Will the Milwaukee River Overlay District Protect the Viewshed? by Sura, September 29

Mandel insists that the viewshed will remain protected if they are allowed to build a high-density dorm at the Hometown site (700 students, 50% larger than Riverview). They say that the setback and the height restriction will protect it.

Is the Viewshed protected? Not if you can almost see the trail from Paperboard

But has an independent surveyor, i.e. one not paid by Mandel, tested this? Actually no.

I decided to see if I could figure out if this is true.

I went to Wisconsin Paperboard, just north and east of the Hometown property, and climbed to about 45 ft. I shot a few photos.

As you can see in the picture above, the trail on the west bank of the river is almost visible from that height. But Paperboard is much further back than the dorms will be. In other words, there’s a really good chance that closer to the river–where the dorms will be–one will be able to see the trail. And that, of course, means that someone on the trail can see the dorms.

Aside from the view over the trees, you can see the spaces in the trees themselves, meaning it’s pretty certain that the dorms will be visible during the summer months.

There are spaces in the trees

And setbacks and height restrictions won’t prevent the dorms from intruding into the viewshed from October thru May, when leaves are off the trees.

And let’s not forget that viewshed is really a superficial and somewhat elitist measure of river protection. If you don’t take into account things like use and density, well, let’s just say there are current residents near RiverView dorms who cannot speak for themselves.

Dead Butler Garter Snake

29 Sep 2008 | 2:20 pm | UWM, Green Spaces, Development, Environmental Sustainability

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