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Big Ideas for Baileys Harbor

The Baileys Harbor Plan Commission has sent two big proposals for the town board to consider at its next meeting at 6 pm on May 11.

At its May 4 meeting, the Plan Commission heard a proposal to develop entry-level housing on two parcels of land the town is considering buying on the west side of Hwy. 57.

Town Supervisor Peter Jacobs told the Plan Commission that the two parcels amount to about 80 acres, and depending on what the town decides to do with the land, there are opportunities to apply for grants to help recoup some of the cost of the land purchase ($287,000 for the north property and $325,000 for the south).

“This is kind of the beginning of the whole thing,” Jacobs told the Plan Commission.

His idea is for a mixed use of recreation/trails area and a housing development for low- to moderate-income families.

Mariah Goode, a Baileys Harbor resident and head of the Door County Planning Department, was in the audience and said the idea Jacobs proposed is called a conservation subdivision, which is minimally developed and is open for public passive recreation. She also suggested that such a plan could become an inaugural project for the County Housing Trust, which guarantees that the housing will always be affordable in that development.

Bryan Nelson, owner of The Blacksmith Inn, praised the Plan Commission for considering an idea that “could make Baileys Harbor a magnet for young folks.”

The property under consideration also abuts the Baileys Harbor Recreational Park and the town wastewater treatment plant. Jacobs suggested reserving a portion of the property for future expansion of the wastewater treatment plant.

The Plan Commission unanimously approved advancing the idea on to the town board. Commission Chair Gordon Rowley said he would accompany Jacobs to the May 11 town board meeting to help explain the idea.

After a presentation by Todd Johnson, land use and community development specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension at UW-River Falls, Plan Commission members also voted to advise the town board that the town should consider applying for a three-day community design workshop that Johnson organizes.

Modeled after a 32-year-old Minnesota program called The Minnesota Design Team, Johnson said he assembles a team of about 20 experts from a range of disciplines who come to a community for three days to help the people of that community arrive at a new shared vision of its physical and environmental elements.

Using the example of Grantsburg, Wis., which the design team visited last fall, Johnson ran through the three-day process. Johnson and the team arrive on a Thursday and are assigned to stay with community members. The day begins early on Friday as members of the team meet with community members to discuss assets and liabilities within the community and how to proceed in the future. The design team meets with the business community, senior citizens and students in order to include all views.

Because of the inclusivity of the process, Johnson said there is less of a chance for a plan to be typed up and then simply sit on a shelf collecting dust.

“The planning process usually sucks energy from you. This process creates energy,” he said.

He explained that a community has to submit an application to have the design team visit, and that the application must be more than a governmental entity requesting the visit.

“This isn’t about making local government look good. This is about community,” he said.

He added that he decided to target Door County for the process because it would be much easier to attract the volunteer design team here than some other less known parts of the state.

“We should do it,” said Mariah Goode, who said she was speaking both as a town resident and a planner, adding that often plans are really general. “This will give you a tangible to-do list,” she said.

Johnson said there is a cost of $5,000 to the community to cover travel expenses for the team and printing costs. Residents will also be asked to give time and space as hosts of the team. To be considered as a candidate for the design team to come to Baileys Harbor the first weekend of November, Johnson said he would need to know sooner than later if Baileys Harbor is interested.

The Plan Commission voted its approval of the design team concept and moved it on to the town board for its consideration at the May 11 meeting.

You can see the Minnesota Design Team Workbook at blogs.ces.uwex.edu/community/files/2015/02/MDT-Workbook.pdf.