Pewaukee-based Neumann Companies wants to build a mostly single-family residential development on the 150-acre Thomas Farm site, off Golf Road in the Town of Delafield.
Slated to include 127 single-family homes across of a mix of higher and lower density subdivisions, and a 152-unit multi-family townhome development, the project would meet open space requirements set by the town – mainly by providing 56 acres of green space throughout the development site, and 100-foot-wide buffer spaces along Oakton Road, which separates the now entirely undeveloped farmstead from homes closer to Pewaukee Lake.
However, that may not be enough to stop objections from surrounding home and condo owners, who have been opposed to almost any development proposals calling for higher density development in an area mainly comprised of single-family homes on lots of an acre of more.
The proposed Neuman development calls for single-family lot sizes ranging in size from a little under a half-acre to just under a quarter-of-an-acre.
In a letter to Town Board and Plan Commissioners, who are slated to have a conceptual review of the proposal on Tuesday evening, Bryan Lindgren, a project manager with Neumann, writes that the company is seeking to ease the transition to a more dense development by “clustering the denser residential uses along Golf Road, closest to I-94, and then blending a variety of lot sizes from smaller to larger” further north and east, closer to where existing subdivisions are located.
The proposal comes a little more than a year after the town board refused to approve a similar comprehensive land use plan proposed by a Waukesha County-led work group. The plan was backed by the Plan Commission but tabled just a few days later by the town board.
Speaking about Neumann’s proposal, Ed Kranick, who serves on both the town’s Plan Commission and Town Board, said the plan “was a lot closer” to feasible project for the property than where the town started fielding ideas more than four years ago.
“We started with light industrial and commercial. I think this latest development from Neuman as s pretty close to a residential development you can get. I think we can work on the density a little bit, but I think it is a good proposal,” Kranick said.
He added, however, that nearby “residents are still not happy with this most current proposal.”
While town officials will give a cursory review of the proposed development this week, they won’t be able to give a formal review of the project itself, until county officials and the Town Board agree on a finalized land use plan for the parcel, he said. That could happen sometime this fall.
“It’s ultimately going to be up to the board,” Kranick said.
