Madison alder responds to building height limit proposal after ‘misleading statements’

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A Madison alder is now sharing his proposal to increase building height limits near downtown in response to public criticism.

In a blog post Thursday, District 8 Alder MGR Govindarajan said there had been “some misleading statements made,” after his proposal got mixed up with a longtime city ordinance.

The ordinance, typically referred to as the Capitol View Preservation Ordinance, essentially prevents any building within a one-mile radius of the Capitol from being taller than it.

However, his district, just south of UW-Madison’s campus, is outside of the one-mile radius from the Capitol, so the city’s ordinance would not apply.

“My district is roughly between 1.2 to 1.5 miles away,” Govindarajan said. “So we’re not affected by the ordinance.”

Govindarajan proposes to increase the height limits of buildings within his own district. It’s an effort to create more housing development opportunities in the area between Dayton Street and Regent Street and Randall Avenue and East Campus Mall.

Govindarajan said many housing units within his district are only four to five stories tall. His proposal aims to bring more 10- to 12-story units mostly for UW-Madison students

“If we can build more where students are currently living and make sure that the city can invest some kind of affordability model into that, similar to what we’ve been doing downtown, then that would really help solve the crisis,” Govindarajan said.

Govindarajan said his proposal is now being looked at by the City Plan Commission. He’s now waiting to officially hear their approval.

Click here to download the NBC15 News app or our NBC15 First Alert weather app.

Copyright 2023 WMTV. All rights reserved.