The Stilt House vestibule will remain up until Feb. 28.
The Stilt House vestibule will remain up until Feb. 28.
CEDARBURG — The Cedarburg Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit to Ozaukee County to add a new 16,034-square-foot CBRF building at Lasata Senior Living Campus.
The Ozaukee County Board in 2023 gave its support for using $4.5 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to construct the community-based residential facility. CBRFs are places where five or more unrelated people live together in a community setting, according to the Wisconsin Department of Human Services. Services offered include room and board, supervision and support services.
City Planner Mary Censky stated in the agenda summary that the proposed CBRF use is listed among the conditional uses that can be considered for approval in the I-1 Governmental and Institutional District.
“… from a use standpoint, I think this is right in line with what we expect to be added on to the Lasata campus,” Censky told the commission Monday.
The county’s intent behind building a CBRF has been to provide a full continuum of care to the seniors living on the Lasata Campus. The campus currently includes the Lasata Heights apartments, Lasata Crossing assisted living facility and the Lasata Care Center skilled care nursing facility.
The proposed CBRF would house 21 residents and include residential and services spaces, according to a memo from Dimension IV Madison Design Group. The new building will be located adjacent to the existing residential care apartment complex building at Lasata and connected with a passageway. Most of the 21 units will accommodate a single individual, but there will also be a limited number that can accommodate couples.
Construction is planned to begin this May and it is projected to be completed in March 2026.
“I’m in full support of this facility and I think it’s a real amenity to the county for folks to be able to age in place near their families and I’m anxious for it to break ground,” said Commissioner Jack Arnett, who is also a county supervisor.
Commissioner Jon Scholz agreed with Arnett.
“I think this is definitely a part of the growth of our community,” he said.
There were some comments about the architectural design, with Censky in her summary describing the proposed building as “dissimilar in its roof form from the existing buildings in this group.”
“It appears to take some of its design cues from the original building located further east on the site, vs. following, for instance, the gabled style roofs, material patterns and fenestration of this group,” Censky added.
“It has a sense of institutional. It looks like a school,” Scholz said.
The architect specialists on the Plan Commission have been in communication with the county about revising the architectural design.
The commission approved the CUP, subject to a number of conditions, including returning to the commission for approval of its architectural design.
“I was pleased that the Plan Commission was very supportive of the use and overall footprint of the initial plan,” said County Administrator Jason Dzwinel. “The comments on the exterior design and other conditions are all items we planned for based on our work with city staff in advance of the meeting.”
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The county did face a snag in its planning when estimates for the CBRF were about $1 million over budget. Dzwinel said half of that overage was attributable to the decision to relocate the new facility closer to the RCAC.
“… the residents and their care needs are more closely aligned between these two facilities and we will be able to share dining services,” he said.
However, Dzwinel said the county has been able to save a “significant” amount of money with the redesign of the HVAC system.
“Additionally, the changes to design requested by the city’s Plan Commission to the roof will also aid the budget,” he added. “We did design the original design to include many nice to have items, like a green roof, but with those items eliminated the facility will be much closer to the $4.5 million budget we established.”
Stilt House vestibule In other business, the commission approved a request by Gordon Goggin to retain the vestibule temporary use/structure he recently placed in front of his restaurant, the Stilt House, until Feb. 28.
The commission had received complaints about the vestibule on its encroachment on the dedicated public right-ofway/ sidewalk, said Censky.
Goggin did receive approval from the Landmarks Commission in 2023 for a vestibule to be within 76 inches of the vertical face of the curb, subject to plans being reviewed by city engineer and the Cedarburg Police Department as to the encroachment onto the sidewalk, according to Censky’s memo.
“It should have also come to the Plan Commission for review and consideration as a temporary use,” Censky said. “The vestibule itself meets the definition of a tent under our code of ordinances.”
An email copy from the former city planner to Goggin in 2023 was given to the commission that said the engineer and Public Works director were OK with the enclosure subject stipulations, one of which was maintaining at least 4 feet of unobstructed sidewalk width for pedestrian passing.
Censky states that the vestibule extends further than what was approved by the Landmarks Commission; she said Goggin felt the email took precedence over the commission’s approval.
Some commissioners also had some criticisms of the new vestibule. Scholz was the only commissioner to vote against the request to retain the vestibule.
“I’ve gotten more feedback that people are offended by it, they see it as a safety issue,” he said. “And I said this to the mayor, in my opinion this should be down by the end of the week.”
Goggin explained the reason the vestibule goes out that far into the sidewalk is to allow two people to pass each other. He added that he feels like he was misled because he was told he could do this as long as he met the requirement of having at least 4 feet of unobstructed sidewalk.
Goggin stated he spent $8,000 on the new vestibule.
“I wouldn’t have spent the money if someone had said ‘don’t do that,’” he said.
The commissioners expressed sympathy for the situation and said they would help Goggin figure a way to make adjustments to the vestibule after it is taken down at the end of next month. The commission also discussed creating a policy about encroachments on the sidewalk.
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At 9:37 a.m. on Monday, a homeless male was sleeping in the unlocked lobby of a building in the 200 block of West Main Street. Read moreWaukesha police blotter: Jan. 6-7, 2025
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