Photo Credit: Virginia Small
One of Milwaukee County’s most valuable public assets, Bradford Beach and its historic Bathhouse, could become devalued as a public space. At least seasonally, it could present more as an exclusive “watering hole” than as a free and open lakefront.
The beach itself is increasingly threatened. Lake Michigan water levels have been rising at unprecedented rates in the past six years. The lake is now up to three feet higher than usual. As a result, Bradford and other lakefront beaches are shrinking. A large swath of Bradford’s North Point washed out recently.
Bradford’s eroding beach is also beset by other pressures. Beach volleyball has become highly popular, with extensive space dedicated to seasonal courts. McKinley Beach, south of Bradford, will remain closed to swimming for now, after riptides caused three drowning deaths last summer. South Shore Beach is often closed to swimming due to water-quality issues.
Bradford Beach areas that remain equally open to everyone have also been quietly contracting. The Dock, LLC, which provides food-and-beverage concessions for beachgoers, has been consistently barring anyone except patrons from entering a tented area next to one of three tiki-hut bars they operate. The Dock also routinely cordons off other areas and puts signs on picnic tables prohibiting public use. Bradford’s Chicago-based vendor casually acknowledged denying public access at a recent hearing of the Lakefront Development Advisory Commission (LDAC).
Since last summer that vendor also has been angling to control much of the Bradford Beach Bathhouse's second floor—by turning it into the beach’s fifth bar, a sit-down destination-restaurant and an event space. Public officials and others have raised concerns that the proposal would likely violate Wisconsin’s public trust doctrine and aggravate racial and economic inequities.
When grilled at a February 17th LDAC hearing about how the public would retain access to the ship-like public pavilion, The Dock’s owners reluctantly, reversing their prior stand, agreed that “anyone will be able to sit anywhere” on the rooftop, even without ordering. They pledged that no seating would be reserved. However, the promises so far have not been committed to writing, and it was unclear whether they would also apply to proposed private parties. It was also unclear whether the open-seating pledge would apply to proposed private gatherings, such as birthday celebrations and bachelor/bachelorette parties.
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Other questions posed by commissioners to the vendors also were not fully answered. The Dock’s two owners, Luke Cholodecki and Nick Hynes, made contradictory statements about the planned menu and hedged about their intentions regarding large-scale private events. Hynes demurred when asked to clarify vague and confusing language in a document intended to update their agreement. He said they did not anticipate that they would host more than “five or six big special events with amplified music.” When asked whether limits on their “intended” number of such events would be defined in writing, Hynes said, “We would need to spend a great amount of time to actually clarify all those terms.” He said it would have to involve “the parks legal department and our legal department.”
Wisconsin’s Public Trust Doctrine
Milwaukee’s waterfront lands that were developed by filling in lakebeds, such as Bradford Beach, are governed by a mosaic of lakebed grants issued by the State of Wisconsin over time, and lasting in perpetuity. These granted lands belong to all citizens of Wisconsin in common, not to the state or any other governmental entity charged with stewarding them.
Wisconsin’s Legislature recognized the restraints of the public trust doctrine when it granted former lakebed land to the city and county, said retired DNR attorney Michael Cain of Madison. “These grants generally specified that the granted land was to be used solely for park and parkway purposes. It’s easy to imagine what private development would have occurred without the restrictions.”
Wisconsin’s public trust doctrine forbids the exploitation of public-trust lakebed lands for private developments. DNR’s published Guidelines for Food and Beverage Service do allow “limited food service…where it supports and is clearly an appurtenance to, a permissible use” such as concessions to serve park visitors. It does not allow “destination bars and restaurants” on filled-lakebed grant lands.
Critics say The Dock’s high-end menu and plan of operation to attract diners goes well beyond the DNR guideline mandating that food service simply provide “support” services to beachgoers.
Michael Thompson, director of DNR's waterways bureau, said last week that the agency has “a long history of protecting the state’s navigable waterways and lakebed lands for everyone's use and enjoyment.” He said that the DNR works to “communicate with other governmental entities” to help them to understand and comply with the public trust doctrine.
Thompson anticipates that DNR will provide written comments by March 3 in response to LDAC’s draft hearing minutes, compiled by LDAC chair William Lynch. “The comments will likely summarize DNR’s current assessment and note that DNR and Milwaukee County Parks are tentatively scheduled to meet and further discuss public trust matters on March 16.
Thompson said that the State of Wisconsin has at times obtained court injunctions of projects when they would have violated the public trust.
Milwaukee County Sup. Sheldon Wasserman, who represents the district that includes Bradford Beach and chairs the Parks, Energy & Environment Committee, has repeatedly questioned the relevance of the public trust doctrine regarding the proposed restaurant, which he supports. Nonetheless, he said at a mid-February public meeting of the Historic Water Tower Neighborhood that he thought it possible that “someone might sue” Milwaukee County over the issue.
The Doctrine Helps Avert a Slippery Slope
Cain said that the “restrictions imposed by the public trust doctrine were so well recognized by the state, city and county leaders for so many years that few private projects were proposed for filled-lakebed lands in Milwaukee.”
The public trust doctrine did play a role in defeating the six-lane freeway planned in the 1970s to run along Milwaukee's northern lakefront. The doctrine also helped nix a "massive restaurant proposed for the old Coast Guard station, as well as a mothballed warship proposed to be docked at Veterans Park.
