Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has had his new police district boundaries approved by the Common Council Public Safety Committee.  The new boundaries will have the most significant affects on the East and South sides of Milwaukee.

A looming issue with the construction of the new UWM dorm on the Hometown site on North Avenue was that it it will sit on the dividing line of the first and fifth districts.  Concerns were raised at the public meetings preceding the approval of the dorm that policing may be an issue in the area.  The new boundaries should eliminate any potential communication issues by placing officers near the new dorm in the same district.

The existing UWM Riverview Residence Hall will be now be in District 5, which will encompass all of the Riverwest, Brewers Hill, and Harambee neighborhoods as well as a few more neighborhoods to the northwest.  While the existing Riverview Residence Hall was originally on the North Avenue dividing line as well, it did not draw the same concerns from neighbors as no one lives south of the dorm until you hit Commerce Street and the Beerline B neighborhood.

Old Districts

New Districts

Larry Sandler at the Journal Sentinel has more information on the South Side redistricting.

If you’re going to go out and enjoy a walk along any of Milwaukee’s rivers, now may be the team to do it. This past Saturday approximately 3,000 volunteers, myself included, descended upon Milwaukee’s river beds to clean up everything we could.

This was the second year I had participated in the event, and I elected to work at the North Avenue/Hometown site again this year.  Our group of 49 aimed to clean the east Milwaukee River bank from the former North Avenue Dam to just south of Locust Street. Walking under the bridge for the first time is always a reality check, especially this year, where it appeared seven individuals had made been living there

It will be interesting to observe how the new UWM dorm on the Hometown site will affect the number of homeless individuals living under the bridge next year (and the amount of garbage).  One would assume it would have the affect of reducing the number living there, and also reducing the amount of garbage.  Unfortunately this doesn’t solve the obvious issue, that there are too few beds for the less fortunate in our community.

Other sites, as the Journal Sentinel story indicates, aren’t about cleaning up the land around the river, but cleaning out the actual river itself.  It appears sites along the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers are hotbeds for shopping carts and other non-natural things to inhabit the rivers.

If you have a chance to next year, participate in the 2009 river cleanup.  It’s a great opportunity to volunteer, as your hard work is immediately visible.

Mandel Group’s efforts to construct a new UWM dormitory on the East Side took a step forward this week after receiving approval at both the City Plan Commission and the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.  This matter will be taken up by the full Common Council on December 16th, 2008 and if approved intends to break ground within 90 days.

The building itself was designed by Jim Shields, of HGA, and attempts to find a balance between the urban environment and the abutting primary environmental corridor.  We’ve received additional renderings and have re-posted them here to make them more widely available.

Two significant East Side projects, New Land Enterprises’ Kenilworth apartment building and Mandel Group’s dormitory proposal, were on the agenda for this committee meeting.

First up was New Land Enterprises’ Kenilworth apartment building proposal.  This proposal had been held at the previous committee meeting to allow for an “informational” meeting with the neighborhood.  As the committee had indicated at the prior meeting they felt that overall this was a positive development for the city.  It was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Bob Monnat, the chief operating officer of Mandel Group, pointed out four items of note regarding the proposed UMW dormitory project.  First, he noted that this project has received unanimous support from the East Side BID.  Secondly, he explained that UWM has as of the time of the meeting, committed in writing to expand several safety programs.  Thirdly, he noted that Mandel Group has voluntary offered to met at least an 18% EBE requirement and he referred to how bad the economy has been for contractors when he said, “Boy do these guys need it.”  Finally he pointed out that they’ve been working on this plan since June, and having spent a considerable amount of time engaging the neighborhood, wish to move forward so they can begin work in the next ninety days.

Each year 90% of incoming freshman at UWM apply for university housing but because of the shortage of beds thousands are turned away each year.  David Gilbert, UWM Foundation President, pointed to national research that indicates, as he said, “student success is directly tied to the ability to live in university housing.”  He went on to explain that because of this potential positive impact on student grades this is one of the driving factors behind the efforts to build new dormitories.

