Smart Growth News

Wisconsin

Mayors Launch Green CiTTS Program

The Green CiTTS program was launched on June 17, as mayors from around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River area pledged to actively promote environmental sustainability. The Cities Transforming Towards Sustainability (CiTTS) project will take aim at four critical issues: protecting water resources and coastal areas, promoting low-carbon energy generation and consumption, adopting green land use and building design and encouraging green economic development. The program area includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ontario and Quebec. Green CiTTS also plans to offer training, share best practices, enter research partnerships, and raise money for municipal projects.

Mayors from more than 70 cities have pledged to take part in the Green CiTTS program. ''Today we mayors have taken an important regionwide step forward,'' Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago said. Daley also stated that each year will have a different theme, and this year's theme is reducing and improving the quality of storm water runoff.

Starting with a $100,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation, the project hopes to to grow the budget by four to five times that amount.   6/17/2010

Resource(s): http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/

Controversy Brewing in Dane County over More Precise Development Planning

To ensure the best management of water supplies across Dane County, its Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) wants municipalities to work together on Future Urban District Area development plans. Without such plans, CARPC could withhold approval for extensions of water and sewer lines in the next 20 years, a requirement sharply criticized by builders.

Madison Area Builders Association Government Affairs Director Kent Dish thought the CARPC call for more planning could stem development and undercut the new comprehensive plans that local governments needed by January 1 to comply with the 1999 state Smart Growth law. Others echoed the argument. ''We’ve got the comprehensive plans,'' Madison’s Encore Construction President Chad Wuebben told Milwaukee Daily Reporter writer Paul Snyder. ''If your project falls within the comprehensive plan, then the battle should be easier to get it approved.''

Madison-based Axley Brynelson law firm attorney Tim Fenner concluded in a legal opinion that state-mandated Smart Growth plans render CARPC-required plans advisory. ''Trying to work on boundary agreements between towns and villages is always a tough order,'' he noted. ''And does anyone really presume to know what will happen 25 years from now?'' The greater the need for multi-jurisdictional coordination, responded County Executive Kathleen Falk’s Chief of Staff Topf Wells, pointing out that localities could draw up Smart Growth plans separately. ''So you could easily have a case where three different municipalities say three different things about how 400 acres should be developed in the future,'' he observed, stressing that the CARPC requirement for joint urban district area development plans would prevent such potential disputes.   3/4/2010

Resource(s): http://dailyreporter.com/

DOE Announces $20.5 Million for Community Renewable Energy Projects

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu has announced the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind, and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses, or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.

''Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio,'' said Secretary Chu. ''These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.''

The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the emissions of approximately 10,700 homes.

Projects selected for awards include:

City of Montpelier (Montpelier, Vermont)
This project will further Montpelier's energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power (CHP) district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community's designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000.

Forest County Potawatomi Tribe (Forest County, Wisconsin)
The Forest County Potawatomi Tribe proposes to implement an integrated renewable energy deployment plan that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity for the Tribe's governmental buildings, displacing natural gas and propane. The renewable energy installations will include: a 1.25 MW biomass combined heat and power facility that will provide heating, cooling, and electricity; a biogas digester and 150 kW generation facility; three 100 kW wind turbines (788,400 kWh/year); and three dual-axis 2.88 kW solar PV panels (14,000 kWh/yr) located at the Tribe's Governmental Center. DOE share: $2,500,000.

Phillips County (Holyoke, Colorado)
This project proposes a community-owned 30 MW wind energy project with an ultimate goal to build a 650MW wind farm within Sedgwick, Phillips, and Logan counties in Northeastern Colorado. This project will impact the local economy by sharing the project's revenues with local landowners and other project participants, by generating local jobs, substantial property taxes, and providing clean renewable energy for the area's primary communities. Plans for sharing this ownership model are part of the business plan and will be coordinated with DOE to increase national delivery of the message. DOE share: $2,500,000.

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) (Sacramento, California)
SMUD will install the state's first-ever ''Solar Highway,'' which will feature three PV system installations on 2 miles of highway right-of-ways (300kW of concentrating PV, and 400 and 800 kW of flat plate PV distributed at 2 sites), with total capacity of 1.5 MW. SMUD will also install a full scale co-digestion process of fats, oil, and grease (FOG) and liquid food processing waste with sewage to produce biogas with estimated power recovery of 1-3 MW, and install two low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by two dairy facilities that will produce 500 kW of combined heat and power and generate 600 kW of electricity through a molten carbonate fuel cell. The projects will demonstrate that solar PV and anaerobic digesters can be readily implemented through collaborative partnerships, and avoid siting issues and transmission constraints that pose barriers to renewable energy capacity additions. SMUD will partner with the State of California (CEC, CalTrans, and CARB) and DOE to promote replication of their approaches, technologies, and implementation strategies statewide and nationally. DOE share: $5,000,000.

University of California at Davis (Davis, California)
UC Davis' proposed Waste-to-Renewable Energy (WTRE) system is one component of a campus oriented mixed housing and commercial development venture. The system would generate power from a renewable biogas fed fuel cell. The organic waste will enter a receiving station in which it can be collected and prepared for digestion. Once the appropriate mix has been created in buffer tanks, the waste will flow to the reactor where methanogenic bacteria will generate methane and carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. These gases will flow to the Bio-methane Upgrade System for hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal, so that cleanup is to a level appropriate for use in a fuel cell system, and the cleaned gas is stored. Housed alongside the WTRE system within the Community Energy Park will be an advanced storage battery and a 300kW fuel cell that will be fueled by the on-site biogas and provides electric power to West Village end-users. DOE share: $2,500,000.   1/21/2010

Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=290

Milwaukee Region Gets on a Regional Transit Track

''Regional transit doesn’t just improve the way we move people and goods – it improves the overall economy in southeast Wisconsin,'' said Democratic Governor Jim Doyle said at a joint press event with key state lawmakers and business executives from Milwaukee Racine and Kenosha counties, unveiling the Regional Transit and Jobs Investment Act.

Instrumental in behind-the-scenes negotiations on the act’s details, Democratic Senator John Lehman echoed the governor. ''There has been an unprecedented coalition of business leaders, community leaders and citizens saying improved transit and the job creation it will bring are critical for our communities,'' he pointed out. ''This bill clears a pathway – if we choose – to move forward.''

Building on a regional transit framework set forth by Governor Doyle last September, the bill creates a three-county Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA) to build and manage the proposed 30-mile KRM commuter rail line – between the cities of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee – and to apply for matching construction funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under its New Starts Grant Program. It also authorizes formation of an Interim Regional Transit Authority (IRTA) in Milwaukee County, with a focus on bus system and connectivity improvements, and allows local governments in the surrounding counties of Racine, Kenosha, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee to vote on creation of their own IRTAs.

A Milwaukee IRTA would be funded mostly from a one-cent multipurpose sales tax increase approved by its voters in an advisory 2008 referendum. The others could use local vehicle registration fees and hotel or property taxes. Each IRTA would be expected to eventually join the SERTA, providing the region’s population with integrated, interconnected bus and rail services.

''We now have a good, solid plan for a Southeastern Regional Transit Authority,'' concluded Governor Doyle. ''We have the support of local communities, the support of legislators and the support of the state’s business leaders. Now, let’s get to work and get it done.''   1/19/2010

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/ ; http://dailyreporter.com/

Kimberly, Wisconsin, Approves Smart Growth Plan

Kimberly’s Plan Commission and Village Board each unanimously approved a 20-year comprehensive plan to bring the city into compliance with Wisconsin’s Smart Growth law. The law requires municipalities to have a land-use plan in place that addresses future housing and transportation needs. The approved plan calls for further development of the Kimberly trail system and zoning that protects existing residential areas. In addition, potential roundabouts and other traffic claiming measures are included in the plan. Officials hope that the plan will help guide future decision making and keep development in line with an overall vision for the community.   1/5/2010

Resource(s): www.postcrescent.com/

Union Residents Vote to Revoke Town Board’s Power to Plan for Growth

For some areas of rural Vernon County, Wisconsin, the economic and environmental realities of new times seem to mean little. Kickapoo residents in 2005 and Union residents in December 2009 have revoked their town boards’ “village powers” – their ability to guide land use, reports the Vernon County Broadcaster.

In both cases, the goal of the revocation is to preempt action on comprehensive plans sought by the state under its 1999 ''smart growth'' law by January 1, 2010.

Some residents believe that the town board approving the comprehensive plan means that it is telling residents what to do with their land, explained Town of Union Chairman Elgin Fanta after his board meeting, attended by some 200 residents. The meeting concluded with a 67-52 village-power revocation vote. A board member for 46 years and chairman for 36, Fanta said the town worked with the village of La Farge and the towns of Forrest, Stark, Webster and Whitestown to obtain a joint planning grant, with some of its partners already having approved their plans.

The town board, Fanta said, was about to receive a final comprehensive plan draft from its specially formed planning committee, when residents petitioned for the board meeting that subsequently derailed the effort. The Vernon County Board of Supervisors, the writer adds, has twice tabled action on the county’s final comprehensive plan draft, now expecting to take it up in February.

Learn more about the county plan at www.co.vernon.wi.gov/VCCP/index.htm.   12/23/2009

Resource(s): www.vernonbroadcaster.com/

Most Wisconsin Communities on Track to Meet Smart Growth Deadline

A decade ago, the Wisconsin state Legislature passed a pioneering law requiring that all communities and counties in the state adopt a comprehensive plan by January 1, 2010. According to this report in the Journal Sentinel, most have done so yet there are still those struggling to meet the deadline.

The goal of the law is to curb urban sprawl by managing development and other land-use decisions in ways that protect open space. Each community is required to adopt a plan by the deadline that incorporates nine specific elements: housing; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural, natural and cultural resources; economic development; intergovernmental cooperation; land use; issues and opportunities; and implementation. The law also requires that the public be involved in the planning process

According to the article, about 81% of communities reported by August that they had either adopted a comprehensive plan or were working toward on their way to one. Counties were doing even better, with 96% reporting that plans were either finished or well under way, compared to 83% of cities and 79% of towns.

Those that meet the deadline will be eligible for preferential state funding, while those that lag may eventually get a deadline extension. Pending legislation would extend their planning process to 2012 and offer guidance on how to make the plans and zoning regulations compatible, a key tenet of Smart Growth.   11/26/2009

Resource(s): http://www.jsonline.com/

HUD Names Preservation Award Winner

The 2009 HUD Secretary's Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation was recently presented to Gorman & Company Inc. for their outstanding achievement in renovating Fairbanks Flats. This historic development was originally segregated company housing built for African-American machinists in 1917 by Fairbanks-Morse, an engine manufacturer in Beloit, Wisconsin. Thanks to the efforts of this year's winner, Fairbanks Flats has been transformed into affordable row houses, with rents from $570 to $725. The project features historic elements (such as porch awnings and unique colors), modern amenities, and a rent-to-own option after 15 years of residence.

Presented by HUD in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this award recognizes and celebrates the advancement of historic preservation while concomitantly providing affordable housing and/or expanded economic opportunities—particularly for low- and moderate-income families and individuals.   11/23/2009

Resource(s): www.huduser.org/

Two Wisconsin Counties Still Working to Develop Smart Growth Plans

Many Wisconsin jurisdictions have already completed new comprehensive plans the state’s 1999 smart-growth law requires by January 1 to qualify them for priority funding, but Kenosha and Sauk counties are among those that still must align special local wishes or dispel absurd fears in the final pre-approval round and make sure the plans, even if diluted, will work in the future. Kenosha County, reports Kenosha News writer Deneen Smith, one of the last to obtain a state grant, started the joint planning with town and villages late and now needs the Department of Administration’s deadline extension to receive the final 25 percent of the $364,000 grant and finish the plan sometime in the spring.

''We are completing what I refer to as a patchwork quilt, '' said Division of Long-Range Countywide Planning Director John Roth, explaining that work on a plan each of the involved communities could accept has proved complicated. Once its draft is ready, he noted, they all will hold public hearings, after which the County Board will vote on the final text. Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Ken Younger, whose organization has been drafting several such plans, said it will identify the county’s best areas not only for residential, commercial and industrial development, but also for preservation, environmental protection, and agricultural production. As for Sauk County, reports Baraboo News Republic writer Tim Damos, its 21-member steering committee has just unveiled a 132-page plan, but while some attendees at a sparsely attended public hearing hoped for its implementation or worried if people even cared enough, others saw it as a threat. ''This plan is a takeover of individual freedoms'' and a ''pitch for global government,'' opined Baraboo resident Andrea Lombard, with likeminded Audrey Parker agreeing it’s ''big government.''

On the other hand, Baraboo School Board member Doug Mering thought the plan offered ''the right ideas,'' but expressed concerns it may just ''sit on the shelf, '' and Pink Lady Rail Transit Commission Vice Chairman Virgil Casper observed, ''It allows us to be proactive, rather than reactive. '' Steering committee member Linda White called the plan a ''framework for sustainability,'' defined as meeting current needs without shortchanging future generations, noting that in contrast to counties that set specific development rules, it merely provides policy guidance, while letting local governments control their own areas. County Board Chairman Marty Krueger also sought to placate planning foes with assurance that nothing in the plan compels its enactment. County committees and local authorities, he said, should simply review it regularly to decide if its goals could and should be implemented.   10/15/2009

Resource(s): http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/smart_growth_planning_drags_6570735.html

Bill Seeks Standardized Rules for Wisconsin Wind Energy Projects

Backed by environmental, business, labor and farm groups as necessary to tap the full potential of Wisconsin's wind power, Senate Bill 185 requires the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to draw up standardized rules on where turbines can sit, ''to replace what is now a confusing patchwork of state laws and municipal ordinances,'' but some area officials and residents fear they may lose their vistas and local authority, a fear a Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune editorial considers exaggerated and oblivious of common energy benefits.

Rushing furiously across the Niagara Escarpment, wind is a viable source of electricity and hundreds of turbines are under construction there, the editorial notes, acknowledging concerns over bird safety and landscape aesthetics, but putting these problems in a larger context.

''With apologies to the birds and people who don't like the view, capturing the power of wind is one of the cleanest alternatives available -- and far more aesthetically pleasing than a coal strip mine,'' it says, pointing out that legislation co-sponsors include not only Democratic Senator Dave Hansen and Representative Jim Soletski, but also Republican Representative Phil Montgomery, lawmakers ''who don't see eye-to-eye on many political issues.''

What's more, the editorial adds, communities could adopt their own rules as long as long they don't exceed PSC restrictions, and residents critical of local actions could still appeal to the PSC.

Nevertheless, reports Daily Tribune writer Nathaniel Shuda, to assuage opponents of requiring the PSC to expand its regulations beyond projects that can generate more than 100 megawatts of electricity and to standardize local rules for small ones, the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities enhanced the legislation with additional provisions in June.

The committee, he notes, put in a requirement for the PSC to hold two public hearings on the proposed rules outside Dane County, and provided for further wildlife protections, technical changes, and ''consideration of Smart Growth planning in regulating wind energy projects.'' -- Daily Tribune   8/9/2009

Resource(s): www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/

High School Class Presents Eau Claire City Council With Smart Growth Plan

''We are kind of at a turning point in history,'' said Eau Claire Memorial High School senior Seth Hoffmeister at a public meeting held by an environmental sciences class on its smart growth project for the city, telling City Council members, business leaders, planners and other students that people will become less dependent on cars and will need more transit and urban design focused on pedestrians -- a direction already set by Eau Claire in a long-range plan and through such projects as a bike trail system, Phoenix Park and North Barstow Street redevelopment.

He and other students, reports Eau Claire Leader-Telegram writer Joe Knight, also would like the city to ensure a shuttle for Oakwood Mall; to narrow, landscape and build a pedestrian bridge over South Hastings Way that leads to a mixed-use area near the Mega Pick'n Save parking lot; and to construct a downtown bus transfer station with ground-level restaurants and commercial space, topped by second-story condos and apartments.

The city is working on some similar suggestions, said Eau Claire Public Works Director Brian Amundson, mentioning a bike trail link and a possible roundabout, both for South Hastings Way.

Mega Vice President Brick Hopkins called students' vision of a pedestrian mall interesting, noted that the Hastings Way store needs an overhaul, and added, ''I think it opened our eyes to think outside the box a little for the redevelopment of the site.'' -- Leader-Telegram   6/4/2009

Resource(s): www.leadertelegram.com/

Juneau Continues Work on 20-Year Comprehensive Plan

One of the last jurisdictions still at work on a 20-year comprehensive plan the state's 1999 Smart Growth law requires by this year's end for preferential funding, Juneau County drew some 35 participants to four thematic focus groups led by Vierbicher Associates consultants May 21 in Mauston, but only 15 to the first public meeting held later that day by its Ad Hoc Land Use Committee -- half of them officials and one of the others, local resident Ken Van Doren, doubtful the plan and the 1999 law were needed at all.

''It's not smart, and it's not conducive to growth,'' he opined, a notion disputed by Elroy resident Kris Yager.

''I work with Juneau County Economic Development, so this is pretty important to me,'' she told Madison-based Juneau County Star-Times writer Peter Rebhanh, who notes that comprehensive planning ''seeks to balance social and economic needs with environmental and aesthetic concerns.''

The committee's public meeting, with the second likely in July and the third in the fall, focused on the county's general goals and choice of priorities for the future.

''What the county is doing will incorporate the (comprehensive) plans that are already done,'' said committee member and New Lisbon Mayor Lloyd Chase, whose town completed its plan last year, pointing out that the county plan will guide municipalities that decided against their own comprehensive planning.

Another committee member, County Supervisor Ed Wafle, expressed disappointment over the low turnout at the first public meeting, but also hoped the next two would attract more residents, observing, ''This is one of the few ways they can have some say.'' -- Juneau County Star-Times   5/23/2009

Resource(s): www.wiscnews.com/jcs/

Verona Hopes for Record Crowd at Final Comprehensive Plan Open House

After year-long work to incorporate public input in a 20-year city Comprehensive Plan that the state's 1999 Smart Growth law requires by the end of December, Verona officials spared no effort to give local and nearby residents, and others involved or affected, yet another chance to comment on the plan draft at the fourth and last open house, March 30, sending the text to the state, Dane County and other area governments and groups, posting it online, and publicizing it through TV, fliers and e-mails to Chamber of Commerce members, writes Verona Press editor Jim Ferolle, all ''to keep the city's goals as harmonious as possible with those of its neighbors and residents.''

City Planning Director Bruce Sylvester looked forward to a record crowd.

''If people want to weigh in, they still can, and if they don't, it's probably going to stay exactly the way it is,'' he told the editor. ''We can still add things, and we can still change things.''

Right now, the editor observes, the plan sets 24 goals, ranging from rather general, such as ''protect the natural environment'' and ''work with other units of government,'' to city-specific ones.

The city, just a mile southwest of Madison, would maintain its ''small-town'' feel, control growth, use its sports facilities for self-promotion, move to expand its industrial and manufacturing base, concentrate economic development in the downtown area, and -- perhaps to some consternation -- continue taking advantage of its extraterritorial powers to block outer development and preserve farmland.

''That is a clear goal in this plan,'' said Director Sylvester, with the editor noting that the city would also require sidewalks for all new projects, try to improve traffic flow along key routes, build ''first class'' public facilities, ensure high-density downtown housing and ''carefully evaluate'' retail proposals for areas other than downtown and the Verona Avenue corridor, convert North Main Street to commercial uses, and make its transportation systems accommodate bicycles and alternative vehicles.

The wording on these last several recommendations ''is far softer'' and open to varied interpretations, the editor comments, mentioning ''encourage,'' which ''could mean anything from simply giving positive lip service to providing economic incentives.''

The Comprehensive Plan Committee explained the vagueness by the need ''to keep the city's options open rather than be too prescriptive and force the hands of future leaders,'' the editor writes, adding that the committee will discuss the input from the final open house and possible plan readjustments at a meeting in April, with a formal public hearing in the summer, and plan adoption expected in the fall.

See the plan draft at http://www.ci.verona.wi.us/ -- Verona Press   3/23/2009

Resource(s): http://veronapress.com/

Janesville City ''Smart Growth'' Plan Tags 9,800 Rural Acres for Development

With not much time left for local governments to enact the 20-year comprehensive plans the state requires under its 1999 Smart Growth law by this year's end to qualify their projects for priority funding, the Janesville City Council passed such a plan on a 6-1 vote, with Councilman Tom McDonald and several farmers worried about inclusion of 9,800 rural acres for development -- only 1,600 within current city limits -- and environmental activist Julie Backenkeller upset enough to run for one of the four hotly contested council seats in the April 7 election.

Too late to place her name among the eight on the ballot, including three incumbents, reports Janesville Gazette writer Frank Schultz, she will compete as a write-in challenger, realizing that she is ''a long shot,'' but hoping to unseat Councilman Russ Steeber, whom she blames for ''railroading'' the land-use plan through prematurely, even if it needs better rural protection provisions.

''I don't feel like the council was listening to the public, to what people wanted,'' she said. ''I think they've made some horrible mistakes that can be redone, but it needs be taken care of right away.''

Doubtful the council members have ''done their research'' and cast fully informed votes, except for Councilman McDonald, the spontaneous candidate said she would work to amend the comprehensive plan, involve high school students in city affairs, change city landfill policies, and ensure support for ''green'' jobs and local businesses.

In a related WCLO radio podcast, reporter Beth Wheelock noted that state Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen also questioned the comprehensive plan, asking City Manager Eric Levitt to recognize the value of nearby farmland and avert its conversion to other uses.

''Clearly, the loss of some of Wisconsin's most productive farmland is neither efficient nor appropriate in terms of agricultural development or sustainable land use,'' the secretary wrote in a March 4 letter, but the City Council apparently ignored his appeal ''to consider very carefully the growth and development projections and how these projections might impact one of Wisconsin's most important natural and economic resource area.'' -- Janesville Gazette   3/10/2009

Resource(s): http://gazettextra.com/

Rock County Takes Initiative, Will Lead Smart Growth Plan Implementation

In the middle of work on a Smart Growth plan the state expects all local jurisdictions to adopt by 2010 if they want state infrastructure and development funds after that date, Rock County decided it needs to take a greater role ''in promoting more cooperation'' between its cities, villages and towns, said Planning Director Scott Heining, and to lead in plan implementation -- two of nine required planning elements, both already touched contextually, but left for full consideration until the other drafts are completed.

All Smart Growth plans, reports Janesville Gazette writer Ann Marie Ames, must address community issues and opportunities; agriculture, nature and cultural resources; transportation; housing; economic development; land use; utilities and facilities; implementation; and intergovernmental cooperation.

County planners have finished the first three and are working on the next four, while seeking input on the last two.

Although the county can't make land-use decisions, which are restricted to cities, villages and towns ''through their zoning authority,'' its plan's land-use element will inform and guide the local plans and maps, the writer notes, with county engineer Richard Cannon saying, ''We want the whole document to be a living plan that people can use.''

Of the county's four larger cities, she adds, Evansville adopted a Smart Growth plan in 2005 and Edgerton in 2006, while Milton and Janesville expect to do so later this year. -- Janesville Gazette   6/10/2008

Resource(s): http://gazettextra.com/

Gov. Doyle Announces $2.3 Million in Local Government Grants for Work on Comprehensive Plans

In another round of smart-growth grants for work on comprehensive plans that local governments need by 2010 to receive priority in the distribution of state infrastructure and other funds, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle announced almost $2.37 million for 149 counties, municipalities, villages, tribes and a regional planning commission -- all amounts awarded on a competitive basis and all requiring equal local contributions.

''These grants help local citizens and governments draw a roadmap for their future growth and development,'' the governor said, stressing that cross-jurisdictional cooperation for common goals lets governments become ''more efficient and save taxpayer money at the same time that it helps grow the economy and protect important natural areas and farmland.''

Launched in 2000, the Comprehensive Planning Grant Program helped 1,113 local and regional governments so far, with the 2008 round's largest grant -- $687,500 -- awarded to West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (WCWRPC), which brings together Barron, Chippewa, Clark and Saint Croix counties, two cities, six villages, and 13 towns.

This summer, the Wisconsin Department of Administration will hold a series of workshops for communities interested in applying for 2009 comprehensive planning grants. -- State of Wisconsin   4/11/2008

Resource(s): www.wisgov.state.wi.us/

New Wisconsin Vehicle Fees Earmarked for Transportation Improvements

With the Wisconsin Department of Transportation ready to spend more than $2.5 billion this year, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Patrick Marley, the new state budget, effective on January 1, makes residents pay considerably more for vehicle ownership -- the higher registration, title and license fees expected to generate $274.2 million over the next 18 months, most earmarked for road work, but $20.7 million dedicated to implementation of the federal Real ID law, which requires states to begin issuing tamper-proof IDs and running thorough record checks to confirm ''drivers are who they say they are.''

Sharply divided on other fiscal issues, which delayed the budget passage until October, the writer observes, most Democrats and Republicans agreed from the outset that higher transportation fees are essential to the state's economy, though some GOP dissenters still criticize the action.

''To fund the transportation system, we're going to need that additional cash plus more down the road,'' said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Russ Decker. ''The cost of maintaining highways and building new highways continues to go up because, mainly, the cost of gasoline prices and oil that's used in asphalt continues to go up very fast.''

State Republican Senator Glenn Grothman voted against the budget and defends his vote.

''I don't think these fee increases would be necessary,'' he argued, ''if we would just use transportation funds for transportation projects, stop building outstate projects of questionable necessity and not spend so much on underutilized mass transit.''

Lawmakers, the writer observes, raised the fees rather than the politically sensitive gas tax, which had been automatically growing with inflation for 20 years to 32.9 cents a gallon until elected officials stopped the increases in April 2006.

Still, gas taxes in adjacent states are higher and Senator Decker would like to revisit the automatic increases.

''Out-of-staters that come here and fill up their gas tanks aren't leaving any more money behind,'' he pointed out. ''And fees are all on the backs of those of us who live here.''

The registration fee went up from $55 to $75 for cars and for most trucks, depending on weight, from $48.50, $61.50 and $77.50 to $75, $84, and $106, respectively, with fees for semis and other heavier trucks rising from $1,969.50 to $2,560.

