Plan commission approves Waunakee Senior Living renovation after neighbors press drainage and construction concerns

The Waunakee Plan Commission on Monday approved a site plan to remodel the Waunakee Valley Senior Living campus at 801 S. Klein Drive, conditioning final sign‑off on a handful of remaining planning and engineering items including ATC easement approvals, a recorded stormwater maintenance agreement and a consolidated CSM for the campus.

Residents who live adjacent to the property told the commission they remain worried about construction staging, traffic and stormwater. “This property is overloaded with traffic already,” said resident Mike Eastman, who lives five blocks from the facility, asking the village to require a neighborhood meeting and to ensure contractors keep equipment off residential streets. “We want the village to think about how that is going to be controlled,” he said.

Why it matters: The campus sits next to single‑family homes and will undergo interior and exterior upgrades, parking reconfiguration, new walking paths and a new northern sidewalk. Neighbors said past construction had impeded routine services such as leaf and brush pickup and that high stormwater flows have already affected lawns near the project site.

Staff presentation and conditions Lauren, the village planner, explained the project is being reviewed as a Specific Implementation Plan (SIP) because the site was recently rezoned to a Planned Unit Development (PUD). Exterior work includes reconfigured parking, additional walking paths and landscaping, relocation of a trash enclosure outside an ATC easement, and a northern fence. Staff reported photometrics meet the adjacent residential foot‑candle standard and the proposed light poles comply with the 18‑foot height restriction. The village engineer has approved the submitted stormwater management plans, but a stormwater maintenance agreement must be signed and recorded prior to construction.

Design and applicant responses Jenny Ducken of Erdman, the project architect, said the team revised the north property line in response to neighbor feedback, adding a six‑foot fence to increase privacy and relocating the generator and trash enclosure. The applicant also revised the site lighting and will replace older fixtures with new cutoff poles to reduce light spill onto neighboring lawns.

Katie McDonald, the civil engineer, described new bio‑retention basins in the northeast and southeast parking areas and expansion of the southeast detention pond to meet village and state stormwater standards; she said the plans have been reviewed by the village engineer.

Trilogy Health’s development director, Joe Naraki, told neighbors Trilogy will accept responsibility for long‑term maintenance of the pond under the county recorded agreement and indicated the company expects a performance bond may be part of that commitment. “They have my word,” Naraki told residents, inviting them to contact him directly with any continuing concerns.

Commission deliberations and vote Commissioners pressed the applicant on landscaping in the ATC easement, parking levels (the project reduces existing stalls slightly), and measures to keep construction traffic out of neighborhood streets. Commissioners noted the project reduces the number of skilled nursing units and that peak staff at the facility is about 50 employees. The commission voted to approve the SIP subject to resolution of the outstanding planning and engineering items, including ATC approval for landscaping and sidewalk, a relocated trash enclosure outside the ATC easement, and a recorded stormwater maintenance agreement.

What happens next Final building permits and construction approvals are contingent on the applicant resolving the outstanding comments and securing any required easement approvals. Construction was estimated at roughly 18 months by the applicant. Neighbors will be able to submit additional information to village staff for commission consideration prior to issuance of permits.