Kohler Co. granted extension on conditional use permit for proposed golf course

SHEBOYGAN, Wisc. – Kohler Co. was granted a one-year extension of a 2020 conditional use permit for its proposed 18-hole golf course in the Black River Forest while it pursues plan revisions.

This comes after a handful of contentious court battles, notable of which ended last year with a Wisconsin court of appeals upholding an 2019 decision to deny issuance of a permit to fill 3.69 acres of wetland. Reasons amounted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources not having sufficient information to grant the permit.

It was the last of seven lawsuits to resolve, six of which ruled in favor of the company.

The City Plan Commission extended the CUP until Dec. 4, 2025, at the Nov. 12 meeting. In the 2020 approved CUP, a tolling provision allowed for the resolution of the lawsuits to occur before having to take further action. Within a year of the final case’s resolution, the provision said Kohler Co. had to begin development or request an extension. The wetland permit case resolved Dec. 4, 2023.

City Attorney Charles Adams provided advice during the meeting, clarifying the City Plan Commission was not considering any existing or new plans of the CUP but rather determining if there was a basis to not grant Kohler Co. the extension, potentially if doing so would go against the interests of the city.

“The only basis that I could see for denying an extension of a permanent CUP like this would be if the Kohler Company were using this as a ‘stalking horse’ to basically prevent development around the area and had no intent to actually engage in the development,” Adams said.

Kohler Co. acquired roughly 468 acres of land along Lake Michigan in the 1930s, now including about 221 acres of state-donated land for the John Michael Kohler State Park, part of the Kohler-Andrae state parks. The remaining land has stayed in private ownership. Documented plans for a golf course have been in the works for about a decade.

Deborah Tomcyzk, attorney with Milwaukee-based firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, ensured the Commission the golf course project was not a “stalking horse.”

“We do have the intention to develop and to satisfy the conditions to our conditional use permit,” Tomcyzk said.

She added Kohler Co. thinks the extension is a “simple request” and wasn’t proposing any new site plans at the meeting.

A condition in the CUP says a new application must be submitted if there are changes to an already approved permit, plan or associated documents.

Tomcyzk’s letter requesting a CUP extension said Kohler Co. is working to redesign the golf course plan to “achieve all the economic, recreational and tourism benefits" described in the original CUP.

The original CUP estimated the golf course would generate nearly $21 million in annual revenue and thousands in local and state tax revenue in addition to creating more than 300 jobs between construction and operations.

Other changes included mitigating natural resource impacts: reducing impervious surfaces; moving a maintenance building to Kohler-owned land instead of former park land; and eliminating direct wetland impacts and avoiding filling.

The DNR's decision to grant a wetland permit to Kohler Co. in 2018 was challenged by the Friends of the Black River Forest in a petition for administrative review. The issued permit was overruled the following year, which Kohler Co. challenged by requesting judicial review.

In discussion, Mayor Ryan Sorenson asked Tomcyzk if a year would be enough time for Kohler Co. to secure regulatory permits conditioned in the CUP. A justification for the extension was needing more time to redesign without the approved wetland permit.

After some back and forth, Tomcyzk said though the timeline to secure permits may depend on respective agencies, like the DNR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ‘’Our hope is we would be able to fit within that timeline.”

Ahead of the decision, several community members raised issue with the Commission granting extension, saying doing so would be for a defunct plan or for a new plan they hadn't seen.

Julie Felbab and Mary Faydash of the Friends of the Black River Forest asked the Commission to deny the extension and require Kohler Co. to submit a new site plan and CUP application.

“What seems to be happening is that Kohler wants to extend its CUP so it can amend the plan later, and it will claim the impacts are less, so that they don’t need to get a new or amended CUP,” Felbab added.

Faydash raised concern about a lack of transparency from the company about the original project plan's local economic and environmental impacts, like pesticide use and ground-level ozone contributors to an already high-level area in the Kohler-Andrae State Park.

"FBRF is proud that we have held off this course's massive emissions of ground-level pollution for 12 years, along with preventing millions and millions of pounds of pesticides and fertilizers from flowing into our groundwater and Lake Michigan," she said.

Faydash also had issues with granting the extension.

“The Kohler Company is asking you to extend a CUP issued for a course that could not be built because it could not obtain a required wetland fill permit,” she said.

Claudia Bricks, who said she’s been following the golf course for 10 years, also asked the Commission to deny the CUP extension request and demand a new application, urging members to walk the Black River Forest land.

“Look at the forest,” Bricks said. “Imagine all the wildlife that inhabits these acres when humans aren’t around. Watch the birds come and go. Breathe in the fresh air. Walk by the shores of Lake Michigan. And feel the grandeur of this great lake.”

Roger Miller, who serves on the town of Wilson Plan Commission, said a new plan is necessary because although Kohler Co. claims the new plan would have no direct wetland impacts, there will still be indirect impacts to the wetlands.

“There physically has to be a different plan,” Miller said.

Supporters say extension is 'simple,' golf course could be 'tremendous win'

Mike Brunette, however, said the issue in question seemed “like a pretty simple thing.”

“I don’t know anything, but I’d say, basically given the permit, it’s a simple extension,” he said. “Unless I’m really missing something, there’s a little bit more shoreline than there was five years ago. That's something that comes and goes.”

Commission member Alder John Belanger, who is employed by Kohler Co., offered resounding support for the proposed golf course.

“I’ve seen those go full circle,” Belanger said, who was an alder from 2012 to 2018. “I’m in favor of the extension. Herb Kohler had a unique vision, and he had the drive to see it through. I’m encouraged by David Kohler now taking over the company and seeing his father's vision through. It’s fantastic. ... I think it’s a tremendous win for the city. It's a tremendous win for the county and for anybody who loves golf or recreation.”

Belanger said he thinks comments the proposed golf course would have negative environmental impacts were “false,” sharing Whistling Straits as an example.

“It is one of the most unbelievably spectacular, beautiful properties that we have in state,” he said. “There is no negative impact on the fish or wildlife that is around that.”

He continued, saying Kohler Co. prioritizes sustainability.

“They look at any way they can to be a more sustainable, environmentally responsible company,” Belanger said. “And I think what they’re doing here with the mitigation of any of the wetlands, I think is a testament to that.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Kohler Co. granted extension on conditional use permit for proposed golf course