Letter: Concerns over city tranparency

To the Editor-

The final step for major city-wide residential zoning changes in Stevens Point will be voted on at the Common Council’s April 18, 2022 meeting.

If passed, the proposed changes will permit a so-called Accessory Dwelling Unit, or “ADU,” or an Accessory Commercial Unit, or “ACU,” up to 1800 square feet to be built in anyone’s backyard subject only to certain conditional use restrictions.

If those use restrictions are met, the permit must be granted no matter the neighborhood. It affects all residential zoned areas, and would essential up-zone all neighborhoods to permit two-family or multi-family dwellings.

A required public hearing regarding these changes was already held on Monday, April 4, 2022 with little advance public notice. Although some Common Council districts held information meetings on these changes eight or nine months ago, not all districts did so. Nor did the city send a postcard or provide other broad notification to all homeowners in Stevens Point of this radical change to our zoning, despite multiple requests to do so.

The city is required to publish three notices of a final public hearing. But in this case, the city chose to do a bare-bones notice, by posting an agenda on a city website, and pinning two 8 ½ x 11 inch hard copies of the agenda to bulletin boards near the mayor’s office in City Hall and the county clerk’s office in the courthouse.

It is unclear why Stevens Point needs to fundamentally alter its residential zoning laws by allowing ADUs and ACUs without neighborhood input. And to date our city leaders have not been transparent in explaining the proposed changes and how it will make our city a better place for those of us who live here.

I have lived in the center of town for decades, and believe that our current two-family “R3” zoning works. We already have a full basket of challenges to keep our neighborhood livable for families, and we have worked over the years to keep our existing mix of housing options. We have gained this stability through a fragile balance. But these drastic zoning changes threaten to disrupt that balance in an already vulnerable area.

If these changes concern you too, come and be present and voice your opinion at the Common Council meeting April 18, 7 p.m. at the meeting rooms in the police department (933 Michigan Avenue).

Carol Molepske
Stevens Point