OCONTO FALLS – Oconto Falls Main Street Committee is recommending the common council approve changes to the Zoning Ordinance to allow for three-story buildings and smaller apartment units.
The committee, which met Feb. 19, also accepted the resignation of Committee Member Danielle Klein and approved Christine Grzelak as its newest member. Grzelak also serves on the Park and Recreation Board.
Committee Chair Barb Salscheider and member Melanie Rice were absent from the 8 a.m. meeting.
City Administrator Peter Wills said an attorney recommended the Zoning Ordinance focus on what is permitted, instead of what is prohibited. Among the recommended changes include allowing buildings up to 50 feet tall in the Main Street area zoned C-1, which would allow for three-story buildings. They are limited to 45 feet in the current ordinance.
The committee also discussed recommending a minimum size for apartments of 600 square feet, and allowing for small residential spaces in the rear or non-street facing building units.
Wills said other areas of Wisconsin are allowing for even smaller micro housing units for veterans and previously homeless residents. These could be 400-square-foot units in a multiunit housing project, he said. “Let’s say if we did Washington Middle School. It allows you to go down to a 400-square foot building for homeless vets,” he said.
Micro buildings, about the size of the sheds visible on the side of the highway, could be used to create a farmer’s market concept in the Main Street area, Wills said. Vendors, such as cheesemakers, could operate out of a micro building to reduce costs, he added.
The Oconto Falls Common Council approved an update to its comprehensive plan, with Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission assisting with the project, Wills said.
The Main Street Committee approved a recommendation for the common council to eliminate certain commercial uses from the Main Street Zoning Ordinance as they aren’t relevant, such as golf courses, amusement parks and travel trailer parks. Other kinds of travel accommodation businesses, such as hotels, motels and cabins, are allowed.
The committee also discussed expanding the amount of free parking to encourage people to visit Main Street more often. To encourage businesses to locate in the Main Street area, it recommended no longer requiring the Common Council sign off on the number of parking places included in design plans for Main Street businesses. The current ordinance requires one parking space per five seats in a restaurant or public gathering place. The committee proposed eliminating this requirement.
The committee approved a design for a new beach-themed restaurant with a walk-up takeout window. Owners Keith and Mary Davis presented their design plans and said they hope to open their restaurant-and-gift-shop combination retail store by May 1. It will be open seven days a week year-round, though the walk-up window would only operate during the summer, they said.
“While hometown restaurants are not open on Monday, we’re going to be open on Mondays,” Keith Davis said.
The couple is reconfiguring the building, which was built in 1900, to include an apartment in the back of the first floor and the restaurant and gift shop in the front. According to the design plans, shelves presumably intended for gift items will be situated along the walls, while tables will be set in the center of the restaurant.
“I know we’re going to generate a ton of business in the beginning,” Keith Davis said. “Everybody seems to be waiting for us.”
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