'Really good stuff' in city plan

It turns suburban sprawl on its head.

After three years of preparation, the city of Madison is set to adopt a sweeping comprehensive plan that reverses the trend of sprawling growth in the last half-century.

Instead, it envisions more dense, attractive projects filling parking lots and replacing single-story strip malls - while respecting the character of older neighborhoods. And it promotes "New Urbanist" mixed-use neighborhoods on the outskirts where people can rely less on cars while preserving farmland and open spaces.

Although "infill" projects already dot the central city and new urbanism has arrived on the outskirts, those approaches will "become the official policy of the city," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said.

In general, the concepts in the plan are "really good stuff," said Delora Newton, executive director of Smart Growth Madison, a prominent real estate industry group.

The comprehensive plan, which has guidelines and policies on everything from bicycle paths to economic development, also sets the stage for a new city zoning code.

The current code, a product of the 1960s, doesn't promote density or mixed uses and encourages sprawl, leaving neighborhoods and developers with uncertainty about how and where to grow.

And that's meant conflict.

A new zoning code will make development far more predictable, Cieslewicz said.

"I think the rewriting of the zoning code could be the most important thing we begin during the time I'm mayor," he said.

Newton agreed. "They definitely have to rewrite the zoning code," she said. "It's outdated."

The comprehensive plan, mandated by the state, should also encourage better cooperation between neighboring municipalities as they grow, Cieslewicz said.

A presentation and public hearing on Madison's 600-page plan is scheduled before the City Council at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the City-County Building.

Cieslewicz wants the council to consider the presentation and public testimony Tuesday and then debate and decide on the plan in January.

The comprehensive plan is full of policies and recommendations that will shape the city's feel and look for the next two decades. The city, which has an estimated population of about 218,000, is projected to add about 57,000 residents from 2000 to 2030.

The plan calls for the protection of historic structures, districts and neighborhoods and discourages cookie-cutter designs that don't enhance and respect the city's character and beauty.

It also would promote more buses and would explore streetcars and commuter rail, linking transportation to land use. It discourages premature development of unincorporated areas. And it encourages the preservation of the county's farmland.

New maps suggest potential infill and redevelopment areas on both sides of Capitol Square and areas like Park Street and East Washington Avenue.

And maps show new "planning areas" on the city's outskirts near Verona, Cottage Grove and Sun Prairie.

The planning areas don't mean the city will seek to annex the lands, only that short- and long-term planning is needed in those areas and that municipalities should talk about the future, city planner Michael Waidelich said.

One planning area, for example, shows a large swath that should be considered for permanent open space and farmland preservation as a separation area between the city and village of Cottage Grove.

Although the plan offers direction and guidelines that will be helpful to developers, it won't eliminate conflict, especially in the central city, because residents understandably have a parochial view about their neighborhoods, Newton said.

"That's just people," she said. "The comp plan isn't going to fix that."

But it will give comfort and make the process better," said Judith Bowser, vice chairwoman of the city's Plan Commission, which unanimously endorsed the document last week.

"A lot of people feel things just happen because someone owns land somewhere," she said. "It's going to give people some confidence that there really is a serious planning process going on."