New alder seated, discussion on Meadowlands apartment project (density, affordable housing, city services), not one registered to speak on the city operating budget, interim police chief blows off common council and climate change coalition.
You can watch and follow along here if you feel so inclined.
GETTING STARTED
Roll Call: Syed Abbas is excused, I didn’t hear Tierney. The agenda has no absences noted, but the “Consent Agenda” say that following:
Notified Absence: Ald. Syed Abbas, District 12
Notified Late: Ald. Michael Tierney, District 16
Mayor welcomes the guests from the American Council for Young Political Leaders.
They suspend the rules to take agenda items out of order (compared to what is required in ordinance), to introduce future agenda items from the floor.
DISTRICT 8 ALDER APPOINTMENT
Alder Shiva Bidar moves Sally Rohrer to the district 8 seat to serve until the spring 2020 election. Harrington-McKinney seconds.
No discussion. Passes on a voice vote, seams unanimous. She is sworn in.
Mayor welcomes her and notes for the record that she is present for the meeting.
HONORING RESOLUTIONS
There is a resolution to honor Safe Communities Coalition of Madison and Dane County for 20 years of service. Cheryl Wittke who is the Executive Director speaks, introduces people on their board. She says without they City of Madison Safe Communities Coalition would not exist. Without the Fire Department, Public Health, Police Department and Traffic Engineering came together 21 years ago and made the decision this was something we needed to do – “all hands on deck” to address injury in Dane County. She thanks them for their leadership and continued support. Corrinda Rainey-Moore, the Board President says she got involved 10 years ago on suicide prevention task force because people of color were not talking about suicide – it was happening but folks were denying it was happening and she got involved to raise awareness. She says that they work on four areas – suicide prevention, opiate coalition, falls prevention and traffic safety. They look at the trends and try to be ahead of times. They also pride themselves on their partnerships. She thanks them for the recognition, she says there are no other organizations like this in Wisconsin. They are on the cutting edge and trying to get out in front.
No discussion motion passes.
PETITIONS
Bidar moves to accept. No discussion.
CONSENT AGENDA
(I didn’t get this in time to blog it before I ran off to meetings yesterday, it’s typically a “What Will the Council Talk About Tonight” blog post.) Bidar explains that in one motion they recommend all items on the agenda with the recommendations on the agenda except items that have registrants wishing to speak, items that require an extraordinary roll call vote that are not included on the agenda as unanimous consent and items alders have separated for discussion.
Agenda Items #4 – #13 are PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS
Note: Recommended Action on #8. Legislative File No. 56839 – adopting the Campus Master Plan for Edgewood College –Recess Public Hearing and Refer to Plan Commission 11/11/19 and Common Council 11/19/19.
The following items are EXTRA-MAJORITY ITEMS – Extra Majority vote items will be recorded as unanimous votes unless a roll call or exclusion is requested:
47. Legislative File No. 57700 – Amending the 2019 Adopted Capital Budget to appropriate $130,000 in County Funds and Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an agreement with Dane County for the installation of traffic control signals at the County Highway S (Mineral Point Road) & Pioneer Road intersection. (Report of Finance Committee – 15 votes required)
Agenda Items part of the CONSENT AGENDA WITH ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS as noted:
71. Legislative File No. 57897 – A Resolution amending the 2019 Operating Budgets of the Police Department, Fire Department and Public Health Madison Dane County; and accepting a U.S Department of Justice Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program (COAP) grant award of $1,200,000 to create a “Pathways to Recovery Madison & Dane County” initiative to combat opioid abuse (New Business for Referral – Council President Shiva Bidar – Refer SUBSTITUTE Resolution to Madison-Dane County Board of Health (11/6/19), Public Safety Review Committee (11/20/19), Finance Committee (11/25/19))
Items requested for EXCLUSION:
17. Legislative File No. 57863 – Affirming the City of Madison’s support of the County Climate Coalition, the Paris Climate Accord, environmental sustainability and the City’s leadership in environmental sustainability and combating climate change. (Business by the President – Ald. Lindsay Lemmer, District 3)
Here’s the official explanation of what the consent agenda is:
Please note that exclusions on this listing may change at the meeting.
Items may be added or taken off the list when the consent agenda is presented.
What is a consent agenda?
