Watching Whitewater’s recent Planning Commission, one saw an attention to detail about a factory building’s wall color, general style, and lighting that lasted for 13:28 minutes, from approximately 11:30 to 24:58 during the session. It’s not the particular focus on an applicant’s building, but what it says about ordinary due diligence in reviewing bigger projects,…
Planning
City, Law, Open Government, Planning
The Long and Good Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Last Monday, June 11th, Whitewater’s Common Council and Planning Commission met jointly, to receive a sixty-two-page .pdf presentation from Graef Consulting as part of a zoning rewrite project. The meeting lasted about three hours, during which members of Council and the Planning Commission heard residents’ views on the presentation. The easiest description would be to…
City, Development, Economy, Laws/Regulations, Planning
The 6.11.12 Joint City Council and Plan Commission Zoning Rewrite Workshop
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s a combined meeting of Whitewater’s City Council and her Planning Commission scheduled for Monday, June 11th at 6 PM. The agenda for the meeting includes a packet describing the work of the Zoning Rewrite members, proposals they are considering, and a timeline for the zoning rewrite effort (extending from this year into next). I…
City, Planning
Whitewater’s 5.14.12 Planning Commission Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Monday night was Planning Commission night in Whitewater. The agenda for the meeting is available online. The Commission selected a chairman (Greg Meyer) & vice chairman (Lynn Binnie), and representatives from Planning to the Community Development Authority (Greg Meyer) and Urban Forestry Commission (Karen Coburn). Every nominee was uncontested and supported unanimously. One can have…
City, Development, Economy, Government Spending, Planning
Distressed TID 4
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s an observation from 2011 from Whitewater’s city manager to consider about the distressed status of tax incremental district 4. (I came on the observation while reading this week about Generac.) Before going further, I’ll observe that when one talks about distressed tax incremental districts, one’s talking about rare birds. By the assessment of the…
City, Development, Planning
Sundry Topics about Planning
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Remarks on Whitewater’s Planning Commission, and planning generally – Planning for Competion, or Planning against Competition? There’s an easy difference: one sets rules of the road, the other decides which cars get to use the road, or get built. It’s clear that some on Whitewater’s Planning Commission don’t see a distinction, and some others don’t…
Business, City, Free Markets, Planning
Whitewater’s Overpowering Fear of a … Family-style Restaurant with a Liquor License
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Update: 2.16.12 – video recording of session embedded below. Whitewater’s taken more than one bad turn in recent years — sadly, it took another one Monday night. Introduction. Following a unanimous January denial of a conditional use permit to operate a sports bar on the main business district in Whitewater, the city’s Planning Commission this…
Government Spending, Planning, State Government
Update on the Spectrum Brands State-backed Deal
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I wrote earlier about the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s millions for Spectrum Brands (Rayovac, among other brands). The professed purpose was to keep the company in Wisconsin. As it turned out, they took they money, as part of a relocation to Middleton, Wisconsin. There’s scant credible evidence that they truly were prepared to leave. A…
City, Development, Free Markets, Liberty, Planning
How to Make Whitewater Hip and Prosperous
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Some suggestions, in no particular order, of a list that’s only a sketch: Recognize the truth of the city, and all cities. This small town is filled with thousands upon thousands of smart, knowledgeable people. I don’t say this to make others feel good; I say it because it’s true. These many don’t need the…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, Planning
The Williamsburg Neighborhood in Brooklyn
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I mentioned that I would write a bit about the Williamsburg neighborhood. Brooklyn’s huge (millions of residents) and there are many neighborhoods (themselves large) within that borough. One of them is Williamsburg, a diverse and eclectic community, with both Hasidim and hipsters, and a thriving arts scene. These groups within the neighborhood do not always…
Business, Planning
The Most Disturbing Sound in Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Business District
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Business, City, Laws/Regulations, Planning
The Overpowering Fear of a … Sports Bar
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Perhaps some fret all day, dreading the prospect of a sports bar in a business district in a town that has too few businesses of any kind. I am not among them. In small-town Whitewater, the main thoroughfare is called, creatively, Main Street. Along it one finds dozens of commercial businesses. Fast-food restaurants, strip malls,…
Business, Economy, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Planning
How Anti-Dumping Laws are Bad for American Jobs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a brief video (perfect for classroom use!) on how anti-dumping laws – designed to protect American jobs from foreign competition — actually inhibit American production, raise Americans’ prices for goods, and stymie domestic job creation. Restrictions on importation may not be sensible as economic policy, but they’re a great gain for a few protected…
Economy, Education, Government Spending, Planning, Wisconsin
Additional State Budget Cuts, Lapse Provisions, and the Failure of State Planning
by JOHN ADAMS •
A reader kindly passed along an email from UW President Kevin Reilly to the entire UW System about additional budget cuts proposed for Wisconsin’s public universities. I’ve included the content of Reilly’s message below. Readers may have different opinions about all this, but even staunch supporters of the Walker Administration should see this as (at…