Our Place
A rough road kind of control.
After beginning with a nightmare closure of Main Street along most of its length during the first few days of construction last week, things have begun to stabilize. Think stable and closed. Main Street is a disorganized mess with signs everywhere and nowhere, depending on where they might not be needed. “Closed to thru traffic.” Closed to where? If you drive in, then how do you get out? Wrigley is basically closed because the alley is one way against anyone trying to drive down it heading west. What’s going to be closed next? More of Main Street. How much more? Well, you’ll just have to play it as you see it develop. The parking meters along all of Center Street were empty on Tuesday. Those are the new two-dollar-an-hour meters. Wisconsin people are not necessarily high-pocketed, but they are not financially expansive either. Look for those meters to be unused until the full brunt of tourist travel is felt later in the summer.
1st Day of Spring.
Tuesday, at eleven-fifteen in the morning, the first day of spring technically began. It began with a temperature of 30 degrees and that coldness was magnified by a twenty mile an hour wind. The wind chill was right down there just above zero. Global warming effects, but not so you’d know it in Southern Wisconsin. 2017/2018 winter was one of the worst on record for continuous cold temperatures, high winds, ice, and snow. Spring is not going to come in gently at all if the first day is to be an indicator.
First Day of Spring
A lot of local residents are justifiably upset about Center Street in downtown Lake Geneva.
Public Hearing and Recommendation for a Conditional Use Permit for the applicant Samantha Strenger, 615 Center Street, Lake Geneva, WI 53147, to conduct a Bed and Breakfast Establishment (B&B) located in the Single Family – 4(SR-4) zoning, Tax Key No. ZGC00160.
Many of the local residents spoke against it. Only the owner and Gary Dunham spoke in favor of it. Despite the overwhelming objection of those that spoke, the city council approved the project. Since the owner had met all the requirement there was only had one real reason to deny the approval, and that was that it was expanding commercial use into a residential area. Also, with the state permitting short-term rentals, if the plan commission denied the permit the owner could apply, and be approved for, short-term rentals which the commissioners thought would be worse than approving the bed and breakfast. The worse of two evils decision did not please the local residents and their displeasure will, no doubt, be taken directly to the city council.