Typical consent agenda items are routine, procedural decisions, and decisions that are likely to be noncontroversial.
Examples include:
Routine matters such as appointments to committees;
Routine resolutions approving plans, improvements, etc.
Reports provided for information only;
Correspondence requiring no action.
Why is a consent agendas used?
The consent agenda is used by the Council to save meeting time and to help ensure that Council meetings focus on substantive topics that are worth discussion. Through the “bundling” process, the entire set of routine agenda items can be voted on in one action versus taking the time to vote on each individual item.
What is the exclusion list?
These are agenda items that alders have requested be taken off the consent agenda. The main reason an alder asks for an agenda item to be excluded is that they want to discuss/debate the item at the Council meeting.
Please note that public hearing items are never included on the exclusion list. They are specifically scheduled and taken up by the Common Council at 6:45 p.m.
That large motion passes on a voice vote without amendments.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
#4, has one registrant and is approved without discussion. 3 Soles Liquor License
MEADOWLANDS APARTMENT COMPLEX
#5, has one registrant in opposition. Brian Munson KCG Development, Matt Gilhouli (sp?) from Indianapolis, Ron Tractenburg representing James Hovde are all available to answer questions. 6810-6834 Milwaukee Street.
Public Testimony
Cheryl Solaris speaks in opposition saying that she attended meetings and that she wishes more people who spoke at those meetings were there, but they didn’t feel like they had a voice. She reads the letter she submitted earlier that says that the council should consider the residents more than the developers because they have to live with the consequences and if a mistake is made there is no going back and it’s there for generations to come. Residents need to be given respect and should be taken seriously. The development plan was given more consideration than the residents when it passed 4-2. Many residents wrote in, over 100 residents showed up to meetings held by Alder Lemmer. It is about their health, which includes mental, emotional and well-being. These choices affect the residents and their homes. The Meadowlands is a peaceful neighborhood. They are not against development. This proposal far exceeds the plan that exists intention. There are ways to be more accommodating to a development of that size and nature. Many people wrote in and were opposed because of the affordable housing, they already have affordable housing down the street in the Grand View Commons neighborhood. The development has had a negative impact on the neighborhood and the residents are disturbed. Given the history of the Harmony, they are afraid of another bad situation. Why compound the issue and put additional stress on the neighborhood. Another issue is the size of the development, they already have large apartment buildings on Littlemore, only three blocks away which are more suitable and appropriate than what is being proposed. They want new developments to be consistent with the rest of the Meadowlands neighborhoods, that means 12-16 units per acre as outlined in the Sprecher Development Plan, not 30 or 31. They want natural habitats and parks consistent throughout, not a huge apartment building and parking lots. Some may consider 216 units as not being high density, she thinks that is subjective and it depends on the area. If you go downtown E. Washington Ave that many units may not be high density but in the Meadowlands in comparison to what is there it is high density. Just because there is enough space to put a large parking lot doesn’t mean that it is right for the Meadowlands. There is another development close to 200 units going in on the corner of Milwaukee and Sprecher a couple blocks away, so why put the burden of another large development in the Meadowlands affecting the peaceful neighborhood. Please listen to us, they want consistency to what has taken place, they want something better than what is being proposed, they want their environment to be kept healthy and safe and peaceful. They moved to the Meadowlands to get more openness and had the understanding that the areas still needing development would be done with medium density, as the Sprecher Plan indicates 12-16 units per acre, not 30. They want less units, less parking lot spaces and less cars to better protect the integrity, safety, character and charm of the neighborhood and environment. There is a small pond in the Door Creek Park close by and there could be problems with the run off affecting it. The more development, parking stalls and cars the more toxins that hurt the environment and the drainage system may not keep the living ecosystem in that area safe. There are issues with the placement of the size of the apartment building because of the gas lines. She thinks placement of buildings with less units would not have the same issues. So why force things to fit when they shouldn’t be there. Quality of materials: she did live in a building with subsidized units years ago and all the materials were very low grade, inside and out. She is looking at the Harmony units and the quality of the buildings do not compare to the surrounding area homes. This is the same type of proposal. The alarm goes off and she is granted an additional minute. She says with the interstate there is limited access to the development causes travel and safety issues, there is noise pollution from the interstate with more vehicles in the small area the noise pollution will also increase. She