Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for May 27, 2025

Photo from Appleton Parade Committee

Greetings District 6 Neighbors,
I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend and took a moment to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. With the Memorial Day weekend marking the unofficial beginning of summer, we are lucky to have the Appleton Memorial Day Parade and Moment of Remembrance ceremony to remind us of the reason for the holiday. We had absolutely perfect weather for the parade, the crowds were great, and I salute the little Corgi (I think – if you know this dog, let me know) marching with the color guard immediately ahead of the local officials. It completed the entire parade, tiny Corgi legs and all!
As I noted last week, there were a couple of committee/board meetings in addition to the full Common Council meeting on Wednesday. On Monday, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted the variance request from the homeowner on Memorial Drive. I had thought that it would be denied as the three-foot limit on front yard fences is pretty straightforward, but this case had some unusual factors, such as an existing six-foot fence having been present for many years, but overgrown with vegetation. Note to myself – never assume the outcome of a variance request; the folks on the board of Zoning Appeals have more experience than I do with these situations. The Board of Review meeting on Thursday dismissed the objection to a property assessment due to the failure of the owner to appear for the hearing.
The Common Council approved (11-3) the use of carryover funding for consulting to create a sustainability master plan after quite a long discussion. The next steps will be to create a request for proposals using the scope and requirements document submitted on May 19 and evaluate proposals generated from that RFP.
There are a number of firms in the region who have done similar work for other communities, and I expect that we will be voting on a contract for the successful proposal in the coming weeks.
The changes to the alcohol policy in city parks were also approved. Alcohol consumption is prohibited within twenty feet of a park pavilion or playground unless that pavilion was rented for an event. Individual permits for alcohol consumption will no longer be required.
This week’s committee schedule is abbreviated due to the holiday cancellation of all the Monday meetings (Municipal Services Committee, Finance Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee) and the cancellation of the Board of Health, Community Development Committee and Human Resources and Information Technology Committee meetings for lack of agenda items.
On the agenda of the committees still meeting:
Utilities Committee – Tuesday, May 27, 4:30 p.m.
The committee has one action item – voting on a contract for recoating the interior and exterior of the North and Ridgeway water towers (O. & J. Coatings - $656,250 with contingency). The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requires water towers to be cleaned and inspected every five years. The 2020 inspection revealed coating failures, which were spot repaired, with a complete recoating planned for 2025.
City Plan Commission – Wednesday, May 28, 3:30 p.m.
The Commission will hold a public hearing and then a vote on a proposed rezoning of property on E. Harrison St. from C-2 General Commercial District to R1-C Central City Residential District. The owner plans to demolish an existing mixed-use building on the property and construct a single-family detached dwelling. The previous structure had operated as a laundromat on the ground floor with a residence on the upper floor.
We’ll also hold a public hearing and vote on an amendment to the future land use map and a rezoning of property at E. Goodland and N. Conkey St. The owner plans to build a clinic, ambulatory surgery and office building. The parcel is currently zoned M-1 Industrial Park District and would need to be rezoned to C-2 General Commercial District to allow this use. The property is near the ThedaCare Encircle campus.
We have another annexation request on the agenda, this time for about eleven acres near the intersection of E. Northland Avenue and S.T.H. 441, currently in the Town of Grand Chute for the purpose of connecting to City of Appleton utilities. The owner plans to develop the property for commercial/industrial use.
We will be voting on the Wilden Portfolio Park preliminary plat (on the current Thrivent campus). The preliminary plat would divide the Thrivent property into fourteen proposed lots of around ten acres for development (lot here being the full parcel of land that would then be subdivided)  of mixed-use buildings, commercial, park and open space and residential dwellings and five outlots for stormwater detention, trails and greenway preservation. There will be land dedicated to the public for right-of-way for “Evergreen Drive between North Ballard Road and Meade Street, Milestone Drive right-of-way adjacent to the existing corporate office building to North Ballard Road, Roads C and D right-of-way between Milestone Drive and Evergreen Drive, and right-of-way along Ballard Road, Interstate Highway “41” and Meade Street.” Evergreen and Milestone would be extended through the property, and “Roads C and D” would be new roads connecting Evergreen and Milestone Drive. The plat shows a new park between Roads C and D – said park and all outlots would be owned by Wilden Portfolio Park Master Association. New street design will be discussed at the June 9 Municipal Services Committee meeting.
It's hard to tell a whole lot from the map below, but you can see the location of the street extensions and the new streets. Because there is no public park land dedicated, the city will be collecting a park fee of $900 per dwelling in lieu of parkland dedication at the time a building permit is issued.
The colored map shows pedestrian and bike access – it appears that my beloved Apple Creek Trail will stay in its current location under this plat.
A map of a land with roads and paths AI-generated content may be incorrect.
A map of a city AI-generated content may be incorrect.
A preliminary plat is just as the name states – there are some things that could change.
Finally, we will take up a request to approve the acquisition of property at 222 N. Oneida St. for the new transit center. This acquisition was awaiting the Federal Transit Administration review of the grant awarded to the city for the construction of the transit center. The review has been completed, and the sale can be finalized.
Safety and Licensing Committee – Wednesday, May 28, 5:30 p.m.
Spring is here, so in addition to the normal license applications and renewals, we have the usual slate of special event applications.
Among the alcohol license renewal applications is the license for Mr. Frog’s on College Avenue, which is also facing a demerit point hearing due to its latest violation, for being open after hours. This violation gives the establishment a total of 130 demerit points in the last 24 months – 150 points would result in a 10-to-90-day license suspension.
That does it for our short committee week.
Mead Pool will be open Saturday and Sunday for a bonus weekend, and both Mead and Erb pools will be open for the summer on June 6. The playground program starts at a number of parks (including Erb) on June 11. There are also summer sports camps, swimming lessons, and tons of other fun programs at a very reasonable price to combat those “I’m bored!” days of summer. Information for all the summer (and year-round!) programs and activities can be found here: https://parks.appletonwi.gov/programs_events/index.php
Have a great week!


Denise

 

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