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Committee adopts ordinance adding architect, public-safety and housing representatives to Board of Zoning Appeals
Summary
The Zoning and Neighborhood Development Committee approved an ordinance to add an architect, a public-safety representative and a member with demonstrated interest in social welfare or housing to the Board of Zoning Appeals; the City Attorney concluded the change is legally enforceable and the City Plan Commission recommended approval.
The Zoning and Neighborhood Development Committee on Feb. 4 adopted an ordinance that adds an architect licensed in Wisconsin, a public-safety representative and one person with a demonstrated interest in social welfare or housing to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Committee Chair Jose Perez said the change is part of a broader effort to codify onboarding and training for boards and commissions and to ensure membership reflects several sectors of experience.
Sam Lykling, City Planning Division, Department of City Development, told the committee the ordinance is a technical change to the zoning code that alters the composition of the board. He said the current code requires one member to be an attorney licensed in Wisconsin and the proposed language would also require one member to be an architect licensed in Wisconsin (with openness to landscape architects meeting that requirement), one to have a background in public safety and one to have demonstrated interest in social welfare or housing issues. Lykling said the city attorney has reviewed the proposal and concluded it is legal and enforceable.
The item was reviewed by the Zoning Code Technical Committee on Sept. 18, 2024, and heard by the City Plan Commission on Jan. 27, 2025; Lykling said the commission unanimously recommended approval. Indiar Gar, representing the Board of Zoning Appeals, told the committee the current board already meets the proposed criteria and had no objection to the change as written.
Alderman Samaripa asked for clarification about whether a landscape architect would satisfy the architect slot; Lykling and the sponsor indicated that was the intent and that language could be clarified if needed during the legislative drafting and clerk review process. Lykling also noted the city plan commission raised the legal question in committee and that the city attorney issued an opinion supporting the ordinance’s enforceability.
Alderman Jackson moved adoption of item file 240721; Chair Perez called for objections and, hearing none, ordered the item adopted.
The ordinance joins earlier changes intended to standardize onboarding, training and representational balance on city boards and commissions. The committee did not record votes against the measure during the Feb. 4 meeting.
The committee’s action will be forwarded to the full Common Council under the usual process.
