66.609(2)
(2) A municipality may create an architectural conservancy district and adopt its operating plan if all of the following are met:
66.609(2)(a)
(a) An owner of real property located in the proposed architectural conservancy district designated under
par. (b) petitions the municipality for creation of an architectural conservancy district.
66.609(2)(am)
(am) At least 50% of the properties included within the proposed architectural conservancy district are historic properties.
66.609(2)(b)
(b) The planning commission designates a proposed architectural conservancy district and adopts its proposed initial operating plan.
66.609(2)(c)
(c) At least 30 days before the creation of the architectural conservancy district and adoption of its initial operating plan by the municipality, the planning commission holds a public hearing on the proposed architectural conservancy district and initial operating plan. Notice of the hearing shall be published as a class 2 notice under
ch. 985. Before publication of the notice, a copy of that notice, a copy of the proposed initial operating plan and a copy of a detail map showing the boundaries of the proposed architectural conservancy district shall be sent by certified mail to all owners of real property within the proposed architectural conservancy district. The notice shall state the boundaries of the proposed architectural conservancy district and shall indicate that copies of the proposed initial operating plan are available on request from the planning commission.
66.609(2)(d)
(d) Within 30 days after the hearing under
par. (c), the owners of property to be assessed under the proposed initial operating plan having a valuation equal to more than 40% of the valuation of all property to be assessed under the proposed initial operating plan, using the method of valuation specified in the proposed initial operating plan, or the owners of property to be assessed under the proposed initial operating plan having an assessed valuation equal to more than 40% of the assessed valuation of all property to be assessed under the proposed initial operating plan, have not filed a petition with the planning commission protesting the proposed architectural conservancy district or its proposed initial operating plan.
66.609(2)(e)
(e) The local legislative body votes to adopt the proposed initial operating plan for the municipality.
66.609(3)(a)(a) The chief executive officer shall appoint members to an architectural conservancy district board to implement the operating plan. Board members shall be confirmed by the local legislative body and shall serve staggered terms designated by the local legislative body. The board shall have at least 5 members. A majority of board members shall own or occupy real property in the architectural conservancy district.
66.609(3)(b)
(b) The board shall annually consider and may make changes to the operating plan, which may include termination of the plan, for its architectural conservancy district. The board shall then submit the operating plan to the local legislative body for its approval. If the local legislative body disapproves the operating plan, the board shall consider and may make changes to the operating plan and may continue to resubmit the operating plan until local legislative body approval is obtained. Any change to the special assessment method applicable to the architectural conservancy district shall be approved by the local legislative body.
66.609(3)(c)
(c) The board shall prepare and make available to the public annual reports describing the current status of the architectural conservancy district, including expenditures and revenues. The report shall include an independent certified audit of the implementation of the operating plan that shall be obtained by the municipality. The municipality shall obtain an additional independent certified audit upon termination of the architectural conservancy district.
66.609(3)(d)
(d) Either the board or the municipality, as specified in the operating plan as adopted, or as amended and approved under
par. (b), shall have all powers necessary or convenient to implement the operating plan, including the power to contract.
66.609(4)
(4) All special assessments received from an architectural conservancy district, all other appropriations by the municipality and all other moneys received for the benefit of the architectural conservancy district shall be placed in a segregated account in the municipal treasury. No disbursements from the account may be made except to reimburse the municipality for appropriations other than special assessments, to pay the costs of audits required under
sub. (3) (c) or on order of the board for the purpose of implementing the operating plan. On termination of the architectural conservancy district by the municipality, all moneys collected by special assessment that remain in the account shall be disbursed to the owners of specially assessed property in the architectural conservancy district in the same proportion as the last collected special assessment.
