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Plan Commission approves Lifeway Foodspacking addition despite residents' noise complaints
Summary
Commission approved Lifeway Foodsfinal site plan for an approximately 43,000 sq ft packaging addition and required engineering concurrence before permits; nearby residents urged enforceable noise mitigation and raised long-standing complaints that operations create a persistent overnight noise problem.
The Waukesha City Plan Commission voted to approve Lifeway Foodsfinal site plan and architectural review for an addition of roughly 43,000 square feet to its Delafield Street packaging facility, while several nearby residents asked the commission to require enforceable noise mitigation before construction proceeds.
Planner Doug presented the project as a packaging and processing addition that will repurpose existing paved areas (no new impervious surface beyond repaving) and add sidewalk connections to Northview Road. Architect Charles Bleck said the addition would match the facility's white metal-panel exterior, add trees along Northview and deploy LED exterior fixtures with a color temperature near 3,000K. Intertek's John Bailey said the addition is intended to support packaging capacity and that the facility's output is expected to rise from about 8 million to 23 million gallons per year; he described the project as an approximately $48 million investment in the Waukesha facility.
Multiple residents during public comment described a persistent overnight noise problem they attributed to the Lifeway site, using terms such as a "jet-engine-like roar" that they said prevents sleep and requires mitigation. Resident Scott Knutson said he measured decibel levels in the 60s at a quarter-mile distance at early-morning hours; other residents echoed calls for acoustic enclosures, relocation of noisy equipment, and post-installation independent testing. The architect and Lifeway representatives said they had conducted preliminary decibel readings and reported mid-50s readings at some points, acknowledged a fan with a bad bearing that must be repaired and pledged to work with staff on mitigation if monitoring shows the plant is the source.
Alderman Piper urged support for Lifeway's expansion and said he will continue to press the company to address neighbors' concerns. A motion to approve the final site plan that included the condition that an engineering concurrence letter be obtained before building permits passed after commissioners declined to add a separate June 1 deadline for resolving noise issues; the meeting record shows the final tally as five votes in favor and one opposed.
What the record does and does not show: the commission approved the site plan and required engineering concurrence prior to permits; it did not adopt a binding noise-abatement schedule or operational curfew as a condition of approval. Residents asked for enforceable mitigation and independent post-installation testing.
Next steps: staff will require engineering concurrence before issuing building permits, and Lifeway and staff have agreed to continue investigation and discussions about on-site decibel monitoring and mitigation.
