Sturgeon Bay Mayor Thad Birmingham, in the form of a recent letter to the editor, has commented on the current impasse over the proposed construction of a hotel on Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront. The mayor says media materials provided by Dan Collins on behalf of “The Friends of the Sturgeon Bay Waterfront” contain several misleading statements about the proposed hotel development. He notes that Collins erroneously contends that that the city has not received an “ordinary high water mark” determination from the Department of Natural Resources. Birmingham says the DNR has reviewed materials related to the “high water mark” and has required the city to make significant adjustments as a result of its determination. He says there are no objections about the project from the DNR. Birmingham says for the anti-hotel group to infer that the DNR was not consulted or is not aware of the situation is ridiculous. The mayor says it’s important for residents to know that the city’s redevelopment plan enhances public use and access to the waterfront. He says if the site is developed as envisioned by the city, there will be more publicly owned land after the project is completed than before it started. Mayor Birmingham also notes that the Collins letter talks about the rejection of an alternate site for the hotel by the city. He says the city has not formally reviewed or made any decision on any alternate hotel sites. The mayor accuses the principles involved in the opposition to the development project of spreading disinformation by way of statements, press releases, facebook posts, websites and other forms of communication as they make their case. He says the city must take into account all of the residents of the city, not just a single interest group. Birmingham says it’s fortunate that the matter will be determined in court as a matter of law and not based on opinion or misinformation.
