Background Information

The planning process for the Royster-Clark Site and surrounding commercial area will be a two-part plan that utilizes a Market Feasibility Study to help shape the Special Area Plan’s concepts and plan recommendations. The Market Feasibility Study will be completed by Stockham Consulting, Inc., and the Special Area Plan will be completed by City Planning Staff with input from a Royster Clark Neighborhood Planning Team (RCNPT), elected officials, neighborhood residents and property/business owners, as well as input form other City Agencies.

The Royster-Clark property is a vacant industrial facility located at the corner of Cottage Grove and Dempsey Roads on Madison’s East Side. The Royster-Clark property was used until recently for production of granular agricultural fertilizer. It was one of several plants that produced fertilizer for this national company. In February of 2006, Royster-Clark was acquired by Agrium, Incorporated, a Canadian company with headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. Agrium has determined that the Madison production plant is not needed for their operations, and has been working to sell the property to developers. 

The possibility that the Royster-Clark fertilizer plant might eventually close has been recognized in the City of Madison’s plans for many years. Both the 1977 Madison Land Use Plan and the 2006 City of Madison Comprehensive Plan recommend that if the site becomes available for redevelopment, alternative employment, residential or commercial urban uses would be more appropriate than reusing the site for another similar heavy industrial activity.

In the Fall of 2006, following the announcement of the closing and intended sale of the Madison plant, the District alderman and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods began meeting to discuss the site’s future and how to participate in planning for its redevelopment. The Planning Division of the Madison Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development began a broad-based planning process to prepare a Special Area Plan for an area that includes the Royster-Clark site and other properties along the adjacent segment of the Cottage Grove Road corridor in September of 2007. This process builds upon, and continues, the planning efforts already started in the neighborhood.

A Neighborhood Planning Team has been established to guide City Planning Staff during the Planning process. The RCNPT meets monthly, with the option to have interim meetings to discuss specific issues.

Neighborhood Representatives:
Sheila Guilfoyle, Chair RCNPT, Neighborhood Resident-at-large 
John Martens, Vice Chair RCNPT, Neighborhood Resident-at-large
Kris Whitman, Eastmorland Neighborhood Representative
Jacky Da Walt, Lake Edge Neighborhood Representative
Neighborhood Representative Alternates:
BJ Obermeyer, Lake Edge Neighborhood Alternate
Kathy Soukup, Eastmorland Neighborhood Alternate

Business Representatives:
Jim Mohrbacher, MG&E Representative
Ken Bowers, Bower Family Chiropractic
Elected Officials
Larry Palm, City Alderperson
Tom Stoebig, County Board Supervisor
Agrium Representative: vacant

City Planning Staff:
Michael Waidelich, Planning Division
Rebecca Cnare, Planning Division

The Market Feasibility Study is funded by a Dane County BUILD Grant, and a City of Madison Neighborhood Planning Grant. These funds were used to hire an outside consultant specializing in Market Analysis. The Special Area Plan will be written by Planning Division Staff in the City of Madison Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development.

The planning area for the Special Area Plan and the supporting market study includes the Royster-Clark fertilizer plant site located on the north side of Cottage Grove Road, just west of Dempsey Road in the City of Madison, and other properties along the Cottage Grove Road corridor generally between the Stoughton Road interchange and Johns Street.

Currently, the predominant feature in the planning area is the Royster-Clark plant – a large metal-sheathed industrial structure showing its age, and reflecting its function as a facility where chemicals and minerals were combined to produce granulated fertilizer for agricultural use.  Storage structures, railroad spurs and various materials loading and handling machinery are also present on the 26-acre site, along with several stormwater management and detention facilities.  The western and northern portions of the site are relatively open compared to the eastern part of the site closest to Dempsey Road, although these too contain a variety of ancillary facilities.

The secondary planning area includes an uncoordinated mix of business establishments and residential buildings along both frontages of Cottage Grove Road. Although it is a principal gateway into the city, this segment of Cottage Grove Road is relatively unattractive and characterized by many older buildings, parking areas with minimal landscaping, signage clutter and overhead utility towers and wires. West of the Stoughton Road interchange, the boulevard median ends and the sidewalk terraces are generally narrower – making the overall appearance even more dependent on the quality of the buildings and other development outside the public right-of way. Successful businesses exist here, but presently it is not a particularly engaging urban environment.

Even when in operation, the fertilizer plant was widely-recognized as no longer the best or most appropriate use for a high-visibility location on an important gateway street partially developed with a range of retail and service business and surrounded by residential neighborhoods. If redeveloped, this large site could support a wide variety of alternative urban uses that would be much more compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods, including non-industrial employment or office uses, residential uses, and some types of retail uses. Redevelopment of the Royster-Clark site will also remove a blighting influence on the adjacent Cottage Grove Road business district, and can become a catalyst for general improvements along this corridor.

