August 10, 2006
Larry Palm’s Blog
Larry Palm, the District 15 alder, has made some interesting comments about the Midvale Plaza issue and offers some advice to neighborhoods about developing neighborhood plans:
http://larrypalm.blogspot.com/2006/07/lessons-from-midvale-plaza.html
Common Council Report
The Isthmus Daily Page has posted an excellent summary of the July 18 Common Council meeting at which the Midvale Plaza project was approved:
July 21, 2006
Next Steps
Although the Common Council approved the zoning change for Midvale Plaza at its July 18 meeting, several conditions were added to the approval by the Plan Commission and the Urban Design Commission. It will be necessary to follow up when the plan comes before the Urban Design Commission for final approval to ensure that all conditions are addressed by the developer. We particularly hope to focus on traffic concerns, as these were noted by many opponents of the plan.
We are of course disappointed at the Council’s vote, since many members expressed concern about various aspects of the plan. We do feel we have alerted many council members to problems with the approval process, and we hope many neighborhoods will have the opportunity to prepare neighborhood plans before they are faced with similar development pressures.
Thank you to everyone who signed our proposals, delivered newsletters, spoke at meetings, talked to their neighbors, or generally just tried to keep everyone encouraged.
July 17, 2006
Common Council Meeting July 18
The Madison Common Council will consider the Krupp proposal for redeveloping Midvale Plaza at its Tuesday, July 18, meeting. The meeting begins at 6:30 PM in Room 201 of the City-County Buildlng, 210 Martin Luther King Blvd. Here’s a link to the agenda:
Please attend if you can.
July 13, 2006
Rally This Afternoon
Plan to attend a rally in support of our local retailers this afternoon, Thursday, beginning at 4 PM, at the Plaza. Free food, inspiring talk, and a chance to see our new model of the neighborhood. There may be a few other surprises.
July 11, 2006
Letter to Cap Times
Here is a link to a letter written by Sandra Saul, who lives in Sunset Village, about misguided infill in our neighborhoods.
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/index.php?ntid=90634&ntpid=0
July 9, 2006
Rally at the Plaza
The Steering Committee is planning a rally on Thursday, July 13, beginning at 4 PM at Midvale Plaza, asa a prelude to the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18. We hope to get some media attention and advertise our alternative guidelines for the plaza redevelopment. Buck’s is donating pizza, and there will be free ice cream, so bring yourselves, your kids, and your signs (Infill, Not Overfill, etc.) We’ll post more information as it becomes available.
Planning Commission Comments
On June 19th, the Plan Commission voted to approve the Midvale Plaza redevelopment plan, despite strong opposition from the neighborhood. Over two dozen people spoke in opposition, and several speakers cited the over 650 signatures on our recent proposal. [WE NOW HAVE OVER 800 SIGNATURES AND HOPE TO HAVE 1000 BY JULY 18.] Apparently, citizen input is only encouraged when it supports Plan Commission members’ pet projects. About five speakers, one of whom spent half her time trashing the Steering Committee, spoke in favor of the development. They have 18 signatures on their petition supporting the plan.
The redevelopment plan must still be approved by the Common Council; it is on the July 18th agenda. Because a Protest Petition has been filed, a super majority of the Council must vote to approve the plan (15 out of 20 alders) in order for it to pass. We will continue to collect signatures and try to develop support for our position, which is not anti-infill, but merely wants the new Plaza to be somewhat smaller than proposed.
Links to news media:
Channel 3:
http://www.channel3000.com/news/9395017/detail.html
Cap Times:
http://www.madison.com/tct/business/index.php?ntid=88304&ntpid=0
Put July 18th on your calendars now.
For recent comments on this issue, click here.
We Still Need Your Signatures
Steering Committee members distributed another update on the Midvale Plaza project in Westmorland this weekend. We hope to deliver the update in Midvale Heights with the Midvale Messenger, which should be delivered this week. We have over 800 signatures on our proposal and are hoping for 1,000. If you received an update and wish to sign the proposal, please do so and return to the library NOW.
Gruber Editorial
Tim Gruber has a guest editorial in the Saturday, July 8, Cap Times, explaining his position on infill projects. If you write a letter to the editor in response, let us know. We tried to post a link to the article, but the Cap Times does not archive freelancers work (guest editorials apparently fall into this category). If you have not seen the article, find a friend who subscribes to the Cap Times.
