The South Milwaukee Community Development Authority unanimously endorsed the Walmart development Monday night following a lengthy public hearing that saw strong opposition to the project.
The vote was 7-0 on two motions: on the sale of the approximately 3.5-acre, city-owned parcel at 222 N. Chicago Ave. and on the amendment and modifications to the tax incremental financing district #2 redevelopment plan.
The votes came at the end of a more than two-hour, 30-minute meeting that included a sometimes contentious public hearing.
I estimated the crowd at around 75 people and counted 22 people who spoke. Of those, 19 were clearly opposed to the project. Two were non-committal, while another spoke in favor.
Criticisms were raised over a number of different issues, including traffic, noise, concerns over declining area property values, the size of the city’s investment in cleaning up the site (up to $1.8 million), the wages offered to Walmart workers, the sourcing of Walmart products, stormwater runoff, landscaping, the potential increase in crime a new Walmart (or any big box development, for that matter) would bring, the development’s impact on other city and area businesses, and the design of the building. And there were others.
It was a long list, and Walmart and city officials answered the concerns as best they could when the meeting actually began. For the most part, it was a constructive give and take, and I appreciate the majority of the audience for keeping it so. (There were a few exceptions.)
The outcry was not unexpected, especially considering this was the first formal public hearing on the project since it was first proposed nearly a year ago.
That said, two more public hearings are planned starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, both before the start of the City Council meeting. Learn more about those hearings in this letter being sent to more than 500 area property owners.
And, as always, contact me anytime with questions, comments or concerns.
South Milwaukee Blog 
Shame on South Milwaukee. This is so wrong, most of the citizens of SM didn’t even know about the meeting, and even if they had, you clearly made your decision long ago. Why such secrecy? Were you afraid that the citizens would have stopped this just as other local communities have done? This is small minded and shows no vision for what South Milwaukee could be.
Only those living within a certain amount of feet from the development were sent notices. If you check the City of South milwaukee’s website, all meeting notices are posted by committee. This has not been a secret. Numerous articles have been posted in the Milwaukee Journal. With the current economy, most municipalities would love to have this development in their City. After all said and done, this will be a great looking development.
I attended the CDA meeting held last night (10/04/2011). What a farce.
While 99% of the comments made by the attendees were negative and those present were begging for answers, very few were actually given proper treatment.
The CDA had the city lawyer present to make sure that the procedings were legal and that will likely soothe the consciences of all the board members present but the feeling of most of us present was that we and South Milwaukee were largely ignored in this matter.
It is hard to believe that these CDA board members are actually our fellow citizens and neighbors. Most of the people I talked with felt ignored and betrayed by these fine upstanding board members. Throughout the entire meeting the board chairman seemed most interested in speeding the process up rather than doing the proper research into all of South Milwaukee’s citizens concerns.
Shame on this board for the treatment dealt to their friends and neighbors.
The research done to this point was shoddy and wouldn’t hold up with proper review. Three examples:
The traffic consultant (Hired by Walmart) didn’t even know that the corner by Badger and Chicago currently has a bus stop that will almost certainly block the intersections only lane heading north. This iindicates very poor hands on research.
Our police chief claims that Walmart stores cause no more crime than Target or Kohls stores. Yet the comparisons were flawed by the stores selected. The chief does not have the time necessary to properly determine the effect on our police force and it is not fair to her to be expected to handle such a complex study. The chief was never given the time to address the cost of hiring additional officers to handle the increase in workload this store will undoubtedly cause. This additional security has not been factored into the small tax revenue that will come from this store.
Walmart claims Wisconsin workers receive an average pay of $12.11/hour. This is an empty number since we don’t know if this factors in the higher paying management employees. The actual pay for most employees hovers around the minimum wage level. While health benefits are availible most employees will not be able to affod them and therefore will likely be on Badger Care.
This matter should be decided in a citywide referrendum and not by representatives unwilling to listen to their own people.
Ken, you need to get your facts straight. The traffic consultant was hired by the developer and not by WalMart. Bus stops can be moved a short distance. What do you think Target and Kohl’s pays their workers?????
And while 99% of the attendies were against it, which there were about 100 people at most, the other 19,000 plus residents did not attend because they do not care one way or another.
Well, no, there aren’t ONLY 100 people who care. The meeting, though publicized, was not highly publicized. You say that people within a certain distance received notification, but I know people on Badger and St. Sylvester Drive received their first letter about it this past Wednesday. The next meeting will almost certainly be more crowded.
Rick is correct. This meeting was as publicized, if not more publicized, as any other committee meeting I’ve seen. Additionally, this development has been reported in numerous Journal Sentinel articles over the past year. Nobody was trying to “sneak” anything by anyone.
Regarding people not caring about this development, I actually believe a majority of people support the plan. When a proposal is in front of the council or committee that most people support, they typically don’t show up at those meetings to voice their support. As far as the 19 people who voiced their opposition to the project, I’ve talked to a similar number of people who strongly support it (admittedly a small sample on both sides considering the 21,000+ people who live in South Milwaukee).
