Urban Design Commission

Meeting Summaries

  • 2025-10-08: The Urban Design Commission’s October 8th meeting featured approvals for a mixed-use redevelopment at East Washington Avenue and Ridgeway Avenue, a mixed-use development at East Washington Avenue and Fair Oaks Avenue, and the Dane County Sustainability Campus. Informational presentations were given on the Drury Hotel proposal, U-Haul U-Box facility, and the revived LEO at Pumpkin Hollow residential complex.

  • 2025-09-17: The Urban Design Commission held a contentious five-hour meeting where TruStage’s request for “No Trespassing” signage was denied, while the Rohr Chabad House addition was approved with conditions. Two major developments were presented for information: a 12-story Madison Saxony Apartments project and a 230-unit mixed-use development on Odana Road, both drawing criticism for design elements. The meeting ended abruptly with a heated dispute between commissioners over speaking rights.

  • 2025-08-13: The Urban Design Commission’s August 13th meeting featured technical difficulties and leadership changes, but managed to grant initial approval to a mixed-use development at East Washington Avenue and held an informational hearing on affordable housing for the old Oscar Meyer site.

  • 2025-07-30: The Urban Design Commission held an unusually brief July 30th meeting due to quorum issues, managing only to pass one consent agenda item and hear a presentation on a mixed-use development at East Washington Avenue and Fair Oaks before losing quorum at 5pm. The developers presented updates including additional townhouse units and building improvements, but the item was ultimately referred to the August 13th meeting without action.

  • 2025-07-16: The Urban Design Commission convened to review signage proposals for the Rosen Nissan dealership and the Eastmorland Community Center and Housing development. The commission approved the signage updates for Rosen Nissan with modifications, particularly concerning the height of the brand identification sign. The Eastmorland project received unanimous approval, with commissioners praising the thoughtful design and community focus, although some concerns were raised about specific material choices.

  • 2025-06-25: The Urban Design Commission held a focused meeting to review signage plans for the residential development at 655-667 S Whitney Way, ultimately denying one component of the proposal due to size restrictions. The commission approved all other signage elements, including wall-mounted and directional signs, but rejected the oversized projecting sign as it exceeded city code limits.

  • 2025-05-28: A lengthy May 28th meeting, approving initial plans for a 246-unit University Avenue development with conditions, denying a controversial facade painting request on Gilman Street, and approving the new Dane County Sustainability Campus. Commissioner Graham announced his resignation.

  • 2025-05-07: A brief meeting focused on design updates to a mixed-use building at 702 East Washington Avenue. JLA Architects presented modifications including window changes, updated balconies, and a secured parking deck, which the Commission unanimously approved. The meeting was hampered by technical difficulties, and concluded with discussion about handling critical public emails.

  • 2025-03-05: Developments at 3361-3375 East Washington Avenue and 501 E Washington Avenue were presented. Commissioners voiced concerns over the designs, particularly regarding the transition from commercial to residential areas and the impact on the surrounding historic district. The commission requested further consideration of landscaping, accessibility, and the overall aesthetic of the buildings.

  • 2025-02-19: A new office-warehouse building was proposed for 5001 Femrite Drive, with the commission expressing concerns over the design’s lack of texture and harmony with the surrounding area. The commission also reviewed plans for a 7 Brew coffee shop on Lien Road, where they raised issues regarding the drive-through design, accessibility, and the overall aesthetic. The commission ultimately approved the initial design for both projects but requested further revisions.

Meeting Details

October 8, 2025

By Tori Cooper

The first Urban Design Commission meeting of October kicked off with Commissioner Bernau disclosing he worked on a previous iteration of Item Seven (Legistar 90072); however, he stated he is no longer involved with the project as it was part of a position he held with a previous employer. With that, the UDC dove into another lengthy meeting—although this week they managed to keep it to three hours rather than five, in part thanks to moving two items to the evening’s consent agenda for approval. It should be noted Commissioner Mblinyi was missing from the discussion and, without role call being taken aloud, it is unclear if she was even in attendance following UDC’s heated September 17th meeting.

East Wash and Ridgeway Mixed-Use Redevelopment Approved

Moving on the the evening’s public hearing items, the Commission started with reviewing Legistar 86815. The UDC is an approving body for the application, which is for a new multi-family residential building at 3222, 3230, and 3238 East Washington Avenue and 3229 Ridgeway Avenue in Urban Design District (UDD) 5, located within District 12).

Mixed use redevelopment building proposal

The item was last seen before UDC in January, but was put on hold until Summer 2025. While the site remains the same, the applicant team reminded the Commission about the grading on the Carpenter Street side—which has impacted the overall building design. Essentially, one side of the building appears to be only three stories, while the other seems to be five.

Site plan

One of the principal changes to the proposal is the developer’s shift from affordable housing to affordable senior housing. Although the unit mix and some of the existing conditions they had applied for will be different, the overall building plan has only received minor changes. These include more breathing room and setbacks for the building, additional pedestrian access from Carpenter Street, and an additional walk up along East Washington Avenue—all of which were made based on comments from their informational presentation in January.

There is a fifteen foot shared easement on the side of the building opposite from Carpenter street, which the applicant team did not specifically review, but welcomed questions on. The design team has also chosen to incorporate a shared courtyard into the center of the horseshoe style building layout, not only offering a community space, but a reprieve for neighbors as well so they are presented with some green space rather than a large building. The color palette will be mostly muted natural tones comprised of masonry materials. The building will have a small commercial space, which is meant to offer services not only to the building residents, but the community at large.

Rendering provided by KBA, showing grading and color overview

Commissioner Klehr asked the design team why the majority of the project was so consistent, but not the brass tone canopies. She specifically noted how one of the street-facing sections has this nice color pop on the corner, but the rest seem to have been left with the darker gray tones. Without providing an exact answer, the applicant responded they were open to adding more color to the building to make it more consistent. Following her comments on the color of the canopies, Commissioner Klehr also clarified with the design team that HVAC units will be internal. The applicant confirmed this, additionally stating the coverings along the facade will be paint-matched to the surrounding materials to help the units blend in with the remainder of the building.