The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2007-02-06 Correspondence I ~ I ~~~~'t -..;;;::..... ...aa.~ ...,...~ CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM r ~~~ Date: January 22, 2007 To: City Clerk [JPf From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Item for February 6, 2007 City Council meeting: Removal of six parking meters in the 100 block of N. Madison Street. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 38 of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A (17), remove six parking meters; MA121N, MA123N, MA125N, MA127N, MA129N, MA131N in the 100 block of N. Madison Street on the west side of the street. These meters have term of 30 minutes at $0.50/hr. Comment: This action is being taken to accommodate buses for the reconstructed entrance to the UI Memorial Union. A temporary use of right of way agreement is in effect through Public Works. Mgr/agditms/aw-madisonst.doc -, '1'1 t'.J ~ ,'" "-.." l" ". i'"'.,) ):"; C) I ~ j =~~-~... !~Wi!:~~ -....:;:,.... ......, ...,.. .. CITY OF IOWA CITyr:=J MEMORANDUM Date: January 19, 2007 To: City Clerk From: Kent Ralston; Assistant Transportation Planner ~ Re: Item for February 6, 2007 City Council meeting; Install (1) NO PARKING LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES ONLY sign; (1) combination NO PARKING LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES ONLY / NO PARKING CITY BUSES ONLY sign; and (1) NO PARKING CITY BUSES ONLY sign on the 100 blk. of Capitol Street with TOW- AWAY ZONE signs. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A (10), install (1) NO PARKING LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES ONLY sign; (1) combination NO PARKING LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES ONLY / NO PARKING CITY BUSES ONLY sign; and (1) NO PARKING CITY BUSES ONLY sign on the west side of Capitol Street across from the U of I Public Safety office. Install (3) supplemental TOW-AWAY ZONE signs, one for each of the above NO PARKING signs. Comment: This action is being taken at the request of the University of Iowa Public Safety office in order to provide adequate parking for official business. This action is also being taken to provide adequate space for Iowa City Transit temporary bus staging. Mgr/agd/kr -capitolst.n pat. doc c' ~~ r"''- -.J r." N -T1 7i --, 't:- -~ C3 fv I ~ j ~~~~'t -..;::;::..... ...1III.' ....,.... CITY OF IOWA CITYc:;r:J MEMORANDUM From: January 24, 2007 City Clerk U Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner ()Jv Item for February 6, 2007 City Council meeting: Installation of NO PARKING ANY TIME signs on the north and west sides of Meadow Ridge Lane Date: To: Re: As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 38 of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), install NO PARKING ANY TIME signs on the north and west sides of Meadow Ridge Lane including the cul-de-sac bulb. Comment: This action is being taken because vehicles parked on the street directly opposite each other make it too narrow for emergency vehicles and City service vehicles to get through. jccoglpJmem/ilcomm-meadowridge,doc t'._,._~ --, o :s~ -I-i f'~ -""" "-~ , ._~;: / ).~ l'';) -' IJ:J Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Drew Shaffer [dshaffer@citychanneI4.com] Tuesday, January 30, 2007 3:51 PM jwarner1@ai5.net 'City Council cable outages Dear Mr. Warner, Thank you for contacting the City regarding the cable outages you have experienced. The cable company has been notified of your situation. The cable company has reported they have attempted to contact you on multiple occasions and, not being able to reach you, has left messages on your voice mail. The cable company has agreed to perform any necessary system maintenance at hours when the fewest number of subscribers would be affected, which is usually late night and early morning hours. The cable company has agreed to compensate you for your loss of service. Please contact them regarding the compensation they offer. If you have any questio~s or wish to discuss this matter further, please feel free to contact me. Drew Shaffer, Cable TV Administrator City of Iowa City 356-5046 1 Marian Karr From: Sent: To: Subject: jerry warner Uwarner1@ai5.net] Thursday, January 25,2007 1 :21 AM 'City Council Mediacom suspensions of service This is the third consecutive night Mediacom has shut down all TV and Internet services here in Iowa City, and the fifth time I am aware of in the last two weeks. Others say it is more! I called Mediacom finally and all they say is, quote: "People dont need our services at night!" I am asking you to finally DO SOMETHING' about this Mediacom fiasco thatis runing our lives here in Iowa City, while charging us a fortune to do it! Note the time of my email. I am using an alternate dialup or I could not be sending this at all. I have to keep dialup as a backup