Planning Commission OKs conditional use permit for wine bar at 2289 Ludington Ave.; heads to Council Oct. 28

The Wauwatosa City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit that would allow an existing wine-and-art instruction business at 2289 Ludington Ave. to operate as a wine bar outside scheduled instruction sessions.

City staff told the commission the current business is permitted to serve alcohol during scheduled instruction sessions under its existing approval; the proposed conditional use permit would allow service as a wine bar from 10 a.m. to midnight daily when instruction is not occurring, which triggers the conditional use review. Staff said the applicant submitted six letters of support and a signature sheet for the record and that the Sept. 30 Common Council public hearing on the item had no speakers for or against the change.

Applicant Tim Walsh described the business as a combined wine and art-instruction space that customers have urged him to keep open for longer periods. He said the expansion would give locals a new evening option in the Midtown area and allow the business to serve wines more broadly than it does during instructional sessions.

Alderman Phillips, who said the business is in his district and that he is two blocks away, moved approval of the staff recommendation. The commission chair recorded the motion and called the vote; the commission approved the conditional use permit unanimously and referred the item to the Common Council public hearing on Oct. 28.

Commission discussion included a clarification about a discrepancy in proposed hours between the packet and the applicant’s originally submitted materials; staff explained the applicant had applied to expand hours and the staff report reflected the expanded hours, while original application materials listed shorter hours. No conditions beyond staff recommendations were recorded in the transcript.