West and Northeast Area Plans submitted for approval

The City of Madison’s Planning Division has submitted both the West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan for approval, with both plans scheduled to be introduced at the Common Council’s meeting on July 16, 2024.

The Common Council will not be making a decision on either plan at the July 16 meeting. Instead, the plans will be referred to several City of Madison Boards, Commissions, and Committees for review, potential changes, and public comment before returning to the Common Council for a final vote.

Members of the public can review the West Area Plan Introduction Draft and the Northeast Area Plan Introduction Draft on Legistar.

The Introduction Draft for the West Area Plan includes some notable changes from the Public Review Draft that was released earlier this year after City staff received significant amounts of feedback. Those changes include:

• Middleton Street: Recommendation changed from “connect the two segments of Middleton Street along the east border of Stricker’s Pond, in coordination with the City of Middleton” to “preserve the opportunity to connect Middleton Street in the future.”
• Sauk Creek Greenway: Recommendation changed from “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to design an All Ages and Abilities shared use path from Brule Circle to Walnut Grove Park through the greenway using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees” to “During the Sauk Creek Greenway Corridor Plan, use detailed engineering data to consider the impacts and benefits of adding an All Ages and Abilities shared-use path to make an east-west connection across the greenway to Walnut Grove Park” and “Any All Ages and Abilities path should be designed using environmentally sensitive best practices and minimizing impacts to trees and other vegetation, wildlife habitat, and adjacent properties.”
• Whitney Way and Regent Street: Recommendation for future land use along Merrill Crest Drive changed to Low Residential.

The West Area Plan and the Northeast Area Plan are tentatively scheduled to be reviewed and up for a vote at the following meetings:

• Economic Development Committee: July 17, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Transportation Commission: July 31, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Community Development Block Grant Committee: August 1, 2024 (Northeast Area Plan)
• Landmarks Commission: August 5, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Urban Design Commission: August 14, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Board of Parks Commissioners: August 14, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Plan Commission: August 26, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)
• Common Council: September 10, 2024 (West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan)

Each meeting will have the opportunity for public comment. Agendas and instructions on how to register for public comment are typically posted one week in advance of each meeting.

After both plans are adopted, City staff will incorporate any changes approved by the Common Council.

About the Area Plan Process

The West Area Plan and the Northeast Area Plan are the first two area plans prepared under the City of Madison’s new Planning Framework, in which the Common Council established 12 plan areas covering the entire city.

Area Plans focus on guiding changes to the physical aspects of our community that occur incrementally over decades, such as development initiated by the private sector and infrastructure improvements typically carried out by the public sector. While area plans help guide future growth, they do not create or require development. Instead, they will help guide the City of Madison’s review process when developments are proposed. Proposals that follow plan recommendations are likely to be approved, but proposals that don’t follow plan recommendations will face greater scrutiny, and approval will be less likely.

The City of Madison Planning Division leads the development of area plans, but the plans are an interagency effort, with collaboration and contributions from a number of City of Madison agencies, including but not limited to Parks, Engineering, Community Development, Economic Development, Transportation, Traffic Engineering, Streets, Forestry, Water Utility, Public Health, Fire and Police.

Significant public input has been a part of both the West Area Plan and Northeast Area Plan and significantly shaped the recommendations contained in them. The West Area Plan has seen a total of 25 public meetings, open houses, Q&A sessions, and commission meetings since February 2023, all of which are chronicled on the project’s website. The Northeast Area Plan also saw a total of more than 20 public meetings since its process started in January 2023.

Work on the next two area plans, the Southeast Area Plan and the Southwest Area Plan, will begin later this year. You can learn more about the Area Plans on the City of Madison’s website.