The City of Madison Common council is about to adopt the report – meaning this will become city policy and directives, so what are they adopting? Here’s a summary of the action taken and the summary of the 48 page report. It also includes a great appendix about Equitable Economic Development – which I think is the most interesting part of the report.
CITY ACTION ON THE PLAN
The committee finished their work in November, and this has been to several committees. Looking in legistar, it went to the
Plan Commission (action details not available)
Madison Food Policy Council (action details not available)
Affirmative Action Commission (action details not available)
Transportation Policy and Planning Board (action details not available)
Economic Development Committee (action details not available)
The council agenda has a list more detail – hope you didn’t blink over the holidays as they rushed this through:
– 12/19/18 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Approval to the PLAN COMMISSION
– 1/7/19 TRANSPORTATION POLICY AND PLANNING BOARD Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Approval to the PLAN COMMISSION
– 1/8/19 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMISSION Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Approval to the PLAN COMMISSION
– 1/9/19 MADISON FOOD POLICY COUNCIL Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Approval to the PLAN COMMISSION
– 1/14/19 PLAN COMMISSION RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL TO ADOPT – REPORT OF OFFICER – On a motion by Cantrell, seconded by Rewey, the Plan Commission recommended to Common Council to adopt the Oscar Mayer Area Strategic Assessment Report, disolve the Oscar Mayer Strategic Assessment Committee, and authorize the development of the Oscar Mayer Area Special Area Plan. This item passed by voice/vote/other.
RESOLUTION
According to the resolution, the actions taken by the council are to:
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council do hereby Adopt the Oscar Mayer Area Strategic Assessment Report, including the Key Redevelopment Objectives and Recommendations below:
• Key Redevelopment Objectives:
o Target a high density of living wage jobs
o Maintain housing affordability and minimize displacement
o Leverage the area’s existing infrastructure and building stock
o Ensure economic recovery boosts diversity in ownership and local businesses
o Integrate a welcoming district that serves all ages and diverse cultures
o Equip the North/East side’s next generation with skills to meet emerging opportunities
o Create an integrated and connected multimodal transportation system
o Deploy sustainable technologies, improve storm water, and preserve environmental assets
o Form an identifiable and authentic mixed-use district
o Proactively utilize City financial resources and statutory powers to optimize tax base growth and achieve the vision
• Key Recommendations:
o Develop an interim strategy for requests on land use changes in accordance with this plan until the Special Area Plan is complete
o The Special Area Plan process should include a well-funded public participation strategy and should include dialogue with all stakeholders at key points in the process
o Assess the current state of affordable housing in the study area and identify opportunities to create additional affordable units.
o Assess the affordability of retail/commercial space in the area and identify and implement strategies to maintain affordability for small and locally owned business.
o Focus the Special Area Plan on the area identified on the map included in the report.
o And other recommendations as listed in Strategic Assessment Report
• That upon adoption of the Oscar Mayer Area Strategic Assessment Report, the Mayor and Common Council do hereby dissolve the Oscar Mayer Strategic Assessment Committee; and
• The Mayor and Common Council do hereby authorize staff to lead the Special Area Plan process beginning in early 2019; and
• The Special Area Plan process will be staffed by the Planning Division with assistance from the Economic Development Division and other agencies as needed.
• The Special Area Plan process should include opportunities for residents, property owners, local businesses and others to be fully informed and have opportunities to comment; and
• A consultant will be hired to conduct the Special Area Plan process and lead public engagement.
REPORT SUMMARY
The key redevelopment objectives and recommendations are outlined in the resolution above.
