UPDATE: The Village Board unanimously voted on July 2nd, 2018 to deny a Comprehensive Plan Amendment that would have allowed this project to be constructed, meaning that the fight is over (this still remains uncertain due to the developer filing a lawsuit against the village due to their denial of the project) after our community came together against this proposal. However, on April 8th, 2020, the Village Board agreed to settle with T. Wall for $390,000 paid by the village insurer, meaning the fight is officially over. Thank you to all signers and citizens who submitted concerns and/or attended meetings and listening sessions. We could not have been successful without your support and assistance.

Waunakee has already lost most of its unique character and identity, from the closing of the O'Malley Farm Cafe by a developer, the construction of several high-end housing developments that don't necessarily fit in with the small-town character of the village, the in-progress T. Wall Bishops Bay development in the southern portion of the school district, to the continuing destruction of the rural farmland surrounding our village. The village approved the demolition of potentially historic homes and affordable/single-family housing on Madison and Main Streets for multiple luxury apartment complexes and a KFC restaurant, as well as downtown/historic buildings for a currently half-empty retail complex and expansion of Kwik Trip. Soon, another part of our village may succumb. Main Street in Waunakee already has three large buildings; the Madison and Main Apartments, the Hovde Building (Lone Girl Brewing), and the under-construction Hovde Lamphouse Apartments across the street. However, at the Monday, December 11th, 2017 Plan Commission meeting, T. Wall Enterprises presented a proposal for a 4 story, 175-unit apartment complex with a swimming pool on the south side of Main Street's 200 block between West and Fish streets. This block is home to many single-family homes and local businesses such as a bike shop, tanning studio, tax prep firm, loan office, furnace repair company, and a few rental properties. Additional historic homes would also need to be demolished, including Waunakee's famous 100 year-old Packer House pictured above. Here are the concerns we have with the proposal.

The building will have no public retail suites.

All of the local businesses listed above would have to find new space in our community, which is expensive to rent and would not give them the visibility they have at their current location, which could result in many of them closing for good. Terrence Wall states in the Tribune that "more residents would bring in customers and fill retail vacancies on Main Street." However, Mr. Wall would actually be eliminating retail opportunities and local businesses from our community. While it would have limited retail, it would be for residents only, such as a leasing office and fitness center.

Waunakee already has a lack of affordable housing, yet gentrification in our village and county continue to grow faster than ever before.

Waunakee's officials are trying to encourage higher-income marketed new development. The Madison metro has grown a whopping 25% since 1990, creating major gentrification and affordability problems. The affordable housing on the north side of Main Street's 200 block was recently removed for an apartment development, as well as Main Street's 300 block and North Madison Street's 100 block in the late 2000's. This is our village's way of saying that they are not interested in maintaining/having affordable housing in our community, and they seem to have no issue tearing down rentals for additional luxury apartments. There are no official plans for adding any affordable housing anytime soon. The Waunakee-Westport Comprehensive Plan includes a portion about having/maintaining/adding affordable housing, yet the village wants to do and has done the complete opposite. With the elimination of these properties and many others that have been removed in the past 20 years, Waunakee (and arguably the rest of Dane County) will soon be a bedroom community restricted to only higher-income residents, something we disagree with. While we agree that it is important for the community to grow, Waunakee should build neighborhoods intended for a moderate income demographic and take a conservative growth path from here on out. We need to ensure Waunakee and Westport are open to everyone, regardless of income level.

Waunakee needs senior housing, not apartments aimed at young adults.

Our Village Board's focus should be on adding senior and assisted living housing in town. A housing study done by the Capital Area Regional Plan Commission found that Waunakee's population is made up mostly of middle-aged people and school-aged children. However, when these children go to college, they would be more likely to live in downtown Madison where it is walkable to campus and has more amenities. These empty nesters will then retire and eventually consider senior housing, which there will be a growing need for in the next few years. However, we are making many strides in this area already with construction such as Home Again in Kilkenny Farms. Additional senior housing should not be high-end, but more intended for working-class citizens.

The number of units proposed is too big for Waunakee and creates an urban feel.

The Madison and Main Apartments have 78 units, and the Hovde Apartments will have 101 units. The structure is planned to have a swimming pool and underground parking. Underground parking and massive apartments would give our community an urban feel, something we feel would be out of place here and takes away the suburban and rural feel. The underground parking would also create traffic concerns on Second Street, which contains a plethora of historic structures. If these apartments are built, there will be few single-family homes left on Main Street, and there would probably be more apartments built down the road and in the future if this complex is allowed to completion.

Historic homes and buildings would be demolished.

Second and Main Streets in this area are made up of historic homes built when our community was started. Taking down these homes will erode the history of our town and would not exist for future generations. Waunakee's well-recognized 100 year-old green and gold Packer House would have to be demolished if the proposal is approved, as well as the Wanabike building, which was formerly a farm implement store. Waunakee has already removed the historic Carl F. Statz Building (Kwik Trip location), a farmhouse on West Main Street (current location of KFC), most of Main Street's trees, multiple affordable housing buildings, and Main Street retail buildings (current location of Kwik Trip/Hovde Building). Waunakee also currently is LACKING any sort of historic preservation effort or plan. Demolishing historic structures is not a continuation of our village's rural heart and spirit. Structures with agricultural heritage are also supposed to be preserved in the Comprehensive Plan. What will be torn down next?

The area surrounding the complex is single-family residential.

The neighborhood surrounding the planned complex is made up primarily of single-family homes built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many people in the neighborhood not only live there because of historical charm, but also the small-town feel. Having this complex constructed will increase noise and traffic and eliminate the small-town feel. 

We want to create a Waunakee Historic Preservation Commission, which we currently do not have. We are one of the only communities in Dane County without a historical society or preservation commission. Several surrounding communities, including Westport, have historical societies/preservation committees that work hard to preserve history and buildings in their respective communities. A historic preservation commission would resolve some of these issues.

Together, we can prevent this apartment complex from being built and work to establish a historical preservation committee. The small town feel of our community has been depleted in the past 15 years, and it will be gone completely if this project is constructed.