Council approves Hawks Landing PUD with traffic‑calming condition; CSM tied to easement

The Waukesha Common Council on Jan. 21 approved a PUD agreement for the Hawks Landing condominium project — a proposed 12‑unit development on roughly 3.9 acres off Jill’s Drive — while adding a traffic‑calming condition and preserving requirements tied to an access easement and a certified survey map (CSM). The PUD approval passed 8–5; the CSM later passed 12–1.

The adopted PUD allows six duplex buildings with front‑loaded garages on a private drive to be extended from the existing Garden Prairie Drive. Council members and planning staff said the development requires a private access easement connecting Garden Prairie to the new private drive before building permits can be issued. Planning staff told the council the land was rezoned about 20 years ago with an expectation that the road connection would eventually be completed, and that wetlands and stormwater detention areas constrain the buildable footprint.

At a public hearing before the vote, Garden Prairie Owners Association representatives said their primary concerns were increased cut‑through traffic, how maintenance and snow removal responsibilities would be allocated, and whether the historic easement documents permit two‑way vehicular access. Matthew Lowe, attorney for Garden Prairie, said the association wanted more time to resolve ownership and easement questions; Nancy Nadalny, president of the association, said her understanding was the existing easement was intended only for utilities, not general traffic.

The fire marshal and other city staff said public‑safety access drove the city’s requirements. Fire department rules adopted in the city code and the international fire code require at least two access points for developments and set a 20‑foot minimum width for emergency access, though the local fire marshal has discretion to require wider access. “The access must remain,” the fire marshal said during the hearing, urging that emergency access not be blocked by private controls.

To address resident concerns about traffic, Councilmember Wells successfully proposed a modification requiring a traffic‑calming “choke” — a narrowed segment at the connection point between Garden Prairie Drive and the new private drive — to be designed in consultation with public works and subject to engineering and fire‑department approval. Staff said the choke would be narrow at the connection (20 feet at the choke point) and limited to a short segment intended to make the new development appear distinct from the existing private drive and to discourage through traffic.

Council and staff emphasized additional conditions: no building permits or final plat approvals will be issued until the required access easement is recorded and the CSM is finalized; the developer will pay for private street signage, private trash/recycling service and private snow removal; trees identified to remain but damaged during construction must be replaced; and the private drives will be limited to 24 feet wide except for the short traffic calming narrowing agreed by the council. Staff also noted that because these are private drives, parking will be allowed only in designated spaces.

During debate, some council members urged the council to delay approval and send the matter back to the Plan Commission for more negotiation between the developer and Garden Prairie residents; others said the project’s traffic impact (roughly 12 units) would be small and that the PUD structure already contains enforceable conditions. The motion to approve the final site plan, architectural review and PUD review with staff and Plan Commission comments, plus the traffic‑calming addition, carried 8–5.

A related certified survey map to consolidate lots for the Garden Prairie/Hawks Landing development was approved later in the meeting, 12–1. Staff said the CSM depends on resolution of a “gap” in title to a small portion of property that is the subject of probate/court action; staff and the applicants represented that the easement needed for access will be granted once the title gap is resolved, and no building permits will be issued until that easement and the CSM are recorded.

What the council approved is a PUD agreement and a CSM that are conditioned on the recording of required easements and compliance with staff conditions; it does not yet allow construction to proceed until those conditions are met.