Should Property Owners Consent to Landmarks Designation?

Alderman Duane Paulson is asking the Ordinance & License Committee to consider revising the city’s landmarks ordinance to be at the request of or to require the consent of the property owner.

The committee will discuss the issue at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall.

The issue arose when the Waukesha Family YMCA looked to raze a former gas station and construct instead apartment buildings to serve people with a variety of disabilities. Then the Landmarks Commission decided last summer the building was a local landmark.

The YMCA, which owned the property, contested the ruling and fought to have the Landmarks Commission’s decision The YMCA recently announced it was looking to

“For citizens of Waukesha, you should know the powers of the Landmarks Commission.  Go to the Internet and look up Chapter 28 of the City code,” Paulson said in a Jan. 26  “You will find that without you request or consent, your property could be placed on a landmark.  Granted there has to be a reason.  

“I don't know if the old adage, ‘Lincoln slept here’ applies.  I can think of several places in Waukesha that could be a landmark based on the Chapter 28.  I am not going to name them for fear they would get blindsided like the YMCA did.”