says there is a huge concern for city services as the Madison police department is short staffed and Madison Metro has limited service in the area. There were things that seemed to impress people at the last meeting like the resource room – fine if kept up, but down the road will need updating and there is not guarantee for that. Green space: playground for children promised but nothing set in stone. Community garden: 8×20 (something) feet is very small for 200+ units. Maybe 4-6 units will benefit from that. If issues come up during the building, what will be sacrificed to make things fit. There is so much controversy and opposition to the Meadowlands proposal and there are too many loose ends, they are not at the place where approval should be given. She goes over time. They need to make that area the best they can do and that is not by overcrowding or overburdening it. They want something better than what is being proposed. That does not mean that the first proposal to come to table is better. That does not mean that bigger than the original intent is better. That does not mean that more parking lot and less green space is better. That does not mean lowering the standards for quality and design is better. That does not mean sacrificing safety and quality of life for surrounding neighbors is better. The proposed development is not in the best interest of the Meadowlands community. The Meadowlands community deserves respect and cooperation and it deserves better. Your responsibility lies with the best interest for the people that live in the area, not the developers. They ask that they hold off for something better. Please do not approve and at the very least there should be some compromise. Like a cap of 140 units to get it more in line with the design for that area. Compromise is key. She also wants to see resident managers in place.
Mayor says she was registered on all items, 5, 6 and 7 so additional time was warranted. Mayor says there are no more speakers on “item 5”
Questions of Registrants
Alder Lindsay Lemmer asks Brian Monson to speak to the density issues. He says he’s with Vandewalle and Associates. He says that the project began as the Sprecher Neighborhood Plan in 1999. This location was identified as medium density residential consistent with what the speaker said. Fast forwarding a few years the Meadowlands Neighborhood was approved which was a Planned Unit Development that approve 160 unit multi-family apartment in the General Development on this site, consistent with what is being brought forward. A few more years later the Comprehensive Plan designated this for medium density residential which was 25-90 dwelling units per acre. As they worked through the process they referred to the most recent designation. They worked with planning, the alder and the plans commission in developing the proposal. This site has consistently been identified for medium density housing of this scale. Directly across the street are 3 story apartments and some sites for duplex and single family. He says he designed the meadowlands back in 2006. He says around the area is identified as a regional town center, which is intended to be the regional center for the Sprecher Neighborhood and expanded upon with the Northeast Neighborhood on the opposite side of the interstate. That envisioned this area to have a greater density, a more urban feel and less of a suburban setting. He says this was a town center intended to serve the entire east side of the city. From a density standpoint they felt it falls with the designations in the comprehensive plan and they continue to work with Urban Design on the architectural pieces, this is a General Development Plan – Specific Implementation Plan, so the plans are binding. They talk about the open space, the density, the architecture, the site plan, the parking. All those components are bound by this approval. All of that will be vetted into the final approval process.
Alder Sheri Carter asks Monson to describe the town center. Monson says that the Sprecher Neighborhood identifies this as the regional town center intended in the Sprecher neighborhood plan. He says that Grandview Commons with the grocery store and the other development that are 30-80 dwelling units is considered a neighborhood center, and this is one step up from that. He says it is unique because it is the only town center at this scale on the east side int he combined neighborhood planning areas.
Bidar moves adoption.
Discussion and Questions of Staff
Alder Lemmer says she respects the decision of the plan commission. As the speaker mentioned, this was a contentious process and they had a difficult public meeting. Some of the concerns she has are that the city delivers the services that need there in order for the development to be successful. Right now the transit it very limited, they have peak weekday service only. This development will have upwards of 500 people living in it. They roads, traffic signals, all of that is very limited. The intersection west of this does not have lights. The density continues to grow and grow there and they are not keeping pace. She says that she doesn’t think the city has done a good job of providing services, they wait for the demand to be there to provide the services, she doesn’t think that is the right approach for affordable housing. She hopes they can work together to makes sure it has the transit and services it needs to be successful.
Alder Barbara Harrington-McKinney is concerns about the increase of 500 people, the density and lacking services in the area. She asks staff about the lacking services, are they in the plan?
Mayor says that the Planning Director can answer the question.