66.609(5)
(5) A municipality shall terminate an architectural conservancy district if the owners of property assessed under the operating plan having a valuation equal to more than 50% of the valuation of all property assessed under the operating plan, using the method of valuation specified in the operating plan, or the owners of property assessed under the operating plan having an assessed valuation equal to more than 50% of the assessed valuation of all property assessed under the operating plan, file a petition with the planning commission requesting termination of the architectural conservancy district, subject to all of the following conditions:
66.609(5)(a)
(a) A petition may not be filed under this subsection earlier than one year after the date on which the municipality first adopts the operating plan for the architectural conservancy district.
66.609(5)(b)
(b) On and after the date on which a petition is filed under this subsection, neither the board nor the municipality may enter into any new obligations by contract or otherwise to implement the operating plan until 30 days after the date of hearing under
par. (c) and unless the architectural conservancy district is not terminated under
par. (e).
66.609(5)(c)
(c) Within 30 days after the filing of a petition under this subsection, the planning commission shall hold a public hearing on the proposed termination. Notice of the hearing shall be published as a class 2 notice under
ch. 985. Before publication of the notice, a copy of that notice, a copy of the operating plan and a copy of a detail map showing the boundaries of the architectural conservancy district shall be sent by certified mail to all owners of real property within the architectural conservancy district. The notice shall state the boundaries of the architectural conservancy district and shall indicate that copies of the operating plan are available on request from the planning commission.
66.609(5)(d)
(d) Within 30 days after the hearing held under
par. (c), every owner of property assessed under the operating plan may send written notice to the planning commission indicating, if the owner signed a petition under this subsection, that the owner retracts the owner's request to terminate the architectural conservancy district or, if the owner did not sign the petition, that the owner requests termination of the architectural conservancy district.
66.609(5)(e)
(e) If on the 31st day after the hearing held under
par. (c), the owners of property assessed under the operating plan having a valuation equal to more than 50% of the valuation of all property assessed under the operating plan, using the method of valuation specified in the operating plan, or the owners of property assessed under the operating plan having an assessed valuation equal to more than 50% of the assessed valuation of all property assessed under the operating plan, after adding subsequent notifications under
par. (d) and after subtracting any retractions under
par. (d), have requested the termination of the architectural conservancy district, the municipality shall terminate the architectural conservancy district on the date that the obligation with the latest completion date entered into to implement the operating plan expires.
66.609(6)(a)(a) A municipality may terminate an architectural conservancy district at any time.
66.609(6)(b)
(b) This section does not limit the authorities of a municipality to regulate the use of or specially assess real property.
66.609 History
History: 1991 a. 269.
66.610
66.610
Pedestrian malls in cities of the 1st class. 66.610(1)(1)
Purpose. The purpose of this section is to authorize any city of the 1st class to undertake, develop, finance, construct and operate pedestrian malls as local improvements.
66.610(2)
(2) Definitions. As used in this section:
66.610(2)(a)
(a) "Annual pedestrian mall improvement" includes, without limitation because of enumeration, any reconstruction, replacement or repair of trees, plantings, furniture, shelters or other pedestrian mall facilities.
66.610(2)(b)
(b) "Annual pedestrian mall improvement cost" includes, without limitation because of enumeration, planning consultant fees, public liability and property damage insurance premiums, reimbursement of the city's reasonable and necessary costs incurred in operating and maintaining a pedestrian mall, levying and collecting special assessments and taxes, publication costs, and any other costs related to annual improvements and the operation and maintenance of a pedestrian mall.
66.610(2)(c)
(c) "Board of assessment" means the board created under
subch. II of ch. 32, for the purpose of estimating benefits and damages in connection with the creation or improvement of a pedestrian mall.
66.610(2)(d)
(d) "Business district" means an existing recognized area of a city principally used for commerce or trade.
66.610(2)(f)
(f) "Commissioner of public works" means the board of public works, commissioner of public works, or any other city board or officer vested with authority over public works.
66.610(2)(g)
(g) "Community development advisory body" means any corporation or unincorporated association whose shareholders or members are owners or occupants of property included in a proposed or existing pedestrian mall district.
66.610(2)(h)
(h) "Council" and "common council" mean the governing body of the city.
