HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-10-21 TranscriptionOctober 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 1
October 21, 2002 Council Work Session 6:30 PM
Council: Champion, Kanner, Lehman, O'Donnei1, Pfab, Vanderhoef, Wilbum
Staff: Atkins, Brotherton, Davidson, Dulek, Franklin, Hardy, Helling, Holecek, Karr,
Nixon, O'Niel
TAPES: 02-75, SIDE 2; 02-82, BOTH SIDES, 02-83, SIDE 1
ADDITIONS TO AGENDA
Lehman/We have a video to watch tonight, but before that there are two items. One of those is
an addition tomorrow night for a liquor license and the person who is interested is here.
You just get up, tell us your name and what the establishment is.
Miller/I am Julie Miller and I am---
Pfab/Microphone, ma'am.
Lehman/Could you pull the mic down, if you can?
Miller/I am Julie Miller with Duds 'N Suds of Iowa City, and I would like to be added to your
Agenda for tomorrow night to be approved for a beer permit.
Wilburn/Great. Thank you.
Lehman/Is that OK with Council? It's all right with me.
Vanderhoef/Everything's in order?
Karr/Yes, it is.
Lehman/All right. Thank you.
Pfab/She made it.
Lehman/All right, Steven has an item that he wants added to tomorrow night's Agenda. We'll
do that right away.
farmer/Yeah, I just passed this out at the last meeting. I voted "yes" mistakenly, that I
discovered afterwards, for an ordinance in regard to the nuisance infractions and being
the fines for that. And (can't hear) I voted "no," I lost my place in the agenda, and so I
wanted to know if I could put this on for tomorrow night to correct it. Apparently, under
Roberts' Rules, the only way to do this after the result is announced is by unanimous
consent of the assembly granting without debate. So, hopefully, it would be short and
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 2
sweet.
Lehman/How many are interested in putting this on the Agenda for tomorrow night?
Vanderhoef/Fine.
Wilburn/I have just a question--I'm, my inclination---
Lehman/It takes a unanimous vote so if there's a question about it, there's no point in doing it.
Wilburn/No.
Lehman/All right, then---
Kanner/What's the question, Ross?
Wilburn/You know, if you made a mistake, you made a mistake--but there has to be a sense of
permanency to the votes that we take it. And it just seems to me that if you are needing to
let the public or supporters know that you might just use the Council time to say that I
had made an error in voting that way last time, but when the meeting's over, when the
body is closed for that session, it seems to me, that there seems to be a sense of
permanency about the voting. It could open up other--I'm not saying you--but for
precedence sake, it could open up people wanting to correct votes for a variety of
reasons. You're saying, you know, you did it because you made a mistake. But, I don't
know, some other folks could, for other political reasons, try and correct their record. So,
it just seems to me, there needs to be a sense of permanency to a vote that we take.
Champion/If you would ask that night to---
Wilburn/At the end of the night, it would have been a different story.
Champion/We could have people pressuring us after we make decisions, change our mind, and
ask for a recall. I just think it's a good idea for the sake of the---
O'Dormell/I agree. A 4-3 could be reversed to a 4-3 the other way, so---
Lehman/ But the point is, it takes a unanimous vote so---
Pfab/I just think that, Steven, it doesn't make any difference. I would say if he'd have come at
the next meeting and asked it I would have said no. I would have no problem this time,
the first time we meet, but that's---
PCRB VIDEO
Lehman/OK, the next thing is a PCRB video.
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(Police Commission Review Board Video shown to Council)
Champion/Good.
Vanderhoef/Very well done.
Lehman/Great.
Wilburn/Fine.
Vanderhoef/It is.
Kanner/I think it's well done.
O'Dormell/They did comment on 24 to 26 complaints--I guess it should be brought out that like
18 of those were from one person.
Lehman/I think though that they stated at the end of the panel--I'd leave it that way because they
only had less than (can't hear) four or five issued.
Wilburn/Yeah. All they had three years ago.
Lehman/Any other conmqents from Council?
Atkins/And so you know, our folks did that.
Champion/Oh.
Wilburn/That's an excellent---
Lehman/I think it's really well done.
Champion/It's very well done.
Pfab/You outdid yourself, Bob.
Hardy/Right.
Lehman/Now you can do the next one. We'll break for this.
POLICE ALCO}IOL VIDEO
(Video is shown to Council)
Vanderhoef/Super.
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Atkins/Thanks, Mike.
Brotherton/Thank you. Anyone have any questions about that, you probably (can't hear)
Vanderhoef/Where does it show?
Brotherton/Pardon me? I can go up front, too.
Male/You'd rather go up front?
Lehman/Go up front.
Brothertorff We showed this video on (can't hear) Channel 4. Obviously, Jerry and Bob did a
great job helping us out on that. This is our fifth safety video that we've done. And we
also donated copies to the University, their cable television network that's piped into the
dormitories. So, I think next year we're going to try and get this to show at the orientation
in the summertime when new students come in w/th their parents. Other than that, we're
trying to seek out new avenues for marketing the video. If anyone has any suggestions,
let us know. We've given out several copies to other media and other University officials.
So, the more it gets shown, the better.
Vanderhoef/Is this something that the networks--they do a certain amount of free showing of
information for the public?
Brotherton/Channel 9 did a brief story on it, but I don't know if they're willing to commit I 1
minutes.
Lehman/It's too long.
Brotherton/Yeah.
Lehman/Public service messages are generally like 60---
Brotherton/Smaller.
Vanderhoef/Yeah.
Brotherton/Yeah. They did a brief and did show some clips of it when it first came out, Channel
9. The newspapers all ran a story on it also. But as far as a regular showing, I don't know
if they'd be willing to do that, and I'm in constant, you know, daily contact with most of
them. I can certainly ask them that.
Vanderhoef/Well, or briefs.
Brotherton/Yeah.
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Vanderhoef/And maybe just at the start of the school year, they might.
Brotherton/Right, that'd be a good thing to show next year; you know, revisit it with the
television and the newspapers.
Champion/Do the fraternities and sororities and dorms all have copies?
Brotherton/No. Not at this point. It was thought about showing it at dorm, residence hall
orientation, but to get all those copies made just was an insurmountable task. We didn't
get this actually finished until the middle of August. So I think next year we're going to
try and market it a little bit better. That's one thing that we certainly should do after
orientation, make copies, and I'm hoping that the University will be able to help us out
and assist in making copies for all their RA's.
Vanderhoef/The Inter-Fraternity Council does a mass meeting for young people who are going
out for rush. If you would go through that group, they could show this at their orientation
meeting before rush starts.
Brotherton/Good idea.
Atkins/Mike, is it on the Internet?
Brotherton/It's getting digitized and I think right now City Cable has it done, and it's getting
ready to go onto the City web people to get it on.
Atkins/But eventually all five of our videos will be on our web page.
Pfab/I'm going to ask you a question and it's not facetious, but it might be a dumb question.
Have you ever shown it in a bar?
Brotherton/No. Wouldn't be able to hear it.
(Laughter)
Pfab/It's very visual--you may not have to hear it.
(Laughter)
Lehman/All right. Thank you very much.
Brotherton/Thank you very much.
Champion/Thank you.
Atkins/Thanks, guys.
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REVIEW ZONING ITEMS
Lehman/ OK. Zoning items. Oh, I was looking for you. Not anymore.
Franklin/This should be quick.
O'Dormell/I've heard that before.
a. CONSIDER A MOTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR NOVEMBER 5 ON
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14 ENTITLED "UNIFIED
DEVELOPMENT CODE," CHAPTER 6, ENTITLED "ZONING," ARTICLE U,
ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT," SECTION 7
ENTITLED "VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES" TO INCREASE THE
MUNICIPAL INFRACTION CIVIL FINES FOR VIOLATING THE ZONING
CODE.
Franklin/The first item is setting a public hearing for November 5th on an ordinance
amendment. This is for the fees for Zoning Code violations. It is right in line with the
other fees---
Lehman/Right.
Franklin/...that you've been doing but we had to do it through the P and Z, because it was in the
Zoning Code.
b. CONSIDER A MOTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR NOVEMBER 5 ON
AN ORDINANCE TO VACATE THE NORTHERN 2' OF BENTON STREET
BEGINNING 60' EAST OF GILBERT STREET AND ENDING AT MAIDEN
LANE. (VAC02-0005)
Franklin/Item b is setting a public heating on the vacation of a portion of Benton Street. This is
just 2 feet of the Benton Street tight-of-way east of Gilbert Street.
Pfab/OK. I have a question. What is that? What's going on there?
