The Community Development Committee met 04/23/2025. In addition to electing a vice chair, designating a contact person, and setting the date/time of the meeting, they took up two action items. One was a request to update the erosion control permit fee to $50. The other was a request to renew the lease with Maple Lawn Dairy for them to crap farm undeveloped land in Southpoint Commerce Park.
Both items were recommended for approval by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
UPDATE THE MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 4 BUILDINGS, SECTION 4-161 AND THE VARIOUS PERMIT FEE SCHEDULES TO INCREASE THE EROSION CONTROL PERMIT FEE TO $50 – This change would add text to the Municipal Code indicating that the amount of the erosion control permit fee was on file in the office of the City Clerk. Associated with that, the permit fee schedule on file with the City Clerk would be updated to increase the erosion control permit fee from $40 to $50.
The increase in the fee had already been approved by the Common Council in the 2025 Budget, and this was essentially just housekeeping needed to facilitate that update.
RENEW LEASE WITH MAPLE LAWN DAIRY FOR CROP FARMING OF UNDEVELOPED LAND IN SOUTHPOINT COMMERCE PARK – Currently Maple Lawn Dairy farms undeveloped land in Southpoint Commerce Park under the terms of a 5-year lease agreement with the city that started in 2020 and was expiring at the end of April 2025. This new 5-year lease was essentially a continuation of that old agreement with similar terms but updated to reflect that the original owners son had taken over ownership of the business and to decrease the area be farmed so that current road construction activities between Eisenhower Drive and Coop Road could take place unhindered.
Community Development Deputy Director David Kress said that the primary objective of the commerce park was to make land available for business and industrial purposes, but having currently unused land be actively farmed reduced the likelihood of wetlands forming and also reduced the costs associated with cutting weeds and grass. It also generated some revenue.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked if the option to lease this land had been made available to other farming businesses. Deputy Director Kress said that back in 2020 they did allow any and all farmers to submit a proposal. At that time, there had been around 115-120 acres available to farm. Now they were down to just over 46 acres which were scattered into four separated fragments. Additionally, the city had a strong relationship with Maple Lawn Dairy and had experienced struggles with some other farmers over the years. In light of the positive relationship they had with the current farmer, and given the limited space left to farm (which would markedly reduce interest from other farmers) they decided to just renew with Maple Lawn Dairy.
Alderperson Hartzheim also asked what would happen if the city sold a parcel of land to be developed in the middle of crop. Deputy Director Kress said the sale of one of the parcels could theoretically happen in mid-growing season. The lease agreement gives the city the ability to terminate the lease in the middle of the year. The lease payments are made twice a year, so the farm would be reimbursed for a pro-rated amount that was paid. Additionally, future lease payments would be adjusted based on the loss of acreage.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend each item for approval.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1281341&GUID=0DBCD3EF-9655-4EA2-A2B0-1817729B442E
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