Tom Luljak, Vice Chancellor of University Relations and Communications, stated that “we believe these investments are already making a difference,” and pointed to their research that indicates that there are 300 fewer students living in the neighborhoods since the opening of the RiverView dorm.  He added that  “we, like the neighbors believe that quality of life is absolutely essential,” and went on to explain how the university views the East Side as a recruiting tool.

Alderman Bauman said he would support this project but wondered why the university wouldn’t even consider building a dormitory downtown.  He pointed to a part of downtown Chicago that is home to 50,000 college students explaining that this student population supports retail and improves downtown Chicago’s vibrancy.  He took the opportunity to express his near anger over UWM’s proposed expansion of the Engineering school to Wauwatosa, saying that “I’ve been frankly dying to make these points known.”  He made it clear to UWM that they need to consider downtown for future dormitories and implicitly for the Engineering school when he said that “I will never support another UWM dorm project on the East Side.”

Alderman Kovac reiterated Alderman Bauman’s comments regarding UWM’s expansion plans saying, “build those satellite campuses downtown.”  He then explained the long process that this project has gone through and spelled out the criteria he expected the new dormitory and UWM to respect.

• The setback and height restrictions should respect the overlay district guidelines.
• The building should be LEED certified and has green features.
• The site should include public access to the river trails.
• The PILOTS payment is large enough to cover the city costs.
• UWM would commit in writing to expanding its neighborhood safety programs.

He indicated that UWM and the development team had met these criteria and the project should move forward.

Only Teresa Kinis, the Chair of the Riverside Park Neighborhood Association, appeared in opposition and she reiterated her previously stated reason saying that, “I’m more concerned with the end client.”  Alderman Wade speaking to Teresa and the broader audience, summed up an often forgotten point, when he said that “we never get 100% consensus.” Explaining that sometimes they have to make tough decisions and in this case he was supporting this project.  The resolution was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Bob Monnat, the chief operating officer of Mandel Group, gave a short presentation covering the history behind the development of this site.  He explained that Mandel Group had originally planned to take advantage of the stunning views from the site and create a commercial use development.  When UWM put out the RFP for a new dormitory Mandel Group responded after determining this could be a better fit for the site.  Throughout the efforts the building was set back 50 feet and limited in its height.  He explained that as the project evolved through working with the Milwaukee River Work Group and other community members that “we actually ended up with a better project.”

Jim Shields, the project architect, reminded the commission and residents that “one of the big stories here is, I think an environmental or green story.”  He was referring to the numerous green features that this project utilizes to create a sustainable development.  These features include the project being a high-density development, that has good transit access, green roofs and rain gardens.  He also pointed out that project is very likely to receive LEED Silver certification.

A group of residents spoke in opposition to the project for a variety of reason including, parking, protecting the river, and concerns over too high a “student density.”  Teresa Kinis, the Chair of the Riverside Park Neighborhood Association, spoke in opposition of the project because of her concerns over the impact of the new students on the river saying it is “the problem of student density” that she is concerned about.  Pam Frautschi, spoke in opposition with her concerns revolving around the potential impact of the increase in population density on the neighborhoods.  Else Ankel was opposed to density as well arguing that it would hurt the river and then directed her comments to Alderman Kovac saying, “I urge you to listen to the people who elected.”  Joe Klein, who was representing a new coalition of neighborhood association’s called 3DNA, argued that “this is the wrong building, in the wrong place.”  He explained that the group felt this would be precedent setting and that the dorm would be too dense.  He also remarked on the process saying “we don’t feel that we’re fully engaged with the university.”

Sura Faraj appeared to insult commission members saying “I’m not sure why each of you are on the commission, perhaps it’s because you truly want to see better development in this city, and give a voice to the citizen perspective, or maybe it’s just to put another notch in you resume belt.”  Although she has been a member of the Milwaukee River Work Group, she questioned the group’s efforts saying they held “closed door meetings” with the developer regarding the project.  She went on to say that “high density development should never abut a primary environmental corridor” but didn’t give any reason as to why this would negatively impact the river.  She ended with a long rant about the need to protect water because it is the new oil but again didn’t explain how this project would negatively water quality.