Franklin/What this is about is there is a business that's at the comer of Benton Street and
Gilbert, the Savvy Boutique, in that building there. They want to put in the other pa?t of
the building a restaurant. They are trying to work out the parking spaces so they have
enough room to have the parking for the restaurant and for the Savvy Boutique. They
need this 2 feet to enable them to design their parking lot such that they can
accommodate the parking for those two uses in that location.
c. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE ZONING DESIGNATION FROM
LOW-DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY (RM-12) TO SENSITIVE AREAS OVERLAY
LOW-DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY (OSA-12) ON 1.06 ACRES TO ALLOW A 14-
UNIT MULTI-FAMILY BUILDING LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF FIRST
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AVENUE SOUTH OF STUART COURT. (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
Franklin/Item c is ---
Kanner/Karin---
Franklin/Yes.
Kanner/Could we go on number a--give me figures on how many violations are, or could you
get that to us by the hearing date?
Franklin/How many violations?
Kanner/Zoning violations.
Franklin/How many zoning violations there are--in what period of time?
Kanner/I'm not sure. Just to get an idea, I assume, we want to raise this because we think that
people, that it's not appropriate, it's not having an effect--so I'm trying to find some way
to---
Franklin/ It's one of the recommendations of the Neighborhood Housing Task Force.
Kanner/So, I'm trying to figure out if it would have an effect or does it matter, because I'm not
exactly sure what the timeframe would be or what other parameters to look for, but some
sort of thing that would let me judge whether or not there is a problem.
Franklin/I'll talk to Doug and see if he can't get that.
Kanner/Thank you.
Franklin/OK. Item c is second consideration on a zoning from RM-12 to OSA-12 for the multi-
family building on First Avenue. And there's expedited consideration requested there.
d..CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE ZONING DESIGNATION FROM 1)
HIGH DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL, RM-44, TO MEDIUM
DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL, RM-20 WITH A CONDITIONAL
ZONING AGREEMENT, FOR AN 8.69-ACRE PROPERTY LOCATED NORTH
OF HIGHWAY 1 AND WEST OF MILLER AVENUE; 2) COMMUNITY
COMMERCIAL, CC-2, TO MEDIUM DENSITY MULTI-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL, 4M-20 WITH A CONDITIONAL ZONING AGREEMENT, FOR
A 1.45-ACRE PROPERTY LOCATED NORTH OF HIGHWAY 1 AND WEST OF
MILLER AVENUE; AND 3) MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL, 4S-8, TO COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL, CC-2, FOR A 1.45-
ACRE PROPERTY LOCATED NORTH OF HIGHWAY 1 AND WEST OF
MILLER AVENUE. (REZ02-00013) (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
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Franklin/Item d is second consideration on the rezoning that we call the Ruppert property.
e. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE VACATING PORTIONS OF THE HARRISON
STREET AND PRENTISS STREET RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND AN ADJOINING
ALLEYWAY, WEST OF MADISON STREET. (VAC02-0004) (SECOND
CONSIDERATION)
Franklin/Item e, second consideration on the vacations at Harrison and Prentiss Streets rights-of-
way.
f. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE VACATING PORTIONS OF FRONT STREET AND
PRENTISS STREET GENERALLY LOCATED SOUTH OF BURLINGTON
STREET AND WEST OF MADISON STREET. (VAC02-00002) (SECOND
CONSIDERATION)
Franklin/Item fis second consideration on the vacation of Front Street and Prentiss Street
portions. That's the slivers one.
g. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING CODE, SECTION 14-6tt-
1, GENERAL INDUSTRIAL ZONE, TO ALLOW REPAIR OF COMMERCIAL
AND INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS AS A PROVISIONAL USE. (PASS AND ADOPT)
Franklin/Item g is pass and adopt on the Ordinance amendment for truck repair in the I-1 zone.
h. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE FINAL PLAT OF WINDSOR
RIDGE PART 16, A 6.94-ACRE, 5-LOT RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION
LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF ASHFORD PLACE AND CAMDEN
ROAD. (SUB02-00014)
Franklin/Item h is a final plat for Windsor Ridge Part 16. This is at the end of Camden Road and
Manchester Lane. This is the location map. I think it gives you a pretty good idea of
where it is. One single-family house--or one single-family lot--that is this lot right here,
and the other lots are for duplexes that will be condominiumized. Everything is in order
for that to go.
Vanderhoef/They're going to be condominiumized?
Franklin/Yes.
Vanderhoef/So, what---
Franklin/It's just two, they're just putting it on two lots--or three lots. It would have to be
condominiumized. They'll be sold as condominiums. That means that everybody owns a
share of the common elements. They aren't actually single-family residences on
independent lots.
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Vanderhoef/So how does this differ from zero-lot line?
Holecek/The difference is the construction would not have to meet the construction
requirements of zero-lot lines where you have a property line that goes off in between the
two units and requires that you have separate sewer connections and that you have a
certain fire-rating wall between the two units.
Pfab/Karin, I have a question. How much, what is community property there?
Franklin/It would be all of the ground outside of the units.
Pfab/So, what is the part that we're looking at right now?
Franklin/OK.
Pfab/Could you move your little arrow around?
Franklin/Yeah. The part that we're looking at right now is this.
Pfab/OK. So it's the whole thing.
Franklin/And then it comes down here, right here. This road continues on this way. There's a
road that comes up through here, which is a private drive.
Pfab/Is that going to be the limit of units that are on that ground? Or is this only one phase?
Franklin/This is just one phase. The rest of the Lindemarm farm is this whole thing.
Pfab/No, no, what I mean--go back to where you were. It looks to me like there's just
condominium on the---
Franklin/Here. And up along here.
Pfab/OK, there's no numbers there, that's why I was---
Franklin/Oh, I'm sorry, wait a second. No, that's right. Along here. No, it is one lot and there are
a number of duplex units on these lots or two-unit structures on these lots.
Pfab/Now?
Franklin/No. They will be built and they will be condominiumized. They will be sold as
condominiums.
Pfab/So, those will be zero-lot line?
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Franklin/Not zero-lot lines, technically. They'll look like it.
Pfab/OK, they'll look like it. OK.
Franklin/Yes.
Pfab/They'll have the appearance. OK.
Franklin/Yes.
Pfab/And so there will be more of those in the--now, where will those go?
Franklin/Hem.
Pfab/OK.
Franklin/And here. And down here.
Pfab/What's in the way on the far, to your left, I guess it would be? What's up in there?
Franklin/Well, I can't--I'm sorry I can't read it. But there's 16 duplexes total. And we don't
have an exact configuration, but I can get more information for you.
Pfab/But see, it looks there's eight in this outside, or the one to your left.
Franklin/That this is awfully big for that many units--is that what you're saying?
Pfab/Yeah, it looks like it---
Franklin/ There's a drainage way, as I recall, in here because there's a storm order management
basin up here that I think comes down through here. And I'm assuming that the duplexes
then will be built along this side of the road.
Pfab/OK. That's fine.
i. CONSIDER A LETTER TO TIlE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF A REZONING FROM A-l,
AGRICULTURAL, TO CP-2, PLANNED COMMERCIAL FOR 54.8 ACRES
LOCATED SOUTH OF HERBERT HOOVER HIGHWAY AND WEST OF
INTERSTATE 80 SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS PERTAINING TO TRAFFIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND SANITARY SEWER TREATMENT (CZ02-012)
Franklin/The next item is a letter to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors recommending
approval ora rezoning at the Herbert Hoover Highway and Interstate 80 interchange.
This property is the subject of the fringe agreement, and if you recall, the fringe
agreement was amended maybe a couple of years ago, to allow some commercial
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 11
development at this intersection. What is being requested now is that this 54 acres, the
dark-shaded area, be rezoned to CP-2, which is the planned commercial and the County.
What the Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended is that this be passed
along to the Board of Supervisors with the recommendation for approval, that that
approval be subject to them obtaining an agreement from the developers that addresses
the wastewater issue here since it is not apparent as to how it's going to be sewered at this
point in time and also addresses access, accel (acceleration), decel (deceleration) lanes
along Herbert Hoover Highway. This would, if it were in Iowa City, we would be doing
this as a Conditional Zoning agreement, if we were zoning it at this point in time. The
letter does indicate that we think this is premature until this is settled, but one way to deal
with it is to have an agreement between the developer and the County that shows how
these things are being taken care of.
Pfab/Question. Is that--eventually sewer go by Iowa City or not?
Franklin/No.
Pfah/That is not.
Franklin/It is outside of our growth area. OK.
Lehman/OK.
Franklin/That's it.
Lehman/Thank you.
O'Donnell/It was quick.
Franklin/Yes.
REVIEW AGENDA ITEMS
Lehman/OK. Agenda items.
