Greenbush neighborhood at odds with Ald. Sue Ellingson over Ideal plans on Park Street

Alder doesn't see five stories as a problem

September 27, 2012

2:00 PM

Ald. Sue Ellingson is in a tight spot.

The Greenbush Neighborhood Association is fiercely opposed to plans to redevelop the land that has for decades housed the Ideal Body Shop at 502 S. Park St. Ellingson backs the project and says she really doesn't understand the main point of contention: "why four stories is okay on Park Street but five stories is not."

"The feeling about this development has been divided from the beginning," adds Ellingson, who says that opinion is split fifty-fifty among constituents who have emailed or spoken to her on the issue.

The corner of Park and Drake streets, where the Ideal Body Shop sits, has suddenly become a hot spot for redevelopment. Lane's Bakery, just across the street, is closing Sept. 29 after 58 years, and plans are already under way to build a five-story building there. Park Street itself is undergoing a renaissance, with new restaurants, an expanded St. Mary's Hospital and the redevelopment of the Villager Mall.

The Ideal Body Shop started out as a blacksmith shop but turned its attention to cars in 1907. The building that stands there today was built in 1924. The business passed through three generations of the Dottl family. Peter Dottl, who is now looking to retire, bought up three adjacent properties with houses on Drake Street and has been working with the Gallina Companies on a redesign for about two years.

Dottl and Gallina representatives first presented their plans to the Greenbush Neighborhood Association in September 2011. The association promptly formed a subcommittee of neighbors to review the proposal. Despite remaining objections from the neighborhood association, the plans have been approved with conditions by the Urban Design Commission. The city Plan Commission is due to take up the proposal on Oct. 1.

If it's approved by the Plan Commission, the Common Council would take it up the next night.

Craig Enzenroth, president of the Gallina Companies, hopes to begin demolition and reconstruction as soon as possible to open the new development by fall 2013. Retail would occupy the first floor, and apartments, marketed to young professionals, would rent from $900 to $1,500 a month.

Ellingson says the new development would become a destination point. Tens of thousands of cars travel between the Beltline and downtown every day, but people rarely stop to patronize area businesses.

"We want a place that people are going to come to, and not just drive through," says Ellingson. "I support this project because the new investment and the new residents will bring new life to the area."

But people who live near the proposed development say the proposed height and mass of the building is out of sync with the neighborhood. And they say a five-story building violates the guidelines laid out in the Greenbush Neighborhood Plan, adopted in 2008 by the Common Council.

The four-story height restriction in the plan is meant to preserve the character of the neighborhood, mostly made up of one-, two- and three-story houses, says Kate MacCrimmon, who lives just south of the proposed development. The new construction would cast a shadow on the houses across it on Drake Street, she says.

"Consider how much [five stories] looms over other buildings," adds Cynthia Williams, who lives less than one block west of the proposed development on Drake Street.

Williams and MacCrimmon, members of the neighborhood subcommittee that evaluated the development proposal, also worry about the precedent it would set for future development on Park Street, including the Lane's Bakery site and other sites between Meriter Hospital on the 200 block and St. Mary's Hospital on the 700 block.

The current plans for the 500 block of South Park Street involve the demolition of the Ideal Body Shop and the three houses along Drake Street that are now owned by Mary and Peter Dottl. According to Enzenroth, the

"I'm personally worn out by the whole process," she says.

The Gallina Companies, however, did reduce the number of units in the building from 80 to 57. And including retail space in the proposal falls in line with the neighborhood plan.

Enzenroth says the five stories on Park Street are necessary to make the $9.5 million project economically viable.

"It's a matter of economics and if it's an appropriate use," said Enzenroth. "We feel that given the size and the scale of Park Street, Park Street can certainly support five stories. The planning staff and the Urban Design Council support that also."

The dispute over this development raises questions about just how binding neighborhood plans are.

Residents say the neighborhood plan calls for "mixed-use developments with buildings between two and four stories in height" and should be respected.

Williams says she has not heard a convincing argument to allow this proposal to exceed the recommended four stories. She sees Wingra Shores and Parma Place, recent developments around Monroe Street, as proof that four stories can be economically viable.

"We hope the reason there's a process is so that all these issues can be balanced between development and...[respecting] the rights and needs of those who have a long-term stake in the community," says Williams.

But Ellingson points to the Urban Design District 7 guidelines, part of the Madison General Ordinance, which recommend four stories but allow for up to six stories if the design is exceptional.

Ellingson views the neighborhood plans as flexible guidelines and is checking in with the city attorney on that score.

"We certainly want to respect plans as much as we can," says Ellingson. But, she adds, "My guess is the Urban Design District as an ordinance is more binding than the Greenbush plan."

MacCrimmon, whose property abuts the development site, dislikes the thought of neighbors looking out of their fifth-story windows into her backyard. If the development proceeds as conceived, she might move once she finishes her master's degree.

"I was under the impression that our alderperson is there to support the neighborhood and the city, and it doesn't feel like she's doing that," says MacCrimmon.

Ellingson is ready to move ahead with the project despite the objections.

"It's hard to go forward with something I know they really don't like, but it's going to be better for the city, and better for the neighborhood," she says. "I think it's something that they'll be happy with once it happens."

Enzenroth agrees and makes a pledge: "We will be good neighbors."