Muskego plan commission approves temporary Bass Bay beer garden with capacity, parking and power conditions

The Muskego Plan Commission on April 8 approved a time-limited outdoor beer-garden plan for Bass Bay Brew House, permitting the brewery to operate a temporary outdoor venue in 2026 under conditions intended to reduce neighborhood impacts.

Staff presented the plan as a bridge during the brewery’s rebuilding after a fire and said the proposal includes up to 750 patrons, temporary lighting, food trucks, portable restrooms and shuttle parking options. Planner Adam Tresbyki told commissioners that staff had identified concerns about parking counts, portable-restroom capacity and the use of generators by food trucks and recommended conditions to address them.

Commissioners pressed Bass Bay’s representatives about crowd size, off-site parking logistics and noise. The applicant said the business hoped to provide shore power and limit generator use; the applicant added the venue’s indoor event space previously had a capacity of about 300 and that outdoor use was meant to help keep staff employed while reconstruction continued. “Our event space had a capacity of 300 people,” the applicant said, noting the outdoor layout would increase outdoor capacity but that not every patron would arrive by car.

After extended discussion, commissioners amended the staff recommendation to set an initial operating capacity of 500 patrons (rather than the requested 750) and required: (1) a professional certification that portable-restroom counts meet expected need (staff suggested 10–12 for events with alcohol if necessary), (2) food trucks be powered by shore power rather than generators when feasible, (3) weekday music to end earlier (generally by 9 p.m.) with weekends subject to council licensing, (4) the temporary bar walls removed for egress and safety and regular permitting and inspection of temporary structures, and (5) a one-month post-opening review meeting between the mayor’s office, planning staff and the operator to evaluate parking and neighborhood impacts and decide whether a controlled increase is warranted.

Commissioner Jeremy, who said he was working with the applicant, announced he would abstain from the Bass Bay vote; other members supported the amended motion and the commission approved the plan as amended with one abstention. Jeremy said on the record, “we're working with the applicant, so I'm going to be abstaining from this.”

The plan commission also retained discretion to require additional mitigation or to return the item to the commission if neighborhood complaints or operational problems arise. Next procedural steps include the applicant obtaining any required permits, verifying restroom capacity, finalizing off-site parking/shuttle logistics and working with staff on operational logs the commission requested to aid follow-up decisions.

The commission’s action is valid for 2026 only; any further outdoor operations beyond the season will require new review and approval.