Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb: Evil Developer responds to MJS story on Fountains of Franklin

Developer Dave Hintzman, he of Fountains of Franklin, learned in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story that he is an evil developer (he may even have awoken this morning to find that he now has a handlebar mustache perfect for twirling whilst conniving against the elderly).

Snidely Whiplash Hintzman sent the following email to local bloggers, which I post in its entirety:

Dear Franklin bloggers,

After reviewing the opinions of some of your blogs, and those who posted comments, I feel compelled to respond to the insinuations made against our project. You have been misinformed.

Yesterday's Journal Sentinel story was not a true, accurate article. Instead, it was an obvious attempt to manufacture a storyline that is nothing short of "if it bleeds, it reads." Given the Journal Sentinel's decrease in revenue, readership, and advertising, it appears this reporter wanted to create a more interesting story.

Our original (or current) plan did/does not include any other property. However, when the area was being rezoned, the Plan Commission expected us to create a conceptual plan including all of the commercial properties of the area. Afterwards, I spoke with the Sendik's developer and the owner of Andy's gas station to see if they were interested in marketing the area under the brand name of Fountains of Franklin (similar to what the cities of Oak Creek & Franklin were doing with "Boomgaard").
I do not want nor will not purchase our neighbor's property now or in the future. The entire Journal Sentinel story revolved around this premise.
I do not support, nor have I ever heard of anyone supporting the idea to "kick the Foxes out of their home." I have been neighbors to the Foxes since 1999, and feel that we've shared a positive and healthy relationship. We bought ten acres from our neighbor in 2005 to create a development and named the road in honor of their daughter, as this was very important to them. Later, a nearby park was named after her. The Foxes have shared with us that they were very happy to work with us on that project.
We do not consider the Target center as competition. First, a commercial broker explained to us that it is in a different market area. Second, that area has a different level of roadway access and demographics. Third, that project contains the second largest discount retailer in the world. Mark Carstensen is a very successful businessman and he is building a different project than ours. I'm only surprised that Mark Carstensen chooses to visit our neighbor so frequently.
We were aware of our neighbor's business activities prior to the beginning of our project. We designed a full and mature landscape buffer to benefit both properties. However, when desired national businesses are reluctant to locate in a community that doesn't enforce all of their Ordinances, it was our responsibility to address their concerns. We were unaware, as I believe the city was, that our neighbor is operating multiple businesses unlawfully and has multiple zoning violations. This is a reasonable concern for any neighbor.
Our neighbor has chosen to not comply with the laws of the city originally or to date. A few months ago, our neighbors told me they intentionally did not fulfill their responsibilities or city agreements because it would cost them money and their taxes would increase dramatically. Most people are not aware that the city provided multiple warning letters in efforts to help get them in compliance. Afterwards, the city offered a clear path of compliance without any penalties or fines, which included an additional year to cure their deficiencies to fulfill their responsibilies and agreements with the city. Mr. Fox declined the goodwill offer and threatened a lawsuit against the city with two different attorneys.
The last time we talked to our neighbors, they told us to send over a "multi-multimillionaire" if we found one. It is our understanding that they have been offered almost $3,000,000 for a property that's worth much less than $2,000,000. Since it has been brought to my attention that the Foxes bought their property for $1.00 (one dollar), it appears they are “at the right place at the right time.”
The city has now confirmed that the outdoor storage, the boats and RVs, will have to go. We as a neighbor, have a reasonable concern why this issue has not been enforced to date.