The Shawano Plan Commission signed off on a number of items Sept. 30 related to the new Shawano County Courthouse project, moving them forward to the Shawano Common Council for final consideration Oct. 14.
The commission approved vacating several streets around the courthouse, the site plan for the new facility and changing the zoning to urban development.
The city will be vacating Third Street from Main Street to Franklin Street, Second Street from Washington Street most of the way to Franklin Street, and Washington Street from Fourth Street to Second Street. As part of the agreement, the county will be increasing the width of Franklin Street from Second to Fourth to collector road standards, about 38-40 feet.
City Zoning Administrator Dave Moesch said no neighboring homes or property owners submitted any comments or concerns about the streets that were being vacated.
The site plan had previously heard reservations from commission members about the lack of green in the design, specifically trees and bushes. Moesch told the commission that the design was revised well beyond the minimum requirements of the city and will also include lighting that will dim automatically when no one is using the parking lot at night.
“I feel like that’s a really good situation for the folks who live across the street,” Moesch said. “If there’s no motion, this lighting goes down to 20% (brightness). If there is motion, it will increase the lighting.”
Buffer yards will be put in place in the outer edges to improve the view of residential neighbors, according to Moesch.
The space where the new courthouse will go has been a mixture of several zonings, including public lands, urban mixed use and single-family residential. The commission voted to make the whole area a campus development zone, which Moesch noted will allow the county to add on to the jail and courthouse if needed.
With the increasing width of Franklin Street, City Administrator Eddie Sheppard noted that the curb will be left on the residential side of the street but will be taken out for the side where the courthouse is located. He said the city will be expanding the remainder of Franklin Street up to Green Bay Street to keep the road width consistent.
“I think we are all interested in getting this right so that, at the end of the day, we’re not stuck with something where we say, ‘Oh, we should have done this instead,’” Sheppard said.
Currently, the width of Franklin Street from Main Street to the channel is about 30 feet, according to Sheppard.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
