Madison City Council members greenlighted a proposed Marriott Hotel near Capitol Square in their vote to approve zoning structural changes.
Controversy about the proposal to build the hotel centered around the hotel’s impact on preserving Madison’s heritage tourism, specifically the nearby “Lamp House” designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903.
“Well, it’s Frank Lloyd Wright,” one community member said during public testimony. “We need to work hard to ensure that [heritage tourism] can exist in Madison.”
“I want to start out by reminding you all of you that the previous developer gave up on developing a hotel because of the process and all of the grief he was getting,” Madison resident Rosemary Lee said.
Lee brought up how the current Lamp House owner, Bruce Bosben is decisively in favor of the hotel.
“He is not worried about shadows. He is not worried about any adverse effects of the proposed hotel on the Lamp House,” Lee said. “And I think the way people are just talking about the lamp house with no regard for who owns it … is just below the belt. If he’s not concerned about adverse effects for the lamp house, why should the rest of us be?”
In the determining vote, 13 alder members voted in favor and seven against the proposed change in zoning.
Aside from the zoning debate, City Council members agreed regarding the necessity to add homelessness as a protected class in Madison. However, alders argued over which city commission should have predominant jurisdiction and input over the decision.
“It is my strong belief that if we are talking about civil rights, the committee that belongs on that is Equal Opportunities Commission.” Ald. Lisa Subeck, District 1, said. “When it comes to the key question at hand here, which is ‘is this a group deserving of civil rights in our community’, I do believe that [other commissions’ input] is inappropriate.”
