MEQUON A key parcel in the city of Mequons carefully planned East Growth Neighborhood could be home to a medical office building, rather than the subdivision that some neighbors had hoped.

The Mequon Planning Commission Monday recommended approving a rezoning request for an Ascension Medical Clinic on the northwest corner of Port Washington and Highland roads, though there are many more hurdles for the health care organization to jump.

A number of factors with the proposal caused concern for some commission members, including Mayor John Wirth.

The 30,000-square-foot building is 50 percent larger than the newly created neighborhood commercial zoning calls for. There was also concern about whether it would fit in with the adjacent residential zoning.

The corner is considered a gateway into the East Growth Neighborhood plan, a road map to development in the area generally bound by Interstate 43 to the east, Oriole Lane and Ulao Creek to the west, Highland Road to the south and Pioneer Road to the north.

The Mequon Common Council was updated on the project at its July 14 meeting, hearing about everything from proposed land uses, to utility availability, to architectural standards.

While the proposed clinic property is currently zoned residential, the East Growth plan calls for it to be rezoned to the new neighborhood commercial. It also calls for the property to the west and north to be single-family homes.

The owner of the property, Highland Investments LLC, in partnership with other entities, asked for the rezoning to neighborhood commercial. The rezoning request is for a 4.2-acre portion of the 40-acre parcel. The rest of the site would remain residential, according to a staff memo.

The rezoning request would limit it to medical use only.

A planning commission subcommittee had determined that the new zoning would be most appropriate for the site. And the community development office staff also supported the rezoning based on the conditions listed in the memo.

Blake Estes, executive director of strategy and planning at Ascension, told the commission that Ascension Wisconsin is seeking to relocate its primary care office from across the street. The facility would offer expanded services, including primary care, speciality care, diagnostic radiology and physical therapy.

We are very, very excited about this site and the potential it has to expand health care offerings, he said, adding that Ascension Wisconsin seeks to be the best possible neighbor.

Nick Patera, a landscape architect and senior vice president at Teska, talked about the teams commitment to respecting the corridor, saying they would look at the site as a foreground and a cornerstone that would emphasize the architecture and the landscape first and foremost.

What youre not seeing is a parking field in front of a building, but its the other way around, Patera said.

The proposed 130 parking spaces would go behind the building.

Commissioners were not necessarily unhappy with the plan, but more with the size and its compatibility with the future residential neighborhoods that will surround it. Wirth said that the layout is great from the perspective of Port Washington Road.

But what does that do to the residential that adjoins it? he asked.

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Tentative approval given for medical clinic at Port Washington and Highland - Greater Milwaukee Today