Common Council Approves Southwest, Southeast Area Plans

The City of Madison Common Council voted to adopt the Southwest and Southeast Area Plans during its meeting on Tuesday, June 23.

The approval from the Common Council comes after both plans were also reviewed and approved over the past month by the Board of Park Commissioners, the Urban Design Commission, the Transportation Commission, the Community Development Block Grant Committee, the Landmarks Commission, and the Plan Commission, with each meeting providing an opportunity for public comment.

The Southwest Area Plan covers the area of Madison bounded by the Beltline Highway to the north, the City of Fitchburg to the east, South High Point Road to the west, and Highway 18/151 and Cross Country Road to the south and is home to about 37,000 people and 7,500 jobs. The Southeast Area Plan covers the area of Madison bounded by State Highway 30 to the north, Interstate 39/90 to the east, the City of Monona to the west, and Siggelkow Road/the Village of McFarland to the south and is home to about 25,000 people and 17,000 jobs.

Before these plans, much of the Southeast Area did not have a dedicated plan in place to map out its future, while parts of the Southwest Area had plans that were more than 30 years old and needed updates to better align with current community needs. With the approval of the Southwest and Southeast Area Plans, any neighborhood plans that were previously in place in those planning areas will now be archived.

The Southwest and Southeast Area Plans are the third and fourth Area Plans adopted under the City of Madison's planning framework that will see a total of 12 Area Plans created, with each plan updated approximately every 10 years. The first two plans adopted in this planning framework, the West and Northeast Area Plans, were adopted in 2024.

The final Southwest and Southeast Area Plans will now be published, and approved accompanying edits will be made to the City of Madison's Comprehensive Plan to reflect the adoption of the Plans. Finalized versions of these plans will be uploaded to the Planning Division's website in the coming weeks. In the meantime, residents can review the draft versions of the plans that were submitted for approval.