The cost of a title for a new or used car rose from $45 to $69.50 and the cost of new or renewed driver licenses and state IDs increased by $10. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   1/2/2008

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Lawsuit Over West Point Building Moratorium Sent Back to Appellate Court

Since many towns have been adopting development moratoriums while working on local comprehensive Smart Growth plans necessary for state financial help by 2010, the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA) and the Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) highlighted their opposition in a suit against the town of West Point for its 18-month moratorium on new projects in September 2005, arguing it lacks the authority that cities and villages have, with a circuit judge rejecting the argument, the appeals court asking the Supreme Court for a direct precedent-setting decision, and the justices -- deadlocked 3-3 after Justice Annett K. Ziegler's recused herself as a recipient of the industry's political contributions -- now sending the case back to appellate judges for ruling.

Justice Ziegler, elected in April after the most costly judicial race in state history, report Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writers Patrick Marley and Amy Rinard, received from WRA and WBA political units last year the maximum contribution -- $8,625 from each.

Separately, she has also admitted violations of the judicial ethics code as a previous county circuit judge.

Disappointed but sensitive to reasons for her withdrawal, Realtors regulatory and legislative affairs director Tom Larson saw the Supreme Court's tie as indicative of unclarity on the issue, saying, ''For all the towns around the state enacting moratoriums, this should be a signal that they're on thin ice.'' But 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin Executive Director Steve Hiniker retorted, ''It would be equally valid to say it's a sign the Realtors should drop their lawsuit.''

Wisconsin Towns Association Executive Director Richard Stadelman noted that although his group believes towns have the authority to enact development moratoriums, the legislature should clarify it in state law.

Earlier, Madison Wisconsin State Journal writer Barry Adams quoted Albany Law School, New York, expert Patricia Salkin, who said only about 10 states specifically authorize local governments to use moratoriums, with others considering their adoption as an ''implied valid exercise'' of local authority.

''That fact makes this case an important one to watch for other states,'' she stressed. ''Absent a statute that specifically limits the use of moratoria, local governments do have police power authority to employ this technique for a reasonable period of time during an ongoing planning process.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal   12/12/2007

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/ ; www.madison.com/wsj/

University of Wisconsin High-Rise Projects on Hold While Developer Looks for New Site for Historic Buildings

Intent on residential construction but also historic preservation downtown, the Madison Plan Commission delayed final approval for a 14-story, 161-unit apartment tower in the western section of the University of Wisconsin (UW) campus until the local Ten Twenty-Two LLC development group finds a proper site to relocate the 1887 Conklin House, remodeled in 1905, and the 1921 Luther Memorial Church, called by Commissioner Beth Whitaker ''fairly iconic'' for the whole city.

If developers fail to secure the right relocation site, reports Madison Capital Times writer Mike Ivey, the residential tower will go back to the Plan Commission for another review, with one commissioner favoring the project over the two old houses, now renting to boarders, but others needing more information.

One of several rental mid- and high-rises on the campus since 2001, the $24 million Ten Twenty-Two tower near the UW chemistry building and the planned $150 million Institutes for Discovery would include a range of units from efficiencies to four bedrooms, and an underground 161-car garage with space for mopeds and bikes.

Like other such projects on the campus, the tower would target students, researchers with families, and young professionals looking to live downtown, the writer notes, mentioning the 14-story, 359-unit Lucky Apartments high-rise likely to open next fall, and the university's two new residence halls -- for 425 and 615 students, opened last year and this month, respectively.

Concurrently, the writer adds, the Plan Commission approved a reduction of minimum parking for new business and professional offices from 3.3 to 2.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of a building's floor space.

The industry-based Madison Smart Growth group backed the change as part of a full parking code review scheduled over the next two years. -- Capital Times   12/4/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/

I-94 Expansion Now Carries $1.9 Billion Price Tag for Wisconsin

Enabled by separate revenue from gas taxes and vehicle fees, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) ''has always had a culture of independence, and at times arrogance,'' but its ''heavy-handed, highway-happy spending agenda'' and Secretary Frank Busalacchi's clear intent ''to provoke a sustained fight with people who make up the core of the administration's Democratic/environmental, pro-transit constituency'' is finally sparking ''some political push-back,'' observes Political Environment blog writer James Rowen, heartened by a Milwaukee aldermen move to make WisDOT change its newly announced plan to rebuild and widen the 35-mile stretch of I-94 between the city and the Illinois border from six to eight lanes.

The project's price has more than doubled to $1.9 billion and WisDOT wants to launch it two years early, in 2009, he writes, citing its criticism by Citizens Allied for Sane Highways (CASH) Co-chair Gretchen Schuldt, who ''has catalogued the complete and destructive joke that passes for planning'' this construction, which leaves the department without any money for the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter line.

Endorsed by all governments in the corridor for mitigating the I-94 construction gridlock and offering travelers ''an environmentally-friendly, fuel-conserving option,'' the writer points out, the commuter line project hasn't been scheduled by WisDOT even if it has $91 million available in federal start-up funds.

Noting also an earlier ''sweetheart deal to rush an interchange'' for the planned Pabst Farms shopping mall in Oconomowoc, a deal still in place despite the mall developer's sudden withdrawal in October, he writes, ''Like many Wisconsinites, the Milwaukee aldermen are sick of WisDOT's one-dimensional love affair with road-building, and its routine transfer of public funds to entitled, enabled road-builders, at the expense of modern transit alternatives, even as a supplement, not replacement, for highway spending.''

The practices of inducing car use ''and burning up money and land, to keep the entire WisDOT/road-builder machine in high gear,'' he warns, ''are not sustainable -- environmentally, fiscally, and politically.'' -- Political Environment   12/4/2007

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

$25 Million I-94 Interchange Still on the Boards for Pabst Farms Project

The controversial development of historic 1,500-acre horse and dairy Pabst Farms -- set up by Milwaukee beer magnate Frederick Pabst in 1906 -- into a master-planned enclave of 1,200 varied-type homes, offices and stores was to be anchored by a 110-acre regional shopping and entertainment center, but even after Chicago-based General Growth Properties suddenly dropped that proposal, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), Waukesha County and Oconomowoc are still ready to fund a $25 million I-94 interchange for the center, with Political Environment blog writer James Rowan urging local officials to quit the deal now and state lawmakers to investigate the WisDOT rush to ''use public funds to build an interchange to nowhere.''

Under the deal, reported Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writers Amy Rinard and Scott Williams earlier, WisDOT would put in $21.1 million, the county and the Pabst Farms Development Inc. $1.75 million each, and Oconomowoc $400,000 from its $24,000 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district created for the project.

Since General Growth Properties' withdrawal, Pabst Farms Development President Peter Bell has been looking for another company to build the massive shopping component of Pabst Farms, hopeful it will open in 2010, while Oconomowoc Mayor Maury Sullivan tried to allay fears that big-box chains may instead move in, promising to wait as long as it takes for the envisioned upscale retail.

''We've adopted a master plan and zoning for that location, and it does not have big boxes in it,'' he said.

Nevertheless, asks Political Environment writer James Rowan, if General Growth Properties realized the area may not sustain a regional mall, ''why should the state, county and the city of Oconomowoc press ahead with the fast-tracked construction of the interchange?''

Both the county and the city, he points out, can still reconsider and save their money, but ''WisDOT operates with such insularity and arrogance that it can't be counseled to do the right thing with any expectation of a reasonable outcome -- which in this case is simply to pull the plug on having earmarked money for a road to nowhere without permission.''

That's why, he stresses, ''quick and unambiguous pressure delivered by legislators and watchdog auditors at the State Capitol is a necessity to get WisDOT's attention, and action.'' -- Political Environment, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   10/1/2007

Resource(s): www.thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/ ; www.jsonline.com/

Biking Resurgence Leads Cities to Combine Transportation, Recreation Plans

''In the past couple of years, you're seeing a resurgence in the bicycle as a mode of transportation, rather than just recreation,'' observes Fox Cities Greenways Inc. board Member and Bike to Work coordinator Tom Walsh, who bikes some 15 miles both ways between his home in Buchanan and job in Grand Chute, certain that the ''whole push toward Smart Growth and planning'' will make other Appleton region cities combine transportation and recreation plans, like Kaukauna recently did in moving to create a street bike-lane system for its four key routes.

''You will get people who will start to use it for their day-to-day activities, like say going to the store, going to work, going to school,'' he predicts, expecting the system eventually to get connected to New London and Oshkosh, some 25 miles northwest and southwest, respectively.

Kaukauna leaders have envisioned those bike routes since around 1995, with Alderman Lee Meyerhofer spearheading the action partly in response to recent residential growth, reports Appleton Post-Crescent writer J.E. Espino, quoting City Planner Robert Jakel.

He and Mayor Gene Rosin also would like to extend the Outgamie County Route CE Trail about a mile east and to plan for its future link with the 20-mile Fox River Trail that runs from downtown Green Bay southwest and ends nearby.

For now, Mayor Rosin is happy about the new and planned bike lanes, telling bikers, ''now you can pick out a destination point and travel there safely.'' -- Appleton Post-Crescent   9/25/2007

Resource(s): www.postcrescent.com/

Regional Transportation Authority Could Bring Commuter Rail to Dane County by 2014

Passed by the Dane County Board 22 to 13 last month and now 18 to 2 by the Madison City Council, a plan to create a Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), which would charge a half-cent sales tax for road and transit improvements, still requires ''at least five major make-or-break decisions at the local, state and federal level,'' reports Madison Wisconsin State Journal writer Matthew DeFour, but if all goes well, the plan's key commuter rail project could be completed by early 2014.

For this to happen, he writes, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) should approve preliminary engineering funds, probably by next May or June, though it may view an upgraded bus system as more cost-effective; county municipalities should agree on RTA composition, procedures, external relations and sales tax use by March 2010; state lawmakers should pass RTA enabling legislation; voters should endorse the authority in a November 2010 referendum; and FTA should approve up to $175 million in grants for the proposed commuter rail, likely to cost between $250 million and $285 million. The 20-mile commuter line would link Middleton northwest of Madison and Sun Prairie at its northeast.

RTA plan proponents, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, along with other transit advocates, consider the rail necessary to ease the area's ever-worse congestion. -- Wisconsin State Journal   9/5/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/wsj/

Provision Sought to Exempt Small Communities from Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law

In the latest effort to undercut the state's Smart Growth law, under which counties and municipalities must adopt comprehensive land-use plans by 2010 to receive state funding priority, the Assembly's Republican majority members want to exempt from the mandate communities of 2,500 or fewer -- more than 1,500 towns and villages -- through a budget provision pending before a conference committee, with members of the Democrat-led Senate opposed to reduction of state funds for the local planning process.

Many of these small communities are well advanced in or near completion of their plans, with 708 of them already having received a total of $8 million in state grants, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Amy Rinard, quoting Waukesha County senior planner Jason Fruth.

''Regardless of size, comprehensive planning is important,'' he said. ''Just because a community is small doesn't mean it shouldn't plan for its future.''

Republican Representative Mary Williams, sponsor of the provision to exempt such communities from Smart Growth planning, said even with state aid the requirement is too costly for small jurisdictions and often resented by local residents, who fear property rights infringement.

''I think people get little irritated that the state doesn't think they do planning so Big Brother has to tell them they have to do it,'' she argued. ''In the northern part of the state, people are really, really concerned with private property rights.''

In contrast, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Policy Director Lisa MacKinnon pointed out that the state's smart-growth assistance program is underfunded, but that many communities that have received grants and invested time and money to plan for the future expect their plans to be effective and enforceable.

The planning exemption would deny small communities that achievement, she said, stressing, ''It really would be changing the rules just before the finish line.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Pierce County Herald 08.19-20.2007 www.jsonline.com/ ; www.piercecountyherald.com/   8/20/2007

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/ ; www.piercecountyherald.com/

Former Cottage Grove Golf Course Inching Closer to Residential Development

Closed by brothers Doug and Jim Bradt in 2005, their nine-hole Farm golf course a few miles east of Madison can become a residential area under the town of Cottage Grove's long-range plan, but not without Cottage Grove Village, which has a voice over land use within its 1.5-mile radius, allowing a change in its Smart Growth plan designation for the 102-acre site from park and open space to a planned neighborhood, a request twice denied and now granted at a joint Village Board and Plan Commission hearing in their separate 4-3 votes.

Nevertheless, pointed out Village President and Plan Commission Chairman Ken Dahl, who voted for the request, a different site designation on a land-use map means little by itself.

Any prospective development of the golf course, including the number and the type of housing units outside its protected wetlands, he stressed, would depend on factual plan changes, which in turn would lay the ground for a formal discussion and possible agreement with the Bradt brothers.

Some 40 town and village residents, who urged officials to reject the brothers' request again and presented a petition signed by hundreds of neighbors, reports Madison Capital Times writer Cliff Miller, wanted officials to work out a deal with the Bradts before any real land-use change is made.

Such a change, the writer clarifies, can happen only if the village, Dane County, and the town agree on new site zoning and other regulations ''governing how the land may be developed and how much remains under conservancy or 'greenspace' restrictions,'' with the village also agreeing to annex the course from the town.

Village planning consultant Mike Slaveny confirmed that the controversial vote leaves the site's status unchanged, the writer notes, quoting a village official who said he would not vote for anything without unanimous support from the course's immediate neighbors. -- Capital Times   7/12/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/

Madison City Council Approves Neighborhood Conservation Districts

Blocked several years ago by real estate interests, a proposal to help Madison residents preserve the character of their particular areas through creation of Neighborhood Conservation Districts passed the City Council on a 13-6 vote, with Alderwoman Judy Compton leading opponents against the ordinance as bad for property rights and industry-based Smart Growth Madison Executive Director Carole Schaeffer calling it anti-density and anti-development.

Under the ordinance, reports Madison Capital Times writer Mary Yeater Rathbun, neighborhood residents may list the features they value, review their neighbors' property alteration plans, and veto those that flout the listed criteria.

''We are taking away owners' property rights with this vote,'' complained Alderwoman Compton, arguing that since a public survey on the proposal was merely advisory, the council made a ''totally political'' choice and took ''actual decision-making out of the neighborhood.''

Both she and Alderman Zach Brandon, the writer notes, ''insisted that limiting the use of a property to the current character of a neighborhood limits the value of a property.'' In contrast, Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin pointed to recent modifications of its text and backed the ordinance.

City planner Brad Murphy agreed that the ordinance might be used ''as a tool against developments people don't like,'' but he didn't think it was anti-density.

Alderman Mike Verveer, the writer adds, called his Basset neighborhood ready to seek creation of a Neighborhood Conservation District. -- Capital Times   6/6/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/

Milwaukee-Area Affordable Housing Study Stymied by Lack of Funds

A priority of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SWRPC) since last fall, a study of the region's housing situation would ''examine whether communities have broadened their housing stock and made any changes in a historical pattern of segregating low-income residents in Milwaukee,'' but has been delayed by lack of funds, says a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial, urging area leaders to find the money and get the comprehensive study going.

''Affordable housing,'' the editorial stresses, ''is a critical component of economic development and of linking the unemployed of urban centers to jobs in outlying areas.''

According to SWRPC Executive Director Phil Evenson, the study was delayed by commission budgetary constraints due to ''contractual and legal obligations it must meet, such as providing Smart Growth planning for some counties.''

What's more, the editorial continues, like many other government agencies, ''the commission has experienced a flattening of its revenue stream while its workload has increased.''

Liking Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy's suggestion that the commission should seek special contributions from all area counties to cover study costs, the editorial suggests that ''(p)erhaps he should get the ball rolling by going to Milwaukee County and asking it to provide money for the housing study.'' -- Journal Sentinel   5/28/2007

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Smart Growth Group Persuades City Council to Revisit Supercenter Project, Amend Site Plans for Community Benefit

Smart Growth 54923, a zip code group of Berlin area residents opposing a planned 156,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter as harmful to local businesses and the environment, regrets the Plan Commission approval for the site plan and expects the City Council to do the same on May 1, but believes its fight has made a difference, with group founder Debbie Gross calling community involvement ''a good thing,'' because it makes the public aware ''what a big box can do to a small town.''

Although members of Smart Growth 54923 were given a limited opportunity to speak at the Wal-Mart project hearings, reports Oshkosh Northwestern writer Patricia Wolf, they voiced their concerns over small businesses and polluted runoff persuasively enough to delay the commission's approval for a week and make commissioners look again at the 25-acre site plan and the development agreement.

Under the agreement, Wal-Mart will reconstruct part of a nearby street, installing curbs, gutters, turn lanes, a 4.5-foot-wide sidewalk, eight-inch underground sanitary sewer and water main, and up to an 18-inch storm sewer.

The company will also improve another street and build a 12-inch storm sewer, replace the site's three culverts and provide a baffle to remove oil from the water.

Smart Growth 54923, said Debbie Gross, will work to make Berlin a better place, hoping local residents will continue to support local businesses.

''We are more pro-Berlin,'' she stressed, ''than we are anti-Wal-Mart.'' -- Northwestern   4/18/2007

Resource(s): www.thenorthwestern.com/

Wisconsin Smart Growth Program Puts Emphasis on Local Planning

Launched in 2000 and saved from GOP-sought budget cuts two years ago, ''Wisconsin's Smart Growth program is a model for the nation'' as it puts localities ''in charge of their future, allowing local decisions to determine the direction that each community takes,'' said Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, announcing almost $2.3 million in 2007 Local Comprehensive Planning Grants for 12 multi-jurisdictional applicants, representing 145 villages, municipalities and counties, with a total population of more than 350,000.

Under the program, designed to encourage intergovernmental cooperation and public participation in local growth planning, the state has already helped 964 communities that matched the grants to complete their plans by 2010 and qualify for future state development and infrastructure funds.

The highest single amount in the 2007 round, a total of $576,000, went to Grant County, which is coordinating its long-range development plans with those of its three cities, 11 villages and 26 towns.

Awarding the grants on a competitive basis, the Wisconsin Department of Administration is preparing a summer series of workshops for communities interested in seeking 2008 Smart Growth planning aid.

Details at www.doa.state.wi.us.   3/29/2007

Resource(s): www.wisgov.state.wi.us

Milwaukee Mayor Seeks Assurances That Municipal Use of Lake Water Would Serve Previously Developed Areas

Some 15 and 10 miles east of Lake Michigan, the cities of Waukesha and New Berlin can't depend on their aging wells and want to tap lake water, but they mustn't do so if it would fuel further suburban sprawl, said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barret at a workshop of environmental groups from eight Great Lakes states, whose governors agreed two years ago to work out a new Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.

The compact, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Daryl Enriquez, will establish a water purchase and return process for communities within or near the basin, with only Minnesota lawmakers passing pertinent legislation so far.

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin lawmakers continue their work, and Mayor Barret doesn't think the state should consider Waukesha and New Berlin requests before its law is passed.

The mayor praised Waukesha conservation efforts, but questioned its ''aggressive annexation policy'' and New Berlin's lack of a clearly defined service area.

''Would we be serving existing developed areas that have radium in their drinking water,'' he asked, ''or promoting additional sprawl?''

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial says Mayor Barrett ''is right to oppose urban sprawl,'' but also asks him to ''define what he means,'' hoping that he doesn't mean all growth.

''The trick is to ensure that growth maintains a reasonable pace and doesn't overwhelm municipal services, the environment or the lifestyles of communities,'' the editorial stresses, cautioning against a return ''to those sad days of vocal feuding between the city and the suburbs,'' which solves nothing.

''Regionalism means one community helping the other as much as possible,'' the editorial concludes. ''In other words, true partnership.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   2/27/2007

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Editorial: Smart-Growth Transportation Strategy Would Bring More Benefits to Madison

Skewed by 2006 election politics and ''anti-transit and anti-planning ideologues like Randal O'Toole,'' Madison's transportation debate has so far skirted the key question about ''the different strengths of each of the major options before us -- road, rail and buses'' and how they can ''fit together'' to improve the region for its present residents and another 100,000 by 2030, write Madison Streetcar Coalition allies Ward Lyles, Fred Bartol and John DeLameter in a Capital Times column, advising a smart-growth transportation strategy to make each dollar bring multiple dividends.

''We already spend tens of millions of dollars in property taxes on roads in the region every year,'' they write on behalf of coalition co-founders, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Dane Alliance for Rail Transit, and Downtown Trolley. ''Nixing rail and facilitating auto-oriented sprawl would cost us hundreds millions of dollars, plus tens of thousands of acres of farmland and natural areas in the 'bargain'.''

The result would be what metro Atlanta or Houston or even Waukesha County, just west of Milwaukee, are suffering and trying to remedy now.

''Or we can invest the same amount on a more balanced mix of buses, regional rail , streetcars bike path, sidewalks and road maintenance,'' they continue. ''Coupled with sensible land use, these investments can improve the quality of places where we already live and reduce sprawl.''

Before rail and streetcar studies are finished and a bus committee makes recommendations this summer, the authors call attention to some key facts.

Regional rail, they point out, can move people quickly a few or many more miles, while stations entice development and can include bus and streetcar links and park-and-ride lots.

Streetcars can take passengers a few blocks or a few miles, reducing car use and offering easy access to restaurants, shops and entertainment downtown and in redevelopment areas.

Buses, thanks to their flexibility, can serve commuter and local routes alike, which makes transit feasible in less dense neighborhoods, though without attracting development that could increase a local tax base and reduce sprawl pressures.

''Regional growth presents us with major transportation challenges. Each of the options studied offers an important tool to address those challenges,'' the authors conclude. ''Let's focus on putting together the right tool kit to enhance the capital region's ability to meet our future transportation needs in a way that provides a prosperous and sustainable economy, environmental quality and a high quality of life.'' -- Capital Times   2/3/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php

Writer Warns Madison Residents About Misinformation Targeting Transit

Driven by the successful examples of Portland, Oregon and other cities, Madison is also considering streetcars to help residents move without cars and stimulate business, but Portland-based Thoreau Institute Director Randal O'Toole warns Madison Capital Times readers against this ''latest urban planning fad'' and ''hoax,'' claiming the construction boom in Pearl and South Waterfront districts since 2001 has been spurred by public subsidies, not by the streetcar, which hasn't even reduced auto commuting downtown -- a claim resented as ''misinformation'' by former Portlander and streetcar advisory committee member Kim Warkentin.

According to Randal O'Toole, Portland streetcar district developers got more than $250 million in tax waivers, infrastructure subsidies and direct grants, while the streetcar was used by just one percent of downtown workers from 2001 to 2005, and the number of those who took other transit declined by more than 20 percent, because of bus and light-rail budget and service cuts.

''Without the subsidies but with the streetcar, virtually no new construction would have taken place,'' he argues. ''With the subsidies but no streetcar, virtually all of the new developments would have been built anyway.''

The former Portland Citizen Advisory Committee for the Central City Streetcar, Kim Warkentin, who moved to the Madison area in 2003, tells Capital Times readers that the writer is a ''professional anti-transit activist,'' associated with the right wing.

''When not busy criticizing the Endangered Species Act or writing articles like 'Is sprawl a defense against terrorism?,'' she observes, ''O'Toole campaigns against transit-based solutions for issues like traffic congestion and pollution.''

Noting that Portland's advisory committee has also faced issues now coming up in Madison, she writes, ''The naysayers were proved wrong: The streetcar didn't kill the bus system and didn't create more traffic or result in any of the other dire consequences that had been predicted.''

She also points out that the American Public Transit Association recently reported that transit ridership has risen by 25 percent nationwide in the past 10 years, outpacing auto use, while the Victoria Public Transport Institute (Canada) found that ''the new investment sparked by the streetcar or light-rail line is not only paying for the cost of the rail line itself in new tax revenues, but is subsidizing other public services and building a stronger local economy.''

In Portland, Kim Warkentin concludes, city, business and community leaders had the foresight and courage to plan for future growth and traffic ''in a smart way,'' and Madison ''can do the same.'' -- Capital Times   1/13/2007

Resource(s): www.madison.com/

Failure to Identify Funding Sources for Southeast Wisconsin's Highway Expansion Criticized as Poor Planning

Although ''Milwaukee's right-wing radio jocks'' fought their post-election chagrin last month by attacking Democratic Governor Jim Doyle for the Transportation Department's proposed $25 car-registration fee increase, which the governor prefers to limit to $10, the verbiage rang hollow, writes Milwaukee writer/consultant James Rowen in the Madison Capital Times, because they ''know full well that their preferred transportation alternative -- highway expansion -- requires perpetual truckloads of fresh cash,'' including higher fees.

Ready to earmark $6.5 billion of public dollars for highway expansion in southeastern Wisconsin, the department is silent on the money source. ''In other words, freeways are not free, but the planners are free from any obligation to identify the funding in advance,'' the writer says. ''Some planning process!''

Listing several Milwaukee area projects, including two that will pour down more concrete ''on or above prime downtown real estate'' and ''smear the face of Story Hill, Milwaukee's premier west side residential neighborhood,'' he notes that all this work, ''paid for with yet-undesignated pots of vehicle fees, gas tax revenues, bonding payments, and federal transportation grants, will be finished in 2030.'' He has no doubt that road pushers and builders will then ''clamor'' for more and more reconstruction.

''So let's rethink now whether we should spend billions on highway building through 2030 just in southeastern Wisconsin to finance gas-guzzling ideology and its old-boy, road-builder network. Let's instead choose to live more within our means and focus transportation spending on transit, alternative fuels, green technologies and better maintenance of roads,'' Rowen appeals to officials and the public. ''That's how government can help to make the election results concrete, protect taxpayers and minimize state-sponsored sprawl in southeastern Wisconsin.'' -- Capital Times   12/4/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php

New Berlin's Request for Diversion of Great Lakes Water Met With Skepticism

Under U.S. law and the U.S.-Canada compact, applications for a diversion of Great Lakes water must be ''complete and comprehensive'' to win the required unanimous approval by all seven Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces, but the first responses to a New Berlin application, sent to the other signatories by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources earlier this year, reports Madison Capital Times writer James Rowen, show the fast-growing city, some 10 miles west of Milwaukee and Lake Michigan, did a poor job.

New York officials found its application lacking key studies, complete data, sufficient water supply descriptions, adequate geological and system maps, and a list of ''feasible options.''

Illinois officials suggested inclusion of ''forecasts of future water use, both inside and outside of the Great Lakes basin,'' but also advised New Berlin to extend its sprinkling ban, evaluate the effectiveness of its conservation plan, and expand a search for well-water as an alternative to the proposed Lake Michigan diversion.

Michigan officials declined to review the application until it arrives in a full and formal version. Ontario Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsey appreciated New Berlin's pledge to return the diverted water to Lake Michigan, but said it appears the city has not ''developed or implemented a conservation plan'' for its present water supply or for water it wants to divert.

Absent ''individual and cumulative environmental impact assessment'' of the water withdrawal and return, the minister noted, ''(w)e are unable to assess if your request is reasonable.''

