The City of Franklin needs commercial development outside of the South 27th Street Corridor. This would be geared to aid taxpayers who are overburdened with their Franklin Public Schools taxes, since the commercial developments would help balance the taxes between residential and commercial.
In light of this need, two years ago city officials welcomed with open arms a development that would revitalize and completely change the scope of what Rawson Avenue was going to become. At that time, Rawson from 51st westward was zoned for industrial and manufacturing uses. This was due to the fact that the Vulcan Quarry was directly across the street. However, a developer showed up in Franklin and they weren't interested in building factories or warehouses. Instead, the aim was for upscale and high end retailers.
Equitable Development worked with the City of Franklin to change the zoning ordinances from M-1 to OL-2, which paved the way for projects like Sendik's Food Market, Bank Mutual, and the now approved CVS Pharmacy. It also allowed for the Fountains of Franklin project to get underway. Under this ordinance, buildings as tall as 3 stories can locate on the site, and the amount of land available is in the tens of acres.
Unknown to Franklin residents and some elected officials at the time, the site that contains the Fountains of Franklin and Sendik's West currently has the demographics to be a lot more than just a meager strip mall with a food store. In fact, the demographics point towards a completely different directon altogether; the sites are comparable to Bayshore Town Center and Brookfield Square in population and household income. Because of this, Equitable Development reported to residents and elected officials earlier this year that several national developers have come forward with bigger plans for the site; images I received at the time showcased a Bayshore Town Centerish atmosphere with the potential of being a 3-story mixed use shoppingtown. Obviously, my jaw dropped and like many other Franklin residents, I looked deeper and was trying to figure out what was halting the project from moving forward.
Enter in Leonard and Verna Fox, the owners of several businesses on one site along Rawson Avenue. Among their businesses are a concrete facility and a storage center, where even items like RVs sit out and bask in the sun. Just looking at this from an average Franklin resident's perspective, I'd see nothing wrong with this place. However, after looking deeper into the uses and approvals, I discovered that they never received approvals on several items, including the outdoor storage. These were primary reasons on a complaint that was filed with the City of Franklin back in mid-2007, of which received little-to-no notice until just a few months ago.
Prior to the April elections, Mayor Tom Taylor spoke highly of the Fountains of Franklin, even dubbing it a "downtown" and "civic center" for our community. Such high praise and recognition went against the Franklin Civic Center District, but that didn't phase the Mayor's goals. During the public forum between him and Basil Ryan, Taylor went on record as wanting Franklin to aim to become the "next Palo Alto" and promote higher end businesses to come to the city. Sadly, several months after he was re-elected he shifted gears and now has become a primary obstacle in the legal process between the city and its filed complaint and the Foxes.
Being the obstacle, the Mayor was accused of withholding documents from the Common Council and in particular, Alderman Lyle Sohns. Sohns represents the district that has the Fountains of Franklin project. In a detailed and somewhat lengthy letter sent to the Mayor, Sohns believed the Mayor ultimately was doing questionable behavior. At the subsequent Common Council meeting, Sohns deepened his concerns by suggesting that the Mayor was violating State law in this situation. As any politican would do, the Mayor fought back against the allegations and at a later date told the Council he would personally oversee the Fox issue. What was never answered was why the complaint took over a year to come to light, and why the city was dragging its butt to enforce its ordinances. If the Foxes were sex offenders or served booze to drunks knowingly, I submit that the city would have been much quicker to take care of business.
I believe the answer to the obstacles and delays comes from one man who loves to toot his own horn regarding city dominance. Mark Carstensen, the developer of the Shoppes at Wyndham Village, has been seen over at the Foxes' residence roughly a dozen times since the city began being somewhat serious to the Foxes. It intensified after the Sohns letter to the Mayor and when the city began seeking a court hearing on the subject. Why Mark's vehicle, a pristine white Cadillac Escalade, would be making the Foxes a second home is beyond me...unless it's to provide the Foxes with legal advice and opinions to assist in delaying a competing project, which is the Fountains of Franklin.
Equitable Development went on record saying that they are deeply concerned with the violations next door to their property, and noted that these national developers share their concerns. They also told all of us that national developers were sought after by the Foxes, and shortly after the first hints of selling came out regarding the Foxes property an offer was made to them for $3 million, which is roughly double their current selling price. Then like a timeline, the Cadillac Escalade arrived and the Foxes quickly changed their minds and decided not to sell, even though they were fully aware of the complaint and the upcoming legal issues with the city regarding ordinance enforcement.
This is a big issue for 2008 because what happens presently will determine how the future will be played out for Franklin residents. If it turns out a victory for the Foxes, you will probably hear the roar of Mark Carstensen throughout the community. This would be due to the fact that he would truly control and run the city, since his ego would be intensified due to the halt of what could be Franklin's largest retail project in its history - - a project worth an easy $200 million and God knows how much worth in taxes to aid residents.
Don't be surprised if you see this matter become one of my big issues in 2009, since the court hearing for the Foxes will be held on January 23rd, 2009 in the South Milwaukee Municipal Court.
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