fall 2009 - volume 13 - #2 - 1000 friends of wisconsin landscapes

8/14/2019 Fall 2009 - Volume 13 - #2 - 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Landscapes

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1000 FRIENDS OF WISCONSIN

LANDSCAPESVolume 13, Number 2 Fall 2009

Smart Growth@10you can plan on it!

1999 - Smart GrowthComprehensive

Planning becomes law in

Wisconsin

2000 - frst planning grants

awarded to 43 communities

2003 - AB 435

introduced to

repeal law - dead in

committee

2005 - Gov Doyle vetoes

Legislative repeal o CompPlanning Law

2009 - 1540 plans

underway or completed

2004 - AB 608

passed to clariy

consistency

requirements.

2006 - AB 675 (WIisconsin

version o Oregons takings bill)

is soundly deeated

2010 - required

implementation of

comp plans


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1000 Friends of Wisconsin 2

You could call Wisconsins Smart Growth law a Weapon o Mass Participation. A decade

ago, less than one-third o the states communities had any kind o land use planning inplace. The quality o these plans varied greatly and many o these plans were developedwith little or no public input.

Today, thanks to the Smart Growth law, you are almost certainly living in a communitythat has asked or your help to put together a comprehensive plan or your communitysuture. Fully 85% o the states communities (representing over 90% o the statespopulation) have developed or are in the process o developing a comprehensiveplan.

Those plans are the result o public participation at a scale that is unprecedented or

community planning.

Over the past decade, citizens across the state took the opportunity to shape the utureo Wisconsin. They were asked by local leaders to share their vision or the utureo their locality. A shared vision was developed a vision that considered the variedviews o a diverse population. At times it was messy. Diering views clashed. Yet, today,

communitiesacross the state have created a vision and plans or how they will look 10and 20 years rom now. Those plans are locally designed by the people who have madethose communities home.

Now we enter a tougher phase o planning. The law now requires communities toimplement those plans. Starting in 2010, all land use decisions will have to be consistent

with the plans. In other words, the vision that was created by local citizens in theiradopted comprehensive plan will become the mandatory guide or uture land use.

O course, community views on development will inevitably change over time. Our lawcontemplates that change.

Plans will need to be updated to incorporate changing views. But planning will never goback to the domain o insiders. As long as we have our Smart Growth law, the greaterpublic will always be in control o their uture. Changes in the comprehensive plan mustbe adopted with public input.

With public participation, land use decisions are much more likely to reect the broadercommunity preerence.

That makes Smart Growth a Weapon o Mass Satisaction.

Steve Hiniker

1000 Friends of WisconsinCreated to advocate and promote

uses of land, water and air thatshape healthy communities where

people want to live, work, and play.

Our work focuses on helping people

make the connection between

our land use and transportation

decisions and our states economic,

environmental and cultural health.

Board of Directors

Kine Torinus, West Bend, President

Steve Born, Madison - Past President

Margaret Burlingham,PalmyraWalter John Chilsen, Wausau

David Cieslewicz,Madison

John Clancy,Milwaukee

Sheila Cohen,Madison

Rob Cramer,Platteville

Emily Earley,Madison

Franc Fennessy, Madison

Patrick D. Gallagher,Milwaukee

Stan Gruszynski,Porterield

Steve Hiniker,Madison

Lynn Hobbie,Madison

Mark Huber, Madison

Tom Lyon, Cambridge

Jean Wells,Middleton

Dean Zuleger, Weston

Staff

Steve Hiniker,Executive Director

Barb Irvin, Finance Director

Kate Morgan, Water Policy Director

Deborah Nemeth,Development Director

Kevin Pomeroy,Planning Director

The Directors Desk

Our website has daily updates:

www.1kriends.org

Check out

www.co2gether.org

www.wisconsinrta.org

b Please support our all appeal - appearing in your mailbox soon!b


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3 Fall 2009

Smart Growth@10Time or Implementation

Steve Hiniker

Just ten years ago, Wisconsin had no statewide plan or land useand we were all paying the price.From 1950 to 1990, we lost nearly 4 million acres o armland (thatslarger than the entire state o Connecticut). We added over 10,000miles o roads and more than doubled the miles we drive each year(almost 60 billion miles annually in Wisconsin). Over the same timeperiod, our land area in southeastern Wisconsin expanded 17 timesaster than the rate o population growth.

In northern Wisconsin, undeveloped lakes became an endangeredspecies. Since the 1960s, about 60 percent o previously undevelopedlakes 10 acres and larger have been developed with one or moredwellings. Development pressure on the larger lakes has increasedby 800% over the same time period. According to a study conductedby the Wisconsin Department o Natural Resources, unless we changeour development patterns, all currently undeveloped lakes over tenacres will be developed by2025.

In 1970, most peoplehad never heard o orestragmentation. Today it is oneo the biggest threats to ournorthern boreal ecosystem.Forest ragmentation isdisrupting the naturalecology o wooded areasthroughout our northernorests.

