A mass mailing to thousands of Madison area homeowners, warning their property could soon lose value because of a countywide plan to protect lakes and streams, has touched off a political firestorm.

Some 32,000 glossy 6"x11" postcards -- which Dane County officials say contain significant factual errors -- were sent in advance of two public hearings before the Dane County Lakes & Watershed Commission last month.

The mailing was funded by the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin, among other groups. One postcard shows a modest lake home in the cross hairs of a rifle, telling homeowners the county has them in its sights.

"We support clean water but there are ways other than what the county is suggesting," says Phil Salkin, government affairs director for the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin.

Salkin says pending rules could make it harder to add a backyard deck, expand a driveway or build a garage. They might also force homeowners into making costly improvements to their landscaping, he says.

But Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk's chief of staff says the postcards are fraught with errors and were designed simply to inflame the public in advance of the spring 2010 elections.

"You know we choose our words carefully but in this case the Realtors are just lying," says Topf Wells. "They say a vote is pending before the County Board. That is a lie and they know it."

While some people might brush off the mailing as political posturing, Wells says many residents are taking it as gospel. He says county offices have been swamped with calls from concerned homeowners over the past two weeks.

"Honestly, I had a little old lady crying to me on the phone because she was worried her house would have to be torn down because it was next to a detention pond," says Wells. "That's the kind of misinformation being put out there."

Salkin says the business groups were forced into action because the county has balked at doing an economic impact study or responding to private sector concerns over the plan.

"We had to send out the cards telling people what the county is planning to do to them because the county has refused to do it," he says.

The mailing takes aim at the "Shoreland and Riparian Management Plan," a long-range document that has been working its way through the county planning process for several years.

Funded with a 2004 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources, the 60-page report includes a long list of recommendations on how to improve water quality by controlling storm water runoff in urban areas. Although the majority of pollution flowing into Dane County waters comes from farms, studies show that urban areas also contribute to the problem.

County planner Brian Standing says the draft plan is designed to update water quality standards from the 1960s. The ultimate goal is to have uniform rules that would apply to all property owners along waterways.

Currently, there is a mish-mash of regulations depending on where a property is located or in what municipality. In some cases, urban waters like the Madison lakes have been less protected from runoff than more pristine upstream waters like Black Earth Creek.

"This would standardize the permit approval process based on county-wide standards," says Standing.

But any final action on the recommendations in the Shoreland and Riparian Management Plan could still be two years or more away.

The county says it won't do anything until the state Legislature approves NR 115, the new statewide shoreland zoning law that received initial approval this summer. Once NR 115 is finalized, any change to current county ordinance would need to go through public hearings and eventually a vote of the full county board, Standing notes.

The plan calls for phasing in Dane County cities and villages. Initially, about 780 properties not currently under shoreland zoning would be added. If fully enacted, it could potentially affect more than 57,000 properties in the county.

"People are getting worked up over things that may or may not even take effect for a couple of years," says Standing.

But Salkin says thousands of housing lots in the Madison area could suddenly fall under new deed restrictions that would potentially lower property values without the owner ever knowing.

Salkin lays out a scenario where a homeowner living within 500 feet of a lake might be required to install a rain garden or other device to capture storm water. He says future owners of a property would then assume the cost of maintaining those systems.

"I may love native vegetation in my yard but if a potential buyer wants to install a lawn, as a Realtor I have to say to them "Sorry, you can't do that,' " says Salkin.

Other opponents of the shoreland plan say they feel shut out of the process.

"I'm not saying property values will plummet 25 percent no matter what," says Carole Schaffer of Smart Growth Madison, a local real estate development group. "However, in the expert opinion of many assessors, appraisers, mortgage bankers, Realtors, developers and builders, this may have a negative impact."

Salkin said the Realtors even offered to pay for an economic impact study but were never taken up on their suggestion.

"All we've asked for is a seat at the table," he says. "Let's get in a room and work together and get something done."

Given the bad feelings on both sides, however, that might prove difficult.

Dane County Board Supervisor Brett Hulsey, former chairman of the Lakes & Watershed Commission, says planners already made changes after hearing concerns from business groups last summer. He says Salkin is sounding alarm bells now simply to rally the conservative base.

"Phil is making a mountain out of mole hill," says Hulsey. "This issue just provides the tea bag, anti-RTA, anti-Obama crowd with a reason to come out."

The Dane County Lakes & Watershed Commission is scheduled to discuss the Shoreland and Riparian Management Plan at its next meeting on Dec. 10.

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