West Bend reviews site plan for new Fire Station No. 1 at 2151 W. Washington St.; no action taken

The West Bend City Plan Commission received an informational site-plan review Wednesday for a proposed Fire Station No. 1 at 2151 West Washington Street; no action was required or taken at the meeting.

John (staff member) framed the presentation as informational: "This evening's presentation, this is just an informational session," and said the project would return to the commission on July 1 for formal consideration. Designers described the building as a predominantly brick structure with a stone tower element, multiple vehicle bays oriented for drive-through apparatus movement and a separate training tower near the detention pond.

Presenters said the site plan includes roughly 70 parking stalls for both on-duty staff and public parking, three retention/ detention areas placed according to site topography, and a screened generator and rooftop mechanical equipment. Trevor (presenter) described landscape work as limited near the building footprint due to paved areas but said foundation plantings and columnar trees would be used to soften the facade.

The design team reported they have used turning templates to check that large apparatus can maneuver without three-point turns and offered to include a turning-movement sheet in the plan set generated by AutoTURN: "We can actually just turn it on that layer on the drawing," a presenter said. Commissioners asked about the pavement section for heavy apparatus; the team said paved approaches and apparatus routes will be concrete, typically using 8-inch slabs, subject to geotechnical recommendations.

Commissioners and staff discussed traffic controls at the driveway and on the adjacent corridor. The presenters said the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) owns the US 45 ramp and that DOT permits and review will be required for work affecting that ramp; staff also described a different traffic study focused on signalization and emergency pre-emption rather than a standard traffic-impact analysis for commercial development. On whether signals and driveway improvements were included in the project budget, presenters said that estimate-setting is ongoing and that certain improvements—such as signals at the driveway—may be additional to the currently cited budget figure.

Other specific points discussed during the informational review included sidewalk connections to State Highway 33, segregation of employee and visitor parking (including a 10-stall employee area), potential relocation of stalls to gain additional turning clearance if needed, and using charcoal-colored overhead doors on south-facing bays to reduce fading. Staff asked commissioners for any major concerns this evening so changes could be addressed before the July 1 submittal.

No formal motions were made on the site plan at this meeting. Staff and the design team will update plans to reflect staff and commission comments and will return with a formal site-plan packet and related public hearings for rezoning and land-use items on the schedule described by staff.