P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
March 05, 2006
Important City Council meeting for IZ
The repeal of inclusionary zoning is up for a vote at the City Council meeting this Tuesday. Please come and speak against repeal. If you can't stay to speak, stop by and register in opposition to repealing the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance. And contact city council members asking them to reject the repeal and not delay.
Come to the meeting...
Tuesday, March 7th at 6:30 pm
Room 201 in the City County Building
Contact the Common Council...
Council(at)cityofmadison(dot)com
or find your alderperson's contact info at
www.cityofmadison.com/council
More information...
Why should repeal of Inclusionary Zoning be rejected?
- During the first 18 months of IZ, 360 affordable housing units that otherwise would not be built have been approved as a direct result of Inclusionary Zoning. This is housing that is affordable to Madison workers such as teachers, police officers, nurses, etc.
- Inclusionary Zoning has proven effective in providing dispersion of affordable housing units throughout the city. The 360 approved units are dispersed throughout the city, some in areas that previously had no or almost no affordable housing options. Thanks to IZ, many Madisonians who couldn't previously do so can afford to live near where they work.
- The school boundary and enrollment problems currently faced by MMSD further demonstrate the need for IZ. Had IZ been in place as Madison initially developed, our schools would likely not be facing the dilemna of closing some schools while building others. IZ keeps all neighborhoods affordable for young families with children.
- Inclusionary Zoning needs more time to effectively work toward its goal of increased diversity of income within our schools. Mixed income neighborhoods (and therefore schools – without bussing kids all over town) has been proven to increase education quality for all children.
- Improvements to the ordinance have been proposed and are being considered. The ordinance is working and could work even better. IZ came about through a broad community process and still has broad community support. Work to improve, not repeal, an effective ordinance.
Why is it important to reject repeal NOW?
- Amendments to the ordinance have been proposed, and the mayor has set up a work group to discuss these and other possible amendments. Rejecting repeal now will take the option off the table and allow for a more open and honest discussion of possible improvements to IZ.
- As long as repeal is an option, some in the real estate and development communities (an important player in the discussion) have refused to constructively discuss the proposed amendments, even though repeal is doomed to fail when it is finally voted upon. Removing this option will remove a major obstacle in moving forward with critical discussion.
- Time is of the essence for some of the proposed amendments, especially the amendment related to marketing IZ units. Currently, we have lost some IZ units on Madison’s west side.. We can't afford to continue losing IZ units to lax marketing requirements. Rejecting repeal will allow progress on passing important amendments.
Posted by prodane at March 5, 2006 06:02 PM
