Zoning change creates blank slate for Stritch plans

First hurdle in multi-year development process

The St. Francis Common Council voted unanimously Feb. 2 to approve a zoning change allowing Cardinal Stritch University to advance plans to establish a 129-acre south campus on the site of the Cousins Center and adjacent We Energies properties.

The 6-0 vote came after almost no discussion among council members, after they listened to more than three hours of public testimony in the St. Francis High School gymnasium.

For supporters and objectors alike, the hearing was an exercise in local democracy. The Compass estimates between 400 and 500 people attended the public hearing, relocated after the original hearing a month earlier attracted more people than the city hall could accommodate. At least six police officers were on premises.

The Compass counted 27 speakers in favor and 26 speakers opposed or critical. Eight letters in favor were read into the record, with six letters opposed.

Representatives from both current landowners, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and We Energies, also spoke in favor of the zoning change from mixed-use (R3) to planned unit development (PUD), which allows the developer to negotiate with city planners over details like building placement.

Ken Leinbach, executive director of Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center, neither endorsed nor opposed the zoning change but expressed his faith in Cardinal Stritch to execute a land-use plan good for the natural environment. Stritch has offered to partner with Leinbach’s UEC to design green buildings and establish an environmental community center. Leinbach testified that in a conversation with Stritch president Helen Sobehart, he received assurances certain structures “would be moved around” from the locations shown in the preliminary site plan.

Most speakers in favor of the zoning change cited the benefits they hoped a university would bring to St. Francis—economic, educational, and cultural—and expressed trust that Stritch would be a good steward of the property, which includes a portion of Seminary Woods and encompasses the 85-acre We Energies parcel, including grasslands growing on a capped and contaminated former fly ash pile. Stritch plans to convert the We Energies property into athletic fields.

“I can’t think of a better way to preserve the woods than to deal with Cardinal Stritch,” testified Bob Monnat, chief operating officer of the Mandel Group, which has planned since 2005 to develop the still-nonexistent Lakeside Market Square retail center on the 12-acre triangle between Howard Avenue, Packard Avenue, and Lake Drive. “We have found out just how difficult it is to attract business to St. Francis,” Monnat said, but added that since the news broke about Stritch’s interest in St. Francis, he began to receive phone inquiries from potential tenants.

A letter from 20th District state Representative Chris Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) and Seventh District state Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) supported the proposal, but with a proviso that developers respect the property deed restriction that encumbers a portion of the We Energies land, work closely with the Wisconsin DNR, and attend to concerns about traffic congestion. Their letter also expressed concern about the placement of parking and other structures too near the Seminary Woods, as shown in the preliminary plan.

Others wanted to trust Stritch but remained skeptical, testifying that in earlier public information sessions Stritch representatives seemed to tell the public everything they wanted to hear.

Most critical speakers were concerned that development on the We Energies parcel did not respect that land as valuable green space in its own right or in relation to Seminary Woods. Others argued it was irresponsible to approve the zoning change until a plan addressing more of the public’s concerns and hopes was presented. Still others lamented what they said was an artificial dilemma between protecting the environment and promoting education.

Several speakers asked that the rezoning apply only to the Cousins Center property, which they could wholeheartedly support, but leave the We Energies land zoning as a separate matter. St. Francis Mayor Al Richards later said this was not possible: “We can’t cut the elephant in half.”

The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, the order which founded Stritch as St. Clare College in 1937 and currently based at 3221 S. Lake Dr. in St. Francis, were well represented at the meeting, with several sisters testifying in favor of the proposed zoning change to enable the college’s homecoming.

But not all women of the cloth were in favor.

Sr. Barbara Pfarr, School Sisters of Notre Dame, appealed for protection of the We Energies land, placing the situation in broader historical context. She recalled that the archdiocese chose to sell the Cousins Center to pay for settlements for its clergy sex abuse scandals. She said decision-makers should not allow one wrong to perpetuate another. “We have failed to protect our children,” Pfarr said. “We must not fail to protect our land.”

Payment in Lieu of Taxes

Stritch, a nonprofit institution not required to pay property taxes, has offered various non-tax compensation to the city of St. Francis, said Tom VanHimbergen, Stritch’s chief financial officer and executive vice president.

VanHimbergen said Stritch will donate 2.5 acres to the city of St. Francis for a municipal stormwater pond and pay up to $42,000 for engineering costs and up to $300,000 for its construction.

The university will also contribute $25,000 toward the city’s Smart Growth Plan Update and $45,000 toward an area-wide urban planning process, he said. In or by 2013, the university plans to pave a public nature trail through campus at an estimated cost of $30,000.

In lieu of tax payments for municipal services, Stritch will pay the city of St. Francis $28,000 in 2010, $35,000 in 2011, $40,000 in 2012 and $100,000 per year each year the campus is fully occupied, VanHimbergen said.

Another year of planning and approval is anticipated before construction, with Stritch anticipating moving operations to the new campus in three to five years.

Preliminary Plans

Stritch has repeated the refrain that the site plans released to the public and displayed at various public meetings are only preliminary. Actual site plans have yet to be officially reviewed by the city of St. Francis and will have to be approved by the city’s Planning Commission. Yet the preliminary designs have evolved since first revealed last fall.

At the Feb. 2 public hearing, the publicly displayed preliminary site plan had added eight tennis courts near Howard Avenue and placed a “water quality feature” at the southeast corner of the current Cousins Center property.

Another undated preliminary plan view recently shared with the Compass shows two parking lots instead of one on the We Energies land plus a parking structure with a significantly larger silhouette near Seminary Woods.