At last weeks Village Board meeting, the
Board unanimously approved the
Central District Master Plan. The plan, in its own words, will be "used to guide future public and private improvement and development initiatives." It contains extensive plans for the redevelopment of Oakland Ave, Capitol Dr, and small section of the river front which currently has Milwaukee PC and several other buildings on it.
Throughout the process, Shorewood residents were given the opportunity to express approval and concern with various aspects of the plan. A frequent response to citizen criticism/concerns was to point out that the Master Plan "is a road map, not a straitjacket." In other words, although the plan is intended to guide future development, it is not necessarily binding.
Unfortunately, I am not sure this is correct. State statutes reads as follows.
66.1001 (3) ACTIONS, PROCEDURES THAT MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLANS.
Beginning on January 1, 2010, if a local governmental unit engages in any of the following actions, those actions shall be consistent with that local governmental unit’s comprehensive plan:
(g) Official mapping established or amended under s. 62.23(6).
(h) Local subdivision regulation under s. 236.45 or 236.46.
(j) County zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s. 59.69.
(k) City or village zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s. 62.23 (7).
(L) Town zoning ordinances enacted or amended under s. 60.61 or 60.62.
(q) Zoning of shorelands or wetlands in shorelands under s. 59.692, 61.351 or 62.231.In other words, if The Master Plan says a given area is for commercial buildings of a certain height, we may be required, as of Jan 1, 2010 to zone that area accordingly. So this Master Plan may yet be a straitjacket, limiting and guiding future development. While this is not necessarily a deal breaker, it is definitely a question we should get answered before we tie ourselves to this plan for years and decades to come.
Other references, if you are interested, include the following statutes, which can be found on the
WI Statutes Home Page.
WI Statute 66.1001 “Comprehensive Planning”
WI Statute 62.23(3) “The Master Plan”
