| 9/25/2007 | Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development | Fiscal Note Required / Approval to the Comptroller's Office/Approval Group Completed on 9/25/2007 | |
| 9/25/2007 | Comptroller's Office/Approval Group | Approved Fiscal Note By The Comptroller's Office to the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development Completed on 9/25/2007 | |
| Notes: Bohrod |
| 9/25/2007 | Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development | Referred for Introduction | |
| Notes: Plan Commission, Long-Range Transportation Planning Commission, Board of Park Commissioners |
| 10/2/2007 | COMMON COUNCIL | Refer to the PLAN COMMISSION Completed on 2/25/2008 | |
| Notes: Additional Referral(s): Long Range Transportation Planning Commission, Board of Park Commissioners |
| 10/2/2007 | PLAN COMMISSION | Refer to the LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMITTEE Completed on 1/17/2008 | |
| 10/2/2007 | PLAN COMMISSION | Refer to the BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS Completed on 1/9/2008 | |
| 11/7/2007 | Unpublished Meeting Data Pending* |
| 11/8/2007 | Unpublished Meeting Data Pending* |
| 11/19/2007 | PLAN COMMISSION | A motion was made by Basford, seconded by Olson, to Rerefer. The motion passed by voice vote/other. | Pass |
| Notes: |
| 12/20/2007 | LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMITTEE | The Commission voted unanmiously to refer Resolution ID 07613 to a future meeting, on a motion submitted by Michael Basford/Ald. Tim Gruber. | |
| Notes: |
| 1/9/2008 | BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS | Registered Speaker:
Michael Waidelich, City Planning staff, in support
The Pumpkin Hollow Neighborhood is bounded by Interstate Highway 90-94-39, Hoepker Road, Rattman Road and State Highway 19. Various built landmarks were identified, including the American Center, some industrial business development, and a truck stop in the Town of Burke. The natural features include Token Creek County Park, Token Creek and its two major tributaries. Token Creek is a cold-water community that has been restored over the last decade and property owners have been good stewards of the Creek. There is a large wetland area and hilly areas, some of which are wooded, surrounding Token Creek Park. Much of the remaining area is rolling farmland and the division between the Starkweather and Token Creek watersheds was identified.
The streets shown on the east side of the map are in residential subdivisions and the large platted areas are in the Town of Burke using septic and private wells that are approximately 15 to 25 years old. The new subdivision in Sun Prairie is shown in the northeast quadrant and there is a small subdivision to the southeast that is in the City of Madison. There is a cooperative agreement between the four municipalities that in 30 years the Town of Burke will be divided between the City of Sun Prairie (eastern portion), Village of DeForest (northern portion), and the balance to the City of Madison.
This proposal has been in the planning process for a year beginning with a public meeting last February at the Burke Community Church as well as public meetings in May and September. There is also a website detailing this project. A map showing the baseline neighborhood development plan was displayed. The recommendation for this area has always been essentially a residential neighborhood incorporating as many components of a traditional neighborhood design as possible. These concepts are addressed in the text of the Neighborhood Plan. This general area includes an employment center as well as another blue collar/distribution center employment center as well as retail and commercial venues. There are other commercial centers surrounding this development that lend this parcel well to a neighborhood design, blending with the park and natural area. The focus of the proposal is a mixed-use neighborhood center at the intersection of Portage and Hoepker Roads on the two northern quadrants. There is a navigable intermittent stream along the southwest portion that must be preserved in a stream like character. The maps also depict a natural path of stormwater flow through the area that could be worked with as an open space corridor. There is a higher density of recommended residential uses around the neighborhood center, to include single family, duplex and limited townhouse development of 8 units or less per acre. There are some 5-acre lots to the north in the Town of Burke. Additional areas show townhouses and higher density apartments with smaller lots and more units. The apartments can be up to four stories high. A small office complex is also shown off Hoepker Road along the Interstate with no big box component. The plans do not specify exactly where each type of housing unit would be located beyond the general recommendations.
