CLIENT: City of Fort Atkinson
DATES: 2018-Present
NEED: Like many Wisconsin communities, Fort Atkinson is facing a housing shortage with a lack of housing options across all price points and life stages. Realizing the direct connection with resident attraction, economic vitality, and quality of life that housing represents, the City of Fort Atkinson took a proactive approach to stimulating new housing units in the community.
PROJECT ELEMENTS: Comprehensive Plan (2019), Zoning Ordinance Rewrite (2020), Banker Road Neighborhood Plan (2022), Implementation (Ongoing)
ROLES/SERVICES: V&A multi-disciplinary staff assisted the community in completing a long-range approach to addressing the housing gap in Fort Atkinson, with services including the update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to establish community goals and objectives, a full rewrite of the City’s Zoning Ordinance to promote and allow diverse forms of housing, the purchase and annexation of greenfield site, the development of a Neighborhood Plan for the property inclusive of desired diverse housing units, the establishment of a new TIF district in the area, developer recruitment, and developer negotiations.
RESULTS+IMPACT: The results of this effort have yielded several approved multi-family projects as the first phase of the Neighborhood Plan and ongoing work with developers on the next portions of the build-out of the plan. It is anticipated that future phases of the development will be approved and under construction in the coming years.
