Port council to consider height exception for house addition

The Port Washington Common Council will consider whether to allow an addition to a building across from the Niederkorn Library to exceed the 35-foot height limit.

Both the Design Review Board and Plan Commission recently recommended the approval of an exception to the height limit, noting a rooftop addition will bring the height of the building to 42-1/2 feet.

The building at 313 W. Grand Ave. is currently a single-story structure. 

Without the rooftop addition, the building would be less than the 35 feet, Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

The height of the building is in line with several others on the street, including a three-story apartment building at 220 W. Grand Ave. and the Tello’s restaurant building at 200 W. Grand Ave., as well as the library across the street, Harris said.

Plans presented by Nick Suddendorf of Fine Line Carpentry on behalf of owner Scott and Stina Bretl call for a two-story residential addition over the main floor commercial space. The rooftop sunroom addition would serve as a deck atop the building.

“They (the owners) really want a rooftop deck,” Suddendorf said.

He noted that the rooftop addition would be set back from the street-side of the building.

“From the street, you really won’t see that,” he told the Plan Commission.

Commission member Brenda Fritsch said she likes that fact.

“I think it’ll be well hidden,” she said. "I like this infill project. It’s well thought out.”

Mayor Marty Becker said he, too, believes it is a “good project,” noting it won’t block views from the library, which is across the street and taller than the house. That, he said, was his major concern with the project.

“It is really neat,” he said. “It’ll be an asset to the downtown area.”

Design Review Board members complemented the plan as well.

“The building really needs to be updated and turned into something. I think this does that,” architect Mike Ehrlich, a member of the board, said.
“I think it’s kind of unique with the rooftop deck.

“Conceptually, the height doesn’t scare me. I think it would be all right in that neighborhood.”

Architect and board member Jeremy Hartline said that while he believes the design “works,” the top unit is a bit boxy.

Suddendorf said final plans for the building are still being developed, noting the plan presented to the board is a conceptual one.

“Right now, it’s really a cube,” he acknowledged, adding that bumpouts and bays are under consideration for the addition.

The main-floor commercial uses would remain, Suddendorf added, while the top floors would comprise a residential unit.

The new look fits the area, board member Melissa Didier said.