Kanner/Steve, in our Board and Commission reports that we received recently, it mentioned
plans for fiscal year '03 for each of the boards. We got that in our packet. 1 was surprised
to see for the Animal Shelter their plan is to do a leashless dog area. That's one of their
main agenda items. Are they--I guess Council did not seem to be over-enthused about it,
my recollection, and are they working with Parks and Rec?
Atkins/I would assume they are. I'll find out specifically for you, get the update. That was the
leash list---
Kanner/Leashless.
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Champion/A dog park.
Atkins/Let me get an update memo for you. That's easy enough to do. I'll take care of that. They
had traditionally worked with Parks.
4g. CORRESPONDENCE
(1) HAROLD STAGER; SALE OF WATER PLANT
Lehman/Any other Agenda items?
Vanderhoef/We have an unusual e-mail to us from Mr. Stager about selling the water plant.
Atkins/I don't know how to answer that other than I was asked by other folks, at the time of
closing, we will know exactly what the dollar figures are, and the funds that advanced
monies--it's overwhelmingly the water fund--will be repaid accordingly. And any other
monies will be distributed in accordance with how the project was financed. I don't know
how else to answer Harold other than that. Until you close, you really don't know the
final number. I mean, we're awful close but we're---
Pfab/But them is a formula someplace.
Atkins/It's not a formal formula, but, the amount, yes---
Lehman/And we can calculate it.
Atkins/Yeah.
Pfab/Maybe that's all, maybe if you've got that---
Atkins/What (can't hear) we send Harold a short note?
Pfab/Could be. I don't know.
Kanner/What did he ask for, Steve. What number is it?
Vanderhoef/It's in Consent Calendar g. (1) on Correspondence. He's talking about the sale of
the water plant, and I thought maybe he was confused with our reselling the bonds.
Atkins/Oh.
Pfab/No, no, he knows.
Atkins/No, my mad is on the sale of the plant to the University.
Pfab/He's approached me on---
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Vanderhoef/Oh, that sale. OK.
Atkins/I will write a short note, if that's OK with you. But it won't be very elaborate because we
haven't finalized anything yet.
Pfab/But I mean, if, there's method, and that's correct.
Atkins/It has to be audited anyway.
Kanner/It goes into our water reserves revenue?
Atkins/Reserves, that's correct.
Pfab/I know one time he approached me and I asked him, I said, well, let's get on the phone.
And he called Kevin.
Atkins/Kevin.
Pfab/...and apparently he's still looking for more than that.
Atkins/Well, I'll get him an e-mail and see what happens. And I'll copy Council.
Vanderhoef/OK.
7. PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14, CHAPTER 8,
ENTITLED "AIRPORT ZONING" BY REPEALING THE EXISTING CHAPTER
IN ITS ENTIRETY AND REPLACING SAME WITH A CHAPTER
REGULATING AND RESTRICTING THE USE AND HEIGHT OF
STRUCTURES AND OBJECTS OF NATURAL GROWTH IN THE VICINITY
OF THE IOWA CITY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT BY CREATING APPROPRIATE
ZONES AND ESTABLISHING BOUNDARIES THEREOF: DEFINING
CERTAIN TERMS USED HEREIN: REFERRING TO THE IOWA CITY
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT ZONING MAP, AS AMENDED, WHICH MAP IS
ADOPTED BY THIS ORDINANCE: ESTABLISHING AN AIRPORT ZONING
COMMISSION: ESTABLISHING AN AIRPORT ZONING BOARD OF
ADJUSTMENT: PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT: AND IMPOSING
PENALTIES.
Vanderhoef/In item number 7, with this new Airport Zoning, I know that they're doing a lot of
this rewrite to get it organized better, My question is, does this change anything in the
Protection Zones or the height in the Protection Zone?
Atkins/Hopefully, you'll find all that---
Lehman/That's coming up later.
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Atkins/OK. Karin and Ron? I know Karin's here, I think Ron's here, and I think Dick's out
there waiting for that. Never mind.
12. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE TITLE 14, ENTITLED,
"UNIFORM DEVELOPMENT CODE," CHAPTER FIVE, ENTITLED,
"BUILDING AND HOUSING," ARTICLE E, ENTITLED, "HOUSING CODE"
TO REQUIRE THAT ALL LANDLORDS AND TENANTS EXECUTE A LEASE
ADDENDUM AND BY DELETING THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE CITY
PROVIDE WRITTEN NOTICE OF HOUSING VIOLATIONS BEFORE ISSUING
A MUNICIPAL INFRACTION. (PASS AND ADOPT)
Vanderhoef/And something else occurred to me on the Nuisance Ordinance and Occupancy
since we have two different kinds of occupancy. We've got some in the Housing Code
and we've got some in the Zoning Code. Is it reasonable to think that ~vhen we go out and
check occupancy, that there might well be t~vo different numbers that would show what,
if it was a family and a family with unrelated members versus the straight rental where
we think about student housing where there are X-number of unrelated members? So,
what I've been getting from the landlords is that there might well be two different
numbers on occupancy depending on what the makeup of the tenants are. Does that
change?
Holecek/Well, I don't think so. I think what you're talking about is a family---
Vanderhoef/A family?
HolecelU ...as defined. And then the number of roomers beyond that. But there's no difference.
The Building Code has minimum standards for occupancy based on height, light, air,
area. But the Zoning Cod6 doesn't change occupancy--or maybe I'm not understanding
your question?
Vanderhoef/Well, I'm trying to get my hands around this one, too.
Franklin/I think what it's going to be, it's going to be the number of unrelated individuals that
can live there. It won't address the family situation. There are no limitations on family.
The occupancy would say Xnumber of unrelated individuals---
Vanderhoef/If it says that, then it's real clear.
Atkins/Yeah, it does.
Franklin/That's how we would approach it.
Lehman/OK.
Kanner/And do we have a definition of"family" that will be included also in the amendment?
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 15
Franklin/Yes.
Lehman/We have that.
Vanderhoef/Yes.
Karmer/That will be included also in the amendment in the Agenda?
Lehman/It's already in the Code.
Franklin/It's in the Code already, the Zoning Ordinance.
Kanner/No, but would it be included when we talk about what has to be in the lease?
Vanderhoef/(can't hear) ...used cars and those have, but the new rewrite makes it very clear that
the landlord can set the occupancy at less than what the Court (several talk)---
Lehman/ Right.
TAPE 02-82 SIDE 1
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE
Lehman/OK. Other Agenda items? Karin? Comprehensive Plan Update.
Franklin/This rather long-winded memorandum is in response to that discussion we had back in
May. What you had asked for at that point was for me to look at portions of the
Comprehensive Plan that would require amendment if you were to do what I think you
wanted to do, which was to make it more, make it easier for large multi-family
complexes to locate in developing areas, because they can already locate in the existing
areas of the City. Because of the concept of how you fit multi-family into these newly
developing areas was at the heart of a lot of the discussion both with the Comprehensive
Plan and with the District Plans as they have evolved over time, and was how we are to
get that diversity of housing in neighborhoods by trying to keep the scale of the multi-
family compatible with that of a single-family type of development, such that the multi-
family did not dominate the new neighborhoods--that's how it became palpable for the
people who are going to live in these neighborhoods to go along with this whole notion.
So, I think that if you want to make that change, it's a very basic change in the Comp
Plan. It's a change in the basic philosophy of what was behind of building neighborhoods
and building a community of neighborhoods. And that's not to say you can't do it. It's
just a matter of--it's kind of a major shift in that philosophy. So, you know, I don't know,
it's kind of what you want to do at this point. And I think the other point that I made in
the memorandum had to do with just how much multi-family we have in our community
right now and we're getting more. In fact, one project that I refer to on the Ruppert
property has come in. It's 198 units, 555 bedrooms, on Highway 1.
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Champion/Is it going to have a swimming pool?
Franklin/No, it's not going to have a swimming pool. Not that I'm aware of.
Lehman/There's a low spot out there.
Franklin/Yes.
(Laughter)
Vanderhoef/Storm water drainage?
Lehman/I live in that neighborhood.
Franklin/Yes. So, ! don't know, it's kind of up to you what you want to do.
Champion/Karin, why, I mean, is this just an Iowa City--I don't know, is it an Iowa philosophy
that multi-family houses need to be dominated by single-family houses? I mean, it's just
so foreign to me.
Franklin/No, it's---
Champion/I mean, I understand it, but---
Franklin/I think it's something, well, I don't know if it's an Iowa, I don't think it's an Iowa
thing. I think it's everywhere that it's that way, except in big cities. And let's understand
the size of the community that we're talking about here. We're not a big city. I mean,
we're just a city. I mean, we're a small town that is becoming a city.
Champion/I mean, I think we---
(People laugh)
Franklin/Well, we are. I mean, relative to a lot of other places.
