Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

New site plan for Shops at Wyndham Village

I'll post this updated site plan (dated April 11), prepared in response to the city of Franklin plan staff's 3/9/07 memo, without comment for the time being.

Previous "leaked" site plan

Plans for Rawson and 27th street

Given all the news (and curious lack of news) about troubled commercial sites like Fountains of Franklin and Shops at Wyndham Village, the 27th Street Plan has slipped under the radar of late.

With much gratitude to Aaron Johnson (creator of a cartoon about photography called What the Duck) - - who braved the freak snowstorm to attend the 27th Street open house last Wednesday - - here are some proposed ideas for the intersection of 27th Street and Rawson.

From "Sprawled Out" correspondent Aaron Johnson:

• It appears that Butch’s Big Mouth Frog Bar & Char Grill will have to go no matter which of these three current plans is picked.
• It's a state project, so things can obviously change, but if things stay on schedule, the project will start 2010. And the state would begin buying properties (or portions of?) in 2008.
• The engineers agreed that the roundabout plan would be the safest plan but probably the least likely. (I think we'd sooner see a public bath house installed in that intersection than a roundabout! - JM)
• There weren't a lot of people there (weather related).
• Sidewalks are shown on the plans and supposedly both cities (Oak Creek and Franklin) asked for them to be in the plans, but it is still up to each city to fund them. Basically, the state will build the intersection and secure the right-of-way for the land were sidewalks would go. But the state will not necessary put the sidewalks in. The state has a policy (because of liability) that they cannot put in sidewalks that end or go nowhere.
• Last I heard, the traffic count on W. Rawson is over 20,000 vehicles per day. The traffic is only expected to increase with the Sendik's, hoping to be open by the end of the year, and NML's campus expansion.

More rumor than fact:

• 35th Street (Franklin) will be extended, as a thru street, between Drexel and Rawson. The future YMCA may sell off some of their land to the West for other development(s).

• As part of the State Eminent Domain policy, the state can not "force" you off or out of your property, but must have to relocate you to a "comparable" location. This creates a problem for the Cupid's Toy Store situation. They refuse to sell out for under $2 million  (last heard) and there really isn't any place to "relocate" them. Oak Creek passed ordinances strictly restricting "adult establishments" 2 years ago and no one wants a porn store in their neighborhood.

• Dr. Gonis, who has had plans for a dental clinic on the N.E. corner of Rawson and 27th for the last 6 years, has been contacting neural surgeons and other medical specialties to be a part of a massive medical clinic, not limited to dental. Note: there's been a partially empty medical clinic right across the street from that land for several years.

Once again, thanks to Aaron for the insights and the pictures.

PLAN 1

PLAN 2

PLAN 3

Snow and cul-de-sacs

After this week's freak snowstorm, my daughter and I watched through our window as the snowplow began the job of clearing our cul-de-sac. Many of my uncles worked for the city in my hometown, so I was telling my daughter about how precise you have to be when operating a snowplow truck, particularly in cul-de-sacs. Clearing a big circle of a street has got to be a major pain.

And then we watched as the snowplow biffed our mailbox.

 

No hard feelings, though; accidents happen.  When you see the complicated truck ballet required to clear a cul-de-sac of snow, it's a wonder any mailboxes are left standing. A little bungie cord is holding things together until I can get to the hardware store. Maybe now I can get that cool mailbox shaped like a space shuttle ...

 

City of Franklin review of Shoppes at Wyndham Village Site Plan

Posted below is the full seven-page memo from City of Franklin City Development Department, dated March 9, 2007, to Mark Carstensen regarding his Shoppes at Wyndham Village Site Plan. Click on each thumbnail for a full-size (readable) page.

More tomorrow ...

The Journal Sentinel is looking into the Shops at Wyndham Village

Interesting.

I made an open records request at Franklin city hall yesterday to learn what issues the Department of City Development had with Mark Carstensen's Shops at Wyndham Village (which I will post here), and I just heard through the grapevine that a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter is at city hall looking at the same records.

I was right when I said at the beginning of this process that "a drama begins"...

Another Commercial Development in Franklin?

What - no SENDIK'S in this one?

What's interesting in this story are the comments by Franklin officials. Read the quotes in BOLD and then look back at the horrendous Carstensen Shops and Wyndham Village plan. Did these high standards and suggestions apply to Mr. Carstensen's project? Evidently not.

From Community Newspapers, with my annotations:

Retail center would revamp troubled area

But planners encourage a more stunning facility

By John Neville
Staff Writer

Posted: March 28, 2007

The Franklin Plan Commission has reviewed a concept plan for a 225,000-square-foot retail center in an area some in the community consider to be a bit of an eyesore.

If approved by the Common Council, The Shoppes at Legend Creek, an eight-building commercial development proposed by Waukesha-based commercial and residential developer Mred-Cummings for the 9800 block of West Loomis Road, would feature 40 percent green space and a mixed-use commercial facility on redeveloped parcels.

Mark C. Lake, director of development for the firm, said the proposed 30.7-acre site, near the corner of Loomis Road and Highway 100, has been used as an informal dumping ground for years.

Also, Lake said, an advantage of the development will be that the Coyote Grill & Bar, closed in 2004 and a longtime magnet for police calls, will be bulldozed. The facility, he said, continues to attract illegal activity.

