A 10-year-old housing proposal that will add more than 200 housing units to rural Germantown was approved Monday, despite opposition from residents who were opposed to the density of the development.
The project, to be called Wrenwood, will be built on 147 acres south of Freistadt Road, north of Mequon Road and west of Country Aire Drive by Brookfield-based Briscoe Development & Management Inc., who owns the land.
The project was approved by the village plan commission last year. On Monday, the Village Board approved a request to rezone the property, allowing the development to move forward. Before the vote, a public hearing was held during which several Germantown residents, many of them living on at least two acres of land, spoke against the project.
“It is too Milwaukeeish for Germantown,” one resident said. “We need more quality and less quantity.”
Susan Bernhard, who has owned the 80-acre Fieldstone Farm at N120 W14709 Freistadt Road since 1983, said she can’t imagine what years of construction for Wrenwood will be like. The development, which includes 142 single-family homes and 60 multi-family units that will consist of two to four-unit condominiums, will be built adjacent to her property.
“Most houses (in Germantown) have big lots or are hobby farms,” Bernhard said. “To have this many houses on these tiny lots is not keeping the Germantown feeling of country. I’m not saying you shouldn’t develop the land. But that many houses does not make sense for the area.”
In 2007, a slightly different version of the Wrenwood development, which had 169 residential units and included 3.5 acres of potential commercial development along Mequon Road, received village approvals.
The updated version had more residential units and no commercial component.
The Wrenwood development is comprised of two primary clusters of residential development bisected by a large environmental corridor through the middle of the property, according to plans submitted to the village.
Residents questioned the walking paths included in the development, given the amount of coyotes in the area.
A total of 94 single-family lots in the north cluster will have access to Freistadt Road to the north. The remaining single-family lots and a 60-unit condominium complex will have access to Country Aire Drive. Access between the north and south residential clusters and through the environmental corridor will be provided by a pedestrian trail, according to plans.
