GERMANTOWN, Wis. — Germantown residents packed a plan commission meeting to oppose a housing development project that would rezone farmland, citing traffic and neighborhood character concerns.
Busy traffic is one of the main concerns for community members as their plan commission considers a proposed housing development.
Watch: Germantown community pushes back against housing development as plan commission approves farmland rezoning
"It's traffic, it's noise," Tammy Schneider said. "it's lights and it's way too much density."
Schneider emailed TMJ4 News in March and followed up for an update at the plan commission meeting.
She and other neighbors fear the large housing development project doesn't fit with their village's character.
"We are not demanding a stop to development, we are asking for the development that aligns with the character of our neighborhood," she said. "And [that] offers housing stability not transience and rentals."
HomePath Financial, the developer behind the project, has reduced their proposed housing units from 283 to 273 after the initial March meeting, but many residents say that's not enough.
"I still don't agree with this," one community member said.
The meeting lasted over four hours with more than a dozen speaking out against the project, urging the plan commission to reject the rezoning request. Three people spoke in support of project.
"We believe in progress," Schneider said. "But we believe progress should be balanced with long term vision and genuine community input."
The plan commission approved the rezoning unanimously, the rezoning request now moves on to the village board.
"I support this because this is the right thing to do for the Village of Germantown," Village President Bob Soderberg. He and other plan commission members said they support the project because they believe the developer will pay for it entirely. They also said it will help alleviate a taxation issue for residents. The school board president also supported the project.
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