By Ben Rodgers
Staff Writer

HOBART – Residents came out for the Tuesday, Feb. 7 meeting of the village board in opposition to storage units.

A proposed storage unit complex on 24 acres at the intersection of Trout Creek Road and North Overland Road was ultimately unanimously approved by the board.

Five people spoke in opposition while one spoke in favor of the development.

“The main concerns were its impact on the rural flavor of that area of the village,” said Aaron Kramer, village administrator, after the meeting. “There were also concerns about security, lighting and appearance.

“The developer assured that there would be a security system in place, a gated fence that only allows owners of storage units to enter, there would be landscaping, and the lighting on the buildings would be light packs, not light towers, and the light would not shine down,” Kramer said.

The storage unit developers are Chad Reader and Lance Vanden Huevel, who formed Hobart Storage LLC.

The project would take place in multiple phases over a number of years.

The first phase, with construction likely to start in spring would be for three units.

Once it is complete it will house a variety of different sized units, numbering between 100 and 125.

“To summarize, the board felt the developers had done their homework in terms of security and landscaping,” Kramer said. “They did indicate last year they had been looking at this project for well over a year, and there was a need for storage units of this variety in the community based on the growth of Hobart overall. Another factor was the location is in the central part of the village, at the mid-way point between the two fastest growing areas in the community.”

As part of the process the board also approved the rezoning of the land from agricultural to light industrial.

There will be a public site plan meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 to discuss and approve different aspects, such as landscaping.

The board also approved another development, this one with no opposition.

The conditional use permit is for a bulk material and equipment storage at 3380 S. Pine Tree Road.

Chad Roffers wants to store raw materials, like sand and gravel, and the equipment needed to move them, before transporting them to customers.

The permit was approved unanimously.

In other news sewerage rates for the village are set to increase by 17 percent.

The Green Bay Sewerage District sets the rate and it is fixed. If the village doesn’t increase the sewerage rate it would be tasked with making up for the shortfalls from other areas of the budget.

This will be formally approved at the March 6 meeting.

The village also discussed the reduction of speed limit on County Trunk J as well as an updated firearms ordinance.

The Press will have more coverage next week on these issues before the next board meeting on Feb. 20.