As a child I spent countless hours in the sandbox. Well, it was not a sandbox, but a
circle made from large concrete blocks set in the earth that served as the
border with the area between dug out and filled with sand. My mom, who spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, only needed to look out the windows
above the kitchen sink to see
me playing in the sandbox. Using my hands, and Tonka equipment I would build cities
with roads and buildings. I took
cuttings from trees to use as landscape. I sifted sand, using the larger grains
for gravel, and the small grains for rooftops or sidewalks. I would wet and pack some sand to make a nice
hard surface. Stones and hunks of wood would be gathered to provide bridges and their abutments. Lucky for me we did not have a cat who would use the sandbox as a
litter box. I am not sure if it was in
my DNA from birth, or if it was the play in the sandbox that most informed my career
choice as a city planner. When attending the grand
opening for the Fitchburg City Hall in 1999, a project I managed for
the city, my Dad commented to my sister that Fitchburg was my sandbox. It is now time for me to leave that sandbox.
Fitchburg City Hall Author photo |
I have been employed by the city of Fitchburg for 32 years. It was just but a three year old as a city
when I started, although it was a town before its incorporation. I have worked for the city longer than I have
been married, but not as long as I have had a mustache. I had a full head of hair, a smaller waist
line, and a mustache with no gray when I started my position. The
city then had a population of about 13,900, and has since grown to over 28,000. I was hired by the second mayor, but to count
the chief executives under whom I have served, I have to use more than my ten
fingers. The city in aging from toddler to that of an adult, from a rural town to a suburban city, provided challenges and
opportunities which have been remarkable, difficult and daunting. Showing the common paradox, the work has been
both trying and at times rewarding. I feel as if I have attended more public night meetings than a person should endure. I have sacrificed family time, missed school
concerts and sporting events, to attend yet another night meeting. For 32 years I have calculated dates around
when Plan Commission meetings were held, as they were the dates most quickly recognized.
1937 Air Photo of Fitchburg Fitchburg Planning Dept. |
As gruesome as night meetings can be, they are part of the
mission of government, particularly local government. While people often gravitate to that which is
most familiar, and acceptance of change can be difficult, public acceptance of
planning documents is crucial to a workable plan. In a sense, public meetings are the backbone
of American government. Such meetings
either reinforce the politic of divisiveness, or show a cordiality and spirit
of proper engagement. The former,
unfortunately, can be more common than the latter. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French commentator on early American
life, wrote in his well-known work Democracy in America:
“The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions
performed by private citizens.” I have
longed believed that which governs best governs locally. Being local does not mean it would not be difficult. When it comes to land use and
planning in the local government of Fitchburg, nothing, it seems, is ever easy. Why, because Fitchburg is at the edge of different landscape types--rural (pastoral) and suburban.
Card Made for Me by a Sister-in-law
as I Started Work in Fitchburg in 1986
|
Upon my starting to work in Fitchburg, I was presented with
a unique opportunity to help form a new city.
City land use has changed over this time. When I started it was primarily large lot single family
subdivisions. There is now lots of varied size, varied housing
opportunities, and much more commercial-industrial development. Multi-family housing has been significant in
the past several years to provide housing for the millennial generation, and those that now are in an empty nest and wish to downsize. Residential density has
increased, and this helps to protect the environment by reducing the
consumption of open space and agricultural land for development. An increase in density also, as shown in a study by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, reduces pollutant levels into our lakes and streams. Unfortunately, density has actually declined
for many industrial or commercial developments, which means more agricultural
land is used for suburban development. Big box single story development eats up land, usually agricultural, at a ridiculously high rate.
Growth Ever Problematic in Fitchburg
Wisconsin State Journal, October 19, 1975
|
Originally formed as an agricultural community, Fitchburg is
a microcosm of Dane County. William
Vroman, who with his brothers were the first permanent European settlers in
Fitchburg said: “It is one of the best agricultural towns in the county, with
very little or no waste lands, about equally divided between prairie and oak
openings. The soil is very rich and
climate healthy.” Fitchburg is unique in
the state of Wisconsin. It was the first city in the
state to have exclusive agricultural zoning (which was adopted in 1979 and stayed in place upon upon its incorporation in 1983 and exists to this day), and it is also the only city in the state to have SmartCode zoning (2010), a neo-traditional zoning to help form place by creating development that enhances the public realm. But, land use is only part of its diversity. As a city, it has a higher percentage of
minority population than any other city or village in Dane County. Planners desire to protect and improve the
public safety and health—for all of the population.
A Younger Me
Fitchburg Star, June 19, 1986
|
I have spent over thirty years attempting to create a land
use pattern that is productive, livable, variable, and enjoyable. Creating place is not
easy in an auto-oriented suburban culture.
Creating place allows engagement and discernment, and for lives to be
led in a purposeful and meaningful manner.
The land use pattern, however, is only one aspect of place. Undifferentiated space, according to
Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, becomes a place when that space is endowed with value.
