Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Harry & Rose Samson Jewish Community Center officials were not surprised when opponents of the planned expansion and renovation of the Karl Jewish Community Campus delivered a “protest petition” to the Whitefish Bay Village Board Monday.
In so doing, 34 property owners near the campus in the village are attempting to use a provision of state law to make it “much harder” for the village government to approve the changes of zoning required for the project, said JCC president Jane Gellman.
According to Bruce Block, attorney for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, the owner of the campus, state law allows owners of 20 percent of the land located within 100 feet of another property to demand that the controlling local government must decide by a “supermajority” whether to allow that property to be rezoned.
A supermajority is usually a three-fourths vote of the governing body. In the case of Whitefish Bay with seven village trustees, that would mean the board must have at least six votes in favor before the Karl Campus could be rezoned and the construction permitted — if the petition is valid.
Village attorney Christopher Jaekels received the petition Monday before the board meeting that evening, and did not have a chance to check to see if it meets the legal requirements. If it does, the state law automatically takes effect, Jaekels said.
Jay Roth, executive vice president of the JCC, said Tuesday that while the petition was expected, he felt “it is premature” to respond to it. “Until you know the final plans [for the campus], you don’t know whether these people are eligible to make a protest or whether the protest is appropriate.”
But Block Monday after the village board meeting said that whether or not the petition is valid, “we always hoped we would be so persuasive” as to receive a unanimous vote of approval for the plans.
At the meeting, the trustees considered what questions they want the village Plan Commission to answer when it evaluates the plans. These will be listed in a formal motion for the next board meeting June 17.
The plans include construction of additions to the south building housing the JCC and the north building housing two Jewish day schools, creating an outdoor swimming pool and building of new parking spaces. The questions span a wide range of trustees’ and citizens’ concerns, including economic, environmental and safety aspects of the plans.
Roth, who attended the meeting, on Tuesday said that “there are no surprises” in the questions and that “a lot of the issues that were raised are in our submission.”
“We just want to be sure that what they ask us is asked of all other institutions of the village,” Roth said.
If the process moves without hitches, the Plan Commission could begin the process of studying the proposals at its meeting on June 18. That procedure would include public hearings.
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