Plan Commission Minutes
Town of Washburn
Town Hall
Tuesday, October 7, 2025

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

1. Chairman Bro called the meeting of the Commission to order at 6:20 P.M. and verified its legal notification (posted at Town Hall and Tetzner Dairy) on October 3, 2025 and on Town website on October 4, 2025).
2. The minutes of the September 2, 2025 meeting were approved (Tim moves, Cyndi seconds).
3. Prior to the meeting at 6:00 P.M., the commission conducted a site visit for a proposed driveway at Norman and Susan Cessna’s 15 acre parcel on McKinley Road approximately 150 feet south of the intersection with Scholl Road. The applicants had flagged a driveway through a woodland extending approximately 100 feet east and with a tee at the end extending 48 feet north and 48 feet south. The site is relatively level clay soil with no nearby ravines. The applicants propose a 24-inch by 40-foot culvert in the road ditch and a 6-inch gravel base for the driveway.
4. The commission reviewed the driveway permit application for Norman & Susan Cessna to construct a driveway on their 15 acre parcel on McKinley Rd (N½NW¼ SW¼ Section 36 T.49N R.5W; Tax ID #39324). The Commission recommends (Caroline moves, Tim seconds) that the Town Board approve the driveway permit. The proposed driveway meets the roadbed, drainage, visibility, and turnaround requirements of the driveway ordinance, and is located in a area that accommodates the erodibility of the clay soils (pp.7-4 of plan). The development retains the natural wooded character of McKinley Road (Objective 8.4).

5. The Commission reviewed Caroline’s proposal for “Share the Road” signage and Kim’s example of a caution sign for pedestrian and bicycle safety. With Mike Harvey’s advice, the Commission recommends (Cyndi moves, Caroline seconds) that the Town Board install six “Share the Road” signs (30”x30” diamond with 18”x24” text below) after each of the proposed 45 mph speed limit signs to be installed at Ondossagon, Wannebo, Church Corner, McKinley, and South Maple Hill roads (see map), and that pedestrian and bicycle caution sign be attached to every ATV/Snowmobile route sign (see illustration). Mike mentioned the cost of mowing around signs and noted that South Maple Hill Road and West Maple Hill Road are not ATV/Snowmobile routes. Because not all Town roads are ATV/Snowmobile routes, the Town cannot post signs at entrances to the town saying all roads are such routes. If the Town can develop a system to reduce the number of route signs, the number of pedestrian/bike caution signs needed could also be reduced. The Commission’s recommendation is simply that all posted route signs should also have the pedestrian/bike caution sign. The Commission discussed several ways to provide public education about the Town’s goal of making Town Roads safe for pedestrians and bicycles. In addition to adding a message to the Town website and Facebook page, we could submit an article to the Ashland Daily Press and add posts to Chamber of Commerce pages. We might work with the Superior Vistas program to raise funds for signs next year.

6. Kim reported that the Bayfield County Planning and Zoning Committee sent the Town a questionnaire regarding minimum parcel sizes for agricultural, forestry, and rural residential districts. Commission members noted the Town Comprehensive Plan objective to retain large parcels of forested and agricultural lands (Obj 8.1), to consolidate smaller rural residential parcels near existing, paved roads (Obj 8.2), and to promote Farmland Preservation Zoning to cluster new residential development in conjunction with preserving large parcels of agricultural and forested lands (pp.8 13).

7. The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 7 PM if there is business to conduct. If a site visit is required, the meeting will be Sunday, November 2 in the afternoon outdoors after the site visit.
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8. The meeting adjourned at 7:42 P.M. (Cyndi moves, Tim seconds).

Draft submitted by: Kenneth Bro, Chair, Town of Washburn Plan Commission (October 14, 2025).
Approved November 2, 2025.

Plan Commission Report

The Commission recommends that the Town Board approve the driveway permits for Norman and Susan Cessna as proposed in their application. The Commission recommends that the Town Board post signs for pedestrian and bicycle safety in conjunction with posting the 45 mph signs as adopted at the 2025 Town Annual Meeting.