Under federal regulations, the writer adds, New Berlin must improve its drinking water quality by December 8, while the state Department of Natural Resources gave it until the next spring to meet the requirement for a permanent solution. -- Capital Times   11/21/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tctt/

Janesville Working on Long-Term Comprehensive Plan to Safeguard Future State Infrastructure Funds

Surrounded by prime farmland, Janesville, about 60 miles southwest of central Milwaukee, wants to ensure its eligibility for crucial state infrastructure money by adopting a long-term comprehensive plan before 2010, a requirement of the 1999 Smart Growth law, with Community Development Director Brad Cantrell stressing, ''How we grow and fund our growth is a big factor.''

Accordingly, reports Janesville Gazette writer Marcia Nelesen, the city has hired a consultant and launched an 18-month process to update its plan from the 1980s by sending residents a seven-page questionnaire on future development. The questionnaire asks them how they judge Janesville's current growth, what kind of development they would like to see, what type of housing the city needs and how important open land is, while posing many related and specific questions.

With some residents concerned that residential and commercial development is destroying farmland, Director Cantrell said, ''How efficiently the land is used is one of the things that's going to be addressed in the plan.''

Hopeful for strong community involvement in the planning process, he called public input indispensable ''because it gives the city a road map for future growth and development and at least recommendations on where we should be going for the next 20 years.'' -- Janesville Gazette   11/9/2006

Resource(s): www.gazetteextra.com/

1000 Friends of Wisconsin Celebrates 10th Anniversary With ''Ten of the Best'' Awards for Achievements

In the decade since the state's Interagency Land Use Council, convened by Republican Governor Tommy Thompson and chaired by his Department of Revenue Secretary Mark Burgher, first acknowledged sprawl problems and the crucial link between land use and transportation, the state has made great strides toward smart growth, said 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Executive Director Steve Hiniker, his group highlighting its 10th anniversary with ''Ten of the Best'' awards for achievements in shaping a better Wisconsin landscape.

Created by activists determined to push harder for sustainability, with a focus ''on non-partisan land use policy,'' writes Madison Capital Times columnist Mike Ivey, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin honored former state revenue secretary Mark Burgers with their Smart Growth Leadership award for his role in establishing ''the nation's best comprehensive planning law.''

The other award categories and winners included Statewide Land Conservation -- Wisconsin's Land Trusts for protecting land through their growing network; Sustainable Land Use Design Visionary -- Phil Lewis for pioneering sustainable regional design; Residential Infill Development Pioneer -- McGrath Associates for trendsetting residential urban infills; Industrial Infill Development -- Menomonee Valley Partners for Smart Growth brownfield redevelopment planning; Modern Transit Leader -- Transit NOW for spurring support for modern transit investments in southeastern Wisconsin; Working Landscapes Innovations -- Working Lands Initiative -- for efforts to establish effective state policies to promote agriculture; Next Generation Neighborhoods -- Grandview Commons by Veridia-n Homes for leadership in designing 21st century communities; Civic Journalism -- ''We the People -- On Common Ground'' for efforts to educate and involve the public in shaping state land use policies; and Downtown Investments -- Wisconsin Main Street Program for leadership, encouragement and support for downtown revitalization statewide.

''We salute those achievements,'' said director Hiniker, ''knowing that future generations of Wiconsinites will be better off because of those efforts. -- Capital Times   9/19/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php ; www.1kfriends.org

20-Year Comprehensive Plan Rejected by Price County Board

Applauded from the gallery, the Price County Board ended a lengthy and ''often testy'' debate about smart-growth pros and cons for its sparsely populated area with a 15-4 vote against 20-year comprehensive planning, which local governments must complete by 2010 to receive various state funds later, also defeating a proposal to call an advisory countywide referendum on the issue.

The state requires jurisdictions to focus their comprehensive plans on nine key growth components, including transportation, housing, agricultural and natural resources, utilities and land use, reports Park Falls Herald writer Ryan Stutzman, noting that supporters consider it necessary to shape development according to local values, while opponents claim the state usurps power over local decisions that should be left to the private sector.

Rallied by Supervisors Dab Wanish, Bob Rogalla and others mostly from southern districts where development is less pronounced, planning foes argued that constituents don't want it and that the present agencies and measures such as zoning are enough to manage growth without spending $125,000 on a basic plan.

Some were quite sarcastic about land-use studies and planning in general, the writer observes, quoting Supervisor Richard Kelnhofer, who announced, ''We did a weed study on our lake, and what it told us was, we have weeds.''

Still, the writer adds, some officials are privately hinting at ''another round for smart growth'' on the County Board, possibly in 2008. -- Park Falls Herald   8/16/2006

Resource(s): www.parkfallswi.com/placed/

Evansville Council Declines Request to Speed Up Conversion of Land to Residential Use

Since some 90 percent of Evansville residents favor the slow long-term development rate envisioned in its smart growth plan, the City Council voted 8-0 against a developer proposal to convert 47 acres on the west side to residential use in five or eight years instead of after 2020.

Developer John Morning repeatedly told the council he simply wants a ''yes'' vote so he can study a potential impact of a future 90-to-100-lot pedestrian-friendly subdivision and activity center, reports Janesville Gazette writer Gina Duwe, but hearing attendees urged caution.

''If you let this go through, it's just going to get the ball rolling,'' said west side resident Matt Gaboda, pointing out that developers often claim they only want a zoning change and nothing else. ''No you don't,'' he stressed. ''You want to build it, you're going to build it.''

With Alderman Mason Braunschweig invoking an image of a stick with spinning plates as an analogy to smart growth also keeping all community interests in balance, Evansville school board member Michael Pierick asked the council to table the proposal until city and board officials review enrolment projections and the possible subdivision's impact on schools. -- Gazette   8/9/2006

Resource(s): www.gazetteextra.com/

Southeast Wisconsin's Grassroots Groups Working to Manage New Growth Without Sprawl

Recent announcements of big construction projects and highway plans in southeastern Wisconsin could create the impression ''that there is only one spending mind-set -- 'go-go development' -- in the region despite spiking gas prices, rising road-building costs and mounting opposition to taxes and government spending,'' observed area writer James Rowen in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, assuring readers that all along I-94 from the city to the Jefferson County line 30 miles west people have been organizing to save their areas from sprawl.

Their voluntary organizations, he wrote, ''have a broad, non-partisan conservation agenda -- one that combines the classic conservative tenets of public-sector tax and spending restraints with basic environmental or resource conservation, all aimed at preserving neighborhood-scale living, whether in a rural setting, a small town or big city.''

He cited examples. In the Delafield area, Lake County, the Conserving A Rural Environment (CARE) grassroots group is fighting a proposed $200 million mixed-use ''lifestyle center,'' with parking for 5,000 cars, citing its environmental threats and infrastructure and service costs.

In Washington and Waukesha counties, the Highway J Citizens Group has helped others battle road, subdivision and Wal-Mart projects, while pursuing its seven-year campaign against converting an 18-mile stretch of this two-lane highway into a four-lane expressway ''through front yards and farmland.''

The Waukesha Environmental Action League (WEAL) joined the Highway J Group in its current federal suit against the project while continuing an almost three-decade multi-prong effort to preserve the county's natural resources.

In Milwaukee, the Citizens Allied for Sane Highways (CASH) coalition of 20 neighborhood groups is mobilizing the region's communities against the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's $6.2 billion plan to rebuild the seven-county, 270-mile freeway system, adding 123 miles of lanes.

And Milwaukee Valley Partners are setting up businesses and recreation areas on once-contaminated city land, all their work guided by ''sustainable development'' principles.

''We believe that we must control urban sprawl,'' says WEAL on its web page. ''It is more costly to provide services (roads, fire and police protection, school busing, sewers, garbage pick-up) to a scattered population. Sprawl affects the taxes of everyone and stresses the environment.''

For more details, the writer directed readers to www.careforlakecountry.org, www.hwyjcitizensgroup.org and www.renewthevalley.org -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   7/22/2006

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

What’s Behind a Name: Writer Looks at the Linguistics of Project Names in Wisconsin

''Developers play fast and loose with language when they pitch projects and name them,'' observes Milwaukee writer-consultant James Rowen in his Madison Capital Times editorial, concerned that ''sprawl is simply exploding'' in the 60-mile four-county corridor between Milwaukee and Madison, with traffic, air pollution and water supply problems becoming ever worse, while evocative project names and the marketing glossary are ''sugarcoating the facts.''

He cites two examples. Leading downtown Delafield investor Bob Lang wants to build 385 residences, a hotel, restaurants, shops, offices and entertainment facilities, plus 5,000 parking spaces on 87 acres next to Lapham State Park and more than a mile south of downtown, describing the project as a ''lifestyle center'' and a downtown extension.

Downtown Delafield, a several-block shopping and commercial district, ''is wonderfully appealing because it is compact and walkable,'' the writer agrees, asking, ''But can you really extend a downtown as Lang proposes -- literally leapfrogging out of a small town, across an interstate highway bridge and down a county highway (sure to then need widening) to the border of a state park?''

He also has misgivings about the state's ''most expensive and most expansive planned community,'' the 1,500-acre mixed-use Pabst Farms development, under construction a few miles east of Delafield, which will feature 1,200 upscale houses, along with shops, businesses, a YMCA, an elementary school and a massive shopping mall. Streets named Springhouse Drive, Springs Park Court, River Lakes Road and Mineral Springs Boulevard ''hark back to a time when Waukesha County was literally bubbling over with natural springs,'' but few of these springs remain, overdevelopment has drawn underground water down by 500 feet, some deep well water is naturally contaminated with radium, and the development, regardless of street names, ''is emblematic of the county's land use changes.''

He credits the development for its state-of-the-art drainage system and green space, but points out that the thousands of new residents, motorists, workers and shoppers -- in Pabst Farms or Delafield or other newly built-up areas -- will accelerate well and spring depletion. ''Development marketing that spins inaccurately or insincerely often foretells that farm acreage and parkland vistas are about to be converted to malls and McMansions,'' he concludes. ''Insults to the language and the landscape go hand-in-hand. Both need to end.'' -- Capital Times   7/3/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/

Madison Approves Plan to Rebuild Shopping Center as Mixed-Use Project With Condos Over Two-Story Library, Apartments Atop Ground-Floor Retail

Despite not-in-my-neighborhood opposition from many homeowners in Madison's southwestern area of Midvale Heights and Westmoreland, the Plan Commission endorsed a $25 million two-phase project to replace the half-empty Midvale Plaza shopping center and its parking lot with 43 condos over a new two-floor library and some 100 apartments atop 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, reports Madison Capital Times writer Mike Ivey, calling the 5-2 vote ''a precedent-setting move for redevelopment of older suburban neighborhoods.''

The homeowners criticized the four-story buildings planned by developer Joe Krupp and partners Jack and Jerry Kelly as too high for their quiet neighborhoods, worrying about future traffic and the displacement of some old businesses, and pushing for lower building heights, fewer housing units and more retail space.

In my area, ''the lots are small, the streets are narrow and the trees are taller than the houses,'' said resident Ellen Fisher. ''I hope the city does not destroy what already exists in our two neighborhoods.''

But commission members pointed out that the project fits the city's new Comprehensive Plan, which targets some 50 sites for compact redevelopment, with Alderman Brenda Konkel noting, ''This is a developer who gave us what we asked for, so we better approve it.''

Alderman Ken Golden said the city cannot continue its suburban-style, car-dependent expansion if it is to remain vital and sustainable in the future, stressing, ''This isn't about us, it's about our grandchildren who are going to live in a world where oil isn't $70 a barrel, but $170 a barrel.''

Some neighbors felt the same, with resident -- Capital Times   6/20/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php

Madison New Urbanism Conference Tackles Regional Planning, Sustainability -- and ''Skinny Streets''

It addressed large issues of regional planning, sustainability and smart growth, but also their nitty-gritty design and implementation aspects, and many of the 220-plus Dane County officials, builders and other participants in the recent New Urbanism conference at Edgewood College in Madison -- with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and County Executive Kathleen Falk among key speakers -- realized they could support what they previously opposed, including ''skinny streets'' as better for the public and not necessarily precluding emergency vehicle access and maneuverability.

Despite long-held beliefs, narrow streets are actually safer ''because drivers slow down when they're cramped and speed up when they have mucho clearance,'' reports Madison Daily Page writer Marc Eisen, pointing out that after hot debates the city has finally settled on a 28-foot street width minimum and one-side parking, to leave firefighters the 20 feet of clearance Madison Fire Chief Debra Amesqua calls necessary for unloading their trucks.

The conference gave her ''a lot of thought-provoking ideas,'' she told the writer, noting that the Fire Department might support even skinnier streets if curb design and sidewalk reinforcement were to allow truck encroachment. Specifically, she found the New Urbanist idea of shorter pedestrian-friendly blocks quite intriguing, because it means more cross streets ''that allow easier access to the center of these blocks during fires.''

Inspired by other good design guidelines, chief Amesqua observed that the city should require kitchen and basement sprinklers in new single-family homes and in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) projects, and that its two planned fire stations should have two-story or three-story dormitories with slides to the fire trucks, which could cut firefighter response time by 20 to 30 seconds. ''Response time,'' she stressed, ''is the foundation of the work we do.'' -- Daily Page   5/25/2006

Resource(s): www.thedailypage.com/

Editorial Urges Madison's Mayor, City Council to Look for New Affordable Housing Solutions

Everybody in Madison has long realized that the city needs affordable housing, and the industry sat at negotiations that produced the city's Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) law in 2004, but it was always considered Plan B, ''which in its two years of existence accomplished nothing more than to reveal that it didn't work,'' says a Madison State Journal editorial, urging the city to start working on a better solution, or Plan A.

Under IZ, developers have to make 15 percent of units in their projects affordable to lower-income families, which costs them $20,000 to $60,000 per apartment or home and ultimately increases the price of the other units. The IZ units subsidized by nonprofits were sold, but 40 other units went through the 240-day sales process, never got a buyer and were released to the free market.

A city committee that was to recommend changes lost negotiators from the Madison Area Builders Association and the Realtors Association, with the industry Smart Growth Madison and Downtown Madison Inc. considering the law impossible to rescue.

''Mayor Cieslewicz and the City Council should accept the failure of IZ and repeal the law,'' the editorial concludes. ''They should then work with the real estate industry to produce a more effective plan for affordable housing.'' -- Madison State Journal   5/22/2006

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php

Plan for Fourth Wal-Mart in Green Bay Sparks Debate Over Benefit of New Jobs, Effect on Local Businesses

In another divisive big-box case, Wal-Mart wants to expand its three-store presence within a five mile radius of downtown Green Bay with a 203,800-square-foot Supercenter on the city's east side, a move some local residents oppose and some support, while the company promises officials $188,000 in annual property taxes, some $2.5 million in sales taxes and 340 new jobs, and site co-owner John Bunker praises it for good planing and even claims, ''This fits perfectly with Smart Growth.'' Supporters like resident Shane Lagerman and local restaurateur Jeff Fonferek think the Supercenter would recharge the area, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Richard Ryman, the former saying its ''residential development has been very nice'' but he is for ''the convenience and the other services it will bring,'' the latter adding, ''With the way the economy is, anytime you can bring business in instead of losing it, that's what you want to do.''

On the other side, resident Gary Baier notes that local traffic already is ''a huge problem'' and that ''little shops would be better'' than a big box. And resident Robert Van Vonderen asks why Wal-Mart doesn't make a Supercenter out of its Bellevue store less than three miles away, as it did on the city's west side, stressing, ''We need a good grocery store. We don't need a Supercenter.''

At an earlier press conference on the project, the writer adds, Clean Water Action Council Executive Director Rebecca Katers cautioned against unrealistic economic expectations, pointing out that Wal-Mart cripples local business, holds down wages and costs taxpayers with its lack of employee health insurance. -- Press-Gazette   5/12/2006

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Hammond Village Looks Ahead for Growth After Construction Moratorium Gives Community Time to Design Comprehensive Plan

Long a traditional farmland community in Wisconsin's fastest-growing county of St. Croix, quiet Hammond Village -- just north of I-94 and some 30 miles west of Twin Cities, Minnesota -- has realized early that its population increase from 970 to 1,800 since 2000 was only the beginning, imposed a construction moratorium to work out a comprehensive plan, and is now almost ready for a development surge, with Village President Tom Kinney emphasizing, ''We want smart growth.''

The village will lift the moratorium once its new $4 million wastewater treatment plant is completed in October, reports Twin Cities Pioneer Press writer Kevin Harter, finding that one of the first projects to come may be a 400-plus home subdivision proposed by River Falls-based K&S Developers.

''A community on the interstate 15 miles from the (Minnesota) border is pretty attractive,'' noted K&S builder Mark Sylla. ''The nice thing about going into a community like that is four or five years from now, 75 percent of it will be brand new, including restaurants and businesses.''

Still, president Kinney said the village would like to attract jobs, but also retain its historic feel, a wish also voiced by the co-owner of the 140-year-old Hammond Hotel, Pete Nelson.

''Rapid growth would bring concerns,'' he observed. ''We were behind the curve, and I'm hoping we are now ahead of the curve because of planning.'' -- Pioneer Press   4/9/2006

Resource(s): www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/

$2 Million Awarded to Wisconsin Communities for Work on Economic Development, Quality of Life Improvements

Thanks to his veto that last year saved the $4 million Smart Growth program from a Republican-imposed cut in the 2005-07 state budget, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle awarded $2 million in 2006 comprehensive planning grants to nine collective applicants representing 77 jurisdictions -- counties, cities, towns and villages -- ready for work on their regional and local long-term land-use plans to ensure economic development, contain sprawl and enhance quality of life.

''Wisconsin's Smart Growth program is a model for the nation,'' the governor said. ''It puts local governments and citizens in charge of their future, allowing local decisions to determine the direction that each community takes. We want to continue to work with communities to help them build a sustainable future.''

Since the state program began in 1999, the competitive planning grants have helped a total of 819 communities in drawing up their comprehensive plans, required by 2010. The 2006 grants range from $30,000 for the village of Denmark, with participation by the town of New Denmark, to $639,000 for Racine County, with participation by the cities Racine and Burlington, eight towns, and eight villages.

The Department of Administration (DOA), which runs the program, will hold a summer series of educational workshops for communities intending to apply for 2007 grants. -- Wisconsin Office of the Governor   3/30/2006

Resource(s): www.wisgov.state.wi.us/

Dodge County Adopts Long-Term Comprehensive Plan Promoting Home Clustering, Discouraging Subdivisions

Enticed three years ago to think about the long-term quality of life in this agricultural area beyond the northwestern edges of metro Milwaukee with a $321,000 grant from Wisconsin's 1999 Smart Growth planning program, the Dodge County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a 2030 comprehensive plan, which discourages subdivisions, uses a sliding scale rural density standard -- one lot on 2 to 40 acres, two lots on 40 to 80 acres, three lots on 80 to 120 acres, and four lots on larger tracts -- and recommends home clustering on all lots.

The plan was worked out by Green Bay-based Foth & Van Dyke consultants in cooperation with the multi-jurisdictional Dodge County Advisory Committee, reports Watertown Daily Times writer Diane Graff, quoting firm senior project manager Ken Jaworski, who said it covers all nine broad subjects listed in the Smart Growth law -- issues and opportunities; housing; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural, natural and cultural resources; economic development; intergovernmental cooperation; land use; and implementation.

With 19 of the county's 44 municipalities in the joint effort, the firm helped them draw up their local plans, too. The county's sliding scale residential density standards will apply only to agricultural areas in towns that use full county zoning; all others -- with their own or no zoning -- will remain unaffected.

The plan's key component, the consultant observed, is a future land-use map, which will guide county officials when they face prospective development projects. As trends and conditions change, he added, the long-range plan will be reevaluated and updated. -- Daily Times   3/22/2006

Resource(s): www.wdtimes.com/

Green Bay's Town of Scott Votes to Protect Open Spaces, Cultural Sites Through 20-Year Comprehensive Plan

First in the path of Green Bay's sprawl up the eastern shore, the small town of Scott will protect much of its northern part -- rich in farms, scenic bluffs and Native burial sites -- through a 20-year comprehensive plan, required under the state's Smart Growth law for most priority funding after 2010 and just approved 3-2 by the Town Board, the two ''no'' votes cast by Town Chairman Mike Van Lanen and Supervisor Colleen Harris, opposed to a last-minute exception for local developer Jim Schmitt, who imagines large luxury homes on 50 acres he owns in the area where other development is restricted until at least 2025.

Having no immediate development plans but mentioning the nearby sewer line, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Paul Brinkman, the developer argued that his father owned the tract for 30 years before selling it to him, and that its exemption from the 20-year ban is ''a matter of fairness.''

Supervisors Jason Horkman, Ken Jacobs and Cyril VanLaanen agreed, letting him develop the property within five years if he provides the necessary water service and meets other construction guidelines.

With Scott's population of some 3,400 expected to increase by more than half over 20 years, the writer notes, the comprehensive plan seeks to accommodate this growth in the town's southern part along the Green Bay city limits.

The town will adopt ''conservation subdivision'' zoning to ensure smaller home lots, allow for walking trails and bike paths, and preserve wooded parkways, wildlife corridors and groundwater quality.

''We want to make sure that, even in some of the developed areas, we have scenic views and preservation of natural resources,'' said town planner Dave Cerny.

A strong planning advocate, Town Chairman Van Lanen stressed the predominant public desire to save local atmosphere and identity.

''There's a core part of this area that identifies with each other,'' he observed. ''The farmers want to stay farming. People want the tax rate to stay low. When you get washed into the city of Green Bay, that identity is gone.'' -- Press-Gazette   2/15/2006

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Hartford, Wisconsin Takes Steps to Ensure Affordable Housing for Service Workers

As Wisconsin communities advance their Smart Growth planning process, required by the state to be completed by 2010, they must put enough housing in reach of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other lower-income workers, said Metropolitan Builders Association Executive Director Matt Moroney, warning, ''Without replenishing the stock of affordable housing, what you're doing is driving up housing prices and pricing even more people out of the market.''

Many local officials in the state's most urbanized southeastern quadrant simply classify older units as affordable and favor high-end future housing as certain to generate more property tax revenue, the director said, calling that stance shortsighted and stressing that each community should be concerned whether it will be able house the people who secure its services.

Among cities on the right track is Hartford, 30 miles northwest of Milwaukee, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Amy Rinard, quoting its planner Justin Drew, who said each developer is required to provide some units priced about 20 percent less than the project average. Such lower cost units, the writer finds, have recently ranged from $155,000 in a senior condo project to $200,000 for a single-family home on a half-acre lot.

''Our goal is to have everybody who works here be able to live here,'' the planner noted, adding that instead of classifying only the older housing as affordable, which ''tends to stratify socioeconomic groups and separate them,'' his city wants to ''create cohesive neighborhoods where there is a mix of incomes.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   12/31/2005

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Madison Prepares to Make Infill, New Urbanism ''Official'' City Policy

Having already made an early difference both in central Madison and on the outskirts, infill and new urbanism will soon ''become the official policy of the city,'' said Mayor Dave Cieslewicz about its new long-term comprehensive plan, expecting it to be publicly scrutinized for several weeks, voted on in the council in January, and followed by thorough revision of zoning, all crucial for reversing the half-century old patterns of sprawl.

''I think the rewriting of the zoning code could be the most important thing we begin during the time I'm mayor,'' he said of his 30 months in office so far.

Real estate industry leaders look forward to the comprehensive plan and better zoning, too. Industry-based Smart Growth Madison executive director Delora Newton called the plan's concepts ''really good stuff'' and also stressed the need to rewrite the ''outdated'' zoning code.

In the works for three years, reports Wisconsin State Journal writer Dean Mosiman, the plan includes policy guidelines ''on everything from bicycle paths to economic development,'' envisioning dense parking-lot infills, protection of historic structures, districts and neighborhoods, and replacement of one-story strip malls and cookie-cutter designs with mixed uses and diversified architecture.

It also promotes higher-density mixed-use suburban development, farmland conservation and links between land use and transportation, with a focus on transit -- including streetcars and commuter rail -- to reduce car dependency.

Mayor Cieslewicz said the comprehensive plan and the revamped zoning code should encourage stronger regional cooperation and make development far more predictable. -- Wisconsin State Journal   12/12/2005

Resource(s): www.madison.com/index.php

Madison Mayor Offers Changes to Inclusionary Zoning Law as Housing Market Cools and Support for Ordinance Wanes

Passed just last January, Madison's inclusionary zoning (IZ) law, which requires most new residential projects to make 15 percent of their units affordable for lower-income earners, is facing a rough time as the housing market cools down, with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz proposing ''a very substantive package of improvements,'' the industry-based Smart Growth Madison group demanding its repeal, and the City Council so far split down the middle.

Having taken part in drafting the law on behalf of real estate interests, notes Madison Capital Times writer Lee Sensenbrenner, Smart Growth Madison still voices support for economic integration of neighborhoods and for housing affordability, but its executive director Delora Newton thinks the IZ ordinance would need greater ''political will'' to make it work. She complains that so-called ''off-sets'' developers were to receive, including parking or height cap waivers, failed to materialize or to cover the cost of setting aside 15 percent of units as affordable, and that prospective buyers are allowed only minimal benefit from appreciation of their units upon resale.

In her press release, she also makes this argument: ''Provisions in the ordinance governing rental housing require income limits on all occupants of an IZ unit, which forces people living in IZ units to select roommates based on financial status rather than for traditional reasons.''

Mayoral spokesman George Twigg says the mayor considers his IZ revision package only ''a starting point'' and remains ''open to suggestions'' for further improvements. Pointing out that since the law's enactment, builders have put about 50 affordable units on the market, with none sold yet to eligible families, Capital Times columnist Mike Ivey thinks buyers are not interested because they have ''a lot of other options these days,'' without strings attached.

Due partly to rapid condo conversions, the number of Dane County homes listed for sale in October reached 3,720 -- 55 percent more than a year earlier and almost 200 percent more than two years ago -- hundreds of them available to ''just about everyone with a job and a decent credit rating.'' Two-bedroom condos on the city's west side are priced at $110,000, with monthly payments of $980, and similar units on its northeast can be bought for $89,400, with payments of $845 a month.

