Plan Commission seeks to settle Port building height debate

The height of buildings in downtown Port Washington has been debated for years, but the Plan Commission last week reached a consensus on the issue, proposing the city adopt an ordinance that allows shorter buildings near the lakefront and progressively taller buildings to the west.

“There is a plethora of opinions,” on the issue, Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

The commission was given the option to defer action until the city’s zoning code is rewritten, but members said the issue is too important to delay, especially given development potential.

That potential is particularly heightened in the area where the Police and Fire stations are located, Mayor Ted Neitzke, the commission chairman, said, noting that the Common Council may decide to sell that property when and if it builds a public safety building elsewhere in the city.

“The development we can spark and spur there will be very important,” Neitzke said.

The central business district zoning currently allows buildings as tall as 35 feet by right, but property owners may seek a taller building height by petitioning the Plan Commission and Common Council, which must approve the height by a two-thirds vote.

In general, the proposal allows buildings as tall as 38 feet in the marina district, which includes the area east of the alleyway behind Duluth Trading Co. north to Jackson Street. Also included in that district is the land containing the west slip condominiums.

Just to the west of that, in an area that runs west to Wisconsin Street and includes the properties housing the Police and Fire stations, the maximum height would be 48 feet.

The block containing the Ozaukee County Historic Courthouse and Administration Center as well as City Hall would be capped at 52 feet, while the properties just east of Grand Avenue would be set at 48 feet with land behind them set at 52 feet.

These heights include all rooftop structures, unlike the current ordinance, officials said.

Harris, whose recommendations would have allowed slightly taller buildings in several of the areas, told the commission that he basically set the heights to ensure existing buildings would be compliance with the regulations.

But commission member Kyle Knop suggested that might be taller than desired. In the marina district, he suggested the heights be capped at 30 feet to allow historic buildings there to “ become the divas of the cast” and newer buildings would be “supporting characters.”

The same concept should be used along Franklin Street and the area directly behind it, he said.

“We want these (older buildings) to really shine,” Knop said.

He also cautioned that allowing 52 and 60-foot buildings along Grand Avenue might restrict views too much.

“It isn’t a canyon,” Knop said.

Knop also noted that the recommended heights could allow someone to purchase the county property and construct a 48-foot-tall building where the pocket park is currently located — a concern other members echoed.

“That would be troublesome if someone put a 48-foot building there,” member Chad Mach said. “That would be very tall.”

But Harris said that the proposed changes only apply to the downtown zoning district, and the park is zoned for public use.

Despite that, commission members agreed that the zoning district should exclude that park to eliminate any possibility of a tall building being constructed there.

Ald. Paul Neumyer, a commission member, said he was concerned about the Jadair property just south of Grand Avenue, noting that it is lower than the roadway and so taller buildings should be allowed there since they won’t loom over the view corridor.

That property is zoned for industrial uses and is not part of the downtown zoning district, so the height restrictions don’t apply, Harris said.

The recommended height restrictions were approved by the commission with only Knop dissenting. The Common Council will likely consider the ordinance when it meets on Feb. 20, with a final vote expected on March 5, Harris said.