There was a meeting at the Court House last night regarding the new development in the Green Lake Conference Center. This was a meeting for re-platting and re-zoning the area.
My first question is how did this get to the county agenda so quickly without first having township approval? The Town of Brooklyn Zoning commission has not even met on this issue yet. The conference center seems to be trying to act as though they can just do whatever they feel like doing without any community support, input or discussion. This is a mistake on their part. Community input and that "hot" word transparency are in the interests of all parties involved.
The ABA should be looking for feedback and suggestions from the community as they go, not to mention involving the right government entities right off the bat. (Both the DNR and Sanitation district are obvious examples here) It would seem to make the whole process easier for them and more transparent for us without hurt feelings on both sides.
There was a lot of information exchanged, not to mention some upset property owners from the grounds of the Baptist Assembly. I learned a few things.
First I would like to ask where are the “Friends of Green Lake”? The Friends were made up mostly of homeowners on Illinois Ave and near Norton’s. When the Norton’s development issue was on the table they were loudly proclaiming how they wanted to protect the “character” of the Green Lake area. The current development proposal at the Conference Center will affect the character in a much larger way for generations to come than the development of Norton’s ever would have. The Friends should step forward to help and support the current homeowners of the ABA and prove that they were not just about what went on in their own back yard.
Steve Sorenson, the Ripon attorney is representing some the the property owners. He spoke eloquently and brought up some very good points. I think some of the FRIENDS should get in touch with him to see how they could help him out. Also, Nancy Hill, Executive Director of the propery owners asscociation spoke. Get in touch and protect the future of the lake.
The Center wants to put in 107 new ½ acre lots. These lots would surround the Woodlands section of the golf course. This is a very high density for the conference center and would not fit in with the current character of the homes currently there. By necessity they would be smaller tract homes. The key here is DENSITY. The complaining neighbors don’t seem to be upset over the development of more lots in the center but the type and amount of lots being developed. Why doesn’t the conference center consider larger lots, with larger homes more in character with the current development of the homes on the conference center grounds?
The entrance for these lots would not through the current gate at the front of the ABA but would be at the east corner where the old gate by House of the Seven Gables is currently. There are several issues with this arrangement. First, the center wants to rezone the just the small little corner the Gables house sits on to commercial property. The ABA wants to use this corner for Lindenwood Development use for selling model homes. Why is this a problem? Once you change this zoning and Lindenwood is done with using it for selling lots you could put anything you wanted to here. A Laundromat, liquor store, adult book store, anything. This is not reversible. Once it is done, it is done. We are stuck with it.
The conference center also wants to make this a gated community. You would need some sort of device to enter like a keypad, door opener or something like that. The main entrance is not available to them. The Center is essentially trying to cut the Conference center in half, not giving them access to the grounds from INSIDE the center. The residents would have to drive out to the east gate, turn left on 23, and then re-enter the ABA by turning left again. What will this do to traffic on an already busy Highway 23 in the summer time? This is a ridiculous proposal. There would be as many as 800-1000 more cars per day going in and out of this entrance that would have to stop and start blocking traffic on 23 in the middle of the summer.
With the current proposed density of these lots there would be a sewer issue. Because of the character of the grounds septic systems will not be possible. The Conference Center maintains this is not a problem. This is not true. It is a huge problem for our current sanitation situation. How will these homes hook up and do we have the capacity for this amount of homes?
The proposed road system would be private so they would not have to conform to current standards for emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicles would not have easy access to the development because they would have to go into the current main entrance and then go through private access roads to get to the development. I also hear they aren't doing any road beds, just surfacing. The roads will deterioate in about 2 years.
One of the best moments of the meeting was when one of the young high school Wallenfang girls got up and asked “what would this development do to her future” after the current county board is gone and they were the generation that had to deal with what they left behind? (I am paraphrasing here, she was very nervous but she showed up and made her voice heard which is more than I can say for others. Paging The FRIENDS of Green Lake here.)
There quite a few other issues which should be discussed in an open public meetings. There are eagle roosting areas in the development zone and rare American chestnut tress that Mrs. Lawson planted. Both of these are problems that will get the DNR and possibly the Dept. of the Interior interested.
There are many more issues here. The conference center is trying to bully its way through here and acting as though none of this is a local issue or any of our business. I must say they are right if public response is any indication. If you thought the Norton’s development was a big deal then this should be of more interest to the future development of the area.
The conference Center is sending out brochures to prospective buyers indicating the first level of approval is already complete. This is not true. The developers (Lindenwood) are already starting to dig up ground as if they already have approval. They don’t. This needs much more discussion and input from the community. Don’t let the current residents of the ABA stand alone for issues that will affect the entire are for generations.
The director of the ABA got up and spoke at the end of the meeting. He seemed upset that anyone would get involved with the Conference Center plans.
How fast are the lots at Maplewood selling? How long will it take to sell 100 ½ acre lots in the ABA at $200,000/parcel? Why doesn’t Conference Center consider larger lots for higher income people who will need the services of the local community? Why would someone want to buy a ½ acre lot in the Conference Center when they could find much larger parcels for less just down the road?
Who is Lindenwood Development and what kind of funding do they have. I have heard they wanted to buy a parcel of local land a couple of years ago for $300,000 and couldn’t get funding. Then how do they expect to do this kind of development? If they can’t do $300,000 how do they do $30,000,000? Follow the money. Or lack of it. What kind of homes have they built in the past? Where?
We don’t really need more people here who will need more local jobs. We need people who will rely on the services of the local people currently but paying the same amount in property taxes. The higher income people will need our services and we should encourage that sort of development. Larger lots for higher income people which need less infrastructure services and create more jobs locally instead of flooding the local job market, which is clearly a problem already.
Our local politicians would like us to just sit quietly by and not get involve because it “increases our tax base”. That is not enough. It effects our infrastructure, raising our taxes, crowding the already tight local job market and the character of the area.
I also found it interesting that there were none of our local leaders at the meeting. You would think they would attend just out of interest but they hold the simplistic view of “increasing our tax base” is good for us so we should just sit by while they approve of this development.
So far this seem to mostly an issue of DENSITY. No one is arguing against controlled development. Green Lake should grow but not through uncontrolled growth that the ABA seem to think won’t effect us at all. Why should we care? It just increases our tax base and that should make us all happy. Right? Not true. As I see it so far this is an issue of density, which the Green Lake Conference Center doesn’t seem to think is a problem. It is.
There are more issues here but I think I have gone on long enough and given people enough to think about. Get involved. Don’t just bitch about “our government”. We are “our government”.
The County Zoning Commission tabled the plans for three months.
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