January 3, 2023

Federal Judge Dismisses Edgewood’s Lawsuit

On January 3, 2023, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin issued judgement in favor of the City Of Madison, dismissing all claims in Edgewood’s second lawsuit against the city over the denial of their stadium lights application.

The formal dismissal can be found here:

Judgment

and the judge’s full opinion can be found here:

Opinion

District Judge William Conley states:

Plaintiff Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart, Inc. (“Edgewood”), claims that defendants City of Madison and affiliated entities (collectively “the City”) have violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), the Free Exercise Clause and other federal and state constitutional provisions and statutes in denying a permit for outdoor lighting at its athletic fields because Edgewood is a religious institution. Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all claims, arguing that rather than being driven by any religious animus, the denial of a permit for field lights was wholly driven by the surrounding residential neighborhood association’s continued resistance to Edgewood holding loud and bright football games at night, lowering of property values and bothering immediate neighbors. More specifically, defendants argue that Edgewood is not exempt from zoning criteria or resistance from neighborhood associations simply because it is a religious school, especially where the evidence of record establishes that its religious mission played no discernable role in the City’s or neighborhood’s opposition to the field lighting permit. For the reasons given below, the court agrees and will grant summary judgment to defendants on all claims.

The Opinion (linked above) contains 28 pages of discussion of the facts and law leading to this decision.

No New Stadium appreciates the judge’s ruling, which acknowledges that the city rightfully followed zoning law in considering the impacts of this development on neighbors’ use and enjoyment of their properties. We support the neighborhood associations’ efforts to improve relationships with the Edgewood campus schools, based on respect and recognition of our shared rights and responsibilities.

Media Coverage:

Federal judge rules against Edgewood High School in athletic field lights lawsuit (Wisconsin State Journal)

Edgewood High School lawsuit dismissed against City of Madison in field lights battle (NBC15)

Federal lawsuit dismissed involving Edgewood High School lights and City of Madison (WKOW-27)

Judge dismisses Edgewood High School's stadium lights case (WISC-TV)

March 2, 2021

Edgewood lights aren’t about faith

Katharine Odell | Wisconsin State Journal

Edgewood High School is again suing the city of Madison over the city's refusal to allow lighting on the school's athletic field, claiming the city's action is religious discrimination.

The school seems to think that its religious nature exempts even its secular activities from public oversight or regulation. I urge Edgewood to join the community and accept that its neighbors and the city have legitimate interests that have nothing to with the school's religious character.

February 19, 2021

Edgewood again sues Madison over rejected bid for athletic field lights

Ed Treleven | Wisconsin State Journal

After the city of Madison's rejection last month of Edgewood's plan to install lights at its refurbished athletic field, the Catholic high school is again suing the city in federal court charging the city discriminated against the school on religious and due process grounds.

Edgewood had sued the city over the issue in 2019, also alleging religious discrimination, but withdrew the lawsuit six months later in what the school's president said was a show of good faith to resolve issues surrounding the athletic field without using the courts.

But after the Madison City Council voted 13-4 against an appeal by the school, seeking to overturn a denied permit to install four field lights, the school on Friday again sued Madison in U.S. District Court. In May, the city Plan Commission denied a conditional use permit to install four light poles.

The lawsuit again alleges the city discriminated against Edgewood on religious grounds. It also alleges a pattern of shifting rules by the city to prevent Edgewood from installing lights and making full use of its athletic field.

"At every turn the city has moved the goalposts, changing its rules to prevent those lights and to limit the school from using its field," the lawsuit states. "As a result, Edgewood has been treated unequally and denied both its recognized, vested property interests and its right to use its own property in accord with its sincerely held religions beliefs and to further its religious mission."

Edgewood names as defendants the city, the City Council, the city Plan Commission, the city Zoning Board of Appeals, Zoning Administrator Matthew Tucker, city Building Inspection Division director George Hank and Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, who represents the area where Edgewood is located. Evers was not named in the 2019 lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Evers "instigated one or more acts of the city's unequal and burdensome treatment of Edgewood," rushing through the council in 2019 "an ordinance he had specifically drafted to target Edgewood, its still-pending lighting application, and anticipated post-repeal Master Plan lighting applications." The change, Edgewood's lawsuit states, required Edgewood to get a conditional use permit for its lights, a more difficult test under city ordinances.

The lawsuit also alleges Evers made public comments singling out Edgewood "and his overt hostility to religious, private institutions like Edgewood."

As Edgewood has sought to use the field for night football and soccer games, its bid for lights has not been popular with Edgewood’s neighbors, many of whom have planted signs in their yards opposing the project. Residents have expressed concerns about the noise that night games would bring to their neighborhood and the disruptions they would cause.

The lawsuit demands, among other things, a judgment finding Edgewood's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights have been violated, that the city’s actions denying full use of the field were arbitrary and capricious and that Edgewood has a right to use its field to pursue its religious mission. It also demands the court bar the city from preventing full use of the field and the installation of lights.

It also seeks other, unspecified damages. As an alternative to its other demands, Edgewood asks that a judge find the city violated its own ordinance and state law and that Edgewood is entitled to its conditional use permit. 

In its lawsuit, which it states is intended to protect Edgewood’s religious rights and property interests and redress the city’s past violations of both, Edgewood said it has complied with city zoning requirements but it has been thwarted by the city.

It claims the city manipulated the interpretation of its zoning requirements and Edgewood’s Master Plan to deny the lighting application. The city then withheld a lighting permit that city staff had authorized, and then, with the endorsement of the city attorney and Evers, rushed to change zoning requirements to specifically target Edgewood, the lawsuit states.

The city has since resorted to ignoring its professional staff's recommendation to grant the conditional use permit for lights, Edgewood claims.

“Individually and collectively, these actions resulted in a different, harsher and ever-changing set of rules for Edgewood than for the public institutions that came before Edgewood who sought and received lights from the city,” the lawsuit states.

JAnuary 20, 2020

City Council upholds denial of field lights for Edgewood High School

Logan Wroge | Wisconsin State Journal

Striking another blow to Edgewood High School's efforts to make upgrades at its athletic field, the Madison City Council denied early Wednesday morning a bid by the school to install lights.

The council voted 13-4 against an appeal the private Catholic high school filed last year seeking to overturn a denied permit to install four field lights — the latest chapter in a years-long saga that has pitted the school's desire to improve the Goodman Athletic Field against neighborhood concerns about noise and light pollution.

How they voted:

Against: Alds. Abbas, Albouras, Bidar, Evers, Foster, Furman, Heck, Lemmer, Martin, Prestigiacomo, Rummel, Verveer and Wehelie.

For: Alds. Carter, Henak, Skidmore and Tierney.

Absent: Alds. Baldeh, Harrington-McKinney and Kemble.

For more than three hours, a parade of opponents and supporters of Edgewood pled their case to the City Council, with both sides presenting their arguments via slideshows and claiming the other was relying on "misinformation."

To supporters of the Near West Side school, getting lights at the athletic field is viewed as a matter of fairness and would allow students to compete in night football and soccer games on their own campus instead of traveling around the county to play on rented fields.

"Like the other high schools with lights, we meet all the requirements and ordinance set forth by the City to add lights to our field," Edgewood President Mike Elliott said in a statement after the vote, which happened just before 1:30 a.m. "For some reason, the (City) Council decided to treat Edgewood differently from other athletic facilities."

But to many residents of the surrounding neighborhood, installing the four poles with LED light fixtures is seen as a significant intrusion in the traditionally residential neighborhood, with the sound of pep bands and cheering fans disrupting dinners, waking up young children and impacting the overall quality of life.

"Edgewood feels entitled to get what they want, when they want it, and they want lights," said Patricia Friday, who has lived across the field for more than 40 years.

In May, the Plan Commission denied Edgewood a conditional use permit to install the light poles.

City staff had said at the time the permit could be granted if the high school agreed to certain conditions, which Edgewood leaders said they were open to, but the commission ruled approving the lights would "have a substantial negative impact on the uses, values and enjoyment of surrounding properties."

The high school promptly appealed the decision, which would have required support of two-thirds of the council to overturn. But a vote on the appeal kept being pushed back as Edgewood and neighbors met to try to hash out a compromise.

Edgewood offered a set number of night games — 15 in the 2020-21 school year; 30 in 2021-22; and 40 in 2022-23 and every year moving forward — along with other conditions. The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association wanted the school to measure the noise impact of existing daytime uses and figure out a noise mitigation approach before moving ahead with lights for night games.

During the public comment period, Elliott, the high school's president, argued the school has been responsive to many neighborhood concerns, paying for studies on traffic, parking, environmental, noise and light impacts.

"Our opponents have yet to present a compromise that included any number of night uses," he said. "A compromise cannot happen if only one side is willing to negotiate."

Rachel Fields, president of the neighborhood association, countered it was the high school that was acting as a bad-faith negotiator.

"Their version of a compromise is Edgewood getting exactly what they've been asking for the whole time," she said. "It should be clear to the Common Council that Edgewood has no interest in compromising and that instead of doing so, they plan to push their way into getting what they want, even if that means suing the city."

Ongoing effort

The appeal is the school's latest effort to make improvements to the athletic field.

Following a $1.5 million investment to the field and track in 2015, Edgewood revealed two years later another $1.5 million in proposed upgrades it was seeking, such as lights, a sound system, locker rooms, restrooms, concessions and other amenities. 

But the plan faced opposition from many in the area who said it would disrupt the quiet nature of the neighborhood.

Following a legal dispute with the city on whether Edgewood could even hold daytime competitions under a city-approved master plan for the campus, the high school asked to have the master plan repealed, which would have allowed them to install lights through an administrative request to the city.

But before the council OKed repealing Edgewood's master plan, the body put in place a new ordinance that requires Edgewood and other schools to get Plan Commission approval to make major changes to outdoor spaces, such as installing lights.

November 25, 2020

Madison City Council could decide if Edgewood High School gets lights for athletic field

Dean Mosiman | Wisconsin State Journal

The Madison City Council on Tuesday may decide if Edgewood High School can add lights to its on-campus athletic field despite neighborhood opposition — the latest chapter in a three-year saga to improve the school’s Goodman Athletic Complex on Monroe Street.

Edgewood, which appealed the Plan Commission’s refusal in May to allow lights, has been engaging the neighborhood and proposed a deal to allow the lights but with a limit on the number of night games or events and strict deadlines on when lights must be turned off.

Under the proposal, the school could use lights for 15 games during the current school year through July 31, 30 games during the 2021-22 school year, and 40 games during the 2022-23 school year and thereafter. Games could start no later than 7:30 p.m., and lights would have to be turned off 30 minutes after games end and no later than 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday or 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

“We’re trying to continue to work with the neighborhood and come up with options,” Edgewood High School president Michael Elliott said, noting that many residents support the lights.

The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association, however, has proposed an agreement based on mitigating noise, not on the number of games.

Under that proposal, Edgewood and neighbors would decide how to measure the sound of day games, and sound from those games would be used to research noise-mitigation measures, such as sound barriers. Edgewood would then be responsible for the mitigation. The neighborhood would like to limit noise reaching adjacent properties to 60 decibels, about the sound of normal conversation or background music.

“We do not believe Edgewood’s proposal is a compromise,” Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association president Rachel Fields said. “They continue to put forth proposals with a very similar number of games to what they proposed in 2017, 2018 and 2019.”

Ald. Tag Evers, whose 13th District includes the school, remains sympathetic to the neighbors.

“Edgewood’s definition of a compromise is that the neighbors give in and allow Edgewood to put up lights now.”

Tag Evers, District 13 alder

“Edgewood’s definition of a compromise is that the neighbors give in and allow Edgewood to put up lights now,” he said. “If you accept the notion that a football stadium in a traditional residential neighborhood has the potential for negative impacts, there’s wisdom in the neighbors’ approach.”

Another meeting between the sides on Tuesday night produced no breakthrough. Evers said Edgewood can continue working with the neighborhood or follow through with its appeal before the City Council this coming Tuesday.

At issue

Edgewood, which hasn’t played a home football game in two decades due to the lack of lights, improved its facilities with a $1.5 million state-of-the-art field and track in 2015 and two years later sparked controversy that divided the neighborhood with a proposal for $1.5 million more in improvements, including lighting and a sound system, seating, team rooms, restrooms, concessions, a ticket booth, storage and a press box.

The school was unable to move forward amid opposition from many residents who said increased use of the field would disrupt the quiet character of the neighborhood.

At one point, Edgewood filed a federal lawsuit alleging the city discriminated on religious grounds by treating it differently than other high schools. The city said Edgewood’s master plan, which it entered voluntarily, prohibited hosting games on the field, but Madison’s public high school games were allowed because those schools don’t have master plans.

In October 2019, the City Council approved an ordinance requiring Edgewood to get the city’s OK before adding lights to its field. The council approved the repeal of Edgewood’s master plan in January, paving the way for daytime games and leaving the possibility of night games an open question. Edgewood dropped its lawsuit the following month.

In March, the school filed for a conditional use to add high-efficiency LED lights, but the Plan Commission rejected the request two months later, suggesting the sides continue negotiations.

Edgewood’s offer

Edgewood quickly appealed, but has continued to talk to the neighborhood. The school’s latest proposal is based on a city Planning Division report that outlined ways to adequately address neighborhood concerns, Elliott said.

The proposal includes a commitment not to rent use of the lights to outside groups and bars concerts, he said. Use of the lights would be limited to Edgewood High School, Edgewood Campus School and Edgewood College. Lighting for practices would be turned off at 7 p.m.

The lights would be used for lacrosse, soccer, and track meets, which have modest attendance, and football, which attracts perhaps 500 spectators, Elliott said. “We’re not talking about enormous crowds,” he said. “We’re not going to be making thunderous noise.”

To achieve a deal, Edgewood must recognize that the proposed use of its field is disruptive and work with neighbors to reduce that disruption, Fields said.

“Edgewood has not been willing to admit that disruption is an issue,” she said. “They have told us repeatedly that they have the right to use their field, and that regular games on the field and crowds of hundreds of people should not be disruptive to neighbors. We disagree and that has made it very difficult to find a compromise.”

September 13, 2020

Edgewood ‘crusader’ logo continues to stoke injustice

Christopher Guilfoil, Cap Times

Dear Editor: How can it be that the Madison community tolerates the continued usage of the Crusader logo and image at Edgewood High School? In this time of awakening consciousness toward the injustices of systemic racism in America, Edgewood High School persists in stoking this injustice with the usage of an image of a “boxing” crusading knight. And who is he boxing with? The Muslim and Arab peoples of Middle Eastern crusades are his victims. The school has been challenged on this front for a long time and continues to succeed in whitewashing history and claiming its usage of the concept “crusader” has noble qualities. I am a graduate of EHS and hope that someday they come to terms with the reality of this logo and what they are teaching their students with its usage.

September 9, 2020

Edgewood Crusaders savor fall football opportunity

Jon Masson, Wisconsin State Journal

Madison Edgewood football coach Jesse Norris has a roster filled with sophomores and juniors that he considers young, but talented.

Norris, eager to see how they will come together as a team, is thrilled the Crusaders have the opportunity to play football this fall.

“I’m really happy we are able to go this fall,” said Norris, hired as Crusaders’ coach in 2018. “It’s awesome for our kids. It’s great they have the opportunity.”

Concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and county health guidelines varying across counties led area schools to make different decisions about academic models and athletics this school year — including for football, which is considered a “higher-risk” sport.

Edgewood is the lone Madison school and one of 13 area schools playing football this fall. The other area schools plan to play during the WIAA’s alternative spring season.

“It’s just about letting our kids play the game. It doesn’t matter where.”

JEsse Norris, EdgeWood FootBall Coach

We couldn’t agree More. No New Stadium

“I honestly didn’t expect that we were going to be able to play this fall, so it was definitely good news to hear those words,” said Edgewood senior Charlie Clark, a 6-foot-7, 302-pound offensive and defensive lineman. “It was a really big surprise, really nice to hear, especially because we will be able to show how we’ve improved over the summer.”

Said junior quarterback and cornerback Joe Hartlieb: “I was super-excited. We’ve been throwing all summer with the receivers, so we have been prepared and are ready for the season.”

The first day for football equipment handout for football was Monday, followed by the start of practices. Edgewood had its first practice Tuesday.

“I’m super-excited,” Crusaders junior receiver and safety Jackson Trudgeon said. “I’m just happy we get an opportunity to prove ourselves. I think we are really fortunate, so we have to try to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Due to strict Public Health Madison and Dane County guidelines, Edgewood has scheduled all road games, beginning with a Sept. 25 contest at Watertown.

“It’s just about letting our kids play the game,” Norris said. “It doesn’t matter where. We’ll play in a cornfield if we have to. Being able to play football is important. … The benefit is the mental health of our kids. With being virtual (for academics), this gives them an outlet.”

Norris said coaches talk to players about handling adversity and that they are learning life lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the season will give them an opportunity to play and he believes the team can do it safely.

Edgewood, a member of the Badger Conference, was supposed to play football in the Rock Valley Conference this fall in the WIAA’s realigned football conference setup. Now, the Crusaders will play non-conference games.

Norris expects there will be limitations on the numbers of spectators at games, which likely will differ by school. Trudgeon said that will be a different experience, taking away from the normal high school atmosphere he enjoys.

Norris said Edgewood and its opponent each week plan to be in contact with health updates on Wednesdays or Thursdays to make certain the game can be played in a safe and healthy fashion.

Norris said he contacted Dane County health officials and went over his practice plan. Each gathering of 25 on a field has to be separate, so the 55-player team is divided into smaller groups for practices, such as varsity, JV and offensive linemen and defensive linemen. Cones are used to maintain socially distancing. 

Norris said Edgewood had a successful workout/weightlifting period and five contact days in July during the permitted time this summer, without players becoming ill or exposed.

Temperatures were checked and wellness interviews conducted, and individuals wore masks and stayed socially distanced (6 feet apart), Norris said. Offensive linemen and defensive linemen were kept socially distanced and there was no one-on-one contact. Blocking bags were wiped down.

“We’ve been doing what we needed to do — at a successful rate,” Norris said. “We followed CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines. Our athletic director, Chris Zwettler, was phenomenal in getting that running.”

Zwettler addressed the team prior to Tuesday’s opening practice about the opportunity ahead.

Norris believes the team’s successful summer program gave Edgewood’s administrators confidence to move ahead this fall.

Edgewood, which was 1-8 last season, now will continue with the county health protocols during practices.

Typical blocking and tackling drills will be altered. For instance, blocking bags can be used instead of live tackling, Norris said.

“We won’t really be able to do any major contact in practice, so that might hinder our ability at games, unless we can find a different way to have contact,” said Clark, who’s receiving interest from NCAA Division I programs. “Without that, we won’t know what a real game experience feels like.”

The Edgewood players will have helmets with splash shields available. They can wear masks during games, but aren’t required to, Norris said. The coaches are scheduled to wear masks on the sideline during games, he said.

The Crusaders use a no-huddle offense, meaning they don’t use the traditional, tightly bunched huddle to play calls.

Despite the changes, Norris is glad the Crusaders have the opportunity this fall.

“It’s a blessing,” said Norris, whose roster has five seniors. “We’re the only school in Madison and one of two or three in Dane County (Marshall and Cambridge, which is in Dane and Jefferson counties). We don’t take that responsibility lightly.”

August 22, 2020

Wisconsin Catholic schools will challenge local COVID-19 closing order

Last-minute county order leaves parents less than 60 hours to make home-based arrangements; appeal planned to Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Joseph M. Hanneman, Catholic World Report

A coalition of Catholic schools, parents and benefactors plan to hire a law firm to challenge an order issued late Friday to close all schools in Dane County to in-person instruction for students in grades 3-12. Many Catholic schools were slated to open starting August 24 after being closed much of last spring due to COVID-19.

Led by the Madison-based St. Ambrose Academy, the coalition launched a GiveSendGo crowdfunding site on August 22 that quickly raised more than $22,300 out of an initial goal of $60,000. The plan is for Catholic schools to hire Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, a law firm that earlier this year helped the Diocese of Madison defeat attempts to place strict limits on Mass attendance due to COVID-19. They hope to make an emergency appeal directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Meanwhile, parishes have organized a Rosary rally for 3 p.m. Monday on the State Street steps of the Wisconsin Capitol Building, where last week 2,000 Catholics gathered for a Eucharistic procession and patriotic Rosary.

Scott Grabins… said he is “extremely frustrated” by the county health order.

Catholic school officials said they had no advance warning that Public Health Madison & Dane County would issue a COVID-19 school closing order. The health agency issued Emergency Order #9 after 5:00 p.m. CDT on Friday, August 21, sending Catholic schools and parents into confusion and anger just 60 hours before opening of the 2020-21 school year in many communities. Janel Heinrich, public health officer for Madison and Dane County; and Joe Parisi, Dane County executive, could not be reached Saturday evening for comment.

“We are extraordinarily disappointed at this order and its timing,” Bishop Donald J. Hying said in a letter to parents issued jointly with Michael J. Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Madison. “You have told us of your sadness, your anger and your children’s grief as they burst into tears when you told them of the county’s decision.”

Hying said over the past three months, principals and superintendents participated in twice-weekly calls with Public Health Madison and Dane County, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. “We asked questions, adjusted plans as guidance changed and made sure we had the latest information,” Hying wrote. “Our principals worked tirelessly to draft, revise and perfect reopening plans, ensuring that all CDC, DHS and county guidelines were followed, and that no detail was overlooked in order to make our schools safe for students and teachers.”

On “numerous occasions” since July, county officials were asked to provide the metrics that would be used regarding the closing and opening of schools in light of COVID-19, Hying said. “These were not provided until Friday, leaving many of you, who have already gone back to work, with the added hardship of finding child care. Many of you have few if any options given this order.”

Joan Carey, executive director of St. Ambrose Academy, consulted over the weekend with Misha Tseytlin, a Troutman Pepper partner who formerly served as Wisconsin solicitor general. “Engaging his firm is very expensive, but he believes we have a good case and a good forum in the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” Carey said in an email sent to supporters on Saturday. “Litigation is always uncertain, but we believe an effort of this caliber could move Dane County to a reversal.”

Frustrations were already high in Dane County with what some view as heavy-handed regulations spun out of the county health agency. Earlier this year, Public Health Madison issued orders to limit attendance at Holy Mass to 50 people, regardless of building capacity, while allowing retailers, restaurants and other locations to operate with a 25 percent capacity. On June 3, the Diocese of Madison delivered a 17-page letter to city and county officials protesting the limits and indicating litigation would be initiated if the orders were not quashed. Less than 48 hours after refusing to budge of the Mass limits, Public Health Madison & Dane County backed off, citing the cost of potential litigation.

As in the current case, the Diocese of Madison was given no advance notice of the Mass-limits regulation back in June. Pastors and school officials say privately they feel the government is targeting the Catholic Church with its regulations. Some believe the school-closing order is an attempt to prevent long-term enrollment shifts from public schools (which are mostly doing online instruction) to faith-based schools, which have moved to reopen with in-person instruction and school activities.

Both the school closing order and the limits on attendance at Holy Mass raise important legal issues regarding whether a county health officer has authority to make such far-reaching rules affecting private schools, activities and athletics. On May 13, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers “Safer at Home” program that essentially locked down the state over concerns about spread of the coronavirus. The same Wisconsin statutes that the Supreme Court said the state could not use to mandate a society-wide quarantine have been used by local government to issue mandatory mask orders and a wide menu of rules on public behavior in businesses, stores and other venues.

Brent King, spokesman for the Diocese of Madison, said some 30 Diocese of Madison Catholic schools outside of Dane County will open for instruction over the next two weeks. Inside Dane County, the first day of school has been delayed until after Labor Day if necessary.while schools consider all legal options.

“The grassroots reaction to the Dane County order has been awesome and it has only been 24 hours,” King said. “I know of hundreds of families who have called local politicians to express their disagreement, anger, and disgust in a very short time. We hope the county will listen to these faithful families, for the sake of the kids and their spiritual, psychological, emotional, as well as physical well being. Close to 30 schools outside of Dane County are safely opening these next weeks. Dane County Catholic schools can too. We believe it is what is best for the children, given all the best available information.”

According to statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Health, Wisconsin has logged 70,009 cases of COVID-19 through August 22, with 1,081 deaths due at least in part to the virus. Nearly 1.2 million COVID-19 tests have been done; with more than 1.1 million being negative. There are currently 350 people hospitalized statewide, including 119 in intensive care. Wisconsin hospitals have total capacity of 11,500 beds. According to an analysis of state data by the MacIver Institute, total virus-related deaths represent 1.5 percent of positive COVID-19 diagnoses.

Dane County reported 55 new cases of COVID-19 on August 22, ranking fourth among Wisconsin counties. Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations have never exceeded 450 beds on any day since early May, according to MacIver.

On August 20, Hying wrote, “Dane County announced that the daily number of coronavirus cases had dropped by nearly 50 percent since July 13, while the seven-day average of new cases continued to decline. Yet now, despite declining numbers and all the work and diligence given to following all the guidelines for reopening, Dane County has said that only grades K-2 may return, while all other grades must start online.”

Gov. Evers issued an emergency order on July 30 mandating that masks be worn indoors by everyone age 5 and older, except at home. A number of Wisconsin county sheriffs have said they will not enforce the orders because they believe them to be unconstitutional.

August 17, 2020

It’s hurry up and wait for schools hoping to build a fall season

Art Kabelowsky | Wisconsin State Journal

Chris Zwettler was handed the corner piece to his fall sports puzzle on Friday.

That leaves only a few hundred more pieces scattered around his desk, waiting to be put into place one by one while the clock ticks away.

Zwettler, the athletic director at Madison Edgewood, has coaches, parents and athletes who’d like to pursue some sort of fall sports season — a rarity among schools located in Dane County.

“That is my recommendation. I’m waiting for approval,” Zwettler said Saturday. “The majority of our fall sports would like to do what we can in the fall.”

The first piece of the permission puzzle came during Friday’s WIAA Board of Control meeting, where schools were presented with the option of playing traditional fall sports in the fall or in the spring, both in an abbreviated format.

Almost all Dane County schools, with the possible exceptions of Edgewood and Deerfield, already have committed to postponing fall sports until the WIAA’s mid-February to mid-May spring window.

Including the county schools, all 10 Big Eight Conference schools and several in the Badger and Rock Valley conferences have decided to wait until spring. All three leagues have declared that no official conference games, matches or tournaments would be held in the fall.

However, Badger schools outside Dane County, such as Baraboo, Beaver Dam, Fort Atkinson, Portage, Reedsburg, Sauk Prairie and Watertown, are at least considering a fall sports option, made up of non-conference events. Other schools, such as Waunakee, may be considering playing some fall sports in the fall and others in the spring.

“With (seven) different counties involved with the Badger Conference, getting a confirmed list has been challenging for schools as we wait for guidance from public health and school board approvals,” Monona Grove athletic director Jeff Schreiner said in an email Saturday.

The WIAA has permitted fall sports practices to begin as early as Monday for girls golf, girls tennis, girls swimming and boys and girls cross-country. Practices for football, boys and girls volleyball and boys soccer can start on Sept. 7.

Competition can begin almost immediately afterward in some sports — for instance, Wisconsin Dells is working to organize a season-opening golf tournament on Thursday at Wild Rock Golf Club.

Deadline looms
Overall, schools have until Sept. 1 to declare their intention to compete in specific fall sports. That’s to give the WIAA a chance to consider what sort of postseason competition — likely not a state tournament, but what they call a “culminating event” — can take place.