to the unreliable MEDIACOM!!! Jerry Warner 2714 Wayne Ave Iowa City, Iowa 319-351-3037 1 r:J Marian Karr From: Sue Dulek Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 2:41 PM To: 'Steelegm@aol.com' Cc: 'City Council; Steve Atkins: Eleanor M. Dilkes; Marian Karr Subject: Rental deposits Dear Mr. Steele: I am an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Iowa City. The City Attorney asked that I respond to your email to City Council dated Jan. 20, 2007. Rental deposits for residential leases are governed by state law in Iowa. Here is a link to section 562A.12 of the Code of Iowa so you can read the full provision concerning deposits. htto:/Icoolice.leais.state.ia.us/Cool- ICE/defau It.aso?cateaorv=billinfo&service= 10waCode I will also send you by separate email a link to the Iowa code in case you cannot just click on this and get the Iowa Code. State law allows a landlord to demand a security deposit in an amount of 2 months' rent. See section 562A.12(1). Additionally, landlords are allowed to retain the interest on deposits for the first 5 years. See section 562A.12(2). If a person rents from a landlord for more than 5 years, then the interest belongs to the tenant. With respect to returning the deposit after the tenant moves out, please see sections 562A.12(3) and (4). If the tenant disagrees with the amount and/or reason for the deposit retained by the landlord, the tenant may sue the landlord in small claims court for the disputed portion of the deposit. Please note that burden of proof is on the landlord to prove the basis for withholding the deposit. I hope that this addresses your legal issues. Sue Dulek 1/29/2007 _Iowa General Assembly Iowa Code 2007 Quick Retrieval Note: This version of the Iowa Code is being maintained to search by Chapter and/or Section. The current version of the Iowa Code which can be browsed and searched can be found h.ere. Sections of the Code can be accessed by using the form below. You can enter just a Chapter and/or the Section number in the field (e.g. 138.12 brings up chapter 138 section 12). Chapter.Section: I - . 1/30/2007 Page 1 of2 Marian Karr From: Kathryn Johansen Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 9:09 AM To: 'Steelegm@aol.com' Cc: 'City Council Subject: RE: Double-Month Security Deposits - Scam Potential in Iowa City? Dear George, Thank you for your e-mail to the City Council. Council members do not receive their e-mail messages directly. Your message will be forwarded to Council and received as official correspondence on an upcoming Council meeting agenda. If you wish to contact Council members directly, their names are listed on the City website at.........._.....__~_J~g.c?y.org. On the menu bar, click "council" for a list of names and telephone numbers. The City Manager and City Attorney have each received notice of your e-mail. Thank you for writing. Sincerely, Kathi Johansen Administrative Assistant to the City Manager From: Steelegm@aoJ.com [mailto:Steelegm@aoJ.com] Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 6:35 PM To: *City Council Cc: AIiCat3216@aol.com Subject: Double-Month Security Deposits - Scam Potential in Iowa City? Dear Council Members: I am writing the Council about an issue that may travel well below your usual radar screen, but one that may be the first stage of an Apartment Rental practice that seems ripe for serious abuse. Recently, my daughter, a senior next year at University of Iowa, went through the exciting ritual of scouring the Iowa City area for available apartment rentals for an August 1 st move-in. As you may know this usually involves signing a Rental Lease sometime in January, and is traditionally secured with a one month Security Deposit which is cashed immediately, a nice interest earning advance for the Apartment owner. This January, 2007 my daughter assembled 3 friends and entered into an $1875 4-bedroom lease with the Apartments Near Campus group. This management companies' office is located at 318 East Burlington, and I believe has many holdings in the Iowa City area. This year, however, the prospective tenants were informed they must provide a "2 Month" security deposit, so the rental manager collected a $1875 first binder Security Deposit on January 19th, and advised an additional Security Deposit for $1 ,875 must be provided in 30 days. (Note the first months "actual rent" will be collected separately in a third transaction in July for the August period). Keep in mind, these two "Security" deposits totaling $3750 will be cashed immediately and held until the end of the lease period which is July 31,2008 or roughly 18 months from now. The purpose of this letter is to provide notice to the City Council of this latest inflated collections trend, and seek your opinion or that of your City Attorney or Manager, on the appropriateness of this new "Double- Month" Security deposit