Aurora hospital one step closer

Zoning change moves along

Waukesha Freeman, October 27, 2006

Aurora Health Cares plans to build a Pabst Farms hospital in the town of Summit took a major step forward Thursday after members of a committee consisting of Oconomowoc and town of Summit plan commissioners backed rezoning necessary for the project.    

The passage of the resolution allowing for an extraterritorial zoning ordinance and creation of a zoning map means that the Oconomowoc Common Council at a special meeting Tuesday can formally vote to rezone about 215 acres of Pabst Farms land in the town of Summit to allow for construction of the medical center and other development.

The council vote will cap years of legal wrangling over the hospital that ended with officials from the city, town, Aurora and Pabst Farms agreeing in an out-of-court settlement in August to employ the ETZ process to ensure that the hospital be built.    

The process allows for cities to rezone land within a certain distance of their boundaries and does not require approval from outside agencies such as the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors, which voted in 2004 to block construction of the Aurora hospital in the town.    

Aurora spokesman Jeff Squire, who was at the meeting, said the health care system was pleased the process continues to move forward.

As to when Aurora will submit formal plans to town officials to begin the project approval process, Squire said: We are looking forward to doing so as fast as we can.

Wording in the 75-page ordinance passed Thursday includes the specifics of what is allowed and disallowed in the two districts created on the ETZ map: the Business Park Triangle District, which is 133 acres, and the Institutional Triangle District, which is about 82 acres.

The Aurora hospital will be built in the Institutional Triangle District, an area south of Interstate 94, east of Highway 67 and north of Highway DR.

Among the 35 residents who attended the public meeting, the handful who spoke at the public hearing prior to the commissioners approving the resolution and recommending the ETZ ordinance and map encouraged them to move the ordinance forward.

I look forward to a hospital in the town of Summit, said Roy Hanson, a town of Summit resident.

Paul Laszkewicz of Oconomowoc agreed.

I would love a hospital built in our community. I think a lot can be accomplished if the two hospitals (ProHealth Cares Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital and Aurora) can work together, he said.

Five technical changes were discussed and approved by the committee on Thursday. Those included a height restriction of 65 feet in the IT zoning district and wording regarding a building permit and no outside storage in certain sections of the ordinance.

The regular zoning ordinance set by the town of Summit does not change with this ETZ ordinance.

The special Oconomowoc Common Council meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when council members will hold the first and second readings of the ordinance for final adoption to grant the zoning.

Oconomowoc Mayor Maury Sullivan said if this ordinance is approved, it will ultimately lead to an Aurora hospital on the land.

Approval of the ETZ puts the assigned zoning in place, and the town of Summit has to review and approve the actual site for any proposed development, said Jason Gallo, city planner and zoning administrator.