Greenfield Development Might Be 'Too Close' To Neighbors

GREENFIELD, WI — According to Greenfield Plan Commission documents, developer James Heffernan submitted an application to build 88 apartment units within 11 buildings on a 12-and-a-half acre plot of land in Greenfield.

The project would be located on a roughly 12-acre plot of land located between W. Holmes Ave. and W. Edgerton Ave. with S. 124th Street to the West. Whitnall Middle School is located due east of the project site. The site, notably, is sandwiched between a block's worth of single-family homes.

The plan, which was brought before the Plan Commission earlier this week, and will be taken up for discussion by the Common Council, will have to clear some hurdles before the first shovel strikes the dirt.

City officials have a number of concerns about the project, primarily over how close it will be located to the surrounding neighborhood. Here is what city officials wrote in preparation for a Nov. 12 Plan Commission review:

"The combination of neighboring concern and objection to the project, and the fact that the proposal requires a land use map amendment from Public Park & Open Space to Mixed Residential on a land mass that is surrounded only by single-family uses, staff is not recommending approval of the proposal as it was submitted. The recommendation should be discussed in detail by the Plan Commission and Common Council at a public hearing, which can be held as early as January 21, 2020. If the Plan Commission recommends approval and if the Common Council approves the proposal (including rezoning and land use map amendment), staff recommends approval subject to the recommended plan changes that were described in this staff report and will be provided to the developer in a list format."

The Grove At A Glance

City officials say this development, called The Grove, is a actually a scaled-back plan that came before the Plan Commission in May 2019, when the proposal called for 12 buildings containing a total of 96 units.

The developer says the Grove is designed for empty-nesters and retirees as a high end, low-density, multifamily housing community in a park-like setting. Each unit has its own private street-level entrance and an attached two-car garage.

The developer's plans call for building the project in three phases over two to three years, documents say. One potential sticking point for the project is a pond that is situated roughly at the center of the proposed development site. City officials in Greenfield say that Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources approval would be required to fill the existing pond and wetlands.

Here are other details from the project:

• Two wet retention ponds will be situated on the east end of the development—one on the north and the other on the south, draining to an existing ditch that drains towards W. Edgerton Ave. The Metro Milwaukee Sewerage District at the DNR would need to sign off on plans for the retention ponds.
• The development would have two entrances on S. 124 St.
• There would be a total of 363 parking spaces.
• The average building would be located just over 92 feet from the neighboring property.