Verona leaders: growth is the city’s biggest challenge as development accelerates
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Summary
Mayor Lou Diaz, City Administrator Jamie Ollick and the city’s planning director told the Verona Chamber that rapid growth is creating housing pressure, more traffic and a slate of development projects. Officials outlined a new comprehensive plan, several large residential and commercial projects, and staffing and sustainability responses.
Mayor Lou Diaz and city officials told attendees at the Verona Chamber of Commerce State of the City that the city’s rapid growth is both an opportunity and its principal challenge.
"Verona's biggest challenge is dealing with success," Diaz said, warning that job creation and an excellent school system have increased demand for housing and driven up prices. City Administrator Jamie Ollick added that Verona is one of the fastest‑growing cities in the state and described the municipal response: hiring a building inspector, creating a community resource specialist position and adjusting pay to improve recruitment and retention.
The presentation included a fiscal snapshot: Ollick said a typical Verona tax bill assigns roughly 55% to the school district, about a quarter to the city, with the remainder to county and technical college levies. He said fast growth and net new construction have helped keep the city's tax rate relatively low even as services expand.
The city's planning and development director described work to update the comprehensive plan (initiated in late 2024) and listed major proposed and active projects. Planned and pending items include Main Street Station (mixed residential with some townhomes), a senior living facility by Erdman designed to combine independent living, assisted living and memory care, Whispering Coves (a three‑story apartment concept), ongoing phases at Hardin Glen and Apex at Corona, commercial development in Liberty Business Park and an Aldi store proposed near PD and ED. The director said the Munk site will be demolished for a 60‑unit apartment building with ground‑floor commercial, and that SSM is building a 30,000–37,000 square‑foot medical clinic informed by prairie‑focused landscaping and bird‑glass design.
Ollick and planning staff emphasized phasing: many large projects will be built over multiple years rather than completed simultaneously, and the comprehensive plan update is intended to guide that growth. They also discussed sustainability investments: the city has installed solar panels on city hall and the fire station, added electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, and budgeted additional funds for solar projects in 2026.
City officials stressed limits on municipal tools for affordable housing: the presenters noted that Wisconsin law currently prohibits inclusionary zoning, meaning the city must rely on incentives, partnerships and creative solutions to encourage a mix of housing sizes and price points.
The presentation closed with an invitation for public input on traffic, design and community spaces, and a reminder that the comprehensive plan will be posted on the city's "Envision Verona" project page when a public draft is ready. No formal action was taken during the presentation; next steps are review and public engagement on the draft comprehensive plan and the individual project approvals that will come before city boards and the council.