Champion/I think we've made a lot of progress in the sense I like the idea of the multi-family on
the arterials and surrounding neighborhoods. I think that's turned out (can't hear)---
Franklin/ And one thing to address your question, too. Because we are a University community,
we're a college town, for all the good that there is with that, there's also the conflict that
happens between student housing and non-student housing. And so whenever we try to
approach a neighborhood about putting in multi-family in their area, we have the issue,
oh, it's going to be student housing and lead to traffic to noise to all of the things that
might come with that. So, we've always got that dynamic to deal with because we put in
large complexes of housing for the elderly with nary a boo. I mean, look at Melrose
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Meadows over right next to Galway. And Silvercrest.
Champion/They don't make a lot of noise.
Lehman/They don't (can't hear)---
(Several talk, can't hear; laughter)
Vanderhoef/Karin, one of the things that crosses my mind when I think about these large multi-
family ones, and I think Connie brought it up earlier, that we had the young professional;
we may have the near-retirement people who want to travel but want to have a nice place;
and it seems in Iowa City we've had some shifting in what we see as multi-family in that
we're seeing three-, four-, five-bedroom.
Champion/Right.
Franklin/Downtown. Because we're not seeing the four and five bedrooms out on the edges
where it probably is a, the clientele that you're talking about---
Vanderhoef/But I'm not sure what this proposal is that you've seen some for the Ruppert
property.
Franklin/That's student housing.
Vanderhoef/It is student housing?
Franklin/Yes. And I think the point that I'm making with that is that as we have things now,
that's not precluded. And also the type of development that you've been talking about
with young professionals with amenities, if we ever got a proposal for that, it would not
be precluded either. I have had conversations with developers about that. We have looked
at specific properties about that. They have not come back yet to go forward with it. But,
you know, they have this idea they might want to do this but I have to believe that the
market is not there or there would be a precedent and we would be seeing these projects
proposed multiple times. But we're not.
Pfab/At this point-~-
Franklin/Were you done? I'm sorry, Irvin, but I don't know, but I think I interrupted Dee.
Vanderhoef/What I'm trying to get at is that in the more upscale, or more permanent residency,
shall we say, in a large multi-family complex, is there any way that we can approach this
with zoning in number of bedrooms per unit or some such thing that would essentially
say that if we put in all these amenities, the price of the rentals will probably attract a
different kind of renter than perhaps the student housing?
Franklin/Well, OK. So, what you're talking about, I mean, that would be somehow trying to
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regulate or, yeah, regulate the quality such that it was expensive enough that at least most
students couldn't aftbrd it. Now, if you had a two-bedroom with a study and a living
room, how many people could you fit in there and pay $2,000 a month?
Champion/I couldn't get my evening crowds in that, I mean---
(Laughter)
Franklin/It's very hard to get at who's living someplace.
Vanderhoef/And the whole point is that we're going forward with District Plans right now and
everybody is quote "afraid" that something big and noisy and loud and so forth is going
to come into their neighborhood. But you just said nobody fights us when it's a senior
housing, so there is acceptance within the neighborhood for a certain kind of clientele
that fits into the neighborhood but would have those amenities. And I'm trying to figure
out how---
Franklin/I don't know how. I mean, that's one of the difficulties. Because with the senior
housing, senior housing is recognized as a justifiable delineation of a type of housing.
But--and Sarah, I'll need some backup here--but I don't think there is any way that we
can dictate income levels and professionalism or any of that---
Vanderhoef/No, I'm not that---
Franklin/...and that's why you're suggesting we get at it through price points. That doesn't
necessarily work.
Champion/I think you can look at Marc Moen downtown---
Franklin/That's what I was thinking.
Champion/...it would never ever be rented, was rented long before it was done. I don't think
price point is the point. Also, I think students who live in the neighborhood in apartment
complexes are a different student than lives downtown.
Lelunan/Tree.
Vanderhoef/I agree with that.
Champion/If you want to have big parties and carouse, ! don't think you're going to live out in
Scott Boulevard. But maybe. I think we're addressing---
Franklin/We're going to see, too, how some of these apartments, I mean, Windsor Ridge I gave
as an example in the memorandum of ways in which you can fit more than, you know, a
12-plex, one 12-plex on the comer, into these plans and have it be acceptable. I mem~,
them are 12s, there's 1 Ss, the townhouses that are ail in the Stonebridge Project north of
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Court Street. And I think we'll see how that evolves as to who the people are that are
choosing in that particular location, and I think it is going to be different than folks who
might choose to live on the north side, for instance.
Vanderhoef/But we're not seeing the amenities.
Franklin/Well, that certainly is market-driven, and if, I mean, we have the letter from Steve
Gordon, who was good enough to put that information together for us, but 250 units that
you have to have before you get the amenities. Is there a market for the kind of housing
that you guys are talking about for 250 units in the young professional market, or
whatever it is that you want to see, where it's going to make those amenities pay for
themselves?
Vanderhoef/I'm just concerned that as we put together District Plans that the neighborhood and
the people who went forward in doing the planning of these projects don't vision this
kind of a project coming into quotes "their neighborhood." And whether we are zoning
ourselves out of the possibilities for these things that--with the right, working with the
neighborhood and so forth--might be a real positive thing. And I don't know how to get
around that because obviously they're not being talked about when we get down to the
District Plans.
Franklin/Because we can't make any guarantees as to who's going to--I mean we've got to look
at housing type and that anyone can live there. And that's the---
Vanderhoef/I understand that, but because of the philosophy that keeps going forward that we're
only looking at, you know, 10-, 12-, 14- and a few 4-pIexes and 8-plexes. You know,
we're not visioning any other alternatives. And how can we make a statement maybe in
the District Plans that makes sure that the neighborhood understands that this is still
something that our Comprehensive Plan allows and our Zoning allows and that, yes,
we'll use the good neighbor policy or whatever it is, if someone comes in and asks to put
in that kind of a project in quotes "their neighborhood."
O'Donnell/Dee, are you talking a gated community or are you talking a larger project---
Vanderhoef/It could be.
O'Donnell/...What are you talking about?
Vanderhoef/I'm talking about one that is large enough to support the amenities. And so that
would depend on the developer and obviously the market at that point in time.
Franklin/I don't know, I guess, if the question is whether we go back and look at whether we
need this in our community and whether we should change the Comprehensive Plan to
make it more possible, I hate to suggest this because it's not like a planner's thing to do,
but my suggestion is let's wait and see if we get some proposals for it. Are we getting
demand for it? And if we are, then, yeah, I think we should be looking at it. But so far we
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 20
haven't had that. I mean, we're not getting it either, the two requests that I have heard--
one was the student housing project on Gilbert Street, which I don't think is what you
were looking for, what you're talking about---
Champion/No.
Lehman/That's correct.
Vanderhoef/No, what we're talking about right now.
Franklin/Steve Gordon's suggestions have to do with the Saddlebrook area. Those amenities that
he's talking about were put in as part of the whole Saddlebrook plan. They're there. And
they will serve the detached and single-family housing that's there, I guess, as well as the
multiples that are there that are going up along Heinz Road. I really don't know if the
occupants of the Heinz Road apartments can use the clubhouse of Saddlebrook or not, but
there you have enough people in that area that these amenities have been put in, even
without the threshold of the 250 units. I guess, Dee, that's what we're talking about.
Vanderhoef/I guess what maybe I'm looking for--you've said it several times in discussions
with us--that there's nothing that precludes this.
Franklin/In certain areas. I mean---
Vanderhoef/And I scanned my Comprehensive Plan again this last weekend and started looking
at a couple of District Plans and if I were a developer coming into the community and
looking at those plans, I think I would turn right around and leave in that there's nothing
in there that says that this is not impossible to do in this community.
Franklin/Well, I mean, we just did the Southwest Disthct Plan, and this new project is coming in
in the Southwest District.
Vanderhoef/Mm..hmm, and it's a student---
Franklin/Yep.
Vanderhoef/...which is already a predominant student area, so I'm thinking into our other
developing areas, whether it be, you know, the extension of Hunters Run or someplace
out in Windsor Ridge or Lindemarm Farm or some of those areas. It just seems like we,
that we need to have a statement someplace in the plan that is making this clear that there
are ways to do this in some areas and that way it alerts both developers and
neighborhoods that this is a possibility and, yes, there will be a lot of oversight when a
request comes in.
Franklin/I don't know how one would make that statement without figuring out how you give
some assurances of who's going to live there.
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Lehman/Well, you can't.
Franklin/I just don't know how you do it.
Lehman/Karin, is it possible to, under our present ordinances, if we wanted to, if someone had a
large--I'm thinking of, for example, the Carson property with the lake, could the density
around the lake at the lake itself be used if someone wanted to put in a very large
development with the amenities we're talking about and count the green space or
whatever against? I mean, if there was enough space, what is the largest that---
Franklin/With that concept---
Lehman/Right.
