Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Food Access topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Milwaukee committee directs 60‑day plan to retain grocery stores and neighborhood pharmacies, adds $2.8 million for local food access
Summary
The Community and Economic Development Committee asked city departments to produce strategies within 60 days to retain and attract full‑service grocery stores and pharmacies and approved phased funding and program design to support local grocers, co‑ops and nonprofit food providers.
The Community and Economic Development Committee on an afternoon meeting directed the Department of City Development and the Health Department to produce recommendations within 60 days outlining strategies to retain and attract full‑service grocery stores and neighborhood pharmacies, a measure committee members said responds to repeated closures in historically disinvested neighborhoods.
Alderman Cox, the lead sponsor, told the committee the legislation is intended to address food deserts and pharmacy losses and asked staff for a broad set of options — from municipalization to co‑ops, delivery models and zoning changes — that could be brought back for council consideration. "My hope is that along with the other pieces of legislation we'll have a body of things to look at," Cox said.
City staff described an initial program design and a $1,000,000 pilot from the Large Impact Development Fund to support grocery and drugstore providers. Director Mario Higgins and Department of City Development staff said the program will use a tiered match structure (50%, 25% or waived) and cap awards to roughly $50,000 per project while allowing flexibility for community benefits such as local hiring. "We're really trying to cast a pretty wide net," Matt Radjic of DCD said of eligible applicants, which may include for‑profit grocers, co‑ops and qualifying nonprofits.
Community members and organizers urged deeper, structural responses. Melody McCurtis, lead organizer with the Food Justice Collective, described nine months of community work and four workforce and policy tracks — policy and zoning, co‑op development, mutual aid and political organizing — and asked that residents and local grocers be included at every stage of planning. "We're up against corporate greed," a committee member said during the discussion, urging exploration of municipal and cooperative models.
The committee also approved a related substitute resolution that directs DCD and the Health Department to coordinate with existing community groups and county partners on recommendations and next steps. Separately, the council approved a $1,800,000 allocation (placed with the city clerk's office) and committed $400,000 to a fresh‑food fund; combined with earlier items the committee cited roughly $2.8 million in city resources directed to grocery and healthy‑food initiatives.
Several council members pressed staff to reduce or waive match requirements for small grocers and to allow layered capital stacks so nonprofit operators and co‑ops can access multiple sources of support. DCD staff said program rules are still being finalized and that tiers and waivers will be part of the application design.
The committee adopted the measures by voice; the file directs departments to return with implementation details and to consult with community groups, including the Food Justice Collective, on program eligibility and outreach. The committee said it expects follow‑up presentations and staff recommendations within the prescribed timeline.
