JCC Proposal To Go Before Public Hearing March 19

About 50 people showed up to Monday night's Village Board meeting prepared to speak or listen to the Village Board discuss the merits of a proposal to modify the campus' development agreement, but those comments will not be heard by village officials until a public hearing on March 19.

The Village Board voted to refer the issue to the village's Plan Commission, which will listen to public comments during a joint Village Board-Plan Commission meeting on March 19 at a location yet to be determined. Instead of taking public comments Monday night, Village President Julie Siegel said a joint hearing allows residents to offer comments at one meeting instead of two and allows both bodies to hear the same testimony.

The last time the Village Board and Plan Commission met in a joint session was to discuss the JCC's expansion and development agreement in 2003.

The rezoning petition submitted by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation requests eight modifications to the JCC's development agreement allowing more special events, more visitors in certain events and permission to erect two fences in the property.

The organization's request to open at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. on Monday through Friday and at 8 a.m. instead of noon on Saturday cites the to allow Anytime Fitness and other exercise facilities to operate between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m. with a conditional use permit.

The other proposed changes include extending its snow plowing hours from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to anytime, including 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.; increasing the number of special events allowed from12 per year to 20 per year.; increasing the number of allowable youth lock-in participants from 40 to 150; permit up to 30 events, such as wedding receptions to end after 11 p.m. but no later than 1 a.m.; and a fence around the Back Field and a fence around the front of the JCC's South Building.