Plan for west-side Port subdivision draws protests

A crowd of people living in the Greystone subdivision on Port Washington’s west side told the city’s Plan Commission last week that changes need to be made to the proposed Freier Fields development before the development is approved.

One of the biggest complaints residents had of the proposed subdivision, which would be built north of Sunset Road and west of Amber Lane, is that there is only one entrance to the development.

Traffic in their neighborhoods will increase because of this, they said, and the speed of vehicles racing through will increase as well.

“Being on Greystone Drive, it becomes a racetrack,” Pauline O’Keefe, 598 Greystone Dr., said. “My husband and I are amazed at how people fly through there.”

And the increased traffic from the new subdivision, she said, will stress the existing roads.

“We’re going to be increasing traffic beyond what those streets can handle,” she said.

Scott Ziegler, 1631 Granite La., estimated that the new subdivision will add roughly 1,000 trips through Amber and Willow lanes each day.

“I’m not anti-development, but it needs to be developed the right way,” he said. “This layout is an access nightmare. We would be looking at dead-end streets for a decade (before they are connected to other streets to create through roads).”

Ald. Dan Benning, 1012 Jade St., said that the dead-end streets are a major concern, adding that an entrance off Sunset Road needs to be incorporated into the design.

“I think that needs to be taken into consideration,” he said. “I look at the dead-end streets and it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

Ross Brooks, 1029 Greystone Dr.,  said the city shouldn’t approve this subdivision until it knows what will be done with the city-owned Schanen Farm property to the north, saying that could affect the road layout.

Several residents noted that there is no common area in the subdivision for children to play and suggested that a playground be incorporated into the development.

“We’re going to surround our children with concrete and tight roads otherwise,” Ethan Deutsch, 821 Amber La., said.

Tim Blakeslee, 791 Amber La., called the subdivision design “cookie cutter.”

“These lots are jammed together, no doubt,” he said, adding that one or two could be eliminated to accommodate changes in the road design.

Other residents questioned the stormwater plan, saying they fear that the wetlands near their houses will be overwhelmed in a storm and cause flooding.

“When we get these rains, the 100 year storms that are happening every five years, they’re going to flood,” Michelle Klug, 910 Greystone Dr., said.

Developer Scott Batchelor, who represents the Taylor family, which owns the land, told the crowd that he understands their concerns and realizes changes need to be made.

That’s one reason why he asked the city to look at the subdivision plan before formally submitting it for commission consideration, he said.

“We wanted to get the input before we brought anything formal to the city,” he said.

Batchelor said he is considering changing a temporary construction road that would connect to Sunset Road into a permanent street, which would create a second entrance, and realizes a north-south street should also be developed in the subdivision.

Construction traffic will be notified to stay off the existing streets, he said.

In regard to flooding concerns, Batchelor said that the retention pond will be engineered to handle runoff from the subdivision so it doesn’t flood neighboring properties. 

“No one wants that,” he said.

There are still many steps to be taken before the subdivision becomes reality. The land, which is currently in the Town of Port Washington, would have to be annexed to the city. 

The land would need to be rezoned and plans for the project approved.

Mayor Ted Neitzke, the commission chairman, said one thing is key to approval of the plan.

“I think it’s going to be critical to take the neighbor’s input into consideration,” he said.

Batchelor told the crowd that his goal is to start construction in spring.