Vote delayed for Coulee Council on Addictions development near Lincoln Middle School in La Crosse

Group needed a super majority from city council to pass zoning change 

It will be another month before a decision gets made on a zoning change to allow the Coulee Council on Addictions (CCA) to build on the south side of La Crosse.

The city council delayed a vote on the zoning at the request of the organization, and it’s not clear if CCA had the votes to win a La Crosse City Hall battle.

But, that’s not the official reason why the council has granted the delay. CCA president Cheryl Hancock said it was last-minute, 10-page legal document the group received that halted the decision. Those pages defined parameters of a payment for city services.

“That’s a lot to digest,” Hancock said of getting the documents in the “11th hour.”

“I was pretty surprised,” she continued. “And, some of the language, the initial look at it by some of our legal people is that we have some concerns.”

Another reason the vote was put off was because a council member absence meant CCA might not have had the super majority votes needed to get approval.

“This actually coincides with a parking waiver that we have put to the city, which is going to be in the October cycle, as well,” Hancock said. “So we wouldn’t be able to get a building permit until that parking waiver is approved.”

Many neighbors where the facility is proposed to be built have pushed back against the nearly-$3 million plan on an empty lot near Lincoln Middle School that is owned by Mayo Health System.

“We need to have those documents reviewed and evaluated, working with landowners, No. 1,” Hancock said. “The other thing is to continue to reach out to the neighbors and try to find some common ground.”