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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-02-01 Correspondence0 MEMORANDUM 0 January 26, 1977 TO: The Iowa City Council Members - J. Balmer, C_ deProsse, P. Foster, M. Neuhauser, D. Perret, M. Selzer, B. Vevera FROM: Mary Howsare 900 N. Dodge St. During this time when we can do nothing more than wait for some answers and legal decisions concerning the proposed plan for three, 29 -Unit apart- ment buildings to be built on this tract of land next to our property on Dodge, I would hope that I could convey to each of you the personal impact this will have on our family. The first building under construction since December is only 10 ft. from our lot line and will run nearly to the back of our yard. Our lot is 350 ft. long so you can visualize the size of the building: To imagine even one completed 2 1/2 story building, 10 ft. from us is just overwhelming. There are numerous windows in this building and to have any privacy at all for our family in the future, it will be necessary for us to install a solid wood fence 8 or 9 ft. tall on the North of our property. We bought our property three years ago in a neighborhood we expected to remain residential. We love our house and our neighborhood the way it is now and are certainly not the only residents that feel this way. If this proposed complex, or even the first of three buildings is allowed, by the Council of this city, to be completed, my husband and I feel we will have no recourse but to sell our property and we feel it is a violation of our rights as an Iowa City resident to be forced to do that. We urge the Council at this time to first consider the welfare of our com- munity, Happy Hollow Park, Horace Mann School, and secondly, not to forget the desires of the voting residents who live in the northend of Iowa City. Think for a moment of our neighborhood as your own neighborhood, and what's being built next door to me, being constructed next door to you. I would say in closing, we are pleased with the actions and concern of the Council until now, don't disappoint us or the other residents in the Iowa City northend, please. Thankyou. 1 X012 31977 D ADJ'ij JTOLFU_, CITY CLERK 200 �! CSTOLFUS CITY CLUNK MEMORANDUM TO: City Council of Iowa City. Members: J. Balmer, C. deProsse, P. Foster, M. Neuhauser, D. Perret, M. Selzer, B. Vevera FROM: Mary Howsare 900 N. Dodge RE: Re -zoning of the North Dodge property back to R2 I would ask you as council members, to give thought and great consideration to the following points of interest: 1. We, the residents of the Dodge Street neighborhood now, feel like we are being penalized for what happened ten years ago. This trace of land was not developed at all during this ten years, making the re -zoning to R3B useless in the first place. Residents who live in this neighborhood now, and are affected by this decision now, should have a voice in the re -zoning of this property. 2. Residents who own property in this neighborhood should not be forced to consider selling their property because they feel they cannot tolerate what this development, already partly constructed, would do their community. 3. The city of Iowa City might consider exchanging a tract of urban renewal land for the Dodge St. property in question. Options would then be open to extend Happy Hollow Playground or lots could be sold for famil dwellings. 4. Consider the true meaning of an extraordinary majority on a five -member council, as was the case ten years ago. Also consider the "intent" of the petition drawn up and signed by residents of this neighborhood ten years ago not the "wording" of the petition. You, the Iowa City Council members, were elected by the people --certainly you should make decisions for the people. I would ask you again to base your de- cisions on what will benefit the communities of our city as a whole, not to benefit only a few who will make materialistic gains from apartment develop- ments. This Iowa City Council can do something now to save our Northend from apartment invasion. Think, for a moment, of the Northend as your neighborhood, and you will know how we feel. Thankyou. S 0200 FEB 1 41977 D February 1, 1977 �! CSTOLFUS CITY CLUNK MEMORANDUM TO: City Council of Iowa City. Members: J. Balmer, C. deProsse, P. Foster, M. Neuhauser, D. Perret, M. Selzer, B. Vevera FROM: Mary Howsare 900 N. Dodge RE: Re -zoning of the North Dodge property back to R2 I would ask you as council members, to give thought and great consideration to the following points of interest: 1. We, the residents of the Dodge Street neighborhood now, feel like we are being penalized for what happened ten years ago. This trace of land was not developed at all during this ten years, making the re -zoning to R3B useless in the first place. Residents who live in this neighborhood now, and are affected by this decision now, should have a voice in the re -zoning of this property. 2. Residents who own property in this neighborhood should not be forced to consider selling their property because they feel they cannot tolerate what this development, already partly constructed, would do their community. 3. The city of Iowa City might consider exchanging a tract of urban renewal land for the Dodge St. property in question. Options would then be open to extend Happy Hollow Playground or lots could be sold for famil dwellings. 