Homeowner wants buffer
Anna Krejci/Events
A neighbor wants a buffer between this former motel used for employee housing and her home.
By Kay James, Dells Events
The Wisconsin Dells Public Works Committee warned a property owner to compromise over a buffer with an employee lodging facility.
Cathy Antonio, of Bowman Road, appeared at the committee meeting Wednesday to discuss proposals for a buffer with the Aztec Motel on Vine Street that abuts her property. Antonio said a proposal to put in trees three to four feet apart would not cover a long enough line and the trees were half-dead. She said she did not know if they would survive the winter. She also said she was not asking for 200 feet of trees, the entire length of the property line, but only 70 feet.
Public Works Director Mike Horkan said buffering is needed between separate uses – residences and employee lodging. The lodging facilities have people out with activities that “don’t coincide with what people do in their back yards. It’s realistic to have some kind of buffer,” he said noting the city has the same problem with the nearby former Gateway motel.
He said that while the department asks about buffers before issuing licenses, he did not know if a buffer was required by ordinances.
The property did have some trees and shrubs before but were removed. The city asked the owner of the Aztec to remove the trees that were on the city’s right of way and impeding traffic in the alley. The Aztec took those down as well as other trees.
“We took them down because you asked that they be taken down,” Alderperson Ed Wojnicz said to Antonio. “He cleaned up the mess and now you’re complaining about that.”
Mayor Eric Helland said that at some point the underbrush was cleaned out, and trees were falling over and on the alley so they were removed.
Mor said that 90 percent of the complaints he receives as an alderperson concern employee housing in older motels. Buffering is an important issue in residential areas, he said. Whether or not the city has an ordinance being violating, it has to look at buffering, he said.
Helland said a fence would be another way of buffering employee housing.
Putting in a 10-foot fence would be expensive, Mor said. “Something is better than nothing, and the trees will grow.”
Wojnicz suggested going back to the landscaper and getting him to hold the trees to spring and a guarantee to grow.
Antonio said the trees cost $40 each and 10 are needed.
Horkan said if the landscaper puts them in they will cost more than $40 with the charges for planting.
The committee asked Assistant Public Works Director Chris Tollaksen to check with the Aztec property owner and the landscaping on the plantings and then contact Antonio.
“If we hear about this again, we’re going to take a different tack,” said Helland.