La Crosse Common Council delays issue for another 60 days
August 12, 2021 9:30 PM
Posted: August 12, 2021 9:30 PM
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — Potential uses of the old fish hatchery building in Riverside Park continue to bedevil rezoning of the building, as the La Crosse Common Council delayed consideration for another 60 days Thursday.
Artist’s rendering shows possible reworked outside of old fish hatchery building.
The issue of changing zoning for the historic building from a public/semi-public district to commercial became mired in a lengthy debate over a proposal to convert it to a wedding venue with a beer garden and an AirBnB on the second floor.
The council had received nearly 15 letters, most of which opposed the rezoning and a handful that supported it. Several people spoke in opposition at the council meeting at the South Side Neighborhood Center, which also was available online.
Much of the resistance came from residents of RiverPlace apartments adjacent to the park who objected to potential disruptions to the park’s ambiance.
Several comments brought applause and/or cheers from the audience, until Mayor Mitch Reynolds quashed such outbursts.
Parks and Recreation Director Jay Odegaard emphasized that the only issue before the council was the rezoning, while actual uses would be considered later and would be fully vetted before various committees.
That point got lost because of widespread talke of the wedding venue and AirBnB proposal.
Council member Andrea Richmond said, “I know it’s about zoning, but it’s also about treating everybody equally.”
Suggesting that residents haven’t had enough input, Richmond moved to refer the matter for 60 days, which the council did with only three nays after about an hour’s debate.
Among the objections were parking problems; responsibility for cleanup; fears of privatization of the Mississippi and Black rivers’ shorelines, and the potential that events would, in effect, block park use for other residents, among other issues.
“This literally will shut down the park,” said council member Scott Neumeister.
Arguing against referral on the zoning issue, council member Mark Neumann said it would be a “perversion of the process” to do so because of proposed uses.
On another potentially volatile issue, the council passed, with little discussion, one-year memorandum of understanding between the city’s police department and the La Crosse School District to provide three school resource officers in schools at a cost of $150,000 to the school district.
That issue had prompted often-heated discussion in previous committee meetings, based on contentions of some that the SROs are unfair to students of color. Several letters of opposition also wanted clearer accountability standards for police.
The council also amended the city’s ordinance regarding weapons that says, in part, “No person shall enter or remain in any part of a building that is owned, occupied, or controlled by the State or any local governmental unit if the State or local governmental unit has notified the person not to enter or remain in the building while carrying a weapon or with that type of weapon.”
City committees and departments also can rule on whether carrying weapons will be allowed at various events and other public places.
And the council approved spending another $75,000 to help investigate and seek solutions to PFAS contamination around the La Cross Regional Airport near Wells 23 and 24. The contamination from firefighting foam used at the airport has resulted in more than 300 private and public wells on French Island.
COPYRIGHT 2021 BY NEWS 8 NOW/NEWS 8000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
