MONROE — Members of the Monroe Common Council could have finalized the zoning code rewrite, a project which has taken nearly two years, but disagreements about whether to notify landowners of changes in use halted the process during their meeting Tuesday.

While most of the map and code changes were accepted for implementation Jan. 1, the issue of down zoning areas created division among council members. Down zoning essentially calls for a reduction in the amount of development allowed on the land, decreasing the density of housing units or other structures in the area. Per Wisconsin Statute 66.10015, it can also mean a reduction in permitted uses of the land.

Vandewalle & Associates Inc., a Madison-based urban development planning company, has been aiding the city in its attempt to overhaul zoning code since early 2017.

Vandewalle Associate Planner Jackie Mich presented plans to council members, outlining that 86 percent of the usage will remain the same, changed only in name to reflect updated letter-number classifications.

One of the recommended changes discussed in previous meetings with the city Plan Commission was a change to the Green County Fairgrounds, which is currently zoned as multiple family residential. During the public hearing held at the council meeting, aldermen heard objection from a representative of the group which oversees the fair.

Steve Mayer, treasurer of the Green County Agricultural Society and Mechanics Institute, requested that the zoning not be changed despite the fairground use not conforming to its intended use as outlined in code. Mayer said if the fair were to ever cease operation under the organization or if the group wanted to sell portions of the area as single lots, the residential designation would be more promising for future sales because surrounding area is residential.

“I think to leave us the most flexibility, it would be in our best interest and yours,” Mayer said. 

He added that the organization adopted language in its bylaws dictating that if the group were unable to sustain any type of festival any longer, the land would revert back to the county with the hope it is continued by officials. But Green County would have the land to do with it “as it pleased, within reason,” Mayer said. 

Mayer was the only person who spoke about the code change during the public hearing. Members of council voted 7-0 to change the recommended resolution, but only under a new code system. Instead of zoning the area for outdoor entertainment and agricultural use, they decided to designate the land as single-family residential. Aldermen Jeff Newcomer and Brooke Bauman were absent.

The issue of whether to notify landowners of the proposed changes first cropped up when the council considered down zoning land on the southwest side of the city currently zoned for mobile home park use. Alderman Michael Boyce asked if the owners of that land had been specifically notified that the area would be down zoned. Mich and Vandewalle Principal Planner Mike Slavney said they had not, but that online and physical postings informed the public of the public hearing and planned change as required by law. 

Mich said the decision to down zone the underdeveloped parcel was based on feedback from officials who indicated the city did not wish to see additional development of the mobile home areas. Instead, the land, which borders mobile homes, would be zoned as a single- and two-family suburban residential area, Slavney said. 

Boyce said he saw the down zoning as “taking something away” from landowners and felt they needed to be notified to have a fair say in the proceeding. Slavney said the council decided against notifying individual landowners during the beginning of the planning process, adding that changing the land to conform to its current use helps protect landowners.

While the resolution approving the code changes themselves and the proposed map with most of the areas zoned as suggested passed with all seven members voting unanimously, the individual down zoning items on the agenda required a two-thirds majority to pass per state law.

The change of the area from mobile homes to suburban residential passed 6-1 with Boyce voting against it. 

Another measure proposing a down zoning of undeveloped parcels zoned for residential use garnered a different response, with Boyce and five other members voting against a proposed change because the zone did not include the possibility of duplexes. Alderman Rob Schilt voted in favor. 

Instead, aldermen proposed adopting code which would keep the use the same, though Boyce argued once more in favor of notifying the landowners before the vote. Council member Chris Beer said it wouldn’t be necessary because the zoning would remain the same, and Beer, Schilt and fellow aldermen Richard Thoman, Ron Marsh, Donna Douglas and Mickey Beam voted in favor of the change. Boyce voted against it. 

A resolution to approve “all other zoning changes to reflect current land use, which may be considered down zoning in some cases,” including roughly 48 acres of nonzoned land owned by Menard Inc. along Wisconsin 69 and Aebly Road, once again prompted discussion of landowner notification.

“As a council, we’ve given public notice to these people and I know they didn’t come forward,” Douglas said. 

But the vote failed to meet the two-thirds requirement by state law, with Boyce and Thoman voting against it.

Aldermen decided to instead notify more than 400 landowners via mail of the impact of the changes and invite them to another public hearing yet to be scheduled, adding at least a few more weeks to the nearly two-year process.