Irresponsible development hurts us all- Bayfield County residents, business owners, and community leaders. Haphazard, poorly planned projects affect our quality of life, our businesses, and Bayfield County tourism. Here's what we believe:
"My family's been vacationing here for years. When that airstrip gets built, it'll be the last time we come to Bayfield."...Bayfield visitor
"The Shadow Wood Landing project negates the land use and planning efforts local residents have pursued for years while threatening water quality of Pikes Creek and imperiling our agricultural and rural character." ...Tom Galazyn, Town of Bayfield
"Bayfield is where I grew up. During the housing boom of the last ten years I worked in construction out in Seattle, Washington. Seeing first hand the effect that development pressure can have upon a landscape has made me appreciate why some people are attracted to this area... and why so many choose to come to this quiet, scenic valley to pick berries. Country cabins I can understand, but I never thought I’d see the day when private jets could land and take off over our family farm..." Jon Dale, Highland Valley Farm
"The process by which the CFS, LLC property was rezoned was fraught with failures from the very beginning; the Town of Russell Board failed to follow it's own Land Use Plan, they failed to include the residents in the discussion, and they failed terribly when they didn't consider the Klinger family, whose home is 600 feet from the proposed runway. The County Zoning Department failed to perform the due diligence that a project of this size requires. When a DNR agent wanted to look the site over in September, the two Bayfield County Zoning Department employees responsible for the project, led him to the wrong site. They had already approved the zoning change, and yet had not bothered to visit the site. Zoning also failed to prepare the Zoning Committee members for the hearing. They had no pertinent information from which to make a decision. The County failed to stand behind the Town of Russell's Land Use Plan as they are obligated to do by State Statute. Please join us in holding the County accountable to the wishes of the people as set forth in our planning documents."...Dave Martinson, Town of Russell resident, and business owner
"My wife and I live in the Town of Bayfield approximately one mile from the proposed Shadow Wood Landing development. We have owned retail businesses in the area for 40 years and still operate our own store in downtown Bayfield. While my wife has shouldered the primary responsibility for operating the business, I have been employed as an educator, a grant writer and a tribal planner and my free time has been spent being an outdoorsman. I hunt, fish, trap, process all our own firewood, grow a garden and hike the Bayfield County forests. As much as I dislike the idea of an airstrip a mile from my home I am more concerned about the effect that the zoning change has on the environment and the people that live in the area. Changing the zoning for a development of this magnitude changes the land for ever. There is no going back. The 380 acres now owned by CFS-LLC was formerly owned by Goodman Lumber Company, who managed the forest for the production of trees that could produce quality lumber. That management practice also provided for an area that had one of the highest bear density populations in the state of Wisconsin, an abundant deer population, wolf denning sites and significant populations of fisher, raccoon, grouse, squirrels, fox and coyotes. It seems inconceivable to me that our elected officials and our hired professionals in the County Zoning Department could allow the zoning change to take place without ever setting foot on the property, apparently without study of the USGS maps of the area, with little or no knowledge or understanding of the Town of Russell Overlay District and Land Use Plan and with no research to show how the development will impact the local economy. If this is how our citizens' property rights are protected, we are all vulnerable." ...Tom Frizzell, Town of Bayfield
"I'm a 9 year resident and a visitor to this area since 1974 when I came up here to camp, kayak and enjoy the woods. I also run a small local remodeling firm that specializes in green building techniques.
"I'm not opposed to seeing a few more houses up there, but my opposition to
this development is the process, and the way it was handled in the first place.
We have worked hard up here to stop this kind of development from happening, and
now it is happening before our eyes.
The other thing that makes me cross is that these developers have no interest in
living here full time like I do, but will force us to abide by what they think
will make us satisfied to living here. I would like to see how they would feel
if they had a runway just 100 yards from their house, where they live all year
long, and have been for 30 years, and would have to put up with the noise, etc.
"We have zoning laws here for the purpose of protecting us. They should be abided by, and enforced for the good of the residents of Bayfield county, not someone who lives in a suburb of a metropolitan area of 2 million people!" Jim Steffenson, Town of Bayfield
"I wouldn't oppose a thoughtful development project of 19 homes on 20 acre parcels on the CFS, LLC property that would be in keeping with the Town of Russell Land Use Plan. A gated, private development with a high occupation density, and with a private jet landing strip doesn't come close to meeting either the letter or spirit of the Land Use Plan, and is the worst kind of development that I can imagine for our rural township."...Kathy Wendling, Town of Russell
"Our local officials represent us. Why then are the local citizens' objections to this massive commercial development dismissed, in order to profit a few wealthy, slick-talking, out-of-town developers, who are neither voters, nor community members?"
