Finally! A Disussion of Changes to the Comprehensive Plan!

But . . . it has some neighborhoods kind of upset or about to be upset to see proposed changes that they don’t want.

THE LIST – CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES BECAUSE OF PLANS
Here’s the full list, its 8 pages long, you should check to see if it affects you! There are a bunch of corrections, which I’m guessing are really just corrections. The list has corrections for:
– Missing designations for some parcels
– Some incorrect land use designations
– Corrections for neighborhood and other plans: Spring Harbor, Tenney-Lapham, East Washington Capitol Gateway Plan, Regent Neighborhood/South Campus, Greenbush, Northport Warner, Cherokee, Stoughton Rd, Royster Clark, Blackhawk, Cottage Grown, Pumpkin Hallow, Nelson, Shady Wood, Northeast Neighborhoods and Midtown.

You should take a look at those items. Also, you want to look to see if what you think should be corrected is on the list. Here’s a few of the other items.

ITEMS REQUESTED BY DEVELOPERS
Grandview Grocery
Location: Site north of Cottage Grove Road at Grandview Commons in the Sprecher Neighborhood

Reason: To apply a land use designation to the site that is more consistent with the proposed large free-standing grocery store.

Requested by Vandewalle & Associates on behalf of Veridian

Comments: An amendment to the Sprecher Neighborhood Development Plan would also be required to allow a large grocery at this location.

There are several possible Comprehensive Plan revisions that could be considered to accommodate a proposed 65,000 square foot grocery at this location:
1) Amend the Comp Plan land use map to another designation that would allow stores of this size, such as General Commercial or Community Mixed Use. This change could involve just the proposed grocery site or the entire Grandview Commons neighborhood center .
2) Amend the development intensity recommendations for the Neighborhood Mixed Use district to include grocery stores at least as large as the proposed store (65,000 square feet) instead of the current limit of 25,000 square feet.
3) Revise the CMU recommendations to allow its use in smaller neighborhood-scale areas in some situations and amend the Sprecher NDP to limit the scale of commercial uses in the neighborhood center except for a grocery store.

While these options would accommodate a larger grocery on the site, issue of whether the proposed free-standing grocery is consistent with an NMU or CMU designation would still need to be determined.

Cherokee
Location: Site north of Wheeler Road in the Cherokee Neighborhood

Reason: To apply a land use designation to the site that is more consistent with the proposed Independent Living project density and housing types.

Requested Re Independent Living, Inc.

Comments: An amendment to the Cherokee Special Area Plan would also be required to accommodate this project at the proposed location.

Project plans are still at a conceptual stage, and the extent of the proposed changes in housing types and residential densities will need to be determined.

T Wall High Density Residential in High Crossing in Nelson Neighborhood (Previously Employment) includes Commuter Rail Station
Location: Lands located east of City View Drive and north of the WisDOT railroad tracks in the High Crossing development in the Nelson Neighborhood

Reason: To apply a land use designation to the site (and perhaps adjacent lands) that would be consistent with development of high density residential uses at this location.

Requested by T. Wall Properties (Here’s the letter)

Comments: An amendment to the Nelson Neighborhood Development Plan would also be required to accommodate the proposed uses. This is one of the older NDPs, initially adopted in 1992.

The letter requesting the change in land use designation indicates a desire for a much greater change both in area and in the type and intensity of allowed land uses than is represented by changing the southeast edge of the Employment area to High Density Residential.

The proposed alternative type of future development appears to be based to a significant extent on the future provision of high capacity rail-based transportation services adjacent to the site.

The Crossing Changes recommended by “staff”
Location: Site north of Nelson Road and east of USH 151 in the Nelson Neighborhood (The Crossing)

Reason: To revise the current land use designation for this site to alternative land use recommendations that reflect a more likely and realistic future development scenario.

Suggested by DPCED staff

Comments: An amendment to the Nelson Neighborhood Development Plan probably would also be required, depending on the specific alternative recommendation. The NDP amendment to accommodate the proposed The Crossing project was adopted July 17, 2001.

While future development as proposed in The Crossing and reflected in the Comp Plan land use recommendation of CMU (TOD) may be considered relatively unlikely today, it is not clear what alternative recommendation might be more realistic for this location. Some new housing has already been built on the eastern portion of the site, and that somewhat limits the reasonable options. It would be hard now to revert to the distribution-manufacturing recommendation formerly placed on the entire site, for example.

Maps of the items can be found at the end of the memo.

CONTROVERSIAL ITEMS
Grandview Commons
Oooooo . . . the neighbors are upset . . .