On the other side there were a variety of residents, local business owners and contractors that spoke in favor of the project.  A number of local contractors explained that the recession has had dramatically negative impacts on their business and employment levels in the city.  Tony Arteaga, the Owner of Artega Construction, spoke in favor of the project explaining that his company has gone from 150 to 30 full time employees and as he said “a project like this is desperately needed in the City of Milwaukee.”  Two other contractors indicated that the are experiencing the same issues and added that as EBE certified contractors these job would help central city residents.  Sheldon Opppermann, a resident of Cambridge Woods, lent his support to the project explained that “the university is what attracted me to the neighborhood” and that “this is the best answer to absentee landlords.”  Ann Brummitt, Coordinator of the Milwaukee River Work Group, expressed some concerns but did express that “yes it [the project] does indeed respect the guidelines.”

Jim Plaisted, the East Side BID Executive Director, explained that the BID board of directors voted unanimously to support this project and they are working to negotiate a voluntary donation from UWM to the East Side BID.  He also presented a letter from the owners of Ma Fischer’s Family Restaurant explaining how their business has increase significantly since the opening of the Kenilworth dormitory.  He argued that this increase in business wasn’t about more students but was about more population density in the general.  He summed up the importance of this project to the retail business on North Avenue saying “retail, follows residential its not the other way around.”

This change in zoning was approved by the commission.

This was the last of four meetings held to discuss UWM’s most recent dorm proposal.  Jim Shields, the project architect, presented his design for the building and how it fits on the 3.2 acre lot.  He referred to the site as “an edge site”, indicating how it sits on the “edge” of two drastically different environments.

The design respects the river corridor, while at the same time manages to fit within an urban environment.  The courtyard addresses the river corridor by extending the natural environment deep in to the site.  In addition to respecting the existing forest along the bluff, the courtyard will allow students to eat lunch outside, lay in the sun or as Jim Shields said “play a pickup game of soccer, or throw a Frisbee around.”  The building connects to the urban environment by building to the property line along Cambridge and North Avenue, and following the massing and materials of buildings on North Avenue.   When asked why would you build on the property line, Jim Shields responded by saying that it helps to create “that sense of urban vitality” and that “I think it produces a better city.”  He then added that “in my view as an architect, it wouldn’t be improved if it was set back 10 or 20 feet.”  The 5,700 square feet of retail that fronts on North Avenue closest to the Milwaukee River is intended for a cafe that would utilize a small public plaza.  The stairs and ramp down to the river will connect into this plaza and will be constructed of Ipe wood, a tropical hardwood, that has been used on the RiverWalk in the Third Ward.

As at the previous three meetings a variety of questions were asked but again none were especially problematic.  Questions were asked regarding who would handle snow removal, would the windows be sound proofed, and what kind of security systems would be in place.  Resident’s also brought up concerns regarding possible safety issues arising from a dormitory being situated on a bluff overlooking a river.  Scott Peak,UWM Director of University Housing, responded saying “regardless of where we put a building, college student safety issues are at the forefront.”

Residents were also concerned about the possibility of UWM pursuing further dorms and what UWM’s plans were for the future.  Tom Luljak responded to these concerns explaining that “the chancellor’s overriding goal is to have a resident hall bed for every incoming freshman,” and that each year 1800 freshman students are unable to obtain on campus housing.  He went on to argue that building additional dorms both allows for more freshman to have on campus housing and that this is good for the neighborhoods because as he said “we’ve actually decreased the number of students living in off campus in the neighborhood.”

At the end of the meeting Joe Klein, Cambridge Woods Neighborhood Association President, got up and spoke.  Although there had been three meetings prior to this one, he asked UWM to do a little more neighborhood outreach because in his mind the meeting schedule was just dropped on the neighborhood.  Specifically, he said “this is an invitation to the university and Mandel to really do a little more of an outreach where we can have lower level meetings with people in the neighborhood and UWM.”  It was evident that the purpose of these meetings was to reach out to the neighborhood and answer as many questions as possible, but despite these efforts it seems there is still some level of lingering concern.

