“Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood
and probably will not themselves be realized.”
We subscribe to 19th Century planner Daniel Burnham’s credo. Think of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Hoover Dam, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Wisconsin’s own beaux arts Capitol. Greatness flowered there.
The Madison LakeWay Project being considered here in Madison WI is nowhere near as lofty, but it stirs this man’s soul (it’s a prosthetic). The Common Council will vote tonight on the $320 million plan to transform 1.7 miles on the north shore of Lake Monona encompassing 17 acres.
We like the idea but is it being done legally? That’s the question being raised by a solitary watchdog. Alex Saloutos warns that the City is running roughshod over an ordinance requiring large lakefront projects be submitted to voters through referendum. Alders will vote on creating an exemption to Madison Ordinance 8.35 allowing Madison LakeWay to avoid a referendum. It is Agenda Item #11 on tonight’s Common Council agenda. Register your opinion here.
For three decades, Section 8.35 stood as a guardian of Madison’s waterfront. Sometimes it was honored — the convention center, the Goodman Pool, and the Garver Feed Mill all went to referendum as required. Sometimes it was circumvented through narrow exemptions. But never before had officials attempted to gut it so thoroughly for a project of this magnitude. — Alex Saloutos, 77 Square Miles
The ordinance was enacted in 1992 by 61% of referendum voters. Saloutos writes, “The message was unambiguous: major lakefront development requires explicit voter approval. Period.”
City of Madison: enough debate already!
The Parks Division’s position is that due to the lengthy and robust public process that the Madison LakeWay has already undergone, this project should be exempted from a costly referendum process. The exemption method has been an effective method of addressing Ordinance 8.35 multiple times over the years at multiple locations for multiple projects. There have been numerous opportunities for public engagement in the Madison LakeWay project over the last 7 years, with additional opportunities forthcoming, and there has not been opposition to the project that would keep it from moving forward at any of these levels. If there had been, the project would not have advanced to the stage that it is at. Additionally, the Lake Monona Waterfront (now known as Madison LakeWay) Master Plan has been approved by the Common Council, an elected body. — Lisa Laschinger, assistant parks superintendent
Imagine a new waterfront where families will share picnics at dynamic piers or at the water’s edge, children will rediscover nature through play, friends will gather for an evening by the water, and everyone who lives or visits downtown will have easy access to the lakefront. — Madison LakeWay
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Madison voters said they wanted a citywide referedum on big projects involving their lakes. Did they know exemptions could be carved out by a simple vote of alders?
13 responses to “Is ambitious lakefront project skirting the law?”
Well, yeah, but, you know EVERYBODY wants this so why go to all that referendum trouble???? That is just nitpicking the minor details and like I said, we know EVERYBODY here in Madistan wants it because the Supreme Leader Satya and her politburo want it. It is so much easier letting them make decisions for us….
With the newly elected alders this past April, I was hoping that there would be more transparency and less status quo, some of them even mentioned it in their campaigns.
This proves without a shadow of a doubt that they misled their constituents and should now be held accountable.
Apparently with this new group, there will be a continued lack of transparency and accountability.
It’s about time the city wakes up and elects people who care about City residents.
More transparency, Rich? 🤣 Aren’t you cute.
From the Current Design Principles: “The Master Plan Vision will incorporate iconic features that are regional attractions…”. Oh, I don’t know. How about a behemoth Bucky Badger peeing into the lake? That would be fun.
You can’t be serious. Transparency? Maybe trans gender in Madistan. Transparency from Satya? LOL.
“Madison LakeWay Project”? No way. If the Madison Public Market is any indication, we’ll all be dead by the time construction is completed. Besides which: Lake Monona is merely a pretty puddle of water which has the current attention of fat-cat developers. Stop salivating, guys. Monona Terrace is enough. Leave the lake alone. Respect ecology.
Oh boy. We vote for this project and then will have to vote on a referendum for funding it? And then there will be cost over runs and more referenda. I remember voting on the overture center, which was presented as a one time subsidy which would be self sustaining (revenue would cover operational costs). That was promosed but never delivered. It is now a permanent subsidy, as is Monona Terrace. No truth comes from the mouths of our city government. I can’t and won’t trust them when it comes to “projects”. Drove by the much delayed Public Market yesterday, which now will not open until 2026 (Maybe). Will it work? If it doesn’t what will be the annual subsidy for that?
The Parks Division says, essentially: We don’t need no stinking referendum because, according to them, the project has already undergone “a lengthy and robust public process.” Huh? Now all we need is for the Common Council to pass this proposal in the dead of night. Goody.
The concerns raised in the 77 Square article seem on point. As local news outlets dry up, I appreciate the author’s engagement and hard work bringing this undemocratic move to our attention.
The high-handed attitude of alders to simply dismiss the voter-approved MGO 8.35 Preservation of Shoreline Parks charter ordinance, without including voters as required, is sadly not surprising.
That my near-west District 5 alder has apparently neglected to inform her constituents about the issue – and that she’ll vote on this significant development today – is also regrettable, but not unusual.
In my experience, some city staff staff can’t always be trusted when they try to push a major project through.
In developing the James Madison Park Master Plan, Parks insisted that the wide open, grassy vista to Lake Mendota should be infilled with a long parking lot along Gorham Street in order to reduce crime. To bolster their argument for a parking lot in the middle of the park, Parks cited “over 700 police calls” to James Madison in 10.5 months. Sounds like a lot of “police calls” doesn’t it?
Except what Parks called “police calls” weren’t actually calls to the police. The actual number of calls to 911 and the non-emergency number related to James Madison Park in the 10.5 months was 42. There were not “over 700 police calls.” Just misleading, Trump-like fear mongering in order to convince the Park Commission to move a parking lot into the green space.
Why do you bring the good name of Trump into your scummy local politics. No one is above the law is your mantra , your just above the ordinances and the people in the city of Madison
There is no skirting the law on stolen land.
Just more examples of Commie see, commie do.
We have the Mistake on State, Mistake on the Lake, Mistake on First and Johnson, and now the Mistake on the Lake 2.
Turns out Democracy is just too pricey:
“Referendums are costly and time consuming, we don’t have another city election scheduled until next year for example, so it would be really costly to have a special election,” Verveer explained.