You have been hired by a developer who owns a site in an affluent outer-ring suburb in the Milwaukee region. The current building on the site is an 8,000 square foot, single-story building that conforms to current zoning requirements. The developer is considering three options. One is to remodel the existing building and lease the building to a national-chain highly-specialized liquor and wine store. Another option is to remodel the existing building and lease to a full-service restaurant. The third option is to build a two-story grocery store, with general groceries on the first floor and a gourmet deli and custom meat counter on the second floor; see enclosed site plan for the new building. The zoning is B-3; see zoning and existing development pattern for the area, below.

B-3 Business District

1. The B-3 Business District is intended to provide for a broad range of office, retail, and service uses where the business activity would be compatible with the surrounding uses.

2. Permitted Uses

1. Retail trade establishments offering convenience goods and services including, but not necessarily limited to, grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, liquor stores, gas stations, and bookstores.
2. Restaurants and delicatessens.
3. Business and financial institutions.

3. Lot Size The minimum lot size shall have an area of not less than two (2) acres.

4. Building Size/Floor Area Ratio The building floor area ratio shall not exceed thirty percent (30%).

5. Minimum Building Setback All structure within the B-3 District shall be set back a minimum of 50 feet from the road right-of-way.

6. Minimum Building Offset No building or structure, hereafter erected, shall be placed closer than twenty (20) feet to a side or rear lot line.

7. Offstreet Parking Offstreet parking shall be provided on the basis of 1 stall per 200 square feet of gross floor area.

8. Minimum Parking and Driveway Offset No driveway or parking area shall be located closer than twenty (20) feet from a side or rear lot line.

1. Minimum Parking Setback No parking area shall be located closer than twenty-five (25) feet to the road right-of-way.

Residents in the area are worried about the possibility of a new liquor store coming to the site. The residents believe that the number of liquor stores has been increasing in their community. At a recent Common Council meeting, the president of the PTA read an excerpt from a New York Times article, citing research about a correlation between the number of liquor stores in a neighborhood and the amount of crime in the neighborhood.

The owner of one of the existing liquor stores, who is always active in local community affairs, cautioned that the community was too small to support an additional liquor store. “We don’t need another liquor store,” he said. “I’m likely to get shoved out of business if you let some big national chain in here.”

Subsequently, the Common Council passed an ordinance to prevent an increase in the number of liquor stores in the community. The Council passed the following:

The city council recognizes that in this jurisdiction there is a proliferation of retail liquor establishments. Consistent with our concerns to promote a positive, vibrant, and desirable business environment for profitable enterprise in the city,

Let it be known that the council is prohibiting the establishment of any further such establishments within the city limits.

Let it be resolved that such prohibition is effective this fourteenth day of June, 2019.

The developer has hired you to answer the following questions. Give the developer (the development firm of Greater Crossings, LLC) background information and recommendations.

Question:

1. What questions do you need to ask yourself, as a reflective practitioner, about information and power as these relate to the situation at hand? Having asked yourself these questions, what should the developer do next to decrease local opposition to development at the site. To assure that your action in this instance conforms to your idea of “good planning,” your answer should:

1. Identify any important questions related to power dynamics that the developer should be aware of
2. Identify information that may help the developer to counteract the negative views being expressed about the proposed options;
3. Specify a set of criteria for judging “good planning” that reflect the values of

the planning profession; and

4. Propose a set of activities as “next steps” that meet your criteria for “good planning” and appear to have some reasonable chance of being effective for the developer.