Village of Germantown update (things you likely don't know) 1)The Village "unveiled" a plan for an EXTRA $26 million in spending in the Holy Hill Industrial area and Freistadt Districts. They want to run roads and MORE sewer and water lines and make a private railroad crossing a public one, build frontage roads, etc., leading to MORE commercial development. Who asked them to do this? No resident I know! 2)Next Generation Housing: The Village had a housing study done by Schaumburg, Illinois based Tracey Cross to look at housing needs in the Germantown area. Washington County paid for the study, so they got what they wanted. Apparently Germantown is the "ideal place" for
Next Gen Housing, as the study identified TWELVE areas where it would fit, including areas close to Dheinsville and on Main Street across from Gehl's. And the Village is buying the old Groesnick property behind Big Boys and the Bier Stube, and the suggestion was to put 60 apartment units on that 5 acre parcel. Which resident asked them to do this? Not anyone I talked to! 3) at a recent Plan Commission meeting, a developer brought forth a plan for 580-600 unit high density housing plan just north of the Germantown School District offices. Even if scaled back, would be 700-1000 EXTRA cars on 145 and Donges Bay Road every day. Where do people come up with these plans? Do we want Germantown to lose its rural charm and become a city, like Brown Deer or Tosa or others? Once again, were the residents of Germantown asked their opinion on these projects, ANY of them? NO! Because the Village KNOWS what you want. Also upcoming: a) We are all being assessed in 2024, so be prepared. b) based on recent projections, even though water utility customers got hit with a 68% increase in water rates in 2022, another 9-10% will be added when the water tower currently in pieces is put up. Also, a recent study by Ehlers showed we likely need to increase water rates another 25-40% in the next 5 years because we are running at a deficit every year. c)Sewer rates are also headed up, projections range from an increase of 3% every year to 18% in 2024 and then "we'll see where it goes" from there. Borrowing costs are close to the highest in over 20 years, and the Village is on a borrowing binge, as our overall debt has increased from $26 million to over $100 million in a few short years. Debt load per resident has gone up 342% in just the last 5 years, and the info for 2023 is still not posted. You can't make this up, folks! Contact your trustee and come to meetings if you can. We must stop this madness!
Read the Tracy Cross report I posted on a different thread. The original intent was single family homes (Like in Jackson's project), but other communities like Hartford and Slinger had to back out due to high land costs and house builders who could not build at the prices outlined in Next Generation Housing outline. And the Tracy Cross report admits there a huge barriers to overcome. The way Jackson likely made it workable was to subordinate part of the land costs by buying the land themselves. It is also about affordability for the vendors who build and develop the projects. In most communities, the cost to builders is so high they can't make a margin they need to make it worth it to them, which is why Slinger and Hartford have pulled back from their earlier plans, it is not economically feasible to do it on the parcels that were identified. Germantown faces a much bigger hurdle, as the cost to build in Germantown is $50,000 higher than anywhere else in Washington County. The plan continues to morph as time goes along. The concept is fine in theory but implementation is nearly impossible in today's world, with high inflation and high interest rates, and the highest cost of materials and labor maybe ever.
For Your Review: The "infamous Tracy Cross Residential Analysis:
Paid for by Washington County. Going forward, I will refer to it as the "Next Generation Housing Study", because that's what it truly is. And the PUSH for this housing come from the County Board and executive. The author himself states that it costs on average 10% more (around $50,000)to build in Germantown over any other community in the area, so that is curious as to why we are the "ideal market" for this housing, but I digress.
It's a longish read (sorry), but a couple of summative points: 1)In order to make this work, government would have to subsidize the effort, which takes the form of cash incentives using ARPA funds, standardizing the elevation options (homogenous), lowering impact fees substantially, and (my personal favorite) lowering construction costs by $30 a square foot! Nearly impossible without using substandard materials, etc. No basement options and no garage options also are in the study as ideas.
2)In the 47 page report, pages 27 and 28 are quite eye opening. On page 27, the report details the Village of Germantown's purchase of 5.2 acres behind the Bier Stube and the closed down Big Boy restaurant. The suggestion is made a 60 unit project would work there, using the townhome/rowhome ideas. Again, did anyone ask the Village to buy the property and promote it for Next Generation Housing? Highly doubtful! Because they are not asking us what we want, they are doing what THEY want!
3)The report identified TWELVE parcels of land where Next Gen Housing would work. Two of the parcels are right next to Dheinsville and Isabelle Farms areas. The people I know who live out there LIKE the peace and quiet and rural feel. I believe this would ruin that forever.
4)None of this works without a significant subsidy from local/county government. And with Germantown's tight budgetary issues, where will this money come from? That's right, US! This makes it sounds as if I am anti-development but I am not. There is a huge difference between FORCED development and ORGANIC development.
Germantown, for many reasons, will always be a place where we will be approached by developers. But we don't have to sacrifice our way of life to fill a niche need with NO input from the residents. That's my biggest pet peeve in all of this. One final thought: Anytime you develop, you put stress on the infrastructure of the community.
Public safety, roads, utilities, etc., ALL are affected. And there is a COST to that. Keep in mind there is a referendum question on the Germantown April ballot regarding funding more police officers and firefighters, to exceed the levy to fund them. And that's just to meet the needs of NOW. What would a plan like this do???
