Plan commission amends high school buffer to 60 feet, approves site plan while leaving Highview access dispute unresolved

The City of Franklin Plan Commission voted Oct. 9 to amend a natural resource special exception previously tied to Franklin High School and to approve a site-plan amendment for the school’s proposed athletic and site improvements at 8222 South 50th Street.

The commission changed a prior condition that had imposed a 150-foot wooded buffer along parts of the site to an average 60-foot setback, and approved the school’s site-plan amendment while removing a site-plan condition that duplicated a separate conditional-use restriction about access from Highview Drive. The separate limitation on Highview Drive access remains part of the conditional-use record and is the subject of pending litigation, the city attorney said.

Why it matters: Neighbors who live along the school property have pushed for a wider buffer to protect woodlands, reduce noise and screen light. The district and its consultants argued the plan (which includes improvements such as a building addition, tennis courts and a soccer field) is not feasible with a larger setback and that alternatives were explored. The commission’s action permits the school to move forward on construction while leaving the legal question of Highview Drive access to the conditional-use process and outside the site-plan vote.

What the commission decided: Alderman Day moved to amend the commission’s August 21 approval and set the buffer to an average 60 feet as shown on plans dated June 24, 2025; the motion passed in a roll-call vote (motion tally recorded by the commission as three in favor, one opposed and one abstention). Later the commission approved the site-plan amendment with one edit: it directed staff to remove condition number 9 from the site-plan resolution (staff explained that condition duplicated the existing conditional-use restriction tied to the Highview Drive access issue and that the conditional-use record remained the correct mechanism to resolve the dispute). The commission then renumbered the remaining conditions and adopted the site-plan resolution.

What commissioners and staff said: Commission members who supported the amendment cited compromises the district had already made — notably reducing a proposed minimum 30-foot UDO buffer to an average 60 feet on its own — and argued the district had presented evidence that the project would be infeasible with the larger buffer that had been previously discussed. Opponents, including multiple residents, said the project would remove mature woodlands, harm wetlands and could worsen local drainage and noise impacts.

School and consultant statements: Andrew Cromie (assistant superintendent) and the district’s consultants described multiple revisions to the plan after repeated neighborhood and staff discussions and said the district had met with the DNR and Army Corps processes for wetland delineation; the consultant reported the Army Corps had determined certain wetlands nonfederal and that two state permits had been submitted (one with no timely DNR objections and another still under review). Mike Sprague, president of the Franklin Board of Education, urged the commission to move forward with the 60-foot average buffer approved by the Common Council, calling the project important for students.

Public comment: Dozens of neighbors spoke during the public hearing and the later citizen-comment segment. Opponents raised process, transparency, stormwater, traffic and canopy preservation concerns; supporters cited student safety and program needs, emergency access and prior concessions by the district.

The legal context: City counsel read the Wisconsin conditional-use statute’s substantial-evidence standard during debate; the city attorney and commissioners discussed whether the prior 150-foot number had a measurable evidentiary basis or was a negotiated compromise. Counsel said the conditional-use record controls the legal terms of access; that access dispute remains the subject of litigation.

What happens next: With site-plan approval (and the 60-foot average buffer amendment), the district told the commission it intends to begin construction activity. The Highview access issue remains tied to the conditional-use record and any court review; the plan commission explicitly removed the duplicated site-plan condition so it would not conflate the two processes.

Quotes

"On behalf of the school board, our 600 employees and 4,700 students, I urge you to move forward with the 60 foot wetland buffer approved by the common council," said Mike Sprague, president of the Franklin Board of Education.

"We have the burden of proof to present evidence sufficient to support a natural resource special exception," the city attorney told the commission while reading state law defining the substantial-evidence standard.

The bottom line: The commission balanced neighborhood concerns and county/state permitting steps against the district’s stated program needs by reducing a prior compromise buffer to an average 60 feet and approving a site plan while leaving the Highview access dispute to the conditional-use process and any related litigation.