Acadia United

A proposed development at 117 N Gammon Rd raises serious concerns which must be addressed. We are not opposed to thoughtful growth – we are opposed to development that puts our neighbors at risk.

1. Mandatory Gammon Road Access: All primary vehicular traffic (residential and service) must be routed to Gammon Road. We believe the "Special Conditions" required to grant an Escalator Clause for increased density demand that vehicular access be restricted to Gammon Road and not routed through Acadia Court
2. Appropriate Scale and Height: The building must include a significant 'step-down' in height (to 1 or 2 stories) on the eastern side facing existing single-family homes to mitigate the impact of the site's high elevation.
3. Protection Against Parking Overflow: To preserve the character and safety of our local streets, the developer must provide sufficient on-site parking for all residents and guests. We request a condition that prevents residential parking overflow from turning Acadia Court, Acadia Drive and surrounding streets into a de-facto parking lot for the complex.
4. Preservation of Neighborhood Safety: The project scale must be sized to ensure the safety of established daycare drop-off zones and school walking routes. We agree with the Planning Division’s recommendation that a smaller-scale project is necessary to maintain the safety of this residential area.

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• Mar 23, 2026
  117 Gammon Rd development shares parking/traffic concerns with the Old Sauk development.

  We are sharing an email written by Mike Green, an old Sauk Rd resident, and sent to our Alder John Guequierre in regard to the traffic and parking issues around the Old Sauk apartment development. Mike kindly forwarded his email as we share the same concerns and with his permission we are sharing it so you can see the reality of some of the immediate and long term issues related to the possible development being proposed for 117 Gammon Rd.

  One of our concerns with the new development is overflow parking that will very likely happen on Acadia Ct, Acadia Dr and Colony drive. Residents along Old Sauk and neighboring Parkwood Hills streets are already dealing with construction vehicles blocking mailboxes on a daily basis; low visibility for cars exiting our neighborhood onto old Sauk and additional traffic and parking. These issues will very likely continue after construction with resident cars parking along these roads.

  If you haven't already written to our city officials, we hope after reading Mike's email message below you are inspired to write to the city Planning Commission at pccomments@cityofmadison.com, our Alder John Guequierre at district19@cityofmadison.com and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway at mayor@cityofmadison.com

  Good morning, Alder Guequierre

  Short Term, Immediate Problem

  We have curbside mail delivery by USPS motorized carrier. That carrier cannot/will not get out of the delivery vehicle to deliver mail. The south side of the 6700 and 6600 blocks of Old Sauk Road are lined with construction vehicles during the work week from roughly 7:00 to 15:30 including, frequently, in front of our mailbox (see attachment). Side roads are also parked up as well.

  On average, our USPS delivery is between 13:30 and 15:30 and the carrier cannot drive up to, and deliver, our mail during the workweek when there is a parked vehicle in front of the mailbox. Hence, we may only get mail after 15:30 during the workweek and/or on Saturday. For example, we have not gotten mail for 3 days now due to a car being too close to our mailbox.

  Speaking with the development foreman/manager (who has been polite and responsive to our concerns) has not solved the problem despite whatever remedies he may have tried.

  Questions:

  • Is there any Municipal ordinance that prevents parking so close to a curbside/”rural” mailbox that prevents the USPS from making deliveries?
  • Can such an ordinance be passed if not already in existence? OR Could/should curbs be painted yellow within +/- (roughly) 10 feet (enough to allow a delivery truck to easily swoop in and out) of a curbside mailbox?

  Long Term Problem

  To say the obvious: Neighboring residents have a very real concern as to the possible/likely, future “overflow” parking by residents of the new development.

  Do the math:

  An AI search “What is the average number of cars per dwelling unit in suburban Madison?” suggests “approximately 2 cars per household”. From available information (ca 31 January 2025) there will be:

  • 172 parking stalls available onsite
  • 147 underground (142 standard + 5 ADA)
  • 25 surface (23 standard + 2 ADA)
  • 144 dwelling units

  That suggests the possible/likely overflow of (2x144 – 172) 116 vehicles @ 2 vehicles/DU. Breakeven would be 1.19 (172/144) vehicles/DU. There is also the possibility that onsite parking is additionally charged by the development’s landlord which could lead some tenants to park on-street.

  So there is not just an immediate parking problem (for mail delivery to curbside mailboxes) but the well-known possible/likely long term parking problem as well.

  Please refresh my memory: What is the long term solution to any possible/likely on-street parking? Will there be postings for no overnight parking? Parking by permit only? Parking limited to 2 hours? Unfortunately, any such solutions become new limitations for existing residents.

• Mar 23, 2026
  Petition Delivered to City Officials

  On March 23, 2026 we delivered to the Plan Commission, our Alder John Guequierre and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway a petition signed by 177 residents of our neighborhood asking the city to uphold the conditions as outlined in the petition. A huge thank you to all who voiced their opinion for a development that better meets the needs of our community.

• Mar 10, 2026
  Update on Meeting and Petition Drive

  Approximately 100 people showed up! The positives included the Alder and Mayor's commitments, concessions, or promises that:

  • They will oppose traffic onto Acadia
  • They will oppose the size of the project
  • They think the escalator clause is flawed, wrong, and should not be used and is purely subjective (this gives us potential legal arguments).

  The other positives were the obvious emotions in the room, the incredible turn out, and the near universal opposition to traffic on Acadia and support for a reasonable and appropriate development.

  The Mayor and Alder opened by conceding to and agreeing with most of our objections up front. Although that is promising, neither the Mayor nor the alder make the final decision and we have no real information on what the planning department is thinking or saying. Acadia access could still be on the table and a large project is certainly still in the works. This is the time to keep pushing for reasonable and appropriate limitations on development on Gammon.

  Next steps for you to take:

  1. Sign the petition we passed around last night, if we missed you or you were not able to attend the meeting. The following times are set aside for you to stop by Ann's house at 209 Acadia: Thursday 4:00–7pm and Saturday 10–12. If these times don't work, please contact her and set up another time: aewilson235@gmail.com.
  2. Email the Alder and City Planning with focused, well-reasoned concerns: pccomments@cityofmadison.com and district19@cityofmadison.com. See our website for more content and contact information: acadiaunited.org
  3. Email the Mayor and reference her invitation to email her and make specific points about the promises in the meeting. We should focus on the positives and thank her for taking the time to listen, explain, and make time to hear our concerns. Her email is mayor@cityofmadison.com. Email topics might include:
     • I was encouraged by your commitment to not allow traffic onto Acadia and to assure the project is reasonable size. Please note that this won't alleviate overflow parking for those not wanting to pay for parking on site or visitors using Acadia as a parking lot. Traffic and safety concerns will still be an issue.
     • I agree with you that the “escalator clause” should be abolished and should not be used for this project.
     • Your goals of increasing affordable home ownership will make the city better. Adding high priced rentals does not work towards that goal and likely creates fewer ownership opportunities.
     • Thank you for listening to us and supporting our community.

  And, thank you all for your support in helping to shape a better alternative for our community. Someone asked me how many people are on this email — we are 104 strong and counting!!