Germantown planning panel approves 2050 plan amendment to revise sewer service area

Germantown Plan Commission on Monday recommended approving amendments to the village’s 2050 comprehensive plan to update sanitary sewer service area maps and related text, a change staff said is needed to match a proposed local sewer service area plan that will go next to SEWRPC and state review.

The amendment would add about 1,369 acres to the village’s sewer service area and remove about 197 acres, and staff recommended approval “to ensure consistency between our plan and the future local sanitary sewer service area plan,” said Jeff Retzoff, village staff member, during the public hearing and discussion.

Why it matters: The sewer service area map determines where the village and regional agencies plan to provide wastewater service and can affect future development, infrastructure costs and municipal charges tied to areas included in the sewer service area.

What the commission heard and decided Staff described a multi-year update to the sanitary sewer service area plan that SEWRPC (identified in materials as “Sewer Pack”) requested: SEWRPC allowed a 2023 extension request but asked the village to complete a comprehensive update of the local sewer service area because the plan had not been updated since 1983. Retzoff said the proposed local plan and the comprehensive-plan text and map updates reflect parcels the village expects could be served through 2050 and track actions earlier this year by the Utility Advisory Board, the Public Works and Highway Commission, and the Village Board.

At the public hearing residents raised concerns about losing rural character north of Freistadt and the Holy Hill corridor. Resident Melanie Smythe said the maps “wip[e] out a section of the rural area” and asked for more neighborhood meetings before such changes. A written comment from Chad Dean, identified as zoning administrator, Town of Germantown, asked whether a small triangular parcel near Highway 145 was included; staff provided an enlarged map showing that parcel is not part of the expansion.

Retzoff summarized the timeline: SEWRPC will publish a draft community assistance report and a joint village/SEWRPC public hearing is expected at the Village Board meeting on July 21; a SEWRPC committee will review the village request in August and the SEWRPC board in September; subsequent submittal to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is expected before year-end.

Commission discussion focused on why roughly 1,400 acres are being added. Retzoff and commissioners noted that the 2050 plan’s neighborhood and district designations, including the Holy Hill Gateway District, already identify many of the added areas as likely locations for future industrial, office or warehouse-type uses. Commissioners said the village historically amended the sewer service area piecemeal when development proposals arrived and that SEWRPC asked for a comprehensive update to avoid that approach. Staff also noted a financial tradeoff: areas inside the sewer service area can carry charges to Metropolitan Milwaukee Sewerage District that the village seeks to manage.

Formal action and next steps A commissioner moved to approve the proposed text and map amendments to chapters 4 and 7 of the 2050 plan as presented; the motion passed in voice vote. The commission’s recommendation will go to the Village Board and is part of the package the village will forward to SEWRPC and then to the DNR for final regulatory action.

Discussion-only items and residents’ requests Multiple speakers requested more neighborhood-level outreach before map changes and said the plan’s neighborhood/corridor categories are too broad to reflect existing neighborhoods’ intent. Commissioners noted they will schedule additional review of the 2050 plan, neighborhood meetings and follow-up on the village’s single-family/multifamily mix in future plan-commission work.

Ending note The comprehensive-plan and sewer service-area amendments are advisory recommendations from the Plan Commission to the Village Board and then to SEWRPC and the DNR; subsequent public hearings at the Village Board and SEWRPC are scheduled as part of the review timeline.