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Development Coming to Highway 42/57 in Sevastopol

A rezoning approval has paved the way for a commercial development backed by residential homes along the Town of Sevastopol’s highly visible Highway 42/57 corridor.

The vacant land is located at 4115 Hwy 42/57, on the west side of the highway south of C&W Auto. The official approval from the Door County Board of Supervisors Tuesday was to rezone about 15 acres of land from countryside to commercial center, and about 17.5 acres from countryside to small estate. 

The rezoning required a recommendation by the Sevastopol Plan Commission and then the Sevastopol Town Board. Both bodies, finding that the uses conformed to the town’s comprehensive plan and future land use for the corridor, made those recommendations in June with the conditions that the commercial buildings be 500 feet from the centerline of the highway. 

This Google map shows, surrounding the red indicator, about 32 acres of vacant land that will be developed with commercial uses on the front side, residential on the back.

The next stop was the Door County Resource Planning Committee (RPC) July 7, which modified the plans somewhat by not changing the zoning around the Highway 42/57 intersection, and by switching the zoning designation to commercial center from the original request for mixed-use commercial.

The lot sizes are the same in both, but Mariah Goode, director of Door County Land Use Services, said the Town of Sevastopol had favored the commercial-center zoning over mixed-use commercial; the RPC agreed; and the owner didn’t object to the change.

“There are less uses allowed in commercial center, and more of them require a conditional-use permit,” Goode said. 

Final approval came from the Door County Board of Supervisors July 26.

The developer is Adam Drossart, whom the Peninsula Pulse reached by phone Tuesday after the county board’s approval. He said he purchased a little more than 32 acres of vacant land that runs along the highway from the Tielens sign north to C&W Auto, and it includes the land that had been the site of the former Klass farm buildings. The Town of Sevastopol had the blighted and condemned buildings demolished in late 2020. All that remains on that part of the property is the silo.

Drossart shared his general plans for the area, which he said are still evolving.

“Our most recent concept is six commercial lots right along 42/57 that will be between 1.5 to 2.5 acres each,” he said. “One or two of them I’ll keep for myself for businesses I’m affiliated with. There will be four available [commercial] lots for sale or lease for the right individuals.” 

Commercial zoning, shown in red on the above map, has been designated as the future land use for the Highway 42/57 corridor. The Door County Board of Supervisors recently approved a rezoning request for commercial zoning, but it excluded the “bubble” area, also shown above, that surrounds the busy Highway 42/57 intersection.

There will be nine residential lots behind the commercial area, varying from the minimum lot size for small-estate residential of 1.5 acres to 3.71 acres. One or two of those he’ll reserve for his family.

The access point will be at the southernmost part of the property just north of the Tielens sign, according to the direction Drossart said he has received from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). He’ll run a frontage road parallel to the highway for a few hundred feet for the commercial parcels, with an offshoot from the frontage road to the residential lots.

Drossart said “safety is our number-one concern” for the access to the properties off the busy highway, and he’s received verbal direction from WisDOT to construct bypass lanes, at his expense, on the east and west sides of the highway for turning into the development. 

“Next year, the DOT is planning on resurfacing that area, so we want to get most of that done before they resurface,” Drossart said. “Over the next month or two, we’ll come up with the final concept plan and get bids out to contractors who can get those bypass lanes in.” 

The bypass lanes would be built along state right-of-way, and he said he’s been charged with paving and maintaining them.

Drossart currently lives in Salt Lake City but grew up in Sturgeon Bay – he’s a member of Sturgeon Bay High School’s Class of 1990 – and spent most of his adult life in the Manitowoc area. He said he’s conscious that the land is a gateway to northern Door County and wants to be a good steward of it. 

“First of all, there won’t be a big-box store,” he said. “I envision these are going to be lots for local business owners who have professional offices and would like to have great exposure with – attorneys, possible real estate offices, a small dentist office, physical therapy. Those in my mind would be the best tenants.”

Drossart, along with Steve Laubenstein, built the Blahnik Investment Group’s log-cabin-style building at 4050 Hwy 42/57, on the east side of the highway just north of Grandma Tommy’s. He envisions buildings like the Blahnik building for the new development.

“It’s nice wood, complements the area,” Drossart said. “Something similar to that is our direction now. We’re not planning strip malls. Financially, we want to make these attractive and desirable for higher-end office units.” 

On the backside, the residential won’t be as visible, and the larger lot sizes will appeal to the mid-range buyer.

“We’re not going to get real high-end homes here, but more moderate,” he said. 

Drossart anticipates that the final plat will be completed in a couple of months, with lots available as early as next spring.

“We’re still trying to figure out what to do with the silo,” he said. “In my mind, I would like to incorporate that into the overall design.”

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