Before that, more puzzle pieces remain to put into place. One is the specific set of rules put forth by the public health department of each school’s county. They vary somewhat, with Dane County’s among the toughest — limiting gatherings (such as practices and/or games) to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

“All our games will have to be road games.”

There are additional guidelines, set by the health department and the WIAA, that include social distancing whenever possible, masks for nonparticipants, private water bottles supplied by each player, and a rigorous cleaning protocol.

Another must-have puzzle piece is the administration and school board of each district, which must sign off on the athletic director’s recommendation to play in the fall or wait until spring.

Even if that approval is granted, the athletic director faces a time-sensitive challenge of finding practice sites and times, building schedules and reserving event locations, and booking transportation, officials and event staff.

“That’s 2020 for you,” Zwettler said.

On the road
To deal with the complicated process, Zwettler has pushed back Edgewood’s first fall practices until Monday, Aug. 24, two days before Edgewood begins virtual classes.

Edgewood will work around the county’s guidelines by breaking practices into smaller groups, separated by distance (different gyms in the Edgewood complex for girls volleyball) or different times (multiple shifts of practice for Edgewood’s football roster of 50 to 60 student-athletes).

And, of course, the worst part is: “All our games will have to be road games,” Zwettler said.

Zwettler said it seems obvious that boys volleyball would have to wait until spring, because five of the area’s eight schools are located in Dane County and six have confirmed they’re waiting for spring.

Zwettler said one or two other Edgewood girls sports might hold off for spring, but said on Saturday that it was too early to elaborate.

More meetings
The other area schools that are considering a fall season also still have work to do. Athletic directors in the Big Eight and Badger will meet today, and the Capitol and Trailways coaches will undoubtedly meet in the next couple of days, after which recommendations will be made for action by administrators and the school board. Many school boards then will meet this week to make final decisions.

“Right now, we don’t really know much of anything, but by the end of the week we should know a lot,” said Deerfield football coach Derek Sweger, who is not very optimistic about his wish to play a fall season — joining many of the other football programs in the Trailways Conference, all but Deerfield located outside Dane County.

And with all that said, even if plans go perfectly for some area schools to pursue their wishes to compete in the fall, any sort of uptick in COVID-19 cases — especially among student-athletes — could take all the work and planning to rebuild a fall season and make it completely moot.

August 12, 2020

Edgewood golf coach Peggy Gierhart takes leave of absence

Jon Masson | Wisconsin State Journal

Longtime Madison Edgewood girls golf coach Peggy Gierhart doesn’t feel comfortable coaching a team sport in the current environment.

So, Gierhart, concerned about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and weighing personal reasons, said she is taking a leave of absence from coaching the Crusaders should Edgewood decide to play golf this fall.

Gierhart, 52, has led Edgewood to 13 WIAA Division 2 state championships, including the past two years, and three runner-up finishes at state.

She said she began as an assistant with the program in 2002, when Mark Rechlicz was coach and Edgewood won the state title for the second consecutive year, and took over as head coach in 2003. Under her direction, the Crusaders won seven straight Division 2 titles, starting in 2003.

Gierhart might take on a "general manager" role, working from a distance on administrative and scheduling needs and helping the interim coach, who hasn’t been named.

She said she would consider coaching the team in the spring of 2021 if Edgewood elects to play golf in a proposed alternative spring season being allowed by the WIAA during the 2020-21 school year and if the school wanted her to coach (depending on public health conditions in the spring). She said she plans to coach the team in fall, 2021.

“My view is, basically, I don’t feel comfortable in the environment where I will be around the team all the time”

“My view is, basically, I don’t feel comfortable in the environment where I will be around the team all the time,” Gierhart said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I communicate closely with my players and staying 6 feet away would be difficult for me. I would be nervous in an environment where we travel together, having seen the virus’ effect on family and friends.”

She believes golf can be played safely, but added, “It’s harder in a team situation. I don’t feel comfortable with that right now.”

She said she didn’t know how schools and coaches will monitor players’ cold symptoms, which could affect who's available to play.

She has concerns for family and friends who might be at a higher risk for the coronavirus and those who could come in contact with it. She also said the death of her father, Ron Kelly, in July, has affected her emotional state and probably wouldn't permit her to coach in her usual manner. 

Edgewood athletic director Chris Zwettler, asked about Gierhart’s decision, said in a phone interview Wednesday: “We support it. We understand it. We get it. … If (the coronavirus) wasn’t out there, she would be coaching. She’s had some pretty strong opinions about it, and she hasn’t been afraid to share those opinions. We want to help her get through this.”

Zwettler said Gierhart “gave us her blessing. It was totally her choice. We are abiding by it. We know it’s not goodbye. We will see her next fall as our coach. I see her taking on what I like to call a ‘general manager’ role. She will be like Jon Horst (with the Milwaukee Bucks) or David Stearns (with the Milwaukee Brewers).”

Zwettler said he is waiting for details to come from Friday’s WIAA Board of Control meeting to see exactly what Edgewood does this fall.

That includes wanting to know whether schools can have some fall sports in the fall and move some fall sports to the alternative spring season and hoping to find out what training rules will be permitted in the fall for those schools that shift fall sports to the spring.

Edgewood has moved the start of first practices for “low-risk” sports, including girls golf, to Aug. 24 (from Aug. 17).

“We are keeping all options on the table,” Zwettler said about fall sports.

Gierhart indicated that Portage athletic director Ed Carlson has tentatively created two four-team pods, one including Edgewood, and scheduled golf dual meets for those schools in the area this fall.

Gierhart said she is comfortable with her decision. She said will miss the team’s seniors, but will stay in contact. She said she informed the team Tuesday in an email.

“They were very sweet with me last night,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. The big deal is what we are all going through.”

JUne 17, 2020

Edgewood appeals Plan Commission’s decision over field lights

Abigail Becker | Cap Times

Madison’s Edgewood High School has filed an appeal of a city commission’s decision in May denying the private west side high school permission to install lights at its field. 

The high school, located at 2210 Monroe St., has been seeking changes at its athletic complex since 2017.

On May 11, Madison’s Plan Commission unanimously rejected a conditional use permit application from Edgewood to install four light poles with LED light fixtures at the field. At the time, school president Michael Elliott said Edgewood needs the lights to be competitive with other schools and “survive as an institution.”  

Elliott did not respond immediately Tuesday for comment on the petition. 

Following the decision in May, Elliott said the Plan Commissions’ action is “a long way from fair and equal treatment.” 

The Plan Commission’s specific action put Edgewood’s application for the permit on file without prejudice, which means that the high school could file a new conditional use application and address concerns raised by the Plan Commission.

If the commission had denied the application outright, Edgewood would have had to wait at least 12 months to file a new application. 

Madison’s City Council is scheduled to hear the school’s appeal at its July 14 meeting after being introduced at the council’s Tuesday meeting. Reversing the Plan Commission’s decision would require 14 votes, or a two-thirds majority, of the City Council. 

Though Plan Commission staff found the school meets standards to install lights, commission members concluded that the lights would negatively affect the properties surrounding the school.  

Ald. Tag Evers, District 13, said in an email that five years ago Edgewood said the field would be used for practices but is now pushing to hold 40 to 60 night games per year. He said a compromise would require Edgewood to “return to its biblical values of truth, compassion, justice, partnership and community.” 

“I’ve asked Edgewood to go slow with their application and work to rebuild trust with the neighborhood,” Evers said. “Instead, they’ve pushed full speed ahead and have done so with a sense of entitlement, blaming their neighbors for choosing to live near a high school.”

Many neighbors surrounding the 56-acre campus are opposed to the lights, expressing fears over increased disturbance to the neighborhood.

The lighting was proposed for evening use of the athletic complex, either for practices or games, by the high school. The conditional use permit application was for lighting only.

Edgewood proposed shutting the lights off automatically at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 11 p.m on Friday and Saturday. The school said that the lights may be kept on beyond those times to “accommodate specially scheduled activities including, but not limited to, playoff games, games requiring overtime periods, weather delays, and health and safety delays.

May 14, 2020

Edgewood High School “president” evaluating all options

Abigail Becker | Cap Times

After a proposal to install lights on Edgewood High School’s field failed to gain support from the Madison Plan Commission Monday, the school’s president said he is “evaluating all options.”  

Michael Elliott, president of the west side private Catholic school at 2210 Monroe Street, said in an email Tuesday morning he is “very frustrated” by the Plan Commission’s rejection of a conditional use permit to install four light poles with LED light fixtures at its athletic complex. 

Pointing out that UW-Madison and Madison Memorial and La Follete high schools hold night games, Elliott argued that the city is treating Edgewood differently. This line of thinking also prompted Edgewood to sue Madison last August over a related issue.   

The high school later dropped the lawsuit in February following the City Council approving the school’s request to repeal its master plan, which paved the way for hosting daytime games at its field, which was upgraded with artificial turf in 2015. The school used to hold its home football and soccer games at other high school facilities in the area.

“This is a long way from fair and equal treatment,” Elliott said. “We are evaluating all options to enforce our rights and the rights of our students.” 

Under city ordinances, Edgewood can appeal the Plan Commission’s decision to the City Council by filing an appeal within 10 days from May 12. Once filed, the appeal would be introduced at one City Council meeting and heard at the next.  

A successful appeal requires a two-thirds majority vote of the City Council to reverse or modify the Plan Commission’s decision.

The Plan Commission’s specific action placed Edgewood’s application for the permit on file without prejudice, which means that the high school could file a new conditional use application and address concerns raised by the Plan Commission. 

If the commission had denied the application outright, Edgewood would have had to wait at least 12 months to file a new application. 

Though the Plan Commission's staff found the school meets standards to install lights, commission members argued that the lights will impair the “uses, values and enjoyment” of the properties surrounding the school.  

“I think that the establishment of lights on the field will have a substantial impact on the adjoining residents,” Commissioner Bradley Cantrell said at the meeting. 

Planning staff recommended granting the permit with several conditions, including the following:  

• The final plans shall note that the photometric data represents compliance with city ordinances.

• The use of the lights for non-practice events — competitions, games and school activities —  be limited to Edgewood High School, Edgewood Campus School and Edgewood College.

• Stadium lighting used for practices should be turned off at 7 p.m.

• The number of competitions, games and school activities using the stadium lighting after 7 p.m. be limited to a specific number per school year to be determined by the Plan Commission.

• The lights be turned off 30 minutes following the conclusion of a scheduled non-practice event and no later than 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

• No non-practice event using the lights shall be scheduled to start after 7:30 p.m.

• A landscaping plan shall be submitted for the athletic field.

Elliott said Edgewood was amenable to all the conditions. 

Edgewood’s plans to add improvements to its field has fomented controversy in the neighborhood for years. Those opposed to the school’s proposal to add lights fear the addition of night games will lead to increased traffic and noise, especially for those whose homes are located on the neighboring streets to the west and north sides of the campus.

“The installation of lights at the Edgewood High School field would be a serious threat to our quality of life, and to the use and value of our property,” Gail Martinelli, a resident of West Lawn Avenue, said. 

At Monday’s meeting, 938 speakers registered on the Edgewood item with about 52 people speaking. Most of the speakers were against the proposal, though many registered their support but did not speak at the meeting. 

Supporters who submitted comments in writing to the Plan Commission say that Edgewood is an asset to the city and allowing night games would contribute positively to the community. 

Some area residents have said that the proposal would contribute to "spirit and enthusiasm" in the city.

May 12, 2020

Plan Commission decides not to allow Edgewood to install stadium lights on athletic field

Shanzeh Ahmad | Wisconsin State Journal

The Madison Plan Commission early Tuesday voted unanimously to deny Edgewood High School stadium lights for its athletic field.

The vote, shortly before 1 a.m., came after a lengthy online public hearing at which neighbors spoke against the proposal.

Lights are just one piece of a controversial renovation project that has divided the neighborhood since the high school proposed the $1.5 million in improvements to the athletic field in 2017.

"We can only reiterate that adding lights to Edgewood's field would damage the livability of the homes near the field," she said. "We are also concerned with the precedent that it sets."

Fields referenced the federal lawsuit against the city recently dropped by the high school and the potential for another lawsuit to surface if the issue festers. “We hope other entities don’t realize that a lawsuit is an easier way of getting what they want rather than a real discussion and a democratic vote,” she said.

Ald. Tag Evers, who represents District 13 on the City Council encompassing the high school, said he feels there is "wisdom in waiting" and the decision should not be rushed during a pandemic. 

Michael Elliott, the high school's president, said he asked members of the Edgewood community not to register to speak at the meeting to be mindful of time and allow a few key players to speak instead. Elliot said during this three-year process, Edgewood has "remained true to its promise" to follow the city's recommendations and keep the concerns of neighbors in mind. 

"We need lights to compete with other schools and to survive as an institution," Elliot said. "We need lights to enhance the athletic experience for student athletes at the youth, high school and college levels."

Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said she hopes the high school will make another effort towards plans for the athletic field improvement with more input from the community.

"I think people want to have a good relationship, so please keep working at it," she said. 

Other action

The commission also decided to delay decisions on the start of the proposed $300 million Madison Yards redevelopment until its first meeting in June.

Also Monday, the commission unanimously approved some big projects:

• The Bayview Foundation/Horizon Development's mixed-use project, which would bring over 100 housing units, community center and more.

• Developments on the 1000 block of South Park Street, including a building with over 24 housing units.

• A development at 5567 Odana Road for multi-family housing.

May 12, 2020

Madison commission unanimously denies Edgewood field lights

Abigail Becker | Cap Times

Edgewood High School did not receive approval from Madison’s Plan Commission after a lengthy meeting that ended early Tuesday morning.

The private west side high school at 2210 Monroe Street has been seeking changes at its athletic complex since 2017. Neighbors surrounding the 56-acre campus located in a residential area have consistently responded in opposition, expressing fears over increased disturbance to the neighborhood.

Michael Elliott, the school’s president, and supporters of the school’s request for a conditional use permit to install four light poles with LED light fixtures at the field often ask that the city treat Edgewood like Madison’s public high schools.

“We need lights to compete with other schools and to survive as an institution,” Elliott said.

Though Plan Commission staff found the school meets standards to install lights, commission members disagreed. Commissioner Bradley Cantrell said the lights will impair the “uses, values and enjoyment” of the properties surrounding the school.

“I think that the establishment of lights on the field will have a substantial impact on the adjoining residents,” Cantrell said.

“Light pollution and noise pollution from the athletic field go hand in hand. Both interfere with the adjacent community’s livability, as well as the surrounding nocturnal ecosystem.”

Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, a member of the commission, said Edgewood should continue to work with the neighborhood and possibly propose some type of sound mitigation infrastructure.

“I think people want to have a good relationship, so please keep working at it, everyone,” Rummel said.

The commission was unanimous in a vote to deny Edgewood’s request. The school could appeal the Plan Commission’s decision to the City Council.

A public comment period that lasted approximately two and a half hours contributed to the late meeting and demonstrated the controversy in the neighborhood that has been brewing for years.

Elliott said he asked supporters not to register to speak to be considerate of the commission’s time.

Before the meeting, Ald. Tag Evers, District 13, asked Edgewood to consider delaying movement on adding lights to the field to allow for more time for public comment, saying there’s “wisdom in waiting.” While the Plan Commission has moved to conducting remote meetings during the coronavirus pandemic, Evers said many older members of the neighborhood find it difficult to participate.

“I asked them to go slow with their application to explore opportunities to build trust with the neighborhood,” Evers said.

Elliott said the city had come up with a “good process” and saw no reason to delay Monday’s meeting.

Edgewood’s anticipated 46 regular season night games in various sports and an additional possible 18 playoff games is a “bold request” that “disregards the spirit of partnership, community and my suggestion to ‘go slow,’” Evers said.

Evers asked the Plan Commission to deny Edgewood’s request because he said the school does not “meet the standard of not substantially impairing the uses, values and enjoyment of adjacent property owners by their proposal to host multiple night games on their athletic field.”

Lights and a lawsuit

In 2017, the Catholic high school began a months-long controversy over a $1.5 million proposal to upgrade its field with lighting and a sound system, among other improvements. Residents turned out to ardently oppose the school’s proposal due to concerns over disruptions to the neighborhood.

The conflict escalated to the point of Edgewood filing a lawsuit in August 2019, arguing under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that the city is treating Edgewood differently than its four public high schools.

Madison maintained that Edgewood voluntarily entered into its master plan, which prohibited hosting games on the field. Further, the city said the public high schools are allowed to play games because the schools do not have master plans.

In January, the City Council approved Edgewood’s request to repeal its master plan. This action laid groundwork for the school to hold daytime games. Edgewood dropped its lawsuit in February.

Rummel pointed to the January decision and said the school has not had ample time to demonstrate how sound during the day affects the neighborhood.

“I think that we don't really know what it’s like for them to have a full range of games during the year under what’s allowed,” Rummel said.

Now, Edgewood wants to construct and install four light poles with LED light fixtures on the school’s field, which is called the Goodman Athletic Complex. To do this, the school is required to receive a conditional use permit from the Plan Commission.

The lighting is meant to allow for evening use of the athletic complex, either for practices or games, by the high school. No other improvements to the athletic complex or the school’s campus are proposed with the lighting request.

Without lights, Elliott said many games are on the road, student safety is at risk and the school incurs costs by seeking facilities to rent and transporting students and equipment.

Edgewood plans to shut the lights off automatically at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 11 p.m on Friday and Saturday. The school notes that the lights may be kept on beyond those times to “accommodate specially scheduled activities including, but not limited to, playoff games, games requiring overtime periods, weather delays, and health and safety delays.”

Why neighbors are opposed

Edgewood’s campus is surrounded on three sides by single-family residences, with Edgewood Drive and Lake Wingra forming the other edge of the campus.

A number of public members submitted comments to the city in opposition, raising concerns over the current level of noise — whistles, cheers, coaching — and how light may exacerbate the sound. Many of the comments are from residents whose homes are located on the neighboring streets to the west and north sides of the campus.

“Light pollution and noise pollution from the athletic field go hand in hand. Both interfere with the adjacent community’s livability, as well as the surrounding nocturnal ecosystem,” Catherine Jagoe, who is involved with the grassroots No New Stadium group, said in written comments to the Plan Commission. “Installing lights on Edgewood athletic field will permanently change this neighborhood for the worse.” 

In a statement, the grassroots group expressed appreciation for the Plan Commission's decision to "hold off on adding stadium lights and expanding further to unlimited night-time use" and to encourage Edgewood and neighbors to work together. 

The Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association is also opposed to adding lights to Edgewood’s field because it would lead to further noise disruption through evening hours.

“Allowing Edgewood to have lights will extend that disruption into the evening, and invite even larger crowds to nighttime events,” according to a DMNA statement submitted by President Rachel Fields. “This will increase harm to those closest to the stadium while extending noise to many more households in our neighborhood.”

The neighborhood association also worries that threats of legal actions are overshadowing the city’s commitment to its residents and creating a precedent.

“The City has said repeatedly that it values neighborhood input and prioritizes the livability of neighborhoods, but when an organization with deep pockets can extend its lawsuit indefinitely, that seems to take priority,” the statement said. “We hope that other entities don’t realize that a lawsuit is an easier way of getting what they want than a real discussion and a democratic vote.”

February 15, 2007

Middleton’s Field takes root

Madison Edgewood will share the synthetic surface at Middleton’s Memorial field

Rob Hernandez | Wisconsin State Journal

Buoyed by a $600,000 pledge from two of its former football players, Middleton High School has formed a partnership with Madison Edgewood and Cardinal Youth Football for the remaining $300,000 needed to replace grass with a synthetic surface at Middleton's Memorial Field.

Middleton athletic director Luke Francois said Wednesday that local businessmen Bob Lazarz and Lee Bruce, who played for the Cardinals in the 1950s, have agreed to fund two-thirds of the $900,000 project. Their offer was contingent on having the stadium named for their former coach — Otto Breitenbach, who died in January— and Francois said that approval has been granted.

The remainder of the project, according to Francois, will be funded through money pledged by Edgewood High School and Middleton's youth football organization. In exchange for its help, Edgewood will share the football facility with Middleton and play its home games at Breitenbach Stadium on alternating Friday nights.

"(It) makes sense because Otto (graduated from) Edgewood before he came to Middleton," Francois said, noting that much of Edgewood's student population comes from the greater West Side of Madison. "This made natural sense for us. ... We really see a good partnership here."

In recent years, the Crusaders have played their home games at Mansfield Stadium and Lussier Stadium on Thursdays and Saturdays. They shared Mansfield with Madison Memorial and Madison West, and Lussier with Madison La Follette and Madison East.

“…it’s a guaranteed home,” said Edgewood athletic director Chris Zwettler

“It’s not a guaranteed Friday, but it's a guaranteed home,” said Edgewood athletic director Chris Zwettler, whose team also had to play a game last season at the Bishop O'Connor Center after a stretch of rainy weather limited Mansfield Stadium's use. "We're not playing at three different sites."

Middleton, which already has plans to build a soccer-only facility with artificial turf off Airport Road, would be the first Madison-area high school with a synthetic football field.

But it is a growing trend in Wisconsin with Schofield D.C. Everest, Hartland Arrowhead, Wilmot and Brookfield Central having installed turf at their high school facilities in recent years. In addition, several high schools — including Platteville — play their home games at Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference football stadiums with artificial surfaces.

Middleton's effort gained momentum at the end of the prep football season in October when the Cardinals lost their regular-season finale to Janesville Parker in a driving rain that left the field unusable for a WIAA regional boys soccer game the next day. Six days later, Middleton's football team traveled to Schofield for a WIAA playoff game and played on Everest's field turf.

"What sealed the deal wasn't so much leaving the muddy field (after the Parker game)," Francois said, "but to step onto field turf at D.C. Everest. At the end of their season, their field looked as clean and pristine as it did at the start of the season.

"It made us realize it would be worth the investment."

An eight-person committee that included Francois, Middleton football coach Tim Simon and football parent Al Toon, a former University of Wisconsin and NFL player, saw an opportunity to initiate the field renovation with a previously approved expansion of the stadium's track from six to nine lanes. Francois said construction will start in mid-May and will be finished in time for Edgewood's season-opener Aug. 23 against Sauk Prairie and Middleton's opener the next night against Janesville Craig.

"It's going to get built one way or another," Francois said. "But we still have work to do to secure full funding of the project. We have to continue to secure funds to repay those who have extended a line of credit to make this project happen."

May 6, 2020

Edgewood stadium no “Field of Dreams”

Valerie Schend | Wisconsin State Journal*

The Plan Commission should be opposed to the granting of a conditional use permit to Edgewood High School to approve the use of lighting and sound systems. The proximity to Lake Wingra would cause both noise and light pollution to spread much further than the immediate neighborhood.

Plus, Edgewood has tried to sidestep the appropriate methods of getting approvals for their changes and should not be rewarded for such egregious behaviors. They have ignored the concerns of the neighborhood association and have been granted the ability to use their field as they would like during the daylight hours. There are other high schools (much larger high schools) in our community without athletic fields on their campuses and they do just fine. The students attending Edgewood will not have a substandard education or extracurricular experience due to the lack of lighting and/or sound.

This is no “Field of Dreams” moment, they can build it, but leave it for daytime use only.

*Note: This letter was originally published and then removed from madison.com within 20 hours

May 1, 2020 3:53 PM

Now is not the time to resolve a 25-year old controversy

District 13 Blog | Alder Tag Evers

Edgewood High School and its immediate neighbors have been in a protracted conflict over the issue of night games and the impact these games would have on nearby residents. This controversy has been going on since the mid-1990's.

It's not reasonable to attempt to resolve this controversy in the middle of a global pandemic. 

I am requesting Plan Commission turn down Edgewood's conditional use application for several reasons.

First, we are currently under a Safer At Home order, an order which has been extended to May 26. This restricts in-person communication among Edgewood's immediate neighbors, several of whom are elderly and not technologically proficient. This is an equity consideration, in that there is a barrier to resident participation.

But it goes beyond technology. Covid-19 has impacted the community.  Many of us know someone who has been infected. Others have lost jobs or experienced salary reductions.  Stress levels are at an all-time high.

I realize this is no different than elsewhere in the city. These factors alone do not merit delay. Plan Commission is an essential committee, and we are moving forward with essential business, including myriad development projects. Madison still has a housing crisis, and it's important to accommodate project timelines, notwithstanding the importance of resident input.

However, there is no sense of urgency in this application. Simply put, there remains no indication night games will be held this summer, nor is it clear that sports gatherings will be held this fall. 

I met with President Mike Elliot and Board President Steve Krantz on March 9 to discuss their application. At that time, I urged Edgewood to move slow with their application, to make a good faith effort to rebuild trust with the neighborhood. 

The application showed up two days later, on March 11. The application includes no restriction on the number of events, nor does it include the wall or sound barrier Edgewood previously proffered in recognition of crowd noise impacts.  In short, I can find little evidence my suggestion to move slowly was taken seriously.

At that March 9 meeting, I made it clear to Mr. Elliot and Mr. Krantz that they need to present their application to the Edgewood Neighborhood Liaison Committee. For reasons unclear to me, that meeting has not been held. Instead, it appears Edgewood's leadership prefer to meet with the two neighborhood association presidents, both of whom have expressed a preference for the Liaison Committee as the proper venue to review the application.

On March 24, as the reality of our current situation was made evident, I emailed President Elliot asking that he delay their application due to the many ways the pandemic has impacted the neighborhood.  I received no response.  I followed up with another email on April 29.  President Elliot did get back to me on April 30, declining my request to refer and indicating his intention to proceed.

Let it be noted that throughout 2019, the City of Madison engaged in considerable forbearance on Edgewood's behalf.  Though Edgewood's use of the so-designated practice field for athletic contests was found to be in violation of their Master Plan, the violations were never enforced, allowing Edgewood to hold over 70 games on their field in a single calendar year.  This contrary use was not negotiated with the neighborhood, was not permitted by law, but was nonetheless allowed.

On behalf of Edgewood's neighbors, I am asking for similar forbearance, one that recognizes there is no immediate need to resolve a 25-year old controversy in the middle of a global pandemic.

There is another reason, separate from the pandemic, that stands against a decision in favor of this application.  When I met with Mr. Elliot and Mr. Krantz on March 9, they made it clear that this application is but the first in a series of conditional use requests to achieve the complete build out of their stadium proposal.  While their current application is for lights only, lights are clearly a means to an end.  This application is of a piece with Edgewood's initial proposal to amend their Master Plan, i.e., to build a stadium on their athletic field with lights, amplified sound, expanded seating, concession stands, locker rooms, expanded schedules, etc. 

Rather than deciding this matter piecemeal, Plan Commission should be evaluating the applicant's long-term goals, stated openly and transparently, plans that must be submitted to the Liaison Committee for prior review and feedback.

In short, the timing is wrong, the process has been inadequate, and the application is incomplete.

I asked Edgewood in good faith to delay their application, a request made on behalf of Edgewood's immediate neighbors.  Edgewood refused this request.  I am very disappointed by their decision.

For this and all the reasons enumerated, I hereby request Edgewood's conditional use application be placed on file without prejudice.

Stay safe and be well.

April 20, 2020

Edgewood uses pandemic for cover

Yael Gen | Wisconsin State Journal

It’s difficult to believe that Edgewood High School is pursuing a conditional use permit during this crisis when the city is literally facing life and death issues.

Postponing the permit vote would have been good public relations and would have made no difference in use because, in the interest of public health, no one should be playing on Edgewood's field anyway. Edgewood filed its application in March, after it was clear the pandemic was taking hold here. The school has ignored requests for delay from the neighborhood association and a City Council member. Edgewood's leadership has failed them. Again.

Edgewood is trying to fast-track its lighting permit when many of us are preoccupied with health, work-at-home and child-care issues. By the May 11 hearing date, more people may be ill and unable to testify. School leaders should be ashamed.

Edgewood believes the rules do not apply to the school. Why should they? Last year, the city did not penalize them from playing games despite a zoning violation.

Edgewood won the right to play unlimited day games. Enough is enough. Neighboring property owners have the right to use and enjoy their property without the intrusion of lights and accompanying loud noise. The Plan Commission should vote "no."

April 1, 2020

Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association Statement

DMNA opposition to the addition of lights to the field at Edgewood High School

DMNA’s recent relations with Edgewood
During the City Council meeting when the Edgewood Master Plan was repealed, the Mayor urged the two parties to come together and compromise. I think it’s important to give some context on what DMNA has tried to do to compromise with Edgewood, and how that informs our opposition now.

For many years, discussions between Edgewood and neighbors have occurred through the long-standing Edgewood/Neighborhood Liaison Committee, which brings together all three Edgewood entities, Vilas Neighborhood Association, DMNA, and the District 13 Alder. Repeatedly in the past year or so, Edgewood has refused to talk about the athletic field during liaison committee meetings, or has said they have no updates regarding the field, only days before revealing a major update to the city. Recently, without explanation, Edgewood stopped inviting Alder Evers to liaison committee meetings.

Early in 2019, the two neighborhood associations and Edgewood decided to form a collaborative working group to facilitate dialogue about the athletic field, with the goal of finding a way forward that could best serve the interests of all parties. At the start, Edgewood refused DMNA’s requests to include the alder. Halfway through the twelve-week timeframe, Edgewood abruptly withdrew after agreeing to ground rules stating precisely that neither party would walk away before we concluded. Edgewood claimed to be withdrawing in order to prepare a modified proposal for our associations' review, but Edgewood never followed up.

These actions occurred on the heels of an abrupt change regarding the athletic field. After years of referring to it as a “practice field” in liaison meetings, in the Campus Master Plan, and in the press, shortly after the resurfacing of the field Edgewood vastly increased use of the field not only for practice, but also for competition. Prior to resurfacing of the field, fewer than 10 games per year were played on a field that was primarily used for practice. During the Spring and Fall 2019 semesters alone, without lights, Edgewood hosted 77 games. To date, Edgewood has yet to acknowledge that their use of the field has any adverse impacts on neighbors, despite numerous and increasing complaints to the school and the past three alders.

Edgewood High School has repeatedly stated that they have been a good neighbor, or were continuing to work with neighbors, or have sought compromise. From our perspective, Edgewood’s assertions are not only false but deliberately so. Edgewood has been attempting to steamroll neighbors and has used the institution’s resources and influence to bolster their false narrative in ways that adjacent neighbors or a neighborhood association could not hope to match. Edgewood has tried to convince everyone that the school is somehow a victim of neighbors’ intransigence, when in reality the school has only engaged us briefly since the field surface was upgraded, and then unilaterally withdrew from that engagement.

Noise, and why it leads us to oppose lights
Nearby neighbors are already experiencing disruptive noise during daylight hours, and their complaints are justified. The chief problem is the very close proximity of neighboring properties to the field. Even Edgewood’s own professional sound study (Legistar file #53954, attachment 9) estimates that noise levels from games with as few as 150 spectators would exceed the City’s noise ordinance limits. Unfortunately, the city’s noise ordinance is not written in a way that applies to stadiums. This is why Edgewood has been able to claim that noise levels will comply with City regulations. But that oversight in the noise ordinance does nothing to mitigate the decibel levels that seriously impact the use, value, and enjoyment of adjacent properties.

Allowing Edgewood to have lights will extend that disruption into the evening, and invite even larger crowds to nighttime events. This will increase harm to those closest to the stadium while extending noise to many more households in our neighborhood.

 No protections if lights are granted
We have also talked to the City of Madison about what enforcement mechanisms are in place if we agree to certain limitations with Edgewood, and then Edgewood does not comply. In addition to no protections offered by the noise ordinance, the City also has told neighbors that no matter how loud or frequent usage gets, it is unlikely any action will be taken under the City’s disturbing the peace ordinance, because responding police officers will consider all noise related to a sporting event reasonable for an athletic field. Beyond noise, City staff have indicated that they have no enforcement mechanism to stop Edgewood from playing more games than agreed upon, or when games are played, or to restrict use of the field to only Edgewood or other specific organizations, or to restrict the rental of the field to others. We have every reason to believe that Edgewood wishes to maximize use of its property.

We believe that neighboring property owners have every right to use their property as well. Last year, the City did not penalize or restrict Edgewood from playing games despite a zoning violation, even after the Zoning Board of Appeals affirmed the City’s zoning interpretation.

It appears that denying Edgewood lights is the only reasonable way to ensure that neighbors’ ability to use and enjoy their homes will not be further diminished by use of the field.

DMNA has found itself in a position where the negotiating partner does not follow their own rules, and the City has no way to enforce the rules. In this case, we can only reiterate that adding lights to Edgewood’s field would damage the livability of the homes near the field, by extending the hours of use, inviting even larger crowds, and increasing the disruptiveness of competitive games.

 A troubling policy precendent
Edgewood has threatened to re-establish their lawsuit against the City if they don’t get their way tonight. We are also concerned with the precedent that this sets. Recently, several large organizations — whether Taco Bell Cantina, Amazon, Silk Exotic or Edgewood — have determined that threatening the City with legal action is the best way to get what they want, regardless of what the City or local neighborhood thinks. The City has said repeatedly that it values neighborhood input and prioritizes the livability of neighborhoods, but when an organization with deep pockets can extend its lawsuit indefinitely, that seems to take priority. We hope that other entities don’t realize that a lawsuit is an easier way of getting what they want than a real discussion and a democratic vote.

 For these reasons, we strongly urge the Plan Commission to deny this permit.

March 3, 2020

Edgewood neighbors oppose F-35 as well

Marie Trest | Wisconsin State Journal

In response to the Feb. 21 letter to the editor “Edgewood enemies could aid F-35 fight,” those of us opposed to the Edgewood stadium are not enemies. We are neighbors, Edgewood alumni and parents, volunteers and lovers of Lake Wingra.

While many assume Edgewood just wants five night games a year, over 75 games were played in 2019. Far more than a few football games, these included outside users such as UW club lacrosse, which generates disruptive noise levels for surrounding neighbors and the Lake Wingra environment. Independent sound studies have demonstrated that even a small crowd at the stadium could generate sound levels on neighboring properties that could exceed the city’s noise ordinance.

This is why the group No New Stadium and most community members who are opposed to a stadium in close proximity to neighboring homes also oppose basing F-35 fighter jets in Madison. Individuals have supported North and East side neighborhoods with environmental impact statement comments and petitions, financial contributions, and expertise in analyzing noise estimates. We understand the harmful impacts of noise on quality of life and stand in solidarity with our North and East side neighbors.

Please stand in solidarity with all of us — wherever in Madison you reside — for healthy and livable neighborhoods.

February 10, 2020

Edgewood High School drops lawsuit against Madison, plans to apply for field lights

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

Edgewood High School dropped a federal lawsuit against the city of Madison Monday after a yearlong conflict over the use of the school's athletic field. 

Michael Elliott, the high school’s president, said in an email to Edgewood supporters that the school withdrew the lawsuit in a “good faith effort to try and resolve the issue of lighting on its on-campus athletic field without further litigation." Elliott said the school is beginning the application process for field lights.

The lawsuit alleged that the city discriminated against the private Catholic school on religious grounds by treating it differently than other high schools.

The city said Edgewood's master plan prohibited the school from hosting games on its field, but Madison’s public high schools’ games were allowed because they do not have master plans. Madison’s City Council approved repeal of the Edgewood's master plan in January, paving the way for daytime games but leaving the possibility of night games an open question.

Many neighbors of the school have long opposed night games and field upgrades, including lights, expanded seating and a sound system — even forming a group called No New Stadium. They say increased use of the field has disrupted the quiet character of their neighborhood with noise and traffic, and they don’t want the problem exacerbated with night games. 

In part because of neighbors’ concerns, the council in October approved an ordinance that requires Edgewood to get the city’s OK before adding lights to its field. 

Elliott said he expects the city will approve permits for Edgewood to install lights before the 2020-21 school year.

But some members of the City Council and the city’s Plan Commission have been sympathetic to neighbors’ concerns, so the lighting application could see a bumpy road.

The federal lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Edgewood can refile it and the city can use the same defenses. 

"While it is Edgewood’s sincere hope to not have to restart the litigation in the future, that option remains available to us as a last resort, if necessary," Elliott said. 

February 2, 2020

To our supporters

We are poised to continue working towards maintaining the livability of the neighborhoods surrounding the Edgewood High School campus.

Without a Master Plan in place, any significant changes to the Edgewood campus will trigger a Conditional Use Process with the City of Madison Plan Commission.

Conditional uses assure you and your neighbors that uses of adjacent properties will be as compatible as possible with property uses established in your neighborhood.

—City of Madison website

The neighborhoods have indicated support for EHS games on their field, but EHS has yet to acknowledge this. Meanwhile, we share the school’s values of truth, justice, compassion, community and partnership — and invite the high school to extend these same values to their immediate neighbors who live adjacent to their school grounds.

We will continue to keep you informed. We depend on your continued engagement in the upcoming public process moving forward, and are grateful for your questions, your presence, and your communications to the press and city staff.

Thank you for supporting No New Stadium,
The Steering Committee

January 8, 2020

Madison City Council: Edgewood can host games on field, repeal its master plan

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

After a yearlong battle with the city of Madison and surrounding neighbors, Edgewood High School can now host games on its athletic field — something the city prohibited last spring.

The City Council voted 15-5 to allow repeal of Edgewood’s master plan, which the city said limited the use of the athletic field to only practices and gym classes. The vote just met the three-fourths majority needed for approval after neighbors filed a successful petition against repeal.

Without the master plan, Edgewood has free reign to host games on the field, but cannot have night games unless it applies with the city to install lights.

Conflict over the field has been escalating for more than a year. Since late 2018, many neighbors have been organizing in opposition to field upgrades. Last spring, the city said all games are technically illegal. In August, the private Catholic school filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging religious discrimination.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said she was “disappointed” with how the conflict has unfolded.

“Bombs are flying in Iraq and this is what we’re talking about,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We could have done a much better job in resolving these issues before we got here.”

“The basis for the vote is the law,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We can’t break our own laws.”

She said Edgewood “loses the most” with repeal, but said “whether we like it or not” the master plan was voluntary, and Edgewood is allowed to get rid of it. She urged council members to vote in support of repeal.

Many neighbors testified against repeal Tuesday because the master plan contains an agreement to protect access to boardwalks along Lake Wingra, stormwater management plans, schedules for when gates close and limits on parking, noise and lighting.

“All of that would be trashed if this were repealed, just trashed,” said Ald. Rebecca Kemble, 18th District, who voted against repeal. Alds. Syed Abbas, Tag Evers, Grant Foster and Marsha Rummel voted with her.

Around 70 members of the public either registered or spoke against the master plan repeal, while around 135 registered or spoke in support of repeal.

Edgewood representatives said they wanted out of the master plan because it had become “burdensome” and a way for neighbors and the city to restrict the campus.

City staff made it clear that Madison’s ordinances allow Edgewood to scrap the plan.

Heather Stouder, city planning director, said Edgewood’s request met city standards for approval.

Assistant city attorney John Strange said the master plan is not a binding contract but a voluntary agreement. He said Edgewood was never required to have a master plan and is not required to have one now.

Said Evers, who represents the Edgewood neighborhood: “Voluntary in should not be construed as voluntary out.”

Despite disagreements, Edgewood High School President Mike Elliott shook hands with Evers after the meeting.

“Our goal is to communicate. Our goal is to continue to talk to the neighbors,” Elliott said. “I still think we can come together.”

January 2, 2020

Edgewood won't pursue compromise on athletic field, calls master plan ‘unwieldy, awkward’

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

Edgewood High School, neighbors and the city have been in disagreement over whether games can be played on the school’s athletic field for more than a year. Some think there's a possible compromise, but Edgewood doesn’t like that option.

The Madison City Council could vote as early as Tuesday on a proposal that would clear the way for home games at Edgewood High School over neighborhood objections, but some are questioning why the school won’t pursue a compromise the neighbors support.

The compromise would allow games to be played on the athletic field only during the day, but Edgewood isn’t interested, saying that path requires the school to jump through extra hoops and remain stuck in an agreement that has become “unworkable.”

Edgewood is asking the City Council to scrap its master plan, a move that would allow the school to use its field for games. The city says the plan does not allow games at all.

But nearby residents and the local alderman want Edgewood to amend the master plan to allow for daytime games only. They say the plan contains agreements that protect the neighborhood, and they see amending it as a compromise that allows for some games while preserving the quiet character and atmosphere of their neighborhood.

Edgewood, however, wants to get rid of the entire master plan. Edgewood High School president Michael Elliott said in an interview that having the plan has become burdensome because it gives the city the power to nitpick the school’s campus.

The master plan repeal request is set to go before the City Council on Tuesday.

Conflict over the field has been escalating for more than a year. Since late 2018 — after the school applied to the city for field upgrades including lighting, expanded seating and a sound system that would allow for night games such as football and soccer — many neighbors have been organizing in opposition.

Last spring, the city said all games are technically illegal. And in August, the private Catholic school filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging religious discrimination.

Edgewood’s master plan, approved by the City Council in 2014, states the intended use of the field is for practices and gym classes — without mentioning games.

Since August, Edgewood has been trying to get the plan terminated, but many nearby residents want to keep it in place because it contains agreements related to stormwater management, access to boardwalks along Lake Wingra, schedules for when gates will close, and limits on parking, noise and lighting, among other items that have been negotiated over many years, Evers said.

During the past five months, several members of Madison’s Plan Commission have suggested an option that would seem to give both sides what they want: Keep the master plan in place, but amend it to allow for daytime games. But Edgewood hasn’t taken it.

Ald. Tag Evers, 13th District, who represents the area, said Edgewood is taking “a shortcut” to get its way instead of sitting down with neighbors to find a solution.

Catherine Jagoe, who has lived down the street for 33 years, said she is “perplexed.”

“Why take the nuclear option when you have this very practical solution right in front of you?” she asked.

Elliott said the school is frustrated with the entire master plan process and wants out.

 “It’s not working the way it was intended,” Elliott said. “There was a clear, complete change of what we thought the purpose and the use of the master plan was going to be.”

‘Awkward,? ‘unworkable?
Matt Lee, Edgewood High School’s attorney, said the master plan has become “burdensome” and “unworkable.”

Ed Taylor, a spokesman for Edgewood College, said one problem is that the plan treats Edgewood as one institution instead of three separate schools. He said the high school, college and Edgewood Campus School, which serves students in grades 4K-8, are on the same property but are three distinct entities. The schools separated in September 2011.

Taylor called the master plan “unwieldy and awkward.”

Lee said any time one school wants to make changes to its property or amend something in the master plan that only applies to one school, the two other schools get dragged into the process, along with all of the surrounding neighborhood associations and multiple levels of city government.

Although the master plan is supposed to be a streamlined process for developments, Elliott said, projects can still get delayed, and having a master plan doesn’t provide much of an advantage.

If Edgewood didn’t have a master plan, it would go back to being zoned in the same way as Madison’s four public high schools, which do not have master plans. Those schools go through the conditional use permitting process when building something or requesting to change something about their zoning.

Elliott said the master plan process often requires Edgewood to “go above and beyond” city ordinances and the schools would rather use the conditional use process. If that practice works fine for other high schools, he said, it should be fine for Edgewood.

In a July letter, city attorney Michael May said repeal of the master plan would place Edgewood on “equal footing” with other area high schools. Elliott said that letter was the initial reason Edgewood applied to terminate the plan.

Frustration over the field
Another major reason the school decided to pursue repeal was frustration with the city’s decision “to all of a sudden say an athletic field can’t have athletic events on it” when the school has been hosting games for more than 90 years, Elliott said.

But Evers said Edgewood had “every opportunity” to explain it would use the field for games but was never transparent.

Elliott said he thought the purpose of the plan was to provide a 10-year vision for the future, not to define every single use of all buildings and facilities. Elliott said he never thought a single sentence would be put under a microscope to limit how Edgewood’s property could be used.

 “We didn’t say our classrooms had to be for learning,” Elliott said. “Why would you voluntarily want to have a master plan so that you could limit the uses of things you’ve done for years?”

The Madison city attorney’s office has noted master plans are voluntary, Edgewood was never required to have one and is not required to have one now.

Neighborhood relations

Jagoe — the neighbor of 33 years and a member of No New Stadium, the group that has organized against field upgrades — fears repeal could open the door to unlimited games.

 From her home down the street, Jagoe said she already frequently hears whistles, shouting, cheers and music from the field when she is inside with her windows closed. The sounds run contrary to the peaceful character of her neighborhood, which is walkable, great for cyclists and bordered by beautiful natural landscapes including the UW Arboretum, Lake Wingra and two other city parks.

 Jagoe said it’s fair for Edgewood to be able to play some games, but she doesn’t want it to become every day and night.

 “If the master plan is repealed, then they get carte blanche to really massively expand use,” Jagoe said.

 Elliott said Edgewood should be allowed to host games “without restrictions,” like other high schools.

 And Jagoe doesn’t want the agreements that protect her neighborhood to disappear along with the master plan.

 Elliott said throwing away those neighborhood agreements “is not the intention.”

 “We came to those agreements because we felt that they were being a good neighbor,” Elliott said. “And we want to continue to have conversations and be a good neighbor, but it has to be a two-way street. It has to be fair for both parties.”

 Evers said he is skeptical the agreements would be upheld because the school is already defying neighbors’ wishes by using the field so frequently. He said 77 games were held in 2019 after the city attorney’s office said it would temporarily not enforce the ordinance prohibiting games while the master plan conflict is ongoing.

 “There’s been a breach of trust,” he said.

 Despite the animosity, the school and neighbors say they are ready to move past it.

 “We want to continue to be a neighbor, not ‘Edgewood against the neighbors,’” Elliott said. “Our goal was never to sue the city.”

 Said Jagoe: “Historically, the neighborhoods have had a very good working relationship with Edgewood, and it would benefit everybody if we could get back to that.”

December 10, 2019

Plan Commission rejects Edgewood’s request to repeal master plan

Abigail Becker, Cap Times

Madison’s Plan Commission does not support Edgewood High School’s request to repeal its master plan, which would allow the educational institution to host games on its athletic field.

On a 5-3 vote Monday, the commission recommended the City Council deny Edgewood’s request. Commissioner Bradley Cantrell said maintaining the west side private school’s 10-year master plan will promote the standard of public health, safety and welfare required by the city.

“We made the right decision in 2014 in keeping it for another five years,” Cantrell said. “I understand that Edgewood has the right to ask for a repeal, but ... we’re party to the review and approval, and I believe that we should keep the master plan in place.”

In addition to Cantrell, commissioners Eric Sundquist, Jason Hagenow, Kathleen Spencer and Michael Rewey voted to deny the request for repeal. Alds. Patrick Heck, District 2; Marsha Rummel, District 6; and Lindsay Lemmer, District 3, were in favor of upholding Edgewood’s request.

The City Council will take up the issue at its Jan. 7 meeting.

Edgewood High School President Michael Elliott said in a statement that Edgewood is disappointed in the Plan Commission’s decision but looking forward to the City Council vote.

“From the start, Edgewood has simply asked for fair and equitable treatment for our student athletes,” Elliott said. “I would also like to thank the mayor and city staff for also working to that end. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work productively with the city.”

Edgewood and its immediate neighbors have been at odds for months over proposed changes to the Catholic school’s athletic field and whether the school can hold games on its field. The conflict escalated in August when Edgewood sued Madison, arguing under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that the city is treating the private school differently than its four public high schools.

This spring, the city’s zoning administrator discovered that Edgewood was in violation of its 2014 Master Plan by allowing athletic contests to occur on its field.

Educational institutions located within a campus institutional zoning district, such as Edgewood, can voluntarily create campus master plans. All buildings included in a 10-year master plan are considered approved and do not require additional City Council approval. The plan also designates the uses of various open spaces on campus.

Edgewood’s plan did not name athletic competitions as a proposed use.

Edgewood appealed the zoning administrator’s decision in June, but the Zoning Board of Appeals upheld city staff’s decision in July.

The city approved Edgewood’s voluntary master plan according to a zoning map amendment. The standard for the amendment states that the city should base the decision on “public health, safety and welfare, shall be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and shall comply with Wisconsin and federal law.”

The city applied the same standard when it zoned Edgewood into the campus institutional district without a master plan.

“The notion that public welfare is not met by not having (a master plan) now, I struggle with because nothing about the law has changed,” Strange said.

Strange said in a Nov. 11 memo to the commission that if the City Council ultimately decides to deny Edgewood’s request to repeal its voluntary master plan, it will need to explain how this standard was met in 2013 but is not met now.

Ald. Tag Evers, District 13, emphasized that an institution’s voluntary entrance into a master plan does not mean an automatic exit. He urged commissioners to make a “gut call” on what decision would “continue or promote public welfare or diminish it.

“Repealing a master plan would cause harm to public welfare and further damage relations between Edgewood and its neighbors,” Evers said.

Last October, Edgewood proposed plans for a new stadium with 1,200 seats, lights and a sound system. Neighbors opposed the project, saying the proposed changes would disrupt the neighborhood.

A grassroots group called No New Stadium rose up in opposition. After the meeting Monday, the group said in a statement that the Plan Commission’s vote “upholds the value of civic engagement.”

“Plan Commission saw the big picture here, and chose not to strip away our neighborhood's ability to defend itself against threats to its health and well-being,” the statement read.

The group was disappointed in the city attorney’s office explanation, which members said was “a narrow and limiting legal framework.”

“We hope our elected officials on the Common Council will understand that repealing the Master Plan does not bode well for healthy and vibrant city neighborhoods, wherever they are located,” the statement said. “The elephant in the room is Edgewood High School's religious discrimination lawsuit, and the decision today sends an encouraging message — that the threat of a lawsuit, however baseless, is not enough to get your way in city hall today.”

Sundquist said his vote to deny Edgewood’s request is not connected to the school’s stadium proposal.

“This is not a proxy vote in any way about the stadium,” Sundquist said.

Edgewood can apply for changes to its master plan to implement changes to its field.

In October, the Plan Commission signed off on a change that would require all entities without a master plan located in a particular zoning district to gain extra approval from the city before making changes to any outdoor uses.

If the City Council repeals Edgewood’s master plan, this would apply to Edgewood.

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.

December 10, 2019

City officials leave Edgewood’s master plan in place

Logan Rude | Channel 3000, Fox 47

The Madison Plan Commission is leaving Edgewood's master plan in place, essentially upholding the agreement prohibiting the college and high school from hosting nighttime sporting events at its field.

A city attorney said even though the master plan was upheld, the City Council still has the final say.

There is also still pending legal action. Edgewood filed a religious discrimination suit against the city in August, arguing it is the only high school and college in Madison that isn't allowed to host night games.

If the master plan were to stay in place that legal suit would likely move forward.

In a statement, Michael Elliot, the president of Edgewood High School, wrote, "From the start, Edgewood has simply asked for fair and equitable treatment for our student athletes. We look forward to the full council vote on Jan. 7."

December 10, 2019

Edgewood suffers another setback in attempt to host home games on its field

Emily Hamer, Wisconsin State Journal

Edgewood High School suffered another setback Monday in its battle to host games on its athletic field — something the city of Madison prohibited last spring.

The Plan Commission voted 5-3 to recommend rejection of Edgewood’s request to repeal its master plan, which contains wording that the city says limits use of the field to only practices and gym classes. The Madison City Council will make the final decision on the request at its Jan. 7 meeting.

Commission members said they thought it was best for the community to keep the master plan in place because it includes plans for future projects and agreements with the neighborhood.

But they struggled with legal advice from assistant city attorney John Strange, who said master plans are voluntary agreements, and Edgewood is not required to have one.

Ald. Marsha Rummel, 6th District, who voted in favor of repeal, said she felt “torn.”

“I think it’s a really good master plan,” Rummel said. “I don’t really know why Edgewood wants to repeal it, but again it’s their choice.”

Rummel and the other two City Council members on the Commission — Alds. Patrick Heck and Lindsay Lemmer — were the three who favored allowing Edgewood to dump its master plan.

Conflict over the athletic field began last spring when Edgewood was issued two notices of ordinance violations for games it held there. In August, Edgewood asked to repeal its master plan and filed a federal lawsuit alleging the city discriminated against it on religious grounds by treating it differently than other schools in the area.

Neighbors have also joined the fight over the field, arguing that games bring heightened traffic and noise to their neighborhood. A handful who have organized in support of the master plan were at Monday’s meeting with stickers on their clothes that read “No Exit.”

In a statement, the group, called No New Stadium, said it was happy the commission “chose not to strip away our neighborhood’s ability to defend itself against threats to its health and well-being.”

‘Public welfare’ vs. city law

Ald. Tag Evers, whose 13th District includes Edgewood, said the master plan represents years of negotiating with adjacent neighborhoods, including agreements related to stormwater management, access to Lake Wingra and limits on parking, noise and lighting, among others.

He said the master plan should be maintained because it better protects the welfare of his residents, as opposed to city ordinances alone.

Without a master plan, Edgewood’s zoning classification would revert to Campus Institutional, or CI — the same as for other high schools and colleges in Madison. Madison’s public high schools, for instance, do not have master plans and can host athletic games.

When CI-classified schools do not have master plans, they are still governed by zoning ordinances that protect “the health, safety and welfare” of the community, Strange said.

Strange said if the city determines that Edgewood does not meet that standard for public welfare without its master plan, he is concerned about what that could mean for other schools in the area.

“Even if you believe that public health, safety and welfare is better with the master plan, that doesn’t necessarily mean the standard for public welfare hasn’t been met,” Strange said.

Commissioner Bradley Cantrell said he “very rarely” objects to what the city attorney’s office determines, but said he thinks keeping the master plan in place will be better for the community.

He urged Edgewood to apply to amend the master plan to allow for games, instead of repealing it in its entirety.

December 9, 2019

Plan Commission votes to uphold Edgewood master plan

Channel 3000

November 14, 2019

Edgewood president disappointed by Madison Plan Commission delay

Nicholas Garton, Cap Times

An Edgewood High School official said the school is “extremely disappointed” with the outcome of the Madison Plan Commisson’s decision to further delay a decision on whether the west side Catholic school can have its master plan repealed and move toward hosting athletic events at an on-campus stadium. 

On Monday, the Plan Commission was unable to execute a vote on Edgewood’s proposal to repeal its master plan. Members of the commission voted 3-2 against allowing Edgewood to back out of its plan. But commission Chair Ledell Zellers declined to cast a vote, so the four-vote majority necessary to prevail wasn’t met. 

The Plan Commission ultimately decided to refer Edgewood’s proposal to the December 9 meeting.  

“The Edgewood High School Community was extremely disappointed with the outcome of more delay at the Plan Commission,” Edgewood president Michael Elliott said in a statement. “We felt city staff did an excellent job of providing accurate information as to why a repeal is an appropriate process and the right thing to do. We will continue to work with the city to find a fair and equitable solution for our students and the community.” 

Elliott said he believes there were some positive signs that came out of the Plan Commission meeting and he remains optimistic that Edgewood will gain the ability to back out of the master plan.  

“It is our intent to provide the Mayor, the Common Council, the Plan Commision, and the Edgewood Community with a forthcoming document highlighting the inaccuracies of some of the statements presented to the Plan Commission at the meeting,” he said. “We have followed the process that the City requested we follow and, in the Edgewood way, we have done so in a professional and honest manner.” 

During the Plan Commission meeting some members of the body, most vocally Michael Rewey, accused Edgewood of acting in bad faith with regards to how the school has executed athletic events on campus in 2019.  

On Oct. 3, 2018, Edgewood presented a proposal for its master plan that called for 46 maximum games to be played on its home field. According to documents provided to the Plan Commission, Edgewood had a total of four athletic events — all of which were freshman football games — during 2014. In 2013, five junior varsity football games took place on the field.  

According to Rewey, so far in 2019, 75 games have been played at the field, 23 of which did not involve Edgewood.  

Edgewood has sought to back out of a master plan that it voluntarily entered into in 2014 with the city. The master plan, which included multi-million dollar expansions to its performing arts space and an addition to the school’s commons, was largely supported at the time by area residents because it was self-funded and unintrusive. 

But organizations like the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association, which at one time supported what Edgewood was doing, now are speaking against the master plan repeal. 

November 14, 2019

Noise vs. jobs

Sally Young, Isthmus

Re: “Sound Check” (11/7/2019): As a community, are we always willing to trade quality of life for the vague promise of “more jobs” and a “better economy”? It puzzles me that, among our elected officials, few minds have been changed by the damning evidence provided by the Air Force itself in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. How can it be okay that officials who are representing citizens turn a blind eye to the enormous harm that will be done to the bodies, homes, and schools of the most vulnerable of those citizens? How can it be okay to demolish homes in a city where there is an affordable housing crisis? How can it be okay to allow unnecessary classroom disruptions in schools where there is the largest achievement gap in the country? How can it be okay to allow the poisoning of the water in our wells and lakes with no promise of clean-up?

In recent months, our community has been fraught with three big fights centered on the tension of noise vs. economic gain. Maybe these fights — the stadium at Edgewood, expansion of the Middleton airport, and the F-35s at Truax — are telling us that people are fed up and no longer willing to sacrifice the quality of daily life in their homes, schools, and parks for the twin chimeras of “jobs” and the “economy.” Maybe, at this moment in time, with the F-35s circling and the climate crisis looming, we are no longer willing to do that.

— Sally Young, via email

 November 12 , 2019

Vote on Edgewood master plan delayed again

Emily Hamer, Wisconsin State Journal

After a lengthy meeting Monday, the Madison Plan Commission again put off a decision on whether to allow Edgewood High School to repeal its master plan, which would open the door for the school to host games on its athletic field.

The Commission failed to get enough votes to pass or reject Edgewood High School's request to repeal, and instead unanimously decided to delay until Dec. 9, when more members are expected to be present for a vote.

Commission members initially voted 3-2 to keep the master plan, but the measure needed at least four votes to pass. Five members of the commission were absent.

The master plan, which was adopted in 2014, contains wording that the city said prohibits Edgewood from using the field for games and competitions. The plan says the intended use of the field is for practices and gym classes — without mentioning games. 

This past spring, Edgewood was issued two notices of ordinance violations for games it held at the field, sparking a months-long conflict between Edgewood and the city over the field’s use, which culminated in a federal lawsuit filed in August. Edgewood, a private Catholic school on the Near West Side, is alleging that the city of Madison religiously discriminated against it by treating it differently than other schools in the area.

Assistant City Attorney John Strange said allowing Edgewood to withdraw from its master plan agreement would put the school on "equal footing" with other area schools that do not have master plans and are allowed to host games under city zoning ordinances.  

Whether to allow games at Edgewood has elicited heated criticisms from neighbors who say increased use of the field heightens traffic and makes their neighborhood noisier.

Some of these concerns were addressed by a new ordinance adopted in October by the City Council that would require Edgewood to apply with the city before adding lights or a sound system to its field if the master plan is repealed.

But Ald. Tag Evers, who represents the area, said the master plan represents years of negotiating with the adjacent neighborhoods, including agreements related to storm water management, access to Lake Wingra and limits on parking, noise and lighting, among others. 

Commission member Eric Sundquist, who voted in favor of maintaining the master plan, said he thinks the plan best promotes the "public health, safety and welfare" of the community. 

Commissioners Michael Rewey and Jason Hagenow also voted to keep the plan. 

But Alds. Patrick Heck and Linsday Lemmer said they felt Edgewood should be allowed to repeal because it entered into its master plan voluntarily. 

Strange told commission members that master plans were made to be voluntary. Edgewood is "not required to have one," he said.

November 10, 2019

No Public Input on Edgewood at Plan Commission?

Brenda Konkel, Forward Lookout

Wow.  They haven’t had public input since August but the public hearing has been closed.  It’s unconscionable that Plan Commission wouldn’t re-open the public hearing and allow public input.

Yes, public input can be tedious when people repeat the same talking points and don’t add something new to the conversation, but it is an important part of the democratic process that is well worth the monotony for committee and council members.  I find public input has many gems in it and changes can happen because of good input.  Plus the themes that develop are important to determining legal requirements for making decisions.  The Edgewood Master Plan issue has been going back and forth with lawsuits and proposals for months now.  The item on the plan commission has been re-referred since August.

NO PUBLIC INPUT, PUBLIC HEARING IS CLOSED?

These notes appear on their agenda (Monday, 5:30):

Reminder: The Plan Commission closed the public hearing and referred this matter at its August 26, 2019 meeting.

Note: This item has generated a significant number of public comments related to the request. Due to the volume of comments, copies of those comments have not been provided to the Plan Commission with their printed materials for this meeting. However, all of the comments received have been attached to the legislative file (ID 56839). Comments received for the August 26, 2019 meeting may be found at the “Public_Comments_PC_8-26-19.pdf” link. Comments received since may be found at the “Public_Comments_PC_11-11-19.pdf” link. The Plan Commission is encouraged to review those comments in advance of the meeting.

NEW INFORMATION

Staff have new comments as of 10-28-19, which is after the last public input was given.  In those comments they note:

In recommending referral of the repeal request on August 26, members of the Plan Commission requested more information on the impacts of repeal, the relationship between repealing the master plan and the proposed changes to the Campus-Institutional (CI) zoning district, and the status of the agreements that governed the property before the property was zoned CI. This memo briefly summarizes staff’s perspective on those three questions.

So Plan Commission was seeking additional information as well.  Why wouldn’t they allow the public to comment on it?

There is also a new ordinance in place. The staff report says:

On October 1, 2019 the Common Council adopted the Third Substitute for Ordinance 19-00069 (ID 56981), amending various provisions in the CI zoning district of the Zoning Code. The Plan Commission recommended approval of the third substitute at its September 16 meeting.

The approved text amendment more clearly delineates the difference between indoor and outdoor uses and clarifies that the construction of a new building or additions to existing buildings that exceed 4,000 square feet in floor area within any five-year period in a CI district without an adopted master plan require conditional use approval. Further, the amendment requires that primary and secondary uses occurring outside of enclosed buildings obtain conditional use approval, including outdoor sports and recreational facilities, surface parking, utilities and transportation facilities, and open stadiums and arenas, except that the Zoning Administrator may issue permits to repair or replace any existing facility related to a primary or secondary use if the proposed facility is of a similar built condition and at a similar location on the zoning lot as the existing facility. The approved text amendment also adds “places of worship” as a primary use in CI zoning, whereas it had previously been a secondary use.

In the event that the repeal of the Edgewood Campus Master Plan is approved as requested by the three Edgewood institutions, the campus would be subject to the provisions in Section 28.097 of the Zoning Code as amended on October 1, which are applicable to all CI districts without adopted master plans.

Clearly things have changed and the public should be able to comment on those changes and how it impacts this decision.

CHILLING EFFECT/COUNCIL END UP DOING COMMITTEE WORK

The note on the agenda isn’t really in plain language, but will likely prevent people from coming to show up.  And Tag Evers blog post explains the note and most likely will prevent people from showing up to express their concerns about everything that has happened since August.

Worse yet, if people can’t come to the plan commission to testify, then anything they have to say will be done at the council meeting and the council will end up doing the job of the plan commission.

PLAN COMMISSION CAN FIX THIS

The Plan Commission can re-open the public hearing and allow the public to comment on the new information that has been obtained since August.  In fact, they probably should given the protest petitions (elector, owner) (requires council to pass the motion with 3/4 votes of the council)  Otherwise they may be inviting further lawsuits.

All they need to do it for someone to make a motion, someone to second and they vote to re-open the public hearing.  When they re-open the public hearing they could even limit it to people who haven’t yet spoken or to have people only speak to new issues.

I’d be really disappointed if they don’t re-open the public hearing.  If they don’t want to do their jobs, they should step aside and let the approximately 60 others that want to be on plan commission do the job.

 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.

Upcoming decision is critical

The decision determining the proposed Edgewood campus exit from the Master Plan is scheduled.

Contact the Plan Commission and Common Council at allalders@cityofmadison.com and ask them to vote NO on ordinance #56839, Repealing the Campus Master Plan for Edgewood.

 Defend the public process. Tentative meeting dates and times follow:

PLAN COMMISSION MEETING
Monday, December 9 @ 5:30 PM
City-County Building
210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Room 201

The public hearing for this item is closed, so there will not be an opportunity for further public comment at the Plan Commission. You can show up and fill out a form to register your opposition.

The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association wrote this about preserving the Master Plan:

The creation of this plan was a transparent and collaborative process involving all three campus schools, both adjacent neighborhoods and the City Planning Department. To respect this past process and maintain the integrity of civic engagement for the city of Madison moving forward, DMNA requests that proposed changes to the current Master Plan be made through amendments, rather than through revocation of the entire plan.

Attend the Common Council meeting

Tuesday, December 17 @ 6:30 PM
City-County Building
210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Room 201

We urge everyone opposing the stadium to attend this meeting. Every person present who opposes this is a statement in itself. There will be o New Stadium representatives to help you fill out the form. While you don't have to speak, if you can register in opposition and stay as long as possible throughout their vote, it will help our cause.

• Arrive early . Seating and speaking are on a first come, first serve basis.

• Sign-in. You can indicate if you want to speak on the sign-in sheet.

• Time limit for speaking is 3 minutes.

We can do this together.

November 3, 2019

Edgewood plans mired in controversy

 Nikole Jaramillo, Edgewood College student

Edgewood High School’s plans for a new athletic stadium, announced back in February of this year, has been met with a series of controversies. Recently, Edgewood has filed a lawsuit against the City of Madison for religious discrimination.

Edgewood announced its decision to terminate the Master Plan, which Edgewood voluntarily entered in order to avoid having to go through Plan Commissions for each new project, earlier this year. Edgewood Goodman Athletic Complex’s FAQ says, “Edgewood will be agreeing to forego the benefits of the Master Plan, however, the City has indicated Edgewood would then be placed on “equal footing” with other Campus-Institutional zoned properties”.

In July 2019 the decision to terminate the plan rather than seek an amendment was made at the recommendation of Edgewood’s City Attorney, as well as the mayor.

 According to Edgewood, the City of Madison, in refusing to allow zoning and not allowing Edgewood to host day games without citation, has not been fair in its treatment of the school compared to the public schools.

Unlike other Madison schools, Edgewood voluntarily adopted a master plan to allow uses. President Mike Elliott’s letter to the Edgewood community states that back in fall 2018, Edgewood was suddenly told by the City that games could not be played on the field, despite having done so for 100 years.

He states, “The city decided to state that Edgewood’s master plan needed to explicitly spell out all activities to be performed on the field and if an activity was not listed in the master plan, the field could not be used for that activity”, and says that only Edgewood was expected to follow this rule. It is this unequal treatment that partially fueled Edgewood’s decision to take legal action.

However, unlike Madison’s public schools, Edgewood’s stadium is in much closer proximity to more homes in the neighborhood. The edge of the field is only 88 feet away from the nearest residential property. Meanwhile, the 2 public high schools with their own stadiums have a greater distance away from the nearest resident. In addition, none of these high schools are part of a campus as large as Edgewood’s, therefore none have a Master Plan to amend or exit.

Prior to Edgewood’s lawsuit, Madison’s Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway did introduce an ordinance to let Edgewood exit the Master Plan. On August 21st, Rhodes-Conway announced she would no longer support this ordinance after Edgewood filed the lawsuit.

In a written statement to numerous news outlets, Rhodes-Conway said, “The city of Madison does not discriminate against any religion. Edgewood High School is free to pursue the repeal of its master plan utilizing normal city processes. I encourage Edgewood High School to work with its neighbors to resolve ongoing tensions over the proposal to have a limited number of night games.”

According to Elliott in the June 15th, 2015 print of the Wisconsin State Journal, the Master Plan specifies that the field would only be used for practices and class to mind the needs of the neighborhood.

The new stadium plans include additional seating, lighting, and parking as well as plans to host night games. The neighborhood was led to believe that these would not be included, according to Yael Gen, a source with volunteer citizen group, No New Stadium.

 Allegedly, a new stadium is needed because Middleton is no longer available. However, Gen said that “emails revealed that Edgewood had cancelled the arrangement, not Middleton”.

 “We believe the high school’s decision to file a religious discrimination lawsuit against the City of Madison was a “hail Mary” pass because they feared they wouldn’t get what they wanted using the normal approval process everyone else in the city needs to use,” said Gen.

Neighborhood Concerns

Concerns neighbors share over Edgewood’s new stadium plan include disruption of the neighborhood and environment, including the behavioral issues from alcohol to altercations well known to occur at football games, as well as the impact on beloved recreational spaces such as Lake Wingra and the Arb. Despite Edgewood’s promise that higher technology would mitigate any negative effects as far as lights and sound are concerned, No New Stadium’s noise study as well as one commissioned by the high school “show noise would exceed legal city levels and the lights cast a glare for blocks around”.

On working with the neighborhood over new stadium plans, Elliott wrote in his letter that the concerns raised were researched and studied. He said that traffic would be improved since peak time was taken off and parking would be on Edgewood Campus and self-proposed restrictions for types of events, end of event times, and number of events were made.

However, he stated that the only feedback received from the neighborhood was “no”, along with admonition that Edgewood needs to work with the neighborhood.

 “Based on the extensive efforts by Edgewood [noted in his letter], we say it’s the neighbors who need to start working with Edgewood”.

On September 13th, in a good-faith effort to ease tensions, the Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association (DMNA) released a statement supporting Edgewood High School teams playing day games on the athletic field, within reasonable parameters, and asks for a to return to the Master Plan process to achieve this.

No New Stadium is clear that it is night games that are the concern as the noise, light, and traffic generated in a dense neighborhood is “unacceptable”.

In the past, the neighborhood was very cooperative with other large-scale projects— such as a college dormitory, the new $9.8 million theater, and a dozen other building projects.

In a written response, Gen said, “In the past, the Campus worked with the liaison committee to hammer out agreements with the neighbors. There was a long history of partnership. Now, we feel deceived and bullied.”

In Edgewood’s perception of their uncooperativeness, the neighborhood now feels that Edgewood’s actions are in direct conflict with Dominican values of Truth, Compassion, Justice, Community and Partnership.

 “There were over 70 games this year in violation of the zoning code. EHS simply thumbed its nose at the neighbors and the law. This seems to be in direct conflict to the Dominican values,” said Gen.

Additionally, opposers to the new stadium are facing harassment. Incidents include stolen “No New Stadium” signs from properties, threatening mail and post cards —such as a post card with a picture of a coffin and a message suggesting that is where the receiver should end up next — sent directly to the homes of the most vocal members, and a brick being thrown through the window of a home with a “No New Stadium” sign.

Though a police investigation is underway, No New Stadium chose not to say anything publicly in hopes of reaching a compromise with the high school.

 “We still hope for that,” said Gen. “But the truth is that there is a huge difference between what Edgewood claims are its values and the way stadium supporters have been treating the neighborhood...So, the idea that THEY think they are being discriminated against is pretty ironic.”

No New Stadium made it clear that they are not accusing Edgewood staff or students of being responsible for the harassment.

October 12, 2019

Stadium could ruin neighborhood

Margaret Teeters, Edgewood High School Alumna, Ellicott City, MD | Wisconsin State Journal*

I am an alumna of Edgewood High School. Edgewood has contributed greatly to my life. But their current threat to the beautiful, historic neighborhood in the Dudgeon-Monroe and Vilas areas and Lake Wingra watershed is very troubling.

I am opposed to the construction of a stadium, sound system, 80-foot lights, and seating for 1,000+ people with the proposed rentals to outside groups. In the past, Edgewood has built architecturally beautiful and sustainable buildings, and preserved the environment through careful collaboration with neighbors. I would be proud to live across the street from Edgewood as it is. I would not want to live across from a stadium with increasing noise from crowds, amplified sounds systems, traffic, and sky glow of LED lights.

I know alumni who are reluctant to come forward publicly and express their opposition because of harassment and intimidation tactics such as threatening postcards and theft of signs posted in the neighborhood opposing the stadium. Edgewood alumni have been urged to support the stadium. But all alumni do not support every decision that Edgewood makes. What has happened to Edgewood’s values of community, justice, and partnership?

Let the kids play night games — but not in a residential neighborhood.

*Note that this letter was published in edited form on the madison.com website

 Keep the master plan

Meeting Postponed!

OCTOBER 11, 2019. Edgewood High School has requested that the master plan exit hearing be referred to October 28. It will not be discussed in the October 14 and 15 Plan Commission and Common Council meetings. We will keep you informed of any new developments.

The decision determining whether or not to allow Edgewood to exit the Master Plan was referred from the Common Council back to the Plan Commission. We OPPOSE the exit.

Please contact the Plan Commission and Common Council and ask them to vote NO on ordinance #56839 (Repealing the Campus Master Plan for Edgewood ).

October 2, 2019

Madison to require Edgewood, other schools to get permission for outdoor changes

Abigail Becker | Cap Times

 Madison’s City Council signed off on a change that would require all entities without a master plan located in a particular zoning district 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 own 10-year master plan.

On a voice vote Tuesday, the City Council voted to change Madison’s language governing schools located in the Campus Institutional zoning district. The decision comes after Edgewood sued the city over whether the school can hold athletic games on its field.

Ald. Sheri Carter, District 14, opposed the measure.

“I really felt that Edgewood was being targeted,” Carter said.

Last year, Edgewood proposed a spate of changes to its athletic field, including the addition of seats, lighting and a sound system, that would allow it to host sporting events at night. Neighbors opposed the project, saying the proposed changes would disrupt the neighborhood.   

Throughout this process, the city discovered that Edgewood was in violation of its 2014 Master Plan. Edgewood was unsuccessful in its appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals and ultimately sued the city. The west side Catholic high school argued that the city is treating it differently than Madison's four public high schools.

If the city repeals the school’s master plan, Edgewood would be able to use its field for games.

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.

Ald. Tag Evers, District 13, said the zoning amendment protects a public process that allows residents to weigh in on potential changes in their neighborhoods.

“Public process is a very common, reasonable expectation for any landowner that wishes to make changes that impact a neighborhood,” Evers said.

No New Stadium, a group of neighbors opposing Edgewood’s proposed changes, supported the City Council’s decision and called the zoning change an “appropriate, common-sense fix to an oversight in the zoning code.”

“New buildings, additions, or land use changes can have a significant impact on those beyond an institution's property line, so there is strong public interest in establishing a process for community and city input in such cases,” the group said in a statement.

The ordinance also clarifies that secondary uses in a Campus Institutional district must be predominantly used in a way that is directly related and complementary to the institution’s primary uses.

Additionally, it confirms that the zoning administrator can issue permits to repair or replace any existing facility related to a primary or secondary use as long as the proposed facility is made of similar materials and at a similar location as the existing facility.

The Plan Commission will consider repealing Edgewood’s master plan at its Oct. 14 meeting.

Repealing the master plan will also require approval from the City Council to take effect. The City Council will discuss the master plan Oct. 15.

October 1, 2019

Edgewood, other schools now need city OK for major changes to outdoor facilities

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

 If Edgewood High School wants to add lights or a sound system to its athletic field, it will have to get the city’s OK — even if the school is successful in repealing its master plan — under an ordinance change the Madison City Council approved Tuesday.

UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College and Madison’s public high schools also will now have to get city approval before making major changes to outdoor spaces.

The private Catholic school on the Near West Side has been trying to repeal its master plan for months because the city says that wording in the plan prohibits students from playing games and competitions on its athletic field. According to the school’s master plan, the intended use of the field is for practices and gym classes.

Last spring, Edgewood was issued two notices of ordinance violations for games it held at the field, sparking a months-long conflict between Edgewood and the city over the field’s use that culminated last month in a federal lawsuit. Edgewood is alleging religious discrimination by the city, claiming the city is treating it differently than other schools in the area.

Ald. Tag Evers, whose district includes Edgewood, said the measure approved Tuesday closes a “loophole” that would have allowed schools zoned like Edgewood to make major changes to outdoor spaces without getting approval from the city.

Before Tuesday’s change, the ordinance had required schools to get approval from the city Plan Commission before making changes to large buildings, but made no mention of open spaces and outdoor facilities, such as athletic fields. If Edgewood was successful in getting city approval to repeal its master plan later this month, the school would not only be allowed to play games on its field, but also would have been able to add lights and a sound system without city approval.

That possibility alarmed neighbors frustrated with noise from increased use of the field over the last several years. They are concerned that adding lights would open the door for Edgewood to host nighttime football games, bringing more noise and traffic to the neighborhood.

Under the ordinance changes, approved on a near-unanimous voice vote, all schools zoned as Campus Institutional, or CI, Districts must apply for a conditional-use permit when making modifications to outdoor facilities. The ordinance does not require a conditional use process for minor changes, such as repairs.

CI-zoned schools affected by the change also include UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College and Madison’s public high schools.

Ald. Sheri Carter, 14th District, voted against the ordinance change, saying she felt it was “unfairly” targeted at Edgewood “and not trying to bring the schools under one umbrella.”

Edgewood’s master plan repeal will be taken up by the Plan Commission on Oct. 14.

September 16, 2019

Freedom From Religion Foundation disputes Edgewood’s claims

In a letter to the Madison Common Council dated September 16, Patrick Elliott, senior counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) wrote:

FFRF attorneys have reviewed the complaint filed by Edgewood in federal court. Edgewood’s claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), related to building outdoor lighting ( and other building conditions), are meritless.

…Edgewood’s request to repeal the master plan. During the Common Council’s September 3, 2019 meeting, representatives of Edgewood contended that changing the zoning requiremens for schools without mastre plans would not put Edgewood on equal footing with other schools (if and when the master plan is repealed). This contention is also meritless.

A federal court already rejected a similar RLUIPA claim in Missouri.

Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national non-profit organization. Its purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

September 17, 2019

Edgewood would need city permission to make field changes under Plan Commission recommendation

Abigail Becker | Capital Times

Under a recommendation from Madison’s Plan Commission, Edgewood High School would be required to obtain additional permission to make changes to its field if the city also repeals a master plan overseeing development at the private west side school.

On a voice vote Monday, Plan Commission members unanimously recommended the change to the city’s zoning language governing schools located within a particular zoning district. The decision comes after Edgewood sued Madison over whether the Catholic school can hold athletic contests on its field. 

“I would hope that the games that are being operated now upon the field can continue,” Commissioner Bradley Cantrell said. “If Edgewood feels they would like to proceed on lighting or other modifications to their field, I would encourage them to go through the conditional use process to do that.” 

Currently, schools without a campus master plan located within the Campus Institutional zoning district do not need approval from the city to create uses that occur outside of an enclosed building. These types of uses include outdoor sports and recreational facilities. 

The main change within the zoning text amendment is that all entities in the Campus Institutional zoning district without master plans would need conditional use approval for any outdoor uses and site changes. 

Opponents to the change argued the zoning change is unclear and takes away any permitted uses on campuses. Nathan Wautier, an attorney representing Edgewood, suggested the change is “selectively regulating” Edgewood. 

Matt Lee, another attorney representing Edgewood, was more blunt. 

“This ordinance is blatantly, nakedly designed and written to prevent Edgewood from, once its master plan goes away, being able to play games on its field, put lights on its field, put up modest additional seating around its field for spectators just like Memorial has, just like La Follette has, just like every other high school in the city has the right to do,” Lee said. 

Those in favor of the change, like the Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association, argue the conditional use permit process that would be implemented if the master plan is repealed keeps residents involved. 

“Public engagement is essential when any institution seeks to make a land use change that will have a significant impact on those beyond their property line,” DMNA vice president Diego Saenz said.

Edgewood and UW-Madison have adopted master plans, so it would not immediately affect these schools. However, Edgewood requested the city terminate its master plans as a way to use its field for games — an ability that is not allowed under the voluntary master plan that the private school pursued.

UW-Madison, Madison College and the Madison Metropolitan School District did not have concerns with the change. 

The Plan Commission will consider repealing Edgewood’s master plan at its next meeting Oct. 14. Both the zoning change and repealing the master plan will require approval from the City Council to take effect. 

The City Council will discuss the zoning change Oct. 1 and the master plan Oct. 15. 

The ordinance also clarifies that secondary uses in a Campus Institutional district must be predominantly used in a way that is directly related and complementary to the institution’s primary uses.

Additionally, it confirms that the zoning administrator can issue permits to repair or replace any existing facility related to a primary or secondary use as long as the proposed facility is made of similar materials and at a similar location as the existing facility. 

Support for games with ‘reasonable restrictions’

Last year, Edgewood proposed adding seats, lighting and a sound system to its athletic field that would allow it to host sporting events at night. Neighbors opposed the project, saying the added lights, noise and traffic would disrupt the neighborhood. 

Throughout this process, the city discovered that Edgewood was in violation of its 2014 Master Plan. 

After the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals affirmed that the school could not use its field for athletic contests, Edgewood sued the city, arguing that the city is treating Edgewood differently than Madison’s four public high schools. 

If the city repeals the school’s master plan, Edgewood would be able to use its field for athletic contests. 

Now, DMNA and a group of neighbors opposing Edgewood’s proposed changes, called No New Stadium, are supporting restricted use of the field for games.

They would liked Edgewood to keeps its master plan but seek an amendment from the Plan Commission for permission to play games on the field. 

In a Sept. 13 letter, Saenz said that limiting the times, amounts and types of field uses in ways that minimize disruption to neighbors, such as day time use only, “seems both reasonable and achievable.” 

“DMNA understands the importance of the field to Edgewood High School and is interested in finding a path forward that meets both neighborhood and institutional needs,” Saenz said in the letter. 

The No New Stadium group supports the zoning text amendment because the conditional use process provides opportunity for public input. 

“In a good-faith effort to break the impasse over use of the athletic field, No New Stadium announces that it will support Edgewood HS teams playing day games on the athletic field, within reasonable parameters, and asks Edgewood High School to return to the Master Plan process to achieve this,” the group said in a statement.

READ THE DMNA STATEMENT

September 17, 2019

The Madison Plan Commission

Edgewood needs to apply with city to add lights, sound to field

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

The city of Madison is one step closer to ensuring Edgewood High School seeks city approval before installing lights or a sound system on its athletic field — improvements that the school has been trying to make for months despite opposition from neighbors concerned about noise from games.