If you are interested, starting on Page 19 they have information about
– Economic Growth in the area
– Major Employment Areas
– Value per acred of land in 2018
– Impacts of Oscar Mayer (jobs, tax base, utilities, other)
– Workforce and Employment information in the area
– Demographics of the North Side
– Key assets in the area
– Existing Infrastructure
Start on page 26 they Identify Big Picture Opportunities
– OPPORTUNITY 1 POTENTIAL TARGET ECONOMIES + CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
The study area has the potential to play a key role and housing a diverse array of companies in industries that drive our economy. Targeting growth sectors and companies such as the wide- ranging health and biotech sectors, IT and gaming, business services and food and beverage can provide a wide spectrum of living-wage quality jobs to the adjacent urban workforce.
– OPPORTUNITY 2 DIGITAL-DRIVEN INDUSTRY 4.0-NEXT GENERATION OF MANUFACTURING
This area has a long history of people making things and producing products. Like all economies, the next generation of manufacturing will be digitally-driven and the area’s fiber infrastructure and workforce must position and be ready to meet the opportunities in advanced analytics, augmented reality, IoT and the interface between machines, devices, sensors, and people, additive manufacturing and advanced robotics.
As manufacturing becomes more digitally driven, the region’s capacity and the skillset of the next-generation workforce must be prepared to meet these future-oriented opportunities. This requires positioning the area to meet the adoption of technology in the manufacturing sector by leveraging fiber infrastructure and building stock to maintain its potential for being a place that makes things.
– OPPORTUNITY 3 FOOD MANUFACTURING + AGGREGATION/ DISTRIBUTION
Oscar Mayer’s legacy infrastructure, supply chain and workforce combined with the North/East side’s growing food innovation assets offers the opportunity to become a marketplace/hub for regional products to help evolve the city’s food innovation corridor. Exploring the utilization of onsite cold storage and docking for regional food aggregation and distribution, as well as the Packers Ave corridor building stock for small-scale production/sales should be considered.
– OPPORTUNITY 4 PLACE-BASED WORKFORCE COLLABORATIVE
The high concentration of workforce development and educational institutional assets in and around the area should be leveraged to foster partnerships that ensure the Northside’s next generation of workforce is able to capitalize on the emerging opportunities. Nimble and collaborative partnerships between companies and educational as well as startup institutions can contribute to career pathways in tech for the Northside’s youth via company internships, apprenticeships, and mentoring.
– OPPORTUNITY 5 HOME FOR THE NEXT LARGE CORPORATE CAMPUS TO GO TO SCALE
The large sites in the area and prime infrastructure offer the opportunity to be the home to the next company that goes to scale as part of our business development pipeline. The Northside’s full range of housing within a two-mile radius, and the full spectrum of workforce available within a 10-minute drive, make this area even more attractive for companies seeking an urban walkable employment district. To realize this opportunity in the future, land banking key sites should be considered.
– OPPORTUNITY 6 CREATING AN INCLUSIVE MIXED-USE DISTRICT
Incorporating restaurants, entertainment, retail and daily services and making the employment area walkable and active, is critical to the success of urban employment districts. Making it truly ‘Northside authentic’ and an inclusive neighborhood hub that is approachable to all should be the objective through design and use mix, and ownership, tying into the N. Sherman Ave commercial district
– OPPORTUNITY 7 MULTI-MODAL + TRANSIT-ORIENTED HUB
This is the only area in the region that has the ability to not only be an intermodal hub for goods and services due to its roadway interstate access, fright rail lines, airport and foreign trade zone, but also a multi-modal hub for people because of the convergence of bus lines and transfer point, airport, bike network, future BRT and long range local and intercity rail transit potential.
– OPPORTUNITY 8 A LINEAR AND URBAN CITY FUTURE
As the community grows and densifies along the infrastructure and arterial spine from Hilldale, through the Isthmus and to the airport, the Packers Avenue corridor is the next segment with the opportunity to redevelop in a transit- oriented, linear urban growth pattern over time.
