Pardon me while I rant about something very local, and take this rare opportunity to criticize the Mayor. The recent death of Jane Jacobs makes this especially relevant.
Madison's original "upscale" mall, Hilldale, once on the outskirts of Madison's west side, is being redeveloped by an Illinois company, Joseph Freed and Associates. The plan features condos, new restaurants, the first Sundance Theaters complex, and new stores, all in a denser, "new urbanist" mode, with structured parking rather than seas of parking lots, and multi-story mixed-use buildings rather than single-story stores and separate housing. Great.
The latest portion of the plan, however, features a single-story Whole Foods surrounded by a very large, standard-issue surface parking lot. The City of Madison Plan Commission voted against the 50,000-square-foot "big box" Whole Foods twice, but the full council could override the Plan Commission's vote by a simple majority.
Joseph Freed and Associates were wrong to keep pushing the exact same plan: "Whole Foods Won't Give Up at Hilldale."
You can see the plan they don't want to change here.
The Madison Plan Commission was right (twice): "'No' Again to Whole Foods."
Alder Robbie Webber explains it all at the Dailypage:
The current building on that spot, the Humana building, is a multi-story building with underground parking. The site is on a hillside, which generally makes constructing underground parking much easier than needing to excavate from grade level. The original statement from Freed & Associates with regard to their development plans for Hilldale was that it would be a mixed-use, new urbanist, pedestrian/bike/transit friendly development with structured parking.
Then this proposal shows up with one story and surface parking. They thought that just wasn't appropriate for that location. So they turned it down.
It got referred back to them. Generally, that would mean some changes would be made over the proposal that was nixed. Pretty much the same stuff came back, but a promise was made that future portions of the project would be better.
My guess is they were insulted that the same stuff had been pitched again. And why not? It's like Freed & Associates didn't pay any attention the first time. So the Plan Commission turned it down again.
Joseph Freed and Associates are still wrong: "Whole Foods Plan Heads for Council Showdown."
Tim Metcalfe is right: "Sentry Takes On Whole Foods." Tim has gone public and political with this fight, and he's right to stand up for his business and the neighborhood. The fact that Tim is a competitor to Whole Foods in no way diminishes his arguments.
Metcalfe said if the mayor and council are truly supportive of local businesses, the Whole Foods proposal should be denied.
"The mayor came up with a policy to encourage locally owned businesses," Metcalfe said. "Whole Foods is a national chain and they are not being held to the same standard."
The Cap Times is right: "Whole Foods Is Not A Victim."
The council should let the commission's decision stand at this point.
If Whole Foods wants to come back with a better plan, the corporation and its developer have every right to do so. And if their plan fits into the long-term vision for development in the Hilldale area, then it should be approved. But neither the Plan Commission nor the council should bend over backward to accept a plan that lets Whole Foods operate by its own set of rules.
Even Supervisor Al Matano, with whom I rarely agree, is right: "Council Should Uphold Decision on Whole Foods."
If Madison is to have good planning, it needs to reward the thoughtful work of its Plan Commission. The City Council should ratify the decision of the Plan Commission to reject construction of the Whole Foods store.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz should speak up for compact, dense, urban development and against the proposal for big box development on University Avenue. Good planning and a good vision for Madison require making some tough decisions. Our Plan Commission has twice made theirs. It is time for the City Council to do the same.
But Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is wrong:
Cieslewicz, according to spokesman George Twigg, isn't "wildly enthusiastic" about the Whole Foods plan, but feels the Hilldale makeover on the whole is in line with the new urbanism philosophy.
Given what the developer has done with the site thus far, plus plans for future development, taken as the whole the site plan will be a good one," Twigg said today.
This specific project is everything that Mayor Cieslewicz has been arguing against for years. His support for it helped swing exactly one Plan Commission vote. Supporting Whole Foods' "big box" is not a "pro business" position; it is simply wrong.
There will be a close City Council vote next week. It would be a mistake to override the Plan Commission and build a West Town-style "big box" in an area that is no longer suburban in character. The location is fine; the plan is not. It is not too late for Joseph Freed and Whole Foods to rethink this bad design, and for the Mayor to rethink a bad decision. Once it is approved and construction begun, it will be too late.
(Good grief; I'm agreeing with Robbie Webber and Al Matano on this. What's next?)