OPINION: Breaking news: City protects lake views

What a concept: Changing a building plan to save lake views!

It’s actually happening. And it’s happening in Port Washington. Amazing.

Amazing because this is the city where since 2016 elected officials have turned deaf ears to the outcry from the public over a commercial building at the edge of the harbor that will block some of Port’s most admired views of Lake Michigan.

But in May 2023, city officials listened to appeals from residents to alter the design of an addition to a lakefront building that would raise its height to two stories, blocking views of Lake Michigan. A month later, they came back with a revised plan that eliminated the second story.

Unlike the view-blocking building at the harbor, this one is not a private development; it’s the city water plant. City officials held themselves to a more stringent standard in planning the $18.3 million water plant addition than what was required of a developer.

The redesign involves moving a generator to a location where its sound would be more likely to be heard by neighbors. Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven noted that the generator would operate only during emergencies, whereas “the views we’re trying to protect are 24/7, 365 days a year.”

Lake views 24/7, 365 days a year are what the public had in the open space the width of the harbor at its north end until a few weeks ago, when construction started on the brewpub building that will fill the space.

The public once owned that north slip lot. Citizens appealed to officials—at City Hall meetings, in an advisory referendum and letters to the editor—to keep it as city property for use by the public, rather than sell it for development. The Common Council not only approved the sale, it showed its lack of interest in protecting views by allowing the development to exceed height and setback restrictions.

Views have an unusually high value in a community like Port Washington with its fortunate location on the shore of a Great Lake. Deciding who will have those views is complicated.

A condominium resident who complained at a hearing about the proposed two-story water plant said most people move to Port Washington for the views. That is probably true for those who buy marina district condo units. What he didn’t say is that those views provided by condo buildings come at the expense of someone else’s view.

It is ironic that lake views that would have been obstructed by the two-story water plant are those enjoyed by residents of the Lighthouse Condominiums, for that 10-story structure is the classic example of building height excess.

Aesthetics aside, the imposing building at the corner of Lake and Jackson streets has been a successful addition to the city. Its 40 units built in 2002 have brought new residents to Port and provided a convenient alternative for residents seeking to leave home maintenance chores behind them, while making a substantial contribution to the city tax base.

What’s more, it was built in an ideal location for a high-rise building—in front of a high bluff where no one’s view would need to be disturbed.

Regrettably, the advantage of that location was wasted when city officials did what should have been unthinkable and caved in to the developer’s request to be allowed to build three stories about the bluff. Historic lake views from St. Mary’s Hill, the site of the 1860 Light Station, were lost forever.

That lesson of that mistake was lost on the city government representatives who paved the way for the north slip development.

Will the positive lesson of the city’s new-found sensitivity to the value of Lake Michigan vistas in the water plant decision be remembered the next time a developer seeks to exceed reasonable height limits?

Let’s hope so. There are a diminishing number of views left to protect.