The following opinion piece was contributed by resident Robert Meyer.
Prairie Development, Ltd. is pushing an amendment to the West Side Neighborhood Plan (WSNP) and a zoning change in order to site a "Power Center" (a super center surrounded by a cluster of big boxes) called Prairie Lakes near the 151/C interchange.
The tripled amount of retail and sprawl design will have a very detrimental long-term impact on our tax base because big boxes have a much lower assessed value than WSNP's high density design, and parking lots -- which the proposal will increase by 25 -- have even less.
This change is being promoted very aggressively behind the scenes, forcing staff to add costly meeting time and outside consulting fees (a subsidy for the developer), and with outrageously misleading statements:
Residents supported additional shopping in a 2002 survey.
Of course they did. But they also overwhelmingly rejected a power center model in that "survey" (the WSNP which you can read online at the city website). Learn what residents actually voted for.
This is our one-time chance to attract a quality retail shopping center, and redefine our identity.
There's absolutely no rush. The fact is, Prairie Development will make more money building a power center than conforming to WSNP, so they're using high pressure tactics to force the city's hand.
This is simply machine politics. Ruining Sun Prairie's southern gateway in order to maximize a developer's profit will only redefine our community's identity as being really dumb!
This will attract the types of stores and dining choices available only in Madison, Middleton and Fitchburg.
How absurd! Those communities are actually fighting big box sprawl. Verona's proposed West End and Home Towne Centers are mixed land use developments. Middleton's Greenway Station has 40 stores and T. Wall's Tribeca Village project is yet another "urban neighborhood" of housing, retail and office space.
Monona is making Wal-Mart build their new store's parking underground -- which we should begin requiring for any store greater than 50,000 square feet.
We'll establish a regional shopping presence.
East Towne offers large scale retail just minutes away, and DeForest and other nearby communities will build large-scale retail in the near future. Any regional draw from a power center will be short-lived. Sticking with WSNP will ensure our maximal long term tax impact, the most shopping and dining variety, and sustained regional competitiveness.
Because the 151/C location is so desirable, Sun Prairie doesn't have to capitulate to Prairie Development's demands. National retailers are conforming to today's quality development standards, and we're in the position to make them do it here. The Prairie Lakes rhetoric would be laughable if the threat wasn't real; the Council appears poised to railroad the amendment through.
All this developer cares about is making his money, which is understandable. But it is harder to tell where the alders supporting his proposal are coming from.
Call them today and remind them that their job is to steward the community's long-term interests, not Prairie Development's.
Robert Meyer
