PdC Common Council: Regulations changed for airport, Brunson Court zoning changed
By Steve Van Kooten
The Prairie du Chien Common Council approved numerous items on their Sept. 2 agenda, ranging from airport regulations to zoning changes and survey maps.
The meeting opened with a public hearing regarding the zoning classification of a public lot on Brunson Court.
The lot is owned by the redevelopment authority. The city has an interested buyer, but the sale is conditional on the zoning changing from R-1 (low-density residential) to R-2 (medium-density residential).
According to Cassie Rickleff, the city’s zoning administrator, the buyer intends to build a duplex on the property. Duplexes cannot be built on land designated as low-density.
One member of the public questioned how a duplex can be placed on a small lot, which he estimated to be 75’ x 120’.
Rickleff said the minimum size required for the construction is 8,000 square feet, and the Brunson Court property meets that requirement. It will be the responsibility of the buyer to account for setbacks and other restrictions present on the property.
The Council also considered Certified Survey Maps (CSM) for a possible construction project in Prairie Bluffs Court off of Blackhawk Avenue.
According to City Administrator Chad Abram, the CSM is needed to make a development agreement with Rivertown Marketplace, which plans to build across the parking lot from Pizza Ranch.
Abram said the city is hoping that an agreement will be ready for approval by the next council meeting.
City Planner Nate Gilberts noted that CSM approvals through state and federal agencies are slow due to staffing issues.
“Going forward, the State is no longer going to review survey maps; Vierbicher can now do that, so that will expedite the process a little bit,” he said.
The city also presented a plat review to the council for approval.
“This is for the North Michigan Street lots that we purchased with affordable housing. We had to get four separate lots, so this is the last piece of the puzzle,” said Abram.
Once the plat review is completed, the city can pursue a development agreement with Design Homes to construct a house on the land.
“We’re looking to get this approved so we can get the development agreement back here, hopefully, in two weeks,” Abram concluded.
The Council unanimously approved all three matters.
Airport regulations
Todd Berry, manager of the Prairie du Chien Municipal Airport, appeared before the Council to request approval for changes made to the city’s airport regulations.
“I asked the Airport Commission to take a look at the regulations several months ago and review them,” said Airport Manager Berry. “Some of the minimum standards were limiting to aeronautic businesses coming in, especially small businesses.”
He pointed out that the current regulations require a commercial flight operator to have 10,000 square feet of land at the Prairie du Chien Airport for lease and construction of a building.
“We didn’t think that should be a requirement for small businesses. We welcome small businesses, so whatever we can do to welcome them in would be great,” he continued.
Berry also said the regulations mandate hours of operation for prospective business operators on the airport’s property, which the Commission felt was unnecessary.
Rental operators were previously required to have two aircraft available, rather than just one, and one had to be equipped for Instrument Flight Rules operations. IFR includes flight procedures for flying in conditions that inhibit visually guided flight. Berry contended that these rules made it more difficult for people to rent an aircraft.
Other changes included minor grammatical revisions.
“The biggest thing was making it more accommodating to small businesses that operate an aviation business out of the airport,” he said.
“I’m glad that the Commission reviewed it, and we’re getting it up to date because who knows when this code was created or where it came from,” said Abram.
Berry speculated that the regulations were copied from existing code used by larger airports.
The Council approved the recreated airport regulations.
Tourism
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism distributes information about tourism’s economic impact on the counties. Bob Moses, CEO of the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce and Prairie du Chien Tourism Council, provided comparisons between Crawford County’s performances in 2023 and 2024.
“When you look at the total economic impact this past year, it was one of the highest records ever at $25.8 billion spent across the state of Wisconsin,” said Moses. “How did that affect Crawford County? We saw $73 million come in.”
He noted the number is “almost identical” to the previous year.
The county garnered $5.6 million in sales tax in 2024.
Other business
• Abram said the USDA is hoping—once again—to have the design plans for the Public Safety Building reviewed by Sept. 10.
• The Police Department has completed their move from the county property to City Hall. Teynor gave council members a tour of the setup after the meeting concluded.
