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.
