Cedarburg Group Launches Community Survey, Citing 2001 Citywide Survey That Drew 1,780 Responses

Effort follows a review of the City's comprehensive plan and its 2001 public input process.

CEDARBURG , WI, UNITED STATES, September 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On March 25, 2001, the City of Cedarburg mailed a survey to every resident in the city. Nearly 1,800 people filled it out and sent it back, a 34.2 percent return that most professional pollsters would envy.

That survey, along with two community forums that drew more than 100 residents and 700 additional written comments, and six focus groups attended by more than 70 people, became the foundation of the Smart Growth Comprehensive Land Use Plan the Common Council adopted on January 28, 2008.

Twenty-five years later, Save Cedar Creek is asking residents the same question. What do they want the City of Cedarburg to look like?

The organization launched a community survey two weeks ago at https://www.savecedarcreekwi.com/scc-survey. It has drawn nearly 200 responses in two weeks, entirely through social media.

"Two hundred people in two weeks, and that's just the folks who happen to follow us online," said Kevin Cahill, founder of Save Cedar Creek. "The residents we're not reaching are the ones who still read the paper. Those voices belong in this too."

The effort follows a review of the City's own planning documents. Chapter 9 of the comprehensive plan describes the 2001 process in detail. It then commits the City to a standard for what comes next: future revisions of any goal, objective, or policy "shall receive the same level of analysis" as the creation of the plan.

The update the Common Council adopted on October 13, 2025 took a different path. By the City's account, it drew on Plan Commission meetings, a commissioned housing report, a traffic study, a school district enrollment projection, and public hearings held after draft land use designations had already been prepared.

Nothing was mailed to households.

"The City followed the law. The hearings were held, the notices ran, and people showed up," Cahill said. "But a hearing hears from whoever found out it was happening and was free that Tuesday night. A mailed survey asks everyone. Cedarburg knew that difference in 2001. It wrote it into the plan."

The distinction is not academic. The December 2024 public input session filled the Cedarburg Cultural Center, and the Plan Commission responded by reducing density in two Smart Growth Areas. Public participation worked for the people in the room. The question is who wasn't.

Cahill says the survey is meant to fill that gap, not replace the City's role.

"Most people in this town are raising kids and working. They are not reading Plan Commission minutes. That isn't apathy, and nobody hid anything. The information just never reaches them, and then everyone acts surprised when residents are upset about what got built."

The work is not finished. When the Council acted in October 2025, it adopted updates to four chapters. Six remain outstanding, including the natural and cultural resources element tied to Cedar Creek.

"Those chapters are still ahead of us," Cahill said. "There is still time to do this the way 2001 was done. Ask first, then draw the map."

The survey takes about two minutes. Responses are confidential. Aggregate results will be published, shared with every participant, and delivered to the City.

About Save Cedar Creek

Save Cedar Creek is a Cedarburg-based community organization focused on responsible development, watershed protection, and transparent local government. More at www.savecedarcreekwi.com.

Kevin Cahill
Save Cedar Creek LLC
cedarcreeksave@gmail.com
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