GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) – Some Grand Chute residents are fighting a plan to build a pair of hotels in their neighborhood.
A Holiday Inn and a Holiday Inn Express would go up close to the Fox River Mall at 215 S. Maple Hill Drive, according to the plan. It’s a $20 million project which needs land there to be rezoned by town officials.
On Tuesday night, residents like Michelle Wrobleski sounded off.
“It was a beautiful, wooded lot joined with other wooded lots. And at that time, that property was zoned for single family back there,” Wrobleski, who bought her home on Long Court in 1995 for a reason, told FOX 11.
The Grand Chute town board rezoned property on S. Maple Hill Drive, right behind her house, in 2001 to allow for two-story office buildings. Now, leaders are considering rezoning again to allow Wisco Hotel Group to build a 4-story Holiday Inn and a Holiday Inn Express there.
“That’s right in our backyard. We would be standing on our deck looking at this giant building,” said Wrobleski.
Wisco Hotel Group President and COO Todd Winkler said this is an ideal spot.
“It’s between (Appleton International Airport) and downtown (Appleton). We think there’s a need for new product. We like the fact that they’re going to be doing a convention/expo center downtown. So that adds to it,” Winkler explained.
Members of the town plan commission Tuesday decided to delay a vote on rezoning the property. They said they it sounds like the project could benefit the town overall, but that there are some unanswered questions.
“It’s a major growth and even other hotels have said that they’re actually sending business away. We have 20 hotels and apparently on a lot of occasions it’s not enough. So other hotels are not even against this project,” said Town Chairman Dave Schowalter.
However more than a dozen neighbors spoke out against the project Tuesday. Dozens more signed a petition against it.
“Well, I think it means a significant reduction in my property value, you know? I haven’t met anybody yet that wants to be someplace where they have a hotel in their backyard, looking right at them,” Wrobleski said to FOX 11.
“We’re gonna with on the landscaping to protect their investments and their homes,” countered Winkler.
The plan commission rescheduled the vote for March 15. The full town board will also need to approve it. The project calls for the first hotel to open in 2018.
