The City Plan Commission met 03/09/2022. It was a brief meeting with only one action item on the agenda. That was a request to rezone the property at 217 S. Badger Avenue from C-2 General Commercial District to C-1 Neighborhood Mixed Use District.
Principal Planner David Kress gave an overview of the request to the committee. The subject area was a 0.46-acre site located at the northwest corner of Badger Avenue and 8th Street. It was already developed with an existing two-story building constructed back in 1966 and a small surface parking lot. Being rezoned to C-1 Neighborhood Mixed Use District would allow for a different mix of uses and would also have different development standards that would be consistent with what the new owners hoped to do with the building. The rezoning would also be consistent with the city’s Future Land Use map which already identified the site as future mixed-use. Staff was recommending approval of the request.
The property owner had attended the meeting in case the commission had questions they wanted him to answer, but no other members of the public appeared with questions or objections about the rezoning.
Commissioner Andrew Dane asked if the main reason for the rezoning was because of the flexibility with the different classification.
Principal Planner Kress answered that, based on conversations he had had with the owner, the primary motivating factor was the different mix of uses that was allowed in a C-1 district in comparison to a C-2 district—particularly the ability to have a standalone, multi-family residential dwelling in a C-1 district. In a C-2 district, multi-family residential dwelling would only be allowed a minimum of 10 feet above grade (i.e., the second floor or higher), whereas with the C-1 those could build a building that was solely for residential purposes.
Commissioner Dane seemed to remember that the C-1 Neighborhood Mixed-Use district had something to do with Wisconsin Avenue.
Planner Kress responded that he was correct. The C-1 district designation had been completely revamped back in 2021. The goal of that had been to accommodate infill and redevelopment along commercial corridors. Wisconsin, Oneida, and Richmond had been particularly in mind, but it also applied to Badger Avenue.
There were no further questions and the commission voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=924637&GUID=C8B1D587-361B-477F-95B6-5909F6F13BE4
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