Zoning Changes, Early Voting, Metro Changes - D15 Update 3/29/21

Last Week

Spring Election

In-person absentee voting started last week and continues until April 3. Secure drop boxes are also open. You can find more information about your Spring Election ballot here and check out my recent blog post about the referendum questions here. The primary contested race on the ballot for D15 voters will be for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Take the Transit Choices Survey

Metro Transit staff and the Transportation Planning & Policy Board are working on a complete network redesign to create a new system of bus routes that better serves the needs of Madison area residents and businesses. Tell us what you think! Please fill out the Transit Choices Survey to help us better understand your goals and priorities for the future redesigned transit network. For additional information on the Metro Transit Network Redesign project, visit mymetrobus.com/redesign.

Earth Day Challenge volunteers needed in Madison parks!  

The Parks Division is recruiting more than 650 volunteers in 45+ parks from 10am – 12pm on April 24. District 15 parks that still need volunteers include: Lake Edge Park, Olbrich Park, and Sycamore Park. The registration deadline is April 21 at 11:59pm. Find more information here.

In the news:

• Krishna Kumar Appointed General Manager of Madison Water Utility
• Statement of Mayor Rhodes-Conway on Incident at First Street Shelter
• Madison Public Library and All of Us Research Program at UW-Madison to Present Community Health Event Series
• Learn When to Set Your Trimmed Tree Limbs Out for Collection
• Learn When to Set Out Your Yard Waste for Spring Collection
• Financial Resources Hotline
• Madison Commons, Media Digest

This Week

Zoning amendment, proposed men's shelter at Common Council

There are several items of possible interest on Tuesday's common council agenda. For links to the full agenda and information on how to provide comment and register to speak at the meeting, click here.

The most significant item on the agenda for many D15 residents is the proposed zoning text amendments (item #8). This bundle of amendments seeks to make it easier to construct housing units in Madison in a number of zoning districts. It would allow greater densities, remove the requirement for 1st floor commercial, and reduce the opportunity for public, alder, and Plan Commission review for many projects.

I have been working hard to understand the potential impacts of these proposed changes since they were introduced and am left with a number of unresolved questions and concerns. I'm supportive of many elements of the proposal, but don't believe that the current draft is ready for adoption. Council leadership has recommended referring this item to a future council meeting to allow for more time for alders and residents to fully understand the impact of these proposals.

I support referral of this item and hope to have the opportunity to share more information about these proposed changes over the next month. It is unclear if the proposal sponsors will support the referral or if they will try and force a vote on this change on Tuesday. If you would like to share your thoughts, including support for referral, you can send an email to all alders via the link above.

The proposal to purchase a building on Zeier Road (item #54) for use as a future men's shelter will also be on Tuesday's agenda and has generated a lot of public input, particularly from residents that live in the adjacent neighborhood. I am a cosponsor of this proposal and continue to support moving forward at this time.

Two other items of interest on the agenda include item #63-approving a commercial ownership assistance loan for Go-oh Grocery and item #80-expanding several community gardens across the city including the one on Hargrove in the Eastmorland neighborhood.

Library reopening plans

On Thursday, the Madison Public Library Board will be asked to adopt a Service Expansion Plan that would reopen libraries to in-person browsing and self-pickup holds beginning April 19. You can find more details about the plan here and find details for the board meeting here. 

Water is Life

Neighbors in Eken Park invite all Madison residents to join together in an act of care for our water and environmental justice in the community on Saturday afternoon. You can find out more information about the planned action here.

Other city meetings

There are a number of city meetings not highlighted in this update. You can find a full schedule of city meetings here.

Save the Date

• Spring Election - April 6
• Garver Path/Starkweather Drive public information meeting - April 8 - You can find out all the details for this project as well as a link to register for the meeting here. 
• Virtual town hall on COVID-19 vaccines - April 8 - Public health experts will address common concerns related to differences among vaccine efficacy and provide an update about the vaccine distribution process in Dane County. The event will be held on Zoom and participants can register here to receive the link to attend.

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