Nonetheless, during Cain’s 34-year career, “We probably averaged one proposal a month for private commercial facilities to be built on public trust lands around the state.” That included many proposed—and rejected—restaurant and bar facilities, floating bars in the Milwaukee River, and numerous residential condominium and hotel facilities. Other averted projects on filled lakebed have include condominiums, “dockominiums,” and a golf course and housing development that would have been sited partly on lakebed land. A hotel and restaurant/bar, recently proposed for lakebed land in Racine, found a new location nearby after it was challenged by DNR.
Photo Credit: Virginia Small
Whose Beach is it Anyway?
Since early last summer, The Dock’s owners have proceeded as if their proposed restaurant was a done deal. They began promoting their intensely-branded “full-service rooftop restaurant” in June, in press releases and social media. Large “Coming Soon” banners draped the pavilion’s railings and illustrated flyers were posted on the first floor.
Required permits reportedly have not yet been granted for the restaurant by either the city or county. Milwaukee County’s engineering division has not yet determined whether the beach house can structurally withstand the weight of a proposed 2.6-ton shipping container along with bar-and-grille crowds. Compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and other issues also must still be addressed.
In April 2019 the Chicago-area vendors signed an agreement with Milwaukee County Parks to provide beverages, food and cabanas for people recreating at Bradford Beach. As the sole concessioner allowed to sell alcohol on the beach, the contract grants the vendor seasonal access to several spaces to provide those services.
Nonetheless, a Facebook page for The Dock at Bradford Beach calls the operation a “seasonal beach bar, rooftop restaurant and event space”—not a concession. A review of The Dock’s social media since 2019 reveals that they have hosted special events, including an all-day “Equinox Beach Party” on September 7, 2019, which offered fee-based VIP packages. One post said. “Get your tickets early for the best show on the beach.” It drew interest from 780 people on Facebook.
A promotional post from July 2020 said, “The Dock on Bradford Beach is the perfect destination.” Another said, “Come enjoy a delicious meal with the best view in Milwaukee at The Dock Rooftop! Try our new menu and get a preview of our space while we remodel!” An August post said, “A beachside getaway doesn’t have to be a plane ride away! Head over to The Dock at Bradford Beach for delicious food, tropical drinks and a beautiful view!”
The Dock's website, linked to Milwaukee County Parks web page, has a tab called “Plan a Party.” It shows several dozen people lined up shoulder to shoulder on picnic tables along the lake's edge, with a bean-bag game and bar set-ups in the foreground. (The photo was originally posted on Facebook on July 22, 2019.) Although pricing for private parties at Bradford is not yet listed, the vendors have said that their jointly branded business called The Dock at Montrose Beach in Chicago is the model for their intended Bradford Beach expansion. It offers food-and-beverage packages totaling $51 to $76 per person, before taxes and gratuities, with a 25-person minimum per party. Milwaukee County Parks officials reportedly sign off on all special events conducted by the Dock.
Protecting Parkland for All
About 280 citizens sent comments to the LDAC regarding the proposed pricey restaurant. William Lynch, the commission's chair, characterized the comments as overwhelmingly opposed to a rooftop bar, grille and private-event space. As of this writing, no Milwaukee County official has publicly acknowledged or responded to specific concerns expressed in writing by citizens about the beach that they collectively own.
Brenda Coley, co-executive director of Milwaukee Water Commons, was among the commenters. She wrote, “We strongly oppose the proposal...Among other things, the Public Trust Doctrine protects the right of members of the public to use our natural waters and shores for recreational purposes. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic access to outdoor public spaces is paramount to our community health.”
Coley also said, “The proposed development raises significant equity concerns. Our organization understands our waters to be part of the commons. They belong to all of us, and they need to be actively protected and managed for the good of all. Milwaukee Water Commons is deeply vested in the work of ensuring equitable access to our natural spaces.”
Milwaukee County’s own strategic plan offers guidance, wrote Coley, who quoted that plan: “Milwaukee County's approach focuses on addressing the root causes of racial inequities: the power structures, policies and practices of our institution...Addressing the root causes that are contributing to inequities in the community will make sustainable, transformational change..." Coley added that Milwaukee County’s Health and Equity Framework asks in regard to living conditions, "Do people have access to safe, quality green spaces and recreation?”
Coley concluded: “As Milwaukee continues to dismantle systemic racism and battle the ills of being one of the most racially segregated cities in the nation, we ask you to listen to what each of us inherently knows. This development will not broadly improve the quality of life for our communities of color and it will not serve to foster care for our waters by all of those who call Milwaukee home.”
Public Spaces Must Welcome and Serve Everyone
Arijit Sen, an associate professor in the UW-Milwaukee's School of Architecture and Urban Planning, said that it is essential for civil society and democracy that people successfully share and navigate public spaces together. He said that concessions and other commerce can be appropriately placed so they do not encroach on a public space. “However, commerce should not dominate a public space or make that place seem unwelcome to some people,” Sen said. “There definitely should not be hard boundaries, such as roped-off areas. Nonetheless, even softer visual boundaries, such as a row of planters or furniture, can deter people from accessing what is rightfully public space.”
Sen said that a second-floor bar and grille would inevitably appear unwelcoming for general-public use, even if non-patrons are ostensibly “allowed” access to or through the space, adding “Milwaukeeans would do well to use public spaces intentionally to foster more mingling of people from different backgrounds.”
Anne Steinberg, a community advocate with several environmental organizations, said “The biggest problem with this proposed restaurant is that it has proceeded without Milwaukee County ever engaging in meetings in which the public's input was sought or that allowed the public to speak directly. There has been no real democratic process about the future of this valued public space.”
Milwaukee County Parks officials did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
