Middleton Hills grocery fight continues

An active minority holds up a mass-market supermarket from anchoring the town center of a traditional neighborhood development (TND). Middleton Hills in Middleton, Wisconsin, illustrates how difficult it can be to bring mass-market retail to a town center. When the TND was designed over a decade ago, the plan called for small shops in the center. Now thinking has changed — on the part of many new urbanists and the specific developer, who realizes that an anchor store is necessary to make the small shops viable. The developer gained general plan approval for a 45,000 square foot Copps supermarket. “Everybody loves the design,” says Jane Grabowski-Miller, town architect, of the building, which is tailored to fit on the main street. The building is a collaboration between Linville Architects and Michael Watkins of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company. Yet the proposal failed to gain specific plan approval. A 4-3 majority voted in favor of the store, but that wasn’t enough. A local law calls for a “supermajority” of council, or a 6-1 vote, if 20 percent of nearby landowners sign a petition. That, despite the supermarket being supported by an apparent majority — 70 percent, according to an informal poll conducted by the residents themselves, Grabowski-Miller points out. The three council members in opposition are calling for a study to determine whether that an anchor store is needed. Both the developer of the town center, Daniel Erdman, and new urbanist retail consultant Robert Gibbs believe that the anchor is necessary and would be supported by the market. Andres Duany, who led the original design charrette for Middleton Hills, also wrote to council in favor of the proposal. One lesson is that new urbanists ought to be careful about what is promised in design charrettes, Grabowski-Miller points out. “Doing a master plan that says you are going to have little shops and a school, without knowing whether there is demand for these things, is ridiculous.” The Copps proposal has a lot of supporters both inside and outside of Middleton Hills, Grabowski-Miller says. Council members who voted against it will be asked to reconsider. Legal action, on either or both sides, is highly possible. Meanwhile, the grocery store proposal has not dampened demand for housing in the project. The last phase of Middleton Hills – 45 lots – sold out in 15 minutes last October, Grabowski-Miller notes. That performance contrasts with several years that it took for the first 45 lots to sell. u