By 1990, the land o Leopold, Nelson and Muir was slowly losing itsidentity, seemingly destined to become a sprawling exurb sandwichedbetween Chicago and Minneapolis.

In spite o all o these threats, the state had no plans or managingthat growth. Nor did it have any organization trying to promote arational strategy to address growth.

Things started to change in 1996. A group o activists, rustrated byinaction at the state level, were determined to direct growth in waysthat benefted the state and individual communities. They eventuallycreated an organization, called it 1000 Friends o Wisconsin andwent to work.

1999 Planning Comes out of the Closet

In three short years that small group had made a huge dierence. Byworking collaboratively with municipalities, counties, builders andrealtors, 1000 Friends was able to spearhead the successul eort topass Wisconsins Comprehensive Planning Law in 1999.

From the very start, the program had strong bi-partisan support.Starting with Republican Governor Tommy Thompson who workedwith legislators to create the Smart Growth law, Democratic GovernorJim Doyle rescued the program rom a repeal o the law contained inthe 2005-07 state budget, which was orchestrated by a small groupo legislators who misrepresented how the law worked.

According to the new law, starting in 2000, communities acrossthe state would be required to enlist their residents in an open,

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comprehensive planning process that would lead to inormedchoices about where and when uture growth would take place. Theplanning would be open and comprehensive. Plans would have toaddress land use impacts related to transportation choices, housing,utilities, economic development, agriculture and intergovernmentalconcerns.

Gone were the days o developers choice. Decisions aboutdevelopment would take place openly and with public participation.Land use decisions would be made in a larger context.

There are a total o 1,923 local governments in Wisconsin. The lawrequires 1,242 communities to develop comprehensive plans by2010. So ar, 940 have fnal plans. That is, 85% o the communitiesrequired to have comprehensive plans have complied and there

are another 600 plans underway. That means many o the localgovernments are choosing to do comprehensive planning. Thatrepresents a very good record o compliance or a new way o doingbusiness in the state.

2010 The Teeth Sink In

The ocus now shits to implementation. Until 2010, the plans are

advisory. Next year, all land use decisions in communities that are

required to have plans must be consistent with those plans.

That means that the vision that was created through the comprehensive

planning process has a meaning that no other plans have had. Insteado gathering dust on a shel, comprehensive plans are dynamic

documents that will guide land use decisions in a community. The

plan represents a vision and the actions o a community will have to

make that image a reality.

I a land use decision is not consistent with the plan, either the land

use decision is not allowed or the plan must be amended. That

amendment must allow citizen input, ensuring public participation

in changes to the plan.

The comprehensive plan is meant to be dynamic changing withchanging times, changing economics and changing demographicsWhile communities are encouraged to revisit their plans as neededall communities are required to update their plans at least once everyten years.

All land use decisions carry a certain amount o controversyUndoubtedly, there will be lawsuits to test the defnition o consistencyBut, or the frst time in the states history, comprehensive planningwith public participation is the law. It may be the states best chanceto hold on to the legacy o Gaylord Nelson, John Muir and AldoLeopold.

bbb

Kevin Pomeroy


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5 Fall 2009

Comprehensive Planning in WisconsinA New Tool or Municipalities

Richard J. StadelmanExecutive Director, Wisconsin Towns Association

With the passage o Wisconsins Comprehensive Planning law inthe state budget o 1999 (Wis. Act 9), now ten years ago, thevast majority o Wisconsin towns, villages, cities, and counties havetaken on the responsibilities o preparing a comprehensive plan ortheir community, setting their vision or uture years and decades tocome. Where have we been in Wisconsin since the enactment o Wis.Act 9? Where are we going as a result o this Act?

There are two very signifcant results o the development o SmartGrowth comprehensive plans in Wisconsin:

First, Wisconsins law, by requiring citizen participation to developthe plans at the local level, has engaged the many diverse interestso each community to conduct the surveys and ocus groups, discussthe goals and vision or the uture, andrecommend the fnal drat plans to locallyelected leaders o their community. Thisstrong citizen participation has resultedin strong citizen consensus with long-term support or the comprehensive plansadopted.

Second, these plans are community-basedplans or each town, village, city, and county,not state or regionally imposed plans romabove or aar. Community planning hasbeen done by citizen volunteers servingon comprehensive planning committeesand plan commissions in each o the participating towns, villages,cities and counties. While consultants have assisted in mappingand bringing ideas to the citizen-based committees, the committeesand commissions preparing the fnal drats have taken a hands-onapproach to make the fnal product - their community plan - to beadopted by their own locally elected ofcers.

While the planning process in Wisconsin has had many positivebenefts on communities that have developed their plans, there arestill challenges that ace these and all communities in the next yearsand decades ahead.

