Oak Creek approves change in postal building that may never be built

The Oak Creek Common Council on Tuesday approved a change in plans that called for a 900,000-square-foot processing and distribution site for the U.S. Postal Service - at the same time acknowledging the facility may never materialize.

The site, 2201 E. College Ave., is adjacent to the Chapel Hills subdivision, and residents there objected to the revised conceptual plans that would decrease the size of the post office building dramatically, to about 200,000 square feet, but add retail and two- and multi-family housing.

Specifically, residents said the proposed rental properties would increase traffic in the area.

With that in mind, aldermen agreed to add a 50-foot buffer between the rental units and the subdivision, and they gave assurances that a USPS building would likely never be built, given recent reports of the program closing offices and reducing its workforce. They said the plans needed to be modified so that the developer working with the USPS could market the property.

"Part of this driven by the nature of this economy," said City Attorney Lawrence Haskins. "Things are quite stagnant and they need to market the plan."

Aldermen also said that the Plan Commission would have to approve any site work and buildings, as well as make decisions about the height and density of the apartments, before moving forward with the plan.