• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Whitewater plans to rezone neighborhood near campus

Photo

WHITEWATER — The city is planning to rezone several blocks west of the UW-Whitewater campus to better reflect the fact that students dominate the neighborhood.

The city council will conduct a second reading Tuesday of the zoning ordinance, which would change the zoning for 36 properties along Tratt, Florence and Prince streets from one- or two-family residences to multiple-family residences.

The zoning change would permit up to five unrelated people to live in a single-family residence, said city planner Mark Roffers of Vandewalle & Associates.

"Given the character of this particular neighborhood, it seemed reasonable to go in this direction," he said.

Some of the property owners in the neighborhood west of the UW-Whitewater campus petitioned the city a year ago to change the zoning from single-family to multi-family.

But their request wasn't in line with the city's master plan, which was last updated in 1997. The plan designates the area west of the campus for low-density residential use.

"But as planners, we don't want to be supportive of rezoning projects that aren't consistent with plans, and we don't want to change plans without proper analysis," Roffers said.

He said the area undoubtedly has changed, so the city to reexamine the plan for the area.

According to a Sept. 22 memo Roffers wrote to the city council:

-- The density of people is significantly higher in the Tratt Street area than the rest of the city—11.8 people per acre compared to 2.3 people per acre, based on 2000 census data.

-- The number of dwelling units that are rented is higher in the Tratt Street area than the rest of the city—81 percent compared to 60 percent, based on 2000 census data.

-- The median age of residents in the Tratt Street area is significantly lower than the rest of the city—22.5 years old compared to 32.7 years old.

-- Tratt Street already is the most heavily traveled residential street in the city—7,100 cars per day compared to 4,000 cars per day on Walworth Street and 3,300 cars per day on Janesville Street, based on 2006 state Department of Transportation traffic counts.

-- While the majority of houses in the area are single-family houses, the area is surrounded by student-oriented apartment buildings to the west and north and by the campus to the east.

Roffers said the area likely would become even more dominated by students regardless of city action. The likelihood of restoring the area to single-family, owner-occupied homes is "extraordinarily slim," he said.

Roffers said the zoning change is part of the city's effort to develop strategies for neighborhood preservation.

"The signal this sends to the city in the future … is to get out in front of the issue rather than be faced with an issue (later)," he said.