4. Consider the true meaning of an extraordinary majority on a five -member council, as was the case ten years ago. Also consider the "intent" of the petition drawn up and signed by residents of this neighborhood ten years ago not the "wording" of the petition. You, the Iowa City Council members, were elected by the people --certainly you should make decisions for the people. I would ask you again to base your de- cisions on what will benefit the communities of our city as a whole, not to benefit only a few who will make materialistic gains from apartment develop- ments. This Iowa City Council can do something now to save our Northend from apartment invasion. Think, for a moment, of the Northend as your neighborhood, and you will know how we feel. Thankyou. S 0200 PHONE AREA CODE ]ID 336.6691 PROTEIN BLENDERS, INC. Consistenfly ... fhe Feed of Champions 2420 HIGHWAY 218 SOUTH P.O. BOX 631 IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 January 26, 1977 Mary Neuhauser, Mayor City of Iowa City Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Mayor Neuhauser: In the heat of your many problems in Iowa City, there's one condition that would benefit many citizens and doesn't have a great expense connected to it. This problem is the great need for left turning arrows at some busy intersections that currently create very dangerous and congested traffic conditions. To really see this, you must get out in the traffic at 7:45 AM and 4:30-5:00 PM each day at these points to appre- ciate the ha stle that our citizens are put to in trying to get through an intersection. These occur in the following areas that I'm exposed to regularly which are severe bottlenecks: (1) Wardway Corner - cars moving west and attempting to turn south on 21B have no green arrow and sometimes are backed up 15-20 deep with only 2 or 3 getting through the intersection before the l fight change. (2) Benton Street and Riverside Drive - cars moving west on Benton and attempting to turn south on Riverside have no green arrow and at times are lined up back over the Benton Street bridge. Also cars going east on Benton that want to turn north have the same problem. Green arrows could come on together here and move the Benton traffic north and south simultaneously. This intersection is very dangerous the way it's now handled. (3) Melrose Avenue & Mormon Trek - cars attempting to turn east from a south ernly direction off Mormon Trek are faced with 2 lanes of traffic coming north at them and down a hill off Mor- mon Trek. There's no green arrow for left turn east on Melrose and many times only one or two cars get through. On Tuesday, January 25th, the roads were slick from wet streets freezing overnight and the south bound cars on Mormon Trek were backed up north within a block of the Rock Island Railroad trestle by the University apartment complex. Only one car was getting CAW FOR µy n•••' MARKET AND SHOW RING U Ih r DDJAN2 71977 hLiu1E STOLFUS CI i Y CLERK gas PHONE AREA CODE 319 338.3833 PROTEIN BLENDERS, INC. Consistently ... the Feed of Champions 2420 HIGHWAY 218 SOUTH P.O. e0% 681 IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 January 26, 1977 Mayor Neuhauser Page 2 through on each light change. The traffic before 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM is very heavy with West High School students and people to and from work - let alone numerous large trucks or buses. These are just three, Mary Neuhauser, and I'm sure there are more. It needs the Council's attention now. Greater Chicago has 7,000,000 people and they move left turning traffic much better than Iowa City. It's because they believe in put- ting green turning arrows in everywhere possible. If the Council will investigate, they'll find there's a definite problem that needs prompt action. I hope you can be of assistance. CUK/nc I ' W94CAW]"I a I I FOR MARKET AND SHOW RING very truly yours, Charles U. Kelly President JN21 71977 ABBIE S T OLFUs CIS r CURK • � Fit . I• M[ , CIVIC CIOWA 11pI WASHINGTON U24DST. IOWA 19.3 IOWA 57tIp 51XIA�c.� JIBJ54IBW 1p1W"Clfl: lONp1 February 8, 1977 Charles U. Kelly, President Protein Blenders, Inc. P.O. Box 631 Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Mr. Kelly: Mayor Neuh auser has received your letter regarding traffic problems and has sent it to Public Works for consideration and reply. Each year the Traffic Engineering Division prepares a list of high priority intersection improvements and programs them within the five year budget. By necessity, several projects are eliminated due to budgetary restrictions. We are pleased to report that two of the projects mentioned in your letter have received funding. A temporary traffic signal improve- ment will be installed at Wardway corner, and this installation will have left turn arrows. The installation is temporary due to the fact that the State Highway Department is planning to rebuild this entire intersection at the same time Highway 1 West is rebuilt. Benton Street and Riverside Drive is scheduled for construction after July 1, 1977. It is doubtful it will be built this summer due to the fact that land must be acquired, but we will move the project along as fast as possible. The City Council has also authorized funding for left turn storage lanes and arrows at Sycamore and Bypass 6, and Hollywood