By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – The village board approved a pair of motions Tuesday, July 28, for a new Bergstrom Subaru dealership to be built at the former Mack Truck site at 761 Pilgrim Way.
After holding two public hearings, the board agreed to vacate Pilgrim Way Access Road on the north side of the property and backed a conditional use permit (CUP) for the project.
Bergstrom Automotive requested the road vacation to increase the developable area of the property to accommodate the redevelopment and stated in a letter to the village it will accept the costs associated with doing so and any related legal descriptions or legal recording fees.
Trustee Mark Williams, who questioned whether the village could be responsible for any contamination that might be found along Pilgrim Way Access Road, made a motion to vacate the road contingent upon Bergstrom entering into an agreement in which the village wouldn’t be responsible for any aspect of the vacation, including contamination.
A CUP is required because the property is zoned B-3 Community Business where selling automobiles is a conditional use.
Along with vacating Pilgrim Way Access Road, the project plans call for razing the existing structures and removing and replacing the existing parking lot.
In addition, driveway access for the dealership at the southeast corner of Pilgrim Way and Holmgren Way will only be on Holmgren Way with the existing driveway cut reduced from approximately 94 feet to 65 feet and serve as the primary entrance.
A secondary driveway will be located on the southwest corner of the Subaru dealership property, and there will be no on-street loading or unloading of vehicles.
The planned exterior building materials include metal panels, precast concrete wall panels, stone veneer, an aluminum storefront system, slate and a painted split-face concrete masonry unit with all metal panels using concealed fasteners.
Red-D-Mix permit
In other action, the board approved a CUP for Red-D-Mix’s existing concrete plant at 2885 Allied Street, which is zoned I-2 Heavy Industry.
Though the plant was in existence prior to the zoning ordinance and continued to operate as a legal, non-conforming use, Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said the CUP was requested to replace the existing batch plant and install a new silo, because any expansion of that use requires it to comply with the existing code, which calls for a permit.
The permit conditions state the “typical, but not exclusive, batch plant hours of operation” are between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Village President Mary Kardoskee said the plant sometimes in the summer will start operating earlier than 6 a.m. and may run later than 5 p.m.
“It wouldn’t be anything different than what they currently are doing,” she said. “We have had no complaints from this plant since we controlled the dust issues.”
Because the new silo will have a total height of 74 feet, Schuette said it also requires a permit from Austin Straubel International Airport by being in Airport Zone C at a height greater than 50 feet.