GRAFTON 鈥 The 3-acre parcel known as the Grafton "triangle" may be the most talked about piece of land in the village.
Bordered by Grafton Avenue on the west, 17th Avenue on the east and Washington Street (Highway 60) on the south, the property first found itself in the spotlight when developer Three Leaf Partners proposed building a 180-unit apartment complex with four-to-five story buildings there, with space for a commercial tenant on the first floor.
The idea was rejected multiple times by village officials, even after developers scaled back the plan. Nonetheless, Three Leaf Partners has since purchased the property, though it has no active plans for it.
In January, the triangle parcel was included in a proposed 34-acre tax incremental financing district that stretches from 9th Avenue on the west and 17th Avenue on the east, and from Highway 60 north to Shoreland Drive.
A TID allocates future increases in property taxes in a designated area to pay for improvements within that area, rather than going to taxing districts such as the school district, village, county and others. There is a limit to how long a TID can last.
TIDs are meant to spur development in an area that might otherwise be too expensive to do so, largely because a property is blighted. That is the case in Grafton鈥檚 TID No. 6 because it includes the Goldberg Foundry at 1019-1025 11th Ave.
But it raised eyebrows for some when the triangle parcel was included, as some have said the parcel does not fit the requirements intended for such a financing district. The proposed plan also called for using more than $1 million to close Grafton Avenue and build on it.
Plans for TID No. 6 have since been paused as village officials review both the project plan and proposed boundaries. But Village President Dan Delorit said that adding the triangle parcel provides a potential funding source for the ultimate development of the project.
鈥淭he potential and conservative value for the future development was included in the TID to look at future projects that MAY be needed in the next 5 to 15 years surrounding that property,鈥 Delorit told the 六合彩开奖记录 Graphic. 鈥淎s stewards of the future in the village of Grafton, it would be grossly negligent of us as leaders to not include any POTENTIAL development on that property. In addition, having the TID 6 approved does NOT mean future projects would get approved.鈥
The candidates for Grafton Village Board are divided on whether it should be included.
Three seats are on Tuesday鈥檚 ballots. They are currently held by incumbents Lisa Uribe Harbeck, Amy Luft and Clark Evans. All are running for re-election. Also on the ballot are Kevin Curtis, Andrew Schwartz and Toni Wilhelme. Wilhelme did not respond to the email from the 六合彩开奖记录 Graphic.
Luft and Evans say they support the property staying within the 鈥 or another 鈥 TID boundary; Uribe Harbeck, Curtis and Schwartz do not.
Evans said he supports the triangle being in a TID district, though preferably one specific to that property. He stressed that such districts are meant to capture the tax increments to pay for public infrastructure improvements, such as increased safety and improved accessibility. They are not intended to be a developer incentive or land transfer, he said.
TID No. 6 would certainly meet the idea of redeveloping blighted and/or underutilized properties, 鈥減articularly the long-shuttered Goldberg Foundry, nowapproved Harmony Grove development and the Triangle property,鈥 Evans said. 鈥淚 do wish that other, unsuspecting properties did not have to be included in the TIF to meet the statutory requirement that the TIF boundary be contiguous. Instead, consistent with the Village鈥檚 past use of TIF districts, I would prefer separate TIF districts specific to the blighted and/or underutilized properties.鈥
Luft, too, emphasized the TID鈥檚 public improvements. In this case, the plan includes improvements to the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and provides designated bike lanes and sidewalk enhancements all which will improve pedestrian and automobile safety, she said.
She agrees with including the triangle property, noting that development staff believe it will be developed within the next three to five years.
鈥淚t will stimulate growth towards future enhancements such as parks, roads and public safety,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he project plan has been prepared in compliance with Wisconsin State Statues and was moved forward by receiving the recommendation of the Community Development Authority. By approving the plan as originally proposed, the village will be able to provide assistance to property owners for the maintenance and improvements of their current operations and establishments.鈥
But Uribe-Harbeck said village officials should be very careful about where and how the TID is used. The foundry represents the intention of how such districts should be used, she said. But for the incentives provided by the district, blighted properties such as that would not otherwise be developed.
鈥淭he triangle is not blighted and I believe will be developed without the village subsidizing any developer who wants to build there,鈥 Uribe Harbeck said. 鈥淚n addition, I don鈥檛 feel that many of the homes and properties that the proposed TID boundaries encompass are 鈥榖lighted,鈥 and I know that many residents are upset about their homes being labeled that way.鈥
She would favor a more-focused district based on the foundry cleanup.
Curtis said that including the triangle parcel 鈥渁s the only way to pay for the improvements on the rest of the land causes more problems than it helps.鈥
Specifically, removing Grafton Avenue would cut off an artery now provided to a large number of trucks and it would only increase traffic in the future, he said.
鈥淭he plans for the triangle property in the TIF aren鈥檛 in line with what residents in the area want,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e need to help with the redevelopment of the Goldberg Foundry, as that鈥檚 no longer safe for use, and the area surrounding it.鈥
Extending the district to include the triangle property and destroying Grafton Avenue are not the way to handle it, Curtis said.
Schwartz, too, believes that closing Grafton Avenue will only exacerbate daily traffic concerns in the busy area.
鈥淚 am not in favor of abandoning a village street to create a bigger parcel for a developer to put a larger high density development on to increase the tax revenue for the village at the expense of the triangle neighbors and citizens of Grafton,鈥 he said.
He believes the district boundaries were created especially broad to cover other additional projects with the TID revenue generated from the large district. Schwartz favors a much smaller district, and one without the triangle parcel.
鈥淭he triangle will at some point be redeveloped BUT it should be one of the low-impact uses that the village has already identified in the 2035 Comprehensive Plan,鈥 he said.
Grafton Village Administrator Jesse Thyes stressed that there is 鈥渘o current development proposal pending for the site.鈥
Delorit said that all projects need approval by a variety of boards, with nonelected members of the public on the boards having a vote on the projects.
鈥淛ust because a project has a potential funding source does not make it a reality,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 am fully in support of public discussion of these projects.鈥