On May 26th from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM the City of Milton and Town of Milton will hold a joint Public Forum at Northside Intermediate School (159 Northside Drive, Milton) to discuss the proposed intergovernmental boundary agreement between the two communities. The purpose of the agreement is to reach a shared understanding of reasonable City growth patterns and give greater flexibility in land use to Town property owners who lie outside of the growth area.
More information about this meeting and links to related materials are available on the City website by clicking here.
One question I hear from time to time about this agreement is, "Why? What does this do for the City?" I answer that question this way... The City gains positive relations with the Town and neighboring property owners, and a greater sense of agreement on long-term growth. The 1.5 mile statutory extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) line is kind of ambiguous, and doesn't really mean much in terms of constructive planning. It's just established per state law; a few spots of ink in the statute book. So, an agreement with the Town on a cooperative line rather than an ETJ line rests more in reality and sound planning. The big winner here is property owners outside the new "line" that have desired greater rural development of their properties but faced ETJ restrictions in the past. Plus, City and Town officials will be able to communicate a clear agreed-upon message to property owners with development questions in the future.
ETJ as a concept can be a bit confusing, so here's a link to a website with more information about ETJ and how it works: http://portage.uwex.edu/compplan/pdf/PlanningFacts4.pdf. Anyone with questions is welcome to contact me at (608)868-6900(ext. 4) or by e-mail at tschmidt@ci.milton.wi.us.
