There were boos and cries of ‘shame” and “shame on you” Wednesday evening after the Sturgeon Bay Plan Commission voted three to two to send the matter of a planned unit development for a West side waterfront hotel on to the city council for consideration. The large crowd that turned out for the meeting in the fire department truck bay was almost exclusively against the proposal. That included the dozen or so people who took advantage of the public comment period to speak. Most wanted to stop or delay the process. One was neutral on the matter. Except for a short period of time after the vote, the crowd was generally well behaved. That is if you discount the applause for each of the speakers and a few standing ovations. The consensus seemed to be that, at the very least, the plan commission should take more time and gather more input before the city council gets involved. That did not happen. Instead Mike Gilson made the motion to recommend to the council that the P.U.D. process involving the proposed hotel be continued. Gilson was joined by committee members Jeff Norland and Danny Wiegand. Laurel Brooks and Dennis Staats objected.
The recommendation expected be studied by the city council calls for a four story building, not to exceed 45 feet, and with no more than 76 units. Other provisions require minimum yards and building setbacks, parking spaces within 400 feet, signage and the review and approval of the final design by the waterfront design review board. If the city council agrees with the recommendation, the matter will go back to the plan commission where the long planned unit development process will begin and members of the committee have the opportunity to weigh in on several aspects of the building plan.
