Council approves PUD amendment for President’s Plaza; planners require lane changes and landscaping buffer for new Starbucks

The Waukesha Common Council voted to approve a planned-unit-development amendment that clears the way for a freestanding Starbucks at the west end of President’s Plaza (formerly Brighton Square), subject to staff conditions including traffic striping changes and landscaping buffers adjacent to single-family homes.

Planning staff and the applicant presented a site plan showing a drive-through lane that can stack about 15 cars, a widened exit onto Sunset Drive and additional parking spaces near the building. Staff said a full traffic-impact analysis (TIA) was not required under city protocols for an existing commercial corridor, but engineering required a traffic study and specific re-striping to provide a left-turn lane into the site.

The planning commission recommended approval with conditions that staff comments be addressed and the PUD amendment be recorded before building permits are issued. Key changes in the PUD include updating the zoning designation to B-5 with a PUD overlay, removing a prior restriction that prevented small freestanding restaurants on the site, and removing the older requirement that all buildings match the original mall’s architectural style.

Nearby business and property owners voiced traffic concerns during the public hearing. Keith Jasinski, who leases office space next door, said Sunset Drive has become a busy east–west thoroughfare and warned that consolidating the west parking area into a drive-through could eliminate overflow parking that currently mitigates turn-lane backups. Jasinski urged additional traffic controls to avoid queueing onto Sunset Drive. Tarkas Barsaman, a long-time property owner and dentist with offices nearby, asked the council to consider the long-term future use of the parcel and cautioned that broadening the zoning could allow uses in the future that might harm the adjacent single-family neighborhood.

Council members debated traffic but ultimately decided to approve the PUD amendment. Alderperson Wells made the motion to approve; Alderperson Rick Lemke seconded. Alderperson Eric Payne and others raised specific concerns about the potential for stacking and left-turn conflicts during peak hours. Staff and the applicant said plans call for a striped left-turn lane on Sunset Drive to accommodate westbound traffic entering the site while maintaining two through lanes in each direction.

Conditions attached to the approval require addressing all staff comments and recording the amended PUD before building permits are issued. The site plan includes new landscaping along the south property line to buffer the existing single-family subdivision, a widened exit lane onto Sunset Drive, and on-site stack space for the drive-through.

Provenance: The PUD amendment and site-plan presentation, the public hearing comments by adjacent business owners and residents, and the council’s motion and vote are documented in the meeting transcript between the planning presentation, public hearing, and the council action vote.