Backing the proposed IZ law overhaul, the columnist cautions that ''any mandates on providing affordable housing in Madison are going to face an uphill struggle when the real estate game turns as it has -- from a seller's market into a buyer's one.'' -- Capital Times   11/22/2005

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/

Oconomowoc City Council Considers Funding Roads Through Property Tax Based on Daily Vehicle Trip Numbers

To secure the necessary annual minimum for badly needed repair and maintenance of 67 miles of city streets, the Oconomowoc Common Council may become the first in the state to augment its $250,000 roadwork budget with another $500,000 not by raising property taxes but by creating a street-use ''transportation utility district,'' in which residential, commercial and other properties would be classified according to the average daily vehicle trip numbers they generate and charged progressively -- single-family homes very little, businesses much more.

Residential properties generate 18 percent of the city's traffic, but pay 71 percent of its property taxes, a proportion which would be reversed under the proposed street-use fee formula, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Amy Rinard, quoting City Finance Director Sarah Kitsembel, who says, ''It's considered to be a more equitable way to generate these additional dollars.''

Based on the Institute of Engineers' Trip Generation Manual, widely used nationwide for traffic engineering studies and planning, the writer notes, the formula applies to property classes, not individual properties -- the number of vehicles owned by specific households is not counted in estimates of the class traffic impact.

The street-use fees would also apply to tax-exempt properties, including churches, hospitals and schools owned by nonprofit organizations.

The council's hearing on its 2006 budget and the transportation utility district proposal will be held on November 1. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   10/4/2005

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Columnist Praises ''Vibrant Sense of Place'' at Madison's Mixed-Use, Varied-Income Grandview Commons Subdivision

Inspired by New Urbanism, the 235-acre mixed-use and varied-income Grandview Commons subdivision east of Madison is still in its infancy but ''already a phenomenal success,'' selling faster than any of the 21 others built by Veridian Homes in Dane County, writes Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Whitney Gould, not at all surprised, because ''(i)n contrast to all those faceless, auto-dependent subdivisions with huge houses on huge lots, this newcomer has a vibrant sense of place, akin to the walkable, neighborly communities that many of us aging baby boomers grew up in.''

Close to the street, in many colors and styles, with porches and back garages, the houses sit close together on small, easy to maintain lots, the columnist observes, also admiring well-designed public spaces -- including pocket parks and a village green -- and traffic circles and boulevards full of prime native plants.

Offering fine vistas of the state Capitol a few miles away, she notes, Grandview Commons will feature 1,800 units when finished, including apartments, retirement and affordable starter homes, condos and large houses, plus 50,000 square feet of offices and some 100,000 square feet of retail.

''It's not going to be for everyone,'' says Veridian Homes president of operations David Simon. But he also cautions that if developers keep building what they've always built, claiming ''this is what the market wants,'' buyers will hardly see anything new. ''We're trying to allow people some choices,'' he points out. ''They don't all want a life of beige.''

Vandewalle & Associates project designer Brian Munson thinks the ever-steeper land and gas prices will make people redefine the American Dream of a big house on a big lot. ''Developers will be forced to look at more efficient ways to use the land,'' he predicts. You're going to see more options.''

Indeed, Congress for the New Urbanism spokesman Steve Filmanowicz already counts 754 traditional-style subdivisions completed or under construction nationwide, about a dozen of them in the Madison area.

Nevertheless, Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee executive director Matt Moroney, whose group encourages denser development, says many people ''still want space,'' because they ''associate compact living with traffic congestion and crime.''

Mentioning such ''hard-nosed reasons to combat sprawl'' as car use burdens, public service costs and also fairness, since big lots and big houses ''price out people of modest means'' and shut out the elderly who can no longer do the maintenance, the columnist voices optimism. ''As more people see the appeal of diverse places like Grandview Commons, the market and local zoning rules will respond,'' she writes. ''Before you know it, real neighborhoods will be born once again.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   8/28/2005

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Columnist Wonders Why Wisconsin's Smart Growth Program Needed Rescue

''Welcome back, Smart Growth,'' writes free-lance Green Bay Press-Gazette outdoor recreation columnist Pat Durkin, saluting Governor Jim Doyle's veto against budgetary cancellation of the popular program, but wondering why it ever needed rescue, being one of the few laws ''that can be embraced by liberals and conservatives alike to justify their beliefs on how best to maintain rural Wisconsin's values, culture and economic strength.''

Convinced like many others that cooperative long-range planning offers the only chance to preserve these assets, the columnist writes, ''We can only marvel at the mental gymnastics required by the program's opponents to transform Smart Growth into a big brother, anti-realtor-green-powered conspiracy against the little guy.''

The columnist would expect a fiscal conservative to ''look at rural traffic jams and ponder how to get all those SUVs off the farmer's back so he doesn't have to wait so long to cross the highway and get back to plowing;'' or to think ''how much school districts could save if they weren't continually expanding bus routes;'' or to consider ''the mounting maintenance costs of bridges, gravel, cement, snow-removal and upgraded power lines as commuters replace farmers and cattlemen, and Marts replace tractor-supply dealers.''

With the reality of rural life making ''everyone and everything'' connected, be it through wildlife, tourism, forestry, agriculture, housing or commerce, the columnist points out, ''(m)ost people who grow up in rural Wisconsin know intelligent, profitable land use requires interaction and planning.'' -- Green Bay Press-Gazette   7/21/2005

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Madison Mayor Welcomes Restoration of State Smart Growth Law

One of many public, private and elected leaders who urged Governor Jim Doyle to counter the cutting excesses of the Republicans' biennial budget, Madison Democratic Mayor Dave Cieslewicz welcomed the governor's line-item vetoes of three destructive environmental and growth planning cuts, with a statement focused on the Smart Growth law as ''an example of bipartisanship.''

His brief statement reads: ''Before I was a mayor, I was the executive secretary of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, and one of my proudest achievements was to help draft our state's Smart Growth law.

''Passage of that law was an example of bipartisanship that is far too rare in politics these days. Democrats and Republicans, environmentalists and Realtors, all worked together to craft this program, which was ultimately signed into law by former Gov. Thompson.

''Smart Growth helps Wisconsin communities balance their economic development and growth needs with environmental concerns such as preventing sprawl. Thanks to Gov. Doyle's leadership today, cities, villages and towns through the state will continue to benefit from this program.''   7/18/2005

Resource(s): www.wisdems.org/

Gov. Doyle Uses Line-Item Veto to Restore Wisconsin's Smart Growth Planning Program

''Wisconsin's environment is worth preserving. And so is Smart Growth,'' said Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, calling the House and Senate Republican majorities ''totally out of touch with the mainstream'' of the state and even the party over the sharp cuts in their $54 billion biennial budget bill, and announcing the first three line-item vetoes -- to protect the state's 1989 open land Stewardship Fund, prevent a 25-percent reduction in the landfill dumping fee, and restore the 1999 Smart Growth planning program, along with $4 million over two years to help communities prepare long-term plans required by 2010.

''Republicans in the Legislature have moved so far out of the mainstream that they are actually trying to dismantle part of Tommy Thompson's legacy as Governor -- repealing one of the programs he championed,'' said Governor Doyle, referring to his Republican predecessor and the U.S. Health and Housing Services (HHS) Secretary from 2001 to 2005.

''Smart Growth was a bipartisan effort -- signed into law by Governor Thompson -- to encourage better local planning so that our economy can grow without hurting the environment.''

The law is working, Governor Doyle continued, pointing out that 743 communities benefitted from its funds so far, that it has support from local governments, Realtors, builders and conservationists, and that far from being a ''mandate,'' it's ''local citizens deciding for themselves how to grow while preserving Wisconsin's special quality of life'' and ''business and environmental leaders coming together to forge consensus.''   7/18/2005

Resource(s): www.wisdems.org/

State Senator Promises Fight Against Wisconsin Budget That Would Eliminate Smart Growth Law, Environmental Programs

''It is ironic that the same legislators who insist we reaffirm in the Constitution that Wisconsin citizens have the right to hunt and fish, continue to hurt programs that support public hunting and fishing,'' said State Senate Democratic Committee Treasurer, Senator Mark Miller, promising a fight against the Republican-crafted state budget bill, which cuts ''necessary funding'' sought by Governor Jim Dole.

The Republican bill, pointed out Senator Miller in his party press release, cuts monies for programs that preserve pristine land and waters, protect water quality, promote recycling, and ''encourage good land use planning.''

Specifically, he says, it slashes $4.7 from programs to reduce non-point pollution, jeopardizes the entire Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Fund for land and water purchases, and lowers the recycling tipping fee at state landfills from $3 per ton of solid waste to $2.25, undermining funds for community recycling efforts.

Noting that the governor's budget ''also maintains the Wisconsin Comprehensive Planning Law known as 'Smart Growth' to help local governments plan for future growth and avoid sprawl,'' the senator stressed, ''The Republican budget actually repeals the Smart Growth programs and eliminates its $2 million annual appropriation. Elimination of Smart Growth will impact these small communities that wish to maintain their quality of life but face growing development pressure. The Republican repeal of Smart Growth is basically a gift to developers who want to put a house in every cornfield.''   6/30/2005

Resource(s): www.wisdems.org/

Wisconsin Assembly Votes to Cut Smart Growth Program, But Governor May Veto Proposed Budget

Controlled by Republicans (60-39), the Assembly voted 56-40 for a $53-billion biennial budget, which halves education spending sought by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, cuts another $25 million from the University of Wisconsin, and eliminates the entire $2 million annually for the continuation of the 1999 Smart Growth community planning program, with a Madison Capital Times editorial expecting the budget to squeeze through the Republican-led (19-14) Senate, but calling these and other cuts totally ''irresponsible'' and urging the governor to exercise his veto power.

The governor, the editorial notes, has indicated his willingness to do just that should his new road campaign against the cuts be insufficient to persuade some Republican senators of the need to restore the crucial funds.

Meanwhile, growth-management opponents are seeking advice from Oregon property rights activists. Brought to Shawano County by Vilas County Supervisor and Taxpayers for Fair Zoning executive director Jay Verhulst, reports Shawano Leader writer Tim Ryan, Oregon political consultant Larry George told some 200 area residents that ''(s)mart growth is a violation of private property rights,'' because it lets governments skirt around their protection guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

Despite Cuts, Many Communities Remain Committed to Local Anti-Sprawl Efforts

But according to other dispatches from across the state, many communities are committed to their anti-sprawl and urban redevelopment efforts, including the Madison area's Stoughton, Baraboo and Evansville.

Stoughton, reports Capital Times correspondent Karyn Saemann, has recently passed a long-range Smart Growth comprehensive plan, while already preparing to revitalize a 63-acre swatch in its depressed rail corridor along the Yahara River.

Baraboo's Smart Growth plan, reports Baraboo Republic writer Brian Bridgeford, envisions the city's future expansion onto adjacent Greenfield land, but officials are considering a boundary agreement to protect the small town's character.

And in Evansville, reports Gazette writer Danielle Letenyei, East Main Street ''couldn't be happier'' with the city's just-approved comprehensive Smart Growth plan, ''especially now that it officially designates their two blocks of historic homes as a residential area.'' -- Capital Times, Shawano Leader, Baraboo Republic, Gazette   6/22/2005

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/ ; www.shawanoleader.com/

Madison ''Visionary'' Urges More Education for Kids on Importance of Smart Growth

''How many kids today know anything about smart growth and what it means to our future?'' wonders University of Wisconsin-Madison semi-retired professor of landscape architecture Phil Lewis, 78, telling Capital Times columnist Rob Zaleski that the media and especially schools must do a better job to explain the importance of mass transit, land conservation and other key ingredients of better long-term quality of life.

Called by the columnist ''one of the great visionaries'' Madison has known,'' professor Lewis argued 10 years ago that the city and Dane County should look a decade ahead to population and traffic increases, and approve an 85-mile regional commuter-rail loop at a cost of $42 million, about what the Department of Transportation spent on the U.S. 151 Verona bypass, with little effect on area congestion.

''If that system had been built,'' the columnist writes, ''people who commute to Madison from western and northern Dane County could be making that commute today in total comfort -- rather than fighting for their lives -- regardless of the weather.''

Disappointed that ''(n)obody wanted to listen,'' professor Lewis asks himself what will it take to wake the public up. ''The projections are that the urban population is going to double in the next 30 or 40 years,'' he observes. ''And people just can't seem to understand what that means -- a doubling of schools, a doubling of vehicles on the road, a doubling of everything.''

Still, he sees seeds of a change in new local political activism and ever-louder complaints about gridlock on the Beltline. The latter ''means we're beginning to get our fanny caught in the crack and it's beginning to hurt,'' he says, adding, ''And when people start feeling that pain every day, that's when they start demanding some of these (other) options.'' -- Capital Times   6/15/2005

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/

Criticism Mounts Over Elimination of Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law

In the two weeks since conservative Republican lawmakers in the Joint Finance Committee engineered its 10-6 vote to eliminate the 1999 Smart Growth law as part of the state's 2005-07 budget, criticism of the move has steadily mounted, with Democratic Governor Jim Doyle telling the Wisconsin Radio Network the law leaves development in local hands and repealing it would take the state in the wrong direction, and with similar objections voiced by local, environmental and real estate officials.

''It's one of the best ways to get people involved in the planning process,'' said Onalaska Town Chairman Dave Paudler about the law, while land-use and development director Jason Gilman pointed out that it ''gives all municipalities a very strong basis for comprehensive planning.''

Like two other La Crosse County communities, Holmen and La Crosse, reports Onalaska Community Life writer Paul Sloth, the town has almost completed its comprehensive land-use and development plan, required by the Smart Growth law by 2010, and now is beginning to seek public input on the draft. Chairman Paulder, who also heads the town planning commission, observed that even though the law's opponents aren't very vocal or very organized, they try online to incite lawmakers against Smart Growth.

1000 Friends of Wisconsin, the writer notes, issued a statement urging lawmakers to keep the law alive, an appeal echoed by the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA). ''Good planning is critical to protecting Wisconsin's quality of life and enhancing our local economies,'' said WRA President William Malkasian in his statement. ''If communities fail to plan effectively for new growth and development, they will be unprepared to take advantage of the new economic development opportunities as they become available.'' -- Onalaska Community Life   5/20/2005

Resource(s): www.wrn.com/site/index.cfm ; www.onalaskalife.com/

Current, Former Officials Debate Repeal of Wisconsin's Planning Law

''If Republicans were to do a poll and ask people whether its's appropriate to do long-term land-use planning, they'd probably find most people are in favor of it,'' commented former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson's state Administration Secretary Mark Bugher on the legislative Joint Finance Committee's sudden 10-6 vote to repeal the 1999 Smart Growth planning law, calling the law ''a classic example of Republicans and Democrats, environmentalists and business people working together on a problem facing this state.''

The law, notes Madison Capital Times writer David Callender, requires local jurisdictions to have comprehensive land-use plans by 2010 and observe them in development decisions, providing $2 million in annual state grants to craft and adopt the plans.

''It was one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by the Thompson administration, real landmark land-use legislation,'' said Secretary Bugher, head of a state task force that envisioned the law and now director of the University of Wisconsin Research Park in Madison.

Joint Finance Committee Co-chairman, Republican Senator Scott Fitzgerald, responded that in 1999 most lawmakers felt the need to prompt action on the local level and ''to put incentives together to lure people into planning,'' but now local officials just want to ''grab cash for stuff they're going to do anyway,'' without state help. ''It's just one of those programs that -- people hear 'Smart Growth' and it makes them feel good,'' he argued. ''But it's not really having an impact on anything.''

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, the writer reports, countered that view. ''This is not stuff that communities would be doing anyway because before the law, they weren't doing it,'' stressed Mayor Cieslewicz, who helped draft the law when he led 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, calling the committee's vote ''a huge setback and a big step in the wrong direction.''

Dane County Executive Falk credited the law for bringing the area's rural and municipal leaders together and helping them end a protracted battle over farmland development. And since the law promotes inter-jurisdictional agreements on future growth, she pointed out, ''people see this as at least an opportunity to talk to their neighbors and try to resolve things.'' -- Capital Times   5/17/2005

Resource(s): www.madison.com/

Newspaper Blasts Wisconsin Legislators for Rhetoric Over Smart Growth Law

Taken aback by the legislative Joint Finance Committee's 10-6 vote against the state's 1999 Smart Growth law, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel laughs at the law's three main Republican foes, Representatives Dan Meyer and David Ward and Senator Scott Fitzgerald, for ''an entertaining array of fanciful claims'' about forcing local governments to plan their future, calling these claims ''overblown rhetoric intended to cloud the issue.''

The vote came with little discussion, says the daily's editorial, quoting equally upset Republican Representative Sheryl Albers, whose press release revealed that the matter was decided in ''not more than a few hours'' and that ''the explanatory note accompanying the motion wasn't even an accurate reflection of current law.''

The law, the editorial reminds the foes, requires local communities only to adopt comprehensive long-range land use and development plans by 2010, while creating such plans openly with broad public involvement, which doesn't negate but ensures local control.

The law tells communities to address some elements but ''not what to do'' about them -- it ''does not require communities to provide a certain amount of green space or allow specific kinds of development or bar other kinds of development.'' And since no community exists as an island and since whatever one does has an impact on some others, the editorial continues, ''(p)lanning together to create communities that serve all citizens is a matter of simple common sense, not a matter of Big Brother government.''

In fact, the editorial points out, ''the real Big Brother here appears to be the state legislators who prefer making deals and decisions about this budget behind closed doors, with little or no public debate.''

Glad that Democratic Governor Jim Doyle is expected to try to keep the Smart Growth program intact, the editorial says he will need help, concluding, ''We hope that smart legislators on both sides of the aisle will vote in the interest of their constituents and provide that help.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   5/15/2005

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Editorial Sees Need for Balance Between Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law Proponents, Critics

''Abrupt cancellation of Smart Growth planning would disrespect what's already been done'' since 1999, warns a Beloit Daily News editorial, agreeing with the law's critics that some local governments may not see the need for comprehensive plans by 2010, but also confirming the obvious environmental and economic value of regional planning, although ''it may make more sense in more densely populated area such as southern Wisconsin, (where Beloit is), than in remote regions of the north.''

Smart Growth opponents ''want growth issues to be handled without interference from the state,'' the editorial says, noting that since development ''depends on money put up by private investors'' and since some who are ready ''to build a factory, a distribution center, a discount department store or a restaurant'' may not be receptive to investment instructions, ''(e)xcessively restrictive planning can take a community right out of the development game.''

At the same time, the state must care about its multi-billion-dollar tourism business. ''Environmental stewardship is not a nuisance in Wisconsin. It's a way of life,'' the editorial stresses. ''Perhaps what is needed is a third way,'' it remarks, ''somewhere between what some see as oppressively restrictive requirements and the abrupt cancellation of the Smart Growth program.'' -- Beloit Daily News   5/13/2005

Resource(s): www.beloitdailynews.com/

Wisconsin Legislators Strike Blow Against Smart Growth in Vote to Repeal State Law

Prodded by rural area Republican Representatives Dan Meyer and David Ward, the legislative Joint Finance Committee working on the 2005-07 budget voted 10-6 to repeal the state's 1999 Smart Growth law and eliminate its annual $2 million in aid for local governments that are preparing comprehensive long-range land use and development plans required by 2010.

According to 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Walters, about 40 percent of local communities have been participating in the smart-growth planning process. ''You're dictating it from the top,'' argued Representative Meyer, former Eagle River mayor.

Smart Growth, echoed Representative Ward, forces local officials to plan ''with a gun to their head.''

Joint Finance Committee Co-chairman, Republican Senator Scott Fitzgerald noted that in Dodge County, where he comes from, officials think the Smart Growth law is ''anything but smart,'' because instead of letting communities plan at their own pace, it treats them all the same. ''Let's allow development to be controlled at the local level,'' he added.

Lawmakers from Milwaukee and Madison opposed the move to kill the law, with Democratic Representative Mark Pocan pointing out it would spur ''helter-skelter'' development throughout rural areas. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's chief of staff Pat Curley said repeal of the law would ''toss out the window'' five years of work by many communities on joint growth and transportation programs.

''If (legislators) are not for Smart Growth, are they for 'dumb' growth?'' he asked, stressing that Democratic Governor Jim Doyle should veto the repeal provision if the full legislature keeps it in the budget bill sent for his signature. Gubernatorial aide Melanie Fonder said the governor believes the Smart Growth law has helped stem sprawl and will try to keep it alive. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   5/11/2005

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Site for New De Pere Elementary School Is Near Planned Subdivisions

Even if 22 acres for a neighborhood elementary school may seem too much given recent educational study findings and sky-high land prices in fast-growing areas, the De Pere School District is willing to spend almost $860,000 on such a site in Ledgeview, about two miles southwest of central De Pere, with Superintendent Ben Villarruel and Brown County principal planner Cole Runge pointing out that its location amid several planned subdivisions and a town center under construction fits comprehensive ''smart growth'' plans of both municipalities, and will allow school access without cars.

Instrumental in drawing up both plans, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Jim Kneiszel, the county planner expects drastic reduction of the 45 mph speed limit on the County G road near the future school, with a series of roundabouts and other traffic calming devices. In addition, part of the road will be narrowed, with paths added on both sides and possibly pedestrian islands in the center.

The vision, the planner said, is to build the school ''in a location where kids can easily reach it on foot and by bike.''

To finalize the deal before its August deadline, the district will use the Wisconsin State Trust Fund Loan Program, repaying the debt through sale of a site originally intended for the school.

Located about a mile farther east, along another county road, the site was bought in 1999, before land-price spikes, for only $300,000, but last year a study committee advised against its use because of an underground petroleum pipeline and area traffic. It is now likely to fetch enough to cover the new purchase costs. -- Green Bay Press-Gazette   3/8/2005

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

De Pere City Council Rejects Proposal to Reduce Minimum Street Frontage

Although other Green Bay metro communities, with one exception, have smaller single-family lot minimums and frontages, De Pere's City Council brushed off persistent recommendations from City Planner Bill Patzke and voted 5-3 against a proposal to reduce its street frontage minimum from 90 to 80 feet.

Alderman Sam Dunlop, who voted for the change together with colleagues Jim Hooyman and Paul Kegel, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Jim Kneiszl, blasted the majority for ignoring buyers of modest means and others who don't want big yards.

''Oftentimes it seems that the council has a lack of vision and understanding of what the market is in this area,'' he said. ''They need to understand that De Pere is going to evolve as a community and that means a diversified land and lot usage.''

Having for months argued for greater density, which would be consistent with the comprehensive Smart Growth plan adopted last year and would make city services more efficient, planner Patzke rebuffed claims that a lower lot minimum would bring in lesser quality housing. Small lots have great resale value everywhere, which doesn't mean that De Pere's big lots will lose their attractiveness, he said.

But he also pointed out, the writer paraphrases, ''that big yards contribute to suburban sprawl and represent poor planning for a city with dwindling open acreage.'' -- Green Bay Press-Gazette   2/5/2005

Resource(s): www.pressgazettenews.com/news/archive/local_19692488.shtml

De Pere City Council Slow to Support Smart Growth Plan

Although the De Pere City Council adopted a Smart Growth plan last year that calls for denser development and smaller home lots, it later voted 5-3 against reduction of the city's standard lot minimum from 11,000 to 9,000 square feet, with frontage cut from 90 to 80 feet, and some aldermen who continued their resistance to density at recent project hearings promise to do so also in the future.

Earlier this month, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Jim Kneiszel, Mayor Michael Walsh had to break a 4-4 deadlock to give preliminary approval for the 46.9-acre Garrity's Glenn ''planned development district'' (PDD) subdivision with lot frontages only slightly shorter than the standard 90 feet. Four aldermen claimed that smaller lots, that is greater density, would strain garbage collection service, counter the demand for homes with three-car garages, and cause neighborhood problems.

This drew strong objections. ''The national trend is to be more conservative when it comes to land development,'' said Ashwaubenon-based River City Realtors partner Pat Kaster, who proposed the subdivision with partner Dennis Layden. ''They're not making any more of it, and once it's used, it's gone,'' she continued. ''You have to develop smarter and get the most out of what you have.'' She also noted that all houses in some of the nicest De Pere and other area neighborhoods have 60-to-65-foot lot frontages and resell ''very quickly,'' because buyers also seek affordability.

City Administrator Larry Delo pointed out that the city and other Green Bay areas have plenty of mid-size suburban lots, but lack small lots like those in older neighborhoods, which require less maintenance and increasingly attract baby boomers and young families.

Brown County principal planner Cole Runge also stressed the need for various lot sizes to suit different lifestyles, saying, ''You don't need a half-acre or quarter-acre minimum lot to create a nice neighborhood.''

Consequently, the writer reports, the City Council just voted 5-3 for final approval of Garrity's Glen, with Alderman Mike Fleck, who decided to change his previous vote because the ''handwriting was on the wall,'' still convinced that the city should stick to its present standard lot minimum. The council will address the issue once again next month. -- Green Bay Press-Gazette   1/20/2005

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Developers Working With Madison's New Inclusionary Zoning Law

Enacted in February amid threats that some home builders may leave the city for the suburbs, Madison's hotly debated inclusionary zoning law -- which mandates that 15 percent of housing be affordable for buyers and renters making 80 and 60 percent of the Dane County median income, respectively -- resulted in approval of six projects offering a total of 65 low-cost units so far and plans for 19 projects adding at least 309 such units.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says ''the numbers point to the success of the program.'' City Council President Brenda Konkel, another champion of the law, agrees the numbers are ''pretty good, given that this was the end of the world and development was never going to happen.''

City planning director Brad Murphy can't see any significant change in the home construction pace, and the developer-based Smart Growth Madison executive director, Delora Newton, says the industry is warming to the law, although some are looking for outside prospects.

Notwithstanding the law's early success, reports Madison Wisconsin State Journal writer Dean Mosiman, the additional paperwork and financial bottom-line uncertainties don't make the developer's task easy, especially downtown, where land is costly and where they face height limits and other restrictions.

But the law is flexible. If developers find they can't make sufficient profit even with incentives and density bonuses for low-cost units, the writer notes, they have four options. They can build the units off-site, assign them to a third party, pay 10 percent of the market-unit price for every low-cost unit to a special inclusionary-zoning fund, or seek a reduction in the required low-cost-unit number.

Some are using these options; others are more inventive, the writer observes. Builder Yehuda Elmakias will be able to sell his three-bedroom single-family home for $180,000 because he saved on interior features, while the main developer of the 46-lot site, Gorman & Co., charged more for the $300,000-plus market-rate lots.

Developer Scott Lewis will be selling six of his 36 condos to nonprofit Common Wealth Development for $90,000-$123,000 instead of the $145,000-$180,00 market price, with the nonprofit arranging special financing for the low-income buyers.