The Mandel Group’s efforts to construct a new UWM dormitory on the East Side have included five public meetings, the release of basic site plans, and preliminary project renderings.  Jim Shields, lead architect on the project, has an accomplished and diverse resume of buildings from Discovery World to the renovation of Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and now he is putting his mark on another Milwaukee project.  The plans take into account the site’s unique “edge” location between an urban environment and the river corridor.  The design addresses the urban environment by attempting to break up the massing of the building along North Avenue to give the appearance of multiple buildings that fit the size and scale of other buildings along the street.  Additionally, it addresses the river corridor by stepping the building back, and by creating a natural barrier between the structure and the bluff.

We’ve re-posted the renderings here to make them more widely available.

This was the third of four meetings being held to discuss Mandel Group’s proposed UWM resident hall that would be located on the former Hometown gas station site.  This meeting was held to discuss traffic, transit and parking issue connected to dorm.  Ken Voigt, Senior Traffic Engineer for Ayres & Associates Inc., gave an extensive overview of the traffic studies being conducted and the potential improvements for the North Avenue and Cambridge Avenue intersection.

The results of the traffic study indicated traffic signals at this intersection would satisfy a four hour warrant justifying the improvement, and would improve pedestrian safety.   It was explained that although one concern with installing traffic signals was that it would encourage Cambridge Avenue to become a “short cut”, the planned timing and the intersection’s offset should stop that from becoming an issue.  The plans also included, enhancing the current gateway island by adding landscaping to make it more aesthetically appealing which will have the side effect of slowing traffic entering the intersection.  Other improvements discussed included count down timers, additional on street parking and the addition of street trees.  Although curb bump outs are often a street improvement used to make an intersection more pedestrian friendly it doesn’t appear likely they will be pursued at this intersection because of its configuration.  Alderman Kovac speaking about the proposed traffic signals said, “it’s not a panacea.  There are advantages and disadvantages”, though he went on to indicate that he felt the traffic signal is a good idea.

The second half of the meeting focused on student transportation options and facilities.  As had been pointed out at previous meetings UWM runs shuttle buses 24 hours a day.  These shuttles currently run at 15 minute intervals during week and 30 minute intervals during nights and weekends allowing students to come and go without personal automobiles.  Scott Peak, UWM Director of University Housing, explained that students are encouraged to not bring a car to campus and that student parking is prioritized based on need.  The number of cars per beds proposed for this dorm is essentially the same as the RiverView dorm, though there will be an addition 27 parking spots for faculty, staff, visitors, and retail business owners.  To facilitate the retail business located in the first floor of the dorm and possible visitors an additional 21 on street parking spaces will be added by widening a portion of Cambridge Avenue.

There were a few questions regarding the new traffic including, if there would be sensors in the street, what else would they do to make it safer for pedestrians, would the light flash at night, and general concerns over a change in traffic flow throughout the neighborhood.  Specifically one resident was concerned about the addition of the new traffic and how that would impact the neighborhoods further from the dorm’s location, but judging from the turnout and level of discourse the concerns proposed at the meeting were minor and items that Mandel Group could address.  In fact opposition seemed so light that when a show of hands was taken to see if there were residents living on Cambridge Avenue in attendance, no one raised a hand.

This was the second of four neighborhood meetings to discuss the proposed UWM resident hall. UWM has been working to increase the number of beds available in a large part because 90% of the students that apply to UWM request student housing and most are turned down. This ability to provide housing for students is important because the retention rate of students living in resident halls is 15% higher than those living off campus. Further, Tom Luljak, Vice Chancellor of University Relations and Communications, explained that another goal is to move students from living in the neighborhood, to students living in student housing. He pointed to the opening of the RiverView resident hall as example of success as their research indicates there are now 300 fewer students living in the neighborhood than there was prior to the opening.

