Jan. 13, 2025
VIROQUA, Wis. — The Viroqua Common Council met as a Committee of the Whole on Dec. 16, 2025, to evaluate the final drafts of the city comprehensive plan and the future land use map.
The City of Viroqua officially initiated its comprehensive plan process on December 10, 2024, when the Common Council approved a contract for planning services. The public engagement phase began on February 28, 2025, with a community survey that collected over 300 responses. On May 13, 2025, the city formally adopted its Public Participation Plan to guide the creation of the document through 2045.
The city is currently in the final stage of the project as of January 2026. The overall project covers three core planning documents which are the Comprehensive Plan, the Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, and the Historic Preservation Plan. The council formally approved both the recreational and historical plans in November 2025. A Committee of the Whole session was held on December 16, 2025, to conduct a thorough review of the future land use map and strategic goals. City Administrator Nate Torres stated that the city aims to have the complete plan officially adopted by the end of the first quarter of 2026. Current work in January 2026 involves merging the approved supplementary plans into the main document to ensure a cohesive and actionable guide for future city development
Future Land Use and Zoning Reform
City Administrator Nate Torres opened the discussion by explaining that the future land use map is a core part of the comprehensive plan that acts as a general guide for the zoning map. He noted that the city is working to fix an outdated system where zoning was applied in wide swaths rather than by specific parcels.
“Viroqua’s zoning map is unique in that it used polygons to just create wide swaths of zoning instead of zoning by parcel,” said Torres. “We are working hard to straighten all that up.”
Mayor Justin Running emphasized the need for a relaxed plan that avoids overly rigid designations for public buildings. He suggested that specifically labeling sites for government use could hinder the city if those properties are later sold to private entities.
“If you designate those their own specific category and then say the school moves to a new location now you can’t repurpose that to something else,” said Running. “The old fire station is a perfect example.”
Torres detailed how the city is re-evaluating the industrial corridors along Railroad Avenue to allow for a transition toward residential and commercial uses where appropriate.
“Essentially what the chief and I did was, and the plan commission, we re looked at this and said, what makes more sense for our community now,” said Torres. “We expect this to remain residential.”
The council debated how to handle requests from residents who wanted their specific parcels designated for either preservation or development regardless of existing uses. Torres cautioned that the city must prioritize orderly community growth even when it conflicts with individual requests.
“The plan commission sort of immediate push was anything in the city that could potentially be an option for housing we should make it as an option for housing,” said Torres. “We have to start getting comfortable with potentially saying no.”
The mayor said that the city should avoid forcing private property into parkland designations because it unfairly restricts what owners can do with their land in the future. He specifically addressed the Prairie Wind property, noting that residential labeling provides necessary flexibility for the owners.
“To designate it as parkland when it’s privately owned it’s a problem in my opinion,” said Running. “Marking it as residential is the only real fair way to do it for the property owner.”
Alderperson Cyndy Hubbard requested that a portion of her property on West Maple be designated as green space rather than residential. She explained her desire to ensure the land remains protected for a century as an educational agricultural showcase.
“I absolutely want it in for 100 years,” said Hubbard. “I want it to be green space.”
Alderperson Tanja Birke voiced skepticism regarding the current draft of certain economic goals, calling the language confusing and urging a clearer focus on supporting all small businesses.
“I feel like when I read that goal balance economic development with stewardship of our landscape that I’m thinking like that makes me think of ensuring that we don’t like destroy our landscape,” said Birke.
Torres concluded the session by warning that the city is on the cusp of a significant population increase that will test existing public services. He pointed to current projects like the Hanson farm as indicators of the coming demand.
“The Hanson farm is developing as we speak,” said Torres. “We need to be mindful of growing and if we are prepared for an increase of population if we get 500 new residents in the next four or five years.”
The council also discussed the importance of maintaining the unique character of Viroqua while allowing for expansion. Mayor Running noted that while the city has many different viewpoints, it has become more cooperative in recent years.
“I think the community today feels a lot more warm to the fact of like we’re just gonna live cooperatively in this bowl of soup here,” said Running. “We’re just different flavors.”
