WIND POINT - An attempt to address traffic congestion around the Wind Point Lighthouse is irritating some homeowners who live near the historic landmark.

An Ad Hoc Facilities Management Committee, charged with developing a plan to manage the site, is examining ways to alleviate issues that arise when more vehicles and buses arrive than are allowed by the tight space near the lighthouse.

"What we are trying to do is find the best way to preserve the property," said Trustee Casey Jones, the committee chairman. "We have certain issues that we need to resolve."

A solution the committee is considering is constructing an area near the lighthouse for vehicles, such as the 15 to 18 school buses that arrive annually, to stop and turn around.

The prospect outrages some neighbors, upset because the committee is considering "land use west of the lighthouse for anything other than protecting an unobstructed view of this majestic, historic icon," Judy Renquist, who lives at 711 Tower Circle, a property northwest of the beacon, wrote in a letter to The Journal Times.

The lighthouse "should not be promoted as an entertainment environment attracting large crowds but rather revered as an aesthetic and educational site open to larger groups on special occasions," she wrote.

Bruce Renquist, Judy's husband, said Friday that he is concerned that the promotion of the lighthouse is the cause of the congestion.

"They are saying that they need all of these facilities because we are going to have all of these people," Renquist said, noting that the village books events at the lighthouse on three weekends a month in the spring, summer and fall. "You won't have the people if you didn't invite them in those great numbers."

Currently the site has eight parking spaces, too few to handle the traffic that arises when the village holds meetings, municipal court is in session or when there is an onslaught of tourists and sightseers, according to village officials.

"It can get crowded and we don't have spots. In the past all they would do is park on both sides of the road or in the field if necessary. But we got complaints from the neighbors and rightly so because it was a mess," Jones said.

The committee, which plans to meet again in January, has not made a decision on the creation of a stop-and-turn-around area, Jones said. The committee is working with officials from Genesis Architecture, a Racine firm, which has presented three solutions for vehicles this fall that were rejected by the committee.

"They were too obtrusive," Jones said.

The committee has also recommended that the village allow a maximum of 150 people at the site during an event and an increase of the usage fees. Those recommendations were approved by the Village Board in November.