Program and Activity Summary
Economic Development
Commission work activities focus on collecting and providing economic data necessary for the county and communities to prepare the economic development element of the Smart Growth Law. This activity also provides data necessary to evaluate regional economic trends and to assess the interrelationship between regional development policies and economic development. Economic trends data is published annually in the Commission’s Regional Trends report.
Community Development
The Commission maintains the Dane County Land Use and Transportation Plan, the general land use plan for the region, by reviewing requests to amend 20-year service area boundaries to accommodate urban growth. The Commission also provides information and technical assistance to local communities and others regarding Census data and demographics, housing, urban design, density, redevelopment and infill studies. A central work activity involves working with local communities in the Future Urban Development Area (FUDA) planning program.
Land Use & Environmental Resources
The Commission engages in natural resources monitoring and inventories, ground and surface water quality and quantity management, point and non-point source pollution control, resource protection, and other environmental planning issues contained in the Dane County Water Quality Plan. Additional work is carried out in natural resource monitoring and screening work associated with FUDA Environmental Conditions Reports and related activities.
Transportation
Transportation planning activities were part of the work of the Dane County Regional Planning Commission and were separated out by the creation of the Madison Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MAMPO) upon the re-organization of the DCRPC in 1999. The CARPC contracts with the Madison Area Transportation Planning Board (TPB, formerly MAMPO) for transportation planning work associated with amendments to the Land Use and Transportation Plan and for the rural portions of the region.
Information & Data Systems
The Commission maintains and updates GIS layers on natural resources, land use, service area boundaries and environmental corridors for the Dane County region. Its staff also participates in interdepartmental staff meetings to coordinate the GIS activities of the RPC with the rest of GIS enterprises in the region. The Commission also conducts a Land Use Inventory, which involves the use of aerial photography, field reviews, and GIS databases to produce maps and land use statistics.
- Operating Characteristics
- Commission and Method of Selection
- Current Commissioners
- Staff
$1,001,565 (68.6% County Levy, 22.5% Fund Balance Carry-Forward, 6.9% State, 1.6% Fees, Sales & Interest, 0.4% Federal)
The Mayor of the City of Madison (4 members);
the Dane County Executive (3);
the Dane County Cities and Villages Association (3);
and the Dane County Towns Association (3).
Appointed by Dane County Towns Association: Phil Van Kampen, Town of Oregon Supervisor; Ed Minihan Chair of the Town of Dunn; Harold Krantz, Chair of the Town of Cross Plains
Appointed by Dane County Cities and Villages Association: Jeff Miller, (Chair), President of the Village of DeForest Village; Kurt Sonnentag, Mayor of the City of Middleton; John Murray, City of Sun Prairie Alder
Appointed by the Mayor of the City of Madison: Zach Brandon; Larry Palm, City of Madison Alder; Curt Brink; Steve Hiniker
Staff Contacts:
Kamran Mesbah Deputy Director and Director of Environmental Resources Planning
Chris Gjestson Administrative Services Manager
Mike Kakuska Senior Environmental Planner
Mike Rupiper Environmental Engineer
David Greene Senior Community / Environmental Planner
Barbara Weber Senior Community Planner
Bridgit Van Belleghem Junior Planner
Aaron Krebs GIS Specialist
Steve Wagner Graphic Designer