East Troy planning commission recommends new "single-family and two-family" land-use category

The East Troy Plan Commission voted to recommend that the Village Board consider an amendment to the village comprehensive plan to replace the existing “two-family residential” land-use category with a new “single-family and two-family residential” category, the commission said at its meeting at Village Hall.

Planning staff said the proposed change is intended to align the future land-use map with the zoning and existing housing patterns around downtown so that existing duplexes are consistent with the plan and certain lots zoned TR-8 could be used for two-family homes without producing a nonconforming condition. "There was a disconnect between our land use map and the zoning for some of the areas around downtown," Orin, planning staff, said during the discussion.

The staff packet included a version of the comprehensive plan map with the parcels that would be affected cross-hatched and a zoomed-in image intended to show changes at neighborhood scale. Orin told the commission that the amendment would not remove rights from property owners: an existing single-family home would remain consistent and an existing duplex would also become consistent with the plan. He said a land-use designation that explicitly allows both single-family and two-family housing would also let a property that is zoned TR-8 proceed with duplex development without a conflict between the plan and zoning.

Commissioners discussed how the change responds to existing nonconforming duplexes near the village core and to the commission’s broader interest in facilitating housing opportunities. Orin said the two-family category in the comprehensive plan had been described as generally intended for planned neighborhoods and in parts of the plan was unmapped, which created the inconsistency the amendment seeks to fix.

Because the amendment is a class 1 notice under the comprehensive plan process, Orin said the public hearing must be published at least 30 days in advance and will take place before the Village Board; the commission’s vote is a recommendation to that board. A planning commissioner moved to recommend the proposed text change and map amendment to the Village Board; another planning commissioner seconded the motion. The commission voted in favor, and the motion carried. The Village Board is scheduled to hold the required public hearing on the proposal.