– OPPORTUNITY 9 PROACTIVE + COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL EQUITY + ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK
In advance of the area’s economic transformation, an opportunity exists to proactively develop a holistic social equity framework and approach to boost and preserve the existing rich culture and diverse make-up of residents and businesses of the North/East side. Exploring policies to minimize displacement and gentrification and expanding housing options will help maintain housing affordability. Leveraging the cultural fabric and entrepreneurial spirit, investing in specialized workforce and education training and capitalizing on the diverse leadership and partnerships structure will ensure all in the community have a chance to reach their full potential.
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
On page 36 & 37
1. The Special Area Plan process should commence as soon as possible to align with major property owner development planning and ensure the effort dovetails with the likely 2019 Tax Increment District (TID) project plan creation.
2. Develop an interim strategy for requests on land use changes in accordance with this plan until the Special Area Plan is complete.
3. Develop a detailed implementation strategy to advance and help realize the redevelopment objectives in concert with the Special Area Plan and TID.
4. The Special Area Plan process should include a well-funded public participation strategy and should include dialogue with all stakeholders at key points in the process.
5. As the recommendations in this report are implemented, the responsible agencies should ensure that actions build on this report and that those actions are communicated to the groups who provided input during this process.
6. To achieve the vision and objectives, the City or a partner entity should begin reaching out to and working with property owners to acquire and combining key sites for optimization.
7. Partner with the current owners of the wetlands near Roth Street to preserve and maintain them as open space. Partner with East Madison Little League to retain the ball fields.
8. Assess the current state of affordable housing in the study area and identify opportunities to create additional affordable units.
9. Identify and implement strategies to prevent displacement of long-term renters and homeowners whose housing costs threaten to displace them.
10. Assess the affordability of retail/commercial space in the area and identify and implement strategies to maintain affordability for small and locally owned business.
11. Proactively connect the site owners and tenants with training/hiring organizations.
12. Actively plan for transportation improvements to support redevelopment of the study area, including potential relocation of the North Transfer Point, alignment of future BRT, bicycle connections, and location of amenities so the city captures opportunities.
13. The Special Area Plan should involve sustainability experts, particularly on green stormwater management, to advise on the plan and connect them with the owners.
14. The City, proactively working with property owners, should use public investment to grow a diversity of jobs in the study area that pay a living wage and are available to a wide range of residents.
15. The Special Area Plan should focus on the area shown on the following map. (see next page)
Page 39 – 41 Talks about the recommendations and connects them to the objectives, appoints a responsible agency, indicates a time time and has some additional notes. It doesn’t say how much each of these things will cost.
MY THOUGHTS
1. How much will this cost?
2. Will they really do this:
8. Assess the current state of affordable housing in the study area and identify opportunities to create additional affordable units. (Objective 2)
Responsible Agency: Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development (Housing Strategy Committee)
Timeline: Medium (6-24 months)
Notes: “Affordable housing” refers to housing that is affordable to a wide range of households spending less than 30% of their income on housing.
or this:
9. Identify and implement strategies to prevent displacement of long- term renters and homeowners whose housing costs threaten to displace them. (Objectives 2, 4)
Responsible Agency: Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development (Housing Strategy Committee)
Timeline: Medium (6-24 months)
Seems like affordable housing gets the lip service, but no actual follow through most of the time. Everyone says its important, but we fail on the implementation.
3. In the appendix they have this – it might be the most interesting part of the report – but will it mean anything? I don’t see this reflected in the chart of assignments and follow through.
APPENDIX 2: EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
Equitable economic development – an approach to local economies that takes into account the uneven access to opportunity that exists in our cities – has the potential to grow local economies and share the benefit of doing so.Our economy is plagued by inequality and racial disparities, but cities can and should lead by taking an equitable approach to economic development.
By dismantling barriers experienced by low-income people and communities of color in the economy, this approach unlocks the full potential of local economies. According to PolicyLink, “Through accountable public action and investment, it (equitable economic development) grows quality jobs and increases entrepreneurship, ownership, and wealth. The result is a stronger, more competitive city.”