UWM brought a large contingent of staff, UWM Police officers, student C.O.A.S.T. workers, and S.A.F.E. walkers to inform the neighborhood residents of how they handle safety and security issues. They emphasized that UWM resident halls are a controlled environment, that provide an opportunity for students to succeed. Additionally, for safety and security reasons these resident halls include someone working the front desk 24 hours a day, and require guest passes for non-residents to access the building.

Michael Marzion, UWM Assistant Chief of Police, spoke about how the UWM Police Department finds creative ways to solve problems and uses student issues as teachable moments. For example instead of issuing tickets they might give assignments as a way to improve behavior and give students a second chance. Additionally, he pointed out that they have recently increased the patrols in the neighborhood to insure safety and good behavior.

Two students from UWM’s S.A.F.E. walker program spoke about their efforts to help improve safety in the neighborhood. This program consists of 25 students who work primarily from 10 PM to 2 AM six days a week to provide security, medical care, and act as trained observers. Additionally, they explained that when the new resident hall opens it will be expanded to include North Avenue.

Only a handful of residents were in attendance, but the one concern that was brought up revolved around student parking. The owner of Judges (located across the street from the Hometown site) was somewhat concerned that the students would have enough parking so they wouldn’t park on the bridge impacting his customer’s parking. His concerns appeared to be addressed by the plan and previous experience with the RiverView dorm because as he said, “you wouldn’t even know that RiverView was open.”

The continued decline in public attendance at these meetings is a telling sign that UWM has put forth significant effort to inform the community on all aspects of this project.

Bob Monnat, the chief operating officer of Mandel Group, gave an overview of how the public meeting process will work and a presentation covering the environmental aspects of the project. He explained that the point of have these meetings take place within the recently built dorms, was so that residents could get a feel for the type of atmosphere and quality that is to be expected. Additionally he pointed out that in an effort to make this as open a process as possible the materials from each meeting will be posted on the Mandel Group website.

A brief history of the site was laid out to give perspective as to the need for redevelopment of this location. The site has had many uses over time including, a roller rink, an ice harvesting site, a truck storage and repair facility, and a gas station. The most recent uses created environmental issues that were worsened by the site being covered by a 100% impervious surface. This impervious surface resulted in a significant amount of stormwater runoff carrying toxins and chemical from the former uses directly into the river. The proposed dorm design plans to convert the site from 100% impervious to 91% pervious which will dramatically reduce the stormwater runoff from this site and improve water quality.

The green initiatives for the project stemmed from the need to remediate the site and UWM’s requirement for green features as part of the new dorm. Jim Shields, the lead architect from HGA, gave an overview regarding the greenspace and planting of the site. He explained that all the trees would remain just as they are now and that there would be no clear cutting on the site. Additionally he pointed out, that they are going to plant the greenspace with native trees, that the site would include rain gardens, a grass field for soccer or frisbee, greenroofs on the two wings, and the main building’s roof will collect rain water in a cistern to use for watering the grass. He added that a high density development is needed to qualify as a sustainable urban development and to receive the LEED certification they are looking to obtain. Bob Monnat added that “there is very little benefit of building a LEED certified building out in the middle of a cornfield that, where everyone has to drive to,” indicating that you lose the environmental savings that you have created when you force everyone to drive.

In addition to the numerous green features the proposed building will follow standard urban design guidelines. Specifically it will be located on the property line, it will have first floor retail, and underground parking. The project will also include the building of a public access stairway and ramp to allow access to the river from the site.

Although the stated goal of the meeting was to discuss the green features of the project there were a handful of questions on other topics. While a few residents asked about the students moving through the neighborhoods, trash issues, parking, and traffic, the most vocal opposition came when a resident interrupted saying “I don’t want to hear anymore about the building.” There were also questions from residents regarding what will happen during the winter as the trees shed their leaves but as Jim Shields explained “according to the Milwaukee River Workgroup our building was adequately concealed.” If turnout was any indication, this meeting showed just how far UWM has come in working with the neighborhood as opposition to the project was clearly considerably lower.