Council holds hearing on conditional use permit for NNS Towing at 11139 W. Beecher St.

The West Allis Common Council held a public hearing June 10 on a conditional use permit application from NNS Towing to operate a light motor-vehicle service and towing base at 11139 West Beecher Street.

Planning Director Steve Sheram told the council the site is zoned light industrial, covers about 2.5 acres and includes a roughly 19,000-square-foot building; the applicant seeks indoor repair bays, indoor truck storage and outdoor vehicle staging. "This is not going to be a salvage yard," Sheram said, adding that longer-term vehicle storage currently used by the company would remain at a separate Greenfield location on Layton Avenue.

The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal at its prior meeting and recommended approval subject to conditions that staff said both the property owner and NNS Towing accept. Those conditions include pavement repairs and showing a designated on-site staging area for after-hours drops to reduce curbside staging, placement of refuse locations on the site plan, perimeter landscaping and a six- to eight-foot fence to screen outdoor storage.

Why this matters: the property borders a residential area to the east, and prior tenants at nearby National Avenue corridors generated complaints about on-street parking and vehicle staging. Council members questioned staff about fence height and enforcement of off-street parking requirements; Alderman Haas asked about the "rule for maximum fence height," and Sheram said six feet is standard but planning commission approval commonly allows eight-foot fences in industrial areas.

Council members also raised enforcement questions about tow companies that stage vehicles on public streets despite municipal conditions. Sheram said enforcement tools include ticketing and, in extreme cases, revocation or termination of a conditional use permit after formal proceedings: "It certainly could be enforced... termination of the conditional use permit. That would be an extreme," he said.

Alderman Weigel, who visited the site with colleagues, said the eight-foot screened fence "makes sense" for the location. Weigel added a colloquial remark that drew assent from other members: "Good fences make good neighbors."

The public hearing was closed during the meeting and no final council vote on the conditional use permit was taken that evening. The Planning Commission recommendation and the conditions outlined by staff will be part of whatever formal action the council takes on a subsequent agenda item.