Environmental Resource Committee recommends five rezones, approves two town zoning changes and park fee schedule

The Marathon County Environmental Resource Committee on April 29 recommended approval of five separate rezone petitions and forwarded multiple town zoning referrals and an updated parks fee schedule to the County Board after brief staff presentations and largely uncontested hearings.

County staff presented each petition as meeting the county zoning standards and consistent with the respective towns’ comprehensive plans. No members of the public testified in favor or against the five rezone requests during the committee’s public hearings. Committee members moved and seconded motions to recommend approval for each petition, and each motion was carried by voice vote.

The committee also considered two town-initiated zoning changes from the Town of Wausau (A-1/80 to Commercial/Light Manufacturing and Commercial/Light Manufacturing to A-1/20 residential). Committee members moved to forward both referrals to the county board with recommendation of approval.

Finally, the committee approved an updated schedule of cash deposits and forfeitures for county parks, recreation and forestry sections to align fee listings with recently renumbered or newly added ordinance citations. Staff said the park commission recommended the amounts now reflected in the ordinance deposit schedule and that the park commission sets the deposit amounts while the left-hand calculations reflect court-related fee structures.

Votes at a glance

- Item 5a-1: Petition of Tim Vreeland on behalf of property owner William Hart — rezone from General Agriculture to Rural Estate (Town of Alderaan). Committee action: motion to recommend approval carried by voice vote; no public testimony recorded.

- Item 5a-2: Petition of Tim Vreeland on behalf of Warren Buss — rezone from General Agriculture to Urban Residential (Town of Holton). Committee action: motion to recommend approval carried by voice vote; one attendee identified themselves as a property holder but offered no testimony.

- Item 5a-3: Petition of James Erickson on behalf of Daniel Anderson — rezone from General Agriculture and Light Industrial to Light Industrial, General Agriculture and Low Density Residential (Town of Spencer). Committee action: motion to recommend approval carried by voice vote; no public testimony recorded.

- Item 5a-4: Petition of Jay Lindbach on behalf of Sunrise Services LLC — rezone from Farmland Preservation to Commercial (Town of Brighton). Committee action: motion to recommend approval carried by voice vote; committee discussion included confirmation that the parcel is not enrolled in a farmland preservation agreement.

- Item 5a-5: Petition of Chris Fieri on behalf of David and Kristen Gruna — rezone from General Agriculture to Rural Residential (Town of Elgin). Committee action: motion to recommend approval carried by voice vote; no public testimony recorded.

- Items 5b-1 and 5b-2: Town of Wausau referrals (A-1/80 to Commercial/Light Manufacturing and Commercial/Light Manufacturing to A-1/20 Residential). Committee action: motions to forward to County Board with recommendation of approval carried by voice vote.

- Item 5c-2: Amendments to county code related to forfeitures and cash deposits for parks, recreation and forestry sections. Committee action: motion to accept the schedule of cash deposits and forfeitures carried by voice vote. Staff said the list aligns deposit amounts with comparable violations and that the detailed ordinance language remains the authoritative text.

How the committee handled the hearings

Committee chairing procedure: for each petition staff read the public notice and presented a staff report, the committee opened the hearing, invited testimony (in order: those in favor, opposed, then interested parties), then closed testimony and deliberated publicly. The committee indicated most petitions met standards for size, frontage, access, and consistency with town comprehensive plans. Where applicable staff recommended that towns update comprehensive plans to reflect approved zoning changes.

Next steps

All five county rezone recommendations and the two town referrals will be forwarded to the Marathon County Board of Supervisors for final action at a future county board meeting. The parks forfeiture and deposit schedule will be incorporated into county ordinance updates and implemented according to the ordinance adoption process.

Committee members and key participants: Mike Ritter (vice chair), Supervisor Randy Debreu, Supervisor Alan Draback, Supervisor John Kroll, Supervisor Jay Schonborn, Supervisor Rick Seefeldt, farm representative Tom Miller, town representative Marilyn Bend (phone), CPZ director Lori Muscimmons and land resources staff (Chad/"Chad" presenter).