November 11, 2019
Madison Plan Commission to take up Edgewood master plan, Salvation Army project
Abigail Becker , Cap Times
On Monday, Madison’s Plan Commission is scheduled to take up two controversial issues when it discusses Edgewood High School’s request to terminate its master plan and the Salvation Army's proposal for demolition and conditional use permits to expand its facilities in the Capitol East district.
The Edgewood decision, which would need final approval by the City Council, would allow the private Catholic school on the city’s west side to play athletic games on its field.
The Salvation Army is hoping to build a five-story building that includes homeless shelter facilities, medical and mental health services along with a 44-unit affordable housing apartment building and indoor recreation facilities on the site of its current shelter on the 600 block of East Washington Avenue.
Both proposals have been met by significant resistance in their respective neighborhoods.
The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in room 153 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The public hearing on the Edgewater issue has been closed, but the commission will hear from the public on the Salvation Army item.
For months, Edgewood and its immediate neighbors have been arguing over whether the school can hold games on its field. The conflict escalated in August when Edgewood sued Madison, arguing that the city is treating the private school differently than its four public high schools.
The issue hinges on Edgewood’s 2014 Master Plan, which the school entered into voluntarily.
This spring, the city’s zoning administrator discovered that Edgewood was in violation of its 10-year master plan by allowing athletic contests to occur on its field. The plan says that the field can be used for team practices and physical education only. It does not name athletic competitions as a proposed use.
Edgewood appealed the decision, but the Zoning Board of Appeals upheld city staff’s decision.
Following the Zoning Board’s denial, Edgewood requested the city terminate its campus master plan as a way to be able to use the field for athletic events. If terminated, Edgewood would lose its remaining development rights in the master plan and would need city approval for individual development proposals and other changes.
In October, the City Council adopted a change that would require all entities without a master plan located in the Campus Institutional zoning district, which includes Edgewood, to gain extra approval from the city before making changes to any outdoor uses.
This change would affect Edgewood High School’s plans for its stadium if the city also repeals its master plan.
Before the change, schools without a campus master plan located within the Campus Institutional zoning district were not required to receive approval from the city to create uses, such as sports and recreational facilities, that occur outside of an enclosed building.
The Salvation Army operates the county’s only drop-in shelter for homeless women and families and the expansion project is expected to significantly improve the level of services available to them. Salvation Army officials also hope a new facility will improve security in the neighboring Tenney-Lapham neighborhood.
Many nearby residents have voiced frustration about the current shelter’s security situation, blaming problems associated with vagrancy on the volume of people in need of services attracted to the area by the shelter and nearby Beacon day shelter.
The Plan Commission was originally scheduled to review the proposal at its Oct. 28 meeting, but pushed it back to Monday's meeting at the request of the Salvation Army.
Ald. Patrick Heck, who represents the area and sits on the Plan Commission, told the Cap Times the Salvation Army wanted more time for public input and that he doesn’t anticipate anything new in the proposal.