Germantown commission allows AppleWorks Winery expanded uses but keeps transfer review, drops mandatory sound monitor

The Village of Germantown Plan Commission on March 9 approved several amendments to the conditional use permit for AppleWorks Winery, allowing expanded hours, additional indoor music time, the sale of hard liquor subject to state licensing, and a new morning coffee shop, while retaining a revised transferability condition and dropping a mandatory sound‑monitoring requirement.

Staff presented the history of the AppleWorks conditional use permit (originally approved in 2013 and amended in 2022) and recommended approving four of six proposed amendments with modified language. The changes the commission approved allow expanded hours of operation and indoor music, permit sale and dispensing of hard liquor subject to Wisconsin Department of Revenue licensing requirements, and add a coffee shop use from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily. Staff proposed, and the commission debated, revised language on CUP transferability that would require reporting any change of operator to community development and give staff the ability to work with a new operator to evaluate whether further CUP review is needed.

Neighbors and other residents told the commission they were split. Kirk Will, who lives roughly 600 feet from the winery, opposed several requests and urged the commission not to delete conditions that were made to protect neighbors, saying, “He says 1 thing and he does another.” Another neighbor, Dan Remming, said repeatedly chipping away at CUP conditions risks converting rural properties into more intense uses. By contrast, several nearby residents said they enjoy the winery and did not experience noise or traffic problems, and one speaker said adding coffee service would be “really nice.”

Applicant Kevin Behnke told the commission he had obtained a state liquor license in 2024 to respond to market demand and that the license was not being used in the tasting room but would be for the event building when requested. He acknowledged the original sound‑monitoring equipment had become antiquated and described technical problems that caused false alerts, proposing seasonal or modified monitoring instead of an always‑on system. He also said the winery is not a bar and that the changes were meant to keep the business viable.

Commissioners debated two issues at length: retention of a transferability restriction that would trigger review if a new owner/operator proposes changes, and whether to require an always‑operational sound monitoring system. After splitting the questions, the commission adopted staff’s revised transferability language — which directs new operators to report changes and gives staff a path to evaluate whether a formal CUP review is warranted — and voted to remove the village requirement for an always‑on sound monitoring and notification system. Several commissioners nonetheless encouraged the applicant to continue voluntary monitoring and offered the village’s help in testing updated equipment.

The commission also conditioned the approvals on the remaining conditions in CUP 05‑2022 and on the staff report; staff added a requirement that the owner follow the village’s new outdoor entertainment permit rules if outdoor music is provided. No new numerical change to the hours or the 65‑decibel performance guideline was approved beyond the staff‑recommended language that would require the owner to monitor and make records available in the event of complaints.

The next procedural steps are to incorporate the approved changes into an updated CUP document that would be recorded as a restriction on the property or otherwise enforced by the village; several commissioners urged staff to work with the applicant on precise wording and implementation details.

What happened next: commissioners split the original omnibus motion, then adopted the staff‑recommended amendments (with modifications) and separately voted to keep transferability with the reporting requirement and to remove the mandatory sound monitor. The applicant indicated he would voluntarily deploy a monitoring solution and cooperate with staff.