I. Don’t. Know. I was there, I heard it, but I don’t know what it means. Some said they punted, some said they created a new way of doing business, some called it a “referral with benefits” and in the end, I don’t think they did anything except not say no now. The motion for initial approval didn’t even get a second, so that was definitely a message. And clearly, they are struggling with the setback from the Wisconsin Avenue right of way and the height in that location. They seemed to feel more comfortable with the height if the building was pushed back. They also struggled with the fact that without a Zoning Board of Appeals decision on the waterfront setback variance, they don’t know what the footprint of the building is, and that impacts the design and once they give initial approval, they set the footprint of the building. Finally, they were struggling with the private uses of the public space, including almost half of it being a driveway.
The motion that passed was something like this (he only read it once and no one wanted it repeated at that time of night):
Wagner recommends plan commission
– start the discussion and
– understand that the UDC recognizes project has benefits in rectifying mistakes of 70s building and lake view, public use and lake access by removing floors.
– Restoration of 40s building is generally appropriately done and results in activation of lakeshore and
– reecommend they carefully consider zoning issues of precedent for a project and other factors they weigh in a PUD
– requesting further info on stormwater and how manged,
– recognize and strongly recommend management agreement, even tho not considered by UDC strike a balance with programming and public use and
– devleoper should return with prospective with lake views from Langdon and
– that condition is that lake setback needs to be approved for present footprint through city approval process as condition of this design,
– continue to epxlore set back alternatives with the design professionals
That was kind of all one sentence when it was said, so I tried to break it into the various elements. Not sure I succeeded and I fear that the 40 people in the room at the end of the night might have 40 different ideas of what Wagner said and meant.
The meeting lasted until
So . . . you’re going to have to wait til noon to get the rest of the post. Looks like I’m using more vacation time today! Or, you’ll have to wait til tomorrow, we’ll have to see how the morning goes . . .
Meanwhile, here’s some photos of the project as they presented it last night.
