News Release

Date: Januray 17, 2005

Citizen Forum on Land Use & Community to be Held on Feb. 5

Contacts:
Sue Millin
Land Conservation Partnership
262-338-4881 millinco@sbcglobal.net

Angie Curtes
Ozaukee Washington Land Trust
262-338-1794 or curtes@owlt.org

If you could decide the future of development in Washington or Ozaukee Counties, what would you decide?  The Land Conservation Partnership, in cooperation with the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, has organized a workshop around that very question.

“This is a great opportunity for citizens and elected officials to talk about the future of our rapidly urbanizing County,” says Sue Millin, the Project Coordinator for the Land Conservation Partnership.  

Hosted by the West Bend Mutual Insurance Company on Saturday, Februray 5 th , the event will inform citizens about the “Smart Growth” Comprehensive Planning law and provide locally pertinent information: the status of planning in Washington and Ozaukee Counties, when public meetings will occur, and how interested citizens can influence planning decisions.

Open to Washington and Ozaukee County residents who are interested in local land use, participants will share their ideas and concerns about development in their neighborhoods and ask an expert panel about the tools they can employ to direct planning accordingly. The program will include presentations from the UW-Extension, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and both Ozaukee and Washington County planners.

The workshop will focus especially on conservation concerns, and give participants suggestions about how to guide development in deference to important natural and agricultural resources.  Millin contends that, “promoting smart growth is not about fighting against growth and development, but about steering development toward fiscally, socially, and environmentally sustainable ends.”

Kevin Pomeroy , planner for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, calls the 1999 Comprehensive Planning Law “the most significant step taken in decades to protect local control of planning decisions.”

“People think of planning as a big force beyond their control,” says Angie Curtes, Assistant Director for the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, “but planning is all about communities designing their own places and implementing  priorities that are important to them and the natural environment.”  In fact, Washington County recently created a Farmland and Open Space Study Group of citizens to research ways to preserve farmland and natural areas in Washington County. 

The Citizen Forum on Land Use & Community will be held Saturday, Feb 5 from 8:45 to 2:45 at West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. in West Bend.  A $10.00 fee covers all forum expenses and a packet of informational material.   Lunch will be provided.

For more information go to the Land Conservation Partnership's website: www.lcpwc.org. Pre-registration is requested by Friday, January 28; a registration form is also available on the website.