66.610(2)(i)
(i) "Intersecting street" means, unless the council declares otherwise, any street which meets or intersects a pedestrian mall, but includes only those portions thereof which lay between the mall or mall intersection and the first intersection of such intersecting street with a street open to general vehicular traffic.
66.610(2)(j)
(j) "Mall intersection" means any intersection of a city street which is part of a pedestrian mall with any other street.
66.610(2)(k)
(k) "Owner" includes any person holding the record title of an estate in possession in fee simple or for life, or a vendor of record under a land contract for the sale of an estate in possession in fee simple or for life.
66.610(2)(L)
(L) "Pedestrian mall" means any street, land or appurtenant fixture designed primarily for the movement, safety, convenience and enjoyment of pedestrians.
66.610(2)(m)
(m) "Pedestrian mall district" means any geographical division of the city designated by the board of assessment for the purpose of undertaking, developing, financing, constructing and operating a pedestrian mall.
66.610(2)(n)
(n) "Pedestrian mall improvement" means, without limitation because of enumeration, any construction or installation of pedestrian thoroughfares, perimeter parking facilities, public seating, park areas, outdoor cafes, skywalks, sewers, shelters, trees, flower or shrubbery plantings, sculptures, newsstands, telephone booths, traffic signs, sidewalks, traffic lights, kiosks, water pipes, fire hydrants, street lighting, ornamental signs, ornamental lights, graphics, pictures, paintings, trash receptacles, display cases, marquees, awnings, canopies, overhead or underground radiant heating pipes or fixtures, walls, bollards, chains and all such other fixtures, equipment, facilities and appurtenances which, in the council's judgment, will enhance the movement, safety, convenience and enjoyment of pedestrians and benefit the city and the affected property owners.
66.610(2)(o)
(o) "Skywalk" means any elevated pedestrian way.
66.610(2)(p)
(p) "Street" means any public road, street, boulevard, highway, alley, lane, court or other way used for public travel.
66.610(3)
(3) Acquisition, improvement and establishment of pedestrian malls. 66.610(3)(a)(a) Upon petition of any community development advisory body or upon its own motion, the council may by resolution designate lands to be acquired, improved and operated as pedestrian malls or may by ordinance designate streets, including a federal, state, county or any other highway system with the approval of the jurisdiction responsible for maintaining that highway system, in or adjacent to business districts to be improved for primarily pedestrian uses. The council may acquire by gift, purchase, eminent domain, or otherwise, land, real property or rights-of-way for inclusion in a pedestrian mall district or for use in connection with pedestrian mall purposes. The council may also make improvements on mall intersections, intersecting streets or upon facilities acquired for parking and other related purposes, if such improvements are necessary or convenient to the operation of the mall.
66.610(3)(b)
(b) In establishing or improving a pedestrian mall, the council may narrow any street designated a part of a pedestrian mall, reconstruct or remove any street vaults or hollow sidewalks existing by virtue of a permit issued by the city, construct crosswalks at any point on the pedestrian mall, or cause the roadway to curve and meander within the limits of the street without regard to the uniformity of width of the street or curve or absence of curve in the center line of such street.
66.610(3)(c)1.1. Subject to
subd. 2., the council may authorize the payment of the entire cost of any pedestrian mall improvement established under this section by appropriation from the general fund, by taxation or special assessments, and by the issuance of municipal bonds, general or particular special improvement bonds, revenue bonds, mortgages or certificates, or by any combination of such financing methods.
66.610(3)(c)2.
2. If such improvement is financed by special assessments and special improvement bonds are not issued, such special assessments, when collected, shall be applied to the payment of the principal and interest on any general obligation bonds issued or to the reduction of general taxes if such general obligation bonds or general tax levy are used to finance the improvement.
66.610(3)(d)
(d) The council may exercise the powers granted by this subsection only if it makes the findings required under
sub. (4) and complies with the procedures and requirements under
subs. (5),
(6) and
(8).
