Village of Harrison Petition for No Sidewalks

On December 29, 2010 the Town Board, with 2 of its members not present and no one from the community present to speak for or against the ordinance, carried a motion to delete paragraph from pg 50, 115-73 1 and include the Plan Commission recommendations and add language that sidewalks shall be installed at the time of installation of curb and gutter. The reason given was to conform to state statutes and the comprehensive plan. Sec. 115-66 – Sidewalks and Trails reads “… The subdivider shall construct five-foot wide sidewalks on local streets in all new subdivisions at the time of installation of curb and gutter and in accordance with plans and standards approved by the town.”

Residents of Papermaker Ridge unsuccessfully fought this ordinance, even with 100% of the households within the subdivision signing the petition to block the installation of sidewalks. The developer also supports the residents. Residents were told rules are rules, that they had to start somewhere and the dots would eventually connect yet on April 25, 2013 the Flowering Meadows subdivision was granted a variance to this ordinance without a single resident living in the subdivision. The initial change to conform to State Statute Trans 75 was an inaccurate one in that Trans 75 only applies to roads that are in part or in whole funded federally or by the state which is not the case for new subdivisions. Furthermore, the installation of sidewalks within subdivisions does not meet the guidelines of Village Ordinance Chapter 115, Sec. 115-52 – Location of Site (b) nearby development that states all divisions of land shall be coordinated with existing nearby development or neighborhoods so that the area as a whole shall be developed harmoniously.

Residents were told by the Village Planner, Plan Commission and Village Board that eventually there would be trails on Manitowoc and Woodland to connect to these sidewalks yet in the Village's Comprehensive Plan it is noted that Manitowoc would need to become a 4 lane road. There is no plan or money in the budget for these trails and land would have to be acquired by the Village from property owners along Manitowoc and Woodland to make this work. There are several factors not being considered that make the installation of trails along Manitowoc or Woodland feasible. Without trails along Manitowoc and Woodland sidewalks within new subdivisions would connect only to themselves unless the Village decides to retrofit existing subdivisions with sidewalks which had been discussed.

Residents of Papermaker Ridge proposed a trail system that would connect new and existing subdivisions to one another and the aforementioned trails on Manitowoc and Woodland without disrupting the properties of current homeowners and it was ignored.