Five Corners Master Plan Update 2015 - Town of Cedarburg

Meetings Discussed
5-20-2015 Plan Commission meeting
6-17-2015 Plan Commission meeting
7-15-2015 Plan Commission meeting
8-19-2015 Plan Commission meeting
9-16-2015 Plan Commission meeting
10-21-2015 Plan Commission meeting
11-18-2015 Plan Commission meeting
12-16-2015 Plan Commission meeting
1-20-2016 Plan Commission meeting
2-17-2016 Plan Commission meeting

Background
Like most long-range planning documents, municipal master plans don't always age well. The economy, market forces, transportation issues, and development trends can dramatically change over time. As such, it's important the plan for the Five Corners area reflects the realities of today.

Drafting of the Five Corners Master Plan (FCMP) began in August 2005 and was completed in 2006. Since then, the Great Recession has made its mark on all levels of the economy. Locally, much has changed over the past nine years. Average daily traffic at Five Corners has grown by 67%. Business development and planning by neighboring communities have already directly impacted the Five Corners area. The FCMP didn't consider these factors, analyze the residential and commercial markets, or assess the Town's competitive position.

Major Outline of the Update Process
1. Update the Purpose statement of the plan: Completed 7-15-15
2. Update Introduction and Background sections: Currently working on these

Plan Commission Meeting 5-20-15
Plan updates such as this are typically completed by a consultant, however, the work was not budgeted for in 2015. SEWRPC was reached out to for assistance and they said the Town would likely need to wait one year for assistance. The UW-Extension was also contacted and they said they currently do not have time to assist. The Commission discussed the item and was comfortable with completing the update in-house, understanding this route would take longer.

Plan Commission Meeting 6-17-15
The Commission began the process by revisiting the Purpose Statement. The original purpose of the plan was "to create a vibrant and pedestrian friendly town center, featuring mixed-use development and providing a focal point and gathering place for the town." The recommended updated statement was as follows: "to create a vibrant and pedestrian-friendly town center, attracting new business, generating tax base growth, and realizing the construction of a Sports Complex."

Plan Commission Meeting 7-15-15
The Commission was in favor of the updated purpose statement which states, to create a vibrant and pedestrian-friendly town center, attracting new business, generating tax base growth, and realizing the construction of a Sports Complex. The Commission reviewed the area covered by the Five Corners Business district on the map, asking Administrator Culotta to contact the Grob family to ask if they would like their land to be added to the Five Corner Business District. The Commission was in favor of having resident and business input during this update process, and directed staff to issue surveys. No further action was taken.

Plan Commission Meeting 8-19-15
The Commission delayed further discussion on this in August in favor of waiting until September to have more members present for the discussion.

Plan Commission Meeting 9-16-15
The Commission accepted a presentation from Buxton regarding retail recruitment. The Commission then indicated to staff they had no suggested changes to the Town Design Guidelines and Standards. The process will continue at the next meeting.

Plan Commission Meeting 10-21-15
The Commission reviewed business and Annual resident survey data and confirmed the responses were in-line with their vision for the updated Master Plan. They also reviewed the goals within the current Master Plan and confirmed they did not need to be changed.

Plan Commission Meeting 11-18-15
The Plan Commission reviewed a new draft Chapter 4 regarding a comparison to neighboring communities and how they compete with the Town. The Commission recommended the chapter be included in its proposed form.

Plan Commission Meeting 12-16-15
The Commission reviewed a newly drafted Chapter 5.0. The consensus of the Commission was to incorporate the new Chapter 5.0 with a few minor corrections and directed staff to continue with the update and bring more materials to review at the January meeting.

Plan Commission Meeting 1-20-16
The Commission reviewed suggested edits to chapters 4-6. The consensus of the Commission was to accept edits proposed by staff that would update maps and text. The Commission also directed staff to: decrease density shown on the renderings of the planning area, add the St. Francis School, remove the roundabout west of Five Corners, and replace the triangle intersection at CTH NN and STH 181 with a roundabout as proposed by WisDOT. Further text edits should include: replace the phrase “joint ownership” on page 10 to something along the lines of “joint efforts to remedy the site,” when referring to the Prochnow landfill, add recreation to the vision on page 12, add senior housing for consideration on the former Huiras property, and lastly to replace the Town Center Design Review Board with staff in regards to the development review process.

Plan Commission Meeting 2-17-16
The Commission considered how to address the non-binding design guidelines within the Master Plan. It was the consensus of the Commission to move forward with the option that would replace the existing non-binding guidelines currently found within the Master Plan with the binding and codified guidelines approved by the Town Board.