The Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission has been working to simplify zoning law in Brookfield, which seems like a good idea. Apparently the zoning laws that helped make Hollywood and other neighborhoods in the town great places to live over the last 60 years need to be changed. Many major changes are planned, but I will focus on one.

One of the things the zoning commission is doing is taking properties that are nonconforming and changing their designation. For example, the small town homes on Brookfield Avenue near the Hollywood Train Station will be changed to residential R4. As pointed out at the meeting, these are some of the few examples of very affordable single-family homes that exist in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the new designation means that those lots will be eligible to be converted to multi-unit dwellings as high as 60 feet. Unlikely unless a developer was to purchase adjoining lots, something they have been known to do. That would mean new large condominium buildings, or apartment buildings with rental units, right in the middle of Hollywood.

It seems the zoning commission is pushing high-density living not just in the downtown or on Ogden Avenue, but all over Brookfield. To do so will increase traffic and noise. It will likely greatly increase the number of children at our schools, though the zoning commission seems to have anticipated this and has designated sites that could be new schools.

We in Hollywood and other residential neighborhoods in Brookfield have paid a premium to live in areas with less traffic and noise. Sixty years ago, whether on purpose or by chance, the Brookfield zoning board made decisions that gave us the residential areas of Brookfield busy at times, but usually peaceful. 

It seems like the village zoning commission has different ideas of what Hollywood and other almost 100% residential areas in Brookfield should be like. They will make it easier for taller buildings, up to 90 feet, bars, and parking garages to be built in these now nearly 100% residential areas. It appears that 10 years from now, Hollywood and the other sections dominated by single-family homes will be very different places. 

Within a month the zoning commission will make its recommendation for increased density to the village board. If you care either way, you may want to attend that meeting.

Guy Adami
Brookfield