P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
Ald. Brenda Konkel, Ald. Ken Golden and Ald. Robbie Webber are co-sponsors of an ordinance to set design standards for large retail establishments - "big boxes." It will be before the Common Council Tues., Feb 2, and we could use a few people to show up and support
it. These alders have been working on this thing for two years and having just a few people come say "this is something we need and want" would make a big impact.
Read the ordinance. Click the link below to read highlights from the ordinance.
Ordinance Highlights:* Limit stores to 100,000 square feet OF FOOTPRINT. The store can be of unlimited (or at least undetermined) size, as long as it goes up. After 100k s.f., it must go up into higher stories. Many communities have gone with size standards and this one is quite generous.
* Require that only 50% of the frontage of the lot be taken up by parking - that stores would be brought up to the street/sidewalk to create a more urban-friendly look to new developments. Less walking across acres of parking lot to get to the store. Further parking can be around back or between stores.
* Require that stores have an entrance on the main street. That means you can get to it from the sidewalk. Again, this is to create a more pedestrian-friendly feel.
* Set design standards for stores over 40,000 square feet. Essentially trying to get more attractive big boxes. Urban Design Commission often wants to turn something down for being ugly, but often feels it has no basis for doing so. This would strengthen their hand and at the same time give developers the guidelines they have requested in the past. About half on UDC disagrees with this though; they think it should be a blank slate that will encourage creativity. But from my experience on the UDC, the negotiations always go toward worse/bland rather than better/creative (witness the evolution of Ken Kopp's site on Monroe, now proposed to be sheathed in plasticky EIFS rather than the real brick originally proposed) . This at least sets a minimum.
* Set landscaping standards so we don't just see empty parking lots, and minimize the environmental impact of the pavement; e.g., increase bio-infiltration (raingardens, drainage swales, etc.).
*Exceptional quality always has an exception. Almost all the requirements can be overridden if a commission feels a design is "outstanding." This allows the flexibility that the development
community has requested. They want to be able to bring in something new and unseen in the past and still get it through the commissions. We allowed them to do this by allowing the requirements to be overridden by a supermajority of the commission.
Posted by prodane at 11:09 PM
Over 200 people packed Cafe Montmartre for the PD and MAPC-sponsored counter inaugural open mic. The evening's festivities included speakers Brenda Konkel and John Stauber, author of Weapons of Mass Deception and Banana Republicans.
Many citizens stood up and showed their opposition to the current administration. Performers included Stephanie Rearick and hip hop MC Jack Cracker; Carol Weidel also led an on-the-spot letter writing campaign against the privatization of the Wisconsin voter rolls by Accenture. PD candidates and elected officials also took the stage to rally the audience to participate in local democracy. Tammy Baldwin couldn't make it but she sent us a letter.
The open mic was heavily covered by the media. Both the Cap Times and the State Journal wrote articles. TV station WISC-TV and WIBA radio were also in attendance. The Mic 92.1 also had coverage of the event the following morning. Read clips from the papers and the web below.
From the State Journal: In Madison, the political left bashed Bush while emphasizing the need to improve the quality of life here at a "Keep Hope Alive Globally, Act Locally" event sponsored by the political party Progressive Dane and the Madison Area Peace Coalition."I have a deep-seeded need to feel hopeful about the future," musician and coffee shop owner Stephanie Rearick told the crowd that jammed Cafe Montmartre off Capitol Square. "The way to do it is to act locally and make a difference."
A parade of local activists and leaders, spoken-word artists and musicians took the microphone during the three-hour event scheduled to coincide with Bush's inauguration, criticizing the war, the war on drugs and corporate influence, and promoting progressive candidates, issues and causes such as food banks in Madison.
"I came to this event because we have to rally the resistance to Bush," said retired librarian David Williams, who intends to promote a "peace reach out" to communities outside Madison.
"When you leave here tonight stay energized because the next four years are going to be very frightening," said Ald. Andy Heidt, 13th District.
From the Cap Times:
A group of about a dozen anti-Bush protesters held signs and banged on drums at the intersection of John Nolen Drive, Blair and Williamson streets at about 5 p.m. in rush-hour picketing sponsored by the local group "No Stolen Elections."Later, a crowd packed into Cafe Montmartre for an inauguration protest sponsored by the political party Progressive Dane and the Madison Area Peace Coalition.
Author and activist John Stauber called Bush's Inauguration Day festivities "grotesque."
"Forty million dollars for what? Access? The people who are spending the money don't need the access, they've already got it," he said.
Cafe Montmartre owner Craig Spaulding estimated that about 200 people attended the event, about the same number who turned out for the club's election night party, "Kerry or Canada."
As the owner of a venue with a stage, Spaulding said he couldn't help but get involved with the presidential campaign this year.
"I have a responsibility to open it up and let people speak their mind and vent," he said. "It's good to be around people who have the same feeling about today."
Posted by prodane at 11:17 PM
Isthmus reported that the owner of the Kimia Lounge, Kami Eshraghi of fitchburg, has rented an apartment downtown to run against Austin King. Austin King is a PD endorsed incumbent who has helped pass legislation to increase the minimum wage and inclusionary zoning.
Snips of the article are below; The full article is in the January 7, 2005 edition of Isthmus.
As owner of the Kimia Lounge on Capitol Square, Kami Eshraghi was upset by Ald. Austin King's successful proposal to raise Madison's minimum wage, and by King's support for a citywide smoking ban."Minimum wage is an issue that should be dealt with on a state level," he says. And as for the smoking ban, Eshraghi warns, "It's horrible and it hurts our businesses. We'll lose several of our local bars."
So Eshraghi decided to run against King for a seat on the Common Council this spring. There was just one problem: Eshraghi is a longtime resident of Fitchburg. The bar owner had to sublet an apartment in King's downtown district before he could run...
"His candidacy is an attempted hostile takeover of the council by a special interest," [King] says. "Maybe Kami should run for the city council in Fitchburg."
Posted by prodane at 11:24 PM