66.610(4)
(4) Preliminary findings. No pedestrian mall may be established under
sub. (3) unless the council finds that:
66.610(4)(a)
(a) The proposed pedestrian mall will be located primarily in or adjacent to a business district.
66.610(4)(b)
(b) There exist reasonably convenient alternate routes for private vehicles to other parts of the city and state.
66.610(4)(c)
(c) The continued unlimited use by private vehicles of the streets or parts thereof in the proposed mall district endangers pedestrian safety.
66.610(4)(d)
(d) Properties abutting the proposed mall can be reasonably and adequately provided with emergency vehicle services and delivery and receiving of merchandise or materials either from other streets or alleys or by the limited use of the pedestrian mall for such purposes.
66.610(4)(e)
(e) It is in the public interest to use such street or portions thereof primarily for pedestrian purposes.
66.610(5)(a)(a) Before establishing a pedestrian mall or undertaking any pedestrian mall improvement, the council shall by resolution authorize the commissioner of public works and the local planning agency to make studies and prepare preliminary plans for the proposed project. The local planning agency shall hold a public hearing on these studies and preliminary plans.
66.610(5)(b)
(b) Upon receiving the authority under
par. (a) and upon completion of the public hearing, the commissioner of public works shall prepare a report which shall include:
66.610(5)(b)1.
1. A plat and survey showing the character, course and extent of the proposed pedestrian mall.
66.610(5)(b)2.
2. A description of any proposed alterations of any street and of any public or private utilities running under or over any public way.
66.610(5)(b)3.
3. A description of the methods to be used in completing the project, including information on grading, drainage, planting, street lighting, paving, curbing, sidewalks, the types of construction materials and the proposed initial distribution and location of any movable furniture, sculptures, pedestrian or vehicle traffic control devices, flowers and plantings and any other structures or facilities.
66.610(5)(b)4.
4. A description of the property necessary to be acquired or interfered with and the identity of the owner of each such parcel if the same can be readily ascertained by the commissioner.
66.610(5)(b)5.
5. An estimate of the cost of each item in the proposed project, described separately or in reasonable classifications detailed to the council's satisfaction.
66.610(5)(c)
(c) In preparing such report, the commissioner of public works shall consult with any community development advisory body which has been organized in the proposed pedestrian mall district.
66.610(5)(d)
(d) After referring the report described in
par. (b) to the city plan commission for review and recommendations, the commissioner of public works shall submit such report, with the city plan commission's recommendations, if any, to the council and shall file a copy in the office of the city clerk. The council may then refer the report and recommendations, with any modifications it deems necessary, to the board of assessment for action pursuant to
subch. II of ch. 32.
66.610(5)(e)
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a petition protesting the establishment of a pedestrian mall or a pedestrian mall improvement, duly signed and acknowledged by the owners of 51% or more of the front footage of lands abutting a street or part thereof proposed as a pedestrian mall, is filed with the city clerk at any time prior to the conclusion of all proceedings required under this section, the council shall terminate its proceedings, and no proposal for the establishment of the same or substantially the same mall may be introduced or adopted within one year after such termination.
66.610(5)(f)
(f) Proceedings governing the establishment of a pedestrian mall or the undertaking of a pedestrian mall improvement are governed by
subch. II of ch. 32.
66.610(6)
(6) Ordinances; required provisions. Any ordinance establishing a pedestrian mall shall:
66.610(6)(b)
(b) Designate the streets, including intersecting streets, or parts thereof to be used as a pedestrian mall.
66.610(6)(c)
(c) Limit the use of the surface of such street or part thereof to pedestrian users and to emergency, public works, maintenance and utility transportation vehicles during such times as the council determines appropriate to enhance the purposes and function of the pedestrian mall.
66.610(7)
(7) Use by public carriers. If the council finds that a street or part thereof which is designated as a pedestrian mall is served by a common carrier engaged in mass transportation of persons within the city and that continued use of such street or part thereof by such common carrier will benefit the city, the public and adjacent property, the council may permit such carrier to use such street or part thereof for such purposes to the same extent and subject to the same obligations and restrictions which are applicable to such carrier in the use of other streets of the city. Upon like findings, the council may permit use of such street or part thereof by taxicabs or other public passenger carriers.