and Keokuk, In addition, the Council has authorized funds for new signals on Market and Jefferson Streets from Clinton to Governor. Ile are constantly faced with the problem of allocating money to the most needy projects and because of this, the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Mormon Trek is not planned within the next five yenrs. Wo do know that problems occasionally occur at this intersection, but based on eliminating the worst problems first, it must truthfully be said that it will be several years until that particular intersection is considered for improvement. RETAKE OF PREU_DING DOCS; ,+, 1 N 0 Letter to Charles U. Kelly, President Protein Blenders, Inc. 2/8/77 page 2 We realize that it often seems that governmental agencies move slowly in correcting traffic problems. Unfortunately, in these increasingly complicated times, this has come to be the norm rather than the exception. Within these constraints, we will continue to speed all of the above projects toward completion. Sincerely, /f Richard J. P steno Director o ublic Works RJP:rf cc: Neal Berlin/ City Council Mrs. Abbie Stolfus City Clerk Iowa City Civic Center Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Re: Boulevard Room, Ltd. — Liquor and Beer License Dear Mrs. Stolfus: PHONE 338-755I AREA Coo[ ]IB As attorney for the Boulevard Room, Ltd. I wish to advise you that the Boulevard Room, Ltd. has changed the trade name of the Boulevard Room located at 325 East Market Street. Effective January 12, 1977, the new trade name for the premises will be "Turn -In Point". There will be no change of ownership of the business or any change in the location of the business and I am merely advising you of the change of trade name so that you can have the appropriate change acknowledged by the City Council in regard to the liquor and beer license permit which has previously been issued to the Boulevard Room, Ltd. If you need any additional information to present this change to the City Council, will you please advise me. It is my undeEstanding that following the acknowledgment by the City Council of the change of the trade name that notice will be sent to the State Liquor Control Com- mission. Sincerely yours, LEFF, LEFF, LEFF Alan R. Leff ARL:sf JAN 2 41977 AGB!E STOLFUS unr Ub LAW OFFICES OF LEFF, ]EFF, r.EI1" & ri lIIPERT ARTHUR O.Lerr [22 SOUTH LINN STRMG-P.O. COX 2- 7 PHILIP A. LEFF IOWA CITY, IOWA ALAN R. LCFF 52240 R. BRUCE HAUPERT January 19, 1977 Mrs. Abbie Stolfus City Clerk Iowa City Civic Center Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Re: Boulevard Room, Ltd. — Liquor and Beer License Dear Mrs. Stolfus: PHONE 338-755I AREA Coo[ ]IB As attorney for the Boulevard Room, Ltd. I wish to advise you that the Boulevard Room, Ltd. has changed the trade name of the Boulevard Room located at 325 East Market Street. Effective January 12, 1977, the new trade name for the premises will be "Turn -In Point". There will be no change of ownership of the business or any change in the location of the business and I am merely advising you of the change of trade name so that you can have the appropriate change acknowledged by the City Council in regard to the liquor and beer license permit which has previously been issued to the Boulevard Room, Ltd. If you need any additional information to present this change to the City Council, will you please advise me. It is my undeEstanding that following the acknowledgment by the City Council of the change of the trade name that notice will be sent to the State Liquor Control Com- mission. Sincerely yours, LEFF, LEFF, LEFF Alan R. Leff ARL:sf JAN 2 41977 AGB!E STOLFUS unr Ub City Council of Iowa City c/o Clerk of Council Civic Center 410 E. Washington Iowa City, IA 52240 Council members: 530 Brown St. Iowa City, IA 52240 14 January, 19y'7 Along with many other members of Iowa City's north side neighborhood, I protest the construction of one of three large apartment buildings planned for the property on the east side of North Dodge Street (about 912 N. Dodge), just north and west of Happy Hollow Park. The first of the three buildings is now under construction at an extremely rapid pace. Such construction should be stopped and reexamined on the following basis: 1- These buildings will be entirely inconsistent with local housing, both in appearance and use. The R3B zoning of this property is indeed a fact, but such zoning was initiated under very dubious conditions which undercut the desires of local residents. 2- Neighbors facing, adjoining and surrounding this pro- ject clearly oppose it. 3- With the proposed 87 apartments (ultimately) facing a busy street, children of residents would no doubt seek to use Happy Hollow Park as their back yard since the park is contiguous to the property in question. This park Is already very heavily used by neighbors within surrounding blocks and by softball teams. 4- The builder apparently provided Incomplete information for this building permit and this tends to hide the true nature and extent of his development and apparently seeks to circumvent certain building code restrictions. I urge the City legal staff to look into this matter carefully. In addition, I am one of several neighbor- hood citizens who Is retaining counnel to pursue this Issue In any area where the City fails to pursue it. 5- Fast counter -action is needed: the developer Is appar- ently using, Pxtreme measures to completo his project before tho nPighborhoo!1 or the C11:Y ^7nurr,1l ar the Plannlry, eirwt 20nlr.: CoT^I.