The comprehensive planning law (Sec. 66.1001(1)(g) o Wis.Statutes) requires that local governments address intergovernmentalcooperation as one o the nine elements. Many towns, villages, andcities have not been able to bring meaningul cooperation with their

neighbors. I comprehensive planning is to be more benefcial in thenext decade, municipalities should strive to use this element o theirplans to resolve boundary disputes to create positive growth anddevelopment or their region, not just their own municipal interests.

Another challenge, while each o the nine elements o thecomprehensive planning law have varying degrees o signifcance oreach community, one area o great importance or rural communitiesis to develop plans to sustain working lands (productive agriculturaland orest lands) or the long-term uture, while recognizing the need

or residential growth across the state. With the enactment o theWorking Lands Initiative in the most recent state budget, requiringthe updating o county armland preservation plans, towns andcounties should seek to integrate their existing comprehensive plans

with the county armland preservationplans to sustain prime agriculture landin their communities. At the same time,these local plans need to recognize theneed and desire or residential growth inways that will not conict with preservingour most productive agricultural lands.

These same principles o balancinggrowth with sustaining the mostproductive lands should also become agoal or our orest lands in Wisconsin.Comprehensive planning should be thetool or sustaining our largest industries

o agriculture and orestry in Wisconsin, to produce the productsthat create and sustain the many value-added jobs in manuacturingplants in towns, villages, and cities that we all want or our state.

From 1999 to the present, Wisconsin has begun the statewidedevelopment o community-based plans. Citizen-prepared andcommunity-adopted plans have been at the heart o the past ten years.Now local communities need to work to use the plans to sustaintheir own community vitality and that o the region. Using plans toresolve the boundary disputes and sustain our largest industries inWisconsin, should be the goal or the next ten years and beyond orall involved in comprehensive planning.

bbb


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Smart Growth Success StoriesMadison and Bayfeld

Kevin Pomeroy1000 Friends Planning Director

Madison - process began in the all o 2002

Its no surprise to anyone amiliar with the engaged citizenry oMadison that any project claiming to guide the uture growth anddevelopment o the community over the next two decades would beneither quick nor with ew words. The three-year ComprehensivePlanning process included an intensive public participation programthat ultimately produced a two volume, 600 page ComprehensivePlan. The process began in the all o 2002 with a series o openhouses where citizens were asked what they liked and disliked abouttheir community. The participants also identifed fve major themes

which guided the remainder o the planning process.The Comprehensive Plan, in its broadest orm, is a statement1.o what the community will strive to achieve and what the Cityhopes to becomeMadison is part o a dynamic and growing region2.The City will enhance its unique qualities3.The Comprehensive Plan will seek to balance the need to4.accommodate growth and change with the desire to conserveand enhance the special qualities that make the City o Madisona great place to live, work, and play.The City o Madison must grow in a sustainable manner to meet5.the needs o the present without compromising the ability o

uture generations to meet their own needs.A series o public meetings were held to prioritize primary issues andexplore a variety o alternatives. A mail survey o Madison residentsconfrmed that development should be guided toward alreadydeveloped neighborhoods rather than allowing it to occur in ruralundeveloped areas. Discussion kits were provided to help communitygroups organize meetings on Comprehensive Plan issues.

During the spring o 2004, a parallel planning process producedthe Downtown Advisory Report identiying key issues that would beincluded in the Comprehensive Plan. Also during 2004, City planningsta began drating the Comprehensive Plans goals, objectivespolicies and implementation recommendations by reviewing andanalyzing the background inormation and input rom publicmeetings, workshops, committees and the Plan Commission.

By May o 2005, a drat o theComprehensive Plan was released. A series o public meetings were

held to oer citizens additionalopportunities to learn about andoer comments on the Drat Plan.Input was also received by mail,email, and through an interactivewebsite comment orm.

A revised drat o the ComprehensivePlan was released or public reviewand discussion at the end o October2005 with reerral to the appropriate

City boards, commissions andcommittees, and or a publichearing. The Comprehensive Planwas adopted by the Common Council on January 17, 2006.

The plan identifed a complete rewrite o the zoning code as apriority project. Most o the existing code dates back to 1966 andhas been patched together with hundreds o amendments making idifcult to use and impeding many attempts at creating the kinds omixed use neighborhood developments that are encouraged in theComprehensive Plan. The 2 year zoning code rewrite project wilbe completed in the summer o 2010.

The Madison Comprehensive Plan is a testimony to how importanit is to engage the public in a real discussion that establishes thebasic guiding principles, policies and specifc recommendationsor the uture o the city. The plan stitches together many layers oplans, helps existing plans reinorce each other, creates links tomore detailed planning activities and creates a ramework to makeinormed decisions. In a ast growing place like Madison its criticato have a road map or accommodating growth that doesnt sacrifcethe unique qualities o this very special place.photos: Kevin Pomeroy


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7 Fall 2009

Bayfeld - community embraced planning or decades

The tiny city o Bayfeld along the shore o Lake Superior justdoes things dierently. Although the city wasnt required to adopta Comprehensive Planuntil 2010, they started

the process in 2000right ater passage o theSmart Growth legislation.Bayfeld has embracedcommunity planning ordecades as a strategyto help address someo the issues aced bysuch a popular touristdestination. Bayfeld defnes planning as an inclusive process thatempowers the small community by identiying the many elementsthat shape a community and providing citizens with ample opportunity

to participate in designing their uture.

