This Just In...
Kevin Fischer is an award-winning veteran broadcaster who has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for nearly three decades.
Kevin, who is a legislative aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, “INTERchange,” on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Franklin.
Delay over Target has now reached the level of unreasonable
By Kevin Fischer
Wednesday, Aug 29 2007, 06:05 PM
Earlier this month, I wrote a 5-part series on what I consider to be the 5 most important issues the city of Franklin faces. Number two on the list was economic development.
As part of that series, on August 18th, I wrote about opponents to the proposed Target and other developments in Franklin:
The naysayers fail to recognize the harm that’s being done. There’s a certain elitist snobby attitude on the part of environmentalists that they know more than you do. They’re a major reason the permitting process in Wisconsin is exponentially longer than procedures used in other states. It might be considered noble to stand up, pose for holy pictures and claim you want the best, but it can also lead to nothing being accomplished, and businesses looking elsewhere, taking their prized jobs with them.
Rest assured, other potential developers who have their eyes on Franklin are keeping tuned in to what’s happening surrounding the Target situation. It’s highly plausible that they don’t appreciate what is transpiring, and may have already made the decision to pitch their business-making tents in another zip code.
Today, FranklinNOW writer John Neville reported on last week’s Planning Commission meeting that once again reviewed designs for the proposed Target. Neville wrote:
At the lengthy Plan Commission meeting last week, Target Real Estate Manager Thomas Carrico said plans for the Franklin store already have been significantly revised. He said Target was nearing its project budget limit and a request to install a tower entrance to match the Sendik's architectural design may send the discount retailer looking for a location elsewhere.
"If we can't do it here, then we'll do it somewhere else," Carrico said."We have to promote growth as a corporation. We build stores - that's what we do."
Translation: Target is in business to do business and make a profit, a major fact and totally understandable concept lost on a lot of people.
Other important points Neville reports:
1) City Attorney Jesse Wesolowski said a DNR lawyer recently assured him the agency's staff members have made recent visits to the Shoppes site and found it complied with state law.
2) Wesolowski also said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an environmental consultant hired by the city have examined the site and found it in compliance.
So what in the world is the problem?
I repeat something I wrote in my August 18th entry on economic development:
I consider energy focused on the outside appearance of Target to be using tunnel vision. Is it an important consideration? Again, I say, of course. But I prefer to concentrate on the bigger picture, the larger issue beyond the Target façade, and that is the future of economic development in this city. The opposition to Target only serves to delay a worthwhile project, preventing jobs from being made available sooner rather than later, and depriving Franklin residents of the shopping opportunities they have been demanding for some time.
Franklin resident Casper Green may have said it best.
"If Target came in with a plan for a gold-plated store, some people would still be against it.”
Amen.
