Oak Creek council approves comp‑plan change and rezoning for South 20th Street site after hours of public comment

The Oak Creek Common Council on March 18 approved an amendment to the city's 2020 comprehensive land use plan and a companion rezoning that redesignates roughly 29 acres at and near 10700'10840 South 20th Street from business park/agriculture and single'family residential to B-6 Interchange Regional Retail District, moving the site one step closer to hosting a Buc-ee's travel center.

Christie Lane, Oak Creek's community development director, told the council the two items are tied: "The application that is before you to consider this evening is to change those 3 parcels for a future land use map to identify them as commercial," and the B-6 zoning would "meet the intent and vision of the commercial land use category per the city's 2020 comprehensive land use plan." Lane said the parcels total about 29 acres and that the comp plan is a state requirement administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

The public hearing that preceded the votes drew more than two dozen speakers, most of them nearby residents and neighborhood groups who urged the council to reject or slow the proposals. Concerns raised repeatedly included traffic, water and stormwater impacts, air quality and vapor from fueling operations, light and noise, threats to property values, and the effect on a nearby storybook horse farm.

"If this plan moves forward, it will turn this area into an impervious wasteland," said Sadie May Schult, a St. John's subdivision resident, citing runoff and downstream effects on the Oak Creek watershed and Lake Michigan. Art Donner, who said his property adjoins the site, said the proposal would threaten livestock: "To us as owners of a storybook farm, this seems like you're putting a power plant right next door to our horses," he said.

Representatives of Buc-ee's answered questions during the hearing. Stan Beard, director of development and real estate for Buc-ee's, described the company's operations and the applicant's site concept: a roughly 74,000'square'foot retail building, fueling stations, and other amenities. Beard said Buc-ee's is not a truck stop and that "trucks are not allowed in a Buc-ee's facility at any time other than delivery trucks." He estimated the company would invest roughly $60'$70 million on the site and employ about 200 full'time workers, with a stated starting wage near $18'$20 per hour.

Oak Creek staff and residents also emphasized process and required follow'ups. Lane and city staff said the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over the South 20th Street intersection and is reviewing a traffic impact analysis the applicant submitted. Lane outlined the expected sequence if council adopted the comp plan amendment and rezone: a conditional use permit and certified survey map application (anticipated March 25), plan commission recommendation potentially April 22, and later public hearings on the conditional use permit (potentially May 20) followed by design reviews in June. Lane said many site elements'lighting, landscaping, setbacks, stormwater, and DNR/MMSD requirements'would be addressed in those subsequent proceedings.

Attorney Joe Sincotta, representing Oak Creek Neighbors United, urged the council not to act before independent and complete reviews. "No major approvals, in particular rezoning or comp plan amendment, should be considered until traffic studies and other impacts are fully reviewed by independent agencies," he told the council. Sincotta also cited a city ordinance provision and argued the applicant bears the burden of substantial evidence to justify a rezoning.

During council discussion, several alderpersons said they had reviewed materials and spoken with officials in other jurisdictions that host Buc-ee's locations. Some members described the Elm Road interchange as a change in local conditions they view as relevant to the comp plan review; others pressed for thorough follow'up during the conditional'use and site plan process.

Votes at a glance: - Comprehensive plan amendment (comp plan land use map change from Business Park to Commercial for parcels at 10700/10820/10840 South 20th Street): ordinance read into record; council approved following roll call; motion carried. - Rezoning to B-6 Interchange Regional Retail District for the same parcels: ordinance read into record (rezoning ordinance read as "No. 3,122" in the meeting); council approved following roll call; motion carried. - Other council actions taken at the March 18 meeting (approved by separate motions/roll calls): amended personnel policy 7.2 to extend unpaid leave provisions to regular part'time nonrepresented employees; concurred with a mayoral appointment to the Board of Health (Michael Haveny); approved library RFID equipment purchase ($158,070) from Bibliotheca; approved a stormwater maintenance agreement for Newberry Place; approved right'of'way acquisitions and payment of awards for Liberty and Pew intersection improvements; and approved the vendor summary report as presented. These matters passed by majority vote as recorded in the meeting.

What happens next: council approval of the comp plan amendment and the rezoning do not authorize construction or operations. City staff and the applicant must complete required submissions and reviews, including DOT acceptance of any traffic mitigation, a conditional use permit, certified survey map, detailed site plans that address stormwater (DNR/MMSD standards), lighting, landscaping, and other zoning code requirements. Lane emphasized the approvals "will be further discussed at the appropriate meetings that would be forthcoming if this were to be adopted this evening." Beard said Buc-ee's will work through the required reviews.

The public hearing record and additional materials presented at the March 18 meeting will be part of the public record for the next hearings; neighbors and advocacy groups said they intend to continue to submit studies and objections. The council's votes remove two policy barriers for the developer but leave multiple regulatory and agency approvals to come.