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Onalaska approves Mayo Clinic addition, grants parking-deviation with conditions
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Summary
The Onalaska Plan Commission unanimously approved a planned unit development and a deviation from the Unified Development Code to allow an ~1,800 sq ft addition at the Mayo Clinic Onalaska. City staff supported the change, citing existing parking capacity; the approval includes nine to ten conditions and a final implementation plan.
The Onalaska Plan Commission on Jan. 27 approved a planned unit development (PUD) and a deviation from the city’s Unified Development Code to permit a roughly 1,800-square-foot addition at the Mayo Clinic Health System facility at 191 Theater Road, city planner Katie Aspenson said.
The addition—about 6% of the clinic’s approximately 105,939-square-foot building—will enclose imaging services that are currently provided from a mobile trailer, project representative Kyle Shoff of HSR Associates said. "The addition we're looking at is about 1,800 . . . the purpose of that addition is to bring in a service that is currently offered as a mobile imaging component," Shoff said.
City staff told the commission the UDC requires one parking stall per 250 square feet of gross floor area (section 13.03.0.21). For the clinic’s total area the standard calculates to 424 stalls; the site currently has 340 stalls. "As of 2025, there were 340 stalls serving this medical clinic, and parking continues to not be an issue," Aspenson said. Staff concluded that the planned addition would not generate an incremental parking demand because the mobile trailer will be removed and patient volume is not expected to increase.
Rich Hepland, a facilities representative for Mayo Clinic, reiterated that current parking is adequate: "There is no current parking shortage. . . By no means as a result of this project do we see any impact to the parking needs out there," he said.
Commission discussion focused on operational details and site constraints. Commissioner Bill Leathan asked about the "MRI pad" referenced in application materials; Aspenson clarified the pad is the concrete base where the trailer sits and that site-plan review is ongoing. Commissioners also asked about parcel configuration for future expansion; staff said the 2021 parking lot spans two parcels and recommended merging those parcels as one condition.
Commissioner Eric Archer moved to approve the PUD and deviation with the staff-recommended conditions; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. The commission later approved the final implementation plan with nine conditions, completing the approvals required to proceed.
The approval includes a set of staff conditions (10 at the preliminary PUD stage, 9 for final implementation) intended to address site-plan details, parcel merger, and future expansion options. The motion passed by unanimous vote; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally of individual votes.
Next steps: the applicant will complete remaining site-plan tasks required by staff conditions and implement the approved construction and site changes under the city’s permitting process.
