Plan for change: Caledonia officials prepare for the inevitable development along the interstate

By Michael Burke

Saturday, August 7, 2004 11:54 PM CDT

CALEDONIA - It's a familiar view from the Interstate highway system around Milwaukee, Chicago and elsewhere: large glassy office buildings and sprawling commercial structures that were built for utility - not beauty.

This landscape, which is fast replacing formerly pastoral vistas, does represent added tax base for each of those municipalities. However, it's not everyone's idea of perfect progress. And, in all likelihood, it's not what the future Caledonia will look like from Interstate 94.

"What we want to avoid is looking like everybody else," said Caledonia Plan Commission Chairwoman Linda Mielke.

When I-94 drivers reach Caledonia, she said, "We want them to know they're entering someplace that's different ... as opposed to every other stretch of the interstate."

Caledonia has been holding neighborhood meetings throughout the town to guide land use planning through the next 20 to 30 years. But planning for the I-94 corridor in particular is being nudged along by the agreement that will extend Racine water and sewer out Highway 20 to the Interstate.

"That changes everything," Town Chairwoman Susan Greenfield said. The lack of municipal water and sewer restricted development of the I-94 corridor here, but the clamps will come off when those utilities show up sometime next year.

"That will put us in a whole different league in competing for development," Greenfield said.

However, "Without a plan, we've lost all control of development," Mielke said.

A detailed land-use plan for the corridor, from the Interstate to Highway V, has yet to be produced. But top Caledonia officials have a general vision of what they hope that area will become.

"We see mixed-use development happening in that area," Greenfield said. That means the whole spectrum, from various kinds of housing to retail, commercial/industrial, some green space and more.

The term "mixed-use" also portends blending those categories, rather than having them in widely segregated zones. Town officials are working closely with Milwaukee's Planning and Design Institute to find the best ways to do that. The local people doing the heavy lifting are the 22 or so members, mostly citizens, currently called the W-2 group.

High-quality, mixed-use development "is what the people are telling us they want," Mielke said.

"They don't want us to totally sacrifice green space for the industrial look," Greenfield added.

"Too often, I think, development unfolds at the whims of developers, and the citizens of a community don't have input into how that looks."

Tools of control The final land use plan hasn't been drawn up, but Greenfield said officials can already envision implements to ensure that future development conforms to the town's ideals.

One tool already in hand is the existing conservation subdivision ordinance. It requires housing to be bunched, thus keeping at least 60 percent of the land in a natural state.

Esthetics and appearance of commercial development is another concern. Officials don't think the town will want I-94 to expose the backs of industrial buildings, or show off broad seas of asphalt, for example.

Greenfield said that wish may suggest a "big box ordinance" limiting the size of buildings, and/or set architectural design standards. The town could control how parking lots will look and where they are placed.

That approach may also lead to rules about what must be done with commercial buildings if they are ever vacated, Mielke said.

She noted the Caledonia planning process has determined the town's central area should retain its rural character, from about Highway V east. The intent will be to phase the heavier development in the I-94 corridor down as it moves east, so it blends into that rural landscape.

"By the time this development gets to Highway V, it will again be rural," Mielke said.

Town Administrator Mark Luberda said citizens have come to acknowledge that development in the I-94 corridor is inevitable, and the rural area will not extend that far west. But in exchange, they can hold onto the rural character in the town's inner region.

The town officials describe desirable development in the I-94 corridor as areas where people could work, live, shop and safely walk or bike for recreation. "We're talking about `walkable' communities," Mielke said.

Housing could include suburban-type homes, condominiums, multi-family housing and senior citizen living. It could also be housing above shops, as in Downtown Racine and West Racine.

"We have told this working group to think outside the box - every possible thing they can think of," Mielke said.

Planners have voiced notions such as high-end retail, a medical clinic, a college or technical college satellite campus, or perhaps a convention hotel in the I-94 corridor.

"My personal vision," Mielke said, "is I would like to see something, probably around Highway K, as a destination spot." Someone on one of the planning groups suggested a high-drawing store such as Ikea, for example.

Impeding progress? Some people might say putting restrictions on development might depress investment interest in the area, but Greenfield does not think that will happen. The same concern was voiced about the town's conservation subdivision, and it hasn't cooled developer enthusiasm. "Not in the least," she said.

"You change who wants to do business," by adopting such standards, Greenfield said.

"We will talk about reasonable controls," Luberda said, and find out from high-quality developers what controls would kill their interest.

Mielke said high standards will attract high-quality developers. They will know their own investments will be surrounded by other top-notch projects and therefore keep their value.

Lacking municipal water and sewer, Racine County did not sprout the tentacles of Interstate development that grew from Milwaukee in Ozaukee, Waukesha and Washington counties, Racine County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Gordy Kacala pointed out.

Now that water and sewer are about to arrive, he said, "For the (local) region to survive, you have to take some kind of advantage of that."

Kacala said he likes Caledonia's deliberate planning process and the idea of mixed-use I-94 corridor development. "It's a a great idea," he said.

"It's easy to be like everybody else. To be successful, you have to set yourself apart."

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