Keep Talking Caledonia

I have to say that even though the Caledonia Village Board meeting got a little contentious last night, it was really good to see people get involved with the process.

As my tag on this Patch site indicates, "Democracy is not a spectator's sport." I got the sense that the Village Board really wanted people to understand the importance of bringing in commercial development. I also understood the community's deep desire to keep Caledonia rural. Perhaps there is some middle ground there and more dialogue will help build concensus around this issue.

I thought it was interesting that Julie Anderson, the village's zoning administrator, and Kathy Burton, a village board member, both brought up Franklin. Ironically, I covered Franklin briefly in 2007 when I wrote for CNI newspapers. I was told, that the city's common council fought about development issues for years well before I started covering them. Ultimately, as new board members were voted onto the board, they embraced their land use plan and the planning process.

Franklin realized they needed a maleable land use plan because they were in the unique position of having open space. They realized they wanted to capitalize on that asset using the fundamental ideas of smart growth planning, a process that focused on building a community identity that embraced its rural character and capitalized on the idea that they are part of a larger regional economy. I often heard Common Council members talk about the value of smart planning and its ability to keep taxes low.

I also covered the Village of Union Grove, which at the time had a number of empty store fronts in its downtown. They too realized that they needed to develop a better sense of community and determined that they wanted to capitalize on their 'small town' feel. They added street lamps, offered facade improvement grants, worked with the Racine County Economic Development Corportation to bring in businesses, and they knocked down a lot of old buildings.

Another community I've covered (I've been around for a while) is Pleasant Prairie, which also has a ton of open space. They wanted to capitalize on their open space in a different way, by attracting corporations, and retail development. They have huge areas of green spaces that serve the community well. And they worked extensively with WISPark. But they also invested heavily in building infrastructure to attract Abbott Labs, which I don't believe has built anything in an area they intended to in their research park.

The point I'm making is -- it's not enough for small groups (hundred or less) to determine the fate of a community of 25,000. Maybe Walmart isn't the answer. Maybe it is. I'm not qualified to make that determination for you. But the Village of Caledonia is offering an opportunity to Caledonia residents and it would be a shame for the 20,000 of you who are of voting age not to be involved with this process.

With that idea in mind, I hope the community remains engaged in this process and sees it through because if Caledonia is truly important to us, you need to demonstrate that by showing up.