MADELINE ISLAND NEWS AND INFORMATION

Some Thought's Tonight's Public Hearing

Tonight, the Town Plan Commission will hold another public hearing concerning more proposed changes and additions to the current zoning ordinance.  In an attempt to get some kind of "professional" opinion about these changes, I decided to contact La Pointe Zoning Administrator, Jennifer Croonborg.  Before the last public hearing in September, Croonborg had submitted a detailed analysis with comments of the proposed changes to the Town Plan Commission and Town Board of Supervisors.  We posted this analysis, and as expected, it received a lot of hits.  (Click here to read her analysis of first draft of the TPC.)

We weren't  surprised that the document finally submitted to the Town Board by the Town Plan Commission changed very little. The Town Board sent the revised draft off to one of their attorneys and we were not surprised by what he had to say.  We posted his comments on our site and it is currently the most viewed document on our site.  (Click here to read his comments.)

In preparation for tonight public hearing, we contacted Croonborg once again to see what comments she had concerning the proposed changes and additions.

An email from her office indicated that at the time of the last public hearing, reviewing zoning changes was part of her job description. However, on November 11, 2008, the Town Board of Supervisors changed her job description.  Previously, the job description was : “Prepares, proposes, and reviews text amendment changes to the Zoning Ordinance”. 

This was revised by the Town Board and now reads: “advisement on planning matters upon request”.   To date, neither the Town Board or The Town Plan Commission has asked her for comment.  This is unfortunate for two reasons. 

First of all, the Zoning Administrator is ultimately responsible for enforcing La Pointe's Zoning Ordinance.  You would think that the Town Board would insist that the Zoning Administrator review all changes as the Zoning Administrator is probably the one person in La Pointe that probably understands the current ordinances the best; being how that person works with them on a day to day basis.  The Zoning Administrator could point out obvious problems with proposed changes, saving the town money in legal fees.  (How much did the town of La Pointe spend on Anich's review???  The answer will surprise you.  Details to emerge soon!) 

Not involving the Zoning Administrator somewhere in the process is just another mistake in the long line of mistakes that have been made through out this entire process.

Second of all, no one has bothered to seek "advisement" from her on these changes.  This is just another example of TPC Chair Carl Broberg's stubbornness to seek help on this project as well as the Town Board's willingness to let him continue.  As we have cited before, the TPC could have applied for a grant from the Wisconsin Coastal Management program to assist with this project but didn't and the current Town Board has discussed hiring a professional to help with this project but hasn't.  (This is the same Town Board who keeps telling you about a website to help keep you informed of all of these changes!) 

What is even more disturbing is that judging from the actions (or in-actions) of the Town Board, one could say that those sitting on the board do not believe any help is needed with the project, with one Supervisor, Beth Fischlowitz praising Broberg and his bravery at a recent Town Board meeting.

So here's what we think you can count on from local government officials:

    There will not be enough room inside Town Hall for everyone despite the fact that it is winter.

    Your voices and letters will be filed into some kind of "value-tactics ladder" or just plain ignored.

    Broberg and TPC's work will be found (at the expense of you, the taxpayer) to be problematic with some of the work conflicting with current state and county laws and require more revisions.

    Broberg will be allowed to continue on this enormous waste of time and money without outside help.

I'm not sure about you, but I think it might be a Time For Change.

Edward Itor

Madeline Island News

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