Plan commission approves resolution to create Tax Incremental District No. 26 to support Vollrath expansion

The Sheboygan City Plan Commission voted to approve a resolution establishing Tax Incremental District No. 26 and its project plan after a presentation and questions from staff and the project consultant.

Phil Coston, who introduced the plan on behalf of the consultant team, told commissioners the district would be a mixed-use TID with a maximum life of 20 years covering about 62 acres that includes the Vollrath company site and adjacent parcels including the Old World Creamery area. Coston said the project plan identifies roughly $3 billion in eligible project costs across the district, including development incentives, street, sewer and sidewalk work, and half-mile radius improvements. He said the initial phase provided by Vollrath would generate an estimated $8 million in new taxable value for the city.

Coston described the incentive structure as pay-as-you-go: the developer would create the new value, increment would accrue, and a portion of that increment could be returned over time as incentives. He identified specific public improvements in the plan, including a sanitary sewer relay relocation (about $258,000 in the plan) and North 23rd Street repairs and sidewalk work (just over $1 million in the plan).

Commissioners pressed staff on several details in the draft project plan, including inconsistent language about retail uses within the district. A commissioner noted the plan text appeared to state "none" of the district would be devoted to retail through 2047 despite existing retail at Old World Creamery and Sherwin Williams; staff acknowledged that would be corrected in the final project plan and said revised language would show retail as a percentage (staff indicated the draft would be updated to reflect "less than 35%" retail in a future iteration).

City staff and the consultant walked commissioners through required procedural steps: plan commission approval (done), a City Council resolution (slated for April 20th per the presentation), and a final joint review board action before filing with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for certification. Staff said the joint review board organized on March 17 and that its minutes were being finalized and posted.

The commission voted to approve the resolution to create the district; the resolution will move to City Council for consideration and then return to the joint review board for a final vote. The plan commission recorded the motion as carried by voice vote.