Avalanche of Anger Tells Shorewood Trustees to Drop Sale of North Oakland Parking Lot

The residents of Shorewood have spoken once again to Village government courtesy of Shorewood’s 2026 Community Survey.*Residents placed parking problems as #1 among “neighborhood conditions needing the most attention.” They also filled the comments section with 13 pages of narrative, more than any other topic area including taxes. The survey results follow a drumbeat of resident complaints made to Shorewood’s trustees which continue to be ignored.

It seems Village residents care about each other, and are speaking against the loss of the only public parking lot serving the 542 residents of the North Oakland Avenue neighborhood.**Lower income households in Shorewood’s densest apartment blocks rely upon the lot for personal transport needs, and 54 local small businesses rely upon the lot to serve customers.

The Shorewood 2026 Community Survey had 624 responses representing 4.7% of Village residents. The method of survey distribution is unfortunately designed to favor homeowners. Affordable Shorewood made the Village aware of this flaw in 2025 but no change was made to the distribution method. The survey had only 9.7% of respondents being apartment dwellers. The Village’s 2020 report on housing discloses 30%*** reside in apartments, which understates the voices of apartment renters by 300%.Even with this severe underreporting of renter voices, 2026 survey results pointed to on-street parking problems and the sale of the North Oakland parking lot as hot button issues for all residents.

Here are parking-related findings from the Shorewood 2026 Community Survey:

·268 survey respondents provided written comments regarding parking conditions in Shorewood and most expressed frustration with Village policy and decisions.

·81 of these were critical of the sale of the North Oakland Avenue parking lot and angry about parking problems faced by renters, businesses, and those with special needs in the neighborhood.

·ChatGPT offered this assessment of the 8,300 words of comment submitted by residents: One of the most frequently mentioned issues was the planned redevelopment of the public parking lot on the 4400 block of Oakland. The top complaint was the “Loss of parking for businesses and customers.”

Resident anger over the sale of the North Oakland Avenue parking lot is not new and has been growing for many months.

The transcript of a fiery Village board meeting on March 16, 2026 was evaluated by Affordable Shorewood. The meeting was attended by about 40 residents with another 60 participating online. Village affairs rarely attract this level of participation, but the topic that evening was a vote to continue the sale of the North Oakland Avenue parking lot. The vast majority of attendees were in opposition to the sale, with 18 residents speaking against the parking lot sale, and only three supporting development of the parking lot.Evaluation of the meeting transcript reveals more than 8,600 words were spoken by residents opposing the sale. Village trustees later voted 5 to 2 in support of the sale.

The following are notable comments from the 2026 Shorewood Community Survey:

• “The residents that live in the older apartments on Oakland are being completely ignored. There are families, there are seniors, that need that parking, yet the board completely disregarded them.”
• “Homeowners, renters, and businesses have voiced their opinions in this regard, and the Village trustees refuse to listen and understand the problem. It is clear they do not have the best interests of the community at heart.”
• “We have lived in the Village for over 25 years. Parking has dominated the Village Board discussion the entire time. It has led to one terrible decision after another.”

The extensive resident narrative from the survey on anger with parking issues was completely omitted from the presentation made by Shorewood to Village trustees at the August 3, 2026 board meeting.

“I’m proud of my fellow residents because they care about how others are treated. It’s sadly obvious that the trustees don’t share this empathy,” said Jay Sorensen, a volunteer and advocate with Affordable Shorewood. “Our elected representatives don’t care about the parking needs of small businesses and lower-income renters, effectively hurting the neighborhood and encouraging those who need a car to flee the Village. And yet, the average trustee owns two cars.”

A PDF of the 13 pages of resident comments about parking is available upon request.

About Affordable Shorewood: Affordable Shorewood is a grassroots initiative of renters, homeowners, families, businesses, and landlords who want Shorewood to remain affordable and livable for all. Committed to preserving Shorewood’s small-town character, the group believes village trustees should prioritize the needs of current residents in all planning decisions. We support affordable housing development that takes a balanced approach to public benefits, neighborhoods and village finances.

Learn more at http://affordableshorewood.org/

Contact:Jay Sorensen, Volunteer and Advocate, jay “at” AffordableShorewood.org

Source notes:

* Survey link:https://www.villageofshorewood.org/874/2026-Community-Survey

** Affordable Shorewood physical inventory of the all apartments and businesses in the 4400 block of North Oakland Avenue, August 2025.

*** Comprehensive Housing Market Study and Needs Analysis of Shorewood, WI (2020).45.7% of households are renters and 64.7% of households are in apartment buildings.