Developer Todd McGrath is considering tax increment financing or nonprofit group assistance for his 400 condos, to offer 60 of them in a low-price range, or even ''having buyers use 'sweat equity' to improve basic units.'' -- Wisconsin State Journal   12/13/2004

Resource(s): www.madison.com/wsj/

Milwaukee Will Encourage Green Roofs for Stormwater Management as Part of Sustainable Development Initiative

Devised by Mayor Tom Barrett, his new City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux, and key environmental and business leaders, the Milwaukee Initiative for Sustainable Development will encourage builders to contain storm water runoff through ''green'' roofing techniques, which will be obligatory to those seeking tax increment financing and other subsidies, with Commissioner Marcoux stressing, ''If you get public money, you should be doing things for the public good.''

The commissioner, until recently Milwaukee Housing Authority development manager, writes Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Whitney Gould, is presenting the newly built $12 million Highland Gardens public housing mid-rise -- with 114 affordable apartments for the elderly and the disabled, and with a 20,000-square-foot vegetational roof -- as a runoff containment model. Its sedum and other native grasses, planted in four-to-eight-square-foot plastic modules, will absorb 85 percent of a 2-inch rain, which would have gone into the city's over-strained sewer system.

The ''green'' modules will also protect the roof from ultraviolet sun rays, increasing its longevity by 50 percent and reducing the building's cooling and heating costs by 20 percent.

''It's the ultimate low-tech solution,'' points out Mayor Barrett. ''And if we're going to sell the idea to others, we believe the city has to walk the walk.''

The mayor and the development commissioner envision another 3,000 ''green roof'' public housing units throughout the city, while the Common Council wants other users to benefit, too. Under its recently approved budget amendment, sponsored by Democratic Alderman Michael McGee, experts will look at 125 city-owned buildings with flat roofs, including schools and libraries, to determine whether they can be retrofitted to cut operational costs and control runoff. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   11/28/2004

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Statewide Poll Reveals Strong Support for Road Maintenance, But Few Fans of Mileage-Based Highway User Fees in Wisconsin

Asked in a statewide poll to give the Wisconsin Department of Transportation some idea about their top priorities for its new Connection 2030 policy plan, 79 percent of respondents chose well-maintained roads and bridges; 68 percent, safe sidewalks and pedestrian crossings; and 64 percent, safe bike and walking routes to school.

In addition, 64 percent backed construction of multi-modal transportation hubs; 63 percent, expansion of passenger rail service with high-speed trains; and 61 percent, creation of truck-only lanes on busy highways.

On the other hand, only 34 percent backed the concept of milage-based highway user fees strongly opposed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle.

Conducted by Real World Research of Madison, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Larry Sandler, the poll also showed it's better to repave rather than expand highways, to extend roads rather than build new ones, to reduce road project costs rather than motorists' inconvenience during construction, and to pursue road repairs rather than new projects across the state.

The Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, together with other groups, is pressing the state to shift its main focus from new highways to road repairs, street improvements, and transit expansion, with alliance spokesman Rich Eggleston wishing the poll had also probed public views on the relation between transportation and land use. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   11/8/2004

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Retail Developer Slams Madison's Proposed ''Big Box'' Ordinance

Hotly debated and tinkered with over the past 18 months, Madison's proposed ''big box'' ordinance now would affect stores of more than 40,000 square feet, limit them to 100,000 square feet, and allow more space if they meet several design and environmental requirements, but a top area retail developer, John Flad of Flad Development, still slammed it before the Plan Commission, saying tight urban-type retail restrictions in suburban areas ''simply won't work.''

The developer didn't like provisions for parking lots behind stores and storefronts near sidewalks. He argued that the ordinance would stifle innovation and that the approval process would cost money that could be better spent on architectural features, landscaping and other enhancements, reports Madison Capital Times writer Mike Ivey, noting that stores over 100,000 square feet also would have to include mixed-use components, multiple stories, non-surface parking, environmental safeguards, energy efficiency and similar improvements.

The business-based Smart Growth Madison group's representative, Delora Newton, echoed the criticism. Assuring the commission that developers also would like to make ''big boxes'' more attractive and people-friendly, she pointed out that ''discount' stores account for 55 percent of retail sales nationwide, and added, ''Landscaping, pedestrian access, those are great. But saying that a building can't be more than 20 feet from the lot line is something that affects the ability of retail to function.''

The commission is expected to vote on the ordinance after 45 days of public review and comments. -- Capital Times   9/22/2004

Resource(s): www.madison.com/tct/

Law Requiring Statewide Comprehensive Plans Continues to Draw Varied Views

Enacted as part of the 1999-2001 state budget to promote sound land use and land conservation, Wisconsin's ''smart growth'' law requires all counties and municipalities to create comprehensive plans by January 2010 and make their subsequent zoning ordinances, subdivision rules, annexations and incorporations plan-compliant, with La Crosse County zoning director Jeff Bluske saying jurisdictions without plans could lose state aid.

''If they do not have a plan,'' he tells La Crosse Tribune writer Joan Kent, ''they will not be able to make any land use decisions.''

Concerned that Wisconsin is behind many states that passed land use laws in the 1970s and the 1980s, La Crosse City Planner Larry Kirch sees the state's development as driven by estate planning and farmers' economic needs. ''Every farmer wants to sell off a few lots,'' he observes. ''The solution is to get some consensus on what we want the area to look like in 20 to 50 years because there's no going back.''

To encourage smart growth, points out Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission director Greg Flogstad, the state and federal governments should offer anti-sprawl incentives, including tax benefits for housing served by city water and sewer systems and tax surcharges on lots and homes in outside areas.

''As a society we should promote denser development and make it as profitable to build as the big houses,'' he says, also stressing that urban areas should be made more attractive ''so people do not want to live 10 miles out and commute every day'' and that comprehensive planning would help local officials pursue zoning without fear of being bogged down in disputes about private property rights.

And this issue is most important for Wisconsin Realtors Association director Tom Larson, whose group supports smart growth and who expect the law to put the state on the forefront of land use planning. But he also notes that communities ''get into problems when they exclude certain people, such as large landowners, from the discussions,'' adding, ''Community interests vs. private property rights is not an easy nut to crack.'' -- La Crosse Tribune   8/17/2004

Resource(s): www.lacrossetribune.com/

What's the Difference Between a ''Good'' and ''Bad'' Parking Lot?

Architecture critic Whitney Gould takes on parking lots, analyzing and critiquing ''the good, the bad, and the ugly'' in Milwaukee, accompanied by a landscape architect. She points out that ''a bad parking lot can blight an entire neighborhood, wasting valuable real estate and creating a sense of placelessness. These vast asphalt surfaces also add to the urban heat island effect, raising surrounding air temperatures. They speed the flow of polluted runoff into waterways.''

Gould praises lots that have clearly marked entrances and exits, landscaped islands, marked pedestrian lanes, porous pavement, and shade trees.

Milwaukee now discourages new surface parking downtown, and existing parking lots are being redeveloped into condos and other uses. Gould suggests that communities need to think hard about how much parking they need and how best to use their available land. -- Journal Sentinal   8/8/2004

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Survey Would Assess Wisconsin's State-Mandated Smart Growth Law

''From a public policy standpoint, we want to figure out, is the [state's Smart Growth] law an effective one?'' asked Anna Haines, director of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Center for Land Use Education.

A team of researchers from UWSP, UW-Whitewater and Marquette University plans to collect surveys from more than 120 municipalities that have received state grant money for comprehensive planning. Their goal is to assess how communities, primarily in Portage County, have incorporated the state-mandated smart growth principles.

Under the new law, every Wisconsin community is eligible for state financial support to pay about half of the costs of preparing a comprehensive plan as required in the new law. As of March 2004, the Comprehensive Planning Grant Program has provided $11.3 million in funding to over 600 towns, villages, cities, counties, regional planning commissions, and tribes.

Wisconsin's Smart Growth law is often contentious, and the research will attempt to address this issue as well. The team will present the findings at a conference in Stevens Point in October. -- Stevens Point Journal   8/2/2004

Resource(s): www.stevenspointjournal.com/

Milwaukee's PabstCity Mixed-Use Project Hits Financing Snag

PabstCity, a project with 260 apartments, 200 condominiums, 400,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of office space, is having difficulty acquiring mayoral approval for $75 million in tax increment financing (TIF). It will cost $395 million to renovate the downtown Milwaukee site of a former brewery, with $18 million of the cost going toward environmental remediation of the site and $39 million for structured parking.

Although the mayor is behind the renovation, the proposed TIF financing is larger than the 10 percent of the project that is generally approved. In particular, the city would like to lower the number of proposed parking spaces and suggests sharing existing spaces with nearby downtown establishments. -- The Business Journal   8/1/2004

Brown County Comprehensive Plan Focuses on Quality of Life

Drafted for two years under the state's Smart Growth guidelines, with broad community participation and all stakeholders' input, the 20-year Brown County Comprehensive Plan went back to the public for a final tune-up in a two-month review and hearing process, with Planning Commission Director Chuck Lamine calling it both an environmental and an economic development document sharply focused on quality of life.

Since the county's growth through 2025 will be driven by Green Bay's outer suburbs -- Howard and Suamico to the city's north, and De Pere and Bellevue to its south and southeast -- the county wants to ensure sound land-use and transportation patterns, reports Green Bay Press-Gazette writer Terry Anderson. He quotes principal county planner Cole Runge, who says, ''This plan stresses fiscal responsibility, and that includes moving people from cars to buses or bicycles or on their feet.''

Specifically, the plan's land-use chapter envisages incentives for developers to build planned, traditional, mixed-use neighborhoods, while preserving greenspace, ecologically sensitive areas and rural land; higher densities, site redevelopment, and building rehabilitation; and new municipal centers and civic spaces within communities to spur neighborhood activities and social events.

The transportation chapter calls for highway maintenance before new construction; local matching funds for the county's highway projects, to ensure rational development decisions and the efficient use of present infrastructure; and neighborhoods with basic services within a five-minute walk, to reduce car dependency and let walking and biking become viable options.

Other chapters urge caution against premature extensions of utilities and infrastructure into agricultural land; preservation and acquisition of coastal lands, wetlands, streams, forests, wildlife habitat and other irreplaceable natural sites; minimal utility extension beyond the Green Bay metro area, to encourage infill and contiguous development; smaller residential lots and equal community shares of low-to-medium-income housing and related services, ''so that no one community must provide them all''; county partnerships with local communities to upgrade and redevelop the Green Bay and Fox River waterfronts; and intergovernmental cooperation both within the county and between all counties in the region. -- Green Bay Press-Gazette   7/3/2004

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Smart Growth Plan a Top Priority for New Price County Chairman

Few things are more important for ushering in better development patterns than willingness across the government spectrum -- an axiom well illustrated by the Price County Board that cancelled work on a comprehensive ''smart growth'' plan under former leadership but is ready to resume it under a new one, and by Fifield's planning committee that alone continued review of town ordinances until its chairman resigned two months ago but also is eager to proceed.

The Price County Board elected its new chairman Dan Racette to succeed chairman Rick Lukes in April, reports The Park Falls Herald, quoting him as saying resumption of smart-growth planning and approval of the lakes classification study are among his top priorities.

It's still state law that counties should work out comprehensive smart-growth plans by 2010, chairman Racette said, concerned about the lack of county planning funds this fiscal year and about their prospect next year, which would leave towns like Fifield without help.

Nevertheless, the Fifield planning committee, said Town Chairman Doug Noetzel wants to pursue its quite advanced revision of ordinances and to follow other smart-growth guidelines. In the future he, added, the town may join the county in cross-jurisdictional planning. -- The Park Falls Herald   6/23/2004

Resource(s): www.parkfallswi.com/

Stoughton Plan Commission Votes to Increase Size of Retail Stores

Over objections from most speakers at its crowded public hearing, the Stoughton Plan Commission voted 5-2 to recommend an increase in the city's retail store cap from 110,000 to 155,000 square feet -- the size of a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on its rural northern edge -- with the City Council's vote expected next month.

First proposing a 183,000-square-foot Supercenter early last year, Wal-Mart drew strong concerns over the size and location of the store, and in response scaled it down to 155,000 square feet late that year, to which the council reacted with the 110,000-square-foot cap, writes Stoughton Courier Hub editor Rick Hummell about the contentious project's history.

But after several Wal-Mart backers won council seats in April, the new majority voted 10-2 to increase the cap to 155,000 square feet. Since such zoning ordinance changes can only be approved on the recommendation of the Plan Commission, the editor explains, the council needs to vote on the cap again.

Still, plan commission member Bob Diebel observed that Wal-Mart has recently been more responsive to community wishes elsewhere in the country, noting, ''We could be on the forefront of that trend and if we vote for it (the cap increase) ... we're throwing away that opportunity.''

Alderwoman Melissa Lampe said she and Alderwoman Kathleen Kelly made the initial motion to increase the cap to 155,000 square feet because they feared ''a motion to eliminate the cap altogether,'' but they both really ''would prefer a cap of 110,000 or lower.'' -- Courier Hub   6/18/2004

Resource(s): www.stoughtonnews.com/index.cfm

Milwaukee's Germantown Suburb Reviews Proposal for Mixed-Use Project

In response to strong demand for senior housing in Germantown, on the northwestern edge of metro Milwaukee, developer John Barnes proposed a 32-acre mixed-use complex -- with 300 apartments, 10,000 square feet of commercial and office space, and extensive walking trails -- which would require rezoning of the rural tract, but would be consistent with the village's long-range Smart Growth plan.

Village planning commissioners, the developer told Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Peter Maller, ''seemed fairly receptive'' to his preliminary proposal, asking for a more detailed architectural and site plan.

Barnes would like to build two buildings of 100 units each; 20 clusters of four to six ranch-style homes, retail shops, health and fitness centers, other service facilities, and a restaurant. -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   6/10/2004

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/

''Attain Dane'' Plan Offered as a Better Way to Curb Sprawl, Preserve Rural Identity in Dane County

To save their rural identity, communities must ''permanently protect a lot of open space'' or protect it at least for much longer than the usual comprehensive planning frame of 20 years, said land use consultant Mike Slavney at a session of the Southeast Dane Communities' Comprehensive Planning Regional Steering Committee (RSC), outlining the bold long-range ''Attain Dane'' plan, proposed by County Executive Kathleen Falk, as a better way to curb sprawl and its impact on housing, transportation and the environment.

The plan would protect large tracts of farmland and open space by transfer of development rights (TDR) or purchase of development rights (PDR), reports Stoughton Courier Hub writer Terry Hagerty, quoting the planner who also criticized the present municipal finance system and laws for fueling sprawl competition and lacking incentives for regional cooperation.

He saw the county as well-positioned to pursue the long-term ''Attain Dane'' plan, due to its ''ideal'' size and shape for metropolitan planning -- a 30-by-40-mile rectangle, with Madison at the center; and also due to its great demographics, stable economics, high quality of life, largely bipartisan approach to environmental protection, and 20-year planning already in progress in most area communities.

The director of policy and program development at the county executive's office, Jim Artz, cautioned that fleshing out the plan could be complicated. The process would have to involve whole communities, including farmers, builders, Realtors, economists and other stakeholders, and perhaps eventually require referendums, to determine if residents want to plan beyond 20 years and set aside land forever free from development. -- Courier Hub   4/26/2004

Resource(s): www.stoughtonnews.com/

Bill Would Simplify Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law

Among the dozen newly passed agricultural, environmental and economic bills slated for Democratic Governor Jim Doyle's signature during his April 13th visits in Verona, Dane County, and Eau Claire, Eau Claire County, is Assembly Bill 608, which clarifies and simplifies Wisconsin's Smart Growth law, to increase its attractiveness for rural communities and encourage their compliance with its planning requirements.

Two other bills related to growth management are Assembly Bill 650, which relieves some farmers' tax burdens by allowing more woodland to be assessed at 50 percent of its value, and Assembly Bill 437, which gives towns the authority to use tax increment financing for certain agricultural, forestry, manufacturing, and tourism projects.   4/12/2004

Resource(s): www.wisconsinagconnection.com/index.cfm

Stoughton Election Raises Possibility of Referendum on Big-Box Supercenters

Despite the Madison Capital Times' hope that ''Stoughton voters will decide to stand up for smart growth as opposed to big box sprawl,'' participants in the April 6 election in this 12,500-resident city, for months bitterly divided over a Wal-Mart plan to augment its 40,000-square-foot store with a 155,000-square-foot Supercenter at the urban edge, put another two Wal-Mart backers on the City Council, splitting it evenly 6 to 6, with Mayor Helen Johnson eager to have the store and ready to cast her likely pivotal vote for ''a referendum and let the people decide at the polls.''

In January, reports Wisconsin State Journal writer Beth Williams, the City Council voted 8-4 to impose a 110,000-square-foot cap on big-box stores, but now chief officer of the pro-supercenter Recapture Stoughton group, Bob Burull, says, ''The first order of business will be to eliminate the cap,'' and ''The second order of business will be an application from Wal-Mart.''

Speaking for the opposing Uff-Da Wal-Mart group, resident Buzz Davis predicts the issue ''will become more divisive than it has been in the past'' and promises that smart growth advocates will continue the fight for the big-box size cap and high design standards.

On the election eve, a Madison Capital Times editorial said of Wal-Mart, ''By paying substandard wages to the workers in their stores, and by marketing goods imported from countries that lack protections for workers and the environment, Wal-Mart supercenters cut prices so low that responsible, locally owned business cannot compete. When local stores go out of business, the community loses not just competition but downtown stores, employees, diversity, and contributors to local fund-raising drives.'' -- Capital Times   4/7/2004

Resource(s): www.madison.com/ ; www.madison.com/

Smart Growth Funds to Help Calumet County Towns Craft Comprehensive Plans

Having received a $248,000 state Smart Growth grant from the $1.8-million total just awarded by the Department of Administration to 16 of 21 applicant counties, Calumet County is adding to it $75,000 in county funds to help its 13 municipal partners craft comprehensive plans required under the state Smart Growth law by 2010.

The rural county, some 60 miles northwest of Milwaukee, will leave most land use decisions to local communities, while seeking to identify growth areas, reports Appleton Post-Crescent writer J. E. Espino, quoting county planner Julie Heuvelman, who says, ''This will eliminate unplanned growth in spaces that might be left for agriculture or open space.'' She also points out that the state and county Smart Growth money ''(i)n this time of budget cuts'' is crucial for municipalities, which would have to spend $25,000-$35,000 each if planning alone, while joining the county planning process obliges them to pay only $1,200-$3,000 annually for three years.

The writer reminds readers that the Smart Growth planning process requires jurisdictions to address nine points: issues and opportunities; housing; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural, natural and cultural resources; economic development; intergovernmental cooperation; and land use and implementation. -- Post-Crescent   2/13/2004

Resource(s): www.postcrescent.com/

Madison's Affordable Housing-Zoning Law Gets Key Endorsement on Eve of City Council Vote

After a last-ditch session with Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on his mandatory affordable-housing zoning law scheduled for the City Council's consideration January 20, the Smart Growth Madison developer group that drafted a voluntary inclusionary measure last year finally backed the mayor, who said, ''All sides worked hard from the start to put aside their differences and find a workable solution. The result is a strong ordinance that will produce more housing for working families and individuals.''

Smart Growth Madison executive director Delora Newton said builders are satisfied with the latest tune up of the mayor's proposal, adding, ''He hasn't just listened to us. He's listened to neighborhoods, too, and other interested parties.'' The changes mollified some downtown builders who threatened to stop building in the central city if forced to comply with the inclusionary law, reports Madison Times writer Judith Davidoff, finding that now they may be entitled to a larger ''density bonus'' than suburban builders for addition of affordable units. They also may be able to opt out of the new zoning law, the writer notes, ''if they could prove it would make their projects financially infeasible.'' -- Madison Times   1/19/2004

Resource(s): www.madison.com/captimes/

Affordable Housing Ordinance Gains Support in Madison

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz signed up 11 of the 20 City Council members as co-sponsors of an inclusionary zoning ordinance that would mandate a 15 percent affordable housing share in new projects of 10 or more units -- enough to pass the law -- but the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the Madison Area Builders Association and the Smart Growth Madison developer umbrella group declined to commit until they get member feedback, standing meanwhile by their proposed voluntary affordable housing measure.

Still, a mayoral news release announced support from the co-owner of Wisconsin's largest home-building company, Jeff Rosenberg of Veridian Builder, who helped write the Smart Growth Madison voluntary measure, reports Capital Times writer Judith Davidoff. Some builders, she notes, have recently ''grumbled'' that the mayor's mandatory affordable housing ordinance may be easier for Veridian and other large companies building on the edges than for downtown developers. One of the architects of the mandatory ordinance, Councilwoman Brenda Konkel, said it will help the city ''begin to address the affordable housing problem'' by creating about 200 low-cost units a year. The mayor is hoping the council will pass the law at its January 6 meeting. -- Capital Times   12/6/2003

Resource(s): www.madison.com/captimes/

Southeast Dane County Regional Planning Committee Sees Boundary Agreements as Crucial to Protect Quality of Life

Awarded a state Smart Growth planning grant this year, the eight jurisdictions in the Southeast Dane Communities Comprehensive Planning Regional Steering Committee (RSC) moved toward coordination of their land use, transportation and environmental goals, to protect both their identity and quality of life from expected development pressures as Dane County's population jumps from 426,000 to 527,000 by 2020, most of the growth pushing out from Madison into rural areas.

With about a third of the county's communities already in some sort of cooperation across jurisdictional lines, writes Stoughton Courier Hub reporter Terry Hagerty, county regional community planner Bill Preboski told the RSC meeting participants to focus on boundary agreements as crucial for protecting their quality of life and avoiding legal fights over contentious annexation issues.

Taking this and other advice back home, the RSC members will hold the next joint session in February. They will exchange views on how boundary agreements can help manage growth and how to ensure sufficient housing of the right kind, provide enough parks and trails, and preserve farmland, wetlands and overall environmental quality. -- Stoughton Courier Hub   12/1/2003

Resource(s): www.stoughtonnews.com/

Sidewalk-for-Safety Vote Angers Residents at Cudahy Public Hearing

Although 95 percent of Cudahy streets feature sidewalks, South Elaine Avenue residents have successfully opposed the same along their two-block mailbox-lined asphalt road for 20 years, until the Common Council just decided in a 4-1 vote that a public safety concern overrides the local majority wish and approved the avenue's sidewalk construction during its concrete repaving, as about 30 people at the public hearing ''decried the loss of democracy'' and resident Jerry Lambert complained, ''What people want, people don't get. It's pretty much dictated to us.'' Their district representative, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Linda Spice, Council President Tom Centarowski, was the sole dissenter, telling her earlier that sidewalks are needed, but he is obliged to vote as his constituents want.

Resident Carrie Szydel, who backed the sidewalks for the safety of her seven and 18-month old sons, pointed out that most opponents have grown children and mainly complain about shortening of their front yards, which are a little larger, but will be trimmed and look like all others in the city. A strong sidewalk proponent, Alderman Bryan Olen, said earlier ''this issue is all about money and about them having to pay.''