The area also contains an improperly maintained wetland with some invasive species - something that the developer would also revamp with a drainage basin.

"We'd like to turn a cattail-choked creek with some invasive species into a viable area," he said.

The commission did not take action at its March 22 meeting, but the proposal was reviewed and discussed by the commission and audience for 90 minutes.

A large anchor, plus

With 899 parking spaces, Legend Creek would feature a 124,950-square-foot anchor store. The other seven outlets, none of which are larger than 42,900 square feet, will offer a mix of retail and office, including a bank.

Legend Creek would also include walkways (some covered), sidewalks, greenways and a connection to a future senior development in back of the site.

Lake said Mred owns the Walgreen's at the intersection and several other nearby properties and is negotiating to possibly acquire the rest. If the deal goes through, nine parcels would be combined into three.

Besides its green space, Legend Creek would improve the area by rebuilding a dicey intersection at Puetz Road and Highway 100 and incorporate eye-catching architectural elements that are spin-offs of other notable retail developments in the area, including Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc, Fountain Square in Brookfield and Greenway Station in Middleton.

Noting the site has a value of about $3.5 million, Lake said it now makes about $75,194 in tax revenue for the city as opposed to the estimated $643,920 it would generate as Legend Creek.

"That's quite a chunk of change when you compare it to what it's generating now," he said.

Brian Cummings, president of Mred-Cummings, said he has no tenants lined up yet, but the plan is only in a preliminary phase.

"We're keeping our options open," he explained, noting that site plans need to become more definite before the developer can proceed with parcel acquisitions.

Upscale feel?

However, noting the area near the site is considered one of the city's gateways, commissioner Shari Hanneman said she wants to see a more upscale development with greater attention to architectural detail.

"I'll be honest. I don't want to see a Pay Loan Store or a cellular store in here," she said, who later added that she wanted the "wow" factor to be evident in any proposal.

Cummings said more dimension could be added but doubted a proposal for the site could be more upscale.

However, commissioner George Torres agreed with Hanneman, noting the concept rendering struck him as bland.

"When I first saw this, it reminded me of the Menards on Highway 100," Torres said, urging a canopy or neon lighting be added to liven up the facade.

Mayor Tom Taylor, chairman of the commission, noted the anchor store as proposed is larger than the 100,000 square feet limit recommended by the Crossroads Trade Area Plan, a 1994 master plan for the city.

Alderman Steve Olson, not a member of the commission, thanked Lake and Cummings for responding to the concerns of area residents recently and urged them to take their plans to the next level. Olson, however, also suggested the developers avoid duplicating other area retail outlets.

"We're looking for something that is unique to Franklin," he said. "If there's a store that already exists in Franklin, we don't need another one."

Cummings said ideally he will begin moving earth at the site in September, with construction starting in spring 2008 next year and opening targeted for fall of that year.

 

Contact reporter John Neville at (262) 317-8572 or  jneville@cninewsonline.com.

Rural Areas Outmatched In Development Game

I came across this excellent posting on WisOpinion via Jim Rowen's The Political Environment blog, an especially relevant read if the Carstensen Shops at Wyndham Village project proceeds according to the horrible plan currently on the table.

3/30/2007

Rural Areas Outmatched In Development Game

By Peter McKeever

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.

Jim Rowen is right: development is devouring Waukesha County, chopping the Kettle Moraine to bits, and bearing down on Jefferson County from both directions.

These developments don’t happen in the urban areas … the land there is already gone. Instead, it is the rural areas, villages and towns that have to deal with the proposals. Developers go looking for the weakest, hoping to pick them off one by one, like a pride of lions attacking a herd of wildebeest.

How the local municipalities handle the development proposals is often as ugly as what they get to see when the development is built. Too often blinded by the promised benefits of this sacred cow called “growth”, and out-gunned, out-manned, and out-smarted by the teams of engineers, architects, money lenders, builders, realtors, highwaymen, and campaign donors, the small towns fall in line without either a serious review or attention to their own ordinances and procedures.

And when the development is done, and the rural character is gone, they don’t understand why everybody’s taxes go up to support the increased costs for schools, infrastructure, and local services. Putting 500 new homes in a community of 5,600 places huge demands on government and increases costs and taxes.

Looking beyond the tips of our noses

As we contemplate vital issues of community related to our schools and commercial developments, it's a good time for cautionary wisdom from Ray Oldenburg as expressed in his book, The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community:

We aimed for comfort and well-stocked homes and freedom from uncomfortable interaction and the obligations of citizenship. We succeeded.

And as if to seal our fate, zoning ordinances were copied and enforced all over the land, prohibiting the stuff of community from intrusion into residential areas. In the subdivisions of post World War II America, there is nothing to walk to and no place to gather. The physical staggering virtually ensures immunity from community.

...

Encouraged by a continuing decline in the civilities and amenities of the public or shared environment, people invest more hopes in their private acreage. They proceed as though a house can substitute for a community if only it is spacious enough, entertaining enough, comfortable enough, splendid enough--and suitably isolated from that of the common horde that politicians still refer to as our "fellow Americans."

Is it any wonder that we hear the self-interested dogma of "What will this mean to me and my property tax bill" attempt to drown out the more far-reaching concerns of community-building that we should be contending with here in Franklin?

Let's attempt to look beyond the tips of our own noses and the borders of our expansive lawns.