Potter Lawson
Sauk Road Development proposed by Stone House Development
In response to previous neighborhood feedback, the developers scaled back the proposed development at 6610-6706 Old Sauk Road from four to three stories and reduced the number of apartments by 40.
West-side residents opposed to construction of a new three-story, 138-unit building on Old Sauk Road submitted a petition with 261 signatures to city officials June 5. The project is expected to go before the Plan Commission June 10.
Lynn Green, former director of Dane County’s human services department, was one of the 261 petition signers.
“There is nothing that compares to the mass and the height of the proposal that they have” in the nearby neighborhood, says Green, who lives across the street from the proposed project. Besides the neighborhood fit, Green says she has concerns about impacts the property will have on stormwater management and traffic in the area.
“Stormwater is a major, major issue,” she says, pointing to major flooding in 2018 in the neighborhood. “We do not believe that the current proposal adequately addresses that piece at all.”
While the property is on a bus route, Green says “that location has no walkability to any amenities. The traffic impact on an already extremely busy road is almost unbelievable for us to think about.”
A group called Friends of Old Sauk helped circulate the petition to its members with this message: “If this proposal is approved by the city of Madison, it will forever change the neighborhoods on both sides of Old Sauk Road. The proposed high density urban design belongs in an urban setting, not this suburban zone setting.”
Ald. John Guequierre, whose district includes the proposed development site, thinks the building will likely be approved by the Plan Commission despite the opposition.
“Regardless of any vote I would have, looking at recent votes on this kind of development, I would be surprised if it weren’t approved by the Plan Commission and the Common Council. But you can’t tell until all the facts are out there,” Guequierre, who serves on the Plan Commission, tells Isthmus. “It’s typical of what the city is willing to look at.”
Jillian Hayes, the project manager for Stone House Development, which is proposing to develop the property, says it has listened to neighborhood input, reducing the proposed building from four stories to three and cutting about 40 apartments from the project.
“In terms of traffic, we have provided a traffic study that indicates minimal impact on Old Sauk. In terms of stormwater, our engineer has been working with city engineering staff to ensure that our project meets the city’s new standards,” says Hayes. “In addition, we responded to neighbors' concerns about lights from our driveway by adding a privacy fence wherever our drives impact neighboring houses.”
Green says the changes haven’t been enough and that she’d like to see smaller, “missing middle” housing types on the property.
“They’ve cut down a story…but the footprint is exactly the same,” she says. Her vision of what should go on the property includes “condos, townhouses, something that people could take ownership in, something that’s family-oriented.”
Guequierre says a smaller building or “missing middle” housing likely wouldn’t make financial sense for the developer.
“At the price that the owners were looking for, you can’t make missing middle work on this piece of property,” he says. “It’s part of this spiral we have in Madison with rapid inflation of land costs. It really makes it very difficult for developers to come in and make the numbers work to build something that’s less dense.”
Guequierre says the project is not universally opposed: “I’ve also heard from people who feel very strongly about the need for this project” to address Madison’s housing crisis, he says.
Green says residents in the area have long known the property — currently home to two single-family homes, a duplex, and a barn — would be redeveloped into denser housing than what currently exists, but she remains opposed to a larger apartment building on the property.
“We are very long term residents of Madison. We care a great deal about this city,” she says. “We really want it to be a great place for people to live in — and to want to come and live in. But we also want to do that by maintaining what we all love about this city.”
