Accessory dwelling unit: A second dwelling unit contained within a single-family dwelling or within a detached building located on the same lot as a single-family dwelling. This definition includes accessory buildings constructed in connection with a private garage or a private garage converted into a dwelling unit.Activity Center: An intensively developed area that is the visual and/or functional center of a neighborhood(s) or a district. Activity centers are typically comprised of a mix of land uses developed at a higher intensity than the surrounding area including residential, commercial, employment, civic, institutional, and parks and open space uses. Affordable housing: Housing for which the occupant(s) are paying no more than 30 percent of gross household income for housing costs, including utilities. Households with costs exceeding 30% of income are considered housing cost-burdened. The City of Madison’s owner-occupant and rental development subsidy programs are primarily designed to reduce housing cost burdens for renter households with incomes at or below 60% of Dane County’s median income (CMI) and for owner-occupied households at or below 80% CMI.Affordable Housing Fund: A City of Madison program to provide loans and grants to for-profit and non-profit housing developers for the construction of new affordable rental housing.Berm: A linear mound generally built to screen views, define areas, or direct stormwater.Bicycle share (B-Cycle): A kiosk-based bike rental system offering hourly, daily, or subscription-based usage.Big box retail: A physically large retail store with at least 75,000 square feet of floor area and a regional sales market. They are usually part of a national or regional chain of stores. Some examples include Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot. (Source: APA: A Planners Dictionary)BIPOC: An umbrella term for people of color, which stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The term acknowledges that not all people of color face equal levels of injustice, recognizing that Black and Indigenous people are severely impacted by systemic racial injustices. (Source: Merriam-Webster)Bump out: An extension of a raised curb into a roadway, typically a parking lane, to create additional terrace or sidewalk space. This can be used to shorten pedestrian crossing distances or create additional space for street trees while encouraging lower vehicular speeds.Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): It is a frequent, faster, and more reliable bus system that uses larger buses to transport more riders. BRT’s features include frequent all-day service and direct routes with fewer stops. It utilizes special traffic signals to help buses get through intersections faster, dedicated bus lanes, and stations with off-board fare payment kiosks. Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC): One of nine commissions in Wisconsin established to coordinate planning and development among area municipalities. CARPC develops and promotes regional plans, provides objective information and professional planning services, and focuses local attention on issues of regional importance. CARPC carries out land use planning and areawide water quality management planning for the greater Madison region. State statutes charge it with the duty of preparing and adopting a master plan for the physical development of the region. The Department of Natural Resources contracts with the Commission to maintain a continuing areawide water quality management planning process to manage, protect, and enhance the water resources of the region. (Source: CARPC)Commercial Core: Street frontages where future development proposals are required to include ground floor commercial spaces.Community Development Block Grant: A federal program which provides annual grants to states and cities for affordable housing, anti-poverty, infrastructure, and planning activities that benefit low- to moderate-income persons.Community garden: An area of land or space managed and maintained by a group of individuals to grow and harvest food crops and/or non-food, ornamental crops, such as flowers, for personal or group use, consumption or donation.Community land trust: Nonprofit organizations whose primary objective is the creation of homes that remain permanently affordable, providing successful homeownership opportunities for generations of lower income families. Under the community land trust (CLT) model, homeowners purchase their house, but not the land (this lowers the purchase price). The land is leased by the homeowner from the land trust. When homeowners sell, 75% of the appreciated value stays with the house, so it’s more affordable for the next buyer. The CLT homeowner also gets to keep the equity they invested into the home plus 25% of the increase in value. (Sources: Madison Area Community Land Trust and Grounded Solutions Network)Commercial Ownership Assistance program: The City’s Commercial Ownership Assistance Program (COA) is focused on helping business owners expand their enterprises by transitioning from renting space to owning commercial property for their business. Priority is given to applicants who are people of color, immigrants, women, the disabled, veterans and any other underrepresented groups.Complete neighborhood: These are neighborhoods that include a range of housing types and costs, neighborhood-serving businesses, stores, services, schools, and places of worship. These elements are ideally accessible by foot, bicycle, or transit through a network of well-connected streets and blocks, usable public spaces, and a system of connected parks, paths, and greenways.Continental crosswalk: A crosswalk with a more visible type of striping (painting), consisting of thick white stripes parallel to the direction of vehicular travel.Cost-burdened: A household is cost-burdened when they are paying too much for their home (when total housing costs exceed 30% of their gross monthly income).Drumlin: A linear or oval-shaped hill created by the streamlined movement of glacial ice sheets across rock debris. (Source: Britannica)Easement: A legal tool that grants one party the right to use property that another party owns and possesses. (Sources: Investopedia, Merriam-Webster Dictionary)Exclusionary zoning: A term applied to zoning standards, districts, or policies that seek to prevent people of certain races, ethnicities, or income levels from buying homes or living in specific areas or neighborhoods. This could include extensive use of exclusively single-family districts, large minimum lot or open space sizes, and narrow occupancy (household