Plan commission backs major land‑use changes for 115‑acre project by 1 Vanguard and Seetman Realty; public hearings and conditions set

The Oak Creek Plan Commission on July 22 recommended a multi‑part package of land‑use approvals to the common council for a proposed large‑scale development east of South 20th Street. Co‑applicants include Northwestern Mutual / Walden OC LLC (landowners) and developers 1 Vanguard and Seetman Realty. The commission’s actions covered a resolution to amend the 2020 comprehensive plan, an official map amendment to adjust future rights‑of‑way, multiple rezones, two planned unit development (PUD) overlay requests, and three certified survey maps (CSMs). The package is intended to enable a mixed residential and commercial development totaling about 115 acres (87 acres north, 28 acres south) and will proceed to common council public hearings on Sept. 2.

Christie (city planning staff) summarized the request as a coordinated set of applications affecting more than 115 acres of land that the staff and applicants have been refining since concept plan review. The landowners are Northwestern Mutual (28 acres, southern portion) and Walden OC LLC (87 acres, northern portion). Christie noted a 15‑acre parcel owned by a third party between the north and south areas that is not part of this proposal. The requested comprehensive plan amendment would change the northern 87 acres to residential categories (single‑family detached, single‑family attached, and multifamily) and retain the southern 28 acres as commercial.

Developers described the proposed mix and unit counts by area. Matt Maroney of 1 Vanguard said the team is “excited about the opportunity” and described portfolio demographics; John Seetman of Seetman Realty described the firm’s emphasis on conservation subdivision design. Christie and the applicants mapped the development into labeled areas (C North, C South, D, E, F, G North and G South) and described proposed uses and counts: - Area C North: two 3‑story multifamily buildings, 48 units each (96 units total) with underground parking and a clubhouse; requested density up to about 15.47 units per acre due to parcel size and an increase in accessory‑building size and height for a clubhouse. - Area C South: four 3‑story multifamily buildings, 48 units each (192 units total). - Area D: four 2‑story “stacked” walk‑up multifamily buildings, 26 units each (104 units total) with detached garages; the applicant asked for flexibility on parking (enclosed parking in roughly 58% of units rather than 1:1 enclosed parking), two curb cuts separated by the minimum city spacing (300 feet), and larger accessory buildings (detached garages, maintenance building) than code base allowances. - Areas E and F: single‑family attached product (quads/duplexes) totaling about 50 units combined (E: ~20 units; F: ~30 units) that are expected to be sold to a builder specializing in that product. - Areas G North and G South: a combined total of 97 single‑family lots to be created by preliminary platting.

Christie explained that the official map amendment would erase an earlier conceptual pink street pattern and retain a proposed East‑West route (Prairie Boulevard) that city engineering and Milwaukee County Parks had discussed previously; Milwaukee County Parks provided a letter of support and an easement to continue the extension of the Ikea Road alignment into the site. The East‑West route is expected to be dedicated and is shown as about 4 acres of right‑of‑way in the CSMs.

Density, parking and accessory‑building size were the principal technical items commissioners discussed. Staff said the requested PUD flexibilities are intended to allow efficient land use and design: permitting a higher net density on C North because it contains only two buildings, allowing accessory‑structure area increases for a clubhouse and maintenance building (from 1,200 sq ft to 5,600–8,000 sq ft in different areas), letting accessory buildings face the street in a few special circumstances, and reducing the requirement for enclosed parking to reflect the developer’s experience (overall parking planned at about 1.5 spaces per unit; enclosed garages provided for roughly 58% of units in Area D). Developer Mark Lake explained that in his portfolio “some people don't have cars” and that enclosed garages are often underused; he said the projects typically achieve about 1.48 vehicles per unit across their properties.

Commissioners generally supported the comprehensive plan amendment and the official map amendment and voted to recommend the rezones (separately for different parcels), establishment of two PUD overlay districts (Areas C North and D) and three CSMs to subdivide and dedicate right‑of‑way. The PUD overlays and CSM motions were made contingent on detailed “conditions and restrictions” documents that the applicants will submit for commission review at the next meeting (Aug. 26) and that will be finalized before the common council public hearing on Sept. 2. The commission’s motions recorded “aye” votes and recommended the council consider all items at public hearings in early September.

Next steps and dependencies: the applications will go to the common council for public hearings on Sept. 2. The PUDs require finalized conditions and restrictions (to be presented Aug. 26), the rezones require ordinances following the comp plan amendment, and the three CSMs must correct technical items and include necessary easements prior to recording. Christie said Milwaukee County’s technical comments on the CSM drafts had been provided to the surveyor and re‑submittals were already under review.

Numbers and specific design details (final building footprints, exact unit mixes per building, landscaping sheets and final parking allocations) were not finalized at the July 22 meeting and will be resolved in the August commission review and subsequent council hearings.