The work of the Sturgeon Bay Westside Waterfront Planning Committee received another strong endorsement Tuesday during a joint meeting of the Sturgeon Bay City Plan Commission and City Council.
A near-unanimous vote means the city will move forward on a plan drafted by a diverse group of citizens with varying interests in Sturgeon Bay’s westside waterfront.
City Development Director Marty Olejniczak explained that not everyone got what they wanted but everybody got something.
Plan Commission member Dennis Statz said the work of the ad hoc committee was better than the original waterfront development plan.
Statz called the Teweles and Brandeis grain elevator the most historic and pivotal structure still existing in Sturgeon Bay. (Listen to complete comments at end of this story)
City council member Kirsten Reeths called the plan good but then joined Plan Commission member Jeff Norland in voting against it.
Mayor David Ward said he favors accepting the report as a conceptual plan and considers it a starting point.
Recommendations include reducing the number of tugs to be moored on the waterfront and moving the granary closer to the Oregon Street bridge. Sturgeon Bay business owner Jeff Tebon called on the council to hold a referendum vote on where the granary should be located. Tebon cited the view of the bridges when approaching on Neenah Avenue as something the city should preserve.
Tebon said he is not for or against the granary but is concerned about its location.
The original development agreement with the City of Sturgeon Bay and Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation calls for the granary to be permanently returned to its original location. The ad hoc Waterfront Planning Committee report suggests moving the grain elevator a few hundred feet closer to Maple Street at the Oregon Street bridge.
Dennis Statz full comments:
Click below for the full 41-page report by Ad Hoc Committee:
