The city took a big step toward adding more industrial park space Monday night with the approval of an agreement with landowner David Reinke and a resolution to add 246 acres in a different part of town to its urban service area.
The actions were separate but not timed coincidentally, as the city had made clear that its expansion to the southeast side of the city, where Reinke's property is located, is secondary to its expansion southwest, where it has had its sights set for several years.
The Reinke agreement, which provides a framework and understanding for the development of a 200-acre industrial park and almost 40 acres of a big box-anchored shopping center, has certain important elements that can't be pursued until the southwest area's expansion is accepted by the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission.
The city can annex adjacent lands requested by landowners at any time but can't develop them fully without the approval of CARPC.
The southwest area, which includes land owned by the Feller and Hoffman families, has some interesting history, including a letter from Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk to the Department of Natural Resources urging denial of Verona's application and a subsequent legal fight. The result was an agreement that Verona would undertake a stormwater management study to ensure protection of the Sugar River and Badger Mill Creek.
The $90,000 study - the cost of which will be assessed on development in that area - was completed last summer and involved the input of the Town of Verona, the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and landowners in the area, among others. It set stringent pollution control standards.
In addition, much of that area is in a designated environmental corridor, meaning it can't be developed under any circumstances. That leaves 79 acres of developable area, part of which would be an extension of the residential area to the east (the Scenic Ridge subdivision) and another part that is industrial or commercial, including a piece owned by Dean Health System and expected to someday be a clinic.
CARPC is expected to take up the matter in June.
Council discussion Monday on the two items centered on the potential use of tax-increment financing on the Reinke land.
Some alders expressed concern over the potential of TIF being used to help jump-start a retail development, a generally avoided practice except in redevelopment of downtown areas.
The pre-development agreement, however, states that TIF can only be used for road improvements utilities and industrial uses, as the TIF 6 project plan indicates, and city administrator Shawn Murphy pointed out that the city has no intention of covering those improvements at 100 percent, as it did with the Verona Technology Park to the south.
Ruedebusch Development, which is responsible for the industrial part of the land, took city leaders on a tour a few weeks ago, showing off some of the buildings it has put in its developments, including in the Fitchburg Technology Campus, Middleton's Grenway Station and in a business park near MATC.
If CARPC approves the expansion of both areas into the city's urban service area, the city will spend about 150 acres of its 400-acre allotment for new urban service areas over the next 20 years and in turn will likely annex more than 400 acres.
