Prairie’s Edge assisted living plan hits snag

The proposed Prairie’s Edge subdivision on Port Washington’s southeast side hit a snag last week when the Plan Commission initially denied and later postponed action on several measures required for a planned assisted living facility to be built.

The commission was asked on July 16 to approve a certified survey map and recommend rezoning and an amendment to the conditional use permit allowing the senior living facility so developer Black Cap Halcyon can sell two of the 35 acres in the subdivision for the assisted living facility.

The items are “administrative clean up,” Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

But Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven, a member of the commission, said he was concerned that approving the measures would allow Black Cap Halcyon to sell the land without installing the needed infrastructure, including the stormwater management system.

“I don’t know if that development is going to happen,” Vanden Noven told the commission. 

If it doesn’t and the assisted living facility is built before the stormwater management system and other infrastructure is installed, he said, the developer of the senior living facility will likely look to the city for those services. 

“This is concerning to me,” Vanden Noven said. “I’m concerned that will leave the city on the hook.”

Typically, he said, developers do the rough grading and install sewers, water lines, streets and the stormwater system before building anything.

Commission member Eric Ryer said he would like to see the developer at least commit to building and installing the infrastructure for the northern phase of the development, which includes the assisted living facility and 14 homes.

Attorney Lisa Wood, who represents Black Cap Halcyon, told the commission that the firm has repeatedly outlined the process it is using to develop the senior living facility.

Changing the requirements for the company to move ahead isn’t fair, she said.

“We walked the city through the process and the city agreed,” she said.

“We thought we were abiding by” everything the city asked for, Tony Polston, principal of Black Cap Halcyon, said.

Commission member Mike Ehrlich made a motion to approve the certified survey map, but that motion failed, 5-2. He immediately made a motion to reconsider the decision, but the commission instead postponed a final decision on the matter.

City officials are expected to meet with Polston in an effort to reach a compromise that addresses their concerns this week. The Plan Commission has tentatively scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, to reconsider the measures sought by Black Cap Halcyon.