The proposed Downtown Plan envisions major improvements to Law Park east of Monona Terrace, including a festival grounds, boathouse based on a Frank Lloyd Wright design, docks and pedestrian bridge to East Wilson Street.
The proposed Downtown Plan would transform the Mifflin neighborhood from predominately older student housing to a mixed-use area of retail and housing, with taller buildings.
Years in the making, a proposed Downtown Plan envisions a two-acre park built on fill in Lake Monona, a boardwalk from James Madison Park to UW-Madison's Memorial Union, and higher buildings and denser development in the Mifflin neigborhood.
The plan, which will influence how the Isthmus looks, feels and works for decades, identifies potential redevelopment sites that could accommodate up to $2.5 billion in new construction with more than 4,000 new dwelling units and an additional 4 million square feet of commercial space.
"The plan encourages more, not less, in the level of excitement and investment Downtown," said Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, who represents the central city.
The City Council will consider the plan Tuesday night.
The city started the planning process in 2008, and after study, public comment and fine tuning, staff offered a draft plan with nearly 200 recommendations in late 2011.
City committees then spent months scrutinizing details and forging compromises on thorny issues like limits on building heights, housing density and how flexible the city should be making exceptions.
The emerging plan "sets a vision for the next 20 years and has a comprehensive strategy for how to achieve it," principal planner Bill Fruhling said.
The plan, which succeeds an earlier document created in 1989, is a rough blueprint that will help the city set budget priorities and, once it is translated into the city's much more specific zoning code, guide developers and city policymakers in land-use decisions. The city expects to have a new zoning code and map in place in the fall.
Although concerns on some details remain, several influential organizations are voicing general support for the plan.
"We like what's going to the council," said Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison Inc. "We also liked the process. Sometimes things take a while."
The most dynamic concept is the two-acre park built by filling in part of Lake Monona with a boardwalk and marina — perhaps with a boathouse inspired by a Frank Lloyd Wright design — east of Monona Terrace. Pedestrian bridges would tie the lake to East Wilson Street.
On Lake Mendota, a boardwalk would provide the missing link for a pedestrian and bicycle path from James Madison Park to Picnic Point.
The plan "really embraces the lakes," Fruhling said.
The major lakefront concepts, however, have many challenges, including funding, before becoming a reality.
The biggest changes in the plan in recent months are in the Mifflin neighborhood and handling exceptions to height limits across the Downtown, officials said.
Mifflin, known for its older stock of student housing, over time would become a blend of residential and business uses in a denser neighborhood with larger buildings up to six stories.
Verveer said he supports the recommendation but is uneasy with it. "I think we have to proceed cautiously," he said.
Initially, staff recommended rigid height limits across Downtown, but the plan now includes a process to allow flexibility for especially creative projects and unforeseen situations.
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and Smart Growth Madison, which represents developers, fought for and applauded the change.
Davy Mayer, president of Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc., said the city must be careful so the process doesn't simply become a route for bypassing height restrictions.
Verveer said he will offer some minor amendments Tuesday and hopes the plan will win broad support.
"It would be my hope we have a unanimous vote," he said. "It would send a strong signal that the City Council is on the same page for the future of Downtown."