The planning process was coordinated by a volunteer task orcerepresenting a cross-section o the community. TheSigurd Olson Environmental Institute o NorthlandCollege acilitated the work o the task orce whichmet at least monthly and sometimes as oten as weeklyover a 14-month period. Community residents wereoered many opportunities to provide input on thevision and assisted with goals, objectives and policies. A two-day community visioning workshop attracted

120 community residents and a mail survey o allBayfeld households elicited a very high 50% returnrate. Input on the comprehensive planning wasreceived rom hal o Bayfelds 611 residents by thecompletion o the process.

Bayfeld didnt stop with the typical plan in a binderthat sits on a shel and is only seen by a couple odozen people. They produced a user-riendly synopsiso the plan in the orm o a well-designed poster. Theidea o condensing a 150-page planning document toboth sides o a 21 x 33 inch poster at frst seemed

heretical to the tome-producing planner in me,but it works. The poster has the highlights and theimportant stu: community history, goals tied tocore values, land use map, a well articulated vision,the condensed elements required by the SmartGrowth legislation, and they even ound room or16 thumbnail photos o the task orce members. Youdont put your photo, even a thumbnail, on somethingyoure not proud o.

The 20022022 Bayfeld Comprehensive Plan contains 240 actions(ound in the complete plan document) that implement the goalsand objectives. Thats one action or every 2 residents so theyvebeen busy and have gotten a lot done. They installed the cleanestwastewater treatment plant on all o Lake Superior, theyre greeningthe Apple Festival, published an Earth Care booklet o practical eco

tips, and in 2006, the City and Town o Bayfeld joined the nearby Citieso Ashland and Washburn, and the Town o La Pointe by adopting aresolution or sustainability with a shared goal o working togetherto create a regional eco-municipality. The resolution reinorces thevision o the Comprehensive Plan and supports the grassroots eortso Sustainable Bayfeld and the regional work o the Alliance orSustainability.

We all have a lot to learn rom this community eort and the thoughtso volunteers like Task Force member Heidi Nelson, I was honoredto have been part o this. I am very proud o Bayfeld or having

oresight in the 60s and 80s to think o planning and to continuewith it now. I love this community and especially in this trying time how it stands behind all o its citizens. Its the least I can do to keepthis community alive and vital.


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Green Tier Legacy CommunitiesCommunities that make a Dierence

Bill Rattunde

1000 Friends Green Tier Legacy Community Coordinator

The sta o 1000 Friends o Wisconsinhave been hard at work over the past 9months developing a powerul new tool ormunicipalities across the state to review andimprove their environmental and economicperormance.

Our goal is to create an opportunity orcommunities across the state to save energy,save money and create a better place to

live and to be able to document thoseresults. We are also working with the State toprovide appropriate incentives and technicalassistance to those communities or theirparticipation in this program.

We have worked with the State tocreate a rameworkunder the Green Tierprogram that allowscommunities to enter

into a voluntarybut legally bindingcommitment to reduce their use o ossiluels in a broad spectrum o activities. TheGreen Tier program is a statewide programadministered by the Department o NaturalResources that rewards corporations orcommunities or programs that achievesuperior environmental perormance.Superior environmental perormancemeans environmental improvements that go

beyond what is required under regulations.Green Tier participants receive recognitionand incentives rom the State or theirparticipation in the program.

Our program is called the Green Tier LegacyCommunity program and is intended tocomplement other sustainability programssuch as the Natural Step (Eco-Municipalities)or Energy Efcient Communities. Under theGreen Tier program, eorts by a community

are documented on an ongoing basis (assuringcontinuous improvement and a commitmentthat amounts to more than a one-time pledge)and regulatory benefts are made available tothose communities. Communities that arealready participating in other sustainabilityprograms are perect candidates or theGreen Tier Legacy Communities though anycommunity that wants to achieve sustainabilitygoals is encouraged to participate.

A Green Tier Legacy Community participant would implement efciency measuresand document costs and savings. Thisdocumentation gives accountability totaxpayers and provides the State with evidencethat a community is making progress inreducing pollution that would not otherwisehave occurred.

The recommendations o the 2008 GovernorsTask Force on Global Warming provided the

impetus or this program. Many o the keyrecommendations o the Task Force involvepolicies and decisions that are made at thelocal level, such as municipal operations andservices, as well as zoning and other land useissues.