Heather Stouder says that was the focus of the plan commission discussion. She says that the planned development is generally consistent with the recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan but without the commercial and other amenities already there in the neighborhood. They are in the long range land use plans and supported by those but many are not there yet. The Town Center does not exist today, but they foresee if the adopted plans are implemented in the future. One of the key issues in the staff report and discussed at plan commission was transit. This area is served by peak services, weekday peak service, so if you travel to work during the morning and evening rush hour, its fairly well served, but its not all day or weekend service at this point. As they mentioned at the plan commission, the council is aware of the transit issues and it is impossible to commit to extended day or weekend service at this time but it is something they are striving toward.
Alder Donna Moreland asks staff how far down the road do they anticipate the services will be brought to the area. Stouder says she doesn’t have a strong sense of that, it will rest on the decisions made by the council. Ground is being laid to expand transit service and some of the decisions before them next week including additional bus storage for a larger fleet of buses, but it will really rest on several decisions by the council with regard to that question.
Moreland asks about the other developments – what issues do they have with services? Stouder says services are not an issue, not to her knowledge. She says the applicant made a strong case that families and people living in this development would largely have cars. They talked about the income ranges of people likely to live there and they are less likely to be transit dependent households. That would take away some of the concern about transit options. Plan Commission also had a long conversation about parking as well. She has to defer to the applicant on the market knowledge of households having other modes of transportation.
Carter asks how many developers have postponed their development waiting for transportation to get to their proposed site. Stouder says that is a great question. She can’t point to one. She wants to note that they do see peripheral development happening on the east and west side absent transit service at all. They see that in rare cases with income restricted or affordable housing. It’s not something the city supports with its affordable housing fund, but certainly market rate housing is happening in places where there is no transit and at least in this location there is the peak transit available now. She can’t point to a development that has been delayed due to lack of transit service.
Carter asks if most developers, once they find a site, are ready to go with that development and most of those developments are car dependent on the edges of the city. Stouder says that most of the peripheral development is done with households with cars in mind. That is seen in the parking ratios. The number of parking stalls on the periphery of the city where there isn’t transit, they have a greater ratio of parking stalls per unit than the central housing units. That is an assumption that is made by the development community.
Passes on a voice vote – I don’t think it was unanimous, sounded like one no vote.
1 Wind Stone Drive
#6 1 Wind Stone Drive, has Monson and Matt Gilhouli (sp?) from Indianapolis available to answer questions and Paul Anderson who lives in the Meadowlands neighborhood speaks in opposition. He talks about the affordable housing strategy he found on the City website that says the strategic goal is that the preferred development strategy is that “preferred development locations will be encouraged to locate in sites served by public transit, health care, grocery and other key amenities”. He says he assumes that when the City Council put that goal together they had good reasons. Like if the amenities are in place the development will be in a position to succeed, lift the community up. With those amenities in mind, they already talked about public service. If you have a 8-5 job you are pretty good, but if you have to get home after 7:00 you may as well start walking because that is the only way you will get home if you rely on the bus. I think its naive to say that everyone who moves in to this project will have a care. There will be people there who rely on the bus. The demographic that the developers are talking about – police, firefighters, teachers, retail workers – not too many 8-5 jobs on that list. Health care – the nearest urgent care is 4.5 miles away. If you have to take the bus its a 50 minute bus ride. And that is only if you have your urgent health care need during peak bus service hours. Nearest grocery store is 2.1 miles away – if you shop on nights and weekends you’re not taking the bus. This site is not served by public transit, health care is miles away and the area qualifies as a food desert. The developers have offered services, but they haven’t promised anything – there doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to hold them accountable for the promises they are making. It’s a known disadvantage for low-income housing tax credit that it doesn’t apply to maintenance, the credit is only for construction. Projects need ongoing maintenance, capital upgrades. Low income tax credit properties have rent caps including income limits for 30 years and that constrains an owners ability to make needed investments and removes the incentive to do it. KCG is an out of state company that has only been in business for 4 years. How do we trust that they have the city’s best interest in mind, are they only in it for a quick buck? Will they be there down the road? Will they make the investments needed? He doesn’t think so. He says that there is a low-income tax credit case study just a few blocks west of this proposed location. They lack the same amenities and they have the same designation of workforce housing. It’s 90 units, 1/3 of the size of this property and the documented issues are too numerous to list during his three minutes, but please be advised that if this new property has half the issues of the Harmony, its still too many for the east side police district to handle. He asks them to deny the project.
