Mauston holds town hall to discuss sober-living house, downtown plans | Juneau County Star-Times

A city corridor meeting held by metropolis officers at Mauston Large School’s auditorium protected the city’s strategies to revitalize its downtown as perfectly as keep an open forum relating to Joe’s Spot Sober Living.

The town is looking to create two new tax increment funding districts (TIF or TID) in the central region to incentivize business enterprise development.

On May well 10, the city imposed a one particular-calendar year moratorium on boarding residences in the downtown region. No formal motion was taken by the metropolis following the meeting.

“This was to give us time to comprehensive the function that we’re accomplishing on our zoning code update, very affordable housing prepare, and our creation of the new TIF district in the downtown region,” explained town administrator Randy Reeg.

Ald. Vicki Wards commenced the meeting by describing the notion of “edge towns,” which are metropolitan areas with quick food places to eat, gas stations, auto dealerships, and massive box retail stores on the outskirts of the group. She explained that this is critical to financial development, but does not give a town a “sense of identity” or “local flair,” two attributes that a downtown central organization district can give.

“A standard downtown, or central small business district, is exactly where you get your special community identification, when individuals want to come to your city to discover what you have to offer you,” Wards claimed.

Reeg said the strategies to revitalize Mauston’s downtown place commenced in Oct of 2018. In 2019, city officers used the year discussing updating the zoning code in the metropolis, which he mentioned grew to become an difficulty for small business progress. The development of downtown TIF districts was initial introduced in May well of 2020 and the zoning code has ongoing to be up to date considering that then.

“We realized it was essential to the local community, critical for our economic development and id,” claimed Reeg.

Reeg also pointed out how the closure of two other TIF districts in the town would aid produce a fund for cost-effective housing. Difficulties encompassing lower-money residency and homelessness had been mentioned in the course of the conference.

Metropolis officials and citizens all tackled the substance abuse and alcoholism challenges that influence Mauston and Juneau County as a entire.

Joe’s Put is a proposed 8-resident sober-living property at the previous web page of Two Sisters Catering in downtown Mauston. It would be a for-revenue boarding residence for folks in recovery from liquor and material abuse with focus on protecting sobriety and turning into effective, independent citizens.

“I want to support people today in restoration,” claimed Joe Hinzman, one particular of the entrepreneurs of Joe’s Location and the potential assets supervisor of the house. “It’s pretty very simple. We have a 3-amount constructing and we fell in adore with it.”

Hinzman went on to describe the features of the developing, as well as the cycle of cure, imprisonment, and other trials and tribulations of people today with compound dependence issues.

Inhabitants of the town, which includes people today in recovery, who supported Joe’s Put reported that the significant level of compound dependence and homelessness in the town and encompassing region provides a will need for the facility. They questioned town officials about how the sober-living dwelling would negatively effect organization advancement and their stage of dedication to stopping homelessness and compound abuse.

“Are we trying to end a thing that could make us yrs forward of other locations in serving to the trouble in its place of hiding it?” explained Shannon Hardy, a Mauston resident who does outreach do the job all-around material dependence.

A single resident referred to his neighborhood as “the worst location in the world” and said that the metropolis requires Joe’s Put. He reported he sees substance dependence and poverty almost everywhere. One more asked a problem with regards to what the city’s difficulty was with a sober-living dwelling that had means to allow for persons in recovery to maintain sobriety.

“We are not making an attempt to cease this undertaking,” reported Reeg in response. “We just are asking for time to total the operate we commenced and ascertain no matter whether or not that spot, in the central small business district, in that building, is the very best put for it.”

Mike Baker, a Tomah resident who is employed in Mauston, questioned city officials if options for the moratorium were in put when Hinzman and co-homeowners Andy Strachwsky and Jac Generalli were getting the developing. Reeg reported that this kind of steps are generally taken in reaction to pending tasks and are not proactive.

Reeg added that the conditional-use allow application submitted by Joe’s Place’s owners was compensated for, but incomplete. On May perhaps 10, the Mauston City Council imposed the 1-12 months moratorium. Reeg included that on May possibly 25, the house owners were refunded their conditional-use allow application payment.

“The council’s principal worry is we have a downtown district that can make or break this town’s foreseeable future,” reported Wards. “That downtown district helps 4,500 men and women and much more as time goes on. Joe’s Area can assist eight. We did not develop the dilemma we have now.”

Wards acknowledged the intelligence and good intentions of Joe’s Place’s house owners, but reiterated their lack of a conditional-use permit and monetary contingencies.

“We would like to have some thing like your system in the correct position in this city for the persons that have to have it,” explained Wards to the homeowners. “To make it as while the town is in the wrong and created this challenge is not factual.”

Jenna Handberg, who life in a rural region just outside Mauston, acknowledged the compound abuse troubles in the local community, but asked about perhaps working with a much larger setting up in another place of town for this function.

Strachwsky cited the functions middle in the setting up as an illustration. It enables him and the other folks to appeal to entertainment acts that not only could aid the citizens, but the metropolis as a full.

“The only way a neighborhood will begin removing the stigma from persons in recovery is if they get started interacting with them,” said Strachwsky. “That’s why we want the event centre, so that we can deliver in acts from all in excess of the country and have them all be totally free to the neighborhood.”