Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Port Washington Common Council took no action on the issue of backyard chickens, in essence abandoning the pursuit of an ordinance allowing chickens in residential areas within the city.
Through their silence, Port Washington aldermen declined to draft an ordinance to allow chickens to be raised in residential areas during Tuesday night's Common Council meeting. The Port Washington Common Council heard from a number of residents in support of backyard chickens during the public comment section of the meeting, but many aldermen cited "overwhelming" phone calls against the idea in its final decision not to move forward. "Overwhelmingly, the people (who contacted me from my district) have been against this," Ald. Dan Becker said. In the end, officials did not make a motion to give City Attorney Eric Eberhardt the go-ahead to research and construct an ordinance for the city; with no motion at all, the city will discontinue its…
The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday night introduced an ordinance to allow dog parks in the district where a private park has been proposed — but the ordinance is also forward-thinking for a public park.
Plans for a private dog park to open in Port Washington are moving along as the council on Tuesday night introduced a conditional use permit the owners need to convert the space for canine use. The conditional use permit bypasses zoning issues because the proposed park at Paulus Printing, 1270 Mineral Springs Dr., is in an industrial district. The permit, however, is also forward thinking — it allows for dog parks to also be launched in agricultural districts as well as public and utility land districts. City Planner Randy Tetzlaff said the addition of these zones is with a public dog park in mind. City officials in January had considered several locations in public and utility land districts in the city to see whether a dog park was …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Port Washington Common Council approved an ordinance Tuesday that changes the requirements for applying for a new liquor license.
It was with very little discussion that the Port Washington Common Council approved an ordinance that changes the requirements for applying for a new liquor license for a business in the city during its Tuesday night meeting. "The ordinance that you have in front of you is essentially unchanged from our last meeting," Ald. Dave Larson said while introducing the ordinance Tuesday night. The council had discussed changes to the ordinances during its late February meeting, alterations made after meetings with business owners and addressing their concerns. City Administrator Mark Grams and Main Street Executive Director Sara Grover had not heard any further concerns about the ordinance after that meeting; the law was approved unanimously. The …
The possibility for disease and the inability to enforce an ordinance allowing raising chickens in the city leaves one Port Washington resident concerned.
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Wednesday, March 6
Editor's Note: The following letter was submitted to Patch via e-mail. If you'd like to submit a letter to the editor, please e-mail Local Editor Lyssa Beyer at Lyssa.Beyer@patch.com. I am dismayed that the Common Council continues to consider allowing the raising of chickens within the city limits of Port Washington. It seems like a basic step backward, back to the small town, agrarian roots of the community. A few people would like to have fresh eggs. I'd like to have fresh milk with my breakfast cereal. Will you change the existing ordinances so that I can have a cow in my backyard for fresh milk? Perhaps you will allow me to raise and slaughter a pig in my yard so that I can have some bacon with my city fresh eggs? I'm not sure if …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The Port Washington Common Council will continue a discussion about urban chicken keeping inside city limits at its next meeting after the issue was tabled — though not all aldermen were in favor of the move.
The Port Washington Common Council voted to table a discussion about an ordinance that would allow the raising of chickens within city limits during its meeting on Tuesday night. The suggestion to hold the discussion until the council's next meeting came from Ald. Paul Neumeyer, who said a resident in his district had planned to give a presentation about the issue — but was unable to attend because of a medical emergency. Aldermen were split on the issue, voting three in favor and three against tabling — forcing Mayor Tom Mlada to issue the final vote; he chose to allow the discussion to be tabled. Ald. Jim Vollmar was absent from the meeting, causing the even number of council members; Aldermen Joe Dean, Douglas Biggs and Dave Larson …
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Port Washington Plan Commission on Thursday night recommended approval for a private dog park in the city's industrial park.
Though plans for a private dog park in Port Washington's industrial sector were met with overwhelming support and approval at Thursday night's Plan Commission meeting, the owners have a few hurdles to jump before launching the play space. Ellen and Bob Paulus of Paulus Printing are working to launch "Lucky Dog Park," in the extra space near their business, 1270 Mineral Springs Dr., but the location requires special zoning permits that call for a series of ordinance revisions and a public hearing, according to City Engineer Rob Vanden Noven. Despite the more than month-long timeline that process involves, commission members were excited by the idea. "This has been an item that’s been brought up from time to time over the last several years…
Friday, March 1, 2013
The Port Washington Common Council will consider ordinances from other cities that allow chickens in Wisconsin in discussing whether the practice is a good fit for Port.
Here's hoping feathers don't fly during the Port Washington Common Council meeting on Tuesday, when officials are set to consider allowing the raising of chickens in residential areas. The council first discussed researching urban chicken keeping in early February — and though the idea was met with much opposition from aldermen, the body instructed City Administrator Mark Grams to at least research the topic in surrounding areas. "Although I have lots of concerns about having chickens in the city, I also had lots of concerns about bees," Ald. Mike Erhlich said during the early February meeting, referring to a debate just more than a year ago about urban beekeeping in Port Washington that — despite extreme initial opposition — ultimately …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Port Washington Plan Commission will discuss the proposal from local business owners Bob and Ellen Paulus for a private dog park on Thursday night.
Having spent nearly 20 years working in greyhound rescue, Port Washington business owner Ellen Paulus is ready for the opportunity to provide responsible yet fun exercise options for area dog owners. "We have a lot of experience with handling large groups of dogs due to (our work in greyhound rescue)," she said. Ellen and her husband, Bob, of Paulus Printing, 1270 Mineral Springs Dr., have long offered what they called "playdates" for other greyhounds to run at their business — sometimes with 20 or 30 dogs. "The biggest thing for me is that I want to provide an area where dogs can exercise and run around, but in a safe environment." Ellen and Bob will present their idea for a private dog park to the Port Washington Plan Commission at its …
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Port Washington Common Council re-introduced a liquor license ordinance during its meeting on Tuesday.
After a number of meetings and drafts of a new liquor license ordinance in Port Washington, officials re-introduced the law on Tuesday with City Administrator Mark Grams saying "there doesn't seem to be any objections," from businesses this time around. The ordinance requires new businesses to offer a plan of operation as well as security plan before a liquor license application can be approved, but business owners were concerned about requiring cameras and how the process affected ownership changes, particularly within the family. The reworked ordinance allows for family members or employees involved in the business for more than one year to be exempt from submitting a plan of operation for a new business when taking over ownership; it …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
After concerns and suggestions from Port Washington business owners surfaced regarding the proposed changes to the city's liquor ordinance, officials have reworked some of the wording in the law, which will now wait until early March for approval.
Port Washington officials continue to clean up wording of the new liquor ordinance while addressing concerns from city business owners, and approval of the law has now been pushed back a couple weeks. City officials met with several business owners on Wednesday afternoon to dicuss the ordinance, and concerns surrounding the required security plan seemed to continue to top the list. In applying for a liquor permit, new business owners will be required to present an agreed upon security plan between themselves and Police Chief Kevin Hingiss, and Ald. Jim Vollmar said that leaves him concerned about the potential tenants' rights to negotiate what a responsible security plan might be. "It's got to be fair for everybody, and there's got to be a…
Sam Vedder
9:02 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
From what I hear, there is already an ordinance in place allowing chickens in the city on agricultural zoned areas. Looks like the the council did the right thing. There simply isn't enough room on small city lots to avoid the noise and smell. And if you don't think they smell and make noise you're either lying or you have never seen a live chicken. more ›