According to city engineer Craig Faucett, an owner of a typical 66-foot wide lot will have to pay $949 in addition to the $4,541 cost charged to each home, with some owners paying also for installation of sanitary, storm and water laterals. The bills, with interest, could be paid over ten years. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   11/19/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Milwaukee Incorporates 22 Acres of Historic Buildings in Downtown Renaissance

Having lost many office and corporate tenants from the 1980s through the mid-1990s, downtown Milwaukee is reinventing itself as a livable urban core -- its housing market thriving, the first two office towers in ten years nearing completion, and the best yet to come, the replacement of the half-mile elevated Park East Freeway with the original street grid, upgraded infrastructure and a 26-acre mixed-use neighborhood, and the redevelopment of the adjacent 22-acre former Pabst Brewing Company headquarters into a $350 million entertainment and residential complex. ''We've added over 3,000 units of housing to downtown since 1999 and almost all of it is unsubsidized,'' says Mayor John Norquist, envisioning ''a sizable housing component on the east end and offices on the west end'' of the prime land just freed by the two-year demolition of the Park East Freeway. Built in the 1970s as an east-west connector between I-43 and an eventually aborted lakefront road, recounts New York Times writer Robert Sharoff on the Slatin Report Web page, the ''always underused'' pillar-mounted freeway ''to nowhere'' kept the downtown business district divided and isolated, deterring development to the north, with developers now upbeat about the area's potential. ''What's happening now is extremely dramatic,'' says Boerke Company/Grubb & Ellis principal David Boerke, who also points to the Pabst complex redevelopment, observing, ''In what major city can you ... find 22 acres of historic buildings? You don't have to be a preservationist to appreciate what this can look like.'' The Pabst complex is ''a stunner,'' the writer notes, impressed with its 26 ''extravagantly ornamented buildings ... spread out over seven city blocks'' and mostly dating back to the late 1800s. Expected to start early next year and be completed in 2006, he adds, the Pabst project will include one million square feet of residential space, 450,000 square feet of retail and 175 square feet of offices.   9/3/2003

Resource(s): www.theslatinreport.com/index.jsp

Gov. Doyle Expects State Smart Growth Law to Remain in Force

Asked during his visit in northwestern Price County, whose board has recently dissolved the Smart Growth Committee, if the state will rescind its 1999 Smart Growth law, Governor Jim Doyle said, ''I don't think it's going to go away,'' because many counties see Smart Growth differently and the law is backed by a broad range of groups as a tool for transferring much of the state planning tasks to local communities. He also pointed to the long tradition of zoning, noting that it can limit some property rights, but it enhances them, too. On an eight-day tour through the Northwoods to promote job creation, tourism, environmental protection and efficient government, the governor told Price County officials and residents that his Department of Natural Resources is conducting a comprehensive review of planning and zoning rules. -- The Bee   8/28/2003

Resource(s): www.phillipswi.com/

Wisconsin Realtors Outline How Smart Growth Protects Property Rights

With Wisconsin's 1999 Smart Growth law criticized since last year mainly in the north-central areas as a threat to property rights and local control or a United Nations-hatched script for a ''one size fits all'' planning approach, Wisconsin REALTORS Association Land Use and Environmental Affairs Director Tom Larson holds it REALTORS' professional responsibility ''to distinguish fact from the fiction,'' which he does in a concise exposition of 10 myths about the law, focusing on the most common myth among all growth-management foes everywhere, namely that Smart Growth is against property rights. ''One of the primary objectives of Wisconsin's Smart Growth law,'' he writes, ''is to protect private property rights by making the planning process more accessible to property owners and other members of the public.'' Reversing prevalent practice, he points out, the law expands public participation in local planning; offers property owners greater certainty about the scope of their land use entitlements; makes local officials more accountable for plan content; secures comprehensive planning by addressing at least nine quality-of-life issues, including the often neglected housing, transportation and economic development; and affirms property rights as ''one of the state and local planning goals'' by requiring communities to spell out how they will ''balance individual property rights with community interests'' if they seek state aid for devising their plans. Wisconsin's Smart Growth, the writer continues, doesn't give the state any authority ''to control'' local plans, limiting its role to awarding planning grants. It is not designed to stop growth in rural areas and steer it to cities, upholding communities' prerogatives to ''grow (or not grow) any way they wish.'' It is not ''an unfunded mandate,'' with the state providing $3.5 million in planning grants in 1999-2001 and $6 million in 2001-2003. It was not conceived by the U.N., but put forward and supported ''by an extremely broad coalition of major stakeholders,'' including associations of Wisconsin REALTORS, builders, towns, cities, municipalities, counties and planners, along with 1000 Friends of Wisconsin. It doesn't mandate urban growth boundaries, mass transit or high density, leaving all growth choices to communities. It doesn't set the plans in stone, but requires properly executed amendments and timely updates. It doesn't leave small communities with the sole prospect of hiring costly planning professionals, since help is available from the University of Wisconsin-Extension, regional experts and county planners. It doesn't impose planning standards, because it recognizes ''that each community is different, with its unique history, values and resources.'' And its repeal would solve no controversial issue, because far from being responsible for shoreland zoning debates, sprawl, restrictive development policies, open-space protection initiatives or other problems ''people have with local authorities and state agencies'' -- problems that started long before the law's enactment and will likely continue without it -- ''Smart Growth in Wisconsin is about balanced, more informed planning at the local level.'' -- Wisconsin Realtors Association   8/15/2003

Resource(s): www.wra.org/government/land_use/wr_articles/wr0703_land_use.htm

Adjustments to Smart Growth Law Expected from Wisconsin Legislature

While some Republican lawmakers who want to repeal Wisconsin's 1999 Smart Growth law -- which requires all counties and municipalities to craft comprehensive and enforceable land use plans by 2010 -- arguing that small towns free from development pressures can't afford planning costs, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial cautions the legislature against throwing out the baby with the bath water, but expects it to ''make reasonable adjustments soon,'' since even the law's advocates acknowledge its burden on some rural communities and the need for exceptions. No more the insinuated ''blueprint for socialism'' than ''flouridated water was a communist plot,'' the Smart Growth law ''is simple common sense,'' the editorial says. Without it, ''helter-skelter'' development can ''result in traffic jams on roads not designed for heavy traffic, subdivisions that overburden local schools, strip malls that drive out established local businesses and (in) other bad things.'' Far from trying to ''wipe out property rights,'' the law doesn't require local officials to ''follow any specific planning concept;'' it requires them to implement ''a plan they created,'' which ensures ''more stability in their development decisions'' and is thus ''supported by such groups as the Wisconsin Realtors Association.'' Applauding Assembly Committee on Property Rights and Land Management Chairwoman Sheryl Albers' statement, ''Planning is a good thing,'' the editorial says ''so is flexibility'' and concludes that ''the smartest thing to do on this issue is to find a way to lessen the burden on some rural communities without killing a law that promises to do much for the future shape of all Wisconsin communities.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   8/7/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Foreclosure Concerns Rise Over Wisconsin Sale of Delinquent Property Taxes to Private Investors

Introduced by state Republican Representative Jeff Stone as part of the budget package eventually signed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle, a measure letting Wisconsin counties and municipalities sell delinquent property taxes to private investors is justified by gubernatorial spokesman Dan Leistikow as needed to give local jurisdictions ''another weapon in their arsenals'' to fight the current fiscal crisis, but criticized by some as risky to delinquent homeowners, with Democratic Representative Lena Taylor considering the possibility of its repeal, because she doesn't want ''to give someone that kind of power over our residents.'' Having banned such sales in 1987, because they weren't much needed in ''times of economic prosperity,'' Wisconsin now joins about 20 states that allow the practice, including New York and New Jersey, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Scott Williams, listing $5 million in unpaid property taxes in Racine County, $8 million in Waukesha County, more than $10 million in Milwaukee and $6.8 million in Milwaukee County. Under the new provision, investors would pay local governments up front and try to collect more from delinquent taxpayers or sell their tax liens to other parties, which could increase the threat of foreclosures. The president of New York-based Plymouth Financial Corp., which has acquired about $400 million in tax liens since its inception in 1996 and which lobbied for the measure, Paul Scura, disclaims any foreclosure intent. This doesn't tranquilize critics. The Milwaukee County Board passed a resolution against the state measure and overrode the subsequent veto by Executive Scott Walker -- who may sell some of the county's delinquent taxes to reduce its $4 million deficit -- and County Treasurer Dorothy Dean said, ''Local government does not exist to enrich private investors.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   8/4/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Lawmaker Blocks Legislation to Repeal Wisconsin's Comprehensive Land Use Plan

As 94 of Wisconsin's 1,922 municipalities and counties have already completed and about 600 continue work on their comprehensive land-use plans, required under the state 1999 Smart Growth law by 2010, a group of mostly Republican state lawmakers, prodded by their mainly small-town and rural constituencies, introduced legislation to repeal the law, citing concerns over the cost of the planning and a possible erosion of local control and property rights. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Lisa Sink quotes Republican Representative Carol Owens of Nekimi, who notes that her town of 1,400 spent $10,000-$20,000 on a planning consultant and who fears that should there be a mismatch between municipal and county planning ''(t)owns's plans may be altered to fit everyone else's plan.'' Stevens Point Journal writer quotes Republican Representative Scott Suder, who thinks ''planning is good,'' but the Smart Growth bill ''was crafted and passed behind closed doors,'' without ''proper public hearings,'' caused ''much confusion'' and needs ''to be reworked or completely thrown out.'' But not all Republicans feel the same and Assembly Committee on Property Rights and Land Management chairwoman Sheryl Albers blocked the repeal legislation from entering her committee. With the Wisconsin Realtors Association among Smart Growth backers, its official Tom Larson says he and leaders of other groups would favor exceptions for some slow-growing rural areas worried about planning costs. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   7/28/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/ ; www.stevenspointjournal.com/

Gov. Doyle Vetos Bill Calling for Funding Cuts to Land Protection Programs

''Protecting the environment is one of my highest priorities as governor,'' said Democratic Governor Jim Doyle at Governor Nelson State Park on the north shore of Lake Mendota, announcing his decision to veto Republican-sponsored cuts of 43 percent -- from $572 million to $327 million by 2010 -- in the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship bonding program, which saved from development more than 250,000 acres across Wisconsin so far. He also promised to veto a deficit-reduction provision that would require the Department of Natural Resources to sell off $40 million of state land by 2005. ''We need to get through this difficult time,'' the governor stressed, ''making sure that our top priorities -- including protecting our environment -- are still in place.'' According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Dennis Chaptman, the stewardship's cuts would save $2.8 million in debt service payments in the 2003-05 budget and a total of $390 million by 2030. Republican Senator Bob Welch said the state budget crisis justifies the cuts, because, ''When you can't make the mortgage payment, you can't buy the empty lot next door.'' Environmentalists reject this argument, pointing out that if the state lacks the money to protect land, developers will buy it, caring little about public recreation and wilderness. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   7/14/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

WFBF Urges Farmers to Get Involved in Rural Land Use and Planning Discussions

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) is encouraging farmers to work through their county bureaus and other groups for a broad consensus on rural land use zoning and to get organizationally involved in discussions on Smart Growth, with WFBF governmental relations director Roger Cliff testifying recently at a Smart Growth hearing in the Assembly Property Rights and Land Management Committee that ''(i)f farmers aren't in the planning process, someone else will do it, and they may not like the outcome.'' Pointing out that farmers' ''livelihood is at stake because their current income, future income, and retirement income is all tied up in what happens with their property,'' director Cliff called land use planning ''absolutely vital'' for economic growth in agriculture, and stressed that it's much easier ''to be involved up in front and develop and guide that plan along than it is to come in after the fact and change things.'' The WFBF will hold a Smart Growth workshop at its annual meeting this fall. -- Wisconsin AgConnection   7/8/2003

Resource(s): www.wisconsinagconnection.com/

Gov. Doyle Expresses Support for Smart Growth, Observes Varied Attitudes Toward Wisconsin S.G. Efforts

Wisconsin Democratic Governor Jim Doyle told officials, students and residents at two meetings in Park Falls that dealing with education and a $3.2 billion shortfall over the next two years are his top priorities, but in response to a question about the justification for spending money on smart growth planning grants despite the budget crisis, he said the smart growth concept is good, though it may require a very careful review ''in future years'' to identify any weaknesses in its requirements. The governor noted, reports Park Falls Herald writer George Tresnak, that attitudes toward smart growth vary greatly, with some communities predominantly in its favor and others strongly against. In some areas, the governor said, people see smart growth as the best thing ever for the community while in other areas, they think it the worst ever thing. -- Park Falls Herald   6/5/2003

Resource(s): www.parkfallswi.com/

Smart Growth Opponents Make More Noise, But Many Wisconsin Communities Working Toward Land-Use Plan Goal

Although opponents of the Smart Growth law enacted under the 1999 state budget bill draw more press attention, in reality about 700 Wisconsin jurisdictions -- counties, cities, towns and villages -- are quietly working to devise their comprehensive land-use plans by 2010, a number quite satisfactory for the 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin advocacy group instrumental in the law's passage, its planning director Hal Cohen saying, ''We seem to be on the right pace.'' Also, writes Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Amy Rinard, despite a large state deficit, Governor Jim Doyle's 2003-05 budget leaves $3 million in annual community planning grants untouched and no lawmaker is seeking their reduction. While some rural counties perceive the Smart Growth law as a threat to local control and private property rights, the largely urbanized Waukesha County, which has long urged regional cooperation, enlisted 24 local communities for joint land use planning with the Southern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, expecting to complete the comprehensive plan as early as 2006. Waukesha County director of parks and land use Dale Shaver acknowledges the criticism of Smart Growth by some local officials, especially in areas unaccustomed to plans, but he says, ''For all those voices, there sure is a lot of coordinated planning effort going on. That's the silent success.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   5/11/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/

Mixed Responses for Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law in Rural Northern Counties

Requiring comprehensive community plans for all land-use decisions by 2010, Wisconsin's Smart Growth law draws mixed responses in its rural northern center, where adjacent Price, Rusk and Taylor counties asked the legislature to rescind it, while Clark and Marathon counties enlisted most municipalities for such planning -- much of the split attributed by both Clark assistant zoning administrator Steve Kunze and Marathon planning director Ed Hammer to bias against, misunderstanding of and disinformation about smart growth. State Republican Representative Mary Williams, who represents Price, Rusk and Taylor residents, reports Marshfield News-Herald writer Allen Hicks, doesn't think ''any of these folks think planning is bad,'' but she also hopes the state will drop or alter the law, urging constituents to learn about Smart Growth and ''write to all the legislators and tell them how they feel about this.'' Taylor board member Mary Bix admits the merit of comprehensive planning, but opposes the state's concept as too costly, adding that area residents ''are very independent'' and don't like to be told, ''You can't do this; you have to do that.'' New Browning town chairman, retired farmer Ron Roth, says he won thanks to his anti-Smart Growth stance and residents' fears of losing their property rights. An outspoken Smart Growth critic, Pine Valley resident Clark Palmer argues that planning should only be initiated locally and that state lawmakers never debated the law before its passage in 1999, declaring, ''So the whole thing is a sham. It does not meet the standards of democracy.'' -- News-Herald   5/2/2003

Resource(s): www.wausaudailyherald.com/

Citizen's Committee, Town Board Approve New Growth Plan for Erin, Wisconsin

Unenthusiastic about its 30 percent growth to over 3,650 residents in the 1990s, the rural town of Erin, in fast-growing Washington County, updated its 1989 municipal land-use plan -- a first step toward the comprehensive planning required by the state's Smart Growth law by 2010 -- reaffirming all conservation provisions, allowing commercial and industrial development in a few areas currently zoned for such uses and keeping the present five-to seven-acre minimum lots, which will permit at most 475 to 550 more homes. Smaller lots of at least 1.5 acre will be allowed only for cluster subdivisions, with the extra land kept as open space. Recommended by the citizens' Zoning Review and Smart Growth Committee and unanimously approved by the Town Board, the new plan makes clear that such scenic tallgrass areas as the wooded hills of the Kettle Moraine or the Oconomowoc River valley downstream of Loew Lake will be preserved, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Don Behm, quoting Zoning Administrator Bob Retzlaff, who says, ''The intent of this community is to remain rural forever, and now we just have to persuade everyone who wants to build here of that.'' The plan also reconfirms the need to protect wetlands and floodplains; save prime rural land; reuse such historic structures as farmsteads, barns, silos and fences; restrict large billboards; and discourage artificial berms and other topographic changes. Now, the Zoning Review and Smart Growth Committee is working on zoning revisions, the writer adds, its biweekly meetings open to the public. It will later focus on other elements required under the state's Smart Growth law, including a subdivision ordinance, a transportation plan, an economic development strategy and regional cooperation. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   4/22/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/

Town of Linwood Withdraws from Portage County Smart Growth Planning Agreement

Portage County, the only one that has signed up all of its 27 municipalities for Smart Growth planning -- winning a collective $514,000 state grant in 2001 -- lost this distinction as the town of Linwood withdrew from the process, with Supervisor Bernice Woitczak complaining that the past 18 months of work with the county made officials and many residents feel ''like everything is being fed to us from the top down'' and planning commission member Joel Willkom arguing that the town would lose ''an awful lot'' of its identity, can update its 1989 land-use plan alone and may not be the only one to pull out of the countywide effort. The county's Smart Growth steering committee chairman, Stevens Point Mayor Gary Wescott, reports Steven Point Journal writer Paul Chronis, promised to talk to Linwood officials ''to see if they're leaving the door open'' to further cooperation. Senior county planner Mike Hansen noted that Linwood officials' decision ''will mean the loss of $12,000'' from the county's total state grant amount, denied that their questions about the process were unanswered, and expressed regret that they seem to trust outsiders with ''these conspiracy theories of regional governments'' bent on a power grab. -- Steven Point Journal   3/5/2003

Resource(s): www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjlocal/

Racine County Town of Raymond Hopes to Maintain Controlled Growth

As it works on its state-required Smart Growth plan, the small town of Raymond, just south of metro Milwaukee in Racine County, wants to preserve area rural character, with the Town Board imposing a six-to-ten-month land division moratorium, which bars landowners from selling as yet unmarked parcels and gives officials time to get public input and sort their development options. So far, reports Kelly A. Young in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the board discarded some residents' suggestion to increase the town's five-acre minimum lot size -- to keep sprawl at bay -- because its attorney warned about likely lawsuits. ''I understand that desire, but we can't halt development altogether,'' said Town Chairman Alan Jasperson, focused on the need ''to maintain controlled growth.'' Noting that the town's 206 new homes in the past nine years ''is controlled growth,'' the chairman spoke favorably about the proposed Conservation Cluster Development ordinance, which would let developers group homes close together on much smaller than five-acre lots in exchange for leaving the rest of land as open space. ''Some people think that's a great idea and some just don't want any development,'' he said. ''It's a Catch 22 to try to make everyone happy, but we should be able to come to some reasonable solution.'' -- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   3/2/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/Racine/

Great Lakes Water Management Plan Faces Uncertain Future

If the eight American states and two Canadian provinces that signed the Great Lakes Chapter of 1985 neglect their work on the Annex 2001 -- which would preempt over-pumping, water diversion and other environmental threats -- they will risk water quality degradation and shortages like those recently suffered across the West and other drought-stricken regions, warned experts at the annual conference of the Wisconsin Stewardship Network in Stevens Point, alarmed that the basin's water problems continue to mount. Annex 2001, envisioned in 1998, when a Canadian company wanted to ship Lake Superior water to Asia, and crafted three years later, when the Perrier Group moved to exploit the basin's supplies for bottled water sales throughout the region, is supposed to become binding by 2004. But while a Perrier plant, rejected by Wisconsin and lured by a $10 million tax subsidy to Michigan, is facing a citizen suit in May, the multi-jurisdictional and multi-layered work on Annex 2001 details ''has seemingly slowed,'' writes the Michigan Land Use Institute's Grand Rapids office head, Andy Guy, with experts pointing to legislative preoccupation with budget deficits, gubernatorial changes in five of the basin's states and the complexity of legal provisions, all of which ''have sapped what was once a collective sense of urgency.'' To illustrate the urgency of action to protect the basin's water, the writer quotes two experts. University of Arizona water law professor Robert Glennon said: ''Think of an underground aquifer like a giant milkshake. And that every well is a straw in that milkshake. What (Wisconsin) law permits is a limitless number of new straws. When you have unrestricted access to a common public resource such as groundwater you encourage overexploitation. We must break this cycle and begin to pinch the straws.'' University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point water resource professor George Kraft said: ''We don't have the appropriate tools or processes in place to manage our groundwater. Frequently, we're flying blind. In many places we don't have data on stream flows or groundwater levels. We also don't know who the heck is pumping what. To a large degree, it's the Wild West out there. If you can drill a well, you can have the water.''   2/26/2003

Resource(s): www.mlui.org/landwater/fullarticle.asp?fileid=16440

Price County Smart Growth Committee Votes to Dissolve

Disappointed in its bid for $174,000 from the state's 2003 Comprehensive Planning Grant to help Price County and its 11 municipalities launch Smart Growth planning, the county's Smart Growth Committee voted 6-5 to dissolve itself, if the county board concurs, but promised to discuss with municipal officials whether they want to work on Smart Growth plans without state aid. On one side, reports Bee writer Meredith Hueckman, committee members Jan Kardas and Randy Hueckman insisted that Smart Growth was ''forced down our throat'' and would fail in court. On the other side, members Bill Ave'Lallemont and Marie Fojtik stressed that without a plan ''there will be chaos'' and that ''we have been spinning our wheels instead of moving forward.'' According to the Wisconsin Department of Administration, the writer notes, the state had $3 million for this year's Smart Growth grants, received 41 collective applications from 321 communities for a total of $4.6 million, and awarded 13 collective grants for 182 communities. Ashland and Price counties were next on the list, but the money was gone. The Agricultural and Natural Resources Agent of Price County of University of Wisconsin-Extension, Mark Kopecky, said he would like to help in Smart Growth planning if communities can do it with their own money. He also pointed out that they can suspend action until next year and seek 2004 Smart Growth grants. -- The Bee   2/19/2003

Resource(s): www.phillipswi.com/

Monthly Smart Growth Meetings Continue in St. Francis

Having begun modification of its 1963 master plan well ahead of the January 2002 date proscribed by the state Smart Growth law for starting such updates, the city of St. Francis, six miles south of downtown Milwaukee, is continuing public smart-growth meetings on the third Monday of each month -- the latest one focused on housing, economic development, transportation, environmental impact and recreation, with Mayor Lawrence Burazin saying, ''We want to have a plan that confirms to the state guidelines and offers us the highest and best use of the assets of the city.'' One top question before planners submit the new plan to the Common Council this June and later apply for state monetary ''smart growth dividends,'' reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Linda Spice, concerns the possible reuse of land near the Lake Michigan shore, including the site of St. Francis High School and the more than 100-acre property of We Energies utility company. A Friends of St. Francis Green Space group is collecting petition signatures against full redevelopment of both sites, says its treasurer Michael Frentz, because ''people don't want all these condos'' and hope ''to preserve some green space.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   2/18/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Green Bay's Smart Growth Plan Nearing Completion, But Debate Continues Over Street Grids, Sidewalks

The ''Smart Growth 2022: Green Bay Comprehensive Plan'' is an inch thick and almost complete, but some key issues remain open after two hearings late last year, with the debate over street grid patterns and sidewalks continuing at this month's City Council public meeting, where one speaker insisted, ''The people of Green Bay do not want sidewalks.'' Drafted in the past two years with broad public involvement, including a 30-member citizen advisory committee, a poll and open houses, reports Green Bay Press- Gazette writer Karen Rauen, the plan responds to the state's Smart Growth guidelines. But the Brown County Homebuilders Association and other real estate groups would like to rework some sections, especially on one-home-side streets, sidewalks and cul- de-sacs, because, said advisory committee member and developer Pat Kaster at the council's meeting, ''it will affect you for the next 20 years.'' On behalf of those who thought the concern unwarranted, committee member Henning Boeddicker cautioned the council ''not to go back and redo the entire plan.'' -- Green Bay Press- Gazette   2/18/2003

Resource(s): www.greenbaypressgazette.com/

Rural Wisconsin Residents Suspicious of State Smart Growth Law

''You have total rights over your property. The only way that they'll be taken from you is if you volunteer to give them up,'' declared Neillsville resident Clark Palmer at an informational land-use forum apparently dominated by management foes and the undecided, urging the more than 300 attendees from the rural counties of western-central Wisconsin to eschew comprehensive plans and the state Smart Growth law, while York resident Bill Elmhorst raised the ante up, telling them the main supporters of Smart Growth are the United Nations, universities and devout environmentalists -- all ''revolutionaries'' who ''are trying to change our way of life.'' Republican state Representative Scott Suder, reports Marshfield News-Herald writer Allen Hicks, promised steps to limit Smart Growth, worried that its expansion could erode property rights. ''Once programs are in place, it is very difficult to get rid of them,'' noted the Representative, adding, ''There are a number of us that are going to try to whittle at this law.'' Pointing to the projected $3.2 billion state deficit, he said he will fight Smart Growth implementation grants for localities and will work with others to extend the law's 2010 implementation deadline. -- Marshfield News-Herald   2/15/2003

Resource(s): www.wisinfo.com/newsherald/index.shtml

Many Wisconsin Communities Have Yet to Adopt Neighborhood Ordinances

A year after 57 Wisconsin communities were supposed to adopt traditional neighborhood ordinances, required by the state Smart Growth law, the 1000 Friends of Wisconsin group found fewer than half of them have done so, including three of the Fox River cities at the northern tip of Lake Winnebago -- Appleton, Menasha and Neenah -- with Neenah planner Chris Haese pointing out that since the city must have this ordinance, but doesn't necessarily need to build anything under its provisions, ''It becomes somewhat of an academic exercise.'' The new Neenah ordinance ''seems to describe Mayberry of 'The Andy Griffith Show','' reports Appleton Post- Crescent writer Duke Behnke, its compact mix of uses accentuated by houses with front porches along narrow streets with sidewalks, by plenty of trees and open public spaces. ''It's a self- sustaining community where everyone would live and work in that development,'' says planner Haese, not sure whether ''the Fox Cities market would support this type of development, at least at this time.'' He calls the design ''probably the exact opposite of the trends for the last 30 years.'' Two area projects that incorporate some traditional elements, the writer notes, are Neenah's 131-acre Mahler Farm residential-commercial development, featuring a park and trail, and Menasha's 131-acre Lake Park Villas development, including an office and retail center, ponds, fountains and walking trails, along with single-family homes, some of them driveways in the back and gardens and sidewalks in the front. -- Appleton Post-Crescent   2/10/2003

Resource(s): www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/index.shtml

Ozaukee County Board Seeks Improvements in Wisconsin's Smart Growth Law

Although last month, the Ozaukee County Board's Administrative Committee recommended asking state lawmakers to rescind the 1999 Smart Growth law, which tells local governments to craft comprehensive plans and adjust all ordinances accordingly by 2010, the county's Smart Growth Committee shelved the motion this month, with Committee Chair Kate Smith admitting the law is flawed, but stressing the county will do better if it pushes for the law's improvement rather than repeal. County Board and Administrative Committee Chairman Gus Wirth, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Jeff Cole, argued that lawmakers should reconsider the law because they passed it as part of a state budget without proper review. A Smart Growth Committee member, Supervisor Donald Dohrwardt, called it a ''one-size-fits-all'' act, saying it's wrong to require Rusk County, population 15,000, ''to do the same planning as Milwaukee County,'' population over 932,000. But the committee's majority backed its chair, with Supervisor Paul Brunnquell saying, ''We will send a 300-page document up there (to lawmakers), and it will come back as a 1,000-page document. There are a lot of gray areas in the legislation, and I think we can interpret it to our advantage.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   2/3/2003

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

La Crosse Citizens Group Focuses Comprehensive Plan on Infill, Urban Reinvestment

Mindful of La Crosse's scarce vacant land, the citizens advisory committee focused the city's new comprehensive plan on urban reinvestment, brownfield reclamation, infill in old neighborhoods and redevelopment along the Mississippi riverfront, with committee co-chairman Terry Collins stressing that any development on the fringe in the next 20 years should be ''as close in to the existing city limits and as compact as good planning allows.'' The plan acknowledges that ''capturing some of the region's new development is essential to increase the city's tax base,'' but confirms the Common Council's decision not to extend sewer or water services without annexation and stresses the need for careful ''planning (of) new neighborhoods, providing attractive public amenities and protecting environmental resources.'' The plan, reports La Crosse Tribune writer Joan Kent, also seeks city cooperation with La Crosse County and the La Crosse Area Planning Committee to encourage strong land-use controls in nearby towns and curbs on home construction in areas without utility lines. The plan's 17 land-use categories include ''fringe residential housing'' for compact and environmentally sensitive projects, with a minimum density of 2.5 dwellings an acre, and ''traditional neighborhood development,'' which calls for mixed type and density housing together with small-type retail and service businesses. -- La Crosse Tribune   12/2/2002

Resource(s): www.lacrossetribune.com/

Expert Suggests Options to Garner Smart Growth Support from Rural Residents

Declaring himself a New Urbanism and Smart Growth supporter, but also ''a realist,'' national land-use expert and conservation subdivision advocate Randall Arendt told Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel urban landscape writer Whitney Gould that few rural residents ''want to adopt Smart Growth,'' because it means they ''can't do anything with their land except farm it,'' which they see as unfair, ''like taking away their 401 (k).'' Interviewed before his November 7 workshop on ''Growing Greener in Wisconsin'' at the Ruekert/Mielke Conference Center in Pewaukee, Arendt said clustering homes on smaller lots and setting aside at least 50 percent of any subdivision as greenspace can save ''a lot of farmland,'' while providing other benefits. The green space can be used for fruit and vegetable planting, with ''pick-your-own'' operations; left as grassland or meadow it can help sustain wildlife, store flood water and recharge aquifer; and managed otherwise it can be turned into wetlands or woodlands -- all this with research showing that conservation design ''creates higher property values than standard-size lots.'' Having planned conservation subdivisions in 16 states, including Wisconsin, Arendt said the design isn't ''a major player on the grand stage of development,'' but ''it's moving forward in fits and starts,'' with him working ''on a dozen right now,'' some of them in Caledonia and the Lake Geneva area. Asked about the main impediments, he mentioned inflexible local regulations and insufficiently creative developer thinking. -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   10/23/2002