Green Tier Legacy Communities will ocus onthe ollowing program and policy areas:

Municipal Operations

Municipal Fleet OperationsBuilding Design, Maintenance andOperationsRoadway Design and Operations(Complete Streets, energy efcientroadway lighting, etc.)Urban Forestry

Municipal Services

TransitRecycling and Waste Management

Land Use

Focus on Infll DevelopmentBrownfeld RedevelopmentTraditional NeighborhoodDevelopment

Communities would establish their ownbaseline and targets or improvementDocumented continuous improvement woulbe required or ongoing participation in th

program.

It is our goal to have a group o pilocommunities as our frst Green Tier LegacCommunity Charter members by early 2010 We hope the greatest legacy will be aenhanced quality o lie or generations oresidents in those communities willing toenvision a more sustainable uture.


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9 Fall 2009

The Tipping PointNew Approaches to Water Quality Issues

Kate Morgan1000 Friends Water Policy Director

The 6th Annual Clean Rivers Clean Lake Watershed PlanningConerence was held August 31 at Discovery World on

Milwaukees beautiul lakeront. While the content o the breakoutsessions changes each year with current research, inormation, andpresentations about innovative projects, a core vision connects thevarious sessionsour issues are regional as are the solutions; andto achieve success, innovation and collaboration are essential.

Its easy, however, to view conerences, such as this one, aspreaching to the choir. So, throughout the day, I ound myselasking the question: what does it take to ripen this vision so that itmoves beyond the view o a ew and becomes a motivating orce or

change and action in many? At the end o the Clean Rivers Clean Lakeconerence, I saw this event as part o the answer to that question.This annual conerence is helping create a tipping point or a newapproach to address water quality and habitat restoration that willbring us closer to the goal o fshable and swimmable waters.

In his bestseller, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell outlinedseveral key elements which help an idea or movement reachcritical mass and move beyond isolated implementation to wideradoption. One element is the involvement o a group o people whoare inormation specialists, persuaders, and connectors who bring

diverse people together around an idea. Another is the stickinesso the idea or how well the idea can anchor in the imagination oa wider group. The third element identifes the importance o thecontext within which the idea is brought orth. Throughout theconerence, I saw the interplay among these three elements.

I watched the persuaders and connectors at work, both ormallyand inormally, building support, suggesting possibilities, andlinking opportunities. While this may be the choir, the peoplewho comprise this choir exert wider inuence as they interact withcountless others beyond the confnes o the conerence, spreading

up-to-date inormation and encouraging engagement. And newleaders are emerging rom within this choir.

The stickiness o the vision o a regional, collaborative approachto our water resources is evidenced in the emergence o strongcoalitions and initiatives. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Districtcontinues to lead the way with its Water Quality Initiative, BMP grants,Greenseams and Every Drop Counts programs. The SoutheasternWisconsin Watersheds Trust (SWWT) is stepping into a leadershiprole with its commitment to making measurable progress towardimproving water resources in the region through cost-eective andscience-based, collaborative projects.

The UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER Institute, the largest centeror reshwater research on the Great Lakes, is poised to expand itsinvaluable work through the establishment o the College o FreshwaterStudies. In addition, a coalition o non-proft organizations, o which1000 Friends is a part, through the generous support o the JoyceFoundation and under the auspices o SWWT, has the potential tolay the ramework or improvements in water quality and waterresources in the Kinnickinnic and Menomonee Rivers as well as be amodel or this work regionally.

This is a remarkable time to be working on water quality andrestoration issues in the Great Lakes and Southeastern Wisconsin.Water issues, regularly eatured in local and state news, have becomepart o the public discourse. With the passage o the Great LakesCompact, appointment o a Great Lakes czar, and new inux oederal unding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, GreatLakes issues have moved into the national arena.

The Clean Rivers Clean Lake VI conerence was an opportunity torecognize that we are indeed at a tipping point.

Bradord Beach photo courtesy of MMSD


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L E G I S L A T I V EU P D A T E

Steve HinikerExecutive Director

Legislative SessionGovernor Doyle signed the state budget on Monday, June 29th. It was

the frst time since 1977 that the budget was signed on time and will be

enacted beore the start o the new biennium. The budget made some

o the deepest cuts the state has ever aced but there were some high

points. Following is a summary o budget actions.

Regional Transit Authorities

RTAs can create jobs and a stronger economyby empowering communities to operate cost-eective, balanced transportation systems.

RTAs were approved or Chippewa Valley, Dane County, Southeastern WI,and Chequamegon Bay. A controversialproposal to allow Dane County to spendup to 25% o any sales tax generatedby the RTA on roads was vetoed.

The governor also vetoed a bindingreerendum to let voters decide whetherto adopt a hal-cent sales tax or regionaltransportation improvements.

Provisions or RTAs in the Fox Valley and Milwaukee County werevetoed.

The sales tax that would haveunded the creation o a MilwaukeeCounty Transit Authority and dedicatedunding or Kenosha and Racine bus

lines were cut while an $18 car rentalee to und the Southeastern RegionalTransit Authority was kept intact.

The budget prohibits RTAs romusing any tax money raised or anythingother than regional transit issuesi.e., no roads, no parks, and no publicsaety eorts.

