City Passes Construction at Wyndham

The City of Franklin voted to approve Carsensen's plan after multiple plans were put forth. Surprisingly enough nothing substantial was changed to address the effects that the development would have on the secondary environmental corridor. Despite testimonial on the harmful effects of the plan from at least two Landscape Architects, the city chose to pass this plan. The Army Corps of Engineers under the Department of the Interior supported the plan and saw its adverse effects to be minimal. Most of the opposition came from organized senior citizens looking for more shopping and an instant relief from current high property taxes. The funny thing is...with the proposed pedestrian plan, the seniors with oftentimes limited mobility, will not have a chance at crossing 1) a busy street with a PROPOSED sidewalk (evidently the city must pay or it will not be built) and 2) large swaths of parking stalls.

I encourage you to visit this link to a picture of the Pedestrian Plan by Mark Carstensen. John Michilig explains the plans attempts to encourage pedestrian and where the plan fails to follow through.

I encourage all interested to go to the city and ask for a copy of the latest plan. Frankin's Plan Commission hasn't gotten the minutes from that meeting up, but hopefully the public will soon know who of their representatives voted for this and who did not. Here is a LINK to the Plan Commission's archived agendas and minutes.

Time and opportunity. The citizens of Franklin seem to have fallen for a philosophy used in many marketing ads...buy now or the opportunity will pass. It's too bad, because this is the kind of fear based rhetoric that pits honest people looking to improve their community against honest people trying to preserve the integrity and natural history of that same community.

It's called "poor against poor." Neither side wins, but the developer with a halo of "done good for the community" and the corporation "brining you the lowest prices" make out like bandits.

progrès

Have a look and hear what folks are saying about Wyndham Village Development.
I can't forget to give credit to the folks involved with the making of this short video: Richard, the owners of Speedway, residents who gave their opinion, and my co-pirates Steve and Kelly.
Press on image to play.

"progrès"
Julie Voigts
April 2007

3:58 duration

Edited in
Avid FreeDV
and Audacity

Plan goes back for another draft

Current update on the Wyndham Village Development:
The Developer has chosen to pull the plans on the project to address the concern from neighbors and the commission as to some discrepancies/missing/incorrect information in the plan. Please take a look at the latest Journal Sentinel Article posted May 2 2007. Thanks to all that made their voices loud and asked for the best plan. Here is a copy of the plan that is on its way back to being revised. Although I cannot provide pictures of the site plan, and they are not on the website of the Planning Commission (nor is a copy of the plan), I invite you to call the planning office or stop in and get a copy of the plan to review for yourself. The address for the 9229 W. Loomis Road in Franklin Wisconsin 53132 the phone number is 414-425-4024. The contact that I have for questions regarding the project: Ashley Booth (Senior Planner.)

Another concerned neighbor John Michlig is a host to many a conversation concerning this development and has really helped to get the word out and conversation flowing. John's site is called Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb, and I encourage all to visit. I appreciate that he is taking a good look into the project, he isn't against business and development; the thing he is doing is asking the questions that need to be asked of all parties involved in this plan like, "Can't we do something a little better for everyone?" and "Do we want to go ahead with a plan that in a few years may be an eyesore, or may loose money over?" or "Don't we want something that will bring people together in a space and not alienate our community into fractions?"


The more time and care is taken when plans like this are proposed, the more I feel we have an opportunity to come together and really get what we want and not what we settle for. We have an opportunity to see our voices come together do draft the future of our mutual community.

Compiled Views

click on image for sound

Have a listen to a few sounds that I was able to capture. I interviewed folks from Franklin as well as a biologist from the area and tried but failed to speak with the developer Mark Carstenson. On Thursday May 3rd there is a scheduled planning meeting at the Franklin Police station 7pm. I encourage anyone and everyone to attend this, and that the city must hear from its constituents.
The more I talk with all parties (residents, developers, and city officials) that are going to be affected by the project's outcome, the more I understand that to most folks, this is inevitable. Development is going to happen, it's good for everyone, the city is doing what they can, I trust them to do their job, and for the most part... "you're not recording right?...shhhh....don't let anyone hear me and I can't believe I'm saying this but...I feel like I don't have a voice in the matter." I found myself during the process of interviewing, doubting my own intent and interest in a project like this. I was doubting my power to ask questions, I was doubting my intent for the material based on the reactions from some people involved. I came to the conclusion that often times we feel so isolated based on systems of power, that when we see an opportunity to connect with another individual, the feeling of mutual interest is steeped in an almost mutual discomfort.
I was open to seeing what everyone thought of this development in the beginning. I was skeptical that the development was going to be some "big bad box," and that surely the the majority of folks knew about the project. The more I read about the logistics of this project I feel that the project might need to be looked at more carefully. I continue to question if this particular version of the plan is good for all parties involved, and if more time were taken to really develop something that everyone can benefit from, the result might look better and even pose as a model for the city and other types of business.

Overextending the family budget

Here is a picture of the land shown to me by a biologist. The red is the proposed plan, the green represents ponds on the land. Click for an enlarged view.

I was fortunate enough to be part of a media project just down the road from me in Milwaukee county. I'm learning about a land development project that is underway in Franklin Wisconsin. I'm capturing footage (video and interviews) of a local biologist and community members to hopefully bring more light to what is possible in this development and what is at stake in the process.
The Wyndham Village Development is a project many of us are familiar with. The proposal from the developer and owner is to develop 35 acres of land for a shopping center (Target, an upscale grocery Sendiks, and six multi-retail stores.)
A portion of the land that is to be developed is in a very biologically diverse Oak Savannah and wetland area. This track of untouched ecosystem is considered a "secondary environmental corridor," which I take from talking to a local biologist is one step more diverse than a river or lake (primary corridors.) Either way, this is one of the last and largest tracks of bio diverse land in Milwaukee county.

Originally the land was to be turned into housing but then the developer decided to have the land rezoned for Civic Center (meant to be more pedestrian friendly and include commercial buildings.) The rezoning was passed to bring more needed business to the area. The developer said he would do his best to make sure he would not disturb the diversity of the area, but is currently not being held to any specifics in an environmental plan. With the current plan provided to the DNR, the square footage of the building will be 240,000 (two big box buildings) and 1,190 parking stalls. Road improvements will include adding traffic signals, additional traffic lanes, turn lanes, and a roundabout to accommodate the size of what is proposed. There have been alternative site options, but the speed to which this is being pushed through permitting, the other options have not been talked about in extent.

Citizens living in close to the development may see a change in the value of their homes depending on what kind of development goes into that space and currently I don't think they understand how large the plan is and how much is at stake in a project of this magnitude.

I will be interviewing some of the people, in the coming days, that this will effect and hopefully share some information with them and get their opinion about the proposed plan. I don't think is bad and I don't think that all citizens are ignorant to what is being proposed, I feel that in this situation...time is running out to gather as many viewpoints from as many different "players" in this situation to fairly make a decision about the future of this land.
I am interested in learning more about why folks see this as a good decision for everyone.
A development like this will effect for better or worse all areas of life and if consideration, concern, and time is not taken, it could make or break this community.