collection practice. Another reason my own concerns were raised was that two years ago my daughter completed a lease with a $835 Security deposit with this same management company for a 1/22/2007 Page 2 of2 two bedroom unit, and despite the seemingly meticulous efforts of us parents to leave the apartment "spotlessly clean", only half of the Security Deposit was returned. While we felt the confiscated monies far exceeded the requisite carpet shampoo, etc. we were too busy to follow through on that specific matter, but I have recently begun noticing similar stories of others with Security Deposit disputes in Iowa City posted on the Internet. The point is while Security Deposits have an appropriate purpose to protect the condition and rentability of the owner's property, the "Double" amount of money now being required for deposit and combined with unregulated, and seemingly inconsistent Deposit return practices by some landlords, is DQe for serious financial abus~. Again, the purpose of this letter is not to argue a specific minor dispute on a previous rental experience, or suggest Apartments Near Campus is alone in applying the new Double Deposit requirement. In fact, my daughter advises many of the current apartment owners in Iowa City are implementing the inflated "double" Security Deposit collections, so they have no choice but to comply. Your fine city hosts student residents for a relatively short cycle of four years of so, but their rights and contribution to your local economy should be respected. I would appreciate your investigation into this specific "Double-Month" Security deposit practice in Iowa City. This January year four senior women have deposited and entrusted $3750 to an Apartment Management Company to hold for eighteen months. This year they will follow the "tip" advice of the rental manager to "take pictures" of everything and itemize even the smallest detail, and then finally have their day of reckoning for the Deposit Refund sometime in August, 2008. My question, and maybe your question should be too, will this final business transaction in Iowa City be a fair and ethical one, or might it rather be a day colored by unfairness and greed, that negatively taints the reflections of otherwise proud University of Iowa graduates. I appreciate your time in recognizing the serious amount of money and potential for abuse which I believe is inherent in this new, and possibly widespread collections practice. I would value your individual Council Member opinions, as well as the considerations for your City Manager and Attorney whether this Double-Month Advance Security Deposit collection is within the fair and reasonable standards of Iowa City. Sincerely, George M. Steele, 14691 Boulder Pointe Road, Eden Prairie, MN, 55347 Tel. 952-906-0501 1/22/2007 Marian Karr 0;0 From: Sent: To: Subject: Auer Sears uason@chakrassage.com] Wednesday, January 31,200712:04 PM 'City Council Follow up for Event Budget Dear Council, I wanted to follow up the proposal for "Child Appreciation Day," to clarify there are many citizens interested in forming a committee to see the event through. Some of those members include, Jennifer Newman, Theresa Carbrey, Jason Bradley, Kyle Deden, Joanna Lawson, and Tim Tabor. I hope that I was able to address your concerns adequately. questions, please feel free to contact me. If you have any more Thank You, Erin Auer-Sears Coordinator for Child Appreciation Day 1 I ~ ! -",,= -liQ' t.~1N"!J:'t , ~:;'~"'lIIliiti;. .......~ CITY OF IOWA CITY ~~ January 22, 2007 4]0 East Washington Street Iowa City. Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www.icgov.org James Amlong, Chairperson Johnson County Board of Adjustment 913 S Dubuque Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Re: Mary Beth Hackbarth Conditional Use Permit Dear James and Members of the Board: The City of Iowa City has received an application from Mary Beth Hackbarth for a conditional use permit to allow a home-based photography business located at 3104 Charles Drive in unincorporated Johnson County. The Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance allows Cities to review conditional use permit applications for property within their fringe area. At its January] 8th, meeting the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the Iowa City City Council recommend approval of the conditional use permit. The Iowa City City Council concurs with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation and recommends the conditional use permit submitted by Mary Beth Hackbarth be approved. Sincerely, ~U~ Ross Wilburn Mayor ---,_...~._------"--~._.-~".~--"---~--------_._-----_.-'-_. --...---.-.-.---.--..-.-----.-- . -_.,~----------- ;Ir?)l.. I ~ 1 -~'5.-~... !