Resource(s): http://www.jsonline.com/

Germantown Plan Commission Seeks Balance for Land Uses, Considers 20-Year Population Growth Limit

With half of Germantown's 35-square-mile area still mostly open space zoned for agricultural use, the Plan Commission preparing a state-required Smart Growth blueprint may let the village population increase from 18,200 to about 28,000 by 2020, indicated village planner Jason Gallo, stressing that officials are ''not against development,'' while pointing out that ''To control growth, you have to look at land use planning as a tool for incremental growth.'' Village President and commission chairman Charles Hargan said its decisions on extending water and sewer services will shape future growth paths. Helped by a $30,000 state Smart Growth grant, reports Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Peter Maller, the village is seeking ''a balance'' between residential, commercial, industrial and recreational land use. Their draft due to the Village Board early next year, planners are also looking at transportation, agency cooperation, cultural facilities and other community issues, including the provision of housing for all income groups. -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   10/22/2002

Resource(s): http://www.jsonline.com/

Plan Commission Will Begin Work on Draft of Smart Growth Ordinance for Green County's Town of Adams

Aware of the labor, time and cost involved in preparation of a comprehensive long-term development plan, required under the state's Smart Growth law from each jurisdiction by 2010, a Citizens Advisory Committee on land use in Green County's tiny town of Adams moved from year-long exploration toward forming an official plan commission, which should present its draft for the town board's approval and enactment of a smart growth ordinance in about three years. Advisory committee leader Stephanie Elkins told Monroe Times correspondent Linda Wyeth that her group and the plan commission will work with the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to make the draft reflect common interests. Among its required elements, she said, the plan must include provisions for land use, housing, transportation, economic development and agricultural, natural and cultural resources. She also noted increased resident involvement in shaping the rural area's future, with individual preferences ranging from no growth to unrestricted growth, saying, ''I don't think there has been a meeting where I didn't see a new face.''   10/16/2002

Resource(s): www.themonroetimes.com/

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Purchases 35,000 Northern Forest Acres

In stepped-up efforts to save land from future development, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DRN) won unanimous approval from the state's citizen Natural Resources Board for spending $7.2 million in state and federal money on Forest Legacy conservation easements to 35,337 acres of northern forest in Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida and Iron counties -- its largest single land protection move ever -- and for launching a similar easement purchase program in the just-created 19,487-acre North Branch Milwaukee River Wildlife and Farming Heritage Area in Ozaukee, Washington and Sheboygan counties. The Forest Legacy project, reports Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Don Behm, drew no public comments, but it still requires legislative and gubernatorial approvals. The Wildlife and Farming Heritage project elicited both criticism and support. Fredonia resident Christine Luft feared that even mapping the conservation area's boundary may eventually make landowners sell to the DNR. Another resident, Catherine Stern, noted that restoration of wetlands on one property could precipitate flooding on an adjacent lot and that the DNR was trying to buy more land than it could afford. But Farmington resident Richard Finch called the heritage project ''the best alternative to the castles in the corn we see springing up all around us'' and Cedar Grove resident Hubert Nett added the project ''can significantly curtail urban sprawl that is already destroying farmland and wildlife habitat'' north of Metro Milwaukee. A board member, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation president Howard Poulson, said as a farmer, he doesn't ''feel threatened by state purchases,'' since public land is a better neighbor than a subdivision. Another member, Herb Behnke, stressed that the DNR buys land or easements only from willing sellers. -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   8/14/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/

Waukesha County Asks Community Councils, Boards to Join Land-Use Coordination Program

As all Wisconsin jurisdictions prepare their master land-use plans or plan updates, required by the state Smart Growth law by 2010, Waukesha County officials proposed extensive work coordination among the Southern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, the county and its communities to save time, money and other resources. Saying it would be the area's first ever land-use coordination at the regional, county and local levels, County director of parks and land use Dale Shaver asked community councils or boards wishing to be part of the joint planning effort to adopt pertinent resolutions by October. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial strongly supports the proposal and hopes for broad participation in coordinated planning, despite current disputes over the possibility of merging the city and village of Pewaukee and creating a countywide dispatch center. ''Sometimes, cooperation doesn't mean the end of home rule,'' the editorial points out; ''sometimes it just means a better result for everyone.'' -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   8/4/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/

Milwaukee Freeway Improvements Would Be Costly and Ineffective, Traffic Expert Asserts

The $6.25 billion, 20-year plan to widen 127 miles of the Milwaukee metro's freeways, devised by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, would destroy 650 acres of land, 216 homes and 31 businesses, but would cut commute times for a few minutes only and surely not for long, writes Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Whithey Gould, quoting Florida-based traffic expert Walter Kulash, who having factored in interest and maintenance costs, calculated the plan's cost at $750 million a year, with returns in travel time and safety reaching only 30 cents on the dollar -- ''a strikingly bad investment'' leading to higher gas taxes and other fees. Invited by the influential Design Council that advises the Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the ''reform-minded'' traffic engineer, writes the columnist, pointed out that new freeway lanes would induce sprawl, with big-box stores that drain money and jobs from small city businesses and hurt Milwaukee and its first-ring suburbs in competition with fringe communities, while longer trips would increase travel costs and car dependence. His solution would combine several steps that together would ease area congestion. He would make arterial streets better handle spillover traffic and local trips accounting for 70 percent of suburban traffic everywhere; promote both mixed-use ''town centers'' with everything within walking distance and such ''unmatchable'' city assets as historic and cultural resources; build intersections with traffic circles surrounded by compact office parks; expand employee flex-time programs allowing varied arrival and departure hours; lower speed limits and improve transit. Advising Wisconsin to follow California and ''withdraw the promise of everlasting road-widening,'' Kulash noted that increased gridlock may drive ''sick and tired'' residents and businesses even farther out, but others back to town. ''It's already started here,'' he observed, as many people have said, ''I'm going to live in one of those cool lofts being built downtown.'' The columnist confirms that the city is ''on the reform path.'' She mentions the recent Common Council resolution against widening city sections of freeways; the upcoming redevelopment of land freed by a spur slated for demolition; the residential boom in old wards battered by earlier freeway construction; and renewed interest in intercity high-speed rail. ''The state's new Smart Growth law, which promotes mixed, compact growth,'' she adds, ''is yet another prod to rethinking solutions that rely unhealthily on the automobile.'' -- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   6/2/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Milwaukee Area Interstate Plan Criticized by Officials

A preliminary $6.25 billion plan to widen 127 miles of aging I-94 and I-43 in the Milwaukee area, proposed by the Southeastern Wisconsin Planning Commission's advisory committee as a way to prevent double traffic congestion within 20 years, is drawing only mild interest in five adjacent counties, but is largely opposed by the city, the state Department of Natural Resources, the Sierra Club and Citizens for Better Environment, their concerns ranging from neighborhood damage to induced sprawl. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Larry Sandler reports that the controversy focuses on the widening of 16 freeway miles in Milwaukee County, mostly within city limits, and on a one-mile stretch targeted for double-decking near the Story Hill neighborhood. With Mayor John O. Norquist questioning why the regional commission glossed over the possibility of expanding transit to relieve congestion, a newsletter posted by the Department of City Development on its web site calls for greater emphasis on ''smart growth'' to reduce traffic and protect the environment. It also urges residents to oppose a costly freeway building plan that could take ''more than 658 acres of additional land, including wetlands; mean the loss of 216 homes; eliminate 31 businesses; create more urban sprawl and weaken Milwaukee's economy.'' And that's what Milwaukeeans did at a city hearings, the writer reports. He quotes resident Scott Stieg who said, ''This expensive and wasteful freeway plan should be quickly put out of its misery;'' and another resident Mary Lohmeier who added, ''If we have billions of dollars to spend, we should spend it on buses, so you only have to wait 10 minutes.'' Several others called for additional commuter-rail and light-rail lines and for improved bicycle paths and walkways. The writer adds that the plan opponents expect a further boost for their arguments from a Florida-based transportation consultant and ''guru of the 'Asphalt Rebellion' that questions the need for highway expansion,'' traffic engineer Walter Kulash, who is invited to address architects and downtown business leaders at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning on May 30. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   5/24/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Budget Cuts in Wisconsin Set Back Smart Growth Program

Given Wisconsin's $1.1 billion budget deficit that demands cuts in ''many worthwhile state programs,'' the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel accepts Governor Scott McCollum's proposal to reduce the $3 million Smart Growth grant fund by $350,000 this year and next, but cautions lawmakers in a conference committee against an Assembly proposal to cut another $150,000 and delay the law's compliance date from 2010 to 2014. ''That's a little too much pain, especially given the promise that proper land use planning holds for the state's future,'' says the daily in an editorial entitled ''Dumb Cut for Smart Growth.'' Reminding readers that the 1999 Smart Growth law requires all counties, cities, towns and villages to devise and start implementing comprehensive land use plans by 2010, the editorial says such plans ''can go a long way toward curbing urban sprawl,'' but communities need help to pay for them. ''While that investment in the state's future could be cut some,'' the editorial concludes, ''gutting the fund and pushing off the deadline'' will only increase the risk that the Milwaukee region may look within 20 years like metropolitan Chicago 50 miles to the south.   5/16/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Hartford, Wis. New Development Freeze Draws Fire from Neighboring Towns

Prompted by a sudden push for growth in its adjacent namesake town of Hartford, the city of Hartford's Common Council used its extraterritorial jurisdiction under a so-called ''third-class-city'' state law to pass an ordinance that freezes most development within three miles of the city limits for at least two years, affecting five cities in Washington County and another three in Dodge County. Cities obtain the third-class status and the three-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction once they reach 10,000 residents, as Hartford did by the 2000 census, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Peter Maller, noting that Hartford's new ordinance covering parts of eight nearby towns requires them to keep a 35- acre lot minimum in those areas until the city work out new zoning rules with each town. City Administrator Gary Koppelberger stressed that rather than annexing land near adjacent towns, the city hopes to promote orderly growth through regional planning of transportation, water and sewer lines and open space conservation - - all goals espoused by the state Smart Growth law. But town representatives were bitter. Rubicon town chairman Tom Schaefer said towns are ready to cooperate without the city ''forcing the issue.'' Erin town chairman Dennis Kenealy said the city's action shows ''a lack of trust in the towns,'' pointing out that Erin had been devising a Smart Growth plan in compliance with the state law requiring such regional plans within eight years.   4/10/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Tri-State Initiative Could Bring Planning Cooperation to Southwest Lake Michigan Counties

In an accord seen by its Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin signatories as the first in the nation, four agencies charged with planning in the 17-county area of southwestern Lake Michigan pledged cooperation to boost the region's economy and solve common land-use, traffic and environmental problems. Called the Wingspread Regional Accord -- after the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin, where it was conceived last summer -- the document was signed by top officials from the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the Chicago Area Transportation Study. Reporting from Chicago's signing ceremony, Chicago Tribune writer William Grady quotes the president of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, Herbert T. Schumann Jr., who stresses that ''the future of this region depends on initiatives that extend beyond Illinois' state borders.'' The commission's executive director, Ronald Thomas, says cooperation should help the four agencies secure state and federal planning funds, noting, ''We can reinforce each other's priorities.''   4/3/2002

Resource(s): www.chicagotribune.com/

Highlights of Milwaukee's Successful Downtown Revitalization Program

''While the private sector is the real engine of urban revitalization, it's government that supplies the vision and smooths the way for development,'' writes Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Whitney Gould, summarizing the lessons of Milwaukee's highly successful 1999 master plan for a denser, more pedestrian- friendly high-quality downtown. ''Absent either player, you get stagnation. With both on the same page, you have the makings of a reborn city,'' the columnist writes, recounting her reflections from a recent Design Council luncheon, where the dean of the school of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, Bob Greenstreet, and developer Gary Grunau reviewed the long list of downtown highlights. With about 2,400 new or nearly completed housing units, the downtown population has grown by 25 percent since 1997. New or future arts and entertainment attractions include expanded museums, a theater pub and a year- round produce market. The RiverWalk has boosted riverfront property values by 35 percent. A Milwaukee Connector, likely a rubber-tire tram to be announced shortly, linking downtown with nearby neighborhoods, could become operational by 2005. And despite suburban growth, new Class A offices downtown enjoy a 93-percent occupancy rate, with two more buildings in the pipeline. With some downtown advocates concerned about slow retail expansion and the lack of a big upscale store like Nordstrom, the columnist quotes Mayor John O. Norquist who sees the answer not in luring retailers with tax subsidies, but in their realization of ''how beautiful and interesting and complicated the downtown is, and that this is attractive to a shopper.''   3/10/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Milwaukee Moves Forward with Funds for Downtown Reshape Project

Expecting the state Department of Transportation to start demolition of a Park East Freeway spur in Milwaukee to free 20 downtown acres for redevelopment, the city Common Council approved $4.4 million for area street upgrades, along with a design for a new, pedestrian-friendly bridge over the Milwaukee River. The spur-razing may still be delayed by a local merchant suit pending in a federal court, but City Engineer Jeff Polenske said officials want to have everything ready to help the downtown-reshape project, which will cost between $100 million and $250 million. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Larry Sandler adds that the new downtown bridge will feature wood-plank sidewalks and a glassed-in bridge house.   3/6/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Wisconsin Counties Looking for Mandate Relief in Light of Shared Revenue Loss

In the wake of Governor Scott McCallum's proposal to reduce the state budget deficit through phased-in elimination of the $1 billion annual shared-revenue payments to localities, top Republican lawmakers became more responsive to long-standing county and municipal complaints about their burdens from several state mandates, including the Smart Growth law that requires them to prepare comprehensive development plans. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Don Behm reports that Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen and Senate minority leader Mary Panzer are asking local officials statewide to list mandates they would like repealed and Senator Bob Welch is promising to reintroduce his failed 2001 ''mandate relief act,'' which would end all current state requirements by 2005. Wisconsin Counties Association legislative director Craig Thompson says ''the governor has talked about creating greater efficiency in government, but these mandated programs are the costs that counties can't control.'' He argues that three ''gorilla'' mandates, ''the court system, juvenile justice and human services,'' last year cost counties more than $400 million over the state-provided funding. The writer adds that the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities asked lawmakers to stop creating new mandates, pointing out that current proposals in both chambers would impose 26 additional services or programs on local officials.   2/22/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/

Debate Continues Over Wisconsin State Aid Cutbacks

Republican Governor Scott McCallum and Democratic lawmakers went on the road with their fight over the governor's budget proposal to erase the state's $1.1 billion deficit by cutting its aid to local governments by $350 million a year until the funding ends in 2004. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writers report in series of articles that most municipal leaders feel shocked and offended by being portrayed in the governor's budget speech as ''big spenders'' riding the ''gravy train'' of state aid. Mequon Mayor Christine Nuernberg pointed out that the state's ''expenditures and programs have grown exponentially, unlike municipal governments,'' which ''provide the real meat and potatoes for people's quality of life.'' Cedarburg City Administrator Clint Gridley said the governor's proposal ''transfers onto cities the responsibility to make up the deficit created by the state's mismanagement of its financial affairs.'' Hartford City Manager Gary Koppleberger said he doesn't oppose ''eliminating shared revenue as a matter of policy,'' but doing it in such a short time and almost retroactively, ''poses insurmountable problems.'' But Ozaukee County Board Vice Chairman Gus ''Sandy'' Wirth, a member of the governor's campaign finance committee, thought the proposal may finally force local governments to consolidate services, perhaps creating joint town-county highway departments,'' a ''metro police department and maybe central dispatching for police, fire and emergency personnel.'' A Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis showed that under the governor's proposal -- which would reduce this year's state aid to localities by $39 per person and give nothing to those due that amount per capita or less -- the cuts would range from about nine percent for Milwaukee to more than 95 percent for other localities, with 528 municipalities and four counties losing all state aid at once. Leaving the $39 per capita threshold open to debate, governor spokesman Tim Roby argued that the cuts, representing a four- percent reduction of local governments' revenue statewide, wold not affect them much. With lawmakers delaying their budget action and the governor his state of the state speech until they gauge public sentiments, Assembly Democratic Leader Spencer Black said the governor should give his speech in Beloit, whose officials think they may be forced to dissolve the city if the cuts take effect. The governor's spokesman replied that a speech in Beloit ''would be a good opportunity to tell everybody to take a deep breath.''   1/23/2002

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/

Wisconsin Purchases, Protects 9,200 Acres on Scenic Peshtigo River

In a move to preempt any ecological damage along the scenic Peshtigo River rapids in Marinette and Oconto counties, the legislative Joint Finance Committee approved the $25 million purchase of 9,239 acres of pristine forests and river shores from the Wisconsin Public Service Corp., a utility company that explored the possibility of selling the land for development. Last month, Governor Scott McCallum advised the purchase as ''the next step in preserving the natural heritage and character that make Wisconsin a great place to live'' and Department of Natural Resources Secretary Darrell Bazzell welcomed its legislative approval as ''a wonderful opportunity to protect ... one of the crown jewels in Wisconsin.'' Environmentalists, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Dennis Chaptman, thought the purchase unnecessary, arguing that the utility's license should guarantee protection of the land for another 36 years and that the money could be better spent to acquire other threatened open space. But responding to the secretary's words that the utility sought release from this license requirement, the executive director of the River Alliance of Wisconsin, Todd Ambs, said given the only alternative -- the land being offered to the state or to developers -- his group would have rushed to support the state's purchase.   12/18/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/news/state/

Milwaukee Joins Initiative to Revitalize Downtown with Private Funds

Following the lead of St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and the Bader Foundation are joining the Boston-based Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to revitalize wide sections outside downtown Milwaukee entirely with private funds. The Boston organization, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Georgia Pabst, was funded in 1994 by Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter to spur the often-overlooked businesses and other economic forces of central cities in an effort to expand urban markets, jobs and prosperity. The Milwaukee project will be launched with a $100,000 Bader Foundation grant, with the Greater Milwaukee Committee raising private funds for economic research, market analysis and other means of advancing business. ''This project gets away from the old way of thinking of central cities as places that you have to subsidize and where government programs are targeted,'' says the committee's executive director, Robert Milbourne, adding that the business schools of Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will help the effort. Details of the projects are expected in January.   12/16/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com/bym/news/

Put conservation ahead of development

In another Waukesha County effort "to put conservation ahead of development," its Board of Supervisors plans to spend $672,000 for the 70-acre W. D. Owen Williams farm next to the 330-acre Retzer Nature Center and $1.2 million for 100 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat east of Spring Lake near Mukwonago. Developers reportedly offered up to $1 million for the farm, featuring 200-years-old oaks, but the family accepted less from the county, in line with its late owner's wishes to keep the land intact. Officials want to incorporate it into the nature center, whose educational tours and other environmental programs will extend to the pristine Mukwonago site, sold by two local owners. Coming after last month's $310,00 acquisition of the Fox River Inn site for conversion into a park, the purchases will lower the county's 1995 parkland acquisition fund to $1.1 million, but county and municipal officials hail them as key investments for future quality of life. Concerned with "overbuilding," County Supervisor Pauline Jaske says "Pretty soon there's going to be nothing but asphalt and houses."   10/24/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist announced the selection of the first three revived older neighborhoods

Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist announced the selection of the first three revived older neighborhoods that will get an additional boost under a new citywide strategic housing plan, which will bring together several city departments, while offering developers grants, vacant lots for nominal fees and a simplified permit process. The three include the once-blighted Lincoln Avenue corridor, admitted last month as the city's first entry in the Wisconsin Main Street Program; Lindsay Heights, with the city's first privately funded residential tax increment financing (TIF) district; and a recently revitalized part of W. North Avenue. The plan focuses on "certain neighborhood streets," the mayor said, pointing out that a "diverse range of housing styles and price options are a key component for retaining and attracting businesses, residents and employees." To fine-tune its comprehensive housing strategy, the city scheduled a series of sessions with community activists, rental managers, market-rate housing builders, Realtors, contractors, business leaders and academicians. After the first session with lenders, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Felicia Thomas-Lynn, the president of Columbia Savings & Loan Association, George Gary, said, "we're willing to be a partner."   10/24/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

As concerns about fast growth pervade Waukesha ...

As concerns about fast growth pervade Waukesha County, Mukwonago -- its fastest-growing village, whose population jumped 38 percent in the past decade -- is hoping to save local heritage and revitalize downtown through two historic districts. Suggested by Heritage Research of Menomonee Falls, after a survey of Mukwonago architectural assets, the historic district idea captured the imagination of officials and many residents opposed to a planned Walgreens downtown and a Home Depot nearby, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Ana Caban. Focusing on downtown area preservation priorities, Village President James Wagner says the survey will guide officials in creating its historic district, where all new projects will be specially scrutinized. Co-chair of the village's Historic Preservation Commission, Ruth A. Townsend, adds, "Before we start to look into the future, we have to decide to preserve what we already have here." A historian with the Division of Historic Preservation of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Joe DeRose, says Mukwonagoans "understand that growth is inevitable, but they want to plan for growth and promote historical properties," which also "draw people to community."   9/26/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

It has been nearly 30 years since ...

It has been nearly 30 years since the passage of the Clean Water Act, and tremendous progress has been made in bringing streams, rivers and lakes back to life. So why is it still dangerous to swim at the beach and eat the fish? inquires Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Jo Sandin in three in-depth articles on Wisconsin's water pollution, finding that its prime cause is everyday non-point runoff, whose future containment requires both high-tech pollutant conversion devices and low-tech landscaping methods. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources estimates that urban and rural runoff threatens 40 percent of the state's 44,000 miles of streams and rivers and 90 percent of its 15,037 inland lakes, along with groundwater, wetlands and many Great Lakes harbors. Voluntary measures pursued by the department since 1978, and dependent on landowner willingness to cooperate, have became insufficient, says its director of watershed management, Allen Shea. Thus, under legislative authority received in 1999, the department is readying mandatory runoff control regulations. Drawn in close consultations with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and reflecting input from more than 2,400 residents, the regulations will go a step farther than the federal ones that will take effect in 2003, setting storm water control requirements for most cities of 10,000 or more. Wisconsin runoff regulations will apply to municipalities with population densities of 1,000 per square mile, while encouraging use of natural buffers and offering some cost-sharing funds. It's about time, says the Sierra Club's Great Lakes program director, Eric Uram, stressing the need "to stop relying on the next generation to find the solutions." Noting the possibility of challenges to new runoff regulations by some property rights' advocates, the writer quotes an environmental law specialist at the University of Utah, professor Robert Adler, who says, "No rights are absolute. All rights are balanced against responsibilities. We have the right to use our property only in ways that don't hurt other people."   9/17/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

The creation of a Tax Increment Financing ...

The creation of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district for a 480-acre portion of the 1,600-acre Pabst Farms project on Oconomowoc's recently annexed land, strongly opposed by many residents, drew sharp criticism from the co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, Democratic Senator Brian Burke, who promised legislation to restore the TIF law's "original intent" to redevelop blighted urban areas that otherwise couldn't attract private investment. The senator said a "loophole" in the law makes public subsidies available to industrial projects in any city area, including newly annexed land on urban fringes. Authorizing $24 million over 15 years in TIF dollars for Wispark Corp., officials on the joint board of Oconomowoc, Waukesha County, its Technical College and the local school district explained that the subsidies will give the city more control over the project and speed up its completion. The executive director of 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, Dave Cieslewicz, called the decision "a complete perversion of the law." He pointed out that Wispark, one of Wisconsin's largest corporations, doesn't need "a public handout;" that TIF shouldn't be used to develop farmland; and that the area at the county's "last undeveloped interstate intersection" is "highly valuable real estate" which "would have developed anyway without the public subsidy." A spokesman for the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, Rich Eggleston, disagreed, noting that TIF "helps plan for orderly growth" and that Wisconsin urban sprawl results from the lack of land-use planning. If 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin is trying to stop sprawl, TIF "isn't the enemy," he said. "To bar its use in open space development would be a critical error."   9/17/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

In a move seen as a good ...

In a move seen as a good omen for European-style "green" redevelopment of Milwaukee's old industrial Menomonee Valley, developer Peter Moede of Atlas Development Corp. teamed with architect Eric Vogel of the Gastrau Fuerer Vogel firm, to turn an 18-acre former Reed St. Yards railroad site into a mixed-use, environmentally-friendly waterfront neighborhood, whose buildings will contain a variety of recycled materials and boast plenty of natural light. The neighborhood's early design calls for a 150-unit condo and apartment tower, several low-rise buildings for high-tech and service firms, parks, plazas, pathways, pedestrian bridges and a bike ramp, along with a riverwalk and wildlife corridor along the South Menomonee Canal -- all with extensive transit links. The design centerpiece, writes Whithey Gould of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is a six-acre "green roof" of grass and trees over both a 900-car garage and residential lofts built above commercial space. The green roof, probably the largest in the country, will filter runoff, reduce site temperature and provide recreational space, with a possible tennis court. Both Moede and Vogel see their project as "a focal point for a lot of architectural creativity" and a magnet for investment. "The perception of the valley right now is based on an industrial context," says Vogel. "Unless you can repair two generations' worth of that view, people won't invest here." And since the soil under the site is unstable and contaminated, structures will be set upon pilings, with the contaminants "encapsulated beneath the green-roofed garages" and methane dispersed through a venting system. Expressing Mayor Norquist's support for the project, City Planning Director Peter Park praises proponents both for innovative design and the intention to finance most of it privately, without taxpayer subsidies. 07.14.2001   7/24/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Three decades after public protests and lawsuits ...

