Town poised to give permit that would end resort dispute

The Town of Saukville Plan Commission recommended Tuesday that a controversial wedding-barn business on Highway 33 be granted a conditional-use permit so it can operate legally. 

At the same time, however, commission members recommended that Dale Stenbroten, the owner of the Abloom Family Resort, be charged double fees for running his business for more than a year without a permit.

Last month, commission members told Stenbroten that he needed to show them a plan on how he was going to mitigate noise coming from his barn that generated complaints from a nearby neighbor. 

On Tuesday, Stenbroten and the neighbor, John Bauer, said they had tested the sound levels and found that if the barn’s windows are closed and sound insulation is applied, the noise levels coming from speakers in the barn were acceptable.

“The barn is basically a large sub-woofer,” said Bauer, who lives north of Stenbroten’s property across Highway 33.

Since then, one wedding has been held at Abloom, they said.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Bauer said of the noise.

Stenbroten said he will make it regular practice during wedding receptions to keep windows closed and will be adding insulation.

“It will be easy to regulate,” he told the commission. “We’ll just make it policy.”

Stenbroten came to the town more than a year ago seeking permits for his bed-and-breakfast inn and wedding barn, which he was already operating.

Stenbroten continued to operate the businesses even after the Town Board told him to stop accepting reservations while it researched rezoning the property.

As a penalty for doing so, commission members voted to double Stenbroten’s fees, the minimum called for under town ordinances, requiring that he pay another $700.

The commission also recommended that the Town Board approve a conditional-use permit for another wedding barn at 2690 Highway Y to be operated by Ryan Scholz. 

Scholz’s operations would be under the same restrictions as those applied to the Abloom property.

If both Scholz’s and Stenbroten’s wedding barns are approved, the town will have four wedding barns operating within its borders, with the other two being Scott Sieckman’s on Highway Y and one operated by The Bog golf course on Highway I. 

“We’ll be the wedding barn capital at the rate we’re going,” commission member Tom Ravn said.