Variance Hearing on Arboretum Development Has Greater Impact

The variance hearing for the ‘arboretum’ lots owned by GCK and Dave Investments is going before the Board of Adjustment tomorrow Thursday, Feb 22, 2007 at 6:30 PM.

Just to bring some items to light based on the actions of the Board of Adjustments. If you have a substandard lot in the shoreland district you are now required to apply for a variance for anything your propose to construct or alter on your property. Your attendance at this hearing will provide you with first hand experience of the process, the costs, and the reasoning and justification you will have to provide to obtain a variance.

There are thousands of substandard lots in the unincorporated areas of Dane County that will require a variance, however, the Acting Zoning Administrator and Zoning Department made the decision to require only lots in the shoreland district to be subject to the variance process. While it's believed the Zoning Administrator can make this decision, it leaves many property owners in the dark about when this decision will apply to them.

An issue of concern is that these substandard lots need an environmental mitigation plan, yet there are no standards for these plans and the agencies that would review the plans have not agreed to do so yet. GCK and Dave Investments will be introducing plans that incorporate the principals of Limited Impact Development for the 2 lots they are proposing the variance approval. In addition, the Lakes and Watershed Commission and the Department of Land and Water Resources have not had input into what would constitute a protective mitigation plan. NR 115, the state law that is currently being drafted by some of the best scientists in the state are still working on standards for waterway protection and mitigation plans that promote infiltration of storm water. By their own admission, the BOA members are not experts in this area, yet an applicant is required to provide a mitigation plan that will be judged by a BOA without credentials and must meet undetermined standards.

A variance decision may be appealed to circuit court. This is expensive and time consuming. There is work underway by County Supervisor Eileen Bruskewitz along with some others to find a legislative solution to this BOA decision that could pass the County Board.

It is troubling that many property owners with lots less than 100 feet wide at the setback line, don't have lot area square footage required (20,000 sq. ft. if unsewered, 15,000 if sewered) are not aware of the impact the BOA decision will have, or even that the shoreland district is 1000 feet (about 2.5 city blocks) from a lake or 300 feet back from a river, stream, or any navigable waterway.

There are many sub-issues here and I know you will learn a lot about your property rights at the Board of Adjustment hearing It is an open meeting to the public and it will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2007 in Room 309 (third floor) of the city county building.

Many of you attended the hearing on Ordinance Amendment 10. Your attendance is needed again and it is our hope you will take time to be present. You do not need to speak unless you wish to address issues that are before the Board of Adjustment. Please invite others who are affected by this decision.

The Bubble and the Local Market

Has the real estate "bubble" burst in South Central Wisconsin?

Is this a Buyer's market and are Sellers desperate to move property?

How are interest rates affecting the markets?

Is real estate still a good investment?

These seem to be the questions we are getting as we move into the fall of 2006 and adjust to the shifting real estate market in the greater Madison area.

Have sales declined? Yes.

Yes sales have declined from the pace set in 2005. Bear in mind, 2005 was an all time record setting year. Never in history of organized real estate had there been as many units sold or dollar volume in sales as there was in 2005. Prior to the 2004 had set the benchmark. Prior to that 2003 was the all time best. Do you see the pattern here?

Let's take a look. In every example I compare actual numbers for the first 3 quarters of each year (January-September). In 2004 there were 6631 residential properties listed in the South Central Wisconsin MLS within Dane County. 4614 of those sold in 2004 which equates to 69.58% sold with and average sale price of $239,529 and average days on market (list date to accepted offer) of 47 days.

In 2005 there were 7486 residential properties listed, 4768 of those sold for an average sale price of $256,529 with average days on market of 55. That's 63.69% of those listed sold. Through the end of September 2006 there have been 8111 properties listed, 4129 properties sold which equates to 50.91% of those listed sold. The average sale price of those sold is $266,676 with an average days on market of 66.

Is this a buyer's market? In Dane County statistics would indicate we've moved more to a "balanced" market where the supply of homes for sale almost equals the demand for homes sold. There has been only a 13% shift from the percent of those listed sold in the current period of 2006 vs. that same time in 2005.

Let's look a little further out. For the year end 2005 there were 9194 residential properties listed. 5811 of those sold giving us a list to sell ratio of 63.20%. The average sale price of those houses and condominiums that sold was $259,736 and an average days on market of 56.

Is a balanced market healthy? I believe it's essential the long term economic viability of Dane County.