Council to vote on subdivision rezoning Tuesday

On May 19 the city plan commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a zoning map amendment that would pave the way for a 36-lot mixed-use subdivision on Rhinelander’s west side, overcoming vocal opposition from residents of the adjacent West Wind Drive neighborhood.
The commission voted 7-0 to recommend rezoning three parcels from I-1 (Light Industrial) to R-3 (Mixed Residential) to allow for the proposed “Legacy Preserve” development. The recommendation now advances to the Rhinelander Common Council, which holds final authority over the rezoning decision. According to city administrator Patrick Reagan, the matter was expected to be included on the agenda for the council’s May 26 meeting, which took place after this edition went to press.
The Proposed Development
Developer Alejandro Jacinto, a West Wind Drive resident and owner of Casa Mexicana and the A&W restaurant, is proposing a subdivision on approximately 37.8 acres located in the East Half of the Northeast Quarter of Section 1, Township 36 North, Range 8 East, within the city limits.
According to project documents, the development would include 34 residential lots and two commercial lots. The residential component would consist of 22 single-family homes, five duplexes, three townhomes, and four multi-family apartment buildings, along with two outlots — one designated as a community park and another for stormwater management facilities. The plans call for commercial and multi-family uses to be positioned on the subdivision’s west side near Highway 47, while single-family homes would be placed along the eastern edge, adjacent to the existing R-1 residential lots on West Wind Drive.

Jacinto addressed the crowd directly, emphasizing his personal investment in the neighborhood where he has lived for several years. “I love the neighborhood,” he said. “I would not do something to hurt it.”
He also flatly rejected suggestions that a mobile home park was part of his vision. “I do not think that trailer parks are the solution. I do not see that happening at all.”
Neighbors Pack the Room in Opposition
The public hearing drew a large contingent of West Wind Drive residents, who raised a wide range of concerns about traffic, infrastructure, environmental impacts, and what they described as a lack of transparency in the process.
The most consistent theme among speakers was opposition to any extension of West Wind Drive to connect the new development to the broader road network. Residents argued the quiet dead-end street, home to roughly 14 households, was never designed to carry the traffic load a large subdivision would generate.
“You put that street through and you’re going to go from that new development and those cars are going to be going 35 miles an hour,” said Don Clark, who noted he has lived on West Wind Drive for 26 years. Multiple speakers pointed to the presence of children, elderly residents, and two assisted living facilities on nearby West Hill Drive as reasons to keep through-traffic off the corridor.
Retired civil engineer Nathan Benoy raised what he characterized as a more fundamental infrastructure problem: the existing sewer line serving West Wind Drive is only eight inches in diameter. “You can just Google how many residents an eight inch sewer beam will handle, and it runs between 14 and 20 or so. There are already 15 homes on that line, he said, arguing the sewer capacity makes the proposed development physically impossible as currently conceived.
Another West Wind resident, Cristi Corey-Luse, raised environmental concerns, questioning whether the city had consulted the Wisconsin DNR regarding wetlands on the property and whether threatened or endangered plant species had been assessed. She also cited the rolling topography of the parcel and federal best management practices around construction on steep slopes.
Several residents raised questions about the zoning history of a triangular parcel abutting West Wind Drive, contending that documents from a 2004 annexation originally designated that strip as R-1, limited to no more than five single-family lots, with West Wind Drive to terminate in a cul-de-sac rather than connecting through to any adjacent development. Marina Benoy presented what she said were planning commission minutes and city council proceedings from 2004 and 2013 supporting that position.
Resident Mike Hendricks, while acknowledging Rhinelander’s housing shortage, suggested the development could access the site from Hanson Lake Road rather than West Wind Drive, similar to the layout of other nearby apartment complexes. “I’m not opposed to the project per se,” he said. “I think they can go and hang it out on Hanson Lake Road.”
A petition with 30 signatures from neighborhood residents was also submitted to the commission.
Housing Need Cited in Support
Tony Pharo, executive director of Oneida County Economic Development, spoke in favor of the project, telling the commission that housing has become the region’s single greatest economic constraint. He said local manufacturers are unable to hire workers due to a lack of available housing, and that Aspirus is actively working to figure out how to staff the hospital in coming years.
“In the next two years we’re anticipating, out of the 38,000 folks that live in Oneida County, 18,000 will be out of the workforce,” Ferrell said. “We’re talking about whether or not we have enough homes to hire doctors, to hire nurses,,,” he argued.
He described Jacinto as a developer with genuine community ties and integrity, contrasting him with developers who simply seek profit and move on.
Commission Frames the Question Narrowly
Before opening the commission discussion, Mayor Kris Hanus, who serves as commission chair, clarified for the audience that Tuesday’s vote was limited strictly to the zoning question — not roads, sewer capacity, site design, or density.
“The decision tonight by the Planning Commission has nothing to do with roads, has nothing to do with sewers, has nothing to do with children playing in the street,” Hanus said. “It has to do with this parcel of land — should it be zoned residential R-3 or should we leave it zoned industrial?”
City attorney Steve Sorenson advised the commission that the prior zoning history arguments, while passionately made by residents, were largely superseded by a comprehensive citywide rezoning map update conducted in 2021. He also noted that “contract zoning” — the idea that the city could have legally restricted the parcel’s use to five lots in a 2004 annexation agreement — is prohibited under Wisconsin law.
Commissioner Tom Jerow acknowledged the consistency question, noting that R-3 is a more intensive designation than the adjacent R-1 neighborhood, but concluded that it remained far more compatible with the surrounding area than the current industrial zoning. “Certainly R-3 is more consistent with R-1 than industrial,” he said.
If the full council approves the rezoning request, Jacinto’s detailed site plan — including proposed road connections, lot layouts, and infrastructure solutions — would return to the plan commission for review before any construction could begin.