The fnal budget eliminated themandate that local communities musthold reerendums on whether to create

an RTA or impose sales tax but allowslocal communities to decide i theywant to have reerendums.

Working Lands Initiative

The Working Lands Initiative providesmuch-needed updates to Wisconsin'sFarmland Preservation Program andcreates new incentives and tools or localcommunities and landowners to protectarmland.TheWorkingLandInitiativewasincludedin the fnal budget.

Renewable Energy

The Wisconsin Energy IndependenceFunds purpose is to develop the nextgeneration o renewable energy technologyand programs in Wisconsin.

This budget does not provide anyunding or the program but does ensure

that the program will be unded at a baselevel o $14.85 million in 2011.

Urban Forestry Grants

Urban Forestry Grants und projects thatimprove a community's capacity to manageits trees.

Thisbudgetprovides$524,600fortheUrban Forestry Grants und.

Wind Turbine Siting bill passes

in both houses

AB256./SB185 This legislation createsuniorm siting standards or wind energyprojects in Wisconsin. The law directs thePSC to receive public input, including thatrom a shareholders committee, and to

then develop rules or permitting standardsCurrently, over 600 megawatts o proposedwind projects are on hold in Wisconsin dueto the absence o uniorm regulations.

The new law will help Wisconsin improveenvironmental quality and become moreenergy independent while creating jobs inthe clean energy economy. The bill now goesto the Governor or his signature.

State lawmakers to introduce

Clean Energy Jobs Bill

Ater many months o drating trecommendations o the Governors Global Warming Task Force as new legislationstate legislators are ready to introducethe comprehensive bill in October. Thelegislation is designed to curb global warmingemissions, reduce energy consumptioncreate jobs, help the economy and give a bigboost to livable communities.

The bill will call or the ollowing:New investments in clean, renewableenergy such as wind and solar power so wecan reduce our dependence on ossil uelsand create thousands o new jobs.Improvingour transportation system byproviding individuals and businesses withprotection rom oil price spikes, such asthe one experienced during 2008. New


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11 Fall 2009

Smart Growth Legislation

As Wisconsins Comprehensive Planning Lawenters its 10th year and the requirementthat communities make land use decisionsconsistent with their comprehensive plans,the coalition o groups that got the bill passedare now seeking changes to the law.

While most o the changes are technical, atleast one o the proposed changes will becontroversial. (To see the text o the proposedchanges, visit www.1kriends.org)

The major provisions o the proposedchanges:1.Defne consistencyStarting in 2010, all zoning and subdivisiondecisions must be consistent with thecomprehensive plan but consistent is notdefned. The proposed amendment states:

Consistent with means urthers, or at leastdoes not contradict, the goals and policiescontained in the local comprehensive plan.

2. Clariy that comprehensive plansare advisory

Clariy comprehensive plans are advisoryin nature and do not create regulatoryrequirements independent rom otherrequirements. The proposed amendmentstates: The comprehensive plan is a guideto the physical, social, and economicdevelopment o a local governmental unit.The adoption o the comprehensive plan byordinance does not make a comprehensiveplan itsel a regulation.

3. Clariy what must be consistentwith the comprehensive planUnder current law, conusion exists as to what actions must be consistent with thecomprehensive plan and with which partso the plan these actions must be consistent.For example, i a community makes a zoningchange, does the zoning change have to beconsistent with the land use map, the housingelement, the economic development element,or every word o every section o the plan?Because plans are supposed to be visionary,

rather than regulatory, in nature, this couldpresent tremendous conusion.

The new regulations will attempt to:a. Clariy that only the ordinances haveto be consistent with the comprehensiveplan.

b. Create an appeal process at the locallevel to allow the community an opportunityto review and address challenges to theconsistency requirement

c. Emphasize that local decisions under

the comprehensive plan are to be givengreat deerence by the courts.

4. Extend consistency requirementor certain communities

Under current law, all land use decisionsmust be consistent with an adoptedcomprehensive plan by 2010. While 85%o all communities in the state will likelybe able to comply with this provision, somecommunities have legitimate reasons whythey will not make the 2010 deadline.

For example, one community has struggledwith local leadership that has opposed SmartGrowth ever since the law was passed andblocked all community eorts to plan. Thatleadership was ousted in the last election andthe new leadership wants to move ahead butcannot comply with the 2010 deadline. Whilewe are sympathetic to the legitimate needs osome communities or an extension, we donot support an extension or communitiesthat continue to deliberately delay.

The amendment proposes a two-yearextension o the 2010 deadline or adoptinga plan or communities that have not appliedor, or received a grant, prior to 2008and passes an ordinance that states thecommunity will adopt a comprehensive planby 2012.

Kate Morgan, 1000 Friends Water Policy Director, led the eort toproduce this new publication - Greater Milwaukee Water QualityConnections.