~I~!:'"!. . ~~...aa'm~ .... ... CITY OF IOWA CITY January 22, 2007 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www.icgov.org James Amlong, Chairperson Johnson County Board of Adjustment 913 S Dubuque Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Re: Mary Beth Hackbarth Conditional Use Permit Dear James and Members of the Board: The City of Iowa City has received an application from Mary Beth Hackbarth for a conditional use permit to allow a home-based photography business located at 3 I 04 Charles Drive in unincorporated Johnson County. The Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance allows Cities to review conditional use permit applications for property within their fringe area. At its January l8lh, meeting the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the Iowa City City Council recommend approval of the conditional use permit. The Iowa City City Council concurs with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation and recommends the conditional use permit submitted by Mary Beth Hackbarth be approved. Sincerely, Ross Wilburn Mayor '~M_'_"~'_"____"" ..---.-,-"'----,..----"-~,-..-----------"------'-..~----.--------------...----.----.. City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: January 18, 2007 To: Planning & Zoning Commission From: Drew E. Westberg, Planning Intern RE: CZ06-0003 Mary Beth Hackbarth, Photography Studio The applicant, Mary Beth Hackbarth, is requesting a conditional use permit for 40 acres of land, located at 3104 Charles Drive. The applicant wishes to establish and operate a home-based photography business in a recently constructed basement studio. The business will be largely conducted at locations other than the applicant's home with the studio providing office/production space and a location to photograph with backdrops. The applicant's property is located northeast of Iowa City in Fringe Area A beyond the city's growth boundary. It is not anticipated that the city will grow to include this property within the foreseeable future. The Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance permits cities to review conditional use permits for applications within their extra-territorial jurisdiction. Conditional use permits require a 4/5-majority vote of the County Board of Adjustment to approve a permit opposed by the City Council. Zoning Requirements: The Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance (JCUDO) allows home businesses in the A, AR, and R zones subject to a conditional use permit. The permit requires that any materials, supplies, or products be confined to the dwelling or the permitted accessory building or buildings located on the premises and that the proposed use will not be detrimental to surrounding properties. The majority of business activities will take place either in the studio or at a location off the subject property. Additionally, adjacent land is primarily farmland which should not be negatively impacted by the small additional traffic that may be potentially generated by the home business. If this property were within the city limits, this use-a home occupation-would be allowed as an accessory use. In staffs opinion, the proposed use will not be detrimental to surrounding properties. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that Council forward a letter to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment recommending that the application by Mary Beth Hackbarth, for a conditional use permit to allow a home-based photography business, be approved. ATTACHMENTS: Location Map , Approved by: ~ Robert Miklo, Senior Planner, Department of Planning and Community Development __ _ ~_'_ ____.______.__...______~______._._....___._..~___.____. ..._._____._u_~_~_,..~...~______~____.__ - ___...___.__."_n___..'__ _ ......____._...._.,_____._ -.-----.~---,_.------ CITY OF IOWA CITY ~ I --n'~'1 :/~F+- L~]----r---T---' ',~/ '. " CY ~ ',- \ / " I I' II '----, I I I I 1-, I I" ---1 I I , - --~n 7 ' 1., . II \ " I L II I 7 'LJ / I I ,\, \ I 'I I , . ,~' -/-- " , ,/ ~', , , / -1-\ ___ 6Y I I' I" \ I II' I /tH N1"~~ 'I I_J I' Y I,'____J , " , /! \ . r I 1" I ,,--1..1 ~'~." 'U I, I I I --_~_ \. I 'I ~ / r~T-7 Ii' I I IL___ I ! ' I'" 1'1.: - .. .L! ../ ~ ----, ! 1 ;---T-~ 'I 'I l " I I 'I ' , 'I I I I I \ I I I I I ' I I I " L ' I I I " -j I I~' " '--J I I r I I I I I, I______+_____----L I I ~-- -----r _______ I' -l / I I I , -//-LI I I I, I " I 'I f-------~ I I' I I ' I, I. I, ,I I' I I I, __--1---1--- ---!-___-+------,-----l------- ,- , I I ' I I, I I I ' i '" I I I I I , I I \ I I , "--_ i " I I I I In I. I I' -t I , I I I -----+------ ION""OW^ON'~'^H"'~ f-t J------r --T-f----- I I I 'I ,I I ~-1 I I I I 'I I , I ' I ", I I , \ I I \ ",! " \ I , . I I ~ Clr~ G.9a",1 II i I II II II I I - I I .~. , ! -~r --,. ~- -.- ---T--- .,__ I I I I I ' I I I I I I I n I I I ' " I ',__...1 I -\ I Ii I I '1',' . I I ~ I I I I I" \ I,', " I ~ I I " I ,,, I I I I , \ , I i , i ~ \ \ \ I \ \ , I , , I I , -... , , , I SITE LOCATION: 3104 Charles Drive CZ06-0003