At its meeting Monday, the city’s Plan Commission unanimously recommended that the Madison City Council approve a measure that would require Edgewood to apply with the city before making any improvements or modifications to its field if the school is successful in repealing its master plan.

Edgewood requested to repeal its master plan in July after a city zoning administrator determined that wording in the school’s master plan prohibits Edgewood from using the field for games and competitions.

This past spring, Edgewood was issued two notices of ordinance violations for games it held at the field, sparking a months-long conflict between Edgewood and the city over the field’s use, which culminated last month in a federal lawsuit. Edgewood, a private Catholic school, is alleging that the city of Madison religiously discriminated against it by treating it differently than other schools in the area.

At Monday’s meeting, Matt Lee, an attorney representing Edgewood, called the recommended proposal a “scheme” that “does nothing but perpetuate the unequal treatment of Edgewood in the application of the city’s zoning laws.”

“This ordinance is blatantly, nakedly designed and written to prevent Edgewood from — once its master plan goes away — being able to ... put lights on its field, put up modest additional seating around its field for spectators,” Lee said.

But Plan Commission member Eric Sundquist said the measure would close a “loophole” that allows schools zoned like Edgewood to make major modifications to outdoor spaces without any city approval, something Sundquist said these schools shouldn’t be allowed to do.

Edgewood High School, UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College and Madison’s public high schools are zoned as Campus Institutional Districts, or CI, meaning they are all governed by the same zoning ordinances. Under current city ordinances, these CI districts can play games on their fields and make improvements or modifications to open spaces, such as the athletic field, without getting additional approval from the city.

Edgewood’s master plan effectively imposes additional restrictions on the school. If the plan is repealed, Edgewood would revert back to being under only the CI zoning rules.

Under the ordinance recommended Monday by the Plan Commission, all of the CI-zoned schools would be required to apply for a conditional use permit when making any modifications or improvements to existing outdoor facilities. Before, this process was only required for changes to buildings of more than 4,000 square feet, not outdoor spaces.

The ordinance does not require a conditional use process for minor changes, such as repairing or replacing things. Sundquist said a previous version of the proposal made it seem like “virtually anything” would be considered a conditional use, and the new draft fixes that.

Assistant city attorney John Strange said the measure does not prohibit Edgewood from playing daytime games on its field, but to get lights for nighttime games the school would need to get a conditional use permit.

“The (daytime) games would be allowed to be played there if the master plan goes away,” Strange said.

Of about 10 people who spoke on the ordinance change, only the three attorneys representing Edgewood were opposed to the measure, while the rest supported the conditional use process. More than 30 people registered in support but did not speak.

“We are not opposed to the kids playing football,” said Barbara Erlenborn, who lives across the street from the field. “We need to get out of the lawsuits, get out of the suing. Let’s get back to the compromise table.”

Another option open to Edgewood is applying to amend its master plan to include games and competitions as an accepted use of the field, instead of repealing the plan in its entirety. Plan Commission members encouraged Edgewood to pursue that route.

The Madison City Council will consider the ordinance changes to CI districts at its Oct. 1 meeting. The master plan repeal will be taken up by the Plan Commission on Oct. 14.

September 13, 2019

No New Stadium supports limited competitive use

In a good-faith effort to break the impasse over use of the athletic field, No New Stadium announces that it will support Edgewood HS teams playing day games on the athletic field, within reasonable parameters, and asks Edgewood High School to return to the Master Plan process to achieve this.

We agree with the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association’s statement supporting limited competitive use.

READ THE DMNA STATEMENT

September 8, 2019

Police report 20 arrests, 22 citations during first home football game

Matthew DeFour | Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison police made 20 arrests and issued 22 citations during Saturday's first home football game of the season.

The number of arrests and citations are similar to last year's first two home football Saturdays.

Of the 22 citations, 21 were issued to UW students. All but one of the arrests were also UW students.

Nineteen of the citations were for underage alcohol and three were for possessing a false ID.

Police reported 30 ejections from the game, including 24 UW students. There were 11 paramedic calls, two ambulance conveyances, 24 first aid calls, three people taken to detox and eight people who had a blood-alcohol level of .20 or higher.

September 6, 2019

It’s been a busy month already

SEPTEMBER 3. The decision determining whether or not to allow Edgewood to exit the Master Plan was referred from the Common Council back to the Plan Commission. Also referred was the decision to modify the Campus Institutional District ordinance requiring institutions in CI Districts without an approved Master Plan to get conditional use approval for the establishment, improvement or modification of specified uses.

Here are the new dates for these to be considered by the City:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 - Plan Commission - CI amendment

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 - Common Council - CI amendment

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14 - Plan Commission - Master Plan

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 - Common Council - Master Plan

If you have not weighed in already please contact the Plan Commission and Common Council and ask them to vote No on ordinance #56839 (Repealing the Campus Master Plan for Edgewood ) and YES on #56981 (Amending Madison General Ordinances to require conditional use approval) .

 AUGUST 26. A Protest Petition against the repeal of Section 28.022-00117 of the Madison General Ordinance adopting the Campus Master Plan was filed at the City Planning Department. Signatories had to live within 100 feet of the campus to sign, own their property, and all owners had to sign and be notarized to be legitimate. Households in both Vilas and Dudgeon-Monroe signed, and the total number of signatories was well over the requisite 20%.

…

No New Stadium recognizes every donation that has kept us afloat for nearly a year and extends special thanks to the amazing E I G H T E E N donors who stepped up to the plate since August 27 to help us meet our outstanding legal bills! These donations came not only from nearby neighbors, but from other city residents who want to preserve the experience of enjoying the serenity of Lake Wingra. We couldn’t do this without all of you.

September 4, 2019

Further delay on Edgewood vote

Emily Hamer | Wisconsin State Journal

The council voted to further delay a decision on whether to repeal Edgewood High School’s master plan, which the city has said prohibits the school from hosting games on its athletic field.

Edgewood requested to repeal its master plan in July, but at an Aug. 26 meeting, the city Plan Commission voted to delay a vote on that request for three weeks. On that timeline, the master plan vote would have been taken up on the Sept. 16 Plan Commission meeting and the Oct. 1 city council meeting.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the city council voted 15-4 to delay the master plan vote for more than a month to the Oct. 14 Plan Commission meeting and Oct. 15 City Council meeting.

Ald. Shiva Bidar, 5th District, said the reason for the delay was to allow another proposal to get through the Plan Commission and City Council first. That proposal would require Edgewood High School to apply with the city before making modifications, such as adding lights or a sound system, to its field if the master plan is repealed.

City Council members who serve on the Plan Commission said they would like to know what the council decides on the field modification measure before voting on the master plan repeal. The council voted to keep that proposal on the earlier, Sept. 16 and Oct. 1 timeline.

August 28, 2019

Edgewood Master Plan decision delayed

For Immediate Release

Date: 8/28/2019
Press Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850

Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

City Defers Decision on Edgewood Campus Master Plan
After many hours of public testimony from members of the Vilas and Edgewood neighborhoods and other city residents who use Lake Wingra, the Arboretum and the two city parks next to the Edgewood campus, the Plan Commission voted on August 26 to defer its decision on Edgewood’s request for early termination of its Master Plan.

The ten-year Master Plan, approved by the city in 2014 and incorporated as part of its zoning code, is a finely-crafted and negotiated contract between the neighborhoods and the 55-acre campus that codifies agreements covering everything from environmental protections to new construction to land use.

 Without a Master Plan, surrounding homes and businesses and some of Madison's most beloved public lands would lose essential rights and protections. That is why the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association, the Vilas Park Neighborhood Association, the Greenbush Neighborhood Association, and members of the Friends of Lake Wingra as well as dozens of city residents turned out Monday to ask the Plan Commission to hold Edgewood to its commitments and to use established processes to amend the Master Plan if it wants to make any changes.

 We have faith in the Plan Commission and the process that has served Madison so well and earned it a national reputation as one of the most livable cities in the nation. By deciding to defer the matter to its September 16 meeting, it appears the Plan Commission is focusing on the city's zoning code and standards, and not on the bullying tactics of an institution threatening religious discrimination if it is not allowed to do whatever it wants with its land regardless of the impact on its surroundings.

 The entire city should be grateful for the Plan Commission’s exercise of restraint and deliberation. Giving in to Edgewood’s threat — that it will pursue the religious discrimination lawsuit it filed last week in federal court against the city if it isn't allowed to walk away from the agreements spelled out in the Master Plan and build a football stadium — would set a dangerous precedent for public policy-making.

The Plan Commission or city should not create a mechanism for Edgewood to play games on its field, unless such a solution has been developed in true partnership with neighbors.There is room in the current process for Edgewood to amend its Master Plan to accomplish this. There is no need for Edgewood to exit the Master Plan or to sue the city to achieve this goal.

### 

August 22, 2019

Edgewood offered to “coordinate messaging” on lawsuit with mayor

School said it was “sensitive” to perception about suing city for religious discrimination

Judith Davdidoff | Isthmus

A lawyer for Edgewood High School warned Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway in an Aug. 19 email that Edgewood intended to file suit against the city for violating its religious rights. In the same email, Nathan J. Wautier, an attorney for Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, extended a strange invite to the party that he intended to sue. 

“If the mayor’s office would like to coordinate messaging with Edgewood, we would be happy to discuss that with her representatives,” Wautier wrote to Mary Bottari, chief of staff to Rhodes-Conway. 

Wautier acknowledged that Edgewood was “sensitive to the public perception of filing a lawsuit against the city for religious discrimination, especially after the city attorney and the mayor sponsored an ordinance calling for the withdrawal of Edgewood’s Campus Master Plan.” Edgewood wants out of its master plan in order to hold competitions, with lights and amplification, on its athletic field, something that is strongly opposed by residents in the surrounding neighborhood.  

Wautier also wrote that Edgewood did not intend to “publicize its lawsuit.” But, he added, “if the press learns about it and seeks comments from Edgewood, Edgewood will make it clear that it filed the lawsuit at this time solely to preserve its legal rights, that it has worked cooperatively with the mayor and city attorney to advance the withdrawal ordinance, and that it urges the Common Council to pass the withdrawal ordinance in such a way that hopefully renders the lawsuit unnecessary.”    

Wautier is out of town but Matt Lee, another lawyer for Edgewood, responded to questions about Edgewood’s offer to coordinate messaging. “Edgewood intended to tailor its public messaging to emphasize that its preferred solution was passage of the master plan withdrawal ordinance which would hopefully make the litigation unnecessary, and invited the mayor’s office to collaborate on that messaging because we thought the mayor shared that goal,” Lee wrote in an email.

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

City Attorney Michael May responded to Wautier by email on Aug. 20. May challenged Edgewood’s claim that it needs to pursue a federal lawsuit under the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (or RLUIPA) at this time. May suggested that the school could instead seek remedy in Dane County Circuit Court by appealing the city Zoning Board of Appeals’ July 11 ruling that Edgewood could not hold competitions on its athletic field. 

“In our discussions, Edgewood gave only two reasons for pursuing a federal RLUIPA lawsuit combined with a ZBA [Zoning Board of Appeals] appeal at this time,” May wrote. “The one we think most accurate is the tactical decision that ‘Edgewood will not allow a Dane County Circuit Court to decide the case.’ The other was a vague statement that ‘We looked at this from every side and we can’t go to court.’ We think you can.”  

Edgewood attorney Lee says that neither of May’s recalled quotes are “accurate.” 

“The city repeatedly asked Edgewood to file the ZBA appeal in state court, knowing full well that filing in state court would potentially prejudice Edgewood’s federal claims in the event the master plan withdrawal ordinance failed. Edgewood was not willing to do that.” 

A few years ago, when the city was revamping its zoning code, it created campus-institutional districts for schools. Certain uses are permitted within these districts and others require further zoning approval. Schools also had the option to create a master plan, which is what Edgewood decided to do. After several years of negotiating details with neighbors, Edgewood submitted its master plan to the city council, which approved it in 2014. 

The city believes the master plan allows only team practices and physical education classes on Edgewood’s athletic field. But Edgewood disagrees. The school was cited by the city this spring for holding games on its field. The city Zoning Board of Appeals later affirmed the city’s zoning administrator’s conclusion that the school is prohibited from hosting these competitions. 

On Aug. 6, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, at the request of Edgewood, introduced a resolution to the city council to repeal Edgewood’s master plan. A few days later Ald. Tag Evers, who represents the area, introduced an  ordinance that would require schools that don’t have master plans to get conditional use approval from the city in order to build “open or enclosed stadiums, auditoriums, arenas [and] indoor or outdoor sports recreational facilities.” Conditional use approval would also be needed for the installation of “stadium lighting [and] amplified sound,” and the establishment or expansion of outdoor seating “over a specified capacity.”

Evers has since revised his original proposal. 

In an Aug. 21 statement, Rhodes-Conway said that because Edgewood filed suit against the city alleging religious discrimination, she would no longer sponsor an ordinance repealing the school’s master plan.

“The city of Madison does not discriminate against any religion. Edgewood High School is free to pursue the repeal of its master plan utilizing normal city processes,” she wrote. “I encourage Edgewood High School to work with its neighbors to resolve ongoing tensions over the proposal to have a limited number of night games.”

Edgewood, in a statement, said that it filed suit “in order to preserve its ability to challenge the Zoning Board of Appeals decision in the event that the ordinance terminating Edgewood’s master plan does not pass the Common Council next month. Edgewood told the mayor and the City Attorney’s Office weeks ago that it would need to file the lawsuit before the ordinance came up for a vote and is very disappointed to learn that the mayor has now pulled her support for the ordinance that she and the city attorney recommended to Edgewood in the first place.  It is our hope that the Council will still pass the ordinance but we are reviewing all of our options for ensuring that our students are treated equally with students at the city’s public schools.”

August 21, 2019

Edgewood alleges religious discrimination in lawsuit against Madison over use of athletic field

Abigail Becker | Cap Times

Edgewood High School is suing Madison over the city’s decision to prohibit the private Catholic school on the near west side from using its field to host athletic contests.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, follows the Madison Zoning Board of Appeals’ July 11 ruling that the high school cannot play games on its athletic field. Edgewood is suing the city under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, arguing that the city is treating Edgewood differently than Madison’s four public high schools.

Edgewood points to the city’s decision to not grant an electrical permit needed to install outdoor lighting around the field as an example of how land use regulations have been used in an “arbitrary, unequal, and unlawful manner.” 

“For nearly a century, (Edgewood) has used its on-campus athletic field to host athletic contests and other activities in furtherance of its religious mission and values,” the lawsuit states. “However, the City and its officials have now imposed the City’s land use regulations in an arbitrary, unequal, and unlawful manner to prohibit Edgewood and its students from using the field for anything other than team practices and physical education classes.”

In a statement, the school said it needed to file the lawsuit Wednesday to meet a deadline regarding possible future appeals and that it is reviewing all of its options. 

Edgewood names the city, the Zoning Board of Appeals, Zoning Administrator Matt Tucker and Building Inspection Division Director George Hank in the lawsuit.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement Wednesday that the city “does not discriminate against any religion.”  

Last year, Edgewood proposed adding seats, lighting and a sound system to its athletic field that would allow it to host sporting events at night. Neighbors opposed the project, saying the added lights, noise and traffic would disrupt the neighborhood. 

Throughout this process, the city discovered that Edgewood was in violation of its 2014 Master Plan. 

Educational institutions located within a campus institutional zoning district, such as Edgewood, can voluntarily create campus master plans. All buildings included in a 10-year master plan are considered approved and do not require additional City Council approval. The plan also designates the uses of various open spaces on campus.

However, Edgewood’s plan did not name athletic competitions as a proposed use. 

This spring, after Edgewood hosted soccer, track-and-field and lacrosse contests, the city sent out notices of violations that the school appealed. The city argued that Edgewood could only use its field for games if it received Plan Commission approval and amended its master plan. 

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 Nodevelopment rights in the master plan and would need city approval for individual development proposals and other changes. 

Rhodes-Conway withdrew sponsorship of a proposed ordinance repealing Edgewood’s master plan.

“Edgewood High School is free to pursue the repeal of its Master Plan utilizing normal city processes,” Rhodes-Conway said in the statement. “I encourage Edgewood High School to work with its neighbors to resolve ongoing tensions over the proposal to have a limited number of night games."

Edgewood said it was "disappointed" to learn that the mayor rescinded her support, especially since the idea for terminating the master plan came from the city. Edgewood said it had to file the lawsuit Wednesday to "preserve its ability" to challenge the Zoning Board of Appeals decision in case the City Council does not approve the proposed ordinance that would terminate the school's master plan. 

Also, the school said it informed the mayor and the city attorney's office weeks ago that it would need to file the lawsuit before the master plan repeal came before the City Council for a vote.

"It is our hope that the Council will still pass the ordinance but we are reviewing all of our options for ensuring that our students are treated equally with students at the City’s public schools," the statement said. 

The group that formed in response to Edgewood's stadium proposal, No New Stadium, said in a statement that litigation is not the way to resolve the issue. 

"No New Stadium regrets that Edgewood High School has opted for litigation rather than abide by the zoning rules they agreed to when they adopted their Campus Master Plan in 2014, after four years of negotiation with the neighborhoods and the city," the statement said. 

August 21, 2019

Edgewood High School suing City of Madison in federal court

Stephen Cohn | Channel 3000

Edgewood High School sued the City of Madison in federal court alleging religious discrimination Wednesday, according to a statement from the office of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. 

The statement said Rhodes-Conway has withdrawn her sponsorship of an ordinance repealing Edgewood's Master Plan. 

"The City of Madison does not discriminate against any religion," Rhodes-Conway said in the statement. "Edgewood High School is free to pursue the repeal of its Master Plan utilizing normal city processes. I encourage Edgewood High School to work with its neighbors to resolve ongoing tensions over the proposal to have a limited number of night games." 

Edgewood's court battle likely stems from a zoning board decision saying the school could not host games on its field. The school's master plan says it would only use the field for practices and classes.  

Despite dropping current plans for an amendment, the school has violated the master plan a few times by holding home games there. When it appealed those violations in July to the zoning board of appeals, the board voted to uphold the violations, insuring that if Edgewood wants to play games at its field, it must somehow change the master plan. 

Last month, Edgewood's president Mike Elliott said he was disappointed in the board's decision, but he and others at the school would keep fighting to give the students the right to play games on their field.

"We feel Edgewood has every right to hold events on our field, just like every other high school and just like the University of Wisconsin does," Elliott said.

No New Stadium statement on Edgewood Master Plan Exit

For Immediate Release
Date: 8/2/2019
Press Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850
Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

Edgewood Requests to Exit Its Master Plan

MADISON, WI. (August 2, 2019) – No New Stadium unequivocally opposes the resolution to allow the Edgewood campus to voluntarily withdraw from its Master Plan. The City and Edgewood, Inc. entered into this Master Plan agreement with the understanding that it would be honored by all parties for ten years, from 2014-2024. The Edgewood-Neighborhood Liaison Committee, which includes residents representing both Vilas and Dudgeon-Monroe, negotiated for four years in advance of final plan approval. As a result, all three schools have benefited by completing numerous projects in a streamlined process since 2014.

By allowing Edgewood to abandon this agreement now, because it wants something that is not in the Master Plan, the city would be discouraging future trust by all Madison residents in the city input process, and contradict the legislative intent of the Campus Institutional District ordinance, which was designed to balance the competing needs of institutions with the residential neighborhoods in which they are located. While the neighborhoods are not signatories to the Master Plan, we are significant stakeholders and our voices should count. We continue to have faith in the Master Plan process, which has allowed Edgewood and its neighbors to coexist in mutual respect since 1997, and in our elected officials, who value community engagement. In that spirit, we urge the Common Council to oppose this resolution.

About No New Stadium

No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of hundreds of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build an outdoor stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

August 2, 2019

Edgewood takes another route to host stadium games

The campus seeks termination of master plan that was negotiated with neighborhood

Judith Davidoff | Isthmus

Edgewood High School is taking a new tack in its quest to host games on its athletic field, which is located in a residential neighborhood on Madison’s west side.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway — at the request of Edgewood officials who have threatened a lawsuit based on religious discrimination — will introduce a resolution Aug. 6 to the Common Council to repeal the city-approved master plan for the Edgewood campus. If the resolution passes the full council, it would, according to Madison City Attorney Michael May, allow Edgewood High School to host games on its athletic field, something that has been a point of bitter contention with its neighbors for years.

The repeal would mean that buildings included in the campus master plan, which was approved in 2014 by the Common Council, would now need to go through the city’s regular zoning processes, says May. But restrictions in the plan on open spaces would also be lifted. Edgewood has been fighting hard for the right to add lighting to its athletic stadium and to host home games with amplification, and the repeal of the master plan would mean the school would no longer need city approval to move forward. 

“Under existing zoning code there is no prohibition on playing athletic events on your campus,” May says, but adds that there might be restrictions on lighting. 

Under the school’s master plan, the athletic field was to be used only for team practices and physical education, says May. Edgewood disagrees with that interpretation. The city’s zoning administrator determined that the school could not hold games on the field, and Edgewood appealed the administrator’s decision to the city Zoning Board of Appeals, which on July 11 affirmed the staff decision. 

May says Edgewood has threatened to sue the city for religious discrimination under the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Edgewood in its appeal to the zoning board writes that RLUIPA is a “federal statute that was enacted primarily to protect religious institutions from improper and burdensome land-use regulations.” 

The school argues that the city’s zoning administrator “has sought to impose the city’s land-use regulations in a manner that substantially burdens Edgewood’s and its students’ religious exercise.” 

Edgewood writes that to further “the sincerely held religious beliefs of the Sinsinawa Dominicans and the school, Edgewood’s mission is to educate the whole student for a life of learning, service, and personal responsibility through a rigorous academic curriculum that embraces the Sinsinawa Dominican values of truth, compassion, justice, partnership and community. For nearly a century, athletics has been a primary way that the school has accomplished its mission to education the whole student ... Since 1927, Edgewood has had its athletic field and track, and has used them for athletic contests in furtherance of its religious mission and values.”

“Prohibiting Edgewood from continuing to engage in its well-established religious land use constitutes a ‘substantial burden’ on Edgewood’s religious exercise.”

Edgewood claims that the city is treating its campus different from public schools, which are located within campus-institutional districts. “By imposing its land-use regulations and the zoning administrator’s improper interpretations to restrict only Edgewood’s ability to host athletic contests, the city has treated Edgewood on less-than-equal terms as Madison’s nonreligious schools within a campus-institutional district. This disparate treatment is more than sufficient to establish a prima facie Equal Terms violation under RLUIPA.”

Many neighborhood residents are opposed to the dissolution of Edgewood’s master plan including Tag Evers, alder for the area. 

If repealed, Evers says, “there are no restrictions in place to prevent Edgewood from having the one thing that, over a 20-year period, the neighborhood has said it does not want.” It’s unfortunate, he adds, that the “city’s commitment to the process of weighing competing interests would be undermined.”

He says the master plan was created after neighborhood residents and Edgewood staff spent “countless hours” building trust and good will. “To take that away,” he says, “is concerning.” 

He says the move also “seems contrary to the city’s commitment to neighborhoods. The city has a long history in its approach to zoning and urban planning in weighing competing interests … I’m concerned we’ve gone down this road without seriously considering the impact.”

Neighborhood resident Jon Standridge sent an email to all council members on Aug. 1, copying May and Mary Bottari, the mayor’s chief of staff, expressing his opposition to termination of Edgewood’s master plan. 

“For the past 20 years I, along with many neighbors, have put in countless hours working with Edgewood in making good decisions regarding the use and improvement of the Edgewood property. All this effort has culminated in the current master plan which in my opinion is a great zoning tool,” he writes. He says that “numerous contentious issues” are dealt with in the master plan, including stormwater measures for nearby Lake Wingra as well as parking and traffic concerns. Standridge predicts that the liaison team, which is required in the master plan, would disappear along with the master plan: “The unpleasant contentiousness of the stadium project will surely continue and probably worsen.”

Edgewood emailed a statement in response to an interview request from Isthmus, saying that Edgewood College has joined the Edgewood Campus School and Edgewood High School in withdrawing from the campus plan. 

“The city of Madison made all three entities aware of the option to withdraw from the Master Plan in a written follow-up to a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting,” the statement also said. 

“Edgewood College reaffirms faith in both our elected and appointed officials with the city of Madison, and in our neighborhood organizations, as all parties continue to dialogue around the future use of campus facilities.”

An Edgewood spokesperson did not respond to a request for follow-up questions. 

The master plan process for the city is relatively new.

In its recent zoning code revamp, the city created campus-institutional districts for schools. The idea, says May, was to streamline zoning approvals by including certain uses as permitted uses and some that would require further approval from the city. 

The ordinance also provided an alternative to such districts: schools could instead prepare a master plan for adoption by the city. Edgewood decided to go that route. 

“They put together their master plan,” says May. “There was a lot of discussion with the neighborhood.”

An advantage of having a master plan, says May, is that “any building that is in your approved master plan does not need further approval” by city committees. 

So, for instance, if a new library were included in the master plan, campus officials would simply need to get a building permit to begin construction. 

There are some disadvantages, however. May says if a school with a master plan wants to add a building to campus, it would need to amend its plan to do so. Also, “if you have designated certain uses for open spaces and you want to change your uses you generally have to get an amendment to your master plan.” 

Edgewood disputes that last point. In its zoning board appeal, the school argues that master plans apply to campus buildings and not uses. It also argues that its master plan “does in fact allow athletic contests on Edgewood’s athletic field … And while it is true that the master plan states that the athletic field is used for ‘team practice’ and ‘physical education classes,’ it makes no sense to read this language as excluding the hosting of athletic contests.” Edgewood’s lawyers also wrote that this part of the master plan “was not intended to be a list of all uses of the athletic field.”

Once introduced to the city council, the mayor’s resolution to terminate Edgewood’s master plan will be referred to the Plan Commission. 

July 19, 2019

Find a non-residential location for Edgewood stadium

Yael Gen | Cap Times

Students and supporters of Edgewood High School have been told that the neighbors are preventing them from having the stadium they deserve. And that is untrue. No one wants to punish the students for decisions in which they have no agency. In fact, neighbors were assured by the city that reporting a violation would not disturb the unlawful games in session. This issue is about the deal Edgewood campus leadership made with the community and the city. The campus entered a specific legal agreement to use the field for practices and physical education. Then they changed their minds.

The position of the neighborhood has not changed in the 23 years I’ve lived here. I'm guessing that most people don't realize that the field is actually closer to some residences than it is to the school building! The proximity of the field to residences is not compatible with a stadium. It never has been and as housing density increases, it never will be.

This situation could be an opportunity for Madison rather than a threat to the Dudgeon-Monroe and Vilas neighborhoods. Surely there is a non-residential location that could not only benefit Edgewood’s less than 500 students, but West High School’s over 2,000 as well! At the hearing last week, Edgewood High School officials talked a lot about their values of community and partnership. It’s time to walk the talk.

July 14, 2019

A stadium is incompatible in residential neighborhood

Dianne Jenkins | Monroe Street resident

The neighborhood didn’t complain about EHS playing 4-6 lower level (JV and freshman) games per season on its athletic field from 1995 to 2015. The neighborhood complained when the field use intensified from 2015 onward. Last spring alone there were more than 40 games played on the athletic field — ten times the pre-2015 use.