No questions of registrants. Motion to approve. No questions of staff or discussion. This time it seems like there were 2 no votes, but it passes on a voice vote. I believe the no votes were Moreland and McKinney
#7 45 Wind Stone Drive. Tractenburg and Guilhuli are in support and available to answer questions. No on speaks. Motion to approve. No questions or discussion, motion passes, this time it sounds unanimous except for one vote – Donna Moreland I believe.
EDGEWOOD PUBLIC HEARING
#8 – Edgewood – public hearing is recessed and referred to Plan Commission 11/11 and Common Council 11/19
EXECUTIVE OPERATION BUDGET
No registrants, they recess the public hearing and refer to 11/12/19 Common Council meeting.
ALCOHOL LICENSE PUBLIC HEARINGS
#10 Luchador Tequila and Taco Bar – New License at 558 State St.- Hearing recessed. Re-referred to ALR.
#11 Ragin Cajun Seafood – New license at 4802 E Washington Ave – Motion to grant with ALRC conditions passes on a voice vote without discussion.
#12 Chipotle Mexican Grill #3459 – New license at 7066 Silgo Dr – Motion to grant with ALRC conditions passes on a voice vote without discussion.
2340 WINNEBAGO ST.
There are several people available to answer questions – Kevin Burrow (Knothke & Bruce Architects), Melissa Huggins (Movin’ Out/Red Caboose) are in support and available to answer questions. No other registrants, questions or discussions. Moves to approve with conditions passes on a voice vote unanimously.
POLICE CHIEF 3rd QUARTER REPORT
Mayor asks if they wanted this separated and then says “No, Police Chief is not here, you do not have that option” and they move on.
COUNTY CLIMATE COALITION
Jared Schumacher from the Climate Reality Project speaks in support. He says its a somber sad day for the city, county, state, country, planet. He says that the group he is with was founded by Al Gore with the goal to educate the public on the crisis we face and to offer up solutions. Several years ago the started campaigns, one of which was the County Climate Coaliton (CCC) – started by Santa Clara County in response to the president saying he wanted to remove us from the Paris Climate Accords. As of yesterday that has become a reality as the administration submitted to the United Nations the intention to withdraw from the goal agreement. It takes one year for the process to finish and it would end on the day after the next Presidential Election and then the new president will have 30 days to rejoin. The CCC is for counties to commit and exceed the goals set forth by the accords. They joined the coalition, first the county joined the CCC and then they are going to reach out to other counties in south central Wisconsin. They intend to use the county as a leader in the same way as it has been a leader in fighting the climate crisis in the past and in the future at the county level. To join the CCC county governments need to show successes, past, present or future at reducing green house gas emissions at the county level. As a chapter they are building a coalition of local supporters and elected officials to show the counties that we approach that there is broad support in the region for counties to join the initiative. Many members of the community already support it and as of last month the entire Sun Prairie City Council and the Mayor have pledged their support for all Wisconsin counties to join the CCC. They are looking to have the support of the Common Council and Mayor, not only because it is the capital of our great state, but because they are all leaders and have shown by example that the climate change needs to be a focus now and going forward in the future. He has lived in many areas all across the country and in every state he has lived in he has some sort of climate crisis affect him. He moves away from Madison in 2006 and he lived in Nashville and was out of work for 6 months after the entire city was inundated with flooding and the mall he worked at was closed down. He moved to Virginia and he was hit with a Nor’easter and he had to wade through waist high water after a storm dropped 18 inches of rain on the city in 12 hours. Time is up. He keeps talking. Mayor asks for another minute. He says two of his brothers live in Northern California and thankfully right now they are not in the path of wildfires that are occurring there, but that could change tomorrow. In the coming days you will hear that Dane County is going to be the first of many counties in Wisconsin that is going to be joining the County Climate Coalition and he asks for their support.
Alder Lemmer reads the resolution and moves approval.
Lemmer asks to present Jared with the resolution. Clapping. No discussion. Passes
ADJOURN
Moreland moves to adjourn. Bidar wishes Alder Foster & Martin and Mayor happy birthday.