This means thinking about the following principles and approaches when planning economic development in a city:
• Taking a race-conscious approach that acknowledges historical inequality and structural racism
• Prioritizing wealth-generation in the community
• Working to connect neighborhoods to the regional economy
• Focusing on “economic gardening” – growing local businesses instead of trying to attract them from
other places – and supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs
• Preferencing jobs available to those without college degrees and those that pay a living wage and
offer benefits
• Working to raise the standard of living of lower-wealth households
• Being transparent and publicly accountable in the use of public dollars
• Leveraging city contracting and purchasing to support local businesses and workers
• Tracking the potential for displacement of communities of color and low-income households, and
working to mitigate those impactsAs is often true when incorporating equity into our work, taking an equitable economic development approach is crosscutting, and touches many parts of what cities do, especially affordable housing, transit, workforce development, and community development work. A comprehensive approach should include strong leadership from the mayor, training for staff, adoption of equity principles and/or an assessment tool, and the use of data to identify needs and track outcomes. And, of course, this approach can’t be effective without a meaningful partnership with the communities most impacted by inequities in your community.
Additional resources on equitable development are listed below:
Where is Gentrification Happening in Your City?, Chris Bousquet, Data-Smart City Solutions, June 5th, 2017.
https://datasmart.ash.harvard.edu/news/article/where-is-gentrification-happening-in-your-city-1055Equitable Development Principles and Scorecard, January 1st, 2016.
https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/4_-_Principals_of_Equitable_Development.pdfEquitable Development as a Tool to Advance Racial Equity, Ryan Curren, Nora Liu, Dwayne Marsh, Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race + Equity, September 1st, 2015. https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/2_-_Achieving_Racial_Equity.pdf
Twin Cities Region Equitable Development Principles + Scorecard, Community Engagement Steering Committee Equitable Development working group, June 2nd, 2014. https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/5_- _Twin_Cities_Region_Equitable_Development.pdf
Delivering Community Benefits through Economic Development, Ben Beach, Julian Gross, and Almas Sayeed, Partnership for Working Families, January 1st, 2014. http://www.forworkingfamilies.org/resources/publications/cba-elected-officials
Puget Sound Regional Equity Network: Principles of Equitable Development, Growing Transit Communities, Puget Sound Regional Council and Impact Capital, February 1st, 2013. https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/3_-_Puget_Sound_Regional_Equity_Network- _Principals.pdf
Implementing Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, SPARCC. https://www.sparcchub.org/resources/implementing-equitable-transit-oriented-development/
National Equity Atlas.
A comprehensive data resource to track, measure, and make the case for inclusive growth.
http://nationalequityatlas.org/Community Control of Land and Housing, Jarrid Green with Thomas M. Hanna.
Exploring strategies for combating displacement, expanding ownership, and building community wealth.
https://democracycollaborative.org/community-control-of-land-and-housingThe Government Alliance on Race and Equity.
The Government Alliance on Race and Equity is a national network of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.
https://www.racialequityalliance.org/All-In Cities Policy Toolkit.
http://allincities.org/toolkitAll-In Cities: Building an Equitable Economy from the Ground Up, Sarah Treuhaft, PolicyLink. https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/1_-_All-_In_Cities.pdf
Ensuring Racial Equity in Public Contracting, Judith Dangerfield, PolicyLink. Policy Brief https://www.mayorsinnovation.org/images/uploads/pdf/11_- _Ensuring_Racial_Equity_in_Public_Contracting.pdf
Local and Targeted Hiring, Julia Gross, PolicyLink. Policy Brief http://www.policylink.org/find-resources/library/local-and-targeted-hiring
Information contained in this appendix is from the Mayor’s Innovation Project (https://www.mayorsinnovation.org)
And yes – mayoral candidate Satya Rhodes-Conway chaired this committee and provided the interesting information here. If she were elected mayor – would she be able to implement it? The report she helped write didn’t really incorporate these things into the implementation.