The neighborhood worked with the Edgewood campus in 1995 and again in 2014 on the development of master plans. In each instance, the high school proposed a stadium; in each instance, this was taken off the table so that the plans, which included numerous other projects, would be approved.

 A stadium is an incompatible land use for a property that so closely abuts a dense residential neighborhood — this has been the neighborhood’s position for 30 years. Rather than accepting this and seeking another solution for where to play varsity football, soccer and lacrosse games, EHS has chosen an adversarial route.

 EHS’s position is ‘this is our land and we can do with it what we want.’

 Does that sound like a good neighbor to you?

SUMMER 2019

Environmental impacts of the proposed Edgewood stadium

David H. Thompson | Wingra Watershed News, Friends Of Lake Wingra

Edgewood High School intends to improve their Goodman Athletic Complex by adding increased seating and other amenities, along with adding a permanent PA system and lights for night games. In support, they submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) dated Jan 10, 2019. The project is strongly opposed by about 80 percent of nearby residents. The controversy arises from possible impacts of the proposed sound amplification and the new lights for night games, because this is no ordinary stadium environment.

The closest residential property is only 148 feet from the edge of the football field, while wetlands along the shore of Lake Wingra are only 0.21 miles distant. The lake is highly valued for its wilderness ambience. It’s mostly surrounded by the UW Arboretum, parks, and the Zoo. When paddling on the lake, urban landscape is invisible. At night, it’s magical to paddle or walk around its shores, listening to owls or watching fireflies pursue their mates. When so few quiet and dark places can still be found, the lake is indeed a precious resource.

The EIA’s overall conclusion is: “No significant environmental impacts are identified”. This prediction flows from their conclusion that very little of anything will escape from the field into the neighborhood.

Impacts of proposed loudspeakers
Edgewood High proposes “directional” speakers pointed towards the stands and away from neighbors. However, sound does not travel in straight lines—it can bend around obstacles, pass through walls, and be reflected. While the speakers will face away from close neighbors, the sound they project will bounce off the stadium and especially the large buildings behind the stadium, creating annoying echoes.

Gradations in air temperature and wind can bend sound. For example, on a summer night, the air near the ground quickly cools, while air higher up remains warm. This gradient means that sound that might normally escape upward can bend back toward the neighborhood, increasing sound intensity. It also means that under certain conditions sound can travel over sound barriers and back to ground level, rendering the barriers less effective.

Madison’s noise ordinance sets a limit on sound levels reaching residential properties at 65 dBA. Ethan Brodsky found noise from the unimproved stadium frequently exceeded the 65 dBA limit during practice games with small numbers of spectators. The highest level—84 dBA—was measured this spring by Marie Trest during a game with 150-200 spectators.

Impacts of proposed lighting
The EIA evaluates four banks of lights on 80-foot poles, directed down towards the field. They praise the technology of these new LED lights that are supposed to minimize spillover to the neighborhood or sky, sending most of their light to illuminate the field.

But light is not so well-behaved in the real world. First of all, not all of the light will reach the field— some will be scattered in all directions by dust and moisture. The remaining light, even if perfectly aimed at just the field, will bounce off the field and players, into the sky and neighborhood.

Brodsky said: “In their application to the City, Edgewood HS included upward-facing lights (called “punt lights”) that would violate the City’s dark-sky ordinance, but did not mention that they were upward-facing in either the EIA or the light application.”

Unfortunately, this escaping light— creating a glow overhead and illumination equivalent to twilight in the neighborhood, will be an unhealthy color. Edgewood is proposing LED lights with a color temperature of 5700K. These lights actually emit lots of blue—and blue light has the greatest impact on the biological clock of humans, leading to potential insomnia, weight gain, and other unhealthy effects. The AMA recommends a color temperature of 3000K or less.

Even very low levels of light pollution can have profound effects. Under the forest canopy, on a cloudy night, it’s extremely dark. Add scattered light from the stadium, and predators can now see their prey. Animals or people looking toward the stadium will lose their dark adaptation.

Impacts on wildlife and natural values
The EIA concludes: “Long-term adverse biological impacts are not anticipated...” because the immediate project area is developed land. “…Plans will not interfere with any aquatic species.”

But everyone knows how insects from woods or lake are attracted to bright light. The Edgewood stadium light will act like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking aquatic insects out of the wetlands nearby.

Scientists have recently found a decline in insect numbers of over 75% on several continents. Changes in climate and pesticides alone aren’t enough to account for this decline. Because half of all insects are active at night, and because insect declines are greater in areas with light pollution, scientists suspect light pollution is one cause

Likewise, migratory birds are attracted to light, especially when they are lost in fog. In Hawaii, the lights at football fields of three high schools confused fledgling birds, who circled around the lights until they fell, exhausted, to the ground.

While there are many scientific reports about the harmful effects on wildlife, plants, and people of noise and light pollution, relatively little is known of how the pollution causes harm. One recent study of migratory birds set up a “phantom road” using loudspeakers to broadcast traffic sounds within a natural area. They found fewer birds near the speakers, compared to control areas without speakers, and the birds near the speakers weighed less. Another study suggested why: White-throated sparrows subjected to noise cannot hear the alarm calls of other birds, so they compensate by watching more and feeding less.

Weak on numbers, analysis, and mitigation
Brodsky found factual errors in the EIA and the sound study on which it is based. The EIA states that 70 dBA is allowed by the noise ordinance, whereas it’s actually 65 dBA. He adds that the analysis of barrier height needed to reduce escaping noise is flawed, along with the measurement of background noise. He made additional measurements of light levels which contradict the EIA.

Nowhere does the report state the proposed increase in impervious surfaces (roofs, pavement), although I suspect that at least the storage and bathroom areas will have roofs. Nor do they propose how they will improve infiltration using rain gardens. LEED certification will not be sought. They do not propose to lessen effect of lights on migratory birds by restricting games during migration or canceling games on nights when heavy migration is forecast.

Climate change ignored
An environmental assessment cannot be taken seriously without an estimation of the project’s carbon footprint. No footprint was calculated here; climate change is not mentioned once in the report.

Climate change is the greatest challenge of this century. All citizens and institutions need to do their part by actually reducing non-renewable energy use. There is no plan in the EIA to offset increased energy use at the stadium by solar generation. What example does it set for Edgewood High students when their school leaders ignore climate change?

July 12, 2019

Edgewood High School will push for home games despite board decision saying otherwise

Amy Reid | Fox47

MADISON, Wis. - Many neighbors of Edgewood High School are celebrating a small victory after a ruling by a city board Thursday night.

For now, the high school won't be able to play games on its field, according to the zoning board of appeals.

It's a temporary relief for neighbors including Kay Gabriel, who has lived next to the high school for 20 years. She has been opposed to a new stadium that, to her, would mean excess noise.

"It would be like somebody living next door to you and having loud parties that you can't do anything about 40 nights a year," Gabriel said.

Edgewood's master plan said the school would use the space the field is in for practices and classes, and a change would allow the school to host its home games there. Edgewood first brought the proposal to amend its master plan to the city last year, though the school has since dropped it.

Despite dropping current plans for an amendment, the school has violated the master plan a few times by holding home games there. When it appealed those violations Thursday night to the zoning board of appeals, the board voted to uphold the violations, insuring that if Edgewood wants to play games at its field, it must somehow change the master plan.

"It's a win for the neighborhood, but this is far from over," Gabriel said. "Edgewood is not going to go quietly into the night."

Edgewood's president Mike Elliott said he is disappointed in the board's decision, but he and others at the school will keep fighting to give the students the right to play games on their field.

"We feel Edgewood has every right to hold events on our field, just like every other high school and just like the University of Wisconsin does," Elliott said.

Elliott said the school will meet with a community liaison group in the coming weeks to figure out what the neighborhood would like to see done. He said the school would lower the number of games it would hold at the field if that would make the neighborhood happy, but he doesn't know that it would.

"When this all started it was lights," he said. "Then it was number of games, and then it was noise."

Regardless he said the school will try to make a decision in the next week on whether it will amend the master plan with the planning commission, let the master plan expire in four years, drop the master plan now or appeal the zoning board of appeals' decision.

Some neighbors, though not all around the school, don't trust the way the high school has handled this so far, but their alder Tag Evers hopes both the school and the neighborhood can find middle ground.

"Edgewood has long been a pillar in our community. There's no denying that," Evers said. "There's an opportunity now for Edgewood to come back to the table and to engage in the process, to amend their master plan and satisfy the concerns of the neighborhood. I think that's important."

Gabriel isn't sticking around to find out what happens.

She said she and her husband are moving, and while the potential stadium isn't totally to blame, she said it's a part.

She hopes whatever happens next, Edgewood listens to people like her before it moves forward again.

July 12, 2019

Edgewood High can’t use its field to play games, city Zoning Board of Appeals confirms

Lisa Speckhard Pasque | The Capital Times

Before a packed room and after hours of discussion, the Madison Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously upheld city staff’s decision that Edgewood High School cannot play games on its athletic field.

Edgewood can appeal the board’s decision to circuit court.

“Edgewood believes that it has the right to play games on its field. It has always had that right. It has always exercised that right. And while this ruling is not a huge surprise, we will continue to fight to exercise that right, most likely in other forums,” said Matthew Lee, a lawyer representing the private Catholic school.

When Edgewood created its Master Plan in 2014, it said the field was used for team practices and physical education, and didn’t name athletic competitions as a proposed use.

The city argued that this means Edgewood can’t use its field for games, unless it receives Plan Commission approval and amends its master plan.

This spring, after Edgewood hosted soccer, track and field and lacrosse contests, the city sent out notices of violation on April 1 and May 15. Edgewood filed an appeal on those notices, and argued its case at Thursday's meeting.

EDGEWOOD’S ARGUMENT

Edgewood argued that its master plan labeled the site an athletic field and recreation space, which should imply athletic contests, and pointed out that the school has been using its field for athletic competitions for years.

“It continues to use the field for athletic contests today. Nothing has changed in 90 years,” Lee said. “I can think of few things that should be less controversial than high school students playing sports on their own field.”

Lee said the issue before the zoning board was whether the Campus-Institutional District, Edgewood’s zoning district, requires a master plan to include an “exhaustive list” of all conceivable uses. If that was required, master plans could be thousands of pages long, Lee said.

Edgewood’s appeal also alleged that the city’s actions are a potential violation of the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act, saying that Edgewood should be treated the same as Madison’s four public high schools, which share the same zoning category.

“We’re not just here today to interpret the zoning code. This case is about fairness, it’s about equality and it’s about religious liberty,” Lee said.

There was a significant showing of maroon in the room, as parents and students showed up wearing Edgewood gear. Edgewood supporters repeatedly talked about the value and importance of hosting games on campus.

THE CITY’S ARGUMENT

In the city’s written response, Assistant City Attorney John Strange called Edgewood’s reference to religious discrimination a “red herring” which should not distract the zoning board “from the task of interpreting the ordinance according to its simple and plain meaning.”

That law “does not prohibit a city from requiring a religious institution to go through land use approval process, which is all the City is asking Edgewood to do in this case,” Strange wrote.

Strange called Edgewood a “great institution,” and said the issue was not whether Edgewood should be allowed to play games, but what process is required to play games, he said.

While Strange said he was not “sitting here saying that Edgewood has never played games on the field,” but that all the official documentation given to the city describes the field being used for practices and classes.

Athletic contests, with potentially increased traffic and noise, could possibly have adverse impacts on neighbors, said Matt Tucker, city zoning administrator. This spring, he received many complaints about activities that occurred on the field. The master plan process is meant to address neighborhood concerns like this, Tucker  said.

If Edgewood would rather not function according to a master plan, Strange said, they can start the process to repeal it, putting them in the same situation as the other public high schools.

DECISION

Board member Peter Ostlind said the focus of the board was “to determine if the zoning administrator properly interpreted the zoning ordinances.” The board ruled unanimously to uphold the administrator’s decision.

Board member Allie Berenyi said she couldn’t see the harm in having Edgewood go through the amendment process so the master plan would reflect the current use of the athletic field.

“Let’s have this be a super transparent process and get everybody at the table and get everybody on board,” Berenyi said.

Now the enforcement of the notice of violation is within the discretion of the city attorney’s office, Strange said, and the office could go to municipal court to enforce the violation if Edgewood does not comply.

HISTORY

Last year, Edgewood proposed replacing 450 bleacher seats on its athletic field with a 1,000-seat stadium with team rooms, restrooms and concession area Fat its field, with lights and amplified sound.

Many neighbors were adamantly opposed to the idea, which they said would disrupt the neighborhood with traffic, parking, light and noise.

In February, Edgewood said it would forgo constructing a stadium for now and instead install lights and a sound system, meaning it wouldn’t need to go through the master plan amendment process. Neighbors said this new strategy was an attempt to sidestep their input, and Edgewood then paused these plans.

At a neighborhood meeting last fall on the stadium proposal, Tucker learned that Edgewood “had been using the facility in a certain way that I believed was beyond the scope of what the master plan allows for them to use," and notified Edgewood of this.

When Edgewood subsequently played games on their field, the city issued the notices of violation.

July 6, 2019

Edgewood stadium opponents subjected to months-long

Campaign of threats

Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal

Residents involved in a months-long effort to stop upgrades to a private high school’s athletic field on Madison's Near West Side have since last year been the victims of a series of anonymous, derogatory mailings and other harassment.

One of the postcards includes a photo of one of the residents and alleges he was “taking pictures of young females” and to call Madison police. Another depicts a coffin and includes the phrase “your home in 10 years.”

Members of the group No New Stadium, as well as the area's City Council member, Ald. Tag Evers, were reluctant to talk to the press about the mailings for fear of encouraging more of them and giving a platform to the person or people behind them.

But Madison police responded to a complaint about the mailings in late March, and police and residents have urged victims to report the activity through the Police Department's self-reporting system.

According to the March police report, a group of about 16 neighbors with No New Stadium had over the previous six months received the postcards, had yard signs destroyed and been subjected to abuse online. The report includes seven different mailings submitted to police by residents.

A No New Stadium spokesperson, who declined to be identified for fear of being harassed, said Monday the activity has continued but said the group “decided early on that we would prefer no media attention on this. The behaviors have been reported to the police and there is a criminal investigation underway.”

Edgewood President Michael Elliott said the school does not condone the harassment and that staff, students and parents have been made aware of it, with students specifically told such behavior is not acceptable.

"We're unaware of anyone ... in our community being involved in any of those activities,” he said.

Edgewood had wanted to make $1 million in improvements to add stadium seating, bathrooms, concessions and more at the athletic field site but abandoned those plans in the face of neighborhood opposition. It still hopes to add lighting, a sound system and about 600 additional bleacher seats so its football team can play there, rather than at host sites.

Opponents believe the school had agreed to limit the field’s use to practices and physical education classes and worry the upgraded facilities with football games would create additional noise, traffic, environmental damage and other problems in the largely residential Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood. 

Madison's Zoning Board of Appeals on July 11 is set to hear an appeal of decisions in April and May by the city's zoning administrator that Edgewood violated its 2014 master plan by allowing soccer games to occur at the stadium this year. 

June 20, 2019

Attend the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting July 11

Zoning Board of Appeals
Thursday, July 11, at 6:00 p.m.
210 Martin Luther King Blvd, Conference Room GR27

Edgewood High School has filed an appeal of the City Zoning Administrator’s decision that the athletic field use is currently limited to practices and PE classes. The City has issued notices of violation to EHS as a result of EHS holding competitions on the field.

The City has called a special meeting of the ZBA to address this appeal. Anyone wishing to speak will be given the opportunity.

Now, is the time to act. We urge everyone to attend. If you have any questions regarding the application or the Zoning code please call the office of the Zoning Administrator at 608-266-4551 or email Nancy Kelso: NKelso@cityofmadison.com

Details

• Arrive early. Seating and speaking are on a first come, first serve basis.

• Sign-in. You can indicate if you want to speak on the sign-in sheet

• Time limit for speaking is 3 minutes

EHS has high-priced attorneys—we have retained attorneys to represent and advocate for neighborhood interests.
Please consider a donation to the No New Stadium legal fund.
Thank you for supporting No New Stadium.

June 18, 2019

Edgewood to appeal zoning violations,

argues using field for games is 'unquestionably allowed'

Lisa Speckhard Pasque | Cap Times

The past year has brought plenty of controversy over Edgewood High School’s proposal to construct a stadium for its athletic field. Improvements to the west side Catholic school’s field would have allowed it to host games at night.

After neighborhood pushback, those plans are on pause. But in the midst of the conflict, the city said Edgewood shouldn’t be hosting any games on its field, day or night, and issued two notices of violation to Edgewood.

Edgewood has since filed an appeal on those notices and is likely to appear before the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals by July 18, arguing that using the field for games is “unquestionably allowed.”

“For nearly a century, Edgewood High School has hosted sporting and community events on its athletic field and track,” Michael Elliott, president of Edgewood High School, said in an email. “That is why it was so disconcerting when earlier this spring the City of Madison issued multiple notices of violation against Edgewood simply for hosting sporting events on its field.”

THE APPEAL

When Edgewood created its Master Plan in 2014, it said the field was used for team practices and physical education only, and didn’t name athletic competitions as a proposed use.

According to the notices issued on April 1 and May 15 by the city, that means Edgewood is not allowed to use its field for “athletic contests,” but only for team practices and physical education.

It its appeal, Edgewood argues that it didn’t list every use of the field because that wasn’t the focus of the Master Plan, but it has been using its field for athletic competitions for almost 100 years. It lists a long history of athletic competitions, including football and soccer games, track meets starting in 1999 and lacrosse matches since 2015.

The appeal also argues that the city’s zoning code determines how a property can be used, not a master plan. Master plans control the development of structures on a property, it argues, and adds that Edgewood was not required to submit a master plan at all.

“Edgewood certainly would not have voluntarily adopted a plan that disallowed the historical use of its athletic field when it had been hosting athletic contests on that field for nearly a century,” the appeal says.

Matt Tucker, city zoning administrator, confirmed that Edgewood was not required to create a master plan, but said there are benefits for doing so.

Edgewood is zoned as a Campus-Institutional District, a zoning category which lists indoor and outdoor sports and recreational facilities, stadiums, auditoriums and arenas as “secondary” uses. (Unlike other zoning categories, the Campus-Institutional District lists primary and secondary uses, rather than permitted and conditional uses.)

Edgewood argues that this zoning means that using the property as an outdoor sports facility is “automatically allowable” without additional city approval.

The appeal also alleges that the city’s actions are a potential violation of the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act, saying that Edgewood should be treated the same as Madison’s four public high schools, which share the same zoning category. The appeal says the city is trying to “weaponize Edgewood’s Master Plan against it,” calling this “beyond unfair.”

“Edgewood enjoys the same land use rights under the City’s zoning ordinances as the City’s public high schools and the University of Wisconsin, including the right to host sporting events on its outdoor fields … Edgewood is not looking for special treatment. We simply want to be treated the same as the City’s public, nonreligious schools,” Elliott said in an email.

If Edgewood loses the appeal, they could appeal to circuit court, Tucker said. If the zoning board rules in Edgewood’s favor, Tucker is unsure what would happen next, as this is mostly “uncharted territory” for the city.

“This is the kind of thing I can’t say we have a lot of experience with,” Tucker said.

Without a stadium, Edgewood teams have had to rotate some of its "home" games through several available fields. Switching home fields leads to “significant travel, logistical hurdles, cost, and scheduling conflicts between Edgewood and visiting schools,” according to Edgewood's proposal for the stadium.

So, Edgewood proposed replacing 450 bleacher seats on its athletic field with a 1,000-seat stadium with team rooms, restrooms and concession area at its field, with lights and amplified sound.

Edgewood was required to amend its master plan to go through with the project, but many neighbors were adamantly opposed to the idea, which they said will disrupt the neighborhood with traffic, parking, light and noise. Grassroots resident group No New Stadium was formed to oppose the project.

In February, Edgewood said it would forgo constructing a stadium for now and instead install lights and a sound system, meaning it wouldn’t need to go through the master plan amendment process. Neighbors said this new strategy was an attempt to sidestep their input, and Edgewood then paused these plans.

Tucker said he learned that Edgewood “had been using the facility in a certain way that I believed was beyond the scope of what the master plan allows for them to use” during a neighborhood meeting last fall on the stadium proposal.

This spring, after Edgewood hosted soccer, track and field and lacrosse contests, the city sent out the notices of violation.

Edgewood continued to host games during the spring season, Elliott said, but all spring sports have now ended.

Asked about the status of the light and sound system, Elliott said, “at this time all our efforts are being directed to assure Edgewood High School receives equal field usage as the other Madison high schools.”

Tucker said the project’s lighting permit was placed on hold because the building inspection director believed issuing the permit would be a violation of Edgewood's master plan.

June 10, 2019

Collaborative Working Group temporarily suspended

The Collaborative Working Group, made up of representatives from Edgewood High School, DMNA and Vilas Neighborhood Association, has been put on hold while Edgewood High School develops a modified proposal based on the input received in the working group meetings thus far. The decision to suspend the working group was made without consulting the neighborhood associations and we are working to understand the impetus for the decision and the timeline we can expect going forward. Please reach out to president@dmna.org with questions

June 3, 2019

EHS files appeal

In response to the two violations issued, Edgewood High School’s attorneys have filed an appeal with the Zoning Board. The date of the hearing has not yet been determined, but we will keep you informed. Our supporters have already contributed over $10,000 towards our $15,000 goal to retain counsel as EHS seeks to make a legal case for expanding the field’s use. We are filled with gratitude at the generosity of our friends and neighbors. This is a neighborhood worth protecting. Please consider making a donation to the No New Stadium legal fund.

May 23, 2019

Urgent

NEEDS YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

NNS members have been hard at work on behalf of our neighborhood since last October, researching, strategizing and advocating to preserve its residential character and to hold Edgewood High School to the City’s zoning code. The steering committee has met every week for the past six months. Our members have invested hundreds of hours and their skills and expertise in an effort to counter Edgewood’s paid lobbyists and legal counsel.

Accomplishments include:

• funding an independent sound study that proved the negative impacts of noise on adjacent properties and deeper into the neighborhood. It showed that stadium noise would exceed City regulations and cannot be adequately controlled. Our findings prompted EHS to perform a sound study of its own. This study confirmed that even small crowds would create noise in excess of City ordinances. Such noise could be partially mitigated by building a wall, 26’high at minimum, on the Monroe and Woodrow sides of the field; even then, noise levels would be at/above City limits.

• developing a presentation of the technical issues for a lay audience, to ensure the members of the Plan Commission and others understand the harms that EHS’s proposal would inflict on the neighborhood.

• informing City staff on EHS’s intent to build a stadium via administrative means, bypassing the public process. This resulted in the City rescinding a permit to install lights on the field.

• uncovering numerous misrepresentations made by EHS to the City, including the fact that EHS publicly claimed the field was for practices, whilst simultaneously negotiating with the Goodman Foundation to expand use of the field beyond the approved zoning specifications.

• documenting Edgewood’s repeated violations of the City’s zoning code. We are submitting evidence to the City every time a game is played illegally on the field. This has led the Planning Department to issue notices of violation that require EHS to stop playing games and seek to amend their Master Plan through the Plan Commission.

Recently, anticipating that EHS would appeal their zoning violation and/or go back to the Plan Commission to seek an amendment to their Master Plan to allow games to be played on the field, the Steering Committee decided to retain legal counsel.

As committed as we are, the time has come to counter Edgewood’s paid counsel and lobbyists with our own professional counsel.

After a thorough vetting process, we retained a prominent Madison firm with significant experience in municipal law to represent the neighborhood’s interests, developing a legal and policy strategy to protect the residential character of our neighborhood from the negative impacts of noise, light and associated effects of a broader use of the field than the current approved use allows. Our attorneys will research, develop and execute a strategy to advance our position through legal and policy channels.

 We need your help NOW — legal help is expensive. We have invested a great deal of time, talents and resources. We need to raise $15,000 to ensure we can continue to retain counsel as EHS seeks to make a legal case for expanding the field’s use. To date we have raised $7,550, including generous contributions from each steering committee member.

Please consider making a donation to our legal fund at our GoFundMe page.

Please help. Time is of the essence.
Every dollar counts.

It’s been amazing to see how strong we are together. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

APRIL 30, 2019

FAQs

We have published answers to frequently asked questions here. We welcome ideas from the greater community and draw on the collective knowledge and skills of our neighbors. No New Stadium is growing so please feel free to contribute your ideas and comments.
Thank you for your support.

Read the FAQs

April 11, 2019
 

Important Developments

From the No New Stadium Steering Committee

Last week the NNS Steering Committee learned that, after further review by the city attorney’s office, the city has determined that Edgewood’s current Master Plan not only prohibits the playing of games, but also prohibits the installation of lights. This has been the position of No New Stadium all along and we are heartened by the city’s decision to enforce these limits.

We have attached that letter sent by the Office of the City Attorney to Edgewood’s representative, along with a Notice of Violation from the city to Edgewood regarding their illegal use of the site. While there may be additional information we don’t have at this point, our current understanding of the situation is that the city has asked Edgewood to return to the Master Plan amendment process. We will keep you informed.

The DMNA Council recently agreed to participate in conversations with EHS Board of Trustee members within a structured, facilitated format. We appreciate DMNA’s willingness to engage and its continued advocacy in opposition to the stadium.

Where We Stand

While we have been characterized in Edgewood’s literature as a “small but vocal group, a handful of neighbors… attempting to interfere” that is not what we are or who we are. We are an increasingly large group of Dudgeon-Monroe citizens who, pressed by the aggressive efforts of Edgewood High School, have been diligent and tireless in researching every aspect of the effects a stadium would have on our lives, our environment, our domestic and our financial well-being. We have established a factual and scientific basis for our deep concerns.

Our survey and mailing list confirm that there are more than 300 neighbors now actively engaged in opposing the stadium. Our numbers are growing, as is our strength.

The stadium is not right for our neighborhood (or for any residential neighborhood) because it would destroy the livability of our homes: noise, light, traffic, pre- and post event disruption and property devaluation would certainly occur. The proposed stadium is simply too close to residences.

The time has come for neighbors and No New Stadium to develop their own legal strategy and have an advocate to communicate our legal arguments to the city. Visit the No New Stadium GoFundMe! page to donate.

Thank You for Helping

We thank you for staying informed and for continuing to be heard. Your letters to the Plan Commission and to the media, your readiness to testify should hearings or open meetings occur, your conversations with you neighbors sharing insights and ideas… all that you do magnifies the efforts of the Steering Committee beyond measure.

Our commitment to our community and the preservation of our natural environment is reflected in support from Vilas neighbors, Friends of Lake Wingra and Friends of the Park and Pleasure Drive. Our values intersect and mirror those of other civic organizations, as stated in the missions of The Monroe Street Commercial Plan, the Arboretum, Imagine Madison, Madison Urban Design Commission and all those who understand that neighborhoods are the building blocks of our city.

Under every roof in our neighborhood is a unique family, a story, a history of long lives or the beginning of a new story just unfolding. We are right to protect one another.

Continue to Stand Strong with NNS! We will keep you and all of our supporters apprised of any new developments. Watch for updates and stay with us on important changes!

Respectfully,

NNS Steering Committee

March 29, 2019
 

Trying to understand Edgewood athletic field debate

Neil Heinen | Watch the video at Channel 3000 WISC TV

MADISON, Wis - We’ve not taken a position on the desire by Edgewood High School to expand its outdoor athletic field on Monroe Street.

