Council votes on rezoning Fountain Brook Crossing Tuesday, Feb. 19

The following is an update from my Alderman, Lisa Mellone. (My comments are at the end.)

This coming Tuesday, Feb. 19^th, at 7:45 pm the Common Council will vote on the rezoning of parcels for the proposed Fountain Brook Crossing office building to be located on the NE corner of Greenfield and Moorland roads.

I would like to hear your feedback. Good, bad, or indifferent?

Here is the 30-second overview of this development proposal (for more info go to www.betterbrookfield.com ):

1) It is a large building on a rather small site.

2) Underground parking vs. a “sea” of pavement if built on a larger site.

3) Proposed use is primarily for medical and general office and/or banking, 127,000 sq. ft., est. value $20-25 mil. (approx. $323 - 403k in annual tax revenue)

4) Alternatively, current zoning would allow for an approximately 30,000 sq. ft. retail strip mall with a value of around $6 mil. (approx. $97k in annual tax revenue)

5) Proposed use is quality construction using LEED building techniques (a green building).

6) Traffic studies show the proposed use would generate 1,800 trips per day vs. a retail strip mall that would generate 1,300 trips per day. (Note: per the 2005 WI Hwy Traffic Volume Data, average daily traffic on Moorland Rd. is 37,300 trips per day and on Greenfield Ave. is 19,400 trips per day.)

7) Deer Creek Inn and Conference Center (405 room hotel, indoor water park, and conference center) to be located on the SW corner of this same intersection has already been approved by the New Berlin council.

Other developments:

A proposal from Thomson Corp. for the final phase of the Brookfield Common’s development (Pick N Save and retail space on Greenfield Ave.) will also be on the Feb. 19^th Common Council agenda for approval. The proposal is for two additional buildings of which one will be retail and the other a bank.

Go to this link at BrookfieldNOW.com to view the conceptual plans for development of the former WTMJ and Ruby Farm properties near the SW corner of Calhoun and Bluemound roads as unveiled by VK Development to the Swanson Site Review Team last week.

Elmbrook School District would like to hear from you:

At this link you can complete the online anonymous survey about strategic planning. You can find out more about the High School building referendum scheduled for April 1^st, 2008 at the district website. If you have additional questions please contact School Board Member, Dr. Glen Allgaier (liaison to the City of Brookfield) at allgaieg@elmbrookschools.org or 262-781-3030 ext. 1276 (District Voice Mail)

Thank you for taking the time to stay informed. Please forward this email to other Brookfield residents who desire to stay informed on community matters. If you read or heard something city related that you have questions about, please call or email me. I will try to clarify, and if I do not have an answer, I will get it for you.

Go to www.betterbrookfield.com for more info on the above development proposals.

Please be mindful of possible ice damning on your home. Make sure gutters are clear of debris and ice.

Spring is around the corner – really, it is.

Lisa Mellone

District 7 Alderperson

262-780-0805

lisa@betterbrookfield.com

www.betterbrookfield.com

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My feelings (Kyle's) about Fountain Brook Crossing have not changed. I believe it is too big of a building for the site--both the parking structure and the office tower.

I believe the traffic generated will be mainly during peak hours. Must we overload all of our roads until we have no option but to install additional arterial lights on our busier streets and block off left turn opportunities as we must do on Bluemound?

The land owner knew what he was buying, swamp land, when he purchased the property in 2005. He claims now he must build to this level of density to make his project profitable due to that swamp condition. Brookfield has plenty of swamp land. Will we allow this extreme of density on all of those parcels too?

Will we allow this level of increase in density in all future PPD sites or redevelopment sites?

Contact your alderman and let them know how you feel about this project.

Links: Betterbrookfield, Vicki Mckenna
Blogs: Practically Speaking, Fairlyconservative

STOP 25% ETHANOL MANDATE AB 682: Representative Nass' letter to Rep.s Huebsch and Fitzgerald

February 11, 2008

Representative Mike Huebsch
Speaker of the Assembly
Room 211 West
State Capitol

Representative Jeff Fitzgerald
Assembly Majority Leader
Room 214 West
State Capitol

RE: STOP THE 25% ETHANOL MANDATE – AB 682

Dear Speaker Huebsch and Representative Fitzgerald:

The people of Wisconsin thought the ethanol mandate saga ended when the State Senate failed to garner enough support for Senate Bill 380 on January 31, 2008. Senate Bill 380 and Assembly Bill 682 are companion legislation enacting a 25% Ethanol Mandate.

