Mont Bijou rezoning delayed; council to consider conditional‑use permit for cocktail lounge Feb. 18

The Oconomowoc Common Council held a public hearing Jan. 25 on a request to change the comprehensive land-use designation and rezone 0.842 acres at 351 East Lisbon Road (tax key OCO0562.0245), the property known as Mont Bijou (formerly the Inn on Pine Terrace). The applicant seeks to change the land-use designation from medium-density residential to commercial office and to rezone the parcel to a general commercial district so the inn could remodel first-floor space into a cocktail lounge for guests and the general park‑going public.

City planner Matt Gallo said the plan commission took no action on Jan. 8 and recommended an alternative approach: keep the residential underlying zoning but allow the longstanding nonconforming use to continue through a text amendment and permit expansion of the use by conditional‑use permit. “The idea is to stay the same on residential underlying zoning, and then allow this use that’s been there for a 100 years to continue,” Gallo said. The council therefore continued the public-hearing process and scheduled a subsequent hearing on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. to consider the conditional‑use permit and the text amendment.

Two nearby residents spoke at the Jan. 25 hearing. Gail Huber, who lives at 340 East Lisbon Road directly across from the site, described an experience at a Milwaukee cocktail lounge and warned that post‑closing conversations on a summer evening can disturb neighbors. “It does create a disturbance in the neighborhood,” Huber said, recounting loud good‑byes outside after a late-night visit.

Mary Kay Sokup, who said she lives at 303 Pine Terrace, told the council she supports addressing the inn’s status through the conditional‑use process rather than rezoning the parcel. “Residential is zoned residential for a reason,” Sokup said, while also acknowledging the property’s history as a summer cottage and its architectural value.

Gallo told the council notices were published and mailed to nearby property owners; staff recommended the Feb. 18 hearing to allow plan commission review of the conditional‑use permit and any conditions the commission might place on the operation and outdoor entertainment areas. Councilors said the Feb. 18 meeting will again be an open forum for public comment and that speakers will be asked to limit remarks to keep the meeting focused.

No formal action was taken Jan. 25; the record on the rezoning request will remain open until the Feb. 18 public hearing and subsequent plan-commission recommendation.