Discussion then ensued regarding the different streets and different means of transportation for the area. Hoepker will be a 4-lane street with bicycle lanes on both sides, Rattman Road will also be a 4-lane street, Portage Road will be a 2-lane boulevard with bicycle lanes. The remaining streets would be local streets designed to bring you to the major streets and activity centers. The plan also includes a proposed area park and possible elementary school site. The DeForest School District is interested in a school there. It would also allow the park and school to share some facilities. Existing parks in the Town of Burke were indicated, as well locations for proposed parks. The stormwater detention areas were also pointed out. The plan does portray a fair number of parks with the hope that if there is a problem with the city maintaining all of them, some creative maintenance approach could be worked out. The existing plats in the Town of Burke have street stubs that will merge with City of Madison streets under the Cooperative Plan. On street and off street bike paths were also designated. Two routes are proposed for children biking within the development that passes some important destinations. There will be a bike only bridge at Anderson Road. It was also mentioned that Token Creek Park is interested in moving its entrance back to Anderson Road in the hope of eliminating some of the problems that have occurred due to current easy access to the Interstate.
There are many different groups interested in Token Creek such as the Town of Windsor, the Friends of Token Creek, and many private property owners along the Creek. There are concerns that if the County owns it and state funds are used, that hunting and snowmobiling have to be allowed. This proposal recommends a cooperative effort to preserve as much as possible beyond the normal wetland buffer of 100-200 feet.
It is expected that some type of recommendation be made to minimize the groundwater effect because of the concerns for Token Creek. The recharge should minimize the effect on the springs and there are recommendations in the Plan that addresses the issue.
Finally it was noted that this plan does not have to be approved by the other jurisdictions but they have been involved in the planning and did attend the public meetings. There is a limitation on the pace of residential development due to potential school concerns and is part of the cooperative plan. There is a limit on how quickly the area can be developed and there is a ratio between the single and multi-family parcels. The majority of the plan is in the DeForest School District with just small areas in the Sun Prairie and Madison School Districts.
Widstrand interjected that smaller parks tend to be more expensive to develop and maintain compared to larger parks. From a Parks perspective, their preference would be fewer parks with more acreage that are better distributed throughout an area. If the smaller parks are created through the plan, Parks would prefer that some of them be operated and maintained by homeowners associations.
There have not been any changes to the Plan since it was introduced to the Park Commission in November. It was delayed so that the Commissions could review it and make recommendations when it returns to the Plan Commission. When the Plan is presented to the Common Council, the recommendations that are approved by the Plan Commission will be incorporated. They have received comments from the Friends of Starkweather Creek. There will be a short section to address avoiding any additional impact to Starkweather Creek, which is already a challenged watershed. There had not been any narrative regarding Starkweather because the focus was on Token Creek which is actually a creek, Starkweather Creek doesn’t really appear as anything other than muck until beyond the plan. It is discussed as background information but is not in the recommendation section. The streams, wetlands and areas south of the creek have environmental features that are reflected in the plan.
In the 1990’s there was a recommendation of a continuous green corridor between the plats in existence along Rattman Road between Sun Prairie and Madison in this location. Madison purchased a parcel in anticipation of building a golf course but the golf market changed. Part of the cooperative plan with the three municipalities contains a non-negotiable condition from Sun Prairie, that Madison withdraw any review of Sun Prairie development next to Madison’s open space in the area that was part of the earlier agreement and concede that Sun Prairie can do what they want. They attached that same condition to an area near the landfill that is still in the Town of Burke.
Commissioners noted there are things that Madison can do in terms of increasing the open space is to look at the housing density throughout the plan. This suggestion was included in the comments by Friends of Starkweather Creek. The Long Range Planning Committee of the Park Commission has had many discussions about green corridors along the Creek. The Plan before the Commission shows some narrow areas that could be widened to enlarge those green corridors. Waidelich agreed that some areas could be widened and some could not. He noted that some of the areas are currently cornfields with no waterway at all. There are no plans to move the high density uses away from the current proposal but would state in the plan that any development proposal must be done so there is no negative impact on the creek in terms of visibility or runoff or contamination. Densities may need to be lowered to accomplish groundwater recharge capabilities.