Using pictures and examples, the book tells the story o how localeorts make the dierence in taking care o the waters o SoutheasternWisconsin.

Check it out on our website www.1kriends.org oremail: [email protected] to request a copy.

Steve Hiniker was a contributing writer and Heather Mason o MMSD didlayout and design.

Milwaukee Water Quality Connections

This publication was made possible through the generoussupport o the Joyce Foundation and the MilwaukeeMetropolitan Sewage District.

investments include improved transit andintercity rail.Promotinghealthy,walkablecommunitiesthat reduce reliance on automobilesby enhancing pedestrian and bicyclingacilities to promote walking and biking as

transportation options.Help communities to incorporatewalkability into neighborhood design.Incorporate energy efcient design intobuildings, reducing energy costs.

Visit the 1000 Friends website or updates onthis important legislation.


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Last Spring, we asked our members to complete a survey to which we had a huge response with

many thoughtul comments. We sent out a similar survey in 2003. Below, you can see what members

are thinking now compared to 6 years ago! I the year is listed beore the choice it means that the

question was asked only in that year due to changing circumstances.

2003 2009

1. Choose the top 3 program

areas that are most important to you.

Fighting poorly planned development and sprawl 68% 78%

Promoting a balanced transportation policy 48% 72%

(2009) Implementation o Comprehensive Planning 66%

(2003) Deending the Smart Growth Law 54%

Educating and lobbying legislators 35% 36%

Developing new models or healthy communities 29% 30%

Technical assistance to communities 12% 21%

2. From your personal perspective, what do you

see as the biggest threats to your overall quality

o lie during the next 5 years?

Loss o natural areas/orests 73% 60%

(2009) Global Warming 45%

Trafc congestion 43% 39%

Water pollution 55% 36%

Loss o armlands 44% 36%

(2009) Economic downturn 33%

Population growth 36% 30%

Lack o aordable housing 10% 15%

Declining neighborhoods 14% 12%

(2003) Property taxes 9%

3. How do you get to work?WOW!

car 64% 47%

bike 13% 28%

walk 10% 14%

bus 9% 11%

Take a Look!

1000 Friends Survey Results2003 and 2009

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13 Fall 2009

KevinPomeroy

In 2009, we asked what is the best long-term solution to reducing trafc in your area?

99% said improving public transportation and developing communities where people dont

have to drive so much. 1% said building new roads.

When asked i you elt your community leadership was headed in the right direction -

33% said yes, 53% said mixed and 9% said on the wrong track.

Both then and now the majority o our members eel we are an eective voice in the

legislature and have the organizational power to hold elected ofcials accountable .

Members also continue to believe we supply reliable inormation in emails, on our website

and our newsletter.

In 2003 - 78% said they had contacted local ofcials regarding land use issues and 62% had

been involved with land use planning in their community. It worked! Look at where we are with

Smart Growth Comprehensive Planning today!!

In 2009 - 69% said they had contacted a local ofcial regarding transportation issues. That

bodes well or the uture o transportation in the state o Wisconsin!

Well continue to work for your interests and keep you informed.

Please stay involved!


14/16


Around the State

Eau Claire Memorial High School classpromotes Smart GrowthErin Layde

Students in my Environmental Science course studied Smart Growthbecause it was a solution to the problems associated with UrbanSprawl (one o our units). The students became very interested inSmart Growth because they realized that many o the environmentalproblems that we studied over the course o the year were related toour dependency on cars, which is directly linked to the way our citiesand suburbs are designed.

Ater studying several examples o Smart Growth cities and principles,the students became very passionate about this type o developmenthappening in Eau Claire. They realized that not only are SmartGrowth neighborhoods good or the environment, they are also reallycool. They became really interested in the other beneits such asenergized neighborhoods, places or people o all ages to gather,the concept o a walkable neighborhood, and health, economic, andaesthetic beneits. When they studied our own city, they realized thatwe are already doing these types o things in several areas includingour downtown but that there were many other places that couldbeneit rom Smart Growth principels.

One example is our school neighborhood. Students have opencampus or lunch and most students drive to ast ood restaurantsthat are only a ew blocks rom school. There is a road, Hastings Way,with several lanes and no sae way to cross, preventing them romwalking/biking. We consulted some city and regional planners andrealized that making these types o changes required several groups opeople and that just making an appearance at a city council meeting,or example, wasnt going to make a great dierence because somany dierent groups needed to be on board. We decided as a classto invite everyone in the city that we could think o that could helpmake these changes happen. Students divided into groups and each

group chose a topic to research and present.

Their Power Point presentation went over very well and several omy students were asked to join city committees. One developer saidhe was currently planning a development and was planning to gowith a more traditional model, but ater listening to our presentation,was considering a Smart Growth neighborhood.

Erin Layde is the Environmental Studies teacher at Eau

Claire Memorial High School who led this project.

