue and Highway LL in Port Washington may be getting close.

Last week, Casey’s asked the Common Council to approve a one-year extension of its conditional use permit for another year — although Mayor Marty Becker’s request for a split canopy at the convenience store and gas station was not included in the proposal after the company objected.

“It’s just not a do-able option,” Mike Siedsma, an engineer with Casey’s, told aldermen.

Instead, the company agreed to make some cosmetic changes to the canopy area, installing brick columns instead of metal ones and changing the sign configuration — measures that will help break up the canopy’s expanse.

A proposal that the canopy be tan instead of the company’s signature red was rejected by Casey’s officials.

“When you can’t win, you can’t win,” Becker said. “Let’s take the best we can and work with that.”

Becker had sought the split canopy, saying it would make the gas station and convenience store more visually appealing.

The company is decreasing the length of the canopy, from 174 feet to 154 feet, he noted.

During a public hearing on the company’s request for an extension on its conditional use permit, one man expressed concern that the Casey’s will include a car wash, noting there will then be four car washes in a three-mile stretch.

“It seems like adding another one is a bit excessive,” Dave Carpenter said.

“They believe this is a good site for a car wash,” said Lauren Downing, project manager with ARC Design Resources, which is designing the store for Casey’s.

Because aldermen did not have the needed revisions to the site plan in hand, they postponed action on the company’s request.

And on Tuesday, the Board of Public Works required Casey’s to install a left-turn lane on the eastbound lanes of Highway 33 after Marc Eernisse, owner of the neighboring Eernisse Funeral Home, said he has seen a number of near-misses on the highway in front of his business.

“Even without the increased traffic from Casey’s, there have been a number of close calls,” he said.

The situation is exacerbated by the trees in the median, which make it difficult for drivers to see traffic crossing there, Eernisse said.

“I don’t know that it’s necessary, but I understand the desire for it,” Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said.

Part of the problem is that traffic in that area is going faster than the posted 25 mph limit, Ald. Mike Gasper, a board member, said.

There will be more development in the area, and the turn lane will help deal with the potential future need for it, Ald. John Sigwart, another board member, said.

“I think the prudent thing is to bite the bullet,” he said, and install the turn lane.

“I would rather do it now and have people say it doesn’t make sense than need it down the road and not have it,” Ald. Pat Tearney, a member of the board, said. “I think it would be safer.”

The Board of Public Works also agreed to relinquish its access rights to the Casey’s parcel along Highway LL.

The city had purchased the access rights for $1 from the Department of Transportation when it appeared it may be constructing a street there, Vanden Noven said.

Since that isn’t happening, the DOT sought to reclaim the access rights, which it will then sell to Ozaukee County for the Casey’s development, he said.

Casey’s has proposed constructing a roughly 4,286-square-foot red brick building with a hip roof. The building would have stone pillars in front and a car wash in back. Six gas pumps with a total of 12 filling stations would be in front of the building.