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Letter to the Editor | Questions about density of proposed residential development on 18th Ave. & NN in West Bend | By Barbara & Mary Hafeman

November 9, 2024West Bend, Wi – I am writing today about the vote to be taken during the Common Council meeting on the Monday, November 11, 2024, agenda listed below.
Ordinance to Amend the 2020 Comprehensive Plan for the City of West Bend, Wisconsin for a change in the recommended land use for approximately 34 acres of land located at the northeast corner of S. 18th Avenue and County Trunk Highway “NN”. 15. Ordinance to rezone approximately 34 acres of land located at the northeast corner of S. 18th Avenue and County Trunk Highway “NN” from M-3 Planned Business Park and Temporary District to RS-4 Single Family Residential District (Tax Key # 1119-263-0002 and 0005).

Letter to the Editor 18

We attended the planning meeting this week Wednesday, November 6, 2024. We were thankful to be able to voice our concerns of the projected development of 90 homes within 34 acres located on the NE corner of S. 18th and County Trunk NN. It is now zoned industrial.

We live on Silver Lake Drive in the Town of West Bend. We are not concerned with the rezoning to a residential area. We ARE concerned with the high density of the development in such a small area and the safety of our roads with the increased traffic.

Road/ Pedestrian Safety

90 homes and planned exits from the community to both NN and 18th avenue would add an additional 200 cars plus with the 18 additional acres to be developed in the future that would also add more cars to the already stressed roadway.

If you have a chance to drive down S. 18th avenue, take a left on NN then look to the left, you can imagine how many cars would be added and can see how that would impact traffic and safety. We understand that a traffic impact study would need to be completed before the development could possibly be approved. Hopefully that is true.

Environmental

This site is located in the watershed of both Silver Lake and Quass Creek. We understand that an environmental study would be required. There are quite a few very old trees located on the property. We’d hope the developer would be required to provide greenspace and would not be able to do a clear cut as Harbor Homes shows on their website.

We hope as in the City of West Bend neighborhoods, the city would consider that the density levels of the development would be somewhat comparable to the existing neighborhoods. I realize this development borders the Town of West Bend which has different density rules. We did speak to developer quickly and they were not too open to adjust the home density to lower number of homes.

 

In conclusion, the proposed high-density development puts a strain on the roadways in the area of 18th and NN, creates safety issues for those on the roads and pedestrians. The location of the proposed site on watershed areas for Silver Lake and Quass Creek which both eventually flow to the Milwaukee River also needs to be studied before development approvals.

 

We hope there will be a time given to review and study the proposed area so that we can best use the area for our community, save our environment and lower density levels to be somewhat compatible to the current neighborhoods.

Ultimately, we want it to be a win / win for the adjacent neighborhoods, Town of West Bend and City of West Bend.

Our family is a long time City of West Bend and Town of West Bend residents. My grandfather and father worked at West Bend Company, my mother a teacher in West Bend School Districts for many years. We grew up on Orchard Street. We own a family business in town, The Time Investment Company.

We support the city and town improvements and are not opposed to change – be it a positive change for the city, town and as many citizens as possible. We have been fortunate to grow up and live in West Bend and want to leave West Bend so much better for our extended family, our friends and neighbors.

Please review these plans and please consider our comments to lower the density of development, consider the safety of our roads and to save our environment for our next generations.

Mary Hafeman
Barbara Hafeman

Town of West Bend, WI

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