Hold up the Middleton Stagecoach Trails Apartment Project

We, petition the City of Middleton WI to oppose the Planned Development District- Specific Implementation Plan (PDD-SIP) rezoning request from residential (R1). Developer J.T. Klein has asked the city to rezone properties opposite the Stamm House on Century Avenue. The developer would replace a row of 3 family residences with a four story building of 48 apartments and 74 parking spaces which will occupy a majority of 1.18 acres. We the undersigned consider this land unsuited for a large apartment building. It harbors a number of large mature trees along a slope adjacent to the Pheasant Branch Conservancy. This creates a unique city streetscape that should not be sacrificed for another apartment building. Within the last year Middleton has seen a striking number of such buildings. Downtown, the Parmenter Street corridor, and Bishop’s Bay now have large building clusters, adding to the apartment capacity that surrounds the Century Avenue site and its adjacent neighborhoods. The two block stretch along north Century Blvd from Old Creek Rd going east along the Pheasant Branch Conservancy is all zoned residential. The proposal is incongruent with aesthetics of the wetland Conservancy, the Historical Designation of the block and spirit Middleton’s 21 year “Tree City USA” designation and the “Good Neighbor City”. We are aware of the city’s housing needs—and of the advisability of replacing some of the outdated, blighted homes on Century Ave owned by J.T. Klein. However, the city should implement the neighborhood diversity in housing its planning calls for. It does this by leaving the residential zoning in place along Century Ave.