. . . and to hell with democracy and wetlands.
The October 9 meeting of the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission vindicates CARPC critics such as former County Executive Kathleen Falk, who called for the commission to be disbanded back in 2011, and its functions absorbed into various parts of county government. On a vote of 9-2, the commission approved plans for a controversial development in Fitchburg that experts say threatens the Waubesa Wetlands, a state natural area fed by three creeks, one of which already shows significant signs of degradation. The count on the vote evokes Falk’s blistering criticism that “Most CARPC commissioners simply are not willing to do the job they were appointed to do”, featured at the time in this blog. For example, Jason Kramar, Village of DeForest trustee and Dane County Cities and Villages Association appointee, expressed frustration that the commission was considering second-guessing plans the City of Fitchburg had approved. Proving that a public regional body could conceivably be better, though, was Peter McKeever, who did a heroic job of defending both local democracy and regional thinking all evening. The other “no” vote came from Ed Minihan, longtime chair of the Dunn Town board. Both are appointees of the County Executive. McKeever’s appointment seems to have been controversial on the County Board- perhaps in ways that appointments of pro-development candidates are usually not. McKeever is a known environmentalist (how terrible!) and an attorney who represents the Town of Dunn. He had cleared his participation in the vote with legal counsel, as he stated in response to a disparaging remark from Fitchburg alder and development proponent Richard Bloomquist. Unsurprisingly, Stoughton TIF-for-Walmart supporter Alder Eric Hohol was a “yes”.
Following the vote in favor of adding the North Stoner Prairie neighborhood to the Urban Service Area (meaning extension of water, sewer and storm sewer), the commission moved on to public comment on a second amendment to the Urban Service Area, involving Fitchburg’s controversial Northeast Neighborhood. A lot of people – 1,133 – have signed a petition by the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition against developments in both areas because of the threat to the wetlands. Strong opposition to extending Fitchburg’s development in North Stoner Prairie and the Northeast neighborhoods comes from Town of Dunn residents, who have undertaken significant farmland preservation and created the first rural preservation program in the state. However, it should be noted that McKeever did seek to explore ways to limit the development in North Stoner Prairie while still permitting the expansion of Subzero Wolf.
As the public hearing on the Northeast Neighborhood (NEN) began, Commissioner Zach Brandon led the charge to limit public comment, proposing that the commission violate its own rules stated in the agenda. The President of the Madison Chamber of Commerce was appointed to the commission by Mayor Soglin and probably deserves the MVP award related to the effort to shut up the public. He also managed to insult retired Nelson Institute Professor Cal DeWitt, to the extent that other commissioners apologized to DeWitt and to the public . Public comment went on so long (about 11:30pm), that it was followed by a motion by Hohol to table the issue until the next meeting. The public hearing was supposed to have been the previous month, and some commissioners expressed frustration with this. Six of them, including Brandon, voted no. Commissioner Ken Golden had left by this time, and when the motion failed, Hohol announced he was going to leave. As the specter of quorum loss increased, a hasty second vote approved tabling. Throughout the unnecessarily contentious proceedings, Alder Larry Palm deserves credit for being nice to people and keeping his cool as meeting chair. Demerits for the vote on North Stoner Prairie, though. Lots of his constituents probably care about wetland preservation, and now they will have an opportunity to let him know that. Members of the public deserve a lot of credit for maintenance of decorum. Many had sat through a long meeting the previous month, waiting to comment.
Meeting high (or low) lights:
• As public comment began, controversy erupted over whether registered speakers could yield their time to other registrants. The agenda stated this was possible and yielded time would allow Professor Emeritus DeWitt, UW Professor of Botany Joy Zedler, and West Waubesa Preservation Coalition Chair Phyllis Hasbrouck at least six minutes each. This infuriated Brandon and Kramar, whose effort to stop this failed. The meeting agenda stated “The time limit for testimony by each registrant will be 3 minutes, unless additional time is granted at the discretion of the Chair. However, for public hearings on USA/LSA amendments, applicants are granted a maximum of 15 minutes to testify, and other groups of registrants may pool their time of 3 minutes each up to a maximum of 15 minutes. “ (Three minutes is a pittance, while excerpts of the staff report, most of which was postponed, mushroomed out of the time block in which commissioners tried to contain it.)
• Public testimony was overwhelmingly against the NEN, except for Fitchburg Alder Bloomquist, and one of the developers, who did not identify himself as a developer. McKeever had to point out his vested interest.
• Brandon also seemed angry that Professor DeWitt was offering public comment, and with more than three minutes. DeWitt had apparently been invited to give an expert presentation to the commission at an earlier meeting; Brandon felt he had heard enough and said so, interrupting DeWitt, who really needed more than six minutes, and was getting that through McKeever’s request that he finish his comments.
• Using some of his time to express regret and outrage at the treatment of professor DeWitt, Don Hammes of the Yahara Fishing Club was eloquent and spoke for many.
• Brandon and Kramar (perhaps others) expressed ardent support for the three-minute comment rule as efficient. This might be the point at which Brandon went on about the amount of time he had devoted to public meetings and shared that he had missed his son’s last soccer game that very night. (His petulance throughout the evening really mediated against the public extending the sympathy or appreciation this warrants.)
• All of the issues raised by the public and expert testimony were also raised in regard to North Stoner Prairie, prior to the vote approving it. The commission refused to factor in climate change, in accepting staff claims about the viability of stormwater management plans. McKeever pointed out that the commission had been given a great deal of population data (mind-numbing, to this observer) and this focus far outstripped consideration of the effects of climate change, which received no attention.
Moral of the story:
Keep an eye on your elected officials, and the people they appoint to public bodies. And on the bright side, commissioners now have additional time to hear from county residents who might care about wetlands.
