MONROE - A glitch in the Monroe city codes needs to be fixed before Zuber's Sausage Kitchen can move from 18th Avenue to the city's North Business and Industrial Park.
The Monroe Plan Commission has started the process of getting language into the code to allow conditional-use property in industrial zones. The code change will require a public hearing and Common Council's approval. Zuber's cannot move into the park because it would require a conditional-use property.
Monroe's city codes restrict processing, packaging and manufacturing of meat and meat products, fish and fish products, and sauerkraut and cabbage byproducts from industrial parks
Zuber's Sausage Kitchen makes Zuber's Original Landjaeger, a popular dried sausage, traditionally made in Southern Germany and Switzerland, but it does not technically process the meat it uses.
City Attorney Rex Ewald told the commission that the code's wording is pretty clear. That left the commissioners perplexed and Zuber's without a place in the park.
"I think we should not impede this, but figure out how to make it work," said Ron Spielman, commissioner.
Commissioner Nate Klassy said he was on the panel that set up some of the city zoning codes.
"That code was set up to prevent canning factories," he said.
When the code was written, Jerry Ellefson, past Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, did not want food particles from large industrial processing coming into the treatment plant, Klassy said.
"He said they were too hard to treat," Klassy said.
Zuber's Sausage Kitchen is not a butcher or slaughtering business. Owner Jim Zuber said he gets meats, which have already been cut up and packaged, to make the Landjaeger.
But the commission could find no conditional use clause in the code for them to allow Zuber's business into the zone.
Zuber met with the Plan Commission Wednesday to discuss his building plans. He wants to move to the Industrial Park by Nov. 1, before the deer hunting season. Zuber's makes summer sausage, Landjaegers, brats and snack sticks for hunters.
Landjaeger means "country hunters."
He told the commission that he plans to add five more employees in the next three years.
"At a pay rate enough to buy and maintain a home," he said.
Zuber started his Sausage Kitchen in 1991 in Monroe.
The city codes for the M-3, or industrial, zone do allow for retail sales associated with the manufacture of products on the seller's premises, and Zuber said he was interested in taking advantage of retail sales. About 1,500 customers per year come through the store, and three-fourths of those are from Illinois, he said.
Zuber's display case can be found at over 200 retailers throughout southern Wisconsin. The company also sells its beef and cheese sticks at retailers throughout southern Wisconsin.
Zuber had requested an acre of land near the corner of 29th Street and County DR.
However, commissioners did not want to break up a 20-acre lot on the corner, which they would like to save for a manufacturing business that would have a large volume of traffic. The corner lot would allow fast and easy access to County DR, and prevent the traffic from driving through the park.
The Monroe Plan Commission has started the process of getting language into the code to allow conditional-use property in industrial zones. The code change will require a public hearing and Common Council's approval. Zuber's cannot move into the park because it would require a conditional-use property.
Monroe's city codes restrict processing, packaging and manufacturing of meat and meat products, fish and fish products, and sauerkraut and cabbage byproducts from industrial parks
Zuber's Sausage Kitchen makes Zuber's Original Landjaeger, a popular dried sausage, traditionally made in Southern Germany and Switzerland, but it does not technically process the meat it uses.
City Attorney Rex Ewald told the commission that the code's wording is pretty clear. That left the commissioners perplexed and Zuber's without a place in the park.
"I think we should not impede this, but figure out how to make it work," said Ron Spielman, commissioner.
Commissioner Nate Klassy said he was on the panel that set up some of the city zoning codes.
"That code was set up to prevent canning factories," he said.
When the code was written, Jerry Ellefson, past Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, did not want food particles from large industrial processing coming into the treatment plant, Klassy said.
"He said they were too hard to treat," Klassy said.
Zuber's Sausage Kitchen is not a butcher or slaughtering business. Owner Jim Zuber said he gets meats, which have already been cut up and packaged, to make the Landjaeger.
But the commission could find no conditional use clause in the code for them to allow Zuber's business into the zone.
Zuber met with the Plan Commission Wednesday to discuss his building plans. He wants to move to the Industrial Park by Nov. 1, before the deer hunting season. Zuber's makes summer sausage, Landjaegers, brats and snack sticks for hunters.
Landjaeger means "country hunters."
He told the commission that he plans to add five more employees in the next three years.
"At a pay rate enough to buy and maintain a home," he said.
Zuber started his Sausage Kitchen in 1991 in Monroe.
The city codes for the M-3, or industrial, zone do allow for retail sales associated with the manufacture of products on the seller's premises, and Zuber said he was interested in taking advantage of retail sales. About 1,500 customers per year come through the store, and three-fourths of those are from Illinois, he said.
Zuber's display case can be found at over 200 retailers throughout southern Wisconsin. The company also sells its beef and cheese sticks at retailers throughout southern Wisconsin.
Zuber had requested an acre of land near the corner of 29th Street and County DR.
However, commissioners did not want to break up a 20-acre lot on the corner, which they would like to save for a manufacturing business that would have a large volume of traffic. The corner lot would allow fast and easy access to County DR, and prevent the traffic from driving through the park.