Clausius noted this project is in his Aldermanic District. He will be watching this project carefully. Another Commissioner noted there were good points in the Plan but he also had the same concerns that had been mentioned by the Friends of Starkweather Creek.
City Engineer Larry Nelson stated that the Water Utility has identified three areas for potential wells in this area. Current regulations require that wells be cased to the confining shale layer and as a result there is much less impact on surface water features such as springs and creeks. There is an impact ultimately but it takes a much longer period of time to reach that point. He believes that the strategy for the future is to pump the wells less strenuously than was done in the past so pollutants and contaminants are not being pulled into the well system. Madison is not mining ground water. He used the example of Merrill Springs and when the well is turned off the springs regenerate as proof that Madison is not mining water. Additionally, Madison’s pumpage of groundwater has been flat for the last 10 years. An explanation of how the wells would be constructed down through the Eau Claire shale confining layer was then presented.
Waidelich stated that this is a Draft Plan and the final plan is unknown at this point. Site plans for the various pieces of the development will address where various items such as impervious areas, buildings, recharge areas, and detention areas are located. The draft plan notes areas that should be set aside as green areas. The surrounding municipalities have looked at the geology in the area when they developed wells surrounding this neighborhood and the USGS also has maps. President Barker noted that there is only one chance to get this plan right, once development is built in this location or is paved over, the land, springs, creeks etc. can never return to their original state. He spoke of Token Creek, Starkweather Creek and Koshkonong Creek that are all vital to the health of Madison’s lakes.
A motion was made by Wallner/Clausius to approve the Pumpkin Hollow Neighborhood Development Plan, incorporating the suggestions of the Park Commission and Friends of Starkweather Creek as noted above. MOTION CARRIED w Chewning and Barker voting NO.
| Pass
(4:2) |
| Notes: The Park Commission recommended that the comments contained in the November 16, 2007 letter from the Friends of Starkweather Creek to the Plan Commission be incorporated into the Pumpkin Hollow Neighborhood Development Plan. |
| 1/17/2008 | LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMITTEE | A motion was made by Webber, seconded by Bowser, to Return to Lead with the Following Recommendation(s) to the PLAN COMMISSION. The motion passed by voice vote/other. | Pass |
| Notes: Ald. Robbie Webber/Judy Bowser submitted a motion to recommend approval of Resolution ID 07613 and forward the specific comments on the Plan, as represented in the meeting minutes, to all other boards and commissions for their consideration. That motion passed unanimously. |
| 2/11/2008 | PLAN COMMISSION | A motion was made by Bowser, seconded by Basford, to Rerefer to the PLAN COMMISSION, due back on 2/25/2008. The motion passed by voice vote/other. | Pass |
| Notes: |
| 2/25/2008 | PLAN COMMISSION | A motion was made by Basford, seconded by Gruber, to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL TO ADOPT - REPORT OF OFFICER. The motion passed by voice vote/other. | Pass |
| Notes: The Plan Commission recommended adoption of the neighborhood development plan subject to incorporation of the map and text amendments recommended by the Plan Commission as outlined in the February 22, 2008 memorandum from Michael Waidelich, Principal Planner, to the Plan Commission, including the memorandum on stormwater management and infiltration in the Token Creek watershed and the revision to the Public Water Service section recommended by Larry Nelson, Interim General Manager of the Madison Water Utility and satisfaction of the following conditions prior to the publication of the final plan document:
- That staff is authorized to make final revisions to respond to comments on the plan on February 24, 2008 by the Friends of Starkweather Creek.
- That staff is authorized to make additional revisions to the plan narrative and table as required to accurately describe the recommended revisions to the plan maps.
- That staff is authorized to make editorial revisions as required to correct textual errors in the document. |
| 3/18/2008 | COMMON COUNCIL | A motion was made by Ald. Bruer, seconded by Ald. Brandon, to Adopt. The motion passed by voice vote/other. | Pass |
| Notes: 1 Registrant(s) in support not wishing to speak. |