TOWN OF LAWRENCE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A Town of Lawrence committee unanimously recommended approval of a massive warehouse proposal Wednesday evening. It still requires final approval next month.
An unnamed company wants to spend $200 million to build a distribution center near the Freedom Road exit off of I-41. Williams Gant Drive is on the western edge of the site and Mid Valley Drive is to the east.
Some Town of Lawrence residents think they know what company wants to fill the empty farm field, and they say they don’t need confirmation to know the town should turn down the plan.
“I firmly believe that a 2.9 million square foot warehouse built in my neighborhood will destroy the neighborhood and the Town of Lawrence as we know it,” said Kim Sullivan, a nearby resident.
The proposal would add up to 1,500 full-time jobs.
The facility would have a base footprint of 635,000 square feet and cover 105 of the 150-acre site.
It would be a 24/7 operation, adding between 400 and 500 vehicles to nearby traffic patterns during peak hours. 20 to 30 of those vehicles would be trucks.
“I know that the tenant is still confidential, but Trammell Crow has developed many warehouses where the confidential tenant was revealed as Amazon,” said Kathy Schmidt, a Town of Lawrence resident.
Trammel Crow developers representing the company tried to alleviate resident concerns at a packed public hearing. The primary concerns being increased traffic and noise.
“We would anticipate for the closest adjacent neighborhood to be about 27 to 37 decibels and you might ask what does that mean? From a World Health Organization study, they recommend anything below 45 decibels will not really impact sleeping at all,” said Morgan Baer-Blaska, a senior associate for Trammell Crow.
“When I have a 4 and a 6 year old boy at home that riding their bikes, this does not seem to be the right place for a warehouse that has these traffic concerns,” said Andy Dilling, a nearby resident.
The developers say most of the traffic would stay off Williams Grant Drive.
“Based off of our proximity to I-41 and user rates, for those trucks, everything would be coming and flowing directly onto Mid Valley,” said Baer-Blaska.
While most resident speakers at the meeting were against the plans, a handful of people, mostly older, voiced their support.
“If we don’t take it now, they’re just going to do like Fort Howard did, they’re going to go somewhere else and they’re going to take the value of their property with them somewhere else,” said Mike Gildernick, a Town of Lawrence resident, while referring to another large warehouse project that was once proposed for the area.
Patrick Wetzel, the town administrator, says it’s safe to say the project would become the largest taxable property in the town, likely exceeding $100 million in value.
The town anticipates making a final decision on the plan at its December 13th meeting.
Despite the committee’s recommendation for approval, board members said they still have concerns they’d like to go over with the developers. They hope to have any issues figured out before that final vote next month.
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