Residents opposed to mixed

A proposed mixed-use building with 10 townhomes is proposed at the corner of Capitol Drive and Lilly Road in Brookfield.

BROOKFIELD — Nearly 50 residents of Brookfield shared their opposition to a five-story mixed-use building proposed for a corner of Lilly Road and Capitol Drive that some officials have called blighted. They cited traffic, height and property values as their primary concerns.

With the City Hall Council Chambers full, the Common Council meeting Tuesday included a public hearing, during which there was a brief presentation on the proposal, a question and answer session for council members and those involved in the planning process and an opportunity for people to express their opposition and support for the project.

The primary occupant of the building's commercial space would be Wheel & Sprocket, a bike shop that opened in 1973. Noel Kegel, president of Wheel & Sprocket, began his presentation saying he could sense tension in the room before explaining why he believes this type of development is the best approach for the business.

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"The project attempts to be respectful of where it is," Kegel said, which drew laughter from the audience.

No action was taken at this meeting. The proposal will go back to the Plan Commission, which had mixed feelings about it in July; the earliest this will happen is Nov. 7.

People from Brookfield and across the county have signed a petition on change.org stating that they do not support the proposal. The petition had 533 signatures as of Thursday night.

"When I moved out to Brookfield, which has been at least 35 years ago, we built our home because Brookfield was Brookfield," Barbara Kass said at the public hearing. "There weren't any sidewalks, there was a lot of green space, they weren't putting all kinds of people in apartments in a concentrated area, and that's what we liked about Brookfield."

Kass said that she understands change needs to happen, but this project is overkill and traffic is already bad without additional residents.

"Now if you’re going to widen Lilly Road, I’d sure like to know about that now because we would sell our house," she said.

Many residents said traffic at the intersections is bad enough, especially with the two high schools down the street, and that adding a 64-unit apartment building and 10 townhomes would create problems the city has not fully considered.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Traffic Analysis & Design Inc. completed traffic studies and propose adding lanes to Lilly Road as it approaches Capitol from the south to accommodate the development. The 242-page studies can be found in the agenda packet on the city's website.

Some residents brought up concerns of decreasing property values as a result of this development, asking that more research on traffic and other neighborhood impacts be assessed before moving forward with the project.

"My grandma always said if you want to know the truth, find people's motivations," Steve Johnson, a Brookfield resident, said. "The motivation here is money, we all know it. I mean, the developers stand to make money, the owners stand to make money, the city stands to make money. The only ones that don't are the residents like me."

Some residents said they support developing this corner as many agree it is blighted, but do not support this project in its current state.

"We all seem interested in development, just not this one," Brookfield resident Brandon Tschacher said. "...If Wheel & Sprocket leaves, we’re going to see a whole different type of corner than right now that we seem so passionately against and I’m terrified of that."

Plan Commission staff said the proposal's density aligns with the city's 2050 comprehensive plan meant to guide future development. The 2050 plan calls for higher density developments at large intersections, Director of Community Development Daniel Ertl said.

According to Kegel, Wheel & Sprocket's current facility is obsolete and floods when it rains, making this an opportunity to work with developer The Heimat Group that they want to take.

Furthermore, a portion of this land was formerly occupied by an Amoco station that contaminated the land, necessitating a $3.2 million cleanup, costs that would be offset by the apartment units.

At the July Plan Commission meeting, Alderman Mike Hallquist said he supports the proposal partially because Brookfield should have a variety of housing options. He asked what the ratio of multi-family to single family homes would be if the 2050 plan was built out.

Plan Commission staff said that by 2050 there will be an estimated 21,295 housing units in Brookfield. 80% of these are expected to be single family homes and 20% multi-family.

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