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Hearing on Pet Supplies Plus store near Middleton cemetery left open after late notice and neighbor concerns
Summary
Applicants seeking to retrofit and expand an existing building for a Pet Supplies Plus store at 3415 Parmentor Street presented site plans and stormwater/parking solutions; the board held the public hearing open after staff said St. Luke's Lutheran Church received notice late and neighbors raised parking and runoff concerns.
The Middleton Zoning Board of Appeals opened public comment and heard a detailed presentation on a proposed Pet Supplies Plus at 3415 Parmentor Street but left the hearing open after staff said an adjacent cemetery's property committee had received notice only days earlier.
Staff (Daffany) described the application as an expansion of the existing building to a roughly 9,200-square-foot commercial space that would require multiple setback variances and an increase in allowed parking. Plan Commission reviewed a concept plan April 28 and expressed support pending site plan review.
Architect Steve Schuler of SketchWorks Architecture described the site as unusually shaped and said the design team is attempting to reuse part of the existing building and paving while removing asphalt and reconstructing a retaining wall near the cemetery. "When we contacted Daffany very early on in the process, we discovered that Century Avenue is considered the frontage to the lot, which is a little counterintuitive," Schuler said, and he asked for flexibility on setback and parking to meet retail layout needs.
Victor Baiton, the Pet Supplies Plus franchisee, said the rear area currently accumulates water and trash and described plans to remove asphalt and create planted areas and drainage to manage runoff; he said an early site iteration reduced stalls from 59 to 53. "That area back there becomes like a trash zone where stuff just accumulates," Baiton said.
Justin Bren, the civil engineer with JSD, told the board the site has an eight- to nine-foot grade change from the cemetery to the parking area and that a retaining wall, careful shoring and landscape-based stormwater measures (filter strips and small depressional rain gardens) will be needed. Bren said the project will likely meet redevelopment thresholds (limited disturbance under one acre) and rely on perimeter landscaping to slow and filter runoff rather than a full new-development detention system.
Board members raised concerns about the building sitting two feet off a property line adjacent to St. Luke's cemetery, potential impacts to mature trees and gravesites during excavation for retaining walls, and whether the proposed parking could spill into nearby Century Place, which lacks sufficient width for on-street parking. Public commenter Matt told the board neighbors worry that insufficient parking would push shoppers and shopping carts into Century Place.
Because staff reported St. Luke's received a mailed notice only on the Monday before the meeting, the board opened the public hearing but agreed not to close it or vote tonight; members asked the applicants to provide additional detail on hardship, stormwater and parking solutions and suggested a follow-up hearing roughly 10 days after notice is received so the church and neighbors can respond.
The board recessed discussion and scheduled a reconvening to consider the requested variances after additional information and outreach. Applicants offered to meet with St. Luke's and neighborhood representatives to refine grading, retaining-wall and screening proposals before the follow-up meeting.
