Consultants recommend industrial land designation south of Highway 10 in Waupaca feasibility report

Consultants from New Day Planning presented a future development and land‑use feasibility study to the Waupaca Common Council on June 17 that recommends shifting a specific growth area—south of Highway 10 and east of County Road A—toward industrial uses to serve food and beverage processing, metal fabrication and equipment manufacturing.

Trisha Braun, principal with New Day Planning, told the council the study was prompted by renewed interest in industrial users for parcels the city’s comprehensive plan currently shows as mixed‑use, highway commercial and multifamily. Braun said the project team conducted stakeholder interviews, market analysis, and data review and concluded the area would better serve community economic goals if primed for industrial development. Braun said the municipality has utility capacity potential of up to 15 megawatts in the target area, enough for several medium‑size manufacturers.

Peter Haney, New Day Planning’s data lead, summarized the quantitative analysis and peer benchmarks. He said Waupaca has strong manufacturing employment and favorable household earnings compared with similar Wisconsin cities, but limited available large sites had excluded the community from recent RFIs. Braun noted the consultants and local interviewees identified food and beverage processing, sustainable packaging, metal fabrication serving foundries and warehouse/distribution as the most promising near‑term targets.

The consultants warned that site readiness is a competitive factor. Braun recommended a suite of next steps: update the future land‑use and zoning maps (a statutory comprehensive‑plan process), prioritize frontage parcels for lighter industrial or mixed frontage uses, inventory willing landowners, complete site‑readiness work (utility extension mapping, phase‑1 environmental assessments, plats, and easements), and consider optioning or assembling sites. Braun gave a general planning timeframe estimate that major utility extensions could take about 18 months and noted typical advanced manufacturers usually seek at least 20 acres—often much larger footprints.

Council members asked clarifying questions. Council member Henry Velacher asked the consultants to define the New North regional partnership; Braun explained New North is a regional economic development partner based in Green Bay that includes Waupaca County and coordinates state and regional attraction efforts. Council member Paul Hagen noted the presentation’s timing aligned with council budget work and suggested staff may be able to prioritize initial site‑readiness steps in upcoming budgets.

Braun closed by recommending continued coordination with utilities and regional partners, a targeted land comp study to set realistic price expectations, and public engagement on any map changes. City staff said they will remain in contact with the consultants and return with specific options for next steps and associated costs for council consideration.