Plan Commission approves conditional use and site plan for East Troy school transportation facility

The Plan Commission approved a conditional-use amendment and a site plan on a recommendation to the Village Board that will allow the East Troy Community School District to replace and relocate its transportation facility on the high school campus at 3128 Graden Avenue (application 2026-09, tax parcel RXUP 00202).

Orin, a village staff member, told commissioners the proposal would incorporate the district’s transportation facility into the high school’s existing indoor institutional use approval required in the SR4 residential zoning district and that the project team provided renderings and material samples in the meeting packet. "The building is shrinking down to about 6,000 square ft," Orin said, and the structure’s location will shift on the site to meet SR4 street-offset requirements while keeping overall impervious surface largely unchanged.

The applicant’s representative said fueling operations are offsite and confirmed "there will be no fuel tank" on the project site. The team also reported they performed soil borings and said they have no reason to expect contaminated soils from the existing structure. The applicant’s civil engineer (online) described turning-radius templates and a washbay circulation plan demonstrating buses can access all necessary areas without encroaching on adjacent parking.

Why it matters: the change lets the district modernize its bus facility while keeping operations on the high school parcel and preserving existing campus parking for school users. The proposal also relies on referendum funding, according to the project presentation.

What the commission required and next steps: staff and the engineering reviewers identified outstanding items (grading and drainage adjustments, final elevations/architecture, foundation plantings, and full cut-off wall-pack lighting). The commission’s conditional-use approval is subject to terms in the draft conditional-use order and to addressing remaining plan-review comments. Orin said the site-plan portion can be administratively approved by staff once the design team submits revised civil drawings and addresses stormwater and grading comments; the conditional-use recommendation will be forwarded to the Village Board for final action. The project team expects to submit revised civil plans by the end of next week and Orin anticipated completing staff review before the Village Board meeting referenced in the hearing.

Commission action: a commissioner moved to approve the conditional-use amendment "subject to the terms in the draft conditional-use order"; the motion was seconded and the chair called for a vote. The transcript records the chair asking "All those in favor?" followed by the statement "I opposed. Motion carries." The record does not include a full roll-call tally in the transcript. The commission then moved, seconded, and approved the site plan/plan of operation with conditions 1–25; the same pattern appears in the record for that vote.

Other details: staff explained that staff parking for the transportation facility will use a satellite lot east of the fenced bus area; pole-mounted lights would likely be removed or replaced and new wall-pack fixtures will be full cut-off to eliminate light spillover. The team confirmed roof snow/ice rails will be included on the metal roof. The Plan Commission’s next scheduled meeting is July 13; the conditional-use recommendation will be forwarded to the Village Board (a Village Board meeting around July 6 was referenced during scheduling).