Three decades after public protests and lawsuits blocked construction of 40 percent of the planned Milwaukee-area freeway system -- now "nearing the end of its useful life" and in need of rebuilding -- planners are again studying the idea of a northern bypass between I-43 and U.S. Highway 45 as a possible way to reduce the city's congestion, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Larry Sandler. The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is holding seven county hearings throughout the area, the last one on August 2nd, to outline its options and gather public input. Milwaukee County Executive F. Thomas Ament and Mequon Mayor Christine Nuernberg voiced their disbelief over the resurrected bypass idea, especially, the writer notes, since it "came from the administration of Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist, who has long argued that building new freeways contributes to urban sprawl, traffic congestion and air pollution." With neither the mayor nor other members of the planning study team immediately available for comments, Executive Ament said he doesn't think the bypass idea is "viable right now." Mayor Nuernberg was more blunt, calling it "a catastrophe" for all "the things this community has worked for" over the past 50 years. It's impossible "to build our way out of congestion," she added. "When we just build bigger roads, they just get filled up."   7/12/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

In a last-minute positioning for multi-faceted negotiations ...

In a last-minute positioning for multi-faceted negotiations in the legislature's budget conference committee, the Senate Democratic majority is pushing for tough restrictions on Wisconsin's tax increment financing (TIF) law, which often subsidizes "greenfield" industrial projects, while the Assembly Republican majority opposes such changes as detrimental to the state's primary urban economic development tool. The Senate-passed measure, reports Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Amy Rinard, would impose an up to three- year delay in the creation of TIF districts if they were to include land lying outside of city or village boundaries on January 1, 2000, unless annexation of the land occurred three years ago or stemmed from a boundary agreement with another municipality. Supporters, alarmed by the growing use of TIF for fringe development, stress that the measure would help protect open space, curb sprawl and prevent jurisdictional annexation battles by encouraging municipal border agreements. One of the Assembly Republicans supporting TIF changes, Michael Lehman, himself a revision proponent in past years, says the law was intended "for the redevelopment of blighted areas," but interpretation of statutes "is far exceeding that original intent." The writer notes that "powerful lobbying forces" ready to fight against TIF changes include the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the Wisconsin Builders Association, the Alliance of Cities and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.   6/26/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Even though Governor Scott McCallum asked lawmakers ...

Even though Governor Scott McCallum asked lawmakers to increase community planning grants under Wisconsin's Smart Growth law from the first $2.5 million in last year's budget to $6 million over the next two years, the law's principal advocate, Democratic Senator Brian Burke thinks it isn't enough given increased local interest in comprehensive land-use planning and in future Smart Growth dividends. Last year, the state Office of Land Information Services, which runs the Smart Growth program, was able to fund 70 of 101 applications. The office's analyst, Kassandra Walbrun, says, "We are receiving a lot of inquiries about the grant program on a daily basis." Being phased in over ten years, the Smart Growth law offers the grants as incentives for following state planning guidelines, which include protection of open space and centering growth in transportation corridors. Communities with comprehensive land-use plans in place by 2004 will be eligible for monetary Smart Growth dividends beginning in 2005. Such plans will be obligatory for all communities by 2010. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Amy Rinard notes that communities missing the deadline "would face as-yet-unspecified consequences," possibly a loss of state aid, along with a risk of lawsuits from any side, including their own residents.   5/14/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Stressing the importance of respecting private property ...

Stressing the importance of respecting private property rights, the Mequon Common Council unanimously created an advisory Open Space Preservation Commission to manage and administer the city's new land protection program, designed to save 25 to 50 percent of about 12,000 acres on its edges, much of it under immediate development pressure. The commission will determine how much land the city should protect annually through direct acquisition and development right purchases, but only at the request of owners. At the same time, the council sent a proposed conservation subdivision ordinance back to the Plan Commission for further study, with several aldermen suggesting another public hearing and open house on the draft, to explain its details and assuage property owner concerns. Targeting selected rural areas, the ordinance would require preservation of as much green space as possible in new subdivisions of at least 25 acres that have either scenic vistas along public roads or other unique traits defined by the commission on a case-by-case basis.   5/10/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Until last week, many environmentalists probably were ...

"Until last week, many environmentalists probably were inclined to think President Bush planned to celebrate Earth Day this year by bulldozing it," editorializes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, relieved that instead, in just four days, the President let stand his predecessor's rules on wetlands and lead contamination, and decided to sign a global treaty curbing the use of 12 toxic chemicals. Noting that "some cynics" see these decisions as "largely symbolic damage control" in the aftermath of shelving the Kyoto treaty, suspending reduction of arsenic in drinking water until further study and dropping a campaign pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions, the daily sees another possibility. "Bush and his closest advisers," it says, "may have realized belatedly that they had gone too far in what they say was a search for a practical and scientific middle ground on environmental regulations." Whatever their reason, these are "moves in the right direction," the daily concludes, and noting his supporters' views that "the president has found the right balance," it adds, "Let's hope so."   4/26/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

A survey commissioned by the Ozaukee Washington ...

A survey commissioned by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust in both counties to verify quality of life preferences and "help municipalities in drafting land use and open space plans in the next several years to comply with the state's Smart Growth law," reveals overwhelming resident support for preserving rural and natural areas. Conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, the survey shows that more than 90 percent of respondents see preservation of wildlife habitat, forests and shorelines as very or somewhat important and more than 80 percent think the same way about scenic views and farmland. Between 80 and 84 percent in each county oppose commercial and industrial development in areas without sewers; with 70 percent of Ozaukee County respondents and 61 percent of Washington County respondents opposing residential subdivisions in such areas. Also, 59 percent in Ozaukee County and 56 percent in Washington County favor the idea of creating county land conservation funds entitled to use tax dollars or bond revenue for protection of natural areas. The researchers say the results have a five percent margin of error and should accurately reflect public views for about a year. 04.05.2001   4/12/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

In an effort to protect their traditional ...

In an effort to protect their traditional character from the Milwaukee area's mounting development pressures, the city of New Berlin modified its master plan to reward developers of western subdivisions with "bonus lots" for clustering homes and saving large tracts as open space; and the town of Cedarburg is readying a similar provision for public hearings this spring. Under New Berlin's ordinance, a developer of a 100-acre site, currently allowed to build at most 20 homes, would get an automatic bonus of 13 lots for keeping half of the land as open space and a super-bonus of another seven lots for preserving 20 acres more. Under the proposed Cedarsburg ordinance, the developer of a 79-acre project currently before town planners could build 22 homes instead of 19, in exchange for increasing open space from 41 to 52 acres. To help communities craft bonus lot provisions, writes Dan Benson of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, a state agency, the University of Wisconsin Extension, issued a model ordinance, based on a four-criteria, five-percent-each formula. A developer could gain from five to up to 20 percent more lots for a site if he created an open space maintenance fund; made the open space accessible to the public; built at least 25 percent of homes as affordable to those with 80 percent of the area's median income; and kept any historic structures on the site. The ordinance's author, associate professor of urban and regional studies Brian Ohm, considers it "a tool for communities, a checklist of ideas," with the five percent as a flexible figure, dependent on local needs and preferences. The writer adds that the first town in southeastern Wisconsin to enact a bonus lots ordinance was Summit, two years ago, with good results. He cites Town Chairman Maurice Sullivan who says, "The cluster approach helps maintain, or even create, open areas and prevents dense or cookie-cutter designs," while reflecting the local value system in the effort to protect "wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas."   3/23/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

After a yearlong study of the need ...

After a yearlong study of the need to curb urban sprawl and save green space near Mequon, the largest city in Ozaukee County, its Preservation of Rural Open Space Task Force recommended permanent protection of at least 2,000 acres through development rights purchases and of an additional 4,000 acres through direct acquisition and private donations over the next 20 years. The task force estimates the development rights cost at $15 million to $20 million, depending on the pace of purchases and land value increases. With priority given to parcels under immediate development pressure, the task force also wants to save large woodlands, wetlands, sites for future trails or grenbelts and, whenever possible, large, isolated farms. City officials, including Mayor Christine Nuerberg and Administrator Lee Szymborski, have long considered land preservation their top priority, worthy of borrowing and small, phased-in property tax increases. The Mequon community development director, Brad Steinke, has warned that if the city leaves its rural areas to the private market, they will be fully developed within 20 to 25 years.   3/15/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

A Park and Open Space Plan drafted ...

A Park and Open Space Plan drafted by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission for Ozaukee County targets for preservation natural sites, wildlife habitat and recreational areas totaling 28,000 acres, or almost 19 percent of county land, by 2020. With less than 5,000 acres currently protected by public and conservation groups or private owners, and despite the projected placement of another 17,000 acres in protective flood land or conservancy zoning district to prevent incompatible development, the estimated cost of reaching the commission target exceeds $17 million. The commission expects the money would come from the county's budget, state grant programs, local land trust or other conservation funds and private contributions.   3/15/2001

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

Scenic America, a national organization created in ...

Scenic America, a national organization created in 1978 with a mission to preserve natural beauty and distinctive community character, released its 2000 Last Chance Landscapes report, listing the ten that are most threatened by billboards, new roads and other symptoms of sprawl. This year's list of the last chance landscapes includes Oakmont (Verdugo Mountains), Glendale, California; Ravalli County, Montana; the entire state of Colorado; Upper Mississippi Blufflands Region of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois; State Highway 131 between Ontario and Rockton, Wisconsin; Erin Township, Wisconsin; Springfield, Illnois; Poplar Point, Anacostia, Washington, D. C.; Cook Creek and Tributaries, Springfield Township, Pennsylvania; and the Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke Ranges, Massachusetts. Scenic America President Meg Maguire said these ten landscapes typify problems present in many other areas. Yet, for every problem, she stressed, there is a solution which other communities have adopted, showing once again that change is inevitable, but ugliness is not.   11/28/2000

Resource(s): www.scenic.org

The Menomonee Valley, Milwaukee's blighted industrial corridor ...

The Menomonee Valley, Milwaukee's blighted industrial corridor, whose workforce shrank from 50,000 in the 1920s to 7,000 now, may soon become a Smart Growth redevelopment showcase, complete with businesses, offices, green areas, pedestrian plazas and housing in every price range. City officials, activists, developer Peter Moede and experts from the Planning and Design Institute and the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center who just released a report entitled A Vision for Smart Growth, all agree that the 1,500-acre corridor has a rare combination of assets to ensure its success. It includes a downtown waterfront location, wide open space, close transportation and a job-hungry worker pool, along with an influx of federal and state cleanup funds. The developer, who plans his projects without subsidies, sees a real turnaround and a market ready for something to happen there. The head of the Planning and Design Institute, Larry Witzling, notes that things are starting to fall into place, and adds, When the first catalytic projects take hold in about a year or so, then we're really talking about a snowball.   10/4/2000

Resource(s): www.jsonline.com

In an editorial entitled Smart land use ...

In an editorial entitled Smart land use should be guide, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel praises the planners of the Harley-Davidson museum for willingness to enhance the complex's construction site with a theme restaurant and a 70-room hotel. More attractions, conventions and accommodations, the editorial says, make sense and add up to a more robust downtown. Thus, the editorial urges longtime downtown merchant, George Watts, to stop fighting demolition of the Park East Freeway spur. The planned demolition would free up 18 acres for commercial and residential development, which also attracted the Harley-Davidson project downtown.   7/28/2000

Governor Tommy G. Thompson's bipartisan, 15-member ...

Governor Tommy G. Thompson's bipartisan, 15-member public-private task force on tax increment financing (TIF) agrees that the 1975 law should be tightened to help reclaim brownfields and discourage sprawl, but still debates specifics. The executive director of 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, David Cieslewicz, says the law's original intent was to give blighted urban areas an advantage for development, not make it easier on the urban fringes, where it's likely to happen anyway. He says typical unwarranted taxpayer subsidy would be TIF for the Pabst Farms industrial park in Oconomowoc, Wukesha County, because the project would eat up productive farmland and exacerbate sprawl. He adds that nearly 45 percent of such Wisconsin TIF districts include a total of 30,000 acres of open space or farmland. State Republican Representative Michael Lehman attributes an explosive multiplication of suburban TIF districts to a creative interpretation of the word 'blighted' in the law. He doesn't want to prohibit TIF incentives for industrial development in suburbs, because the state must stay competitive with others, but sees the need to stop their excessive use and is certain that the task force will modify the law to allay concerns over green field development. A developer representative, Andy Bruce of MLG-Mooney LeSage Group, is against curbing suburban TIF districts, counting them among the most powerful municipal economic development tools. Should we steer companies to urban areas, he says, a lot of them would just leave the state.   7/28/2000

Expecting fast population growth and new development ...

Expecting fast population growth and new development pressures, Walworth County officials want to preserve some of its best and most sensitive land by creating and expanding county parks. They hope for state grants to create a $1.3 million, 220-acre White River park in the eastern town of Lyons, and a $1.9 million, 375-acre Turtle Creek park in the western town of Darien. Both parks would include hiking trails, camping sites, picnic areas and other recreational areas. The park creation idea, endorsed unanimously by the county Transportation and Parks Committee, along with an advisory committee proposal to expand Natureland Park in Richmond and the Price Conservancy in Lafayette, will be reviewed at the County Board session early next month. A recent county quality of life poll found strong support for parklands, with almost 75 percent of 2000 respondents wanting the county to actively pursue their protection and 57 percent willing to pay higher property taxes for this purpose.   7/7/2000

The New Berlin Planning Commission is studying ...

The New Berlin Planning Commission is studying consultant recommendations to build a pedestrian-friendly downtown City Center, mixing retail, office and housing projects with parks and other recreational areas, but avoiding big-box department stores like K-mart or Home Depot. An urban planner with SmithGroup JJR in Madison, Linda Horwath, told commissioners that the big stores wouldn't attract many people downtown. She also suggested strategies for funding the center's construction. They include using community development block grants or tax increment financing (TIF) for a land bank that would combine small adjacent parcels into large, more easily developed sites, and setting up a city matching grant program to help owners or investors launch downtown projects. Such private projects could be made even more profitable by creation of a business improvement district. The center's chief proponent, Mayor James Gatzke, wants private investors to cover most of its costs, though under city guidelines. He stresses that any city purchases of land for downtown development will be strictly voluntary.   6/26/2000

In a step toward a long-term growth ...

In a step toward a long-term growth strategy, the rural city of Muskego hired Applied Ecological Services Inc. of Brodhead to identify open spaces, woodlands and other environmentally sensitive areas for protection. The main proponent of the Common Council*s land conservancy plan, Alderman Pat Patterson, says residents are most concerned that the city may lose the rural atmosphere or flavor we all moved out to Muskego for. Officials hope to save local character through land or development right purchases, using the expected $1 million annually from new landfill fees. Consultants from Madison-based Vandewalle & Associates firm, who will be advising officials on growth-control specifics, think the city may consider cluster housing subdivisions, with small lots and common open space. The firm*s director of planning services. Mike Slavney, applauds Muskego for trying to rein in growth before it loses its character to urban sprawl.   4/28/2000

Pleased with the groundbreaking for a 28 ...

Pleased with the groundbreaking for a 28-acre neo-traditional subdivision of Cherokee Point at Milwaukee's southwest, Mayor John O. Norquist found its small lots a sign that not everyone wants an unusually large grass obligation. Designed for Toldt Development Inc. by Planning and Design Institute's Larry Witzling and Carolyn Esswein, the wooded subdivision is seen as a model alternative to sprawl. The idea is to promote sense of community, slow down traffic and reduce car-dependency. The subdivision will include 77 single-family homes, 40 condos and five duplex buildings, all along narrow streets, close to sidewalks and interspersed with trails and parks. The houses will have front porches or terraces and back garages. The design guidelines specify high-quality materials and attention to detail. Expecting to finish the first units by fall or early winter, developer Helmut Toldt sees a strong early market response, with city employees among the most eager buyers. But he isn't sure if the majority of the real-estate market is interested in this approach. Metropolitan Association of Realtors Executive Vice President Mike Ruzicka notes that New Urbanist projects, slow in the suburbs, are catching on in more urbanized areas such as Brookfield, New Berlin and Pewaukee. Calling compact development an evolutionary thing, he is hopeful that Cherokee Point could be a showcase for the rest of the metropolitan area.   4/17/2000

By the end of June, Kenosha will ...

By the end of June, Kenosha will open the state's first modern trolley line. The $5 million, two-mile loop will link the city's commuter train station, downtown area and a new mixed-use lakefront HarborPark project. City Transportation Department Director Joe McCarthy says the line, with five trolley cars as an extension of the bus system, is attracting regional and national interest, especially in regard to its potential benefits for HarborPark, which will host shops, condos and a new Kenosha Public Museum building.   4/17/2000

Seeking a common approach to growth in ...

Seeking a common approach to growth in Racine County and Kenosha County towns, Mount Pleasant planners presented rough drafts of their land use and transportation plans to Sturtevant leaders, in the first of consultations to be continued in Racine, Caledonia, Yorkville and Somers. Mount Pleasant planning director Ron Meyer said: "We share common borders and we don't want to have any conflicts on our land use or transportation plans. We want to create a seamless transportation plan so collector streets and roads connect. We don't want to put factories next to their homes and for them to put their homes next to our factories." According to planning consultant Russell Knetzger, the plans project the town's population growth from 22,000 to 50,000.   12/13/1999

Next March, the town of Caledonia in ...

Next March, the town of Caledonia in Racine County will join the state's alternative transportation program, replacing its east side bus system by a shared-ride service, with regularly scheduled pick-ups and on-call responses within an hour. The state will support the switch with $55,000 over the next three years, but the town retains an option to restore its bus system should the shared-ride service be ineffective.   12/13/1999

Dane County environmental and transit activists are ...

Dane County environmental and transit activists are on alert over Supervisor Mark Opitz's proposed board resolution, asking transportation planners to map a possible beltline through a rural area north of Madison, along Lake Mendota, down to Middleton. The supervisor says his proposal, which would reserve the mapped tract as a prospective highway option, is "an attempt to try to avoid sprawl in the future." But a Citizens for a Better Environment policy analyst, Rob Kennedy, notes that in the absence of integrated land use plans "that direct growth efficiently and preserve open space," the beltline mapping would invite developers to snap the area's prime rural properties and, ultimately, accelerate sprawl   12/13/1999

After a year-long study of how to ...

After a year-long study of how to save the city of Mequon, north of Milwaukee, from "long-feared" uncontrolled growth, its public Visioning Committee recommends buying development rights to a third of the last rural land, preserving low residential densities and restricting development in environmentally-fragile and flood-prone areas. Such measures, the committee says, will let the city avoid straining infrastructure, keep down service costs and retain a rural atmosphere. The recommendations are based on public input gathered at several open houses and from a five-page all-household questionnaire, with a 52 percent response rate. The recommendations will now be studied by the Common Council and the Planning Commission, with a Preservation of Rural Open Space Task Force expected to take on the development rights purchase issue in January.   11/22/1999

The "smart growth" law requires communities to ...

The "smart growth" law requires communities to create comprehensive land use plans for transportation, economic development, natural site preservation and residential projects, including affordable housing. An expert from the 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, David Cieslewicz, who helped draft the law, said that comprehensive plans must guide all community decisions after 2010. The state will give communities "smart growth" dividends for developing a-quarter-acre or smaller sites, and for each unit of affordable housing. A representative of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Builders, Matt Moroney, stressed that "smart growth" includes marketplace principles.   11/22/1999

To familiarize local officials, planners and developers ...

To familiarize local officials, planners and developers with details of the state's new "smart growth" law, the League of Women Voters of Ozaukee County and the University of Wisconsin Extension held a day-log conference in the town of Cedarburg, the area's model for land-use planning, balanced growth and rural identity protection.   11/22/1999

The Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy ...

The Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy honored Governor Tommy G. Thompson with the Conservation Leadership Award for finalizing the "Great Addition," the largest land acquisition in the state's history. Thanking the conservancy, the governor said the award reinforces his "commitment to leaving the environment to the next generation better than we inherited it." The 32,000-acre "Great Addition" increases the open land acreage acquired by Governor Thompson for preservation, to a total of 242,600 acres.   11/3/1999

Part of the state's biennial budget just ...

Part of the state's biennial budget just signed by Governor Tommy G. Thompson, is Assembly Bill 133, hailed by American Planning Association national and state chapter leaders as reflecting key concepts and language of their Growing Smarter project. Seen as "a landmark growth management act for the state," the new law requires comprehensive planning to protect farmland and open space, ensure sufficient land for development, and spur reinvestment in older communities "instead of creating new suburbs or edge cities." The law also follows the APA Growing Smarter project by favoring multi-modal transportation and affordable housing.   11/3/1999

The state Department of Revenue would like ...

The state Department of Revenue would like to speed up the phase-in of a farmland use-value assessment law from ten to three or four years, to dissuade farmers from selling for development. The law provides farmers with tax relief, by assessing the agricultural value of land, instead of its value for residential, commercial or other uses. It could save a lot of costly farmland, especially in Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine and Waukesha counties. Some city officials, including Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, fear the law will place a greater tax burden on urban areas. They are challenging the law in court as unconstitutional.   9/13/1999

Governor Tommy Thompson announced the state's largest ...

Governor Tommy Thompson announced the state's largest land protection deal, in which the Wisconsin Stewardship Fund will pay $25 million for more than 32,000 acres of north waterside woods, to preserve the areas for camping, fishing and hunting. The land belongs to the Illinois-based Packing Corporation of America, which is selling a total of 161,000 acres in six Wisconsin counties. Governor Thompson hoped to buy all of it for preservation, but the company has chosen another buyer for most of the land, to raise fast cash.   9/13/1999

Milwaukee: A New Urbanism conference panel debate ...

Milwaukee: A New Urbanism conference panel debate on "Creating Wealth: Revitalization and Gentrification" turned into a heated controversy over race and class disparities. According to Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel, the controversy was sparked by the author of an anti-sprawl book "The Geography of Nowhere," James Howard Kunstler. He called upon those worried by gentrification of revitalized urban areas -- or about displacement of their mostly poor and minority residents by affluent whites -- to stop claiming victimization, realize that not race but crude behavior is divisive, and overcome the image of center-city cultural separateness. Calling these words racist, a Harvard Graduate School of Design professor, Edward Robbins, said that racism indeed hinders blacks' economic progress, while developers benefit from subsidies for gentrification of older neighborhoods. A San Francisco Bay area architect, Michael Pyatok, also criticized New Urbanism for facilitating gentrification, which he said breaks up older urban communities, setting minority and single-parent households adrift. A panelist from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation in the nation's capital, Charles Buki, added that most people don't want to have radically different neighbors, noting that he doesn't want to live"next door to a redneck who's repairing his truck."   6/11/1999

Milwaukee: The almost 1000 national and foreign ...

Milwaukee: The almost 1000 national and foreign participants in the Congress for the New Urbanism seventh annual conference in Milwaukee, agreed that a healthy economy, demographic shifts and a backlash against suburban sprawl "have made this the best time in decades for urban revitalization." But they also warned, reports Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel, that to sustain their renewal, cities "must reform schools, control crime and deal with the problems of poverty." Among factors vital for sustainable communities, many speakers listed New Urbanism, with its principles of compactness, mixed-use, human scale and pedestrian-friendly open areas. Among factors threatening communities, they noted excessive individual inwardness, consumerism, two-career families, long commutes, preoccupation with the TV and the Internet, and the decline in voting, voluntarism and civic and church participation.   6/11/1999

Cincinnati: Firstar Bank, with $38 billion in ...

Cincinnati: Firstar Bank, with $38 billion in assets and 720 full-service offices in Ohio, Wisconsin and seven other states, is launching an "Adopt-A-Block" loan program to help communities, developers and small businesses revitalize key sections of their neighborhoods. The bank is starting the program in Cincinnati with a $2 million developer loan to renovate six long-vacant buildings and turn them into 42 affordable housing units. The program includes an "American Dream Home Loan" offer for first-time buyers, single parents and other qualified applicants.   5/28/1999

Washington County: An initial analysis of responses ...

Washington County: An initial analysis of responses to the County's survey of more than 4,500 farmers, officials, educators and conservationists shows that their top concerns are the loss of farmland, sprawl in rural subdivisions and lack of access to lakes. The county Land Conservation Department is conducting the mail survey to prepare a draft Land and Water Plan by year's end. The survey deadline is April 23, with results to be presented May 20, at a public session of the University of Wisconsin-Washington County in West Bend.   4/1/1999

Milwaukee Area: Another three localities in the ...

Milwaukee Area: Another three localities in the metro Milwaukee area have put growth management at the top of 1999 agendas. The town of Caledonia is upgrading its land-use plan to balance residential and commercial development, and to save green space and wetlands. The town of Yorkville is working with county and regional experts on its long-term land-use plan to include common development and environmental interests. The village of Dousman is shaping a new land-use plan to revitalize its center and set growth policies for the next decade.   1/1/1999

Germantown Village: A southeastern Wisconsin city hopes ...

Germantown Village: A southeastern Wisconsin city hopes to protect itself from sprawl through a proposed "conservation subdivision." The measure would provide for smaller lots coupled with larger common areas, to preserve more open space and save on sewer lines and other utilities.   9/1/1998

Hartford: Northwest of Milwaukee, the city is ...

Hartford: Northwest of Milwaukee, the city is thinking about buying farmer development rights as a means to contain urban sprawl. The program could be funded by local property taxes, grants, donations and the sale of bonds.   8/1/1998

Waukesha: West of Milwaukee, the city is ...

Waukesha: West of Milwaukee, the city is looking to revitalize part of its downtown with a new $14 million transit station, which will include shops and parking, and should became a magnet for other commercial development.   8/1/1998

Jefferson County: The land-use "2020 Plan" would ...

Jefferson County: The land-use "2020 Plan" would protect farmland outside present sewer districts by increasing the lot-size minimum from 35 to 80 acres, while letting farmers sell development rights. The measure's opponents, including the county's Farm Bureau, the Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee and local Realtors, argue that the minimum lot-size increase would kill farmers' chances of selling land to developers.   7/1/1998

Milwaukee: The global economy offers older neighborhoods ...

Milwaukee: The global economy offers older neighborhoods their greatest development opportunity since the war on poverty, says the director of the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, Howard Snyder. Noting that neither "top-down" economies nor "killer" capitalism work for long-term investments in older neighborhoods, he says that his corporation is searching for a middle ground, or "third way," to encourage the reintroduction of social relations between companies and their residents and merchant neighbors.   7/1/1998

Kenosha will use an Urban Land Institute ...

Kenosha will use an Urban Land Institute plan to revitalize its downtown by converting a post-industrial 69-acre lakefront tract into a mixed-use neighborhood, Harborpark. Trolley line construction has begun, with infrastructure groundwork scheduled for the spring. The city will pay the $18.5 million infrastructure cost through tax increment financing, or TIF.   2/1/1998

Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist and the city's ...

Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist and the city's Common Council set up a task force to reform the city zoning code. The aim is to facilitate reuse of brownfields and to encourage development of mixed-use pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.   1/1/1998

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