Common Council candidates reveal city rezoning platforms

Filmed by Tyler Lamb Edited by Kristen Brake

Whitewater Common Council candidates revealed their viewpoints on the rezoning of single-family units to multi-family homes Saturday at the Candidate Forum.

Over twenty citizens attended to hear their platforms on Whitewater housing as the April 7 election approaches.

District 3 Councilman Roy Nosek, now running against incumbent Marilyn Kienbaum for the councilmember-at-large seat, originally ran in April 2007 to bring the housing issue and the perseverance of R-1 housing to the forefront of the council's agenda.

"I've spent a lot of time and energy on this very issue," Nosek said. "What it boils down to is enforcement of ordinances … it's not a problem with students moving into traditional single family neighborhoods, it's a problem of more than the allowed students. The city has legal and a moral obligation to protect people, no matter what zone they live in, there are standards that should be honored."

Kienbaum said students aren't the only demographic that can potentially become difficult neighbors and shouldn't be stereotyped.

"People are people, whether they are young or old," Kienbaum said. "There are always problems here and there ... we've had classes of kids come to the council meetings and sit there and actually be insulted. I know there are problems, but there are problems everywhere. Why fight with people, get along with them."

UW-Whitewater social work professor Jim Winship will be a write-in candidate for Nosek's District 3 seat and said the issue is usually a matter of noise. He lost to Nosek for the seat in 2007 by two votes.

"People are choosing to live in neighborhoods to have more space than residence halls, which is perfectly understandable, but they are living in residential neighborhoods," Winship said. "So a lot of it is the combination of education and reinforcement. I tell students you're welcome to live in residential neighborhoods as long as you do it like you were living next to your grandparents."

Current Common Council President Patrick Singer said the issue is not new to the city despite its recent flare of discussion.

"This is an issue that has come up numerous times in the past two years," Singer said. "Legally we can [legislate] only so much. We can't discriminate renters versus single-family property owners … I think this is where the neighborhood associations come in."

Former student Greg Torres will be running against Singer for the president seat and said he understands and supports the concerns for single-family housing is the ideal. He lost against Singer by 31 votes in the April 2007 election.

"I think what this comes down to is a lot of market issues, there is more of student housing than there is a supply and cost because of that," Torres said. "I think neighborhood associations are a great way to deal with that because it is always better when you can deal with issues as a civil society. As for R1, I see no problem with three unrelated people living in the house."

David Stone, who has served the Whitewater Plan and Architectural Review Commission and the Whitewater Parks and Recreation Board, is running for District 1. Former seat holder Craig Stauffer resigned in December and Jim Allen has served in his place. Stone lost the seat to Stauffer two years ago by 10 votes.

"I think it is really up to the people in each neighborhood to decide what to see in their particular neighborhood, then present those citizen ideas to the council," Stone said. "As for single family and where, I think it is really up to the residents to decide their input as to where people want single family homes."

Resident James Olsen is running against Stone for the District 1 seat.

"As I think back and look at the rest of Tratt Street from Starin Road on when I first moved to town," Olsen said. "It was all single family, now it's all students. When it comes to student housing and taking over, I know a lot of people in town are irritated."

Students living in District 2 will be able to vote on-campus in the April elections. They will caste their ballots iatthe Hamilton Center in the University Center.

All other districts will vote at the Whitewater Old Armory.