The West Allis Common Council on May 20 heard a public hearing on a request to rezone a roughly 3,600‑square‑foot parcel in the 6900 block of West Orchard Street from RC (residential) to C2 (commercial) to allow installation of a permanent smoker and an enclosed metal shelter to support on‑site smoking operations tied to a nearby kitchen.

City planning staff described the site as an existing parking lot area east of Tanner Paul, with eight parking stalls and a refuse enclosure. Steve Scherer said the parcel is currently in an RC district but has a commercial land use and that planning commission recommended approval. He told council staff would coordinate with the property owner and operator on site landscaping, the precise smoker location, and health department and fire department requirements.

Leon Schwartz, the owner of Iron Pig 2 (listed in the transcript as the restaurant portion inside Tanner Paul), told the council the proposal is to place a smoker on the lot and use the Tanner Paul kitchen as his commissary. "The purpose of that property is to, put my smoker out there, which would be in conjunction with my kitchen that's within the Tanner Paul Building," Schwartz said. He said smoked meat would be brought inside to be processed; he also said his smoker is a pellet unit that runs unattended overnight and that he uses aluminum pans to reduce grease and fire risk.

Brandon, who identified himself as an operator at Shotzi's (the business inside Tanner Paul), told the council the smoker would reduce the need for a noisy compressor at the food‑truck operation: "This his ability to smoke in the smoker itself means he doesn't run his food truck at our location... so you won't have the loud compressor," Brandon said.

Neighbors who filed an objection raised several concerns in writing, Scherer said: limited parking, potential for rodent issues, overlap with an existing full kitchen inside Tanner Paul (Shotzi's), uncertainty about future uses of the parcel, and possible health department and fire department issues. Council members pressed about plumbing, hand‑washing/sink access and whether restrooms would be required; Scherer said the health department would coordinate requirements and that access to Tanner Paul could affect sink and plumbing needs. He and Aldermen also discussed whether the structure would meet commercial building code rather than a simple shed; Scherer said code enforcement indicated commercial building code could apply and that planning commission conditions would require site improvements before smoking could begin.

Scherer said the planning commission recommended approval and that one written objection had been filed. No formal rezoning vote appears in the May 20 transcript; Scherer said staff would follow up with the property owner and operator on site plans and code and health department coordination if rezoning proceeds.