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Oconomowoc council holds public hearing on proposed Inn cocktail lounge, postpones decision to Feb. 18
Summary
The Oconomowoc Common Council opened a public hearing on a request to change land-use and rezone 0.842 acres at 351 E. Lisbon Road to allow continued inn operations and a new cocktail lounge, then postponed action to Feb. 18. City staff said the plan commission recommended using a text amendment plus a conditional-use permit rather than rezoning.
The Oconomowoc Common Council opened a public hearing on a request to amend the city comprehensive land-use plan and rezone 0.842 acres at 351 East Lisbon Road, and postponed any council action until a Feb. 18 public hearing.
City Planner Mike Gallo told the council the plan commission reviewed the application for the property currently operated as Mon Bijou (formerly the Inn on Pine Terrace) and “were not comfortable with this request to make a property in the surrounding residential area commercial.” He said the plan commission recommended staff pursue a text amendment permitting continuation and controlled expansion of a long-standing nonconforming use through a conditional-use permit rather than changing the underlying residential zoning.
That approach, Gallo said, would keep the property’s residential underlying zoning and add a route for the inn’s owners to request a conditional-use permit to remodel first-floor space into a cocktail lounge for guests and some members of the public. Gallo said the item will return to council after a plan commission recommendation following the public hearing on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Two nearby residents spoke during the hearing. Gail Huber, who said she lives at 340 East Lisbon Road across from the property, described an experience at a cocktail lounge in Milwaukee and warned that post‑patron noise on a summer night “does create a disturbance in the neighborhood.” Mary Kay Sokup, who said she lives at 303 Pine Terrace, said the property was “a home for the first 40 years” and that “residential is zoned residential for a reason,” expressing concern about an outdoor entertainment area and an upscale cocktail lounge operating in a residential district.
No council action was taken at the meeting; staff and the council reminded residents that additional public comment will be accepted at the Feb. 18 hearing. The plan commission will consider a text amendment and a conditional-use permit for the cocktail-lounge expansion and then make a recommendation to the council.
