The Milwaukee Common Council gave an unanimous thumbs-up on Tuesday to a substitute ordinance that would waive various city fees for businesses planning to make accessibility improvements to their entrances. The ordinance was inspired by Bay View venue Cactus Club, 2496 S. Wentworth Ave., which encountered a series of surprise fees in its long-in-the-works quest to create a 29-foot concrete ramp for its front door.
The ordinance waives permit fees and appraisal service charges for additions or alterations, “if the purpose of the addition or alteration is to create an accessible entrance for persons with disabilities.” Additions or alterations must be for primary entrances and exits, and the useable square footage of the business must not be increased by the additions or alterations.
Tuesday’s Common Council approval followed similar committee approvals throughout September. Mayor Cavalier Johnson has final approval on all Common Council items.
“Public policy should incentivize, not penalize, change that enhances our collective quality of life,” Cactus Club owner and operator Kelsey Kaufmann told Milwaukee Record on Tuesday. “I’m grateful for Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic for introducing the amendments and proud of local officials for seeing the obvious value.”
The Cactus Club ramp is nearly complete. Hand railings are due to be installed in the next few weeks.
The ramp is part of the venue’s Cactus+ Accessibility Initiative. (Future components include improved bathroom and stage accessibility.) At an earlier committee meeting, Kaufmann said she anticipated the project would cost between $16,000 and $20,000. The actual price tag, however, was more than $100,000. That money was eventually raised through a combination of community fundraising; several high-profile benefit shows from Bully, ESG, and Jack White; and, thanks to a mosaic on the side of the ramp created by artist Kate Klingbeil, a Ruth Foundation for the Arts grant.
In July, Cactus Club learned the city would be charging an additional $20,000 for a curb bump out. Another round of fundraising was launched, and White kicked in $20,000 of his own money for the cause.
But the surprises continued. “Though we had thought we had been speaking with the Department of Public Works consistently, we didn’t realize some of the other permitting challenges and some of those costs,” Kaufmann said at the earlier committee meeting. “So with that, we had to pay almost $2,000 in permitting fees to get this accomplished.”
Those permitting fees are the ones that would be waived by the new ordinance. Kaufmann says Cactus Club has nearly paid its fees off, and that “I’m happy to pay the remaining [fees] if the future looks better.”
The Cactus Club building is nearly 140 years old, and thus not required to be in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But Kaufmann has pushed for ADA improvements anyway, and has stressed the importance of having all patrons share the same main entrance.
At an earlier committee meeting, Ald. Scott Spiker noted that Cactus Club’s case was indeed unique. He asked how many other similar businesses could be expected to take advantage of the new fee exemptions. Department of Neighborhood Services Commissioner Jezamil Arroyo-Vega estimated between 10 and 30 businesses, based on previous data.
Dimitrijevic, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said she instead hoped that “hundreds and thousands” of businesses would now choose to make their entrances more accessible.
“Let’s make it as easy as possible to make every place the most accessible,” Dimitrijevic said.
This isn’t the first time Cactus Club has helped changed city policy. Back in 2019, Kaufmann and others were instrumental in easing restrictions on clubs looking to host all-ages shows while simultaneously serving alcohol to patrons 21 and over.
What’s next for Kaufmann? “Public arts funding,” she says. Stay tuned.
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