4/30/2009 10:36:00 AM Plan Commission approves McGaw Plan
Ryan Dostalek ConnectFitchburg.com
The Plan Commission approved the McGaw Park Neighborhood Plan when it met April 21.
Brian Pleva, a member of the city's Community and Economic Development Authority, said many of the requirements of the plan, such as underground parking, would not be economically feasible and would deter businesses from locating here unless the city provided financial assistance.
Mayor Jay Allen said he had included a provision in the plan that would allow for such partnerships, although the plan couldn't obligate the city to take specific action.
Scott Kelly with the Fitchburg Technology Campus, which will be part of the new neighborhood, said he didn't think the plan could be completed in a year. Kelly's request to approve development on an additional 43 acres prompted the city to initiate a neighborhood plan.
Kelly said the new development on the campus would generate $125 million in taxable property, adding 750,000 feet of office space and employing 3,000, at an average salary of $70,000.
Kelly said they would be asking the city to create another tax increment district to fund $25-$35 million in developer bonds. He supported the plan but said the city's cooperation was necessary to achieve the density required by the plan.
The Common Council must also approve the plan.
•The commission approved plans to fill in a portion of wetlands near the intersection of Irish Lane and Fish Hatchery Road to accommodate improvements to the intersection. However, John Freiburger said construction of a substation near the wetland for the American Transmission Co and MG&E had apparently destroyed 50 percent of the wetland. He wondered whether this wetland should be repaired, thereby allowing the creation of enough "new" wetland for a roundabout at the intersection.
But Gus Vanderwegen, project engineer, said he doubted whether the Department of Natural Resources would be sympathetic to filling in additional wetland and would delay the project, which had taken months to gain approval.
Allen said the city had no jurisdiction over the environmental damage inflicted by the project, which was under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. Freiburger subsequently rescinded his request.
•The commission again tabled a request by the Seminole Pool Association to construct a basketball court, noting that it had not yet met with many of the neighbors who are worried the court posed nuisance and security concerns.
•The commission approved a request for electronic signs on the new bike overpass at the intersection of Fish Hatchery Road and McKee Road, but had concerns whether the sign would distract drivers at the intersection, the approval process for messages, and the operating cost, estimated at $2,100 for electricity.
Vanderwegen said the estimated cost of electricity assumed the sign would be left on continuously, and said the actual cost would be far lower.
Commissioner Mike McNally questioned whether the messages on the sign justified the cost of the sign of approximately $30,000. The signs would replace a portable, generator powered sign that the city purchased used from the City of Madison, and which was at the end of its useful life. A new portable sign would probably cost more than $100,000.
