Port of Milwaukee Redevelopment Plan
August 30, 2010
By Michael Timm
The Milwaukee Department of City Development uploaded its Aug. 16 draft Port of Milwaukee Redevelopment Plan on Aug. 19. The 50-page report can be accessed at mkedcd.org/planning/Port/index.html.
Fourteenth District Alderman Tony Zielinski will hold a neighborhood meeting to present the plan and take public comment at the Port of Milwaukee, 2323 S. Lincoln Memorial Dr., Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 6pm.
After that, the plan will go before the Redevelopment Authority Sept. 16, the Plan Commission Sept. 20, the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Oct. 5, and the Common Council Oct. 12.
The plan boundaries are Water Street and National Avenue to the north, First Street to the west, and Bay Street to the south. Almost the entire area is currently zoned for heavy industrial uses, with some mixed industrial uses.
The draft plan divides the area into three zones. Most land remains recommended for port uses, while land west of the Kinnickinnic River turning basin is recommended for water development and recreation, with the far reaches of the area recommended for mixed business uses. Two pockets identified for water business/recreation uses in Bay View include land near Wrought Washer north of Bay Street and also the sites of the Confined Disposal Facility, Lake Express ferry terminal, Coast Guard, and Naval Reserve bases.
The draft plan recommends no property acquisitions, though the city’s Redevelopment Authority is understood to have eminent domain powers with respect to plan implementation.
Driving the plan is the city’s interest in developing water-oriented businesses in concert with the UWM Great Lakes WATER Institute, 600 E. Greenfield Ave., and UWM’s new School of Freshwater Sciences program.The city plans improvements for Greenfield Avenue.
“This plan recognizes the incredible economic opportunity of water-related commercial/industrial development and will help reserve land for the growth of existing water businesses, as well as for attracting new water-related companies,” the draft plan states.
The plan also takes environmental concerns into account.
“For example, the privately-owned Solvay Coke site and city-owned Grand Trunk site are large brownfield sites that present significant economic development opportunities with the potential to increase access to the Kinnickinnic River. This plan appreciates the importance of protecting our natural resources to the region’s quality of life and economic viability and will help direct the environmentally sustainable redevelopment of those properties, as well as improve stormwater management along the Kinnickinnic River and Lake Michigan,” the plan states.
The plan encourages porous pavement, tree cover, and public access to the river with a minimum 25-foot setback for development. It also includes various building guidelines and aesthetic prohibitions—for example, new barbed wire or vinyl-coated chain link fences would not be permitted.
Port of Milwaukee Redevelopment Plan
2323 S. Lincoln Memorial Dr.
6pm, Wednesday, Sept. 1
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
GT on Tue, 31st Aug 2010 2:44 pm
This plan actually looks pretty good. It is encouraging to see the aldermanic and City-level opinion shift from the focus on redevelopment of commercial land to residential land use that was presented in 2008-09. Who would want to live downwind from the MMSD treatment plant anyway?