We’ve been trying to keep an open mind as school officials and neighborhood residents opposed to the expansion plans try to work things out. But boy, Edgewood sure isn’t making it easy.

We were not aware the city had told the school months ago it could not play formal games on the field without changing the school’s Master Plan. Well, apparently there was a soccer game played on the field earlier this week and the city issued a notice of violation to school officials.

There’s no fine connected. And we understand school officials are receiving legal advice that differs from the city’s interpretation of what’s allowed. But at a time when good faith efforts to work with neighbors is awfully important, that sure seems like a strange way to show good faith.

Again, our minds are open. But this doesn’t help.

March 23, 2019
 

ESCALATION OF DISPUTE OVER SPORTS

Edgewood High School holding games on its field despite city officials saying it can't

CHRIS AADLAND | Wisconsin State Journal

A private Madison high school that wants to revamp its athletic field for competitions over neighborhood opposition will play games on the field this spring despite city officials telling the school it can’t.

Edgewood High School held a girls soccer match Tuesday afternoon at its Goodman Athletic Field, with additional boys and girls games scheduled through May. But Madison officials told the school late last year that holding any athletic competitions would violate the school’s Master Plan, which allows only team practices and gym classes on the field.

The Near West Side school — which wants to turn the field into a stadium for football games amid fierce neighborhood resistance — has disagreed with the city’s position.

City officials watched Tuesday’s game and will issue a “notice of violation” for that competition and for any other matches played on the field until Edgewood’s Master Plan is changed, said Matt Tucker, the city’s zoning administrator.

Tucker told the school last October that holding competitions at its field would be “operating outside of the allowances of the adopted Master Plan.”

“Our opinion hasn’t changed,” he said Wednesday.

Michael Elliott, Edgewood’s president, said he was unavailable for an interview Wednesday. But in an email, he said Madison officials are treating the private school differently than the city’s public schools despite having the same zoning.

“We do not believe the city has the legal right to treat us differently and believe we have no option but to continue our 90-year history of hosting both Edgewood and outside community activities at our campus,” he said.

In a Nov. 14 letter, an attorney representing Edgewood said the school could play games on the field since it has historically used it for them, and Edgewood’s Master Plan and the city’s zoning ordinance for schools allow for historical uses to continue.

“Edgewood’s position is that such use is legal non-conforming use,” attorney Katherine Rist wrote. “Edgewood has not only used the athletic fields for educational classes and athletic practices, but also for competitive games in varying capacities.”

While Tucker said his office can continue to issue violation notices for each game played on Edgewood’s field, he can’t issue fines or other penalties.

“A lot of times, this is the start of a conversation,” he said. “I guess we’re going to wait and see how they respond.”

Enforcement of any violations would come from the City Attorney’s Office.

Edgewood can appeal the violations to the Zoning Board of Appeals, said City Attorney Michael May.

If appeals fail or the school’s Master Plan isn’t amended, the city could seek a court order to compel the school to stop hosting sports competitions on its field, he said.

Contentious plan

Edgewood High School proposed last year to amend its Master Plan to build a $1 million stadium with 1,200 seats, lights, amplified sound, a team room and ticket booth to play night football games on its state-of-the-art artificial surface field and track.

Many residents have opposed plans to bring football games to Edgewood, saying the changes would disrupt their normally quiet evenings with loud noise, light pollution and increased traffic.

The school has said the changes are needed to play football games on its campus for the first time in about 20 years.

The Madison City Council would have needed to approve any change to the Master Plan.

But the school said in February it would abandon those plans, instead opting to only build lights and a sound system.

That decision wouldn’t require City Council approval and would only need to adhere to city ordinances. The move was criticized by area residents and opposition groups, like No New Stadium, who said it was a way to undermine the City Council and public comment process.

Unclear path

School officials said earlier this month they’d delay the light and sound improvements until April 15 and form an ad hoc committee to work with neighborhood residents.

But Rachel Fields, vice president of the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association, said those meetings won’t be able to start until after April 15. She said the association has agreed to participate in the committee but was still finalizing requirements with Edgewood and hasn’t been told whether the school would further delay work.

“We would have preferred it if Edgewood had not put the city in this position,” Fields said. “We find it difficult to have good-faith discussions about lights and usage with Edgewood while they move ahead with light installation and games.”

It’s unclear when or if Edgewood intends to start the lighting and sound project.

Candidates speak

David Hoffert, a candidate for City Council District 13, which includes Edgewood, said while he hopes to see both sides work to find a compromise, the school’s decision to start games isn’t helpful.

Hoffert, the DMNA president, said he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the association while he’s running for City Council.

A compromise like allowing the school to have a few night games a year might be necessary to ensure the neighborhood is protected from further disruptions, Hoffert said.

His opponent, Tag Evers, said starting games amid the stadium controversy doesn’t improve residents’ trust of Edgewood.

Evers, who has opposed the stadium, said compromising with Edgewood more likely “leads to acquiescence, resulting in the stadium being built, which the neighborhood has consistently opposed for over 20 years.”

March 23, 2019
 

For Immediate Release

Date: 3/26/2019
Press Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850

Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

Edgewood High School Game Schedule Begins March 26

 MADISON, WI. (March 22, 2019) — Despite being notified by the City of Madison that competitive use of Edgewood High School’s athletic field violates the 2014 Campus Master Plan, the High School has posted a practice and game schedule for spring 2019, with 35+ competitive events scheduled for multiple sports. Games start March 26. The City has advised Edgewood that playing games on the field will trigger a notice of violation and further enforcement action.

In January, Edgewood High School requested an indefinite postponement of its proposed Master Plan amendment to construct a 1,000 seat stadium with amplified sound and lights. On February 22, it informed its supporters of a change of approach, saying that it intended to go ahead and install amplified sound and lighting on the field this spring, claiming that these do not require an amendment to the Campus Master Plan.

“I was alder when the master plan was adopted,” wrote former District 13 Alder Sue Ellingson in an October 29, 2018 letter to the City of Madison Plan Commission. “Edgewood’s current proposal to put a stadium in that location is a betrayal of that process and the trust the neighbors and Edgewood had in one another. A stadium with regular sporting events means lights, hundreds of people, cars parking everywhere, marching bands, and, worst of all, amplified sound. Amplified sound means you hear the event like it’s taking place in your living room. There is no escape.”

On February 22, in response to Edgewood High School’s application for a permit to install lights, City Zoning Administrator Matt Tucker wrote that “it would appear that the intended use of the facility as outlined in your letter to the “Edgewood Family”...would conflict with the approved 2014 Master Plan for the site, which limits use of the facility to ‘team practices, physical education classes’...Issuance of any lighting permit under MGO sec.10.085 does not change the City’s position that the use of the facility under the master plan is limited to ‘team practices, physical education classes.’”

“Edgewood High School is intentionally choosing to bypass the public input process with the City of Madison Plan Commission by applying separately for lights and sound,” says Marie Trest. “They have scheduled games to be played on the field, despite being told by the city that this would be in violation of the zoning code and result in enforcement action.”

About No New Stadium

No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of hundreds of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build an outdoor stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

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March 23, 2019

Evers will stand up for neighborhoods

Carolyn Hogg | Wisconsin State Journal

District 13 Madison City Council candidate Tag Evers has a real grasp of the challenges and opportunities facing our diverse district and a willingness to do the hard work of moving forward while preserving the unique features and livability of our neighborhoods.

Evers’ approach to Edgewood High School's plans for expanding use of its athletic field is illustrative. Keeping an open mind, he has made a realistic assessment of needs and concerns. Importantly, he has demonstrated respect for efforts of neighbors working in support of fellow neighbors who will be harmed.

Evers’ stance aligns with actions of Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association and the city. The neighborhood association voted 18-1 against school plans for a stadium with lights and amplified sound in strong support of the neighborhood. The city has notified the school that current use of the field violates approved zoning and that the city will proceed with enforcement action if the school continues to provide programming beyond what is legally permitted.

Significant issues are often difficult. Evers has the combination of competence, commitment and character to represent our varied neighborhoods effectively.

His mix of passion and thoughtfulness will be an asset to our district. Evers has my vote for District 13.

March 7, 2019

A message from the Steering Committee

Dear Community Members,

We wanted to send an update in response to Edgewood’s assertion that they intend to install stadium lighting and sound outside of the City of Madison’s process to amend a campus institutional Master Plan.

First, any installation of lighting will require a permit from the City of Madison. Last summer, Mike Elliott requested that former Alder Sara Eskrich sign off on stadium lights as a minor alteration. Alder Eskrich said that would not be possible as stadium lights would require an amendment to the Master Plan and referred him to city planning staff.

Second, the wording of Edgewood’s Master Plan, negotiated with the city and neighborhoods, stipulates use of the field for Practices and Phys Ed classes only. The Zoning Administrator for the City of Madison offered his interpretation in November 2018 that Edgewood has been in non-compliance with their zoning by playing competitive games on the field. Further, he stated Edgewood could be subject to enforcement if they did not successfully amend their Master Plan. If Edgewood is not pursuing their amendment through the Plan Commission, they may be subject to enforcement for each game played. This includes the daytime games whose crowd noise has been disruptive to many neighbors.

Finally, all of the sound studies performed, including Edgewood’s own study, show that even a relatively small crowd of 150 generates noise that exceeds Madison’s noise ordinance. Their subsequent proposal to build a wall would not mitigate crowd noise to levels conforming with Madison’s noise ordinance. Their announcement on Friday, February 22nd to get a permit to install a sound system and 80’ pole lights is an attempt to sideline neighborhood opposition and established city processes.

We appreciate the efforts of Madison’s City Planning Department staff thus far, as well as the effective representation that incoming DMNA President Rachel Fields has shown throughout this process.

As this situation unfolds, we may be best served by having our own legal representation. Please consider if you would be able to contribute to a legal fund in the near future.  

Thank you for your ongoing support and action to protect the quality of life in Madison’s near west side residential neighborhoods.

Steering Committee, No New Stadium

February 27, 2019

Edgewood trying end run around stadium process

Dianne Jenkins | Wisconsin State Journal

Dear Editor: I am writing in response to a news report about the Edgewood stadium. The article reports on Edgewood HS’s communication to its parent and donor communities about their change in strategy to achieve their goal of hosting night games on their athletic field. As usual, Edgewood did not inform, much less seek the input of, the surrounding neighborhoods that would be most affected by this.

Edgewood is not changing its end goal, they’ve just called a different play — a Plan B in which they build their stadium piecemeal through a process they believe will allow them to circumvent public input. Their Plan B presumes that city staff will ignore the Campus Master Plan, which does not allow the use of the athletic field for competitions.

I have faith that the city’s professional staff are not bureaucrats with blinders, and will see this for what it is: an attempt to execute an end run around an open process, in order to advance Edgewood’s interests while disregarding and devaluing the negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

January 24, 2019

Edgewood has had many fine projects, but stadium is not among them

Shawn Schey | Cap Times

Dear Editor: I have lived across from the Edgewood campus for 34 years, and served on the Edgewood-Neighborhood Liaison Committee more than half of those. Since 1995, the neighborhood has said yes to Edgewood’s Sonderegger Science Center, a parking ramp structure, and the Predolin Humanities Center. We have said yes to the Mazzuchelli Biological Station, the Dominican Dorm, an addition to the Campus School, a visual and theatre arts center, and a dorm addition to Regina Hall. We have said yes to parking lot expansions, the high school’s expansion of their commons, and their current fine arts addition, now underway. We have said “Yes-in-my-front-yard” for over 24 years to one project after another.

But the latest stadium proposal is the first project that does not have my support because of how it would irretrievably alter the neighborhood far beyond Edgewood’s own campus. There are no technological “fixes” for the noise a stadium generates, or the lighting that is necessary for chasing a ball in the dark. Sound study consultants are telling us that decibel levels would be as high as 70-85 dBA just from the cheering of a crowd and a referee's whistle, making a conversation in one’s own living room inaudible if a window were open. But what if there’s canned music, or the crowd is bigger than 350? How loud is “loud” going to be?

In the past, Edgewood has sought to co-exist with their neighbors, coming up with good building projects over the years. A new stadium on their campus is not one of them.

January 24, 2019

Edgewood isn't honoring its values

Pat Alea | Wisconsin State Journal

I am on the steering committee of No New Stadium. I'm a 36-year resident of the Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood on Madison's Near West Side. My daughters attended Edgewood Campus School, Middle School and High School.

My sad realization is that the current Edgewood administration is a far cry from the leadership of the past. The suggestion that Dominican values are being upheld is not true.

Truth has been compromised in Edgewood’s misrepresentations of need, intent and project scope. Compassion is absent in a revenue-producing project that results in lost property values for nearest neighbors. There is little justice when leaders and students live elsewhere, and our neighborhood must deliver the goods. Where is the partnership when our very self-respect is called NIMBY?

Imagine if Edgewood had called our community together and said, “We’re in a bit of trouble. Enrollment is down. Revenues are tight. We have a history of such great collaborations. Let’s work together to help Edgewood thrive!” Our neighborhood would have risen to an honest challenge because we don’t want Edgewood to fail.

Instead, the current administration has presented a convoluted plan excluding true input. A long history of trust and cooperation has been sacrificed.

January 28, 2019

Legistar Data shows residents near Edgewood oppose stadium 3 to 1

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Date: 1/28/2019
Press Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850
Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

 MADISON, WI. (January 24, 2019) -- Analysis of emails sent to the City of Madison between September 6, 2018 and January 8, 2019 show that neighborhoods surrounding Edgewood High School oppose the construction of a new stadium on the Edgewood campus 3 to 1. The Plan Department posted the emails online on the City of Madison Legislative Information Center, File #53954.

 Citizens’ names, locations (nearby vs. no address/outside Madison/out of state) and whether they were for or against the stadium were tracked, as were duplicate emails from the same individuals.

 Residents of the three neighborhoods (Dudgeon-Monroe, Vilas, and Regent) closest to Edgewood’s campus oppose the stadium 3 to 1. The most common reason cited for opposition to the stadium was incompatible land use. 158 people signed an initial letter of opposition to the Plan Commission on October 31, 2018. The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association voted 18-to-1 in firm opposition.

 Those who expressed support for the stadium claimed that Edgewood as an institution contributes greatly to the community and should be able to offer this to their students. Numerous emails stated that EHS students “deserve” and have “earned the right” to a stadium. According to publicly available emails, Edgewood High School asked their entire past and present school community to write the Alder and City of Madison Plan Commission in support of the stadium.

 The breakdown of the analysis appears below. 

About No New Stadium

No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build an outdoor stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

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January 23, 2019

No New Stadium Statement

on Edgewood High School’s Alterations to Proposed Master Plan Amendment

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Date: 1/28/2019
Press Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850
Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

 MADISON, WI. (January 23, 2019) -- In response to Edgewood High School’s January 9 announcement that it will alter its proposal to build a new $1 million, 1,000-seat stadium with lights and amplified sound, neighborhood group No New Stadium has issued the following statement:

 We appreciate that Edgewood High School has admitted that stadium noise impacts can’t be mitigated, and has asked for a delay in consideration by the Plan Commission.

 In an interview with Wisconsin State Journal reporter Dean Mosiman on January 9, Edgewood High School president Mike Elliott proposed alterations to EHS’s proposed Master Plan amendment to build the new stadium: reducing the 40 proposed night football games a year to 25 (none are currently permitted); ending football games by 10pm and other competitive sports events by 8:30pm; and building a noise barrier or wall on three sides of the stadium.

No New Stadium continues to oppose the Master Plan amendment because it would negatively impact livability for nearby residents and undermine urban greenspace in the neighboring Park and Pleasure Drive, Wingra Park, Vilas Park and on Lake Wingra:

• EHS’ sound study by Professional Audio Designs of Wauwatosa, issued January 4, 2019, “contains a number of technical and legal errors, omissions, and misstatements, which invalidate much of its analysis and conclusions,” according to electrical engineer Ethan Brodsky. He notes that “Edgewood’s consultant has acknowledged, through this report, that a stadium would generate sound levels on neighboring properties that would exceed the city’s legal limit of 65 dB.” Their own consultants’ model shows a 70 dBA contour running along front-line homes on Monroe Street for a game with 150 spectators and no wall. Overall, Brodsky believes that the report “substantially underestimates stadium noise levels.”

• EHS’ sound study underestimates the height of the barrier needed to mitigate stadium noise and overestimates the noise reduction it would achieve. Guidelines for noise barriers show that for effective noise remediation, any wall would have to block the direct line of sight from the grandstand to nearby homes. For houses along Monroe St, this would require a wall approximately 35-40 feet tall, not the 16-26 feet that EHS suggests. “Even supposing a 10 dB reduction in noise level from an adequately-sized noise barrier, stadium noise would still be substantially in excess of city regulations over a large area,” says Brodsky.

•  EHS also filed an Environmental Impact Assessment, dated January 10, 2019, which serves as a defense of, rather than guidance for, the proposed stadium and its design. Jim Lorman, Edgewood College Professor Emeritus, who has reviewed the EIA, says it is “largely a boilerplate review of issues (e.g., potential toxins) irrelevant to the specific concerns the public has raised about the proposal.” He documents problems throughout the report, noting particularly that it is “lacking adequate background and impact analysis on nearby areas that will be affected by the proposed project, including the local neighborhood (number and proximity of residents, etc.), the Edgewood Park and Pleasure Drive, and Lake Wingra.” Dr. Lorman says that the EIA is “incomplete and inadequate” and that “much of its analysis is subjective, unwarranted by existing data, misleading, and/or simply inaccurate.”

• Documents released by the Middleton-Cross Plains School District reveal that, contrary to Edgewood’s claims that they could not continue playing their games at Middleton High School, they enjoyed preferential scheduling and terminated the agreement voluntarily. They could still play at Middleton.

• Edgewood has violated the terms of the Master Plan and thus city zoning law by hosting numerous daytime and evening competitions for multiple sports on their field, after they committed to hold only phys ed classes and practices there. Many of these non-conforming events have generated noise levels on neighboring properties that exceed the limit set by city noise ordinance.

• EHS committed to expand field use to a wide number of non-EHS groups in their June 2015 agreement with the Goodman Foundation, without consulting the neighborhood associations or including this in the Master Plan negotiations. Furthermore, they did not disclose that such events were occurring, and made statements in local media implying the opposite.

About No New Stadium

No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build an outdoor stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

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January 20, 2019

Stadiums pummel neighbors with noise

John Robinson | Wisconsin State Journal

The neighbors of Edgewood who want the stadium should take a listen to the Madison Mallards on game night.

I can listen to the stadium’s sound system half a mile away, standing in my backyard. The homes on Trailsway, North Sherman Avenue and Northport Drive that are immediately surrounding the stadium are pummeled by noise, which surely must be in violation of city ordinances. And now the Mallards baseball stadium is scheduling concerts in addition to baseball.

When will additional “amplified entertainment” happen at the stadium at Edgewood? Oh, they will say it will not happen. But next year, or the following year, a “one-time event” will be scheduled, and incrementally more events, and more noise.

It’s coming soon to your neighborhood. Or not, if good sense prevails.

January 13, 2019

Edgewood shouldn't invest in football

Andrew Ladd, Madison | Wisconsin State Journal

In all of the discussion about Edgewood High School's proposal for a new stadium, one elephant in the room has been overlooked. Why should any significant investment be made in a sport known to inflict long-term brain damage in players?

While the facility will be multi-sport, obviously football is the primary financial driver. The stadium will help Edgewood better compete for area students in a time of increasingly challenging enrollments. But well-established research shows football poses significant health risks that go beyond concussions to the repeated (and unavoidable) blows to the head.

To put this in context: Throw on a helmet and hit your head up against a wall for eight weeks straight. Then imagine a brain still in its development.

I say this as a parent of a former Edgewood student who received an excellent education. I say this as a former football player and once-avid fan: I cannot in good conscience support youth football knowing now the terrible risks.

Twenty years from now, football stadiums such as these will be a negative symbol of an era not yet ready to quit an unhealthy addiction. I would counsel Edgewood to commit its resources to finding a worthier emblem of its academic excellence.

January 9, 2019

West side neighborhood group accuses Edgewood of misleading public over stadium needs

Lisa Speckhard Pasque, Cap Times

Many neighbors have long opposed Edgewood High School’s contentious proposal to build a stadium with lights, seats and amplified sound.

Now grassroots resident group No New Stadium is publicizing the results of an open records request which they say shows a “pattern of deception” and “bad faith negotiating tactics.”

Chief among their complaints: Edgewood has said using the Middleton High School field is “no longer feasible,” and No New Stadium takes issue with that characterization, saying records show Edgewood could have continued to use the field.

“We did not have problems with them, actually it was a good arrangement. They are just wanting to get lights at their new stadium and the neighborhood doesn’t want that,” an October email from Middleton High School Athletic Director Bob Joers reads.

Edgewood wants to replace 450 bleacher seats on its athletic field with a 1,000-seat stadium including restrooms, a press box and a concession area. The school plans to install LED lighting that would minimize “glare, light spill and sky glow” and a sound system that would direct noise into the stadium. 

Edgewood must amend its master plan to go through with the project. The amendment was originally slated to appear before the Madison Plan Commission on Jan. 14 and the City Council on Jan. 22., but on Wednesday, Edgewood requested that the project be referred to a later date.  

Many neighbors are adamantly opposed to the idea, which they say will disrupt the neighborhood. The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association strongly opposes the proposal; the Vilas Neighborhood has voiced support for the project.

Without a stadium, Edgewood's athletics teams rotate their "home" games at several available fields including Middleton High School’s Breitenbach Stadium. Edgewood’s website and November project proposal said the agreement with Middleton was “no longer feasible.”

“This is due not only to Middleton’s own athletic program demands, but financial ramifications, safety concerns and scheduling for Edgewood’s athletes. This fact has left Edgewood scrambling to find a location for ‘home’ games,” the proposal reads.

A September letter to the city from Vandewalle & Associates on behalf of Edgewood said “prior agreements for use of Middleton’s field cannot be extended, leaving Edgewood without predictable locations and often last on the list of requests to host games.”

“Edgewood has created this crisis, portraying their quest for a stadium as an absolute need when it’s simply something they want,” said Tag Evers, a spokesman for No New Stadium and a candidate for City Council.

In a Tuesday Wisconsin State Journal article, Joers and Edgewood President Mike Elliott clarified that while Edgewood had the option to keep using the Middleton field, scheduling was becoming more difficult with Middleton’s increasing field use.

No New Stadium is also accusing Edgewood of misrepresenting or omitting data on a score of other issues, including:

• In an Oct. 26 email Elliott, city zoning administrator Matt Tucker writes that he believes the current filed usage “is operating outside of the allowances of the adopted Master Plan.” After a response from Edgewood disputing this, Tucker followed up with another message saying that if Edgewood’s application for a major alteration to their Master Plan is denied, “the City will send a formal notice of violation.”

• In a July email to former Ald. Sara Eskrich, Elliott wrote: “I am in a heap of trouble with no place to play an Oct 5 game that is senior night. Parents want to hold game here with temporary lights and seats. Cost to do that is $27,000. Can you help me understand time involved for us to get seats and lights? Now that your [sic] leaving how about a sign off for a minor amendment????”

This week, Edgewood proposed a compromise, some of which had previously discussed publicly, ahead of next Monday’s Plan Commission meeting. It would set a limit of 17 games ending by 8:30 p.m. and eight Friday night games ending by 10 p.m. It would further add a wall or berm at the end of the track to lower crowd noise and add visual screening, and clean up Master Plan language to explicitly allow for the field’s current uses.

No New Stadium was unimpressed with these changes, saying in a press release that the wall would not do enough to reduce noise.

“Unfortunately, what Edgewood needs is more land to accommodate their desired expansion and intensified use,” the release said.

On Wednesday, the DMNA asked Edgewood to delay the project's appearance before the Plan Commission, which Edgewood did Wednesday afternoon.

"In just the last few days, Edgewood has released a new sound study, a new environmental impact study, and a new proposal to add a sound wall to their proposed field improvements," a statement from Rachel Fields, vice president of the neighborhood association, said. "All of these were released after the public comment for the Plan Commission meeting had already ended. Simply for the sake of enabling our members to know what proposals are even being considered by the City, we called on Edgewood to ask for a postponement."

Elliott was contacted for comment, and this story will be updated with any response. 

This story has been updated, as the project will no longer appear before the Plan Commission on Jan. 14. 

January 9, 2019

Press release

Documents Raise Questions About Edgewood High School’s Honesty in Push for New Stadium

MADISON, WI. (January 9, 2019) -- Emails obtained via Open Records Requests reveal a pattern of bad-faith negotiating tactics and misinformation on the part of Edgewood High School with regard to its proposed Master Plan amendment. The proposed amendment, which will be reviewed by the City of Madison Plan Commission on January 14, would allow the private Catholic high school to build a 1,000-person stadium with 80-foot tall light poles and amplified sound less than 100 feet away from the nearest private residence.

Open Records Requests have yielded numerous documents related to aspects of Edgewood High School’s proposal for a new stadium. Public-facing, open source information has also shed light on EHS’s proposal.

Ten key pieces of information have been revealed:

1. Want vs. Need: Edgewood High School clearly wants a home stadium and argue they need a stadium by asserting it is no longer feasible for them to play their home schedule on Middleton’s field. This appears to be false. In emails obtained via Open Records Requests, Middleton officials indicate that EHS is welcome to continue the arrangement they had with Middleton.

2. Crowd Noise Impacts: EHS’s second claim in support of a new stadium is that “technological improvements” will minimize the impacts of stadium sound, when there is no way to mitigate crowd noise. EHS included a discussion of crowd noise in their 10/17/18 public neighborhood presentation but then left it out of their proposal to the city to amend the Master Plan. Their proposal includes seven pages on lights but nothing on crowd noise, probably because Edgewood knows crowd noise will likely exceed allowable decibel levels in the city’s noise ordinance.

3. Sound Data: EHS has estimated the impact of stadium sound in terms of average dB levels, which is not the industry standard. In a 1/2/19 letter to Mayor Paul Soglin, sound engineer Michael Oliva wrote, “Citing average sound levels, rather than peaks, is a completely unprofessional and misleading conduct in Edgewood’s description of the stadium’s impact.”

4. Goodman Negotiations: It appears that Edgewood High School signed an agreement with the Goodman Foundation that stated the athletic field would be used by numerous outside groups, without receiving City and neighborhood association approval.

5. Violations of Master Plan: Edgewood has been holding games and competitive sports events on the practice field, in non-compliance with the Master Plan, which is documented in EHS’ 2016-17 and 2017-18 reports to the Goodman Foundation. As a consequence, EHS has run afoul of the city, as attested by City of Madison Zoning Administrator Matt Tucker’s email to EHS after their 10/17/18 public, Foley & Lardner’s response, and the city's response indicating its disagreement with F & L's position.

6. Intentions for Field: In June 2015, Edgewood High School claimed that they were upgrading the field for practices and Phys Ed classes only. However, a 6/15/15 WSJ article entitled “Edgewood breaking ground on $1.5 million athletic practice facility” quoted EHS Mike Elliott saying, “‘We’re between two neighborhood associations. They have been vehemently opposed to us having lights or playing games here,’ he said. ‘We’re really building this to be able to give our athletes the practice facilities that provide the best surfaces possible and to expand the amount of outdoor practices we can hold especially in the spring. That is our focal point.’” At the same time, Elliot was negotiating with Goodman for a gift that would require the field be used for games and community events.

