City Prepares to Annex Storage Facility Development

The City of Sturgeon Bay has entered into an agreement to annex this parcel of land where a commercial storage development is planned. Source: City of Sturgeon Bay.

The Sturgeon Bay Common Council approved an annexation agreement with Fox Valley Storage for a 6.65-acre parcel of land on the east side of North 18th Avenue. The company intends to purchase the land from Richard Wilke to build commercial storage buildings.

“It’s almost like a business incubator opened to small-scale industrial use,” said Alder Spencer Gustafson during the Common Council’s Feb. 16 meeting. 

The property is located within the Town of Sturgeon Bay and the Door County zoning jurisdiction, but the land abuts city limits. The annexation agreement would ensure the property eventually becomes part of the city and receives municipal sanitary sewer and water service, subject to an assessment for the extension of the services. 

The city’s Aesthetic Design Review Board would also get to weigh in on the development, said Marty Olejniczak, Sturgeon Bay’s community development director, during the Common Council’s Feb. 16 meeting.

The land is south of an orchard that will remain part of the town, and the orchard is south of the Pick ’n Save and Tractor Supply stores, which are located within the city. 

The annexation of the Wilke property sets the stage for a larger annexation of the area to the north and south, according to the executive summary prepared by Olejniczak. 

The actual annexation will not get underway until the city asks the owner to petition for it, and the city won’t ask for that, according to the annexation agreement, until all building permits have been issued and the municipal services have been extended – or five years from the signing of the annexation agreement. 

The city will prepare an annexation study after the annexation petition has been made. The study looks at the impacts of extending municipal services and the tax value from the annexed land. If the annexation doesn’t make sense, the city could elect to allow the property to remain within the town.