Committee extends deconstruction moratorium for one year while staff rewrites ordinance

Alderman Bauman, chair of the Development Committee, on March 20 cleared a one‑year extension of Milwaukee’s moratorium on enforcing the city’s deconstruction ordinance while staff prepares revisions to shift the program toward salvage‑and‑reuse.

Mike Bismanian, deputy commissioner of Neighborhood Services, told the committee staff is seeking extra time “to have revisions to the ordinance to shift the program into something that’s more geared towards a salvage and reuse as opposed to full deconstruction.” Alderman Bauman and members said the original ordinance, intended to apply to most 1‑ to 4‑family structures built before 1930, proved difficult to implement and has been effectively unenforced for years.

Committee members described prior attempts to put the program into practice, including RFPs and a contract with a firm that failed mid‑project, leaving salvage materials in a city yard. Bauman said local recyclers that could perform deconstruction did not qualify under the city’s RPP (responsible proposer) rules, limiting available contractors.

Several committee members pressed staff for a concrete plan rather than repeated short extensions. One member said, “It’s silly to keep putting a moratorium in,” and asked for measurable steps so the committee will not be asked to renew the moratorium again. Bismanian said staff hopes the revisions will permit evaluation and selective salvage before demolition and will return with draft language.

Alderman Jackson moved the committee’s recommended passage; with no objections the chair ordered the recommendation to proceed.

The committee’s action is procedural: staff will draft a revised ordinance and return with specifics about how salvage, market access, and RPP requirements will be handled. The committee did not adopt a permanent policy change at this meeting.