Housing and the Missing Middle
A significant portion of the meeting focused on addressing housing shortages through more creative zoning. The mayor noted that traditional zoning rules regarding setbacks and lot sizes often prevent the development of duplexes and townhomes, which are referred to as missing middle housing.
“Our zoning makes it really hard in some cases to be super creative in new housing type initiatives,” said Running. “We need to make sure we’re able to accommodate unique new changing ideas.”
Torres agreed that the zoning code must be updated to support these goals. He highlighted that the city is entering a period of significant growth that will test existing services.
Landfill Expansion and Cost Uncertainty
The council moved to remove language from the plan that supported the expansion of the county landfill. Mayor Running expressed concern about committing the city to a project with unknown long term costs for residents. The Council scrutinized language in the draft comprehensive plan that expressed support for the expansion of the Vernon County landfill,
City Administrator Nate Torres explained that while the consultants included support for the landfill based on initial stakeholder interviews, the council needed to decide if that truly reflected city policy.
Vernon County currently in the process of seeking DNR approval for a 15 year expansion and the current cite is nearly full. The expansion project is currently in the feasibility study phase. As of late 2025, the county was working with its consultant, SCH, to gather missing data for a final feasibility addendum to be submitted to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Once this addendum is filed, it is estimated to take approximately 10 months for the DNR to issue a feasibility determination, after which the county would still need to complete a Plan of Operations.
Because the landfill is projected to be full before the expansion receives final approval, the county is pursuing several immediate actions including a plan for waste diversion to handle county waste while a new cell is constructed.
“Kirsten (city consultant) heard from some stakeholders in the community and again provided a buffet of options to you folks and said here is some goals and ideas that people threw out to me,” said Torres. “I am going to put them on this draft and you guys can decide whether their actual goals and objectives that you have and want to pursue.”
Mayor Justin Running voiced strong concern that committing to the expansion project would lead to significant and unpredictable price increases for city residents.
“I continue to have an issue with not the Vernon County landfill itself,” said Running. “I think there is certainly merit to that but my issue with that in committing too much to it is we cannot for continued expansion that guarantees continued significant price increase for utilization.”
The mayor emphasized that the lack of concrete financial information made it difficult to justify a long term commitment at this stage.
“I worry about locking ourselves too much into being committed to a project that we do not even know what the cost of it is,” said Running. “And that continues to be true with the landfill because they have been talking about expansion for six years.”
Torres further noted that the city does not currently use the county facility for all services, pointing out that recycling is handled through a private contract.
“We do not currently take our recycling to the Vernon County landfill,” said Torres. “Our recycling is done through GFL at their recycling center in our community so it all goes there.”
Mayor Running said that Viroqua is a critical partner for the county because the city’s waste volume is necessary to keep the landfill’s operations financially feasible.
“The city of Viroqua is really the linchpin the volume there,” said Running. “Which is why they are so interested in having us be part of it because without our volume it becomes unmanageable from a cost perspective.”
The mayor concluded by suggesting that while there are environmental concerns like karst geology, every waste management option carries some level of risk and liability.
“I think we do have to be mindful of not putting our waste in somebody else’s backyard also just so we do not have it in ours,” said Running. “But there are good reasons why it should not be here and other places but those could change.”
Following the discussion, Torres suggested removing the explicit support for the expansion from the plan and instead focusing on maintaining good relationships while evaluating long term waste diversion options.
Short Term Rental Regulations
The group discussed the need for better monitoring and licensing of short term rentals. Fire Chief Chad Buros argued that these properties should be treated more like businesses to ensure they meet modern safety standards, especially regarding smoke detectors.
“They should be treated similar to a hotel,” said Buros. “We make the ones that we have safe and following whatever your expectations are.”
Economic Development and Local Business
Torres suggested that the city should be more intentional about engaging with major employers rather than just focusing on small businesses. The mayor agreed, noting that many large businesses are still local and appreciate city support.
“The larger businesses do tend to get kind of overlooked, from a sense of like, well, they’re big, they’re established,” said Running. “The bigger ones I know certainly do appreciate hearing from us and knowing that we care.”
Torres concluded by stating that the goals and recommendations in the document are intended to be a strategic roadmap for city staff and elected officials over the next 20 years.
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