ELM GROVE, Wis. — Elm Grove's Board of Trustees is set to review a controversial proposal for the School Sisters of Notre Dame campus on Monday night.
The board will look review and possibly act on the development agreement between the village and the developer, Mandel Group. It will also review a proposal for tax incremental financing (TIF) for more than $23 million.
Mandel Group wants to convert the area into 21 single-family homes and more than 200 apartments. The developer would restore the two historic buildings that sit on Watertown Plank Road and have them include some of the apartments.
"Way too big for the size of the lot, for the size of the community, that area, and mostly the TIF request for the $23 million is excessive," said resident Tom Castile.
Castile has lived in town for 15 years and has opposed the proposal since he learned about it. He would like to see the area developed, but believes the current plan needs to be scaled down.
"More of the mixed development, much like they're doing, but in a smaller size," Castile said.
Several neighbors did not want to talk about the project on camera, but many were concerned about the impact on traffic and density.
"In the case of this project, we have three different traffic analyses, all of which concluded this is not a traffic issue," said Village President Neil Palmer.
Palmer knows there is opposition to the project, but he believes changes over the years made it better and that it is the best use of the property.
"The best balance on the long term. It'll help our downtown. We have a downtown that needs to have more customers to generate a little more activity for the for our business sector. Well, this is how you helped get it," Palmer said.
Monday's meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall.
