Town of Superior

LAND USE PLANS GOING IN CIRCLES; RESIDENTS & OWNERS FRUSTRATED
About two years ago the Superior trustees adopted an updated comprehensive plan that was decidedly in favor of additional residential development. Since then, proposed developments have gone nowhere while residents complain about potential impacts of more housing, traffic, overcrowded schools, etc. Town officials¡Š reaction has been to repeatedly reopen discussion with the community on future development and possible land preservation. To date, the results have been unimpressive with inconsistent and often confusing messages coming out of Town Hall. On specific parcels, the Superior Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees are not in agreement. In the latest iteration, Town officials, after extensive public input, expressed their desired development patterns and uses on the several remaining vacant parcels. The result, developers say the proposed uses will not perform economically and planning commission members agreed. For example, a preference for small retail and light industrial uses behind SuperTarget and Costco are challenging. The parcels are hidden, impinge on the Sagamore neighborhood and will be difficult to market and sell. Residential is clearly the most viable use for that site but that option is meeting with resistance from some community activists and the Town Trustees. Nearby residents generally are concerned about suggested nonresidential uses negatively affecting their neighborhood. No significant development has been approved in Superior over the past five years or so. Maybe when the revolving door of missteps, miscommunication and, yes, costly mistakes, ends, Superior will be able to get on with the business of securing its economic stability, preserving the quality of life for residents and create a community that supports the long term health of the real estate market for all property owners, residential and commercial. For now, observers of this chaos are experiencing vertigo.