Plan commission approves comp plan amendment and rezoning for former Finger Road school; neighbors urge park instead

The Green Bay Plan Commission on July 7 voted to recommend a change to the Smart Growth 2022 comprehensive plan and to rezone 3520 and 3542 Finger Road to allow medium-intensity retail, office and housing uses and Office Residential (OR) zoning, actions that now go to the City Council on July 15.

The two adjacent parcels total about 5.5 acres and include a vacant, forested area and a former school building owned by Green Bay Area Public Schools that the district intends to sell. Jared, a city planning staff member, told the commission the proposed comprehensive-plan category — described in staff materials as “medium intensity retail, office, housing” (MIROH / MIRH) — would allow a mix of commercial and mid- to higher-density housing at a neighborhood node. He also said staff recommends OR zoning for the parcels as a closer fit to existing conditions than a more intensive commercial district.

Why it matters: the change removes three disparate future-land-use categories now mapped on the site (school, parks and low–medium residential) and creates a single mixed-use designation that would permit office and retail uses along with residential development subject to zoning rules.…