By Dave Fidlin
CORRESPONDENT
Land encompassing the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library in Whitewater is being rezoned at a time when the venerable public institution is undergoing an expansion.
The city’s Plan and Architectural Review Commission on Jan. 13 gave a favorable recommendation to rezone the library parcel and its surrounding parking lots from a R-2 one- and two-family residence district designation to I, or institutional, zoning.
The rezoning is independent of the facility expansion work underway, though it does dovetail into the project.
Zoning Administrator Allison Schwark explained why the rezoning was taking place at this time in a memo to commissioners.
Rezoning the parcels, Schwark said, “meets all requirements of the zoning district and is consistent with the comprehensive plan and future land-use plan.”
While speaking to commissioners at the recent meeting, Schwark said the ordinance that paved the way for the rezoning has officially been added to the municipal books, with the Common Council signing off on the document.
“We redid and amended the institutional zoning ordinance a little bit,” Schwark said. “That is finally through.”
The library expansion project, which has been a years-long endeavor with behind-the-scenes and vigorous fundraising efforts, officially kicked off this past fall with a groundbreaking event in early October.
According to the library’s website, the first phase of the construction project has been completed, and the second phase got underway earlier this month.
The library is open during construction, but patrons should be aware of several changes that have been implemented as the facility modifications have taken hold.
The facility now has a new entrance on Center Street. For the time being, street parking is the only means available to patrons because the parking lot is considered a part of the construction zone and remains off limits to the public for the foreseeable future.
Updates on the construction work will continue to be posted on the library’s website, www.whitewaterlibrary.org.
The Plan and Architectural Review Commission’s recommendation to formally rezone the library land from residential to institutional will go before the Common Council for a final, binding vote at an upcoming meeting.
For the full story, please see the print edition of the Whitewater Register.
