Rezone met with some opposition from nearby residents, owners look to work towards mutual agreement
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
A first reading of an ordinance to rezone a piece of property off of Highway 67 for use by a landscaping company was met by some opposition from nearby residents at the June 15 City of Elkhorn Common Council meeting, though the hopeful owners are open to working with the city for a mutually beneficial situation.
The property in question is at 1522 S. Highway 67, the hopeful future site of Terra Yard Creations. Owners Jennifer and Ryan Hanson look to close on the property prior to the end of July and use the site for outdoor sales and storage.
Mayor Brian Olson said the property would be at the site of the old landscape company at the intersection of Grant Street and Highway 67 and the rezone is needed because the parcel is zoned for highway business.
Olson said the company would be re-purposing the buildings and property for showroom-style sales and servicing contractors and the community with mulch, gravel and more, he said. He said the rezone is needed to allow for outdoor storage bins for these types of products.
Olson said based on the information received at a recent Plan Commission meeting, what the company is selling is a bit more high-end and it’s location would draw business not only from the community, but additionally regionally.
Among concerns noted by residents at the June 15 meeting was the safety of children in the nearby residential area.
Shawn Vorpagel, who lives on nearby Sunny Hill Drive in the Jackson Creek subdivision, said he doesn’t understand why business is being brought into a subdivision with business districts both north and south of town.
“I think that would be an appropriate place, just my opinion, of where to put a business like this than in a residential area where there’s kids,” he said, noting he’s concerned the effect increased truck traffic could have on not only the roads, but the safety of children.
Vorpagel said he just wants to make sure there’s no traffic from the business coming through the subdivision due to the location’s multiple entrances.
“All the traffic has to be coming off of Highway 67 for the safety of our children,” he said. “The children just run free, the roads are sidewalks, children are everywhere. The traffic has to stay out there and not be filtering through in any way.”
Jennifer Hanson said while the entrance is currently on Grant Street, they would like to eventually have the entrance come off of Highway 67, something that would have to go through the state. Regardless, she said they have no plans to send trucks through the subdivision, unless someone in the neighborhood ordered mulch, in which case they would deliver it in their small truck.
Olson said a possibility would be to put up some type of signage, such as a no left turn or no trucks sign that could be placed outside the driveway, giving the city power to enforce trucks would not travel through the neighborhood, a solution they could come back with at a later time.
Eric Russow, who lives on nearby Meadow Lane, said with children in the area and the materials to be stored on the property he strongly feels the property needs tall fencing around the entire property, something somewhat attractive due to its proximity to the residential area.
Alderman Michael Kluck echoed Russow’s comments, noting with the conditional use permit only calling for 12 shrubs along the eastern side of the property, it could pose a problem with local children being able to get onto the property, something Olson said is already a possibility with the way the site sits now.
Ryan Hanson said even with a fence on the property, if a child really wanted to get in they would find a way and having a fence around the property would limit the company’s ability to show outside displays.
Russow also said he’s concerned about what it could do to property values in that area.
“I don’t think this would be any enhancement to a mostly residential area,” he said.
Another concern was the environmental impact of dyes used in colored mulch on nearby Jackson Creek, which feeds into Delavan Lake. Vorpagel said this is a concern for him and wondered what they would do regarding run off of particulate matter, like gravel and soil, and if any of that had been discussed.
Ryan Hanson said the company uses Purple Cow Organic Compost, which gets its color from a vegetable-based organic dye, thus not creating any environmental issues.
City Engineer Paul Vanhenkelum added with the plans they’d be re-purposing less than an acre of property and there wouldn’t be much disturbance as they’re re-purposing a previous landscaping company site.
If the Council sees fit, Olson said the ordinance would return to the Council in two weeks for approval.
