â??The democratic process was short-circuited and didnâ??t work.â?

While construction of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee RiverView dorms is underway, it has caused some controversy among Riverwest residents, with most of the frustration directed toward 3rd District Ald. Mike D“Amato.

Riverwest resident RoseMary Oliveira said the neighborhood was not properly consulted regarding the development and was misled about information.

“The democratic process was short-circuited and didn“t work,” Oliveira said.

Another resident, Heide Piehler, said that not everyone was aware of when informational meetings would be held. She said mostly the Riverwest Neighborhood Association (RNA) was involved and they were in favor of the project.

Since that time, the residents elected a new RNA chairman while some members stepped down, and Oliveira said, the voter turnout was higher than any previous RNA election.

D“Amato said that residents should have been aware of the project and informational meetings. He said that multiple mailings, to those within a five- to six-block radius of the bluff, e-mails and stories in the local media were used to inform residents of the project.

“If you didn“t know (about the dorm project), you didn“t try very hard to get information,” D“Amato said.

Oliveira said that the first project meeting she was aware of took place with very little in attendance. She claims that most of the people who did attend were opposed to the dorms going up.

Oliveira said that one of the public information meetings lasted about two hours with most of the time being filled by a presentation for the project. Each attendee was then allowed only two minutes to ask questions. When concerns were raised, residents were told that the time was set aside for questions only, she said.

But D“Amato said there was more public involvement and, while there were some project concerns, many community members supported the development.

“There were at least five meetings that were probably attended by 300 to 400 people,” D“Amato said.

D“Amato also said the height, density, transportation and design of the project“s original plans were changed to relieve some concerns.

Petitions circulated after meetings

After the meetings, at least three petitions were signed by community residents, and when awareness grew, opposition increased.

“When we had 685 signatures on a petition, the Common Council should have walked away,” Oliveira said.

In order for the dorms to be built on the restricted bluff, a land swap would have to take place. It was proposed that nearby land, owned by Readco Development, a private entity, be swapped for the restricted land.

One of the reasons the RNA supported the land swap was because it would make room for a bike trail that had been proposed by the River Revitalization Foundation for the last five years, said Vince Bushell, Riverwest Currents editor and part-time worker for the foundation.

Bushell said that five years ago there was a consensus among the community in favor of the swap.

However, Piehler and Oliveira said the plan for the bike trail was presented differently. Oliveira said that people weren“t aware that in exchange for a bike trail they would be getting a large peace of development right on the river.

The project moved forward and residents became outraged when they discovered that the land swap had not yet been approved by the National Park Service.

When the RiverView dorms were first proposed, a group of entities had to agree on the project before it could move forward, said Vince Bushell, a member of the River Revitalization Foundation, who works to preserve environment around river.

Those entities included Milwaukee County, Milwaukee County Parks, the National Park Service, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Readco, the UWM Foundation and the River Revitalization Foundation.

Lawsuit contends construction “illegal“

Scott Peak, director of UWM University Housing, said the land swap was approved by all entities except the National Park Service. The approval was assumed to be granted in October.

But, Oliveira said, residents noticed that construction on the property began before National Park Service approval had been granted. She said that the residents felt the county had given the university a permit to start building a foundation “illegally.”

The residents filed a lawsuit against the parks department at U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin in August.

Oliveira said the judge ruled that construction could not go above grade level until approval was granted. However, Oliveira said that construction did move above that point.

Peak said construction was halted until approval was granted three weeks ago, causing a semester delay in the dorms opening.

Residents frustrated over process

Oliveira expressed frustration in how the whole project was handled and that most of it was directed toward the former RNA administration and D“Amato, emphasizing that in no way was the community blaming the university.

“We allowed this to happen to ourselves. We fell asleep watching (our representatives),” Oliveira said. “We trusted them.”

D“Amato disputes the claims that the political process was skewed.

“There were multiple layers of review by the city, county, state and federal government. I can“t recall a project that had this much public review, other than this dorm project,” D“Amato said.

Oliveira said that at this point, there is nothing that can be done, but she hopes that this will keep Riverwest residents more aware of their representatives and influence them to hold them accountable.

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