Currently, no detailed City of Madison neighborhood plans or special area plans cover Royster-Clark site or this segment of the Cottage Grove Road corridor. This is primarily because these neighborhoods were substantially built-out by the 1960’s and development activity has largely been confined to occasional redevelopment of individual commercial or residential properties along Cottage Grove Road. City plans do, however, recognize the redevelopment potential of the location and the Royster-Clark site.

1. City of Madison Comprehensive Plan
The City of Madison Comprehensive Plan, adopted in January 2006, identifies the Royster-Clark planning area as one with potential for a transition from its current somewhat random mix of residential, industrial, commercial and retail-strip activities to a more engaging urban community. In specific reference to the Royster-Clark site, the Comprehensive Plan carries the following map note:

“If in the future, the current industrial use no longer operates on this site, alternative residential and mixed-use developments are recommended as more appropriate uses for the property than another industrial use. Redevelopment of the site should be consistent with a City-adopted neighborhood or special area plan which ensures that development on this site is coordinated with uses in the surrounding neighborhood.”

In the Comprehensive Plan, the area just east of the Royster-Clark site, including the American Family office just north of the railroad tracks, is recommended for Employment uses. The area west of the planning area along Cottage Grove Road, including the older shopping centers near the Monona Drive/Atwood Avenue intersection, is a recommended location for Neighborhood Mixed-Use development.

2. Stoughton Road Revitalization BUILD
The Stoughton Road Revitalization BUILD Project (SRRP) is charged with developing near- and long-term land use and design recommendations for the South Stoughton Road corridor and adjacent lands between U.S. Highway 30 and the South Beltline interchange. The Royster-Clark special planning area is outside the defined planning area for the SRRP, but the planning goals, objectives and recommendations from the SRRP will also affect the Royster-Clark planning area. The Royster-Clark planning area extends westward for about one-half mile from the Stoughton Road interchange with Cottage Grove Road, and Stoughton Road is an important route and access point to the planning area from the north or south. The recommendations for the two planning areas will be coordinated, and improvements in the character and quality of development along the Stoughton Road corridor will certainly have a positive influence on development in the Royster-Clark planning area, and vice-versa. The SRRP Plan will be introduced at the Madison Common Council on March 18th and referred to several City Boards and Commission for additional input. 

More information regarding the Stoughton Road Revitalization Project, including the March 2008 Draft report and recommendations, can be found at www.stoughtonroad.com.

Regular monthly meetings are generally held on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 6:30 until approximately 8:30 pm. Dates, times and locations are subject to change by RCNPT members, and meeting space availability. Agendas and minutes can be found at:

November 5th Public Forum Meeting: Schenk Elementary School Cafeteria

On November 5th, 2007 a large public meeting was held to gauge residents and property owners concerns, ideas and issues for both the potential redevelopment site and the larger neighborhood. The meeting was well attended with approximately 100 residents and business owners participating in the break-out sessions. The responses to the questions asked at the public meeting can be viewed here.

Additional Public meetings will be scheduled in the Spring of 2008 to discuss the results of the Market Study Analysis and to view and get feedback on potential plan alternatives and recommendations.

Stockham Consulting has been hired to prepare a Market Feasibility Study for the Royster-Clark site and nearby properties that will be incorporated into the Special Area Plan. A professional market feasibility study that examines demographic, real estate and other dynamics will help ensure that the plan’s recommendations will not only reflect neighborhood and business community goals and objectives, but will also be realistic and have a high probability of implementation. In addition, the market study will identify potential barriers to redevelopment of the area with the recommended uses, so that these barriers may also be addressed by the plan.

The market study is intended to help inform a planning process to prepare a Special Area Plan to guide and promote the redevelopment of the Royster Clark property and general improvement of the surrounding area as a mixed-use employment, residential and service location. The Special Area Plan will be prepared by City staff with technical input from Stockham Consulting related to the market study.

A major objective and benefit of including a market study as a component of the planning process is to gain a good understanding, backed by professional research and expertise, regarding which uses and combinations of uses would find the location attractive and have the best chance of success – and under what conditions. This will help ensure that planning recommendations made for the Royster Clark site and the larger planning area are realistic and provide a sound basis for working with the future developers of this property.

Mr. John Stockham shared his preliminary findings and Market Data Inventory Report at the January 2008 RCNPT Meeting along with a presentation that gives an overview of the report. 

The report and presentation can be seen here:

Royster Clark Market Data Inventory Report
Market Data Inventory Report Presentation

Some initial site analysis was presented at the February 2008 RCNPT Meeting:
The information and Maps can be seen here:

Land Use Mapping:
Comprehensive Plan Land Use Recommendations
Existing Land Uses with Housing Units

Traffic and Transportation Mapping:
Traffic Analysis Map
Bus Routes through neighborhoods
Traffic Counts north Cottage Grove Road
Traffic Counts south of Cottage Grove Road