Late on Friday afternoon (February 8, 2008), the Assembly Biofuels and Sustainable Energy Committee quietly notified committee members that they would be voting on the 25% Ethanol Mandate (AB 682) on February 13, 2008. The Ethanol Mandate will likely pass unanimously in the committee and then become available in the Assembly Rules Committee for scheduling a floor vote.

Passage of this legislation would be an economic and environmental disaster for the Badger State. There are three major areas of negative impact on the people:

1.) Higher Gas and Food Prices – An ethanol mandate will distort the fuel market and specifically permit the ethanol industry to exert massive pricing power over the cost of gasoline blended with ethanol. Additionally, the diversion of corn from use in our food production system to the fuel tanks of our automobiles will significantly increase the cost of groceries for every family in this state.

2.) Adverse Impact on Engines and Outdoor Equipment – Experts have already noted that use of more than 10% ethanol blend will have a negative impact on engine wear, performance and carburetion, which could result in warranty and product reliability issues. The Engine Manufacturers Association, a national organization, has registered in opposition to the Wisconsin 25% Ethanol Mandate.

3.) Worsen Wisconsin Ozone Nonattainment Status – The federal Clean Air Act restricts the amount of ethanol that can be blended with conventional gas because ethanol use is a known source of increasing pollutants that form ozone. The 25% Ethanol Mandate would likely worsen ozone pollution in Wisconsin requiring expansion of the nonattainment zone from southeast Wisconsin. This would force the State of Wisconsin to consider requiring more automobile owners submit to vehicle emission testing and more punitive pollution restrictions on businesses.

There is legitimate fear that a back room deal will permit Assembly Bill 682 to receive a floor vote on short notice during the final days of this legislative session. In my 16 years in the Assembly, it has been a common occurrence for bad legislation to be moved forward in the final days.

In order to avoid a potentially explosive fight amongst Republicans in the Assembly over the 25% Ethanol Mandate, I am requesting a public assurance from both of you that AB 682 and SB 380 won’t be scheduled for a floor vote under any circumstances. The potential movement of the Ethanol Mandate would be a major distraction to Republican efforts in fighting new tax and fee increases being considered by the State Senate.

Sincerely,

Steve Nass
State Representative
31^st Assembly District

Representative Nass' office was kind enough to send me a copy of his email.

Alderman Lisa Mellone's District 7 update: 3 new development projects

My District 7 Alderman, Lisa Mellone, does a great job of keeping us informed! The following is her email district update of important issues, most notably, Fountain Brook Crossing coming before the plan commission this week. (Emphasis added)

District 7 Residents of the City of Brookfield,

This coming Monday night, Feb. 11th, the Plan Commission will be presented with a digital three dimensional model of the proposed Fountain Brook Crossing office building to be located on the NE corner of Greenfield and Moorland roads. The meeting starts at 7 pm and this item is 2nd on the agenda. The meeting is open to the public but there is not an opportunity for residents to speak. (see www.betterbrookfield.com for more info)

A proposal from Thomson Corp. for the final phase of the Brookfield Common’s development (Pick N Save and retail space on Greenfield Ave.) will also be on the Feb. 11th Plan Commission agenda. The proposal is for two additional buildings of which one will be retail and the other a bank. This item is last on the agenda (discussion will most likely occur at 9:30 pm or later).

It was just announced today that VK Development will give an update on development plans for the former WTMJ and Ruby Farm properties near the SW corner of Calhoun and Bluemound roads. They will present to the Swanson Site Review team at Swanson Elementary on Tuesday, Feb. 12th at 7:30 AM. This meeting is open to the public.

Lastly, thank you for your patience as city crews worked 16-24 hour shifts to clear roads during Wednesday’s snowstorm. I am told it is difficult for our plow service to keep up when the snow falls at a rate greater than 1 inch per hour. Wednesday’s storm at times came at 2-4 inches per hour. Total accumulation in Brookfield was 16”. This was our largest snowfall in a 24 hour period since 1960.

Thank you for taking the time to stay informed. Please forward this email to other Brookfield residents who desire to stay informed on community matters. If you read or heard something city related that you have questions about, please call or email me. I will try to clarify, and if I do not have an answer, I will get it for you.

Please go to www.betterbrookfield.com for more info on the above development proposals.

Spring is around the corner – really, it is.

Lisa Mellone

District 7 Alderperson

262-780-0805

lisa@betterbrookfield.com

www.betterbrookfield.com

Links: Betterbrookfield, Vicki Mckenna
Blogs: Practically Speaking, Fairlyconservative

Fountain Brook Crossing: 2 Unbelievably BIG buildings

(Original posting date: January 13, 2008)

I hope you took the time to look at the architect's renderings of Fountain Brook Crossing. But keep in mind, it is nearly impossible to imagine just how BIG this set of proposed buildings is simply by looking at those drawings. They are presented using the roadway to give some sense of open space and perspective.

