By Anita Weier
Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area

Alder Syed Abbas has developed a budget amendment that would allow spending $1.5 million to purchase the Hartmeyer Family Trust property on Roth Street between the Oscar Mayer plant and the Esquire Supper Club.

At this writing, the fate of the amendment is not known, as Abbas was contacting fellow Madison Common Council members to gain support. Abbas considers it important to protect the wetland area.

The alder talked with members of the Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area before making his decision. Now the Friends have an opportunity to help persuade other council members as well as city planning staff.

The Friends have also conferred with representatives of the Ho-Chunk to gain support for protection of an important part of what was once their land. Initial support was firm at lower levels, but it will be up to the tribal government to decide whether to take a stance. Missy Tracy, community outreach official for the Ho-Chunk, said the Friends should submit a statement of goals to the Ho-Chunk. That statement follows:

“The mission of The Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area is to preserve the entire 30-acre historic wetlands along with its surrounding uplands and oak openings. This land is bounded by North Sherman Avenue, Roth Street, Commercial Avenue and the railroad track, which abuts the former Oscar Mayer plant.”

The Friends were disappointed by the City of Madison’s proposed Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan, which preserved only a small portion of the green space and allowed construction of multi-story apartment buildings around it.

That disappointment was clear during a meeting with Dan McAuliffe of the Madison Planning Department at Lakeview Public Library on Nov. 6, attended by 18 Northsiders.

McAuliffe noted that the Oscar Mayer Special Area Plan was based in part on the city’s Comprehensive Plan, as well as a plan for the area developed by the Oscar Mayer Strategic Assessment Committee, chaired by Satya Rhodes-Conway prior to her election as mayor. The Common Council accepted that plan, which declared the following future vision for the area:

“Physically and economically woven into the diverse surrounding neighborhoods, the transit-oriented, employment centered, mixed-use district is now an inclusive gathering hub of the Northside. The study area has leveraged its unmatched infrastructure capacity and local location between the airport and downtown to rise as a regional economic hub for the local community and its future residents.”

Specific objectives in that report, intended to guide development, included creating an integrated and connected multimodal transportation system, improving stormwater and preserving environmental assets.

Some of those at the meeting argued that the Special Area Plan did not protect the undeveloped wetland environment in the Hartmeyer property. The proposed plan includes medium- and high-density housing on part of that site. 

McAuliffe noted that Madison is facing a severe housing shortage, which will worsen as a projected 70,000 new residents enter the city by 2040.

He said the area is deficient in neighborhood parks but Ginny Scholz, a leader of the Friends of Hartmeyer stressed that the neighborhood does not need another mowed park. The Friends support a natural area protecting wild creatures and their habitat.

Janet Battista, a retired Department of Natural Resources hydrologist, said the water table in the area is high and rising, which must be considered in planning property use. Scholz questioned whether the Hartmeyer site was buildable.

Local resident Greg Padden suggested that the railroad track running through the Oscar Mayer area could become “an awesome bus express” as opposed to using Sherman or Packers Avenues for bus rapid transit. Another resident suggested that any transit hub should include park-and-ride space.