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Big changes in the Madison, WI zoning code?
Lighthouse Commercial Real Estate interviews Nathan Wautier, from Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C.
LH: Please explain the functions of the Madison Downtown Plan and Zoning Code.
NW: The Downtown Plan and Zoning Code are separate and distinct documents that are designed to work together to regulate and encourage land-use development both now and in the future. The Zoning Code is the primary tool used by the City to regulate current development by detailing requirements for land-use ranging from single-family homes to large mixed-used projects. In the case of the Downtown Plan, the goal is to describe and encourage the desired future composition of the downtown landscape. The current Downtown Plan has not been revised in more than 20 years while the Zoning Code has not been updated since 1966.
LH: What is the status of the City’s current efforts to update these documents?
NW: Zoning Code Rewrite Status:
A large portion (approximately 250 pages) of the revised zoning code text (the “Zoning Code Draft Text”) was approved by the Madison Common Council on March 29, 2011. This approval was made with the understanding that there are still some key elements missing from the Zoning Code Draft Text such as completion of the downtown zoning districts and regulation standards for maximum building heights in given zoning districts.
With the Zoning Code Draft Text nearly complete, City staff been busy drafting initial maps identifying the exact locations of each district described in the Zoning Code Draft Text. These initial maps are expected sometime this summer and will undergo an extensive public hearing process. To that end, it is important to emphasize that the Zoning Code Draft Text will not take effect until the new zoning map is adopted. In the interim, the existing Zoning Code (and map) are in effect. A final adopted zoning text with mapping will likely occur in 2012.
For a full timeline and schedule of City meetings on the Zoning Code please click here.
Downtown Plan Rewrite Status:
The City’s Downtown Plan is being revised concurrently with the Zoning Code. Originally, the Downtown Plan project was to begin in 2008 with an anticipated timeline of one year. However, the process has taken much longer than expected. An initial Downtown Plan overview and draft recommendations were first introduced by City staff on September 23, 2010. Please click here to see this overview.
The overview provides a suggested vision for future development of the downtown including very specific suggestions for downtown height standards and land-use designations. The completion timeline for the Downtown Plan will also likely be during 2012. For a full timeline and schedule of meetings on the Downtown Plan please click here.
LH: What is the practical effect of these documents for real estate professionals?
NW: Each of these rewrites has the potential to greatly impact current properties or future projects in Madison and are very parcel specific. Accordingly, the practical implications for real estate professionals are significant and numerous. The Zoning Code will determine where particular developments may occur by right, by conditional-use or not at all throughout greater Madison. On a more macro-scale, the Downtown Plan will provide both guidance to policy-makers in the project approval process and hard restrictions (such as maximum height standards) on downtown developments.
Nathan Wautier is an attorney at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. Nathan acts as the point-of-entry on a wide range of legal needs for both individual and business clients. He primarily serves as principal legal advisor for real estate developers, owners, operators, borrowers and lenders on real estate projects in Wisconsin and across the country. Over the last two years, Nathan has actively followed and participated in the rewriting process for both Madison’s Downtown Plan and Zoning Code. In addition to his real estate practice, Nathan has extensive experience serving both domestic and foreign institutional and pension plan investors involved in alternative investments, primarily in the private equity and hedge fund markets.
Contact Nathan at nwautier@reinhartlaw.com or 608-229-2249. Nathan is located at Reinhart’s Madison office.