7. Number of Events: Edgewood has provided misleading and unclear information in their communications to the public, not acknowledging that they plan to host any number of daytime games and events with amplified sound, plus lighted practices until 7p.m. on a consistent basis. They have not been clear about the actual number of events they plan to host in their proposed stadium.

8. Misrepresenting their dealings with the neighborhoods: The publicity items Edgewood has been sending out regarding the stadium give the impression that Edgewood always works with the neighborhood in their decisions, but at both the neighborhood information sessions in 2017 and 2018, the overwhelming majority of neighborhood speakers opposed a stadium. Despite this, EHS has largely ignored neighborhood concerns. Attempts to reach out to Mike Elliott by Rachel Fields, Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association Vice-President, have gone unanswered.

9. Misrepresenting WIAA Rules: EHS cites WIAA regulations that Friday night games with lights are obligatory, but they are merely customary. EHS also claimed in the public meeting that WIAA mandates 1,200 seats for a stadium but then downgraded the number to 1,000. WIAA in fact only requires 1,000 seats for playoff games. Edgewood is under no obligation to build a stadium with 1,000 seats or to have lights.

10. Inappropriately Trying to Influence Alder Sara Eskrich: Claiming he was “in a heap of trouble” from parents because the school had not yet scheduled a home game for Senior Night on October 5, on Thursday, July 26, 2018, Edgewood High School President Mike Elliott asked former District 13 Alder Sara Eskrich to help get City approval to host a football game on the existing athletic field, with “temporary lights and sound” and sign off on a minor amendment. Eskrich responded on July 27, “I cannot sign-off on the stadium lights as a minor alteration because we’ve discussed, very publicly, that this requires a master plan amendment.” Elliott made this request after learning of neighborhood opposition to the stadium, knowing that this was not permitted by the Master Plan.

Press release | January 3, 2019

Emails Reveal Evidence of Edgewood High School’s Dishonesty on Stadium

Documents

Emails between Edgwewood High School and Middleton High School | View PDF

Email to the city from Brian Munson of Vandewalle & Associates, the PR firm hired by Edgewood to advance the stadium proposal | View PDF

MADISON, WI. (January 3, 2019) -- Emails obtained via open records requests reveal a pattern of deception by Edgewood High School regarding its proposal to build a new stadium with lights and amplified sound in the residential neighborhood adjacent to Lake Wingra.

The emails from Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District officials reveal that Edgewood High School’s frequently repeated claim to the public and the city that it needs to build a stadium because it lost its agreement to continue renting Middleton High School’s football field is false.

On October 29, 2018, when asked why Edgewood was no longer using the Middleton stadium and whether the contract could be renewed, Middleton High School Athletic Director Bob Joers responded: “We did not have problems with them, actually it was a good arrangement. They are just wanting to get lights at their new stadium and the neighborhood doesn’t want that.”

Joers added Edgewood High School had asked him to respond to queries by saying, “Our agreement with Edgewood ended Spring of 2017.”

“Edgewood has always been WONDERFUL to work with,” stated Facilities Program Coordinator Yvonne Vils in an October 30, 2018 email response to Joers and Director of Business Services Lori Ames. “It was their choice to go elsewhere.”

The emails show that Edgewood High School could have continued to play their home games in Middleton, contrary to its claim to the city that “Prior agreements for use of Middleton’s field cannot be extended, leaving Edgewood without predictable locations and often last on the list of requests to host games.” (Sept. 13, 2018 email to the city from Brian Munson of Vandewalle & Associates, the PR firm hired by Edgewood to advance the stadium proposal).

“Many of those who attended Edgewood High School’s public meeting this fall came away with the impression that Edgewood needs a stadium because they ‘lost’ their agreement with Middleton,” says Dudgeon-Monroe neighbor Dianne Jenkins.

Alder Allen Arntsen is among those who came away with that impression. Arntsen wrote in a statement on December 11 that “Edgewood requests this amendment [to its master plan] because it is losing its right to play home games in Middleton.”

Edgewood did not lose its right to play home games in Middleton but rather declined to continue doing so of its own accord.

“These latest revelations compound a pattern of dishonesty in Edgewood High School’s dealings with the neighborhood,” says Tag Evers, Dudgeon-Monroe resident and District 13 aldermanic candidate.

This has created a huge credibility problem among neighbors, including Dudgeon-Monroe resident Jamie Domini.

“The proposed amendment makes several promises — lights that don’t bleed, sound that is contained, a specified number of events — but Edgewood has not honored past agreements, has not fully disclosed pertinent information, and has not engaged the neighborhood in good faith,” Domini says. “Based on this pattern of behavior, it’s safe to assume that Edgewood won’t honor the new promises they’re making.”

About No New Stadium
No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build a stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. The Monroe-Vilas area provides a model balance of commercial vibrancy, greenspace, and peace. This balance is an asset we wish to defend and preserve. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

December 26, 2018

Neighborhood loses in Edgewood stadium proposal

Tracy Lewis, Cap Times

Dear Editor: I am writing in reference to the article "Explained: Compromise proves difficult in Edgewood High School stadium standoff." I am a 30-year resident of the Edgewood neighborhood and own a business on Regent Street. I have a strong commitment to helping ensure that this truly wonderful community continues to thrive.

Change is inevitable and we are already seeing it on Monroe Street with new multiuse buildings and businesses coming in. This will enrich livability and add to what is already a very vibrant part of the city.

What distresses me is Edgewood High School's persistence in trying to make a change that will largely benefit people outside the immediate area while negatively impacting those right here. We live in a society where we value the right to do as you wish within the confines of one’s own property, but we also have a collective agreement that this right does not trump the responsibility to do no harm to one’s neighbor in the process.

The thought of nonstop amplified sound and crowd noise that will not be able to be moderated terrifies me. We will be subjected to this on an almost-continuous basis. Games being played not only by EHS teams but various other outside entities three seasons of the year will mean constant disruption.

Edgewood has asked for our support and understanding, but where is their regard for us?

Trying to reach a “compromise” is absurd. What a compromise will mean is one foot in the door leading to what Edgewood really wants: full rein to do as they wish. Build it and they will come — and what will be lost to the neighborhood character and those of us with homes within yards of this stadium will never be recovered.

December 23, 2018

Edgewood needs money from stadium

Dianne Jenkins, Wisconsin State Journal.

The State Journal editorial board stepped into the Edgewood High School stadium debate Wednesday, framing the issue as “Let the kids play under the lights.” But the editorial missed the broader story.

Yes, it is about the kids. But it is also about the money, particularly Edgewood High School’s need for new revenue streams, and it’s about protecting the livability of a city neighborhood.

According to a UW-Madison Applied Population Laboratory report, the number of Wisconsin high school graduates has plateaued, which is bad news for private schools that compete for students. In 2009, the number of Wisconsin high school graduates peaked at about 70,140, declined 7.6 percent to 64,803 in 2016, and will not increase until 2026, to 67,000.

The impact on private school enrollment of this population decline and plateau is obvious at Edgewood High School. In the 2014 Campus Master Plan, Edgewood High School reported 593 students in 2012 and projected 650 students by 2022. Instead, its enrollment has declined, to 487 in 2017. At a stated tuition of $11,345, the 18 percent decline in enrollment represents an annual $1.2 million budget shortfall needed to pay operating expenses.

One new source of revenue was achieved in 2015 when the Goodman Foundation generously donated just over $1 million to build a new “sports complex” for the high school, with a requirement that it also serve the community. To the neighborhood’s increasing concern, the high school reported 22 unaffiliated groups used the sports complex in 2016-2017, and 21 in 2017-2018.

But the high school’s approved use for the sports complex, codified in the Campus Master Plan, is to host team practices and physical education classes, not competitions. The high school has violated its master plan agreement by hosting youth soccer, lacrosse and private grade school games, as well as UW teams and others.

So the issue is not just crowd noise and accompanying eight-story lights for a handful of night games. The high school will want to expand the use of a sports complex for the badly needed rental income, and to fulfill its community use agreement with the Goodman Foundation.

Edgewood High School has placed itself between a rock and a hard place. It agreed with Goodman to increase field use, while overlooking its responsibility to first obtain approval for such use.

If this use is approved, the economic odds are in favor of Edgewood expanding further, whatever the conditions. This sentiment is felt throughout the neighborhood as exhibited by the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association’s 18-to-1 vote in opposition and subsequent opposition to the City Council member’s proposal.

Unlike the previous 16 campus projects it supported, our neighborhood association opposes this one because people living across the street in the neighborhood, on two sides of the proposed sports complex, will bear all the negative impacts of such use.

And there goes the neighborhood.

Jenkins is a Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood resident on Madison’s Near West Side and a member of No New Stadium, a group of neighbors and others who oppose the Edgewood High School stadium proposal: nonewstadium.org.

December 21, 2018

Current Edgewood stadium is already a compromise

Susan Nicol, Cap Times

Dear Editor: Continually lost in the current argument over the proposed addition to the Edgewood stadium is that the current state WAS the compromise. Ten years ago the neighborhood and Edgewood conflicted over stadium development. The compromise reached was that Edgewood would be allowed to upgrade and improve this arena with resurfacing, and stands added, but that they would NEVER add sound system or lights.

The neighbors have accepted the additional noise, traffic and trash that the current stadium brought. In secret, Edgewood added preparations for sound system and lights, revealing that the compromise of the time was just a stepping stone to new demands. Now Edgewood is pushing again, tone deaf to the neighbors who have opted out of offering this for their own children at the nearby public school due to a desire to remain considerate to neighbors of West High. Edgewood is acting like an entitled child, unappreciative of the gifts already given and demanding MORE, MORE!

I don’t live across the street from Edgewood, but I have empathy for those who do. You have my support. No new stadium. Players should have their large games in an appropriate location. It’s what other schools do when that close to a neighborhood. If this new “compromise” were to be approved, no doubt in a few years we would be hearing a demand for more. It’s not really a compromise. It’s this year’s demand.

News release

For Immediate Release
Date: 12/13/2018
Contact: Catherine Jagoe
Phone: 608-620-5850
Email: nonewstadiuminfo@gmail.com

No New Stadium Grassroots Neighborhood Group Responds to Alder Allen Arntsen’s Statement on Edgewood High School’s Proposed Amendment to Master Plan

Edgewood Neighbors Acknowledge Alder’s Statement; Remain Opposed

MADISON, WI. (December 13, 2018) -- In response to Interim District 13 Alder Allen Arntsen’s short-term, five-game solution to Edgewood High School’s proposal to amend its Master Plan and build a 1,000-person stadium with lights and sound, neighbors warn that building a new stadium still poses a serious long-term threat to livability and urban greenspace. Grassroots neighborhood group No New Stadium remains opposed to Edgewood High School’s proposed amendment to its Master Plan to allow for the construction of the new stadium.

“The Edgewood campus had 144 bird species either resident or migrating through in 2018,” says neighbor Catherine Jagoe, an avid walker, cyclist, and birdwatcher. “Lake Wingra is the quietest of Madison’s lakes, thanks to staunch neighborhood efforts to make it a refuge for paddlers, cyclists, anglers, runners, birdwatchers and local children. A stadium with lights, sound, increased noise and increased traffic in the neighborhood--since the majority of Edgewood families come from outside the neighborhood and even the city--will have a negative impact on precious urban greenspace, which we have to protect.”

In publicity materials and news interviews, Edgewood High School has claimed that the impact of its proposed Monroe Street stadium would be minimal, since there is a technological fix to the sound and light problems, but nearby neighbors already experience high levels of noise from the existing new field inside their homes, with the windows closed. Since there are no city ordinances that relate to crowd noise, any complaints of violations are unenforceable.

“Alder Arntsen’s suggestion to allow Edgewood High School to build a new stadium but limit the use of lights to a total of five events per year for the next six years only deals with future nighttime events,” explains neighbor Tracy Lewis. “It does not address the current unacceptable levels of noise from daytime use of the track and field, which would worsen considerably with sound amplification.”

The neighborhood has long been overwhelmingly opposed to a stadium on Edgewood’s Monroe Street campus. The existing state-of-the-art athletic field, which was built in 2015, is the result of a 2014 compromise between the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association and Edgewood High School. Nevertheless, during the past two years, Edgewood High School has allowed games and competitive events to be held on the field, in violation of its current master plan.

“Edgewood High School has eroded neighborhood trust by breaking its clear commitment to use its field for practice and physical education classes only,” says neighbor Dianne Jenkins. “Once a stadium is built, it can’t be unbuilt, and neighbors justifiably fear incremental expansion of use and growing sound, light and traffic impact, to the detriment of homeowners and the Lake Wingra environment.”

The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association strongly opposes the proposed new stadium. “Since 2001, DMNA has supported 16 development projects for the high school, college and primary school,” DMNA wrote in its statement of opposition. “Unlike usual city development that creates infill, prevents urban sprawl and increases the city tax base, this amendment benefits a private institution with nearly half its student population outside the Madison city limits, without adding significant benefit to the city as a whole.”

“I believe Edgewood High School has a financial incentive to use the stadium as a revenue generator at the expense of its neighbors,” says neighbor Pat Alea. “If this is approved for a nominal number of games, expect to see new proposals from Edgewood High School to expand on usage for its private income. That doesn’t do much for neighborhood families, the majority of whom send their kids to public schools, like West High, which doesn’t have a stadium.”

About No New Stadium
No New Stadium is a grassroots organization of neighbors who oppose Edgewood High School’s proposal to build a stadium with lights and amplified sound on its Monroe Street campus. The group was formed in October 2018. The Monroe-Vilas area provides a model balance of commercial vibrancy, greenspace and peace. This balance is an asset we wish to defend and preserve. Learn more at nonewstadium.org.

###

November 28, 2018

The neighborhood responds to Edgewood stadium plan

Molly Stentz | A Public Affair

Listen as WORT news director Molly Stentz takes a close look at Edgewood High School's proposed Goodman Athletic Complex project. She is joined in the studio by Josh Napravnik from the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association, which recently issued a letter declaring their opposition to the project. Madison residents weigh in on how the new stadium—and similar development projects throughout the city—could affect the broader community.

Letter to the Plan Commission

This letter was submitted to the City of Madison Plan Commission on October 31, 2018.

From: No New Stadium

To:
Ken Opin, Chair
Plan Commission
City of Madison

 cc:
Heather Stouder, Director
City of Madison Planning Division

 October 31, 2018

Dear Chairman Opin:

 We are a grassroots group of concerned citizens that formed after the public meeting held at Edgewood High School on October 17, 2018. We strongly oppose Edgewood’s recently unveiled plan to turn its new athletic field into a stadium with 1,200 seats, 80-foot high-mount night lighting and an amplified sound system. We respectfully request that you circulate this letter to the members of the Plan Commission prior to the November 5, 2018 meeting.

 Under the existing Campus Master Plan, approved in 2015, Edgewood built a $1.5 million outdoor athletic field. At that time, the neighborhood was led to believe the field would be used for practices only, and would not include lights or a sound system. Edgewood High School president Mike Elliott declared in the Wisconsin State Journal (6/15/2015), that neighborhood associations have been “opposed to us having lights or playing games here. We’re … building this to be able to give our athletes the practice facilities that provide the best surfaces possible.”

 Three years later, Edgewood has changed course and now plans to add a stadium to the practice field. They propose to host night events for football, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, and numerous other unlit sporting events during the day and early evening that would use amplified sound. This is a significant change in use of a significant part of their campus, which will have a significant impact on the neighborhood.

 A Dudgeon Monroe Neighborhood Association survey in April 2017 showed two-thirds of respondents were opposed. Recently, David Hoffert, president of DMNA, stated that since the 2017 survey, “the rough breakdown of two-thirds opposed and one-third in support has [not] significantly changed” (Capital Times, 10/16/18).

 Edgewood claims that neighbors would be largely unaffected because it has a technological fix for the livability problems of bright lights and noise pollution. We believe these claims are unproven. For example, data gathered by Ethan Brodsky, a Dudgeon-Monroe resident who has a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering, at a Waunakee High School football game, call into question the low decibel figures and mitigated light-spill claimed by Edgewood’s vendor. However good the technology, if this stadium is built, there will be additional noise, light and traffic, and increased use over time.

The Campus Institutional Zoning District ordinance Statement of Purpose (sec. 28.097 (1)(c), MGO), says that Campus Master Plans should “balance the ability of major institutions to change … with the need to protect the livability and vitality of adjacent neighborhoods.” There are two criteria listed in the CI Zoning Standards for Master Plan Approval by the Common Council (sec. 29.097 (6)(a) & (b), MGO). The first is that “the Plan shall serve the public interest as well as the interest of the institution developing the plan.” The public interest in reasonable peace and quiet currently cherished by nearby residents would not be served by a continuous series of events punctuated by a play-by-play announcer, pep bands, and crowd noise. This would profoundly change the neighborhood’s essential fabric as a quiet, friendly residential community. The impact to the adjacent neighborhoods will be decidedly negative, with spillover effects on recreational use of Lake Wingra, traffic issues on Monroe Street and neighboring streets, and a tragic breach in relations between Edgewood and its neighbors.

The second CI zoning criterion is “the Plan shall be consistent with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan and adopted neighborhood, corridor or special area plans adjacent to campus boundaries.” The Edgewood proposal is inconsistent with the Monroe Street Commercial District Plan, adopted by the City on March 3, 2007. One of the stated Commercial District Plan goals is “to preserve and enhance the residential character of the neighborhood around the commercial districts” (p.9). With respect to Edgewood specifically, the Plan states that “Edgewood . . . is an important presence on Monroe Street. . . . [It] will be critical for any future plan to carefully coordinate with surrounding neighborhood and land uses to avoid any negative impacts” (p.43).

Moreover, to the extent that a Conditional Use Permit may be required, such a major amendment could not be approved under sec. 28.183(6)(a)3., MGO, because the “uses, values and enjoyment of other property in the neighborhood for purposes already established” will “be substantially impaired or diminished” in a very foreseeable manner. Even if not directly applicable, this standard provides helpful guidance as to what is in the public interest as related to substantial alterations of a CI zoning district Master Plan.

When Edgewood’s request to amend its Campus Master Plan in order to build this stadium comes before the Plan Commission, we will be asking the commission to hold Edgewood to current standards (both those we have referenced and others), reject the request, and protect the adjacent residential neighborhoods.

As stated in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, “Neighborhoods are the basic building block of the city“ (p. 46). We have provided this early communication to let you know how strongly we feel about this, and how committed we are to protecting the quality of life of our community.

 Sincerely,

 Signed:

1.     Catherine Jagoe, 2318 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

2.     Edwin Sibert, 2318 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

3.     Barbara Erlenborn, 2316 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

4.     James Erlenborn, 2316 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI  53711

5.     Rachel Lander, 2010 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

6.     Gail Martinelli, 2317 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

7.     Scott Spoolman, 2317 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

8.     Alida Evans, 2313 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

9.     Joseph Newman, 2313 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

10.  Karen Redfield, 2322 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

11.  Asifa Quraishi-Landes, 2322 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

12.  Matthew Quraishi-Landes, 2322 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

13.  Sandy Stark, 2720 Gregory St, Madison, WI 53711

14.  Robert Fischer, 702 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

15.  Susanna Fischer, 702 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

16.  Lynn Bjorkman, 1910 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

17.  Arne Alanen, 1910 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

18.  Tracy Lewis, 706 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

19.  Susan Nicol, 1901 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53726

20.  John Nicol, 1901 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53726

21.  Kathleen Vogel, 638 Sheldon St, Madison, WI 53711

22.  Tamara Bryan, 2254 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

23.  John Chosy, 2254 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

24.  Dan Julie, 2257 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

25.  Colleen Howes, 2257 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

26.  Lyle Laufenburg, 2262 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

27.  Linda Laufenberg, 2262 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

28.  Steve Sadoff, 2256 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

29.  Lisa Burdulis, 2256 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

30.  Melissa Vaughan, 2245 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

31.  Lissa Koop, 2236 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

32.  Dianne Jenkins, 2125 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

33.  Denis Collins, 2125 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

34.  Linda McQuillen, 2107 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

35.  Jane Albert, 2144 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

36.  Carolyn Hogg, 2145 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

37.  David Abbott, 2309 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

38.  Angela Abbott, 2309 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

39.  Jenny Saffran, 1912 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

40.  Seth Pollak, 1912 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

41.  Allison Malacek, 2320 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

42.  Adam Malacek, 2320 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

43.  Shawn Schey, 878 Woodrow St, Madison, WI 53711

44.  James Schey, 878 Woodrow St, Madison, WI 53711

45.  Rebecca Upham, 2259 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

46.  Lynn Keller, 2005 Jefferson St, Madison, WI 5371

47.  Bruce Collick, 708 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

48.  Patricia Alea, 708 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

49.  Elliott Veith, 708 Leonard St, Madison, WI 53711

50.  Joan Nugent, 1521 Vilas Ave, Madison, WI 53711

51.  Dan Anderson, 1521 Vilas Ave, Madison, WI 53711

52.  Amanda Veith, 2241 Hollister Ave, Madison WI 53726

53.  George Savage, 2443 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53711

54.  Donna Silver, 2443 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53711

55.  Catherine J. Gloeckler, 2317 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

56.  Shirley M. Dumas, 2317 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

57.  Dustie L Held, 2301 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

58.  Jeff S. Held, 2301 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

59.  Steve Klaven, 2339 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

60.  Merija Eisen, 2339 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

61.  Tag Evers, 2329 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

62.  Paul Buhle, 2341 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

63.  Mari Jo Buhle, 2341 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

64.  Jackie Domini Rose, 2372 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

65.  Jamie Domini, 2372 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

66.  Sally Jerney, 2372 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

67.  Menzie Chinn, 2325 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

68.  Laura Schwendinger, 2325 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

69.  Jeff Vanderwood, 2352 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53711

70.  Sheila Vanderwood, 2352 Commonwealth Ave, Madison, WI 53711

71.  Ben Yahr, 2332 Fitchburg Rd, Fitchburg, WI 53593 (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Friends of Lake Wingra)

72.  Marie Trest, 2310 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

73.  Dennis Trest, 2310 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

74.  Alta A. Johnson, 2264 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

75.  Timothy D. Johnson, 2264 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

76.  Pam Cramer, 2318 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

77.  Ron Cramer, 2318 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

78.  Jacob Notbohm, 2314 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

79.  Nicole Broekema, 2314 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

80.  Mary Lou Nord, 2332 Monroe St, Madison WI 53711

81.  Jessica Weeks, 2234 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

82.  John Wolf, 1921 Madison St, Madison WI 

83.  Susan Wolf, 1921 Madison St, Madison WI 

84.  Lyschel Bersch, 413 Grand Ave, Madison WI 53705

85.  Gretchen Twietmeyer, 2260 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

86.  Jim Wear, 2254 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

87.  Ziva Wear, 2254 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

88.  Mary Erdman, 638 Sheldon St, Madison WI 53711

89.  Donna Wilson, 638 Sheldon St, Madison WI 53711

90.  Scott Wilson, 613 Sheldon St, Madison WI 53711

91.  Jeff Mandell, 2148 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

92.  Sara Rostolder Mandell, 2148 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

93.  James Rosebery, 2220 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

94.  Susan O’Leary, 2220 West Lawn Ave, Madison WI 53711

95.  Patricia Wafer, 734 Western Ave, Madison WI 53711

96.  James Lake, 738 Western Ave, Madison WI 53711

97.  Ruth Robarts, 3726 Gregory St, Madison, WI 53711

98.  Fred Schrank, 2313 Keyes Ave, Madison, WI 53711

99.  Ritesh  Rihani, 2242 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

100. Mary Rihani, 2242 West Lawn, Madison, WI 53711

101. Brad Boyce, 938 Woodrow St, Madison, WI 53711

102.  Claire Boyce, 938 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

103. Dave Leeper, 866 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

104. Debi Leeper, 866 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

105. John Hauser, 865 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

106. Jennifer Kushner, 865 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

107. Dennis Kienbaum, 858 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

108. Beth Kienbaum, 858 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

109.  Mary Jones, 4846 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

110. Bill Barker, 830 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

111. Susan Paskewitz, 830 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

112. Tricia Smith, 850 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

113. Mike Smith, 850 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

114. Karl Knauf, 833 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

115. Phil McClarey, 857 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

116. Angel McClarey, 857 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

117.  Susan Nuttall, 821 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711 

118. Lynn Paskewitz, 826 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

119. Paul Guilbault, 877 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

120. Pam Guilbault, 877 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

121. Ann Recob, 885 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

122.  Craig Recob, 885 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

123.  Karen Fennema, 873 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

124. Bruce King, 873 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

125. Mark Powell, 881 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

126. Karen Powell, 881 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

127. Dan Klabund, 841 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

128.  Mary Ann Feutz, 841 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

129. Carol Sander, 838 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

130. David Vanderti, 838 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

131. Ann Rifenberg, 834 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

132.  Barb Zahn, 834 Terry Place, Madison, WI 53711

133. Char Thompson, 2716 Gregory Street, Madison, WI 53711

134. Ann Clark, 2525 Gregory Street, Madison, WI 53711

135. Allen Clark, 2525 Gregory Street, Madison, WI 53711

136. Rebecca Cole, 2824 Gregory Street, Madison, WI 53711

137.  Jim Lake, 738 Western Ave, Madison, WI 53711

138. Susan Slapnick, 1723 Summit Ave, Madison, WI 53711

139. Patricia Chevis, 2914 Arbor Drive, Madison, WI 53711

140. Summer Jarosky, 2033 Frazer Place, Madison, WI 53715

141. Joel Jarosky, 2033 Frazer Place, Madison, WI 53715

142. Tyler Leeper, 822 West Shore Drive, Madison, WI 53715

143. Kate Holt, 822 West Shore Drive, Madison, WI 53715

144.  Linda Gordon, 2121 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

145. Allen Hunter, 2121 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

146.  Marcia Standiford, 2122 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

147.  Ken Ferencek, 2122 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

148. Susan Gevelber, 2138 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

149. John Kalfayan, 2343 West Lawn Ave, Madison, WI 53711

150.  Mike Kanel, 2824 Gregory St, Madison, WI 53711

151.  Steve Glass, 1306 Seminole Highway, Madison, WI 53711

152. Yael Gen, 860 Woodrow St., Madison, WI 53711

153.  Jeffrey Jerred, 860 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

154.  Teresa Nyholt, 812 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

155.  Bob Meyer, 812 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

156. Marc Gartler, 820 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

157.  Christine Gartler, 820 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

158.  David Zimmerman, 2138 West Lawn, Madison, WI  53711

159. Ethan Brodsky, 866 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

160. Scott Statz, 810 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

161.  Sue Statz, 810 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

162.  Kay Gabriel, 826 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

163. Fiona McTavish, 826 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

164.  Josephine Harter, 2129 Keyes Ave., Madison, WI  53711

165. Simone Schweber, 2139 West Lawn, Madison, WI  53711

166.  Charles Vetzner, 30 Virginia Terrace, Madison, WI  53726

167. Arleen Wolek, 30 Virginia Terrace, Madison, WI  53726

168. Mary V. Bowman, 5 Wintergreen Trail, Madison, WI  53717

169. Rosemary Dorney, 4205 Odana Rd, Madison, WI  53711

170. Andrew Cusick, 836 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

171. Laura Oflanagan, 862 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

172.  Paul Oflanagan, 862 Woodrow St., Madison, WI  53711

173. Jeff Vanderwood, 2352 Commonwealth Ave., Madison, WI  53711

174.  Sheila Vanderwood, 2352 Commonwealth Ave., Madison, WI  53711