Although some concerns about this project are legitimate, such as traffic and trash, all can be dealt with without killing the project. The bus stop issue can be easily solved by moving the stop one block north or south of its present location. The same issue exists (and still exists) in front of Pick ‘n Save but that project wasn’t killed because of it. Trash issues, which are present at almost all businesses and many private residences in the city, can be dealt with by enforcing the current littering ordinances and by making sure ALL businesses and residences (not just Walmart) keep their properties neat and orderly. An increase in crime will be no different than if a Target, Piggly Wiggly, Kohl’s, Shopko or Sendik’s moved into the area. Unless people would be against every one of those projects moving to this location, this argument is not valid. Additonally, last time I checked, none of those other businesses want to move into the South Milwaukee area. The change in crime would be no different than the increase in crime as a result of K-Mart being in the area.
The wage issue is laughable and transparent from people that just hate a company having too much success. Even if true, Walmart is not forcing anyone to work there. It is not a city’s, state’s or country’s job to dictate how much a job is worth. If people have a personal problem with it, they can exercise their right to protest by not shopping there.
This project will ultimately result in a significant increase in tax revenue for the city. Presently, the city owned land nets no taxes and will continue to do so until someone is willing to purchase it (for comparison, look at Cudahy’s Iceport land which still has no interest from developers two years after that fiasco). Furthermore, Walmart will not be utilizing the school system nor, to my knowledge, our garbage collection services (Eric can correct me if I’m wrong), but will still pay for both in property taxes.
This is a good proposal and will draw business to the city, not drive it away.
Full disclosure here– I live in the 1st district, a few blocks from the site, and have for over 25 years. I want to emphasize here that this is not a “Walmart” issue. I would feel the same way if it were a Target, Kohls, or Macys.
Can you, or anyone you talk to, honestly say that you would want a brand-new development of this size built blocks from your house and one block away from a school? If you had lived in your house in this neighborhood for decades, as many people do, or if you send your children to Divine Mercy, would you feel the same way? If you experience the traffic patterns in and out of the neighborhood every single day, can you honestly say that having a main entrance at Badger Avenue is the best way to proceed?
It’s just not the right spot for any kind of big box development. Something needs to happen with the land, most definitely, but we need to find middle ground.
I live in the 3rd District and would have no problem with a Walmart nearby. Unfortunately, the developer doesn’t want to build there. I used to live in the 1st District and would support this project if I still lived there. At least your concerns have some validity as opposed to the Walmart haters who don’t want it just because it’s Walmart.
I don’t believe you will see any traffic increase on Badger as a result of the Walmart entrance being there. Most people coming and going from Walmart will be from the west. They will use College Avenue and turn onto North Chicago. The only people coming from the east will be people who already live in the immediate area. The traffic light is not for people to utilize Badger as an exit but rather to keep traffic flowing on Chicago and to assist people leaving from Badger. The light will actually be beneficial to people living in the area.
Your questions should be answered and maybe the plan can be tweaked, but I don’t think these issues are reason enough to completely kill the project.
The city is not rezoning a residential area or doing a land grab of some family farm to give it to a developer like was attempted in some other localities. A vacant industrial / commercial zone (which it has been for generations) is currently lying waste. Unless a person inherited their property, anybody close to the development (or N. Chicago for that matter) should know what the area is like and what might be built there.
The city finally has an opportunity to put it to good (tax paying) use. There have been no other industrial plants or commercial offices trying to build here. Even Bucyrus (before Cat bought it) moved out rather than build its corporate headquarters here. Many of the older folks that live in the 1st district (and the apartments just west of the tracks – 4th district?) would like to be able to go grocery shopping and buy their other thing in town.
The only issue here is the idea that a traffic light needs to be put up one block from the main one at College. What the city doesn’t need is to impede traffic flow. (I know somebody mentioned that it might be timed, but either you get the short end of the stick if your coming from Cudahy or if your going down 32 or College).
Finally, for the aldermen who might be reading this. Remember that those who turn out to complain may not represent the majority. If you look at the protests in the state government, one might believe that 99% of the people favored a particular side because those were the vocal ones. However, the election that immediately followed, showed that the numbers in that case were closer to 50%.
My family just moved to Badger Ave from within the same district. We did the research to find a quiet street and found Badger Ave to be what we were looking for.
If a large retail store is approved, this quiet street will no longer be quiet and with the traffic light, will no longer be safe. Then we will move out of the area and perhaps out of the city.
If the development looks good I would have no problem. The location is in an “industrial park location” . Traffic can use 11th avenue to exit to College avenue. The site plan is laid out in a fashion that discourages people from “cutting through” the parking lot. Divine Mercy school is at 695 College/Badger Ave., which will be four (4) blocks from the school as the development would have an address of 1100 Davis Avenue.
Someone brought up the idea of making it a “Park”. We have enough parkland as Grant and the OC Parkway makeup 1/3 of SM’s size. And, with budget cuts and constraints……who is going to maintain it??? Just remember that Bucyrus was bought out by CAT, and if they decide to close the SM operations, someone is going to need picking up the tax burden…and that would be us. Look what happened to West Milwaukee when Rexnord closed their doors….their property taxes soared and they were the highet taxing municipality. Big box retail does not “tax” our schools, public works (garbage), and snow removal. badger will have a stop light installed paid for by Walmart. And nonprofit groups will reap the benefits of donations as they want to improve and publicize their corporate image.