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Oconomowoc council adopts zoning change allowing legal nonconforming hotels to seek conditional-use expansion
Summary
The City of Oconomowoc Common Council on Feb. 18 adopted a text amendment to Chapter 17 of the municipal code (creation of section 17.408 and table changes to 17.106) to allow legal nonconforming hotels, motels and inns to apply for conditional-use permits to expand operations; the measure passed on a unanimous council vote.
The Oconomowoc Common Council on Feb. 18 adopted a text amendment to the city zoning code that allows legally nonconforming hotels, motels and inns to seek conditional-use permits to continue or expand lodging-related operations.
The amendment creates section 17.408 in Chapter 17 of the municipal code and updates the Table of Allowed Uses in section 17.106 to list “legal nonconforming existing hotel, motel, or lodge” as a conditional use in residential districts. Council members voted unanimously to approve the ordinance and waived a second reading.
City Planner and Zoning Administrator Jason Gallo, who presented the ordinance, said the change was prompted by a plan commission direction to allow owners of historic lodging properties a clearer path to expand or formalize operations without rezoning to full commercial status. “This is the creation of 17.408,” Gallo said during the public hearing, describing limits the amendment places on expansions: room counts are limited to existing legal nonconforming status unless the council approves a conditional-use permit, and uses discontinued for 12 months must conform with current code.
City Attorney Bridal cautioned the public that the text amendment and any specific conditional-use request are separate matters. Bridal said the first public hearing covered only the text amendment; evidence and testimony about an individual property’s conditional-use request must be heard at a separate quasi‑judicial hearing so that parties receive a fair process.
Supporters on the council framed the amendment as a tool that gives the city more control than a straight rezoning to commercial, because conditional-use permits allow the council and plan commission to attach conditions and to reopen review if operations later create problems. Opponents had urged caution during earlier review, saying any change should not undermine surrounding residential neighborhoods; the amendment requires council review of conditional-use standards to ensure uses are not adverse to public health, safety or welfare.
The change opens a path for properties such as the Mont Bijou (351 E. Lisbon Road) to apply for a conditional-use permit. If the council had not adopted the text amendment, planners said, the conditional-use option would not exist and properties would remain limited to their nonconforming status.
What’s next: The ordinance takes effect per city rules; affected property owners must still file separate conditional-use permit applications for any expansion of nonconforming lodging operations.
