Plan Commission Minutes
Town of Washburn
Outdoors at 74399 Ondossagon Road
Monday, May 5, 2026

Commission members present: Kim Bro (chair), Tim Schwenzfeier (vice chair), Caroline Twombly.
Commission members absent: Cyndi Belanger (secretary), Seth Vasser (town board representative).
Others present: Mike Harvey (Town Road Superintendent).

1. Chairman Bro called the meeting of the Commission to order at 6:33 P.M. and verified its legal notification (posted at Town Hall, Tetzner Dairy on May 2 and Town website) on May 3, 2026.
2. The minutes of the November 2, 2025 meeting were approved (Tim moves, Caroline seconds).
3. Just prior to the meeting, the commission conducted a site visit for Tracy Defoe to extend a driveway to a proposed residence. In 2021 an initial driveway was put in place from Ondossagon Road to the property so that the applicant could create a clearing. A new driveway permit is required because the applicant proposes to build a residence. The Commission conducted a site visit to assure that the proposed driveway will accommodate emergency vehicle access to proposed buildings on the property. The entire site is relatively level clay soil. The applicant already had placed two small sheds on the property. Using wire flags she marked the layout of the proposed driveway extension. Commission members moved the flags at one corner to make a tee turnaround that would meet the tee length and turning radius requirements of the Town Driveway Ordinance.
4. The commission reviewed the driveway permit application for Tracy Defoe to extend the driveway to a proposed residence on her 20-acre parcel at 74399 Ondossagon Road in an Agriculture 1 zoning district (S½N½NE¼SE¼ + S½N½NW¼SE¼ Section 10 T.48N R.5W; Tax ID #38474 + #38476). The Commission recommends (Caroline moves, Tim seconds) that the Town Board approve the driveway permit with the slight modifications proposed by the Commission. The proposed driveway meets the roadbed, drainage, visibility, and turnaround requirements of the driveway ordinance, and is located in an area that accommodates the erodibility of the clay soils (pp.7-4 of plan). The development retains the natural wooded character of the area (Objective 8.4). The Commission recommends that a 6-inch base of gravel be added to the drive when home construction is completed.
5. Kim reported on an April 29 public meeting that the county held on the comprehensive revision of Bayfield County planning and zoning ordinances. Because the proposed public release of the Draft Land Division Ordinance is June 5, 2026, the Commission will meet on June 7 or 8 (when most members can attend) to prepare comments for the Town Board to consider at its June 9th meeting prior to the July 5th deadline for submitting comments. The Draft County Zoning Ordinance is proposed for public release on June 26th with Town Board comments due by July 26th.

Charly Ray, Chair of the County Planning and Zoning Committee, said that the proposed ordinance will have far fewer uses for which the County will provide advance notice and seek the advice of town boards in which land uses are proposed. The excuse Mr. Ray gave for this proposed change is a state law that requires that conditions for conditional uses must be measurable and enforceable. The key criterion that the state no longer allows is “public acceptability.” Many such other impacts as traffic, noise, off-road parking, ingress/egress. lighting, erosion, natural vegetative screening, and rural character, vary from site to site and cannot be managed simply by administrative standards. It will be interesting to see if the Committee is avoiding taking responsibility for controlling negative impacts because it fears the work of setting appropriate measureable conditions for proposed uses. For example, the assistant zoning administrator at the meeting said that the draft ordinance has not proposed controls for development on highly erodible, steep clay slopes surrounding the county’s many high quality trout streams. In the Town of Washburn, inadequate controls of development on steep clay slopes would be highly detrimental to water quality, stream habitat, and downstream wetlands.
6. The Commission recommends (Tim moves, Caroline seconds) that, with minor typo edits, the Washburn Town History brochure (PDF) that Trisha Miller wrote and designed be made available to the community on the Town website.
7. The next meeting will be Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 PM or June 7 if more can attend.
8. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 P.M. (Caroline moves, Tim seconds).

Draft submitted by: Kenneth Bro, Chair, Town of Washburn Plan Commission (May 11, 2026).
Approved June 7, 2026.

Plan Commission Report

The Commission recommends that the Town Board approve the driveway permit for Tracy Defoe to extend her existing driveway as proposed on the updated sketch she approved. The Commission recommends making Trisha Miller’s Town of Washburn History brochure (PDF) available on the Town website.