Riverside Dr. land rezoned for residential development

A 9.5-acre portion of property along North Riverside Drive in the Village of Saukville will be rezoned from retail to single-family residential contingent on an Ozaukee County project that would raise part of the road out of a floodplain.

The Village Board on Aug. 17 unanimously approved the rezoning request by property owner Luke Check, concurring with a recommendation from the Plan Commission.

The 9.5-acre portion of the 40-acre property is located along a portion of North Riverside Drive, or County Highway W, that lies in a floodplain.

For emergency vehicles to safely access the future residential property, the road must be lifted out of the floodplain.

Ozaukee County Highway Commissioner Jon Edgren said that after heavy rains, the road often becomes inundated with five or six feet of water.

The rezoning will go into effect immediately after reconstruction of the road is completed.

Edgren said work on the road is not likely to begin until spring 2023.

He said the county is still early in the design process for determining how to best raise the road by three or four feet and reduce flooding on the street after heavy storms.

Edgren said one concern is that raising the road may cause water to pool elsewhere.

“It may impact other properties,” he said.

Once the rezone is completed, it is expected that a single-family home will be constructed on the property.

The rezoning will not go into effect if the road project is not completed by Nov. 1, 2024.