Kenosha County planning panel approves comp-plan change, rezoning and conditional use for Zirbel Concrete parcel

Kenosha County planning staff and supervisors on the planning committee approved a package of land-use actions Thursday to let Zirbel Concrete establish a contractor yard on a five‑acre parcel in the Town of Wheatland.

The committee voted to amend the county comprehensive land‑use map to reclassify the five‑acre area from suburban‑density residential to industrial, clear the way for a rezone of the parcel from A‑1 (agricultural preservation) to B‑5 (wholesale trade and warehousing), and approved a certified survey map (CSM) and a conditional‑use permit (CUP) that would allow a construction‑contractor business with outside storage.

The approvals follow an applicant presentation describing the contractor yard and site plan. “We are looking…to rezone this 5 acre parcel or change the land use map first to allow it to go to industrial, which would suit the B‑5, commercial warehousing that we are looking to do to have a contractor's yard for our concrete business,” Brent Zirbel, owner of Zirbel Concrete, told the committee. Zirbel said the operation would not be a ready‑mixed concrete plant but a contractor yard for residential foundations and flat work, with two 12,000‑square‑foot buildings, 18‑foot sidewalls, paved areas, and limited outside storage for forms and rebar. He described a perimeter berm two to three feet high planted with four‑foot evergreen trees as a buffer.

County staff said the CSM splits off the five acres and that several conditions must be met before the CSM is recorded. Staff also circulated a list of standard conditions for a contractor yard as part of the CUP packet. The committee approved the CSM “subject to the conditions” and approved the CUP with the conditions sent to the applicant.

A supervisor moved to approve the comprehensive plan change, and the motion carried. Committee minutes show the approvals were unanimous; individual roll‑call votes were not recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The staff member noted next steps: the comprehensive plan amendment, rezone and related items (except for the CSM and CUP) will be presented to the county board the following week; if approved there, they will proceed to the county executive for signature. The CSM will be recorded after the applicant submits corrected survey materials and staff verifies them.

Neither the transcript nor the materials provided to the committee included a separate local, state or federal statute as the legal basis for the approvals; the committee applied its usual zoning and subdivision procedures and standard CUP conditions.

The committee discussion indicated town‑level review had taken place: the Town of Wheatland reviewed and approved the related town action the night before, and the county staff said the town had voted unanimously to approve the companion items.

The approvals allow Zirbel Concrete to move forward pending final technical corrections to the CSM and completion of the conditions listed in the CUP. County staff said they will notify the applicant by letter once the county board and county executive have signed the items and when the CSM is ready for recording.