66.610(8)(a)(a) If, at the time an ordinance establishing a pedestrian mall is adopted, any property abutting such pedestrian mall or part thereof does not have access to some other street or alley for the delivery or receiving of merchandise or materials, such ordinance shall provide for either:
66.610(8)(a)1.
1. The issuance of special access permits to the affected owners for such purposes; or
66.610(8)(a)2.
2. The designation of the hours or days on which such pedestrian mall may be used for such purposes without unreasonable interference with the use of the mall or part thereof by pedestrians and other authorized vehicles.
66.610(8)(b)
(b) The council may issue temporary permits for closing a pedestrian mall or any part thereof to all vehicular traffic for the promotion and conduct of sidewalk art fairs, sidewalk sales, craft shows, entertainment programs, special promotions and for such other special activities consistent with the ordinary purposes and functions of the pedestrian mall.
66.610(9)
(9) Excess estimated cost; assessment adjustments. 66.610(9)(a)(a) If, after the completion of any pedestrian mall improvement, the commissioner of public works certifies that the actual cost is less than the estimated cost upon which any aggregate assessment is based, such aggregate assessment shall be reduced, subject to
par. (c), by a percentage amount of the excess estimated cost which is equal to the percentage of the estimated cost financed by such aggregate assessment. The city comptroller shall certify to the city treasurer the amount refundable under this subsection.
66.610(9)(b)
(b) If such aggregate assessment has been fully collected, the city treasurer shall refund the excess assessment to the affected property owners on a proportional basis.
66.610(9)(c)
(c) If such aggregate assessment has not been fully collected, the amount of the refundable assessment shall be reduced by a sum determined by the council to be sufficient to cover anticipated assessment collection deficiencies, and the balance, if any, shall be refunded to the affected owners on a proportional basis. The treasurer shall deduct the appropriate amount from instalments due after the receipt of the certificate from the city comptroller.
66.610(10)(a)(a) Concurrently with the submission of the plan, and annually thereafter by June 15 of each year, the city comptroller and the commissioner of public works, with the assistance of a community development advisory body, if any, shall furnish the council with a report estimating the cost of improving, operating and maintaining any pedestrian mall district for the next fiscal year. Under the plan in effect, such report shall include itemized cost estimates of any proposed changes in the plan under consideration by the council and also a detailed summary of the estimated costs chargeable to the following categories:
66.610(10)(a)1.
1. The amount of the annual costs chargeable to the general fund. Such amount may not exceed that amount which the city normally allocates from the general fund for maintenance and operation of a street of similar size and location not improved as a pedestrian mall.
66.610(10)(a)2.
2. The amount of the annual costs chargeable to owners of property in the district who are benefited by such annual mall improvements. The aggregate amount assessed against such owners may not exceed the aggregate benefits accruing to all such assessable property.
66.610(10)(a)3.
3. The amount of the annual costs, if any, to be specially taxed against taxable property in the district. Such amount shall be determined by deducting from the estimated annual costs the amounts under
subds. 1. and
2. and the amount of anticipated rentals received from vendors using pedestrian mall facilities.
66.610(10)(b)
(b) Moneys appropriated and collected for annual pedestrian mall improvement costs shall be credited to a special account. The council may incur such annual costs as it deems necessary, whether or not they have been included in the budget for that fiscal year, except that such nonbudgeted expenditures shall be included in the estimate required under
par. (a) for the next following fiscal year. Any unexpended balances in such special account remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried over to the appropriate category of the estimate required under
par. (a) for the next following fiscal year.
66.610(11)
(11) Nuisances: limitation of liability. 66.610(11)(a)(a) The installation of any furniture, structure or facility or the permitting of any use in a pedestrian mall district under a final plan adopted under this section may not be deemed a nuisance or unlawful obstruction or condition by reason of the location of such installation or use.
