MONROE - Downtown business owners won out Tuesday during the Monroe Common Council meeting after emphasizing their disapproval of a three-story, 40-unit apartment building proposed for the public parking lot at 16th Avenue and Eighth Street.
Council members tied 4-4 in their vote to approve the development agreement with MSP Real Estate, the company based in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, with developments throughout Wisconsin.
After a period of questions in which alderman Ron Marsh asked for a number of clarifications regarding the development agreement, including the authorization of the agreement draft itself, the vote was split. The resolution failed. Aldermen Jeff Newcomer, Richard Thoman, Rob Schilt and Michael Boyce voted in favor of the apartment building while fellow council members Charles Koch, Brooke Bauman, Tom Miller and Marsh voted no. Alderwoman Chris Beer and Mayor Louis Armstrong, who could have broken a tie with his own vote, were absent.
Boyce expressed disappointment at the failure of the measure.
"While I'm a staunch opponent of (Tax Increment Finance), I'm also a realist," Boyce said. "We seem to have a lot of positive momentum built over the last few years. I hope the community can come together to embrace development and get some things done around here."
Boyce pointed to a newly acquired property nearly 100 acres in size along County N and Wisconsin 81, commonly referred to as "the Dolan property," which will likely be made into a mixed use area and will compete with downtown Square commerce.
But spectators who attended the meeting to denounce the apartment building disagreed vocally with the sentiment, both after the vote and at the beginning of the meeting during public comment.
Chris Soukup, owner of Baumgartner's Cheese Store & Tavern along the Square and president of the Business Improvement District Board, said board members did not agree with the inclusion of the new building.
"Parking is the heart of all of our businesses," Soukup said. "We don't think it will be a good development for downtown."
Bob Duxstad, who owns a building along the Square, told council members he felt the proposal would add "considerable strain" to Tax Increment District 7. MSP requested a $615,000 grant from the city TID to help build the $6.231 million project. Once established, tax revenue would provide increased revenue to the TID, though city officials expressed discontent with the assessment value projections from MSP.
Green County Historical Society secretary Terry Goetz said "the Square is alive" because parking has been available.
"We're losing something that's too valuable," Goetz said.
GCHS has been in opposition to the project because it would remove public parking for those visiting the historical museum along the 1600 block of Ninth Street. Despite the preservation of roughly 20 parking spaces behind the building and an agreement to provide an easement through the public parking space with MSP, members disagreed with its construction.
The lot has roughly 70 parking spots available to the public, but they reportedly are underutilized by a study commissioned by the city.
City Administrator Phil Rath said the company believed it would be able to proceed with minimum difficulty on the land. As MSP waited for approval, June deadlines loomed for the company to apply to receive funding from housing programs.
Director of Development Mark Hammond of the MSP Madison office attended to answer questions posed by the council.
Hammond said the reason for the location was to accommodate housing program requirements in order to gain funding for the project. Monroe identified a lack of affordable housing in its 2015 comprehensive plan. In other Wisconsin cities like Madison and its surrounding communities as well as west central locations in the state, Hammond said development agreements had been arranged. The company had hoped to bring similar housing opportunities to Monroe.
Council members tied 4-4 in their vote to approve the development agreement with MSP Real Estate, the company based in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, with developments throughout Wisconsin.
After a period of questions in which alderman Ron Marsh asked for a number of clarifications regarding the development agreement, including the authorization of the agreement draft itself, the vote was split. The resolution failed. Aldermen Jeff Newcomer, Richard Thoman, Rob Schilt and Michael Boyce voted in favor of the apartment building while fellow council members Charles Koch, Brooke Bauman, Tom Miller and Marsh voted no. Alderwoman Chris Beer and Mayor Louis Armstrong, who could have broken a tie with his own vote, were absent.
Boyce expressed disappointment at the failure of the measure.
"While I'm a staunch opponent of (Tax Increment Finance), I'm also a realist," Boyce said. "We seem to have a lot of positive momentum built over the last few years. I hope the community can come together to embrace development and get some things done around here."
Boyce pointed to a newly acquired property nearly 100 acres in size along County N and Wisconsin 81, commonly referred to as "the Dolan property," which will likely be made into a mixed use area and will compete with downtown Square commerce.
But spectators who attended the meeting to denounce the apartment building disagreed vocally with the sentiment, both after the vote and at the beginning of the meeting during public comment.
Chris Soukup, owner of Baumgartner's Cheese Store & Tavern along the Square and president of the Business Improvement District Board, said board members did not agree with the inclusion of the new building.
"Parking is the heart of all of our businesses," Soukup said. "We don't think it will be a good development for downtown."
Bob Duxstad, who owns a building along the Square, told council members he felt the proposal would add "considerable strain" to Tax Increment District 7. MSP requested a $615,000 grant from the city TID to help build the $6.231 million project. Once established, tax revenue would provide increased revenue to the TID, though city officials expressed discontent with the assessment value projections from MSP.
Green County Historical Society secretary Terry Goetz said "the Square is alive" because parking has been available.
"We're losing something that's too valuable," Goetz said.
GCHS has been in opposition to the project because it would remove public parking for those visiting the historical museum along the 1600 block of Ninth Street. Despite the preservation of roughly 20 parking spaces behind the building and an agreement to provide an easement through the public parking space with MSP, members disagreed with its construction.
The lot has roughly 70 parking spots available to the public, but they reportedly are underutilized by a study commissioned by the city.
City Administrator Phil Rath said the company believed it would be able to proceed with minimum difficulty on the land. As MSP waited for approval, June deadlines loomed for the company to apply to receive funding from housing programs.
Director of Development Mark Hammond of the MSP Madison office attended to answer questions posed by the council.
Hammond said the reason for the location was to accommodate housing program requirements in order to gain funding for the project. Monroe identified a lack of affordable housing in its 2015 comprehensive plan. In other Wisconsin cities like Madison and its surrounding communities as well as west central locations in the state, Hammond said development agreements had been arranged. The company had hoped to bring similar housing opportunities to Monroe.