Franklin/...OK, there's some critical points to it. One is that you have some public space. The
other is that you have some commercial near 218 and Rohret Road. The other is that you
have some kind of mix of housing. If you fulfill those three things, then you can do a
project such as we're talking about if we have somebody come forward with one that is
acceptable to us.
Lehman/Let's just say that folks around Carson Lake don't want a mix. They want to put in
condominiums, retirement sort of things like we have at Wellington, only instead of
single- or duplex-style, or 4-plex, they want to do the 8- or 12- or whatever, and these
would be luxury sort of condominiums. I think that those out there are two-hundred-and-
some-thousand apiece.
Franklin/Mm...hmm.
Lehman/But they don't want the mix. They want this to be a professional or retirement
community and it's pretty upper-end stuff--they've got a lake, they've got the green space
around the lake. Can they do that now?
Franklin/It would be a planned development, and it would come through Planning and Zoning
and you.
Lehman/So they could?
Franklin/I'm not sure I'm seeing in my head what you're seeing in your head.
Lehman/I'm not seeing a whole lot.
Franklin/OK.
Champion/I'm seeing it.
Franklin/If it's the whole thing all the way around the lake, it would be a huge development.
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Lehman/For 250 units is a huge development. But I'm looking at this area along First Avenue,
for example, and Scott Boulevard--there's some magnificent property out there. And it
could, I could see a large development out there.
Franklin/And, in fact, that's what's in the plan.
Lehman/Well, with a large amount of green space that might not be mixed at all. There may be--
Franklin/ OK. I think where we're tripping up here is where the mix has to be. Every single
project doesn't have to have a mix. But when you look at the larger area, what can be
defined, say, as a neighborhood. Let's go back to Carson Lake. Between Rohret and 218
and Highway 1, that in that area---
Lehman/ That's an area. OK. All right, fine. OK.
Franklin/So it's not each little subdivision that comes in and that's something that we all have to
keep clear of.
Lehman/And even Idyllwild had, I could see where that could have been done a lot more
densely, you know, in some high-rise, larger units, a very upscale, professional sort of
condominiums or retirement units. And could that have been done under the present
Ordinance?
Franklin/Yeah. The underlying zoning there is RS-8. If you did it at eight dwelling units per acre
or if you did it at a 12-dwelling-units per acre, you probably would be able to do that
there, assuming it could get through the public process and get it voted on.
Lehman/Right. And so many of the accouterments that we're talking about really are in forms of
green space or public space, which would allow us under present ordinances to cluster
these sort of things.
Franklin/Right. Right.
Lehman/I'm just talking to myself, but thanks.
Vanderhoef/If you cluster and then add, quotes, "the clubhouse," that doesn't change the amount
of units per acre.
Franklin/Clubhouse doesn't count.
Vanderhoef/So you can have the computer room and the little workout room and a meeting
room kind of thing.
Franklin/Mm...hmm. Yeah.
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Vanderhoef/And that doesn't take away from---
Franklin/Melrose Meadows has a gym.
Vanderhoef/Melrose Meadows?
Franklin/The elderly housing next to West High.
Vanderhoef/Oh.
Lehman/Irvin?
Pfab/I think, you made a comment there about these are possible if you can get them through the
public process, and I think what's going to make that possible is the rules and regulations
coming from the Neighborhood Housing Relations Task Force, where these people don't
have to just say, what the heck's going to come down? If we get that thing to work, and
you won't find the neighbors so uncomfortable if you see a large compact group of
dwelling units,
Franklin/That would be good.
Pfab/And I think that a number of those places I think they would work. And I think you're
going to find out less, but if their experience is, well, it's like this, or it's like that, we
don't want it. But if we can get the apartment dwellers and the landlords there to keep
some kind of order there that the neighbors aren't terrified or--that's a strong word--but
they aren't very uncomfortable at what's going on there, I don't think you'd have a
process. Yeah, I think that the more we can compact these people that are willing to live
in these compact units, everybody wins.
Lehman/Yeah, I tend to agree with what you said--that perhaps this is the sort of thing that we
should see what develops, because even the project that we turn down did come to us. !
mean, we don't allow that, there's no place in Iowa City that we can do that; but that
student housing project did make it to the Council. So if there's another large project out
there that wants to come in, certainly we would have the opportunity of addressing that.
In this case, we turned it down. Had it been a different project with different
circumstances and whatever, Council might have chosen to promote it. But it seems that
most of what we potentially see occurring, we almost have provisions for now. I would
assume if someone were to come up with a monster out along Scott Boulevard or First
Avenue or Carson Lake that was, you know, a significant project with high-end
professional units, that we could probably do whatever we could to work with them as far
as clustering or whatever, and if they didn't quite meet the exact thing, we might do the
same thing we did with Mercy Hospital on First Avenue. How's the rest of the Council
feel?
Champion/I really, I agree with you, and I really did appreciate your memorandum, as wordy as
it was, I really liked it---
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(People laugh)
Lehman/I appreciate the first page.
Champion/I mean, I do think, especially as I did the (can't hear) that it is market-driven, and we
do think of this as being rather a cosmopolitan city but it's actually a small cosmopolitan
city, and luxury apartment buildings are probably--most people who want to live in a
luxury apartment building probably live in a house in Iowa.
Lehman/But when the market shows up, I think we'll be ready. I mean, I think that's what
you're saying.
Frankiin/I think, historically, we have always been responsive to new things that are happening
in the market.
Lehman/Steven?
Karmer/Karin, I had a question then and a comment-question. I'm not quite following why you
say Carson Lake is allowed under the proposed Carson Lake Project, large many-unit
project, is allowed under the Comprehensive Plan, though the one on Gilbert, Sand Road,
was not allowed. I am not understanding the difference there.
Franklin/I think it's going to depend on what kind of project was put, was brought in, and
whether it's something then that you can fit other types of housing in that larger area. I
think that the project on Gilbert Street, as Connie pointed out when it came before you,
was going to set a tone for this area that was likely to preclude its development as a
mixed housing type, single-family, duplexed, townhouses as this proceeded on. And that
sort of circumstance could come up with Carson Lake, too, and that's why we have to
look at the project when it comes in and make some kind of judgments, which we do
collectively, to see if we think it's going to work and with what visions we have for a
particular area.
Vanderhoef/It's still not addressing one of the concerns that I have in that particular location and.
I'll be anxious to see the plan.
Franklin/The Gilbert Street location?
Vanderhoef/Mm..hmm. In that sitting on the corner of two arterials is not going to be a highly
desirable location for a single-family dwelling or even a lot of townhouses or that kind of
thing.
Franklin/Well, Southgate's done an interesting j ob there, with a combination of multi-family
townhouses and some commemial.
Vanderhoef/Well, this is what bothers me. I know I don't want a lot of commemial just running
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along the strip because it's near the arterial. And yet, personally, I wouldn't choose a
living location that was right beside the arterial if I could be back a ways from it. So, I am
concerned about as we add this new arterial and we've added Scott Boulevard and we've
built it up pretty much with multi-family units that we're going to have empty strips
along the arterials because there aren't going to be projects that---
Franklin/Well, Scott Boulevard is largely single-family. Along Scott Boulevard.
Vanderhoef/The whole east side of it is, there's an awful lot of multis.
Franklin/There's some zero-lot lines and the manufactured housing, but that's single-family. All
along the east side from Highway 6, then you've got Silvercrest, then the park, and then
there's zero-lot lines and single-family and duplex as you proceed up. Then you get into
the elderly housing, and then we're undeveloped for up, the whole west side, I think,
except for at the Court-Scott intersection, townhouses on Washington, but that's all
single-family. Anyway.
Champion/I think it's--I particularly like the way that's developed. It does provide a mixed
neighborhood over there, and I think it's developed very well.
Vanderhoef/Well, the 40-foot setback certainly helps a lot. You bet.
Franklin/Sure. And I mean, that's why you---
Vanderhoef/Versus the old style of Sunset Street is the one I always think of, with all those
backyards running up to it and the fences along there, but here again, when you put all
the townhouses facing the street and then all the parking is in behind, that may be for
everyday living, but it certainly isn't conducive to company and the---
Franklin/Yeah, that isn't, the design challenge---
Vanderhoeff ... the design challenge within the unit. I mean, no matter what the front looks like,
people are going to enter from the back.
Franklin/Yeah. I know. You're right.
Vanderhoef/And that's---
Lehman/Steven?
Karmer/To finish up on what I was saying before, this is one of the areas that I think we need to
work closer with the University on. Obviously,---
Franklin/Which area? The multi-family?
