Half way through the Plan Commission on Monday night, during a break and after the public had spoken, a limited number of copies of the Maintenance and Use Agreement for the Edgewater Hotel were handed out to most of the Plan Commissioners.
It’s available to the public now, after the fact and it really gave the plan commission no time to review it, despite the fact it was specifically requested. Alder Maniaci was the first to let them know that she and the city attorney had reviewed it, which was during her testimony after the break.
For those of you who aren’t going to wade through it, here’s the highlights.
CITY SITE vs. HOTEL SITE
The city site is the land we currently own, even with the current Edgewater. It’s indicated in this map here:
Basically, the city is letting them use the land for their drop off. That space is virtually useless to the public except that there is the start of the stair to the lake and there is a portion which is the tables for the cafe, but that is determined to be excluded from the Public Access as I read the agreement.
The total space here is .38 acres.
PUBLIC ACCESS COMPONENTS
Public access spaces are anything outside the two hotel buildings and the lakefront terrace in front of the hotel, as far as I can tell, the map is a little harder to read.
It also includes the area along the lake front. The public access components are listed as:
– Outdoor terraces as noted in the map above.
– Public restrooms off the terrace
– Public restrooms at the waterfront
– stairway to the waterfront
– green space in front of the new podium building
– perpetual easement for the use of an ADA compliance access route through the building to improvements on the terrace and waterfront.
Outdoor areas excluded from public access are:
– dining terraces serving the restaurant spaces
– outdoor balconies and terraces attached to or adjacent to hotel rooms, guest suits, and condominiums
– roof terraces serving the property Why not?
PUBLIC ACCESS AND USE
Hours of operation:“7:00 am to 11:00 pm 365 days of the year”*. I had heard this explained as being the same as parks hours, but it is not. I had also heard them explain that they would do early morning Tai Chi classes, looks like those are out too.
Use: You can use it for any lawful purpose, but it “may not be disruptive”. This one worries me, are they going to determine that a homeless guy sitting there with all their belongings is disruptive because the hotel guests don’t like it? Is hackysack disruptive? A boombox playing hip hop at a reasonable volume?
Restricted items: grills, steamers, coolers, vending equipment or similar apparatus, alcohol, food and beverages beyond reasonable personal use.
*General Events I put the asterisk on the “Hours of Operation” because it wasn’t quite true . . . because areas marked A, B and C below would be blocked off for events that would occur 8 am to 11 pm.
But no worries they will leave open “all other Public Access Components for the use and enjoyment of the general public at all times subject to the Special Events provisions”
Special Events are up to 15 times a year the owner can close off the entire area “to monitor the occupancy and/or provide additional services and/or management of the Public Access Components.” Examples given at Plan Commission were 4th of July.
Right to sell goods/catering: They have the exclusive right to do both. So if you do your wedding there, you have to use their caterers.
Seating: Has to be provided as approved by UDC at final approval after the city council votes.
Maintenance: There will also be a management agreement and that is where those items will be spelled out.
Right to Kick Someone Out: “At any time the Hotel Operator shall have the right to ask any person(s) to leave said Public Access Component if that person(s) is in violation of the provisions outlined in the Management Agreement, is negatively impacting the protection, use and enjoyment of visitors to the Public Access Components and/or Project; is in violation of the rules and regulations of the Madison General Ordinances.” Of course, there is no Management Agreement to see what that says and I’m not sure what “negatively impacting” the “uses and enjoyment of visitors” might mean. I can imagine those are different standards for Willy Street and an upscale hotel.
WRAP-UP
So, all these restrictions make it even less likely that the public will get their $16M worth, especially if one of the biggest days of the year, 4th of July, they intend to shut the public out. Makes the public access a bit of a joke. And, the ultimate irony is that we’ve some how bought into the notion that we need this public access. Do we really?
