City to mark new territory

Oconomowoc Focus, October 5, 2006

Jonna Clark
Staff Writer

City of Oconomowoc - Plans to bring a long-fought over Aurora Health Care hospital to Oconomowoc and to clear the way for a high-end retail complex in Pabst Farms are moving forward.

City officials met Monday to begin extraterritorial zoning plans in the Town of Summit for a parcel of land next to I-94 and Highway 67.

A settlement agreement announced in August by the city and Town of Summit laid out a series of initiatives designed to end the debate over where Aurora Health Care would build a medical campus in Pabst Farms.

The agreement means the city will use its extraterritorial rights to rezone the town land in Pabst Farms so Aurora can build there, Aurora will release its hold on land in Pabst Farms slated for a major mall, all lawsuits will be dropped, the town and city will jointly operate a fire station built in Pabst Farms, and by way of a 230-acre land swap to the city, the town will get permanent boundaries.

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Alderwoman Ellie Cochrane said the Common Council, in a special meeting Oct. 31, would be expected to approve an ordinance that would pull the triangular parcel of land into the city.

Cochrane also said a joint review board from the city and town had been named to monitor the extraterritorial zoning process.

Representing the city are Allen Peters, Jon Snyder III, and Paul Schmitter II. Town representatives are Paul Schmitter I, Steve Kraut and Len Susa.

The debacle known as the "hospital wars" got its start when the city rezoned in 2001 a parcel of land in Pabst Farms that Aurora had set its sights on.

City officials said it was a move to block a not-for-profit use in a TIF (tax incremental funding) district.

"The city wanted to preserve the zoning on the parcel in question, and the appearance of General Growth Properties now affirms the thinking in 2001," Mayor Maury Sullivan said in an August press conference to announce the settlement.

General Growth Properties, creator of Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa among many others, has signed on with Pabst Farms to build an upscale, open-air retail and entertainment complex on the land Aurora originally set its sights on for its new hospital.

Adding to the city's growing determination to find a solution to a complex development quandary was the legal mess the staff had been wrangling with for five years.

The lawsuit launched by Aurora in 2001 went through three circuit court judges on appeal, and Sullivan said city officials were shocked when in May 2006 the third circuit court judge to look at the case agreed that Aurora did have a case, and the specter of a trial loomed.

With that win under its belt, Aurora declared it would seek $59 million in damages if it won the case.

Sullivan said at the time that the number seemed high, but even a lesser award could have left Oconomowoc taxpayers with a hefty liability.

Sullivan said the city has $6 million in insurance in case of a lawsuit, but pointed out that, were Aurora awarded an amount more like $40 million, taxpayers would be left with a $34 million bill.

"We had great reluctance to roll the dice on the appeal process and hope we won," Sullivan said. "Only relying on an appeal would be playing with taxpayers money."

Hence negotiations were started.

Under Sullivan's leadership, the city took a four-pronged approach to dealing with the controversial and complex issue, including rezoning the parcel to correct errors that might have been made the first time around, asking the court to reconsider the May decision, appealing the decision and negotiation.

Sullivan also said city staff had grown weary of the legal battle and the distraction it was causing.

Town Chairman Len Susa maintained the town has been talking incorporation for some time and Aurora's offer to build a hospital on town land in Summit seemed like the perfect way to further that cause.

Susa also revealed that the Waukesha County Board's no-vote to allow the town to amend its master plan in April 2005 was a wakeup call for town officials.

Through meetings with the state Department of Administration, town officials learned that becoming a village meant meeting many requirements and recommendations for approval.

Specifically, Summit was asked how it interacted with its neighbors.

Susa said fear of annexation by the city had caused past tensions, and that the agreement giving the town permanent boundaries went a long way in creating a friendlier atmosphere between the city and town.