WAUPUN — The Waupun Plan Commission held a public hearing on a request to convert first floor commercial space at 6 S Madison St into a residential dwelling.
This was discussed at the Plan Commission meeting held Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at Waupun City Hall. The meeting began at 4:30PM with several residents in the audience.
The Plan Commission first held a public hearing for a change to a highway billboard along Highway 151—a request from Adams Outdoor Advertising to convert two faces of the billboard from static (24’x48’) to digital display (14’x48’).
The billboard in question is located at 205 Gateway Drive on property owned by Adams Outdoor Advertising. This billboard is opposite from Homan Chevrolet and currently has four advertising faces, two facing north and two facing south. While the agenda packet includes a request that originally specified the northernmost billboard, a revision was made that it was actually for the southernmost billboard, according to Public Works Director Jeff Daane. Another billboard with the same layout can be found a little to the north along 151, but no changes were requested for it.
A representative from Adams Outdoor Advertising, Jack Russell, attended the meeting in person to explain the changes, with Scotty Bland from Watchfire Signs online. Daane asked a few clarifying questions, namely that the new digital sign will be smaller than the current static sign, and about the brightness of the sign. Russell said that the light should not be intrusively bright as it automatically brightens during the day and dims during the night using “photocell” technology. The Plan Commission approved the request unanimously.
Next on the agenda was the request to convert downtown commercial space into residential.
In May, Betty Woxland applied for a Conditional Use Permit to convert first floor commercial space at 6 South Madison St to a residential unit. The request cited Municipal Code Section 16.04(2)(d)(x).
The agenda packet included a hand drawn floor plan of the changes, which shows a living room and kitchen in the existing commercial space and a bedroom in the back office room. Additionally, there would be double doors between the residential space and the next door 2 S Madison commercial space for a connected business-residential tenant space.
The City sent notifications of the public hearing to a list of impacted properties within 100ft of the requested property.
After opening the public hearing, Mayor Bishop noted that the City had received communications from the Discover Waupun group and other downtown business owners with concerns about this request prior to the meeting.
The Plan Commission then opened the floor to public comments.
The first speaker was Dylan Weber, who runs Fox Computer and Networking located across the street at 401 E Main St. Weber said that he likes the idea of first floor downtown residential, but stated that Waupun is already extremely limited in downtown commercial spaces and turning this space into residential would prevent more businesses from starting up and flourishing downtown.
The second speaker was Jeff Collien, who owns Club Fitness and Wind and Unwined, along with other downtown properties including 313 E Main which houses The Source radio station. Collien said he has been in downtown Waupun for over 20 years and has seen downtown grow and die over the years, stating he did not feel such a change would benefit downtown. He compared downtown properties to operating a business in a shared mall, saying the sidewalk is a huge factor for drawing downtown businesses, and that shoppers and businesses would feel uncomfortable looking at first floor residential use in a prime commercial area.
The third and final speaker was Melanie Williams, who owns Blue Heron Antiques at 309 E Main St. Williams said that the corner is particularly dangerous for residential—it does not have any outdoor space and has a dumpster immediately around the corner to the alley. The already tight space would be difficult for families to live in, citing the heavy traffic, tight alleyway, and lack of parking on that lot.
Williams also expressed concerns that it could set a precedent for other downtown buildings with vacant first floor commercial spaces and that others could try to do the same. She said it would be especially sad to see, since Waupun is “on a roll” for downtown development and bonding together small businesses, and putting this into the mix would create another hurdle for businesses. She said it’s the beginning of a ghost town when they put residential on first floors and businesses disappear, because shoppers want a central commercial area not an apartment complex.
Mayor Bishop said this is the first time to his recollection that this kind of request was brought to the Plan Commission.
City Administrator Kathy Schlieve provided a packet with the relevant municipal code and state statute provisions, which did not make it into the agenda packet hosted on the city website.
Schlieve said that the decision needed to be made objectively on the ordinances. She noted that this is a conditional use that would need to meet a number of requirements before being issued. This would include design guidelines for the historical preservation of the downtown district, such as maintaining the exterior commercial character of other buildings downtown—which would include no conversion of display windows into residential windows, no placement of residential signs or mailboxes, and more. Residential entry must also be from a side door or alley, not the front door. There would be no exterior storage of grills, residential garbage bins, etc. visible from the public right of way, and the resident must get their own garbage service. They must have dedicated parking space off the city street.
Schlieve noted that there is an active exterior maintenance order against 319 E Main St (occupied by Electric Beach) by the same property owner that would need to be resolved before any permit could be issued.
If the conditional use permit is granted, the first floor can only have a single family unit or be owner-occupied. If the permit is revoked the space must be returned to a commercial-use unit within 90 days. This permit is issued for a term of 2 or 3 years (at the Plan Commission’s discretion) and will expire unless the owner submits a renewal application before the expiration of the term. It is only permitted to the applicable owner, and any transfer of property would require a new application be submitted.
After Schlieve completed reading the list of the relevant codes, the public hearing was closed. The recommended motion in the packet was to approve the conditional use permit, should the applicant meet the requirements, or denial with feedback as to what improvements would be necessary to the property to allow it.
Schlieve noted that there is a current commercial tenant using the space the request was made for.
City Attorney Dan VandeZande provided a few process recommendations. He said that the current city ordinances allow for this kind of permitted use, so it cannot be denied on the basis of personal objections.
The Council could revise the existing ordinances, but they would need to approve or deny the conditional use permit application under the ordinances at the time it was submitted. VandeZande said that he and City Administrator Schlieve have been discussing how they could adapt duration limits, how to handle citizen complaints, and more issues into the ordinances.
VandeZande said the Plan Commission are required to make the decision based on substantial evidence, which could include the testimonies of the speakers at the public hearing.
Plan Commission member Jason Whitford asked if they could table the item, as they were only able to review the document on the relevant city and state codes at the time of the meeting.
VandeZande said if they would adjourn (table) the item, they would need to set a date for the next hearing. The Commission adjourned the public hearing on this application for the next Plan Commission meeting to be held July 29. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 4:30PM at Waupun City Hall.
Two action items were also on the agenda.
First was approving the meeting minutes from the previous meeting on May 27, 2026, which were approved unanimously.
Second was a revision to Certified Survey of Lands Being Part of Lot 2 CSM #5337 and Unplatted Lands Described as Parcel B in Document No 1361951, City of Waupun, Dodge County Wisconsin — Schlieve explained that the map was already approved and was just pending on a few revisions before being brought to the City Council. Approved unanimously.
The meeting then adjourned.