Kanner/Housing. Housing, in general. And specifically for multi-unit housing for their staff and
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students. And there's a couple of areas that we might consider. Ohio State has--a number
of years ago, they formed a nonprofit development corporation to develop housing. Dee, I
just gave you some information on that. Their problems are different than ours. They are
a big city--in Columbus, Ohio. But I think the principle of the nonprofit development
corporation which has the involvement of the City and other organizations within the
City are working together on housing issues and livability issues is one that we might
want to look at and consider forming a partnership in that way, in terms of housing. And
another idea that could fit in with that is we read in our magazines that one of the
concepts that's taking off is that universities are either building their own or having some
sort of relationship with some of these apartments with upscale, that are half-dorm, half-
apartment. And I don't know if the University is considering that, but we again, would
want to, I think, work with them in doing this. And do you see a way that perhaps we can
coordinate in working more on this?
Franklin/There have been conversations between University personnel, myself, private
developers about the possibility of the University and a private developer partnering in
providing some housing of the variety that you speak of as well as student housing. I
don't know that there's anything that is imminent, but I know it has been discussed.
Lehman/Well, relative to this issue of---
Franklin/ So, it's not a totally foreign concept here.
Lehman/...of whether or not we're interested in doing any change in the allowable density,
which I think is the question, is it not?
Franklin/Yes.
Lehman/Is there interest---
Franklin/The question is whether you want to make changes to the Comp Plan now?
Lehman/Is there interest on the part of the Council to go ahead with changes at this point, or are
we interested in going along and seeing what develops?
O'Donnell/Let's move it forward. I haven't seen---
Vanderhoef/The only thing I would ask is what I said before is that somewhere to make the
statement so it's really plain that these are not precluded with the laws that we presently
have. I think we just need to alert neighborhoods and developers that these are possible
and we're willing to work with people to make them happen in a friendly way.
Wilburn/No changes, just see what comes in front of us.
Lehman/OK. Are we agreed?
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Champion/Agreed.
Lehman/All right. We're going to take a break until 8:00.
(BRE~L.K)
MELROSE AVENUE TRAFFIC STUDY
Lehman/All right, the next item on the Agenda is the Melrose' Avenue Traffic Study. All right,
Jeff?.
IP2 MEMORANDUM FROM CITY MANAGER: MELROSE AVENUE
AREA/UNIVERSITY--CITY TRAFFIC STUDY
Davidson/You have a memorandum from the City Manager and a proposed study outline that's
been prepared by staff for the Melrose Avenue, well what's termed the Melrose Avenue
Bike and Road Grand Avenue Traffic Study. This comes out of the proposed vacation of
Grand Avenue Court. What we're hem tonight for is just to kind of run this by you and
see if you have any comments or questions. I have a couple of things that I want to make
sure that I'm clear on Council's position before we pursue this. Have had some
discussions with the University about it, and, as near as I can tell, they're anxious to be a
participant in this study. This will be a little bit unusual for us in that typically when we
do these sorts of things we're dealing with another municipality, typically the County, the
City of Coralville, those are ones that I think you're all familiar with. This is a level of
government that supersedes our municipality, and so, it's a little bit different, I guess.
You know, we can get into the study to see how much difference it makes, but one of the
things that I guess I would assume we would do right up front in the study is set some
ground rules as to what is going to be reasonable to consider and what might not be
reasonable to consider. Sarah, when you saw me speaking with Sarah earlier, I was just
clarifying what had been my understanding that unlike most of the projects we work
with, the City does not have the ability to condemn property from the University. So that
eliminates, perhaps, some proposed alignments that if the University says right up front,
no we will not consider that, then, you know, at that point we don't have all of the
options that we normally have dealing with a private property owner. So, obviously, the
University is not here tonight as part of this discussion, so we might as well not get into
that too far, but that is an aspect of the study that we might as well all be aware of right
up front. Irvin?
Pfab/OK. What about the, while it is a traffic study, it is also an area, what about the
neighborhood there?
Davidson/Well, that's one of the things that I wanted to specifically discuss tonight. Clearly, I
think everyone agrees that the neighborhood needs to be and is very appropriately a
player in this discussion. And you know typically the way we would approach a study
like this, for example, if it was another municipality, we would make sure that the
neighborhood as a group had representatives who--and Mrs. Walker is here tonight and
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Michaelanne Widness who is the head of the Melrose Avenue Neighborhood Association
has said that Jean is appropriately the person to kind of be the neighborhood's liaison in
this, and she is actively involved and interested in it and lives right there. You know, we
would acknowledge that the neighborhood is a stakeholder in this area and that their
concerns, which are, you know, unique to those of the City and those of the University
need to be taken into consideration. It is proposed to conduct the study with a third party
that would sort of be in the middle, in between all the entities, and we would make sure
that the neighborhood's interests were part of the mix here. Now, in terms of any
subsequent agreement, obviously the neighborhood's not going to be party to the
agreement. They don't have a financial stake in it and that sort of thing. But we would
clearly want to make sure that their concerns were represented.
Pfab/I think not only their concerns, but they have a point of view that the rest of us don't have.
They look at it from a different perspective.
Davidson/Connie, did you have a comment about this?
Champion/I would say the neighborhood does have an economic stake in it; they don't have a
legal stake in it. They do have an economic stake in it. I just wanted to say that.
Davidson/OK. Well, any other comments about that proposal specifically and how the
neighborhood's input will be accommodated?
Lehman/There was a tremendous amount of discussion over the present Melrose street and the
bridge some ten years ago or perhaps a little more than that. And the configuration of the
bridge and the road, I think, to Grand Avenue South, is that, I believe that road from the
bridge to Grand Avenue South is the same width all the way--is it not?
Davidson/Yes.
Lehman/And I think as it goes east, then-so it seems to me that the issues relative to Melrose
west of Grand Avenue South are basically issues that have been addressed and that road
is there, and my suspicion is that that road is going to stay there and is probably going to
stay there in the configuration that it is.
Davidson/So, you beat me to the punch--that's the next item on my list to discuss with you
(people laugh) and that is the study area. Staff's perspective is that although, for example,
you had some correspondence from the neighborhood saying you need to consider the
intersection that's signalized directly adjacent to there, and we would certainly do that.
But in terms of evaluating any proposed geometric changes, we've kind of been similar
to what the mayor just ran through. That's kind of been staff's understanding as well, that
we reconstructed that fairly recently. At the time it was very well documented that we
were reaching a compromise with the design that was landed on there. We knew that
during peak periods in fairly short order, we were going to be getting into some
operational difficulties, and if you go there during peak periods, you see some of those.
But, we're taking that as a given as well.
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Lehman/OK. So, I mean, it would seem to me that any configuration of traffic from that point to
Riverside Drive should be designed in a fashion that will be of a similar capacity of what
we already have there.
Davidson/Right. And that's, I think, in terms of similar capacity, that's absolutely right. And
with respect to what would eventually be reconstructed, that's kind of what staff is
considering to be the study area---
Letunan/Right.
Davidson/...from the intersection of Melrose and South Grand to the intersection of Riverside
Drive.
Champion/I would agree.
Wilburn/So, addressing the efficient flow of traffic given whatever the University feels their
plans may be.
Lehman/Well, buses, emergency, all of that stuff has got to be factored into it. The bottom line
is it has to carry, it has to be able to carry the same amount of traffic as efficiently as
Melrose does now.
Davidson/Right. Arterial street traffic flow, that's the City's big priority; access to their property
and what may eventually come of it, that's the University's priority; and access to the
neighborhood, that's the other thing that can't be forgotten. And those are kind of three
distinct things.
Pfab/I keep heating that the intersection at Riverside and Burlington or Grand Avenue, no, I
guess, that that's an impossible situation to change. And the more I think about it, it's not.
It's a big undertaking if you ever change it.
Davidson/I've never known an engineer to say anything was impossible.
Pfab/Well, ! heard this--that was the bottom edge and we've got to live with it (can't hear)
Davidson/Clearly, that's a pretty provocative intersection because of the two bridges there, the
river right there, and the fact that that's a huge intersection right now. I mean, capacity-
wise, I'm hard-pressed to think, maybe Coralville's First Avenue on the biggest (can't
hear), but it's a, we have tons of capacity at that intersection, and I'm hard-pressed to
think how you would increase, realistically, the capacity of that intersection.
Pfab/Well, I can see where you can do two left-tm lanes---
Davidson/Yes, you could do the dual left-turn lane, sure; put in a dedicated right turn possibly---
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Pfab/...and at that point, I mean, I can see where that---
Davidson/...and I would propose, Irvin, that we take a look at that intersection. That would be
part of the---
Pfab/And I think, or one of the things I'm saying is, I think anything that is reconfigured there or
rebuilt should have a minimum capacity of what's on Melrose street at some point in
time. Somebody will figure out---
Davidson/Well, it's actually larger than that now, so that was a big problem.