High School Class Presents Eau Claire City CounciWith Smart Growth Plan

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram 6/4/2009

We are kind o at a turning point in history, said Eau ClaireMemorial High School senior Seth Homeister at a public meetingheld by an environmental sciences class on its smart growth projector the city. The class told City Council members, business leadersplanners and other students that people will become less dependenton cars and will need more transit and urban design ocused onpedestrians -- a direction already set by Eau Claire in a long-rangeplan and through such projects as a bike trail system, Phoenix Parkand North Barstow Street redevelopment.

He and other students, reports Eau Claire Leader-Telegram writerJoe Knight, also would like the city to ensure a shuttle or OakwoodMall; to narrow, landscape and build a pedestrian bridge over SouthHastings Way that leads to a mixed-use area near the Mega PicknSave parking lot; and to construct a downtown bus transer station

with ground-level restaurants and commercial space, topped bsecond-story condos and apartments.

The city is working on some similar suggestions, said Eau ClairePublic Works Director Brian Amundson, mentioning a bike trail linkand a possible roundabout, both or South Hastings Way.

Mega Vice President Brick Hopkins called students vision o apedestrian mall interesting, noted that the Hastings Way store needsan overhaul, and added, I think it opened our eyes to think outsidethe box a little or the redevelopment o the site.

Imagine this...

A vibrant, energized hub that

attracts local businesses and

people of all ages.

A place where one could get

a cup of coffee, shop, and eat

a delicious meal all without

driving a car.

Imagine all of this in

Memorials backyard....Hastings Way!

A slide rom the Power Point presentation.


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15 Fall 2009

Now Available!

Land Use and Wetlands: A Local Decision

Makers Guide to Wetland Conservation

Adding to the tools that aid local governments in Smart Growthand comprehensive planning initiatives, the Wisconsin WetlandsAssociation (WWA) is pleased to presentLand Use and Wetlands:A Local Decision Makers Guide to Wetlands Conservation.

The purpose o the publication is to improve wetland conservationand reduce wetland controversies by providing town, village,city and county land use ofcials with basic inormation abouthow wetlands contribute to the economic health, public saety,and quality o lie in Wisconsins communities. Practical stepsthat local governments can take to improve consideration owetlands and wetland laws in land use decision-making are also

identifed.

Developed with the support o a Wisconsin Coastal Managementgrant, WWA sta worked closely with 1000 Friends o Wisconsinand other partners to rame the benefts o protecting andrestoring wetlands in terms that are useul and relevant to theday-to-day concerns o local land use decision makers.

The Local Decision Makers Guide can be viewed or downloadedor ree rom WWAs new local government outreach webpage at:www.wisconsinwetlands.org/localgovs.htm.

Obama Administration picks

1000 Friends Board member

Stan Gruszynski

Stan Gruszynski has been named StateDirector or USDA Rural Developmentin Wisconsin. Rural Developmentadministers and manages over 40housing, business, and community

inrastructure and acility programs aslaid out by Congress through a networko 6,100 employees located in 500 national, state and localofces. These programs are designed to improve the economicstability o rural communities, businesses, residents, armersand ranchers and improve the quality o lie in rural America.USDA Rural Development has an existing portolio o over$114 billion in loans and loan guarantees.

Welcome Lynn Hobbie1000 Friends new Board member

Lynn Hobbie is a Senior Vice

President at Madison Gasand Electric Company. Sheoversees the companys energyefciency and renewableenergy programs as well asnew products and services,corporate communications,economic development andmarketing. She is currentlyon the board o the WisconsinPublic Utilities Institute and was

previously on the board o the Energy Center o Wisconsin, aswell as the Mayors Energy Task Force and the Madison EnergyCommittee or the City o Madison.

The ocus o 1000 Friends on long-term sustainability or ourcommunities is work that Im pleased to help support throughservice on the Board.

b Special thanks to Della Haugen or taking the great photos at ourFriends and Founders event.

b Thanks to Eddee Daniel or the beautiul photo on the insidecover o the Spring newsletter.


16/16

16 North Carroll StreetSuite 810

Madison, WI 53703

608.259.1000

www.1kriends.org

NonProit Org.US PostageP A I D

Madison, WIPermit No. 1115

Its time to think about Community Shares Workplace Giving Campaign

1000 Friends o Wisconsin is a member

organization o Community Shares o Wisconsinalong with 52 other member agencies that promotesocial, economic, and environmental justice at thelocal, state ,and national level. Member agencieslike 1000 Friends will receive 100% o your gitwhen it comes through Community Shares.

I your workplace oers a workplace givingcampaign through Community Shares, pleasedesignate 1000 Friends this year. And, when giventhe choice to receive an acknowledgement, please

sayyes. Otherwise, we are not given notice o yourgit and you will not receive our newsletter.

To learn more about Community Shares oWisconsins Workplace Giving Program, or to starta Community Shares campaign at your workplace,call 608.256.1066 or visitwww.communityshares.com

fall 2009 - volume 13 - #2 - 1000 friends of wisconsin landscapes

Documents