The state Senate on Tuesday, by a 25-8 vote, approved legislation to establish the legal boundary for the Milwaukee shoreline. The bill is an attempt to clear up legal issues blocking The Couture, a proposed high-rise development near the lakefront in downtown Milwaukee.
Despite the bill passed Tuesday, a representative of a parks advocacy group said the group still plans to file a lawsuit to block The Couture.
The Assembly approved its version of the Milwaukee shoreline bill in February. Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign the bill.
The legal definition of the location of the shoreline is critical to Milwaukee County’s efforts to attract development to the Downtown Transit Center site, located southwest of Lincoln Memorial Drive and Michigan Street near the lakefront. County officials want to sell the property, currently used for bus storage, to developer Rick Barrett, who plans to build The Couture, a 44-story tower with luxury apartments, a hotel and retail space.
The Couture project would be a $180 million development that would add $10 million to the local tax base and would create 2,600 direct and indirect construction jobs, according to Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele’s office.
The eight senators who voted against the Milwaukee shoreline bill Tuesday were: Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay; Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville; Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay; Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar; Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee; Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine; Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona; and Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison.
The legislation would formally recognize the Milwaukee shoreline boundary that was established in 1913, by an agreement between the City of Milwaukee and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
But parks advocacy group Preserve Our Parks has threatened to file a lawsuit to block The Couture project. The group says that most of the Downtown Transit Center site was originally part of the Lake Michigan lakebed and that therefore the state’s public trust doctrine forbids development there.
The state Legislature added a provision to the state budget last year that establishes the boundary line east of the Downtown Transit Center site. However, Preserve Our Parks has threatened to challenge the law in court and because of that threat the county has been unable to obtain title insurance for the site.
Attorneys hired by the county advised officials to seek the legislation passed Tuesday by the state Senate, said Abele spokesman Brendan Conway.
“The whole idea behind this was to get legal clarity on the title issue,” he said.
Barrett said title companies have been concerned that the shoreline measure passed last year was buried in the state budget and was not passed as standalone legislation subject to a public hearing. The new legislation should clear up those concerns, he said.
On the Senate floor Tuesday, Larson said he supports The Couture project, but complained that the Legislature was “sticking its nose” into a local issue. He also predicted that the project would still face a lawsuit from Preserve Our Parks.
“This will not prevent a lawsuit,” Larson said. “It will almost assuredly cause a lawsuit instead of preventing it.”
Preserve Our Parks board member Charlie Kamps said the group does indeed still plan to file a lawsuit if the county sells the property to Barrett. The Milwaukee shoreline legislation is unconstitutional, he contends.
“It violates the constitution in two ways,” Kamps said. “First, the Legislature can’t trump the public trust doctrine. Second, it’s an attempt by the Legislature to usurp the role of the judiciary. I would think a first year law student would know this is unconstitutional.”
Barrett said that he hopes the shoreline bill will help the county obtain title insurance for the site, but he is still not sure it will be able to do so.
The lack of title insurance for the site has prevented the county from selling the property to Barrett, which has stalled the entire development. The county may have to file its own lawsuit to establish its development rights for the site, as some County Board Supervisors, including Pat Jursik, have said.
Barrett said several potential financing sources have expressed interest in the project Barrett said, but he needs to obtain site control first.
Once the bill is signed by Walker county officials will resume efforts to obtain title insurance for the site, Conway said. Then the county can proceed with negotiations to sell the site to Barrett.
Barrett predicted that efforts to move The Couture project forward will pick up significantly once the bill is signed by Walker.
“I’m confident that once this gets signed by the governor it will be on the fast track to get this resolved and get the project started,” Barrett said.
