Cadott Village Board; Zone change denied for Main Street lot

Neighbors to 604 N. Main Street and other Cadott residents, filled the Cadott Village Office, Aug. 15, to share their thoughts on a proposed zone change and Conditional Use Permit for the lot. Tom Kucera made the requests, with plans to split the parcel and place an auto repair shop on the lot. Photo by Julia Wolf

By Julia Wolf

“I’m not against the business, I’m against the location,” said Jessica Ryba, Cadott resident.

The comment came as part of public hearings, held during a regular Cadott Village Board meeting Aug. 15, where residents had time to share their thoughts on a potential zone change and Conditional Use Permit for 604 N. Main Street. The thought was echoed by a number of other neighbors.

Clerk Sandy Buetow says Tom Kucera would like to split the lot, which is currently zoned R-4 multiple family and has a multi-family residence on it, and change the zoning to B-1 business, to allow an auto repair shop to go there. Buetow added all the plans are contingent on the sale of the property (owned by J. Ellingson) and approval of the Certified Survey Maps.

Ryba says she purchased the lot across the street a year ago, with the understanding that a residential building could go in that lot. She says they would have thought a little harder about buying their property, if the neighboring lot was zoned for business.

Ryba says the road is also already busy with vehicle and foot traffic.

“I think, putting a business in there would increase the amount of traffic that much more and create some dangerous situations for, especially, school children walking to and from school,” said Ryba.

Tisa Christenson, Cadott resident, says she is concerned with how close the property in question is to the river, especially with the variety of fluids auto mechanics involves, and added auto mechanics can also be loud and cause noise pollution. She says the noise could also effect the experience of those at the nearby park.

Pat Englert, community resident, says placing a business on the property could effect the investment neighbors have in their properties.

“There are options for commercial businesses,” said Englert.

Englert says, besides water and noise pollution, light pollution could also be a factor, with shop and security lights.

“I think that there are better places, other options,” said Englert.

Following the public hearings, board members voted to deny the zone change request, with five in favor of the denial (Les Liptak, Russ Falkenberg, Eric Weiland, Anson Albarado, Randy Kuehni) and one abstention (Bart Chapek).

Liptak says, in his vote for the denial of the zone change request, he took into consideration not only the public input, but also the purpose of zoning.

“One of the reasons we have zoning laws and zones, is to make sure that we don’t have an artificial, unattached island of something, in amongst another type,” said Liptak.

He says an auto repair shop just wouldn’t fit in with the neighborhood.

Board members said they would love more business in town, but agreed the location is not correct for that type of business.

Since the zone change was not approved, the Conditional Use Permit for the location was no longer needed.

Albarado also reported he attended the most recent library board meeting and a joint village board/library board meeting is set for Monday, Aug. 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the library. The purpose of the meeting is to talk about the proposed library site.

New full-time police officer Anthony “Tony” Helstern also attended the meeting, to introduce himself to the board. He said he appreciates the opportunity to serve the village and plans to hit the ground running.

He also introduced his wife and kids. “In my years of law enforcement, I’ve learned that the best way to get through this career, is to have a good support system,” said Helstern. “And this is my support system.”

As a notice to the public, the next regular Cadott Village Board meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 6:30 p.m., because of the Labor Day holiday.

[caption id="attachment_149418" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Cadott Village Board thanked director of public works Rolly Tichy (left) for his years of service to the village, Aug. 15, ahead of Tichy’s retirement later in the week. “We wanted to acknowledge your hard work for the village and your positivity,” said village president Anson Albarado (right). Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]