The Shorewood Community Development Authority debated whether to recommend removal of the 3900 North Frederick Avenue parking-lot site from the village27s rolling request-for-proposals process, with members split between preserving the opportunity for future proposals and taking the site off the table to conserve staff time and respond to resident opposition.

Members discussed the question after staff said they had met with all firms that submitted proposals and that two submissions had targeted the Frederick parking-lot site. "Do you want it to continue with that parking lot site within the scope of the proposal? Or do you want to have us remove it?" staff member Rebecca asked the CDA at the start of the agenda item.

Why it matters: the CDA serves as a recommending body to the village board on redevelopment proposals. Removing the Frederick site from the rolling RFP would narrow what developers may propose and signal the CDA27s preference to the village board; keeping it in would allow future applicants to submit on that parcel.

Discussion highlights

- Resident and board feedback: Several members said the largest volume of resident opposition they had received was to redevelop the Frederick lot, and one CDA member noted that community members expressed concerns that redevelopment could affect access to the library and public parking. "There27s still a lot of residents that were concerned that they would never be able to get to the library ever again," a member said during public discussion.

- Housing trade-offs and construction costs: Members who favor redevelopment said additional housing supply helps overall housing affordability; others pointed to a practical conflict: if a redevelopment requires replacing surface parking with structured or underground parking, construction costs would rise and "make the rents increasingly more expensive," a member said, reducing the ability to deliver affordable units on that site.

- Timing and staff resources: Several members urged not to spend disproportionate staff time on a site where proposals appear unlikely to gain political support. One member said, "I don't wanna spend a lot of staff time on it," arguing that keeping a site in an open rolling RFP when it attracts little credible interest wastes staff resources.

Motion and procedural notes

A motion was made on the floor that the CDA recommend to the village board that the 3900 North Frederick Avenue site be removed from the village-owned parking-lot RFPs. The transcript records discussion, a request for a roll-call, and multiple members saying verbally that they voted "no" or "aye," but the final roll-call numbers and a clear outcome are not unambiguously recorded in the transcript excerpt provided to this article. Because the transcript does not contain a clearly stated final tally or an explicit statement of the motion27s final disposition, the article does not assert whether the recommendation was forwarded or defeated.

Context and next steps

CDA members emphasized that any CDA action would be a recommendation to the village board, and the village board retains final decision-making authority. Several members suggested leaving the site available for future proposals if staff capacity permits; others said the CDA should prioritize parcels with clearer momentum. The meeting then moved to the next agenda topic, land-trust options and allocation of TID-extension funds.

Ending

The record shows substantial disagreement in the CDA about whether to remove the Frederick parking-lot parcel from the rolling RFP. The transcript indicates a motion was put on the table and that members cast votes, but a clear, auditable tally and final disposition are not present in the provided transcript excerpt.