(Published Tuesday, February 13, 2007 11:43:43 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Ann Marie Ames Gazette staff
DELAVAN TOWNSHIP-Neither Elkhorn nor the city of Delavan is interested in annexing the 2,000 acres between the cities where Sho-Deen Construction wants to build 4,770 homes.
But city officials expect to feel the impact from the development and are getting ready to get involved in planning.
"It will impact well beyond, in my humble opinion, well beyond these two communities," Elkhorn Administrator Sam Tapson said.
It may be years before Sho-Deen builds its first house. But already the proposed neighborhood shows potential for changing Walworth County, creating a laundry list of possible effects ranging from new municipal boundaries to new schools and services.
"It's hard to say what the specific impacts will be, but it's equally hard to ignore the impact of 4,500 homes," Tapson said. "It's going to forever impact the nature of this area. I don't think there's any doubt about that."
Drawing the line The Sho-Deen property is in Delavan Township, which is considering Sho-Deen's plan and has appointed a committee to research incorporating into a village.
Incorporation would give the town more control over its boundaries and zoning laws and could protect its tax base from being annexed, town attorney Steve Wassel said.
In Walworth County, town boards and the county must agree for zoning to go into effect. That hasn't always been the case, Wassel said.
"We've sued the county on a number of occasions in my tenure," Wassel said. "There are times when the town and the county don't see eye-to-eye. That's why this country was founded-on the whole idea of self-governance."
In September, the town board budgeted $75,000 to research incorporation, and town Chairman John Pelletier will lead the five-member committee. The town will hire a consultant to get an "informed opinion on the likelihood of success from a drive for incorporation," Pelletier said.
The Wisconsin Department of Administration oversees municipal incorporation and requires proof planning by the town, Wassel said.
A petition begins the process. If the Department of Administration approves the request, town voters then must approve the incorporation.
The town failed at an incorporation attempt 15 years ago when it tried to keep Lake Lawn Lodge within its boundaries.
Across the border The property is so large that Sho-Deen could seek annexation into either the city of Delavan or Elkhorn. But Sho-Deen has not had any formal conversations about annexation, city officials said.
The Janesville Gazette was not able to reach Sho-Deen President John Patzelt about his company's interest in annexation.
The cities would have an interest in the town's incorporation, as well.
If part of the town incorporates into a village, the cities could be locked out from land they had planned to use for growth. Cities cannot annex land from villages.
"There is going to be continuing development pressure here," Tapson said. "And when you see this 800-pound gorilla to the west of us that is Sho-Deen, you sit up and take notice."
Tapson added that school attendance would be one of the biggest pressures on Elkhorn.
If the town doesn't pursue incorporation, the cities would have the power to say "no" to parts of the Sho-Deen development that fall within the cities' extraterritorial plat review boundaries, Walworth County Planning Director Michael Cotter said.
"At the very end, if the town and the county agreed on zoning, cities would have to sign off on plats within a mile and a half of their borders," Cotter said. "The cities could come in and say, 'We don't like this.'"
What's next?
In January, the Town of Delavan Plan Commission voted to recommend the town not proceed with the Sho-Deen conceptual plan.
On Wednesday, the town board will discuss the plan in a work meeting and possibly place it on a future agenda.
Because the entire proposal doesn't meet current zoning standards in Walworth County, Sho-Deen will have to apply for rezoning to the Walworth County Zoning Agency. Sho-Deen may do so regardless of the town's decision, but both the county and the town have to agree on rezoning.
