NEENAH, Wis–The city of Neenah reverses course on a proposal that would have changed the way the Common Council votes on zoning changes. The initial agenda for the Plan Commission meeting Tuesday afternoon featured an ordinance change that would have eliminated the requirement of a three-quarters majority of the council to approve zoning change requests where 20-percent of the residents in the area had filed a petition of opposition. That requirement derailed the effort to rezone the Shattuck Middle School property for a housing development opposed by some of the neighbors late last year.
Alex Collins–a candidate for Neenah Council this spring–expects that measure to come back again soon……………….
Collins adds that another developer is expected to make an offer on the Shattuck School site for a smaller-scale project soon.
The super-majority rule was once required by state law, but that measure was repealed in 2018. Oshkosh and De Pere have been cited as municipalities that have since removed it from their own zoning ordinances, and Neenah officials say this was in the works even before the Shattuck School vote.
Neenah Mayor Jane Lang has issued a statement that the ordinance change will not be considered again “any time soon”.