Pfab/Yeah. Right. And at some point in time, somebody's going to figure out, well, I'm looking
at Byington Street, you talk about a headache, from my point of view. I don't know
where the answer is to that.
Davidson/Well, geometrically, Byington is a little bit unusual. Byington does not have good
pedestrian access along it. And remember, when we talk about traffic here, we're not just,
we're talking about motor vehicles, we're talking about pedestrians, we're talking about
bicyclists, we're talking about somebody pushing a baby stroller along the sidewalk. We
want to try and make sure that for that neighborhood, it works for all those users to the
degree that we can.
Lehman/Well, then, what are you asking us? The scope? Are you asking us the area that we---
Davidson/I heard a general concurrence. I guess I didn't hear anybody say, oh, no, you need to
expand it here or there. I mean, do we have a concurrence on the study area?
Vanderhoef/I want to say one thing before we move onto it. I would like to expand it only down
to the Melrose Court area so there would be a little bit more option of making curves
versus square comers at the intersection of South Grand and Melrose.
Davidson/Yeah. I mean, Dee, those are so close that---
Vanderhoef/I know.
Davidson/...it's almost impossible not to consider them.
Vanderhoef/OK. Just so you don't exclude a quarter of a block or whatever it is.
Wilburn/Right.
Davidson/Well, that's a good clarification, because we had put South Grand in here, so I think
that's appropriate.
Lehman/OK. (can't hear)
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Kanner/I have something.
Lehman/Steven?
Kanner/I think we have to be more forthright in talking about what their plans are for that area.
They're buying up houses across the street on Melrose. We don't know if they're going
to put up more parking ramps there. We don't know what dorms they're going to put up
there, and that's going to affect the capacity. We don't know what public transit they're
going to do, and every time they put up a parking ramp, that affects the capacity there.
And I think that needs to be a part of the study, is to take that into account. And perhaps
you have that to a certain extent, saying here, goal of UI being a pedestrian-oriented
campus. But it doesn't, I don't think it gets to those core issues there. And I think that's
part of the reason we're saying we don't want a vacation now is because we don't have
any say-so in what you do. This gives us a little say-so in negotiating power to be on
equal terms. But I think that's important to---
Davidson/And, Steven, I certainly agree that the more we can know about the University's plans
in this area, the better. And, you know, with respect to CAMBUS, they're part of the
JCCOG Transit Plan, and we have a rough idea of what their plans are as it pertains to
CAMBUS. I mean, there's some modest expansion of that system occurring, but you
know, I don't need to tell you, you've heard it from the University representatives that
have stood up here at your couple of meetings where this has been discussed. They will
go to a certain point in telling you what they intend to do and then after that point, it's
kind of nebulous, and you know, I think we all know that things like the Athletic
Learning Center, for example, you know, three years ago I'd never heard of the Athletic
Learning Center. But a donor comes around, something that perhaps hadn't been thought
of becomes a good idea, and that's the way that some of their planning occurs. They take
advantage of opportunities like that. We will attempt, as part of this, to find out as much
as we can about what the University intends to do in that area, but that's largely up to
them as to how much they want to cooperate.
Lehman/But the fact of the matter is that there's only so many cars that are going to be able to
use Melrose. It doesn't make any difference if they built parking ramps, dormitories, or
whatever. We can only put so many cars on that street. If that street alignment is arrived
at, with this study between the City and the University engineer and the alignment is
there, we know where it's going to be, then they really need--they will then have to work
around that alignment. Is that not correct?
Davidson/And I truly believe, Ernie, from my discussions with the University representatives
that I've spoken with, that they do agree with the concept of when we come up with
something that all the sides agree with, that that will then become part of their Campus
Plan framework for this area.
Lehman/I think that's right.
Davidson/I think they intend to do this. How extensive they will take the alternatives we look at
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is what will be interesting to find out. But I do think that they genuinely will agree to
something with us and then incorporate that into their planning.
Lehman/I think that's true.
Wilburn/So Ernie donates his $20 million to have the Lehman--I'm sorry---
(People laugh)
Champion/No, I just joked.
Lehman/Twenty cents.
Champion/And I think they made that totally clear when they were here, when we talked about
were they willing to do a traffic study. So, Council, I defer this letter from Douglas True,
and I think it's sad that he had to write this letter. They actually met every condition that
we asked to participate in a traffic study and abide by some consensus on how traffic
would flow through there. We asked for---
TAPE 02-82, SiDE 2
Champion/...the Cannon Gay house would be preserved forever unless, of course, it would be
impossible. They did that for us. And what we're doing here, is we're not going to
blackmail them. They tell us what their plans are for the next 20 years, because we can't
control what they're going to do. We feel like we have a little control here. I think we
used that. We used it to get the traffic study. We used it to preserve the house. And now
we're really discombobulating with what their plans in that area are, fighting over the
little tiny Grand Avenue Court. The question that I want answered, which has to be
answered, is how are people going to get to the Law School, how are they going to get to
the daycare? I think those questions can be answered and figured out, and I think we're
really being rude by not approving our vacation. We indicated to them if they did those
things, we would do it and now we're not doing it.
Lehman/Well, I think that the purpose of this is to determine the scope, I think. Are we in
agreement that the scope of this will be from Melrose to Riverside Drive?
Wilburn/Yes.
Lehman/Obviously that's something you're going to have to work with as far as the bicycles and
baby buggies and cars and buses and emergency vehicles, all that sort of stuff. Those are
engineering issues and those are things that you--and you only have a certain amount of
parameters to work within. You only have a certain amount of capacity that's available
over there.
Davidson/But we're looking at trying to improve that as well.
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Lehman/Right, but you are constrained by the amount of capacity that is available at Melrose as
it is.
Davidson/That is true.
Lehman/Irvin?
Vanderhoef/Well---
Pfab/I think two things. I think that the people in the area out west, farther west, should be, the
neighborhood group out there should be, should have some input in it. Not that they're
going to have any authority, but these people come in and come through there, they're
going to see things that maybe somebody else isn't going to see. So, while you have the
neighborhood right there, ! think it would be smart for the group to go out and talk to the,
what is it, Southwest Area group, those people coming through there. I don't think that
would be inappropriate and because it's another source of information. The other thing
that I would like to see is--and it was brought up--is I would like them to see what they
know or what future plans they may have access to as far as this overhead monorail. I
mean, it's not going to happen, but if somebody out there is thinking about it, it would be
nice to see what they have found out about that at that point. Because if they can
eventually get to that, that could change that (can't hear) a lot.
Lehman/But that's another issue, and that's not going to change the issue of the street.
Pfab/No, no, but I think, well, it would if---
Lehman/ No, it wouldn't.
Pfab/It could---
Lehman/No.
Pfab/It could---
Lehman/No, it wouldn't. No, because the street is overcapacity right now.
Pfab/But, and the other thing is, I would like to see them, I think the time is probably going to
come that they're going to have to look it over if it ends up at those dorm areas.
Davidson/Well, to the degree, Irvin, that they have thought seriously about any of those things,
hopefully, that will be---
Pfab/Right (can't hear)
Davidson/...be brought out (can't hear)---
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Pfab/We know that it's not, whatever they learn isn't going to be there forever.
Davidson/I would anticipate, Irvin, that Mr. Ricketts who made those statements to you the
other night will be part of the University's team on this.
Pfab/No, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's in everyone's best interest.
Lehman/Steven?
Kanner/A couple things. Just to go back to what Irvin was saying and, Ernie, you were saying, I
think that one way to look at capacity is to find other ways to diminish the traffic that's
going in there. So I think it is pertinent to these issues of what other modes of
transportation are being planned. But, I'd like to urge that, if the neighborhood and their
representative wanted to sit in on the meetings, that they be allowed to sit on those
meetings. I don't think we made that clear; you said they would be kept up-to-date, but I
think it would be good to have them sit in on the meetings.
Davidson/Sarah, would you comment on the notion of open to the public, not open to the public,
I mean what will be---
Karmer/No, I'm not saying open to the general public, but open to one representative from the
neighborhood so that viewpoint can be right there. I think it's important to be heard.
Davidson/But, will they be open-to-the-public meetings?
Holecek/What type of meeting?
Davidson/This would be the meetings between City staff, the consultant and the University, and,
as Steven has proposed, the neighborhood group as well.
Kanner/Not the group, a representative.
Davidson/A representative from the neighborhood.
Holecek/I suppose you could include one, but it would not be an open public meeting.
Davidson/So, neighborhood representative at the table or not at the table? We're going to take
their concerns into view, regardless. But are they sitting at the table or not?
Pfab/Well, they're not going to have a vote, but at least they would have the information that
they could share.
