Plan Commission approves site plan, rezoning and conditional-use permit for topsoil shredding operation on Highway 55

The Plan Commission on the record approved a site plan, a zoning map amendment and a conditional-use permit to allow a multi-tenant contractor building and an indoor topsoil screening (shredding) operation at Parcel 40398 along Highway 55. The motions were moved, seconded and carried without opposition.

Commission members and staff described the project as a 60-by-180-foot building with multi-tenant uses — offices, fabrication, equipment maintenance and storage — and a separate topsoil screening operation sited on the northern portion of the parcel. "It's basically: you pick up the topsoil, run it through a machine, and it makes it real fine, basically, for, like, gardens, lawns," the Presenter said, describing the proposed screening process and the product it produces.

Staff noted the proposal is tied to a certified survey map previously approved by the village board and that county recording of that CSM is a precondition for certain subsequent steps. Staff also said the developer must obtain official transportation approval for any commercial entrance from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation before zoning or building permits are issued.

Commissioners raised neighborhood-impact concerns that have occurred in prior seasons when uncontained screening created windblown dirt. The Presenter and Staff described current plans for a hoop-style building and landscaping to screen the operation. "The difference here is that it's burned and landscaped and it's gonna be done in a facility versus out in the open," the Staff member said, calling the change "a huge improvement" over prior practice.

The conditional-use permit includes several recorded conditions: the site must be screened and developed consistent with the approved site plan; required berming must be completed before any topsoil screening begins; hours of operation are limited to daylight; and topsoil screening is allowed only from April through November. Staff said substantial violations of those conditions may result in termination of the permit and that resident complaints unresolved at the staff level could be brought back to the commission for further action.

A commissioner moved to approve the site-plan review for the parcel as circulated with staff recommendations; another moved to approve the zoning map amendment to rezone portions of the involved parcels from business park to industrial/manufacturing based on staff recommendations and the future land-use map. Motions were seconded and carried with no opposition. A separate motion to approve the conditional-use permit for topsoil screening was likewise seconded and carried with no opposition.

The commission recorded that the operation would not be open to walk-in retail sales to the general public and would primarily distribute product to vendors such as landscapers. Commissioners and staff emphasized enforcement and complaint-handling mechanisms, including the option to revisit the permit if neighborhood complaints persist.