From: Neighbors for Responsible Development Grandview Commons
Date: November 6, 2010 7:41:22 PM CDT
To: GVCNRD Distribution List
Subject: RED ALERT! AMENDMENT TO OUR ZONING DISCUSSION SET FOR
MONDAY’S PLAN COMMISSION

Grandview Residents,
Alder Cnare has not been honest with us. The Plan Commission will meet this Monday to consider an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to change the zoning to accommodate a free standing super box 65,000 square foot grocery store. in Grandview Commons. If this amendment is approved, Veridian will have no trouble forcing us to accept a superbox store on their terms. This is very sneaky on Alder Cnares
part, to be sending out letters rallying for a discussion and resident input when she knows that there will be no legal means to defend ourselves against her plan to foist a big box superstore into our neighbourhood. The Plan Commission agenda was published last night, so our window to react is very very narrow.

snip organizing instructions! 🙂

Clearly the neighbors feel blindsided by this.

Cherokee
Oooooo . . . the neighbors will be upset when they find out! I’m not sure they know yet, but they spent years crafting a careful compromise that is now being potentially modified.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Well, the plan was adopted in 2006, so changes do need to be made. And starting in 2010, we can’t approve projects that are inconsistent with the plan, so that is why it has become urgent (for developers) to get staff to work on this. The public process is described in a memo as follows:

Public Participation
The following approaches will be used to involve the public in the amendment process:

Comprehensive Plan Website
The Comprehensive Plan website will be updated to provide public information about the plan review and amendment process, including:
– Description and proposed schedule for the plan amendment process.
– Notices and agendas of meetings where Comprehensive Plan amendments will be discussed or considered.
– Copies of all materials presented or produced at Comprehensive Plan meetings.
– Copies of all proposed amendments.
– Copies of any staff analyses or other information provided regarding proposed amendments.
– Information on how to submit comments on a proposed amendment.
– Copies of all comments received regarding proposed amendments.
– Staff contact information.

Plan Commission Meetings
The Plan Commission will be the lead commissions for the review of the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments, and may discuss and provide direction on proposed plan amendments at their regular meetings as an agenda item. Plan Commission meetings where the Comprehensive Plan will be discussed will also be noticed on the Comprehensive Plan website.

Public Hearings on Proposed Amendments
Both the Plan Commission and the Common Council will hold a public hearing on proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments. Notices of the public hearings will be sent at least 30 days before the hearings to neighborhood and community groups and organizations, as well as to adjacent municipalities, with copies to the District Alder.

Potential Neighborhood Meeting(s)
In the event that Comprehensive Plan map amendments are proposed that were not previously considered as part of a neighborhood planning process, and/or if a corresponding amendment to the neighborhood plan should be considered concurrently, a neighborhood meeting in the area affected by the amendment may also be held to hear comments and concerns.

TIMELINE

Identification of Potential Comp Plan Map Amendments
Prepare initial list of potential Comp Plan amendments to be considered – Nov 8
Post initial list of potential amendments on the Comp Plan website – Nov 10
Plan Commission finalizes the list of potential amendments to evaluate – Nov 22
Draft all proposed amendments to be considered – Dec

General Community Review of Proposed Map Amendments
Schedule and conduct community meetings as required – Dec-Feb

Neighborhood meetings as required
Compile comments received on the proposed Comp Plan amendments – Feb

Formal Review and Adoption of Proposed Map Amendments
Introduce an ordinance adopting the Comp Plan amendments, for referral – Jan 4
Introduce resolutions adopting corresponding neighborhood plan amendments – Jan 4
Prepare staff response and recommendations on amendment comments received – Feb
Plan Commission considers resolution recommending adoption of the Comp Plan amendment ordinance – Feb 21
Plan Commission considers and makes recommendation on the resolutions adopting corresponding neighborhood plan amendments – Feb 21
Common Council public hearing on the proposed Comp Plan amendments- Mar 1
Common Council considers the ordinance adopting the Comp Plan amendments – Mar 15
Common Council considers the resolutions adopting corresponding neighborhood plan amendments – Mar 15

HOW WILL THEY DECIDE
The memo says the criteria they will use are as follows, but it doesn’t say where the criteria came from:

The following criteria will be used by the Plan Commission as a basis for considering the adoption of proposed Comprehensive Plan map amendments.
– The proposed change would correct an inaccuracy in the original Generalized Future Land Use Plan Map as adopted in January 2006.
– The proposed change would be more consistent with the recommendations of an adopted neighborhood plan, special area plan or neighborhood development plan.
– The proposed change would be more consistent with the overall goals, objectives and policies of the Comprehensive Plan as applied in the context of the amendment area.
– The proposed change would better fit with the predominant uses and development pattern in the surrounding area.
– Conditions in the area have changed sufficiently to warrant the proposed change.