Watten Ponds 2nd Addition: Round 2

At the February 23^rd Shorewood City Council meeting, the council voted 4-1 in favor of an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for the proposed Watten Ponds 2^nd Addition development. This means the developer must pay to have the worksheet done and submitted to the Environmental Quality Board. The mayor voted against the EAW without explanation.

Approximately 400 residents petitioned for the EAW because the property being developed is considered environmentally fragile and one of the last fragments of the Big Woods. It has a unique assortment of old growth and native trees, small plants and wildlife.

Four days after the vote, Gravity’s attorney sent a letter notifying the mayor and council that a lawsuit was imminent if the council did not take immediate action to rescind its resolution at the upcoming March 9 meeting. (see link below) As a result, a “closed door” session with the council and city attorney is scheduled for discussion at 5:30 pm on March 9.

This did not sit well with the Watten Ponds residents. They sent back a letter (see below), that defended the thorough work of the City Council during its initial deliberations. The residents called out Gravity for what appears to be “an ongoing effort to avoid proper environmental regulation, mischaracterize facts, and assert baseless threats of legal action against the City of Shorewood.”

As the Watten Ponds residents pointed out in their response to Gravity: “Litigating would be more expensive and time-consuming for applicant than completing the EAW, raising the question, if the threat is not mere bluffing, what is [the] applicant so concerned about in the EAW?”

Resident Response to Gravity Attorney

Feb. 23 Shorewood Council Meeting Recap