Petition against the sale of waterfront land and the use of TID #13 in Superior, WI

UPDATE: 1/27/2015: Mayor Hagen admitted offering Public Trust Land to ZMC during the Mayoral public forum on 01/21/2015 (watch 35 min mark here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQsSXhjaoNc ). City is continuing to pursue the hotel development project despite ZMC selling off its assets.

UPDATE: 1/1/2015: Per Jason Serck of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Superior, they are "still working on the site plan."

UPDATE: On 9/10/2014, Jason Serck of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Superior, WI, has informed me that they are postponing the public hearing (scheduled September 11, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 201 at the Government Center, 1316 North 14th Street, Superior, WI) until a future date (to be determined).

This gives us more time to continue voicing our concerns, gather more signatures, and talk to the Mayor, Redevelopment Authority and City Councilors.

Why we started this petition:

• To the best of our knowledge, the location of the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel to be built by ZMC Hotels, Inc. and Zenith Superior, LLC. may potentially violate the Wisconsin’s constitution, as part of the land that is planned to be sold to the developer used to be covered by water and was later filled to create land. Under the state’s constitution, article 9, section 1, filled land belongs to the citizens of Wisconsin and is protected by the Public Trust Doctrine. Legally, permissible uses for such filled land include public recreation and maritime commerce only. Hotels and similar developments are explicitly prohibited on such public land. The hotel site is also considered a part of the wetlands and is protected by the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. Hence, legally, before the land sale and development can take place, Wisconsin DNR and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must study the area and approve the land boundaries.

• Taxpayers’ money should be used to finance public goods and services. Superior, WI needs to spend public funds to fix our roads, not subsidize a private corporation. By providing a public subsidy to the developer through Tax Incremental District #13, the City of Superior will divert $2.2 million in future tax revenue from local schools, libraries, roads, fire department and other public goods and services to subsidize ZMC Hotels, Inc. and Zenith Superior, LLC. If public subsidies are used, they should be of reasonable amounts and benefit the city. For example, other cities reasonably require that TIF financing does not exceed 5-10% of the market value of a new development and that at least one full-time job is created for every $40,000 in public assistance. In this case, public assistance will constitute over 30% of the projected market value of the hotel and the developer is required to create only 13 full-time jobs, as opposed to 37 full-time jobs that other cities would reasonably require. Further, deeding a public parking lot serving the Bong Museum to a private developer, displacing a public playground, subsidizing private development costs, and providing other cash incentives to the developer – all of these constitute misuse of public funds as well.