City Hall

400 La Crosse Street

La Crosse, WI 54601

City of La Crosse, Wisconsin

Meeting Minutes - Final

Neighborhood Revitalization Commission

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

6:00 PM

Council Chambers - City Hall - 400 La Crosse St

Members of the public will be able to attend the meeting in person in the Council Chambers at

City Hall located at 400 La Crosse St in La Crosse or online via video conferencing with the

links below.

Join Zoom Meeting:

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Participate by phone: 1-312-626-6799

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:01pm.

Roll Call

9 - Steve Nicolai, Vacant 1, Ralph Geary, Will Kratt, Larry Sleznikow, Jennifer

Trost, Jessica Stanton, Sean Hurtubise ,Robert McDonnell

Present:

Absent:

2 - Jim Bagniewski,Greg Clark

Approval of Minutes

Approval of the September 6, 2023 Meeting Minutes.

Ralph Geary moved to approve the minutes. Larry Sleznikow seconded. The

motion passed 8-0 by voice vote.

Agenda Items:

Update and action on Accessory Dwelling Unit policy research - Lewis

Kuhlman

23-0382

Lewis Kuhlman provided an update on the changes made to the final draft for

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The Legal Department also provided

feedback on parts that are redundant and on deed restrictions. There was

concern that a home owner could remove the deed restriction on their own.

Lewis looked at examples and found a few to bring back to Legal for input.

Lewis brought up the letter from the AARP suggesting additional requirements.

The first point being to include allowing ADUs in all residential districts. The

committee discussed their thoughts on whether ADUs should be allowed in

R-1.

Will moved to have R-1 be a permitted zoning districts for ADUs. Jessica

seconded. The motion passed 6-2 by voice vote with CM Selznikow and Steve

Nicolai voting no.

Lewis also stated that AARP suggested that they are not required to be

owner-occupied stating that it is a limiting factor. The Commission discussed

their thoughts on whether ADUs should be required to be owner-occupied.

General consensus was reached by the Commission to include that the ADU

be owner-occupied.

Lewis also stated that AARP suggested including attached ADUs in the

ordinance. Staff stated that an attached ADU is (from a building and zoning

standpoint) similar to a duplex. The Commission unanimously agreed to not

include attached ADUs in the ordinance.

Ralph Geary motioned to approve the ordinance as amended. Jessica

seconded. The motion passed 8-0 by voice vote.

Discussion on Chapter 115 notifications (rezonings, CUPs, variances, etc.) sent to buffer

zone property owners.

Nikki Elsen, City Clerk, provided an overview of the city's notification

processes to the Commission. She stated the proposed ADU ordinance is in

Chapter 115 and will get noticed in the paper.

Nikki stated the city must follow either Municipal Code or state statutes for

notification and that some processes are different. The city must do at least

what the state statute requires, but the municipality can choose to do more if

they wish. There are a few notification instances where the City of La Crosse

does more than what state statute requires.

Nikki informed the Commission on the state requirements for a right-of-way

discontinuance (vacation).

CM Sleznikow stated that it is important that neighbors are notified and said he

appreciates that the city goes above and beyond. He stated that he often hears

that neighbors don't read the paper so extra notification by the city is

appreciated.

Nikki stated that residents can go on the city's legislative information center

and sign up for email notifications for keywords or for committee meetings in

general.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:13pm.

Notice is further given that members of other governmental bodies may be present at the

above scheduled meeting to gather information about a subject over which they have

decision-making responsibility.