size) rules. (Source: Planetizen)Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ): A specific area within the United States, located in or near a port of entry, where certain types of merchandise can be imported without going through formal customs entry procedures or paying import duties. FTZs were designed to encourage international trade and U.S. employment. (Sources: Dane Country Regional Airport and Port of Seattle)Frontage road: A street adjacent to a freeway, expressway, or arterial street separated therefrom by a dividing strip and providing access to abutting properties. (Source: APA: A Planners Dictionary)Grade-separated intersection: An intersection where one roadway or lane travels above or below other roadways by separating where they cross each other with an overpass or underpass.Greenway: Linear corridors of land and water and the natural, cultural, and recreational resources they link together. (Source: Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs)Healthy Retail Access Program: A program created by Madison’s Food Policy Council that provides funds for healthy retail projects that aim to improve access to affordable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food and retail within underserved areas.Historic district: A significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development. A local, state, or the federal government can officially recognize districts. (Source: U.S. National Park Service)Housing cooperative: A residence that is collectively owned and controlled by its members: the people who live in the housing. The buildings typically have private bedrooms but shared spaces, such as common kitchens and recreation areas. Members often share responsibility for cooking, daily chores, and property maintenance.Human-scale design: The perceived size of a building relative to a human being. A building is considered to have good human-scale if there is an expression of human activity or use that indicates the building’s size. For example, traditionally sized doors, windows, and balconies are elements that respond to the size of the human body, so these elements in a building indicate the building’s overall size. (Source: Burien, WA)Impervious surface: Any hard-surfaced area that does not readily absorb or retain water, including but not limited to building roofs, parking and driveway areas, graveled areas, sidewalks, and paved recreation areas. (Source: APA: A Planners Dictionary)Income- and rent-restricted housing: A type of housing where a specific number of units in a building are reserved for low-income households. A qualifying household's income level must be at or below a specific level for that household's size, such as 60% of the county median income. A limit is also set on the monthly rent to ensure that housing is more affordable for those households, often due to some form of subsidy. These restrictions are typically enforced through a Land Use Restriction Agreement.Incubator: An area, commercial space, and/or building designated for the cultivation and enhancement of new or future businesses.Infill development: Development of vacant or underused lots that are surrounded by developed areas.Land Banking: A City program used to acquire land and buildings that could be used for future economic development, affordable housing projects, and other City uses. The goal is to acquire strategic properties for future purposes that might include: assisting displaced businesses, reducing blight, stabilizing housing markets, improving the quality of life of residents and neighborhoods, and preserving land for City purposes.Makerspace: A term used to describe a place where people gather to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, network, and build. This could include artist studios, small-scale fabrication spaces, workshops, commercial kitchens, or similar spaces.Market-rate housing: Housing that does not have any restrictions on rent or household income.Missing Middle Housing: A range of housing types scaled between single-family detached houses and larger apartment buildings. Housing types that are considered as part of the missing middle include duplexes, triplexes, four-units, rowhouses, live-work buildings, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), clustered small homes like bungalow courts, and some small apartment buildings. The scale of missing middle housing is compatible with most existing single-family residential areas. Mixed-use: A building or groups of buildings designed to encourage a diversity of compatible land uses, which include a mixture of two or more of the following uses: residential, office, retail, recreational, light industrial, and other miscellaneous uses. (Source: City of Beaverton, OR)Neighborhood Development Plan (NDP): A plan prepared for largely undeveloped land on the city’s edge. NDPs are adopted as supplements of the Comprehensive Plan and include recommendations for land use, transportation, parks and open space, and utilities.Neighborhood Plan: A plan prepared for an already-developed area of the city that includes recommendations for land use, urban design, transportation, parks, placemaking, and other improvements/investments/changes to a given area. Neighborhood plans can encompass more than one neighborhood and are generally adopted as supplements to the Comprehensive Plan. Neighborhood Resource Teams (NRTs): A citywide effort to coordinate and improve the delivery of City services to Madison’s neighborhoods. NRTs provide a regular forum for City employees to meet, discuss, and support each other’s efforts in delivering excellent City services. NRT membership can include alders, City staff, and non-City staff participants.Official Map: A formal public record used to indicate where a government is likely to require right-of-way, easements, or land for future roads, drainageways, utilities, or recreation facilities. Within officially mapped areas, a property owner maintains control and use of their property but building permits cannot be issued. Official Mapping is established in Wisconsin State statute 62.23(6). (Source: UW Extension)Operating costs: Expenses associated with the maintenance and administration of a business or government on a day-to-day basis, such as salaries. (Source: Investopedia)Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A group of chemicals used to make products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They are long lasting chemicals, which break down very slowly over time and exposure to them may be linked to harmful health effects. (Sources: US Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)Placemaking: Creation of an environment that fosters community, stimulates interaction, encourages entrepreneurship, generates innovation, and nurtures humanity. (Source: Project for Public Spaces)Proactive rezoning: Proactive rezoning is when the City, rather than a property owner or developer, proposes to rezone land so that it is consistent with plan recommendations. When the City proposes to proactively rezone areas during a planning process, it informs property owners about the recommendation and whether it could affect them. Property Tax Assistance for Seniors Program: A City program that pays all or a portion of property taxes for qualified homeowners who are over the age of 65 and own a single-family residence within the City of Madison.Rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs): A flashing signal activated by pedestrians that alerts drivers to yield to crossing pedestrians.Redevelopment: Construction of a new building where a building already exists.Rental Rehab Loan Program: City of Madison program which offers financial assistance, including low-interest loans, for Madison property owners to renovate and improve rental housing.SafeGrowth: A philosophy built on the belief that healthy and functioning small neighborhoods provide the safest way to build cities in the 21st Century. It is based on the premise that crime is best tackled within small neighborhoods by harnessing the creative energy of functioning neighborhood groups, by employing the latest crime prevention methods, and by adopting an annual SafeGrowth® Plan to address crime and fear. ​(Source: SafeGrowth.org)SEED Program: A City of Madison program administered by the Madison Food Policy Council that provides grants to improve the local food system and make food more accessible to Madison residents.Sense of Place: The characteristics of a location that make it readily recognizable as being unique and different from its surroundings and that provides a feeling of belonging to or being identified with that particular place. (Source: Scottsdale, AZ)Setbacks: A building design where there are fewer stories closer to the lot line (for example, near sidewalks and adjacent properties) than the rest of the building.Shared-use path: a path or lane shared by pedestrian, bicycle, and other non-motorized users.Smaller-scale housing: Also referred to as missing middle housing, it is a range of smaller multi-unit or clustered housing types compatible in scale with single-family homes. (Source: Opticos Design, Inc.)Stepbacks: A building design element that is typically applied to the upper-story of a development to establish compatibility with surrounding development and maintain a pedestrian-oriented scale. A stepback requires that any portion of a building above a certain height is further pushed-in towards the center of the property. Stormwater: Untreated runoff from rainfall and snowmelt. It flows across impervious surfaces (such as streets), through fields, and over construction sites, crossing municipal boundaries and can carry contaminants to lakes and streams. (Source: Dane County Office of Lakes & Watersheds)Tabletop crossing or intersection: An intersection where the roadway ramps up to the sidewalk level to create greater visibility for pedestrians, improve usability for individuals who are mobility impaired, and slow vehicles down. Also known as a raised crossing or intersection.Tax Increment Financing (TIF): A governmental finance tool to provide funds to construct public infrastructure, promote development opportunities, and expand the tax base.Terrace: The space between the sidewalk and the curb along a street.Through movement: Within an intersection, the through movement refers to vehicles or users going straight and not turning onto the cross street.Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): Compact, walkable, mixed-use development that is centered on quality public transit. It typically includes a mix of housing, office, retail, neighborhood amenities, and other uses within walking distance of a transit station. TOD reduces the need for driving by creating compact, vibrant, walkable neighborhoods with convenient access to activities and destinations connected by transit.Tree canopy: The part of a city or area that is shaded by trees; The layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that obscure the ground when viewed from above. (Source: Center for Watershed Protection)Underrepresented groups: Groups of people with a common race, ethnicity, immigration status, age, income level, gender identity, or sexual orientation who have not typically participated in City decision-making processes corresponding with the proportion of the population they comprise. These groups have often experienced discrimination or marginalization based on their identity.Urban agriculture: The production of food for personal consumption, market sale, donation, or educational purposes within cities and suburbs.Urban form: The patterns of building height and development intensity as well as the structural elements that define an area physically, such as natural features, transportation corridors, open space, public facilities, and other elements. (Source: City of Los Angeles)Water quality: The condition of water, including its chemical, physical, and biological characteristics with respect to its expected use, for example, drinking, swimming, or fishing. (Source: Florida Brooks National Marine Sanctuary, Key West, Florida)Watershed: Watersheds are areas of land that drain to the same location (the outlet).Wayfinding: Wayfinding refers to information systems that guide people through a physical environment and enhance their understanding and experience of the space. (Source: The Society for Experiential Graphic Design)Zoning Code: An ordinance that regulates land use, lot size, building placement, building height, and other aspects of the development of land.
Planning Division
Northeast Area Plan Public Review DRAFT Summary
About: This is a summary of the Northeast Area Plan - Public Review DRAFT. It includes the highlights of proposed Plan actions for each of the seven chapters of the Northeast Area Plan and Community Action Strategy chapter for Burke Heights, Sandburg, and Hawthorne-Truax neighborhoods.
The comment period closed on June 17, 2024. City staff is currently reviewing public comments and preparing the final DRAFT Plan. The review and approval process is expected to begin in July.
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Visit the project webpage for more information about the Northeast Area Plan.
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