Politics played at Nashotah Village Board meeting?

Posted: Feb. 8, 2010

Village of Nashotah — Trustees have unanimously agreed to review the village's 30-year-old zoning code, including adopting a provision prohibiting funeral homes, crematories and prisons. The action comes in response to a furor created late last year when a Hartland funeral director unsuccessfully tried to build a crematorium next door to Country Christian School, a few blocks from the village's main intersection at Highway C and Watertown Plank Road.

It will be up to the Plan Commission to recommend to trustees how the village should conduct the review, according to Rich Lartz, village president and Plan Commission chairman.

Lartz said he did know whether the Plan Commission will begin its deliberations at its meeting next week or wait until its March meeting.

The trustees acknowledged that they may have to pay several thousand dollars in legal fees for the code review but decided that, at least for now, they will not retain the services of a municipal or urban planner for the project.

"I don't know that I want this out of my hands," said Trustee and former Village President Julie Swenson.

The code review was one of several proposals in reaction to the crematorium controversy that were suggested by Swenson and Trustee Rick Johnson.

Both are being challenged for re-election in April by Louisa Self and Henry Nemer, leaders in a citizens group that mustered 125 to 150 residents to a public hearing in December to protest the proposed permit for the crematorium,

Nemer and Self attended last week's Village Board meeting but did not address the trustees.

"It must be coincidental that the two trustees who are running for election are the ones handling such sensitive issues as the crematory," quipped Nemer in an interview after the meeting.

Nemer was asked whether he was suggesting election politics was in play at the Village Board meeting.

"I have said all I am going to say about that," he replied.

Self said she was "optimistic" about the Village Board's decision to review the code but added the trustees should have been more proactive in keeping the code updated. She questioned why it should take a year or two to complete the review process, as some village officials have suggested.

She added the board should move as quickly as possible to review business sections of the code rather than doing a chronological section-by-section review as suggested by Swenson.

During the meeting, Swenson suggested the review should begin "at the top" of the zoning code. She suggested the Village Board might want to participate in the process by reviewing a section of the code each month.

Johnson said he had intended to ask the board to rescind an ordinance adopted in December that permitted the operation of crematoriums in certain business districts.

However, Johnson added, rescinding the ordinance would require a review and recommendation by the Plan Commission, a public hearing and action by the Village Board. He said the code review could accomplish the same as rescinding the ordinance

Johnson voted against the ordinance in December, while Swenson voted for it. She said she supported the ordinance so the Plan Commission could continue its deliberation over the crematorium. Johnson said he opposed the crematory.

Swenson, Lartz honored

Also during last week's meeting, Swenson and Lartz received certifications from the League of Wisconsin municipalities recognizing their more than 10 years of service to the village.

Swenson said she is exploring the possibility of developing a citizens group to promote the village's image and business climate.