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Edgewood High School threatened to sue the city for religious discrimination for not allowing it to hold athletic games at its field.
Just as Edgewood High School has requested termination of its campus master plan in order to play home games on its athletic field, the area alder has introduced a measure that would require schools in so-called campus-institutional districts that don’t have master plans to get conditional use approval from the city in order to build “open or enclosed stadiums, auditoriums, arenas [and] indoor or outdoor sports recreational facilities.” The zoning change would also require conditional use approval for the installation of “stadium lighting [and] amplified sound,” and the establishment or expansion of outdoor seating “over a specified capacity.”
Edgewood declined to comment on this proposal, which was introduced Aug. 6 by Council President Shiva Bidar for Ald. Tag Evers, whose district includes Edgewood, and who was out of the country.
Evers, in a brief emailed statement, says that his proposal “is an attempt to address flaws in the zoning ordinance that were made evident in this entire process,” referring to Edgewood’s efforts to hold outdoor athletic games with amplification and lighting over the objections of nearby residents.
Also on Aug. 6, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway — at the request of Edgewood officials — introduced a resolution to the Common Council to repeal the city-approved master plan for the Edgewood campus. Madison City Attorney Michael May, who spoke to Isthmus before the introduction of Evers’ zoning proposal, predicted that if the mayor’s resolution passes the full Council, it would allow Edgewood High School to host games on its athletic field, which has been a point of bitter contention with its neighbors for years.
The repeal would mean that buildings included in the campus master plan, which was approved in 2014 by the Common Council, would now need to go through the city’s regular zoning processes, says May. But restrictions in the plan on open spaces would be lifted.
“Under existing zoning code there is no prohibition on playing athletic events on your campus,” May says, but adds that there might be restrictions on lighting.
Under the school’s master plan, the athletic field was to be used only for team practices and physical education, says May. Edgewood disagrees with that interpretation. The city’s zoning administrator determined that the school could not hold games on the field, and Edgewood appealed the administrator’s decision to the city Zoning Board of Appeals, which on July 11 affirmed the staff decision.
May says Edgewood has threatened to sue the city for religious discrimination under the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Edgewood in its appeal to the zoning board writes that RLUIPA is a “federal statute that was enacted primarily to protect religious institutions from improper and burdensome land-use regulations.”
Edgewood’s mission, the brief states, “is to educate the whole student for a life of learning, service, and personal responsibility through a rigorous academic curriculum that embraces the Sinsinawa Dominican values of truth, compassion, justice, partnership and community. For nearly a century, athletics has been a primary way that the school has accomplished its mission to educate the whole student ... Since 1927, Edgewood has had its athletic field and track, and has used them for athletic contests in furtherance of its religious mission and values.”
“Prohibiting Edgewood from continuing to engage in its well-established religious land use constitutes a ‘substantial burden’ on Edgewood’s religious exercise.”
Edgewood claims that the city’s treatment of its campus differs from its treatment of public schools, which are located within campus-institutional districts. “By imposing its land-use regulations and the zoning administrator’s improper interpretations to restrict only Edgewood’s ability to host athletic contests, the city has treated Edgewood on less-than-equal terms as Madison’s nonreligious schools within a campus-institutional district. This disparate treatment is more than sufficient to establish a prima facie Equal Terms violation under RLUIPA.”
Mary Bottari, chief of staff to Rhodes-Conway, confirms that Edgewood High School expressed concern to the city “that it was being treated differently than public high schools in the city.” She says May advised Edgewood that a “method for Edgewood to seek equal treatment with other schools would be to terminate its master plan” and that Edgewood asked to do that. Bottari says the mayor introduced her resolution “to protect the best interests of the city.”
Many neighborhood residents are opposed to the dissolution of Edgewood’s master plan, including Ald. Evers.
Evers says that the neighborhood has made clear, over a 20-year period, that it is opposed to the high school playing games with lights and amplification on its athletic field. It’s unfortunate, he adds, that the “city’s commitment to the process of weighing competing interests would be undermined.”
The master plan, Evers says, was created after neighborhood residents and Edgewood staff spent “countless hours” building trust and good will. “To take that away is concerning.”
He says the move also “seems contrary to the city’s commitment to neighborhoods. The city has a long history in its approach to zoning and urban planning in weighing competing interests … I’m concerned we’ve gone down this road without seriously considering the impact.”
A group of neighbors who have organized under the banner “No New Stadium” say they are “unequivocally” opposed to the mayor’s resolution. “By allowing Edgewood to abandon this agreement now, because it wants something that is not in the master plan, the city would be discouraging future trust by all Madison residents in the city input process, and contradict the legislative intent of the campus-institutional district ordinance, which was designed to balance the competing needs of institutions with the residential neighborhoods in which they are located.”
Edgewood, in an emailed statement, says that Edgewood College is on board with Edgewood Campus School and Edgewood High School in supporting withdrawal from the master plan.
“The city of Madison made all three entities aware of the option to withdraw from the Master Plan in a written follow-up to a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting,” the Aug. 2 statement also said.
“Edgewood College reaffirms faith in both our elected and appointed officials with the city of Madison, and in our neighborhood organizations, as all parties continue to dialogue around the future use of campus facilities.”
An Edgewood spokesperson did not respond to a request for follow-up questions.
The master plan process came out of a recent zoning code revamp, says May, when the city created campus-institutional districts for schools. The goal was to streamline zoning approvals by including certain uses as permitted uses and some that would require further approval from the city.
The ordinance provided an alternative to such districts: schools could instead prepare a master plan for adoption by the city. Edgewood chose that route.
“They put together their master plan,” says May. “There was a lot of discussion with the neighborhood.”
An advantage of having a master plan, says May, is that “any building that is in your approved master plan does not need further approval” by city committees.
But there are some disadvantages. If a school with a master plan wants to add a building to campus, it would need to amend its plan to do so, says May. Also, “if you have designated certain uses for open spaces and you want to change your uses you generally have to get an amendment to your master plan.”
Edgewood disputes that last point. In its zoning board appeal, the school argues that master plans apply to campus buildings and not uses. It also argues that its master plan “does in fact allow athletic contests on Edgewood’s athletic field … And while it is true that the master plan states that the athletic field is used for ‘team practice’ and ‘physical education classes,’ it makes no sense to read this language as excluding the hosting of athletic contests.” Edgewood’s lawyers also wrote that this part of the master plan “was not intended to be a list of all uses of the athletic field.”
The mayor’s resolution to terminate Edgewood’s master plan, and Evers’ proposed zoning changes, were referred to the Plan Commission, which will hold a public hearing on both proposals Aug. 26.
