Common Council notes for the week of 7/5

I hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day! I celebrated the occasion with a series of parades and time away with family, which is why my blog post for this week is a little delayed.

Community and Economic Development Committee

Wednesday 6:15 p.m. - A special CEDC meeting proceeds our regularly scheduled Common Council meeting this week.  The committee will take up a request to approve a $100,000 contract with RDG Planning to help the city plan for the area north of College Avenue. As noted in the Request for Proposals ...

"The City of Appleton is seeking proposals for consulting services to build upon the vision and goals of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, identify and respond to current conditions and issues, provide an analysis, redevelopment alternatives, implementation plans and strategies to deliberately shape and stimulate design and development north of College Avenue."

The firm was selected by a panel of city staff and citizens out of eight proposals received. The cost is about the average of the proposals received as well. This study was approved for funding by the previous council in the 2021 budget, so this is the approval of the firm best suited for the project. 

The downtown chapter of the city's comprehensive plan was updated in 2016. Certainly things have changed since then, but  I am curious to see what information this study will give us that is not already covered in the downtown chapter of the city's comprehensive plan. 

Safety & Licensing Committee

Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - A special Safety & Licensing Committee meeting also comes before the council meeting Wednesday night. The S&L Committee cancelled it's previous meeting and has several license applications to take up before they are voted on at council following the conclusion of this meeting. 

Common Council 

Wednesday 7 p.m. - In addition to the above mentioned items, there are two items that I think will feature some discussion at our council meeting. 

The first is a vote to approve accessory dwelling units. I wrote more about this item back in early June. As with anything new, there are concerns about how this proposal will impact the city. I think the staff has done a good job of creating regulations that both allow for these lower-cost alternatives to develop affordable housing and address concerns about neighborhood aesthetics. 

The other item that I expect to garner some discussion is related to political signs on city-owned, but privately-leased property. There are five such properties in the city. USA Youth Sports Complex, The Appleton Yacht Club, Basil's Patio downtown, Heritage Park and the Appleton Family Ice Center. 

This proposal was brought forward by the former alderman for District 13, after his election loss in April, but prior to his leaving office. It was referred to the city attorney's office for research and a proposal to address this is now before the council. However, I felt at the time and still feel this is a solution in search of a problem. I would bet very few residents would know what properties the city owns and leases to private entities. Therefore, almost no one would see a political sign and correlate it with an implied endorsement by the city. 

The proposed solution is as follows: 

"That upon negotiating or renegotiating lease of City-owned land, the City Attorney’s Office shall endeavor to incorporate language limiting the posting of political signs by the tenant subject to any legal limitations, court decisions and the like in place at the time. A political sign shall be considered a sign erected for the purpose of soliciting support for, or opposition to, a candidate or a political party or relating to a referendum question in an election held under the laws of this state."

This proposal could also have other unintended consequences. For example, this would effectively prohibit the ice center from selling advertising space around the rink to any political entity or candidate. 

One last item I would note is a request to approve banning shipping containers and pole buildings as accessory buildings in the city. This was approved at the last municipal services committee meeting. I serve on that committee and voted to recommend this. However, after more research on my own, I am going to refer this item back to committee. I do feel that shipping containers do not fit the character of our neighborhoods in the city. But I do think there could be ways to allow pole buildings as they provide a less expensive alternative to stick-built garages/sheds. I think this refer back will give us time to look at options for this proposal.

Get In Touch

I am always available to answer questions at district15@appleton.org or (920) 419-1360. As always, agendas can be found on the agenda and meetings page of the city website. Meetings can be viewed live on the website or watched at a later date. Meetings are also open for anyone to attend in person.