Change canopy in exchange for permit, city tells Casey’s

The Port Washington Plan Commission last week recommended extending a conditional use permit for a Casey’s General Store proposed for the city’s west side — but with one tweak to the design of the gas station and convenience store.

Commission members unanimously agreed to extend the permit if Casey’s splits the canopy over the gas pumps into two separate canopies.

Mayor Marty Becker, the commission chairman, said the question of dividing the canopy in two had come up at virtually every meeting in which the Casey’s design plan was considered. 

Splitting the canopy reduces the mass and would make the site look better, he said.

“I like that look,” Becker said, noting the Casey’s in Fredonia has a split canopy. “I like the aesthetic.

“Can you split the canopy?”

Commission members agreed that a divided canopy would improve the look of the proposed store.

“It doesn’t look as much like it’s on a highway,” commission member Eric Ryer said. “It’s been done in Fredonia, so it can be done here.”

Commission member Tony Matera echoed those comments, adding, “That’s our community entrance.”

Casey’s has proposed building a 4,286-square-foot red brick gas station, store and car wash at the northwest corner of Grand Avenue, also known as Highway 33, and Highway LL, on land the company is buying from Ozaukee County. 

Eric Nichols, a site development manager for Casey’s, told the commission that the split canopy is “not prototypical of what we do.”

Fredonia’s store was built that way because of the access, he said, adding that the split canopy is a more expensive option.

“It’s not something we necessarily desire,” he said.

To that, Becker responded, “How about if the mayor desires it?”

Ald. Paul Neumyer, a member of the commission, said, “I don’t think we’re asking for a lot. The split canopy is what I’d like to see.”

“It really will be a much nicer project if you break it up,” commission member Mike Ehrlich said.

In its request for an extension for the conditional use permit, Casey’s noted that is reducing the size of the canopy. Instead of being 174 feet long, it said, the canopy would be 154 feet due to reduced spacing between the gas pumps.

Other changes proposed in the request were reducing the size of the dumpster, moving a landscaped area to facilitate deliveries and increasing the size of the curb head on the site.

This is the second extension of the conditional use permit sought by Casey’s. 

“The delay is due not to Casey’s but to the Department of Transportation and the county,” Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and design, said.

Questions of how to access the site have caused many of the delays in the project.

Harris noted that the DOT and county are still negotiating a number of points, and said  “Casey’s is in the middle waiting for it to be resolved.”

“It appears they’re near agreement,” Harris said, adding the issues could be resolved in the next few months.

The Plan Commission’s recommendation will be considered by the Common Council when it meets in September.