The City of Sheboygan’s Common Council approved an annexation request Monday of 561 acres of land from the Town of Wilson that could become a Kohler Co. golf course.
The Kohler Co. submitted the annexation petition this spring, which includes 256 acres of land owned by the company, 250 acres owned by government entities and 56 acres owned by other private property owners.
Environmental groups that oppose the golf course plans and have raised concerned about deforestation and the Lake Michigan dunes, and Town of Wilson leaders have fought annexation the request.
The Sheboygan Common Council voted 11-5 in favor of the annexation, and to establish suburban residential zoning for the property.
“We are pleased that the common council has adopted the annexation and zoning ordinances relating to Kohler Co.’s proposed golf course site,” said Dirk Willis, group director of Golf for Kohler Co.’s Hospitality and Real Estate Group. “Our project offers many positive benefits for the city and the region, including a chance for the city to grow as well as provide an expanded tax base, new tax revenues and new jobs.”
Kohler Co. has been planning an 18-hole course on the site since 2015. It will be built on 247 acres of land along Lake Michigan that the company has owned in the Town of Wilson, south of the city of Sheboygan, for 75 years.
The course has been designed by Hall of Fame golf course architect Pete Dye and will join Kohler Co.’s two other courses in Sheboygan County, Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run.
The project still needs numerous federal and state permits, plus final approval from the city.
In March, Kohler Co. submitted permit applications for its proposed golf course to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The updated plans reduced the wetland impact from 25 acres to 3.69 acres.
“This is a good project that makes sense for the community and its future, and it will elevate Sheboygan’s growing reputation as a great place for tourists to visit and residents to live and raise their families,” Willis said. “We will continue to follow the proper process in seeking further approvals from the city, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
