By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
Following a public hearing May 16, concerns from residents prompted the City of Elkhorn Common Council to opt in favor of sending the city’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan back to the City of Elkhorn Plan Commission for further review.
Residents spoke out about concerns mainly regarding two properties in the city: the site of the former Lakeland School off of Court Street and the Bielinski property along North Wisconsin Street.
Former Mayor Brian Olson, 1142 W. Court St., said looking back, when they saw the updated map they noticed the Lakeland School property is slated for a multi-family use now, creating the potential for up to 10 units per acre on the 10-acre site. Additionally, Olson said the proposed multi-family use zone covers part of the nearby cemetery.
“I think we create a very big density problem over in that situation,” he said. “I would argue District 6 is pretty full of residential with Court Street apartments and we do have many other separate, little divisions in there as well where multi-family doesn’t look appropriate in that space.”
Currently set for institutional and municipal use, Olson said he would prefer to see it stay that way.
As for the Bielinski property off of North Wisconsin Street, Olson said he thinks having it slated for multi-family use opens a door that would offset the balance of about 40 percent multi-family dwellings and 60 percent single-family dwellings in the city.
“It would be my request that those stay retail and commercial on the Bielinski property and municipal and institutional on the Lakeland,” he said.
Jim Gormley, a lawyer with Foley and Lardner in Milwaukee, speaking on behalf of Frank and Barbara Luchsinger, who live on West Court Street, said one of the concerns is that the medium density designation for the Lakeland School property is not consistent with the abutting neighborhood, primarily low density residential.
Furthermore, Gormley said in pulling out the sections overlapping the cemetery, the area becomes even smaller and there’s no justification for that kind of a change in the area.
Barbara Luchsinger said allowing multi-use on the property would significantly change the “quiet, residential neighborhood,” between noise, traffic patterns and resale and property value.
“You have the obligation to protect established neighborhoods with the growth and development of similar density and purpose,” she said, noting she would like to see the property retain its municipal and institutional designation.
Frank Luchsinger added that looking at the whole map of Elkhorn, this parcel would be twice as large as any other medium-density property in the city, the current largest being on West Street.
“Just the Lakeland School area is twice the size of that area,” he said. “I think we need to put it back the way it is … it just doesn’t match anything that’s in the area. Medium-density doesn’t belong right there in the middle.
“You’re moving against us, you’re thrusting it upon us if you do that. We were there first. If you want to have medium-density at some point in the city development, put it in an area where a person has a choice to move in next to it. Don’t move it next to us.”
While a first reading for an ordinance to adopt the plan was originally on the May 16 agenda, the 2040 Comprehensive Plan will return to the Plan Commission for further review on the concerns raised by residents at tonight’s meeting.