^,SIOII bei;u :r aro us e3 about it. ,20 7 The City, with its agencies and commissions, has a legal and moral responsibility to carry out the desires of its residents, both of developers and of protesting neighbors. I hope that the Council will respond with all due speed and thoroughness in this matter. The desires of this neighborhood have been shunted aside in the past concerning this property; we again look for responsiveness in the city government. Respectfully, ll Als 11riPtdreA—, Dennis W. Chadwick 530 Brown Street Iowa City, IA 52240 e 9 Fie, carAM[•c[., •_ • CIVIC CEMEN.aO E WAWNG10N 5T. IOWA CIM IOWA S]i10 ak'�= • February 7, 1977 Mr. Dermis Chadwick 530 Brown Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Mr, Chadwick, As you are aware, the City Council and City staff has spent considerable time investigating the facts and legal issues involved in the rezoning of the North Dodge Street to R3 in 1967. At that time, both the Planning and Zoning Coami:ssions and the City Council voted in favorof the rezoning, While residents filed to protest, they did not bring it to the attention of the City Council that they were the 208 of property owners who had standing to require an extraordinary majority under Section 414.5, Iowa Code, In Board of Supervisors of Washington County v, Abide Brothers, 231 So2 483, 485 (1973), the court held that property owners had the responsibility to affirmatively show that they were within the statutory class who could validly object. A major problem is the ten year delay in raising the issue. Courts have frequently held that a party is barred from challenging the validity of a zoning ordinance if he is guilty of laches. The elements of laches are: knowledge or reasonable opportunity to discover on the part of the potential plaintiff that he has a cause of action, unreasonable delay by the plaintiff in commencing that cause of action, and damage to the defendant resulting from the delay. Buell v. City of Dremerton, 495 P2d 135 8 (1972). In City of Creston v. Center lk, 51 N112d 463 (1952), the Iava Supreme Court held the property owners were estopped to contend that an ordinance was invalid twenty—one years later, The City will require conrdliance with its ordinances, including Large Scale Residential Development, Storm Water Management and the Tree Ordinance, both for the building under construction and for any future development. Mr. Dennis Chad;,vick February 7, 1977 Page 2 Ile recognize that Happy Hollow Park is heavily used and are investigating the feasibility of increasing the size of the park by condemning adjoining property. While some of us may not agree with decisions made by the City Council and staff ten years ago, in some respects we are bound by then. we will be giving continuing consideration to the problems of the North side. Sincerely, Angela Ryan Assistant City Attorney AR:cb e 9 Fie, carAM[•c[., •_ • CIVIC CEMEN.aO E WAWNG10N 5T. IOWA CIM IOWA S]i10 ak'�= • February 7, 1977 Mr. Dermis Chadwick 530 Brown Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Mr, Chadwick, As you are aware, the City Council and City staff has spent considerable time investigating the facts and legal issues involved in the rezoning of the North Dodge Street to R3 in 1967. At that time, both the Planning and Zoning Coami:ssions and the City Council voted in favorof the rezoning, While residents filed to protest, they did not bring it to the attention of the City Council that they were the 208 of property owners who had standing to require an extraordinary majority under Section 414.5, Iowa Code, In Board of Supervisors of Washington County v, Abide Brothers, 231 So2 483, 485 (1973), the court held that property owners had the responsibility to affirmatively show that they were within the statutory class who could validly object. A major problem is the ten year delay in raising the issue. Courts have frequently held that a party is barred from challenging the validity of a zoning ordinance if he is guilty of laches. The elements of laches are: knowledge or reasonable opportunity to discover on the part of the potential plaintiff that he has a cause of action, unreasonable delay by the plaintiff in commencing that cause of action, and damage to the defendant resulting from the delay. Buell v. City of Dremerton, 495 P2d 135 8 (1972). In City of Creston v. Center lk, 51 N112d 463 (1952), the Iava Supreme Court held the property owners were estopped to contend that an ordinance was invalid twenty—one years later, The City will require conrdliance with its ordinances, including Large Scale Residential Development, Storm Water Management and the Tree Ordinance, both for the building under construction and for any future development. Mr. Dennis Chad;,vick February 7, 1977 Page 2 Ile recognize that Happy Hollow Park is heavily used and are investigating the feasibility of increasing the size of the park by condemning adjoining property. While some of us may not agree with decisions made by the City Council and staff ten years ago, in some respects we are bound by then. we will be giving continuing consideration to the problems of the North side. Sincerely, Angela Ryan Assistant City Attorney AR:cb