Council gives brewpub developer what he wants

The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday overruled a Plan Commission recommendation and voted 5-2 to approve an amended developer’s agreement that will allow Inventors Brewpub to be built to the lot line on the city’s north harbor slip.

The agreement removes a 5-foot no-build easement on the west side of the property and the requirement that a triangular area on the southwest corner of the property not be developed.

The Plan Commission had recommended retaining the no-build easement, saying it would make the adjoining public walkway a more inviting place and noting that the developer and architect knew of the restriction when planning the building.

But Adam Draeger, owner of Inventors, told the council that the space is needed to allow the building to be large enough to accommodate the 10-barrel craft brewpub, a 250-seat event space with another 100 seats on the mezzanine above, bride and groom rooms that could double as green rooms for performance groups and 8,500-square feet of office space.

Both the brewpub and the Blues Factory, which was formerly planned for the property, were to be built to the property line, Draeger said. 

But, he said, while the Blues Factory offered a tall brick wall against the pedestrian walkway to the west, Inventors has a gable design that makes it look and feel less massive and creates a more inviting feeling next to the walkway.

The 5-foot setback was negotiated with the Blues Factory after a plan was unveiled to convert the adjacent shopping center into condominiums. The city in 2018 sought for the setback, which would have offered lake views for the condos, and in turn eliminated a development timetable for the Blues Factory.

Ald. John Sigwart, who with Ald. Mike Gasper cast the dissenting votes, argued that the matter should be sent back to the Plan Commission.

“This is the first time I can recall that a Plan Commission site plan was disapproved by this council,” Sigwart said, adding he felt the commission did an “inferior job” reviewing the plan. 

City Attorney Eric Eberhardt told the council that the Plan Commission recommendation was based on the 5-foot no-build easement, but if the council eliminates that clause the commission’s recommendation is effectively rendered moot.

Ald. Jonathan Pleitner argued that the commission’s recommendation is just that, a recommendation.

The Inventors’ design, he said, will appear softer from the street and less forboding to the public.

“I want to get this project moving,” Pleitner said as he made the motion to approve the amended agreement. “I want to realize that tax revenue.”

Aldermen were urged by Amy Otis Wilborn, 223 E. Pier St., to slow down the process and not use tax incremental financing for the project. [See related story: https://ozaukeepress.com/content/residents-aim-force-vote-brewpub-tif-bo...

Otis Wilborn told aldermen that the city has ignored residents’ feelings about the project for years and, given how quickly the Inventors proposal has moved through the system, it’s difficult to keep track of what’s happening. 

“Our message, my message, is to stop funding projects that developers should be paying for,” she said. 

Ald. Deb Postl also expressed concern that the developer’s rendering did not provide a completely accurate drawing of the building.

“How can we vote if we don’t have the information?” she asked, questioning, among other items, landscaping shown in the drawings on the west side of the building that won’t be included since the structure will take up the entire lot. “Moving forward, I would like to request we have accurate drawings.”

The amendment approved Tuesday allows the city to use either bonding or a State Trust Fund loan to provide an $835,000 incentive to Gertjan van den Broek’s TBF Development, which owns the property and will construct the Inventors building.

The city agreed to pay a $1 million TIF incentive when a developer’s agreement for the Blues Factory was approved in 2016. The city is currently looking at an $835,00 incentive because a portion of the $1 million was used to repair the harbor wall in the area and to finance the purchase of the lot.

The city recently agreed in principle to bond for the incentive funding, but City Administrator Tony Brown said the council will also take up a measure on March 15 that would allow it to borrow from the State Trust Fund.

The incentive will be repaid through increased taxes on the property, with the developer required to make up the difference in years when the increased taxes aren’t enough to pay the debt service.

The amendments are conditioned on TBF Development closing on its construction loan and executing at least a 10-year lease with Inventors by June 30. 

If those conditions aren’t met, the no-build easement and other terms of the agreement approved Tuesday will be moot, officials said.

Gasper attempted to further amend the developer’s agreement with a clause that called for the incentive to be reduced incrementally — to $750,000 immediately, $500,000 on June 30, 2023, $500,000 on June 30, 2025, $250,000 on June 30, 2027 and nothing after that —  if TBF Development does not meet the June 20 deadline.

Without that clause, he said, the city will be obligated to provide $1 million in tax incremental financing incentives without adequate time for the TIF district to repay the funds before it ends.

“My concern is we’re running out of time to pay it back,” he said. “In exchange for giving them the whole parcel (to build on), reinstate the timeline.”

Eberhardt said that in negotiations with the developer’s attorney, he has seen the loan documents and “all is in readiness to proceed very soon with this development.”

Gasper, whose amendment failed on a 5-2 vote, and Sigwart also expressed concern that the terms of the amendment were negotiated without council input.

“This is the first time we’ve discussed this,” he said, adding that this would have been the ideal topic for a closed session. “I think we’re putting the cart before the horse.”

Sigwart added, “We did not participate in the negotiations. How did it come about that the five feet went away?”