Politics & Government

Village Board Eyes Commercial And Residential For Four Mile Road

The discussion about what type of development could be allowed along Four Mile and North Green Bay Road, and the Douglas Avenue corridor seemed to parallel the what came first, the chicken or the egg dilemma.

The discussion about what type of development could be allowed along Four Mile and North Green Bay Road, and the Douglas Avenue corridor seemed to parallel the what came first, the chicken or the egg dilemma.

Do you keep planning terms like "mixed use" loose to attract as many businesses as possible or narrow them down to only attract certain types of businesses? What if you define the terms too narrowly and miss out on a potential business you want, or get stuck with a business residents don't like?

This was the crossroad village board members faced Monday night as they looked at how to define the term mixed use as they considered changing the village's land use plan.

Last year Walmart submitted a rezoning and land use plan amendment applications for the farm field at 4-Mile and Green Bay Roads - referred to as the VCM (Village Center Metra) - so the company can build a 182,000 square foot super center. Resident opposition has been fierce with most people pointing out that the site is not appropriate.

And while the Village Board wasn't specifically talking about Walmart, they were also confronted with a room full of people who certainly opposed the location of the Walmart development. Throwing around planning concepts like mixed use, commercial, residential, industrial, and planning unit development overlays -- the discussion was steeped in planning jargon.

The village board decided to focus on developing the planning commission's concept, which designates CalStar as industrial but changes the parcels at the corner to commercial while also changing a swath of land on the north side of 4-Mile Road to commercial backed by medium-density residential. Under that plan, a Walmart could go up in the area — if it received subsequent approval from the Planning Commission and Village Board.

But the board still needs to define the term mixed use, which village board member Lee Wishau said he sees as a "transitional area" that could include commercial, residential and industrial uses.

Village administrator Mark Janiuk pressed the board for more details on what that might mean. Should they designate specific parcels by a single use or designate the area as mixed use to include a combination of uses?

Village attorney Elaine Eikes reminded the board that having adjoining properties being similar uses is the way to go.

The final consensus was that the village staff would bring forward several ideas for the board to consider at their next board meeting at 7 p.m. July 22.



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