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Council delays rezoning decision for 500 Day Street after Georgia Pacific says buyers are negotiating
Summary
The Green Bay Common Council voted to hold a rezoning decision for the former Georgia Pacific site at 500 Day Street until April 15 after the company told the council it had received best-and-final offers and was negotiating terms. Council members voiced concern that a sale could close before the city could secure zoning protections.
The Green Bay Common Council on March 18 voted to hold action on a rezoning request for the 500 Day Street property after Georgia Pacific said it has received best-and-final offers and is negotiating contract terms.
Chris Brennan, public affairs manager for Georgia Pacific’s Green Bay operations, told the council the company "have received best and final offers on the site and are actively moving ahead with negotiating contract terms." He asked the council to delay a rezoning decision so the city, its economic development staff, the mayor and council members could be updated "when appropriate." Brennan said he hoped to return with more information in "the next 3 to 4 weeks."
Why it matters: Council members said they want to protect the city’s vision for the riverfront while also keeping lines of communication open with the site owner. Several alderpersons worried a sale might close before the council had a chance to shape acceptable future uses. Alder Willard Johnson said the city had extended time once already and that the risk was a buyer could later use the site in ways incompatible with the city’s plans.
Council discussion focused on whether a buyer might be proposing a general industrial use rather than the lighter industrial or downtown-oriented uses the city prefers. Alder Proffitt and others pressed for a legal description that would allow the parcel to be split so the northern portion could be rezoned to light industrial if a buyer’s plans required that. Director Renier Wigg of Community and Economic Development told the council the property is "one parcel" and that the city would work with a developer or buyer to create a legal description if the owner or buyer commissioned one. Wigg said the city could not unilaterally subdivide the land without the property owner’s permission.
Rail and planning stakeholders also spoke. A representative of Fox Valley and Lake Superior rail raised concerns at the planning commission about converting an industrial site adjacent to active railroad tracks to downtown zoning and urged the council to consider a light-industrial buffer.
Action and next steps: Alder Johnson moved to hold the rezoning decision; Alder DeLay seconded. The council voted to hold the item and will take it up again at the council’s April 15 meeting. No further action was taken at the March 18 meeting.
Context and constraints: City staff and the property owner said they intend to continue discussing potential buyers and uses. Brennan and other representatives emphasized confidentiality in ongoing real-estate negotiations and asked the council to allow the company time to complete internal reviews and potential buyer due diligence before final public action is taken.
What wasn’t decided: The council did not vote on any zoning change at the March 18 meeting and did not adopt any new legal descriptor for the parcel. City staff said creating a legal description and splitting a parcel would require cooperation from the property owner and may require further public-notice steps if a zoning amendment is pursued.
