Social House expansion: Planning Commission schedules public hearing, tables parking agreement and discusses parking, courts and noise

The Menomonee Falls Plan Commission on June 3 heard a multi-part application from Dan Della of Social House to reclassify and rezone adjacent church-owned land for expanded parking and recreational uses; commissioners set a July 8 public hearing on the comprehensive plan amendment and tabled the related parking agreement to the same meeting.

Planner Amy Dunnet said the applicant proposes to purchase about 27,000 square feet from the adjacent Zion Lutheran Church to expand parking, add two pickleball courts, bocce ball lanes (up to three), and a 10-by-40-foot service kiosk. Dunnet said the existing Social House parcel is zoned C-1 Neighborhood Business with a Planned Infill Development (PID) overlay; the adjacent parcel is CB-2 Civic Institutional with institutional land use. The application seeks to amend the land-use map from institutional to commercial, rezone the parcel to C-1 with the PID overlay, and adopt several development exemptions under the PID to accommodate building setbacks, landscaping sizes, buffer reductions and a one-space parking exemption.

Della described the project as necessary to improve safety and long-term viability. “At the heart of this proposal is a commitment to safety that has been and continues to be the guiding motivation behind every decision we’ve made,” he said. He and his team said the plan includes about 38 new parking spaces on the purchased parcel and a reconfiguration of the existing lot to improve circulation: reversing the inbound/outbound flow so traffic will enter on the east access and exit to the west, and removing one existing access to lengthen sight distance.

Engineering consultant Adam Arts of Pinnacle Engineering said the applicant negotiated with Waukesha County to pursue shoulder paving and other improvements along Lisbon Road; county staff reviewed sight-distance metrics and the driveway configuration. Keith Hammett, introduced earlier as vice chair of the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors, attended and spoke in support of the project’s goal to reduce roadside parking and improve safety; he said county staff had worked with the applicant on safety matters.

Commissioners raised questions about how the new courts would be fenced and lit, how late courts and a serving kiosk would operate, and whether the additional parking would actually reduce roadside parking on Lisbon Road (county rules allow street parking in portions of the road). Commissioners requested specific operational limits for the courts and kiosk — for example, a condition that courts not be used after sunset and that the kiosk not remain open significantly later than court use — and suggested clearer site plan detail for fence height and locations. Dunnet summarized the exemptions requested in staff materials: a reduced frontage/setback allowance for the 10-by-40 kiosk, reduced shrub sizes in select landscaped areas, a reduced landscape buffer where a six-foot privacy fence would be installed, a fence setback exemption near the front property line for pickleball fencing, and a one-space parking reduction tied to the PID request.

On the parking agreement (Item 5F), which would record an easement allowing parking on the separate parcel, the commission voted to table the item to the July 8 meeting to allow the comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning to be considered together. Dunnet said the staff recommendation was to record the parking agreement at the Waukesha County Register of Deeds once the zoning and land-use steps are complete. The Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on the comprehensive plan amendment and related rezoning at its July 8 meeting.

The transcript records substantive public- and staff-level discussion about traffic flow, the potential for summer-month increases in on-street parking, lighting spillover and noise for nearby residents, and wetlands/underground detention work required for construction on roughly half of the 27,000 square feet being acquired. Commissioners repeatedly asked for clearer, written limits on court hours and kiosk operation to include in public-notice materials for the hearing.