Panel pans plan for sprawling subdivision

Mequon developer Cindy Shaffer’s plans for The Farm, a subdivision she hopes to build on the former Schanen farm land on Highway 33 on Port Washington’s far west side, took a major hit last week when the city’s Plan Commission voted unanimously to reject a preliminary plat for the development.

Now the fate of what would be one of the largest residential developments in the city is uncertain.

Noting she is up against a key deadline in February, Shaffer said before the vote,  “If it does not get approved tonight ... the potential for it not moving forward is there.”

Commission members had virtually nothing good to say about the plan from Shaffer Development, which they said was pedestrian, lacked creativity and did not incorporate enough single-family housing.

“This was supposed to be a traditional neighborhood plan, smaller lots, more affordable housing,” commission member Mike Ehrlich said. “We kind of lost that character completely.

“You’re losing really what made this development unique. Now it feels like it is like any other subdivision. I was really excited about where we were going with this (originally). Where it ended up is disappointing.”

Mayor Ted Neitzke, chairman of the commission, concurred.

“This lacks all the creativity we had approved when we chose this developer,” he said.

The city put out a request for proposals to develop the land specifically looking for a dense development “to create a quaint, small neighborhood,” he said.

Commission members also voted against recommending the necessary rezoning for the project, putting Shaffer in a difficult position as she tries to meet deadlines approved by the Common Council for the project.

Earlier this month, aldermen agreed to  extend the timeline for a completed developer’s agreement to Feb. 21, and to do that an approved plat and rezoning is required. The time allowed for her to satisfy contract contingencies was extended to May 7 and the deadline to buy the property from the city to Aug. 29.

Shaffer’s original plan for the Farm includes 360 residential units — 100 single-family homes, 253 apartments and 10 townhouses.

That plan was later amended to include 105 single-family lots, 10 townhouses and 161 apartments.

But Shaffer’s latest plan calls for the Farm to include 71 single-family houses, 12 townhouses and 175 apartments.

Her original street plan included alleys behind many of the houses, Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said, adding the single-family lots increased from roughly 4,100 square feet to 7,145 square feet.

Other major changes include an east-west street orientation and connecting Laura Lane in the neighboring Bley Park Estates subdivision to a new road on the east side of the Farm.

“I’m not sold on the new rendition,” Ald. Paul Neumyer, a member of the commission, said.

He lamented the loss of the alleys, saying, “The new proposal, it seems like there’s going to be a lot of concrete in front of the homes. That’s not really what I’m looking for.”

Ald. Dan Benning told the commission that he, too, opposes the new plan for the development.

“My concern is we went from 100 houses down to 70. I don’t like that,” he said. “We’re in a cycle where we need housing people can afford.

“I would not support this.”

Officials weren’t the only ones opposed to the plan. Several residents of the Bley Park Estates subdivision also criticized the latest proposal, especially the extension of Laura Lane.

Former Port mayor Mark Dybdahl, 247 Brian Ct., told the commission, “the one word that comes to mind is flawed.

“I always expected (the property) to be developed. I expected it to be something more compatible with what we have,” he added, noting the density is greater than expected.

“I was wondering if it might just be a wall of homes with people looking across at each other. As I looked at the whole project, there’s not much imagination. It’s just blocks of homes. It sure doesn’t look like much compared to the other subdivisions we’ve seen.”

Another former mayor, Scott Huebner, 1771 Laura La., said he is “very disappointed” the extension of Laura Lane is being discussed, saying the street is already a hazard in winter when the elevation makes it difficult to traverse and extending it would only make the situation worse.

That change was done at the behest of city staff members, Harris said, to create a more efficient distribution of traffic, avoid a cul de sac — something the city’s master plan says should be a last option —and to make it easier to loop utilities.

If the city were to allow a disconnected Laura Lane, he added, it would set a precedent for roads elsewhere in the city.

But the lack of single-family houses and alleys was the focus of much of the discussion.

Thirty fewer houses “really disappoints me,” Ehrlich said.

“That’s a whole neighborhood,” Neitzke said after the meeting, adding the city needs affordable single-family housing and plans for it were one reason it chose to work with Shaffer on the Schanen property development.

Shaffer, who noted this is the fourth iteration of her plan to be considered by officials, told commission members the current plan is the most feasible based on a marketing study they conducted and conversations with five local builders and a real estate agent.

“It’s really market driven,” she said. “We didn’t see a huge demand for a product with alleys. None of the builders were interested in building on the narrow lots with alleys.”

And, she said, alleys would make the project more expensive because it requires more streets to be built and decreases the size of the lots, and it makes the entire development more risky since the lots may not sell.

“Profitability is not our job,” Neitzke said. “Our job is to protect Port Washington and make sure this is a design we want and desire and our community will accept and will help us to grow in the direction we want.”

Shaffer said, “I’m not talking profitability. I’m talking feasibility.”

She stressed that the development as proposed would add $61.8 million to the city’s tax rolls and bring in $900,000 in city taxes.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year with your team,” she said. “This would really be an amenity to your city. It’s disappointing to hear that you do not want to approve it. We’re ready to go.”

A motion to approve the preliminary plat died for lack of a second, and although commission members considered tabling the project they ultimately turned it down because it is significantly different from the original concept plan approved earlier this year.