Of the some 70 people in the audience in the Whitefish Bay Village Hall, 28 spoke at the joint Plan Commission and Village Board meeting on March 19 to give their views of proposed operating changes at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center on the Karl Jewish Community Campus.
And of those 28, 21 spoke in favor of the proposal and seven spoke against — although one of those seven was an attorney representing what appeared to be a small number of additional opponents.
The Plan Commission took only minor action on the matter after the public hearing. By a unanimous vote, it referred two of the proposals — the construction of two fences, one around the retention pond area, one around the front of the south building — to the village’s Architectural Review Committee.
At the earliest, the ARC would make its recommendation on April 5; the Plan Commission would make its recommendation on April 18; and the Village Board would make its decision on May 7.
The Milwaukee Jewish Federation — represented by James Madlom of Mueller Communications, and alongside JCC executive director Mark Shapiro and MJF manager of community properties Ari Friedman — presented the proposals at the beginning of the meeting.
In addition to construction of the fences, the MJF and JCC are seeking the following modifications to the present development agreement:
• To allow the JCC to open at 5 a.m., instead of the current 6 a.m., to allow users of the exercise facility to work out early in the day.
• To allow snowplowing on the campus when necessary, instead of no earlier than 5 a.m. and no later than 11 p.m.
• To increase the number of allowed “special events” from 12 to 20 annually, and from no more than two per month to no more than four per month.
• To increase the number of allowed participants in “overnights/lock-ins” from 40 to 150.
• To permit up to 30 events to end after the current limit of 11 p.m., but no later than 1 a.m.
As Madlom explained, some of these have to do with safety of users, like the fences and the snowplowing. Others result from JCC or campus agency user requests.
The earlier opening times are sought by early rising exercisers and families that want to send children to the facility on Saturday morning. The later closing time is sought so members of the kashrut-keeping community can make use of the JCC’s kosher kitchen for such events as weddings.
Three representatives of BBYO speaking at the hearing requested the increase of permitted “lock-in” participants so the Jewish youth group could hold such functions on the campus.
The increase in “special events” does not mean an increase in overall numbers of events, Madlom said. It has to do with an easing of reporting requirements involving the difference between “special events” — which may overflow the campus parking lots — and “scheduled events” that do not.
In practice, said Madlom, the campus lots usually accommodate parking for most “special events”; but allowing more “special events” would make planning easier and accommodate those occasional times when three Jewish holidays can fall within one month.
All of these requests, Madlom and other supporters emphasized, are “minor modifications” of the existing usages and structures on the campus.
However, opponents, particularly attorney Kathy Gutenkunst, contended that some of these modifications would increase traffic, noise, and light pollution from car headlights in the area.
The increases of operating hours, for example, means “nine more hours of coming and going” at the campus, said Gutenkunst.
Opponents also sought to make some larger points. “At the end of the day, this is a commercial use in a residential neighborhood,” and even before the Milwaukee Jewish Federation purchased the property in the 1980s, village ordinances about the property have sought to “limit the intensity” of its use, said Gutenkunst.
Opponents also contended that while about 1,600 Bay residents are JCC members, that constitutes about 20 percent of the membership, making the JCC less a Whitefish Bay-focused institution and more of a “regional facility.”
Opponents also pointed to a clause in the 2003 settlement agreement between Whitefish Bay and the MJF concerning the campus that says, “[T]here shall be no substantial new or additional development of structures, facilities, user limits, or uses for a period of 25 years from the date of this agreement.”
However, in a Feb. 3 memo posted on the official village website, village attorney Christopher J. Jaekels quoted this clause and another clause in the settlement agreement that says:
“The MJF may request minor modifications to existing buildings, grounds, and structures to modernize or upgrade facilities or to comply with any requirement of law or ordinance and which do not add new square footage or user capacity, which may be forwarded to the Village Board for its consideration and approval by the Village Manager if in his or her reasonable discretion the request is a minor modification within the scope of this subarticle.”
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