Even though I am a visual person, I too am having trouble envisioning what this will look like. The easiest way for me to convey the size and scope of this project to you is to compare it to what we already have.

Using the areal photo of the area and then superimposing the architectural drawing on top of the 2 acre site gives a better impression of how large the buildings really are. Remember, they are seeking an increase in floor area ratio from 30% to 140%.

You can see the Outback Steakhouse (pink) and Country Inns and Suites (reddish) to the north of the proposed Fountain Brook Crossing. They comprise a large building complex set back from Moorland Road.

But when you look to the south, to our plot of land in question, you now can immediately see it is literally filled with buildings!

The lighter pink represents the 18 foot high, one story parking garage structure. This compresses the equivalent of 4 acres of parking--400 spaces--into a two story (one underground and one above ground) parking garage building of about 210 feet by 380 feet in size. That is HUGE. (Mayfair's North Ave parking deck has 622 spots.)

On top of that sits the 125 foot by 268 foot large, 4 story, 97 foot tall glass and steel office building. Even BIGGER.

Notice how little grass (green) remains--much of this is the city's property. Notice that those pointed areas extend into what little green there is. These triangles are pretty tall too. Judging by people on the renderings, I am guessing the fountain walls are about 6 feet high, the planting ones are the same as the parking wall, 18 feet tall.

The driveways to the parking building will need to be ramped since there is parking topside too. Notice that the artist did not draw a car right up to the edge of the parking structure. I would guess that was not by accident. They no doubt were trying to downplay the fact that there will be cars visible to the street at 18 feet in the air!

I then tried to compare this office building to other structures in the area. Since this will be a medical building, I thought, Elmbrook Hospital. Too big, you think? Take a look.

From an areal view, in the same ratio of resolution, I cut out Elmbrook's main building and the large, one story building in the front. I wondered how this would compare to Fountain Brook (I am just going to call it FBC from now on). I found putting Elmbrook onto the FBC site would actually give more greenspace! Plus, Elmbrook from the front is really only 3 stories on top of the 1 story, not 4 stories as FBC is.

When you look at the actual hospital, ask yourself how you would like to see something that size and that close to the sidewalk as your "Gateway" image for entering Brookfield. Remember FBC nearly FILLS the 2 acre site.

What about comparing FBC to a large office building?

This one is in Bishop's Woods.

It has about 325 parking spaces and sits on about 7 acres. It only measures 75 feet by 260 feet though--about 40% smaller than our 125 by 268 foot behemoth (not to mention it is not built on top of a nearly 2 acre sized 1 story
parking structure!)

Notice how this BIG office building looks dwarfed when compared to the FBC building and parking structure.

My next question is, how tall is that parking structure and how close is it to the road

The developer told us that the triangular peaks or points come within 2 feet of the Greenfield side walk. Estimating that the walk is somewhere around 5 feet and the grassy strip on Greenfield is maybe 2 feet, that means those 6 foot tall fountain peaks and 18 foot tall planted peaks will be around 8 to 9 feet from the road edge.

I looked for structures we have that would represent this parking
structure wall in height. I estimate City Hall's 1 story section to be around 17- 18 feet tall. (A door is around 7-8 feet tall.)

Most one story structures will be about this height.

The retaining walls on Calhoun are not as tall as 18 feet, but they do convey the feeling of walls close to the roadway.

Note that the car against the wall in the photo is larger than the rendering of the car in the artists depiction of the wall. This means the wall in the rendering is taller than the Calhoun retaining wall.

Don't forget that there will be that 4 story building on top of the parking structure.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Hope these pictures were a help to you.

Please do contact City Hall with your thoughts on this project and attend the Public Hearing Tuesday night at 7:45pm at City Hall. Email comments to development@ci.brookfield.wi.us by Monday, Jan. 14.

Regretfully, I am unable to attend, but feel free to use any of these points if you agree.

Note the very narrow strip of snow to the left of the far end of the walk. Those 6 foot tall triangular shaped points with the fountains and the taller 18 foot tall planter triangular points will stop 2 feet from the right side of the walk.

FYI: During all the discussion, regarding the widening of Calhoun Road, Engineering told us that a 6 to 8 foot grassy strip between the walk and roadway was necessary for piling snow during the plowing process. Here this developer is requesting tall stone structures be placed just 9 feet from the road edge!

Links: Betterbrookfield, Brookfield7, Fairlyconservative, Vicki Mckenna