The values of the people expressed to a space provide and give meaning, creating place. The values of a community, however, are not
always easy to discern. After all,
people have different ideas and mores.
But, as planners the task is to take these varied values, find commonality and infuse, or endow, our collective values to the shared space. The name
becomes the identifier and common language of a place recognized by our shared
values.
What does Fitchburg
represent? Fitchburg has created place names
like McKee Farms Park, or Haight Farm Rd to recognize the historical nature of
agriculture. Yet should Fitchburg become
like a subdivision named for the landscape feature which it has replaced? Unfortunately, that seems to be more and more
the case. My hope is that Fitchburg will
continue to deliberately include and respect its agricultural land, for that
heritage makes up such a large part of the community’s collective value. Agricultural land needs to be viewed as a
resource in its own right, not just land for development. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be ever more the case. The urban-rural
tension will not cease. However, as shown by past experience, with proper planning it can be
managed. It comes down to respecting and
working your plan. More than ever in the
past at least 32 years, and perhaps since Fitchburg created its first land use
plan in 1974, planning now takes a back seat to development.
South Branch of Swan Creek Source: City of Fitcbhurg McGaw Neighborhood Plan |
1980 Air Photo of Fitchburg Fitchburg Planning Dept. |
For the past forty years in Fitchburg it has been a goal, a value, to
allow for proper, measured development in an appropriate, meaningful location
and manner, respecting the environment, but also to respect the agricultural heritage
of this growing city by keeping agriculture a prominent land use. Times have changed, and development values
more and more usurp those larger (becoming former?) community values. Values of the importance of agriculture were
present in Fitchburg long before the creation of its first land use plan in
1974. However, such effort is more than marginalized by forces of power that
use language to wash and mask true intent.
Local politics is a master at this.
Farmland in Fitchburg, circa 1990 Author photo |
Current city policy makers well out-do the state legislature in
developer friendliness: agreeing to accept wetlands as parkland dedication even though the wetlands
are already protected (a first for the city). Complaining about the amount of
multi-family development, and need for more industrial land only to
re-designate industrial land for a multifamily development. Looking to reduce
parkland dedication requirements (yes, at the same time now accepting wetlands as parkland). Or,
allowing a subdivision to use a lift station when a gravity option was
available, the city's first permanent lift station. In today’s climate most every
development is a good development that has to be accommodated. What is seen in
Fitchburg today is clear evidence of what Michael Farren, a research fellow at
George Mason University, wrote in a guest opinion piece in the "Wisconsin State
Journal" on January 28, 2018: “Moreover,
the competition between local governments to attract jobs pushes politics toward
cronyism. Giving special interest groups
undue influence runs against the ideals of democratic governance—that
government authority should serve the people in general, rather than just those
with power and influence.” That is why
James Madison, writing in the Federalist Papers, warned of what he called the
mischiefs of faction (Federalist #10). Yet, Farren is
only partly right. Cronyism is
present regardless of competition for jobs; it is present for many developers.
2017 Air Photo of Fitchburg Fitchburg Planning Dept. |
The negatives of cronyism affect not only our democracy, but
our built environment. This view destroys
good planning, demeans the intent to create place, and shows a lack of respect
to the population, and more important provides a shaded view of long-established
community values. As urban development continues to advance onto
the rich soil recognized by William Vroman in the mid-19th century, the faint
glimmer of recognition that farmland is a resource in its own right is near
extinguished. When that glimmer is extinguished,
Fitchburg will have lost a key aspect not only of its heritage, but, its meaning, its value,
and what has provided its sense of place.
Its heritage will be but recalled in photos, old plat maps, and in the
names of streets and parks using an ersatz measure to replace the real thing.
Sidewalks, Still Controversial Capital Times, July 22, 1987 |
Migration is comprised of push and pull factors, and as I
migrate from this large sandbox called Fitchburg, both factors are in play,
although one is greater than the other. Always
wanting to keep the best interests of the general public in mind, it has become difficult in the current climate. It
is a sign of the times when euphemisms become commonplace. James Madison’s “mischiefs of faction” would
later become “special interests” but today the euphemism is a reference to a special interest as a "community", as in “development
community.” (These factions have a place in the debate or dialogue, but they should have no more than any other individual.) There comes a time when a confluence of circumstances envelopes position and place and brings with it a time when one has to say goodbye. For me, that time is now. Future generations will critique my contributions to the city of
Fitchburg, I just hope it not too harsh. I leave knowing that, while it was not always enough, I did my best.
I have had the privilege of working
with some very fine persons in Fitchburg over the past 32 years, including a
few elected and appointed officials. The
city, in age, is a millennial in young adult hood. Like some in that age group it still is looking for
identity, not fully cognizant of the forces at play to remove what is its
identity. I only wish I had kept a log of the varied happenings encountered in my work since the former television series “Park and Recreation” is not near as bizarre
as real life. As I leave this one sandbox I have the confidence
that my time will be well spent engaging and pursuing adventures in a variety
of the world’s sandboxes. Not to mention, keeping my wife busy.Photo of plaque in an Alaskan store |
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