Lehman/I have no problem with that, but I do think you need to limit--you know, we're not
talking about reinventing the wheel, Melrose is done, and from my perspective, with
whatever you come back with is going to have to have a capacity at least equal to what
Melrose is capable of carrying.
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Davidson/That would be our goal.
Lehman/And I can't imagine, I really can't imagine much, and as long as you take care of
pedestrians and buses, and emergency vehicles and that sort of thing, I can't imagine any
other consideration on that. It has to be able to--you can't have a bottleneck. Right now,
we have--there are certain difficulties there.
Davidson/We certainly hope to make it better than it is now.
Lehman/Right.
Davidson/With the maximum capacity and ability to move all those modes of transportation.
Lehman/Ali right, are we in agreement on this?
Vanderhoef/Can I just say something?
Lehman/Fine with me.
Vanderhoef/There's a couple of things. We have a Comprehensive Plan and whether the
University calls it a Comprehensive Plan, they do have a plan of some description.
Davidson/They have a Campus Planning Framework.
Vanderhoef/And, somehow or another, I would like to see brought to Council and to University
a combined, so that they Comprehensive plans overlay each other so that we can get at
some of the issues, because I think that those are the questions that are being left hanging
out there for the people who live in the neighborhood, and yet there are more properties
being bought up, and if the intent is to buy up every property through Lucon or wherever
it may be, if there can be some kind of an agreement that comes between the City and the
University of growth area, is basically what we're really talking about.
Davidson/Now that is getting into an area far beyond the traffic count.
(Laughter)
Vanderhoef/I understand that. But this is the place where it sort of starts in that we have growth
areas that keep changing what the City Comprehensive Plan is and we do try to stick to
our Comprehensive Plan and so we are basically saying to the City residents, this is what
we are going to be designing and so forth, and then all at once, someone buys a house in
that area and finds out that there are four brick houses already that have been purchased
by the University and then they're very disappointed that the neighborhood is going
away. That's one piece.
Davidson/And, ifI could just comment quickly, Dee, I mean, the University does participate in
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our Comprehensive Planning. The Southwest District Plan--Larry Wilson was a very
good, useful participant in that process, was at all the sessions. The University does
participate in our Comprehensive planning. We participate in their Campus planning to
the degree that they invite us. And that's not always real extensive. They usually at least
have the courtesy to try and let us know what they've decided to do, but that's probably
closer to the truth than to say that we participate in their Campus planning.
Vanderhoef/But what about the letter that we have in this packet that talks about notifying us
about these meetings and we certainly are welcome to come to those meetings?
Davidson/Right. Those meetings are largely advisory, Dee. There's not a lot of policymaking or
decision making that occur at those meetings. They are basically making a, coming up
with advisory statements to make on planning proposals.
Vanderhoef/So, is that a place that we should consistently have a City staff person?
Davidson/Well, at least knowing what's going--and Karin, I believe, you've been getting those
agendas for some time, haven't you? So we're aware of what's going on at those
meetings, Dee. And if there's something that we would find particularly useful, we would
attend.
Vanderhoef/That might overlap with our Comprehensive Plan. Well, that's a positive in my
mind, and the more that we can work together on that will be a win-win for all of us and
keep us away from knocking heads at the final moment, shall we say. The other thing
about the capacity issues, as Ernie said, we know we're already overcapacity right now
Davidson/During peak periods. The rest of the time it works OK.
Vanderhoef/...yeah. Right. And we know that our growth area will affect this a lot, and in our
Comprehensive Plan there is something about the fact that for each new development
we're supposed to be looking at the capacity of the arterials.
Davidson/Which we do in the Arterial Street Plan that was just approved at JCCOG, that
identifies all the deficient segments, and Melrose is in that plan.
Vanderhoef/I understand that, but what I'm trying to look at is not only capacity but ease of
movement and certainly we are in a three-lane mode right now, although the street of
Melrose was designed wide enough to be four-lane at some point in time, if---
Davidson/Although I'm not so sure going to four lanes would really increase your practical
capacity that much, because you'd have your buses, there's a lot of buses through there, a
lot of large vehicles, and getting them onto those shoulders when they're staging helps
capacity a lot; but that flexibility is there.
Vanderhoef/And that would be one of the things that in the redesign I would look at bus pull-
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offs. We don't have enough bus pull-offs.
Davidson/With all the bus movement through there, CAMBUS is through there with Red and
Blues, every, they've gone to 1 O-minute headways now, so there's a lot of bus service
through there. That's great.
Vanderhoef/I would hope we could make the case then that the bus pull-off area could well be
part of our emergency system that we have to have at certain times to get both
ambulances and fire and so forth up there because at peak times---
Davidson/Well, bus pull-offs are definitely something important to consider. Interestingly, bus--
the transit--operators don't like bus pull-offs because it gets them out of the traffic stream
and they'd rather stay in the traffic stream. But I think---
Lehman/Right. It's hard to get back.
Vanderhoef/It's harder to stay on schedule.
Davidsot~/But I think in this area we definitely need to consider that.
Vanderhoef/Mm..hmm. OK.
Lehman/OK, are we willing to let these folks proceed? I think you know the parameters we've
talked about.
Davidson/I do. Thank you.
Lehman/Go for it.
Pfab/Will we get any kind of interim---
Davidson/We'll let you know. Yeah, in fact, when we're all kind of geared up and set to go and
have a consultant hired, we'll let you know what's going on. I'll keep you apprised.
Pfab/OK, so we'd expect periodic updates.
Davidson/Well, we kind of said six months approximately. You know, we'll have to get into it
and see, but I would hope in six months we could have something at least pretty far
along. Does that sound about fight?
Lehman/Very good. OK. Thank you.
Wilbum/Thank yc~u.
AIRPORT ZONING
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Lehman/Airport Zoning.
O'Neil/Let me give you a little bit of summary of where we're at with this. Like any zoning
ordinance, the Ordinance needs to be updated every once in awhile. This is a little bit
different in the fact, just the progression of how it gets to you and then where it goes from
there. The Airport has a separate Airport Zoning Commission. They are the ones that are
sending this to you. The chairperson, Jerry Full, is here tonight to answer any questions
you might have of him. The Zoning Commission puts this together. It's really kind of an
update of language and trying to reflect as close as we can where we want to go with our
master plan. It goes to the--the Zoning Commission presents it to the Airport Commission
who is an advisory body. They have approved it. It now comes to you. After you have
approved it, it then goes to the Board of Supervisors. Not for additional--as a matter of
fact, right now, the one that you have and the one the Supervisors have is a little bit
different, just because they're an update behind. Hopefully, we've coordinated that
enough of them at this point when it gets to them there shouldn't be any surprises in it for
them. Howard R. Green did the update for us. This is Dick Blum--I think most of you
know him--and he is going to give you a little bit of an overview of what they put
together. So, I'I1 let him get started with that. And then if you have questions, why we'll--
Atkins/Ron, and hopefully, maybe it will be in Dick's presentation--would you take just a
couple of minutes to explain Airport Zoning, why it's even there. Just somebody needs to
cover that.
Blum/It's something I do.
Atkins/Just a minute or two. OK. Good.
Blum/ Sure.
O'Neil/So I'll let Dick go through and then we'll sort this all out.
Kanner/Now, Dick, you're working for the Green Company?
Blum/Mm...hmm. The Airport Zoning Commission and Howard R. Green Company are the
Zoning Code--there's engineering work; there's a map that goes with the Ordinance also.
So, they had to update all that.
Lehman/Now, Dick, if you expect to take us to the graduate level, you're going to be here alone
after about 9:00 o'clock.
(Laughter)
Blum/This is the point, normally, Ernie, this is the point in which I carefully explain what it is
that you're about to see so that it gives everybody who realizes they're in the wrong room
an opportunity to get up and leave.
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(Laughter)
Blum/I guess you don't have that option, but I do want to make it clear that this is a noncredit
program. What I'm going to do is just spend a little bit of time giving you the background
of what Airport Zoning is, how it comes to be, how it differs a little bit from the kind of
zoning that you're much more familiar with. This gets to be pretty nerdy so, if I get to a
point where I've lost you totally, please stop me at that point. Let's get it. I'm going to try
to do this relatively quickly because it really can get very complex. Basically, what
Airport Zoning is based on is a Federal statute, which is known to most people just as
Part 77. This is Federal law. It establishes a series of artiftcial imaginary surfaces that
surround all airports, all public airports--public use airports--in the United States by
Federal Code. Most of the zoning in the United States and almost all of the airport zoning
in the State of Iowa follows the Federal pattern. The Federal pattern is referred to in State
Code as well. The ordinance that is in existence now, as well as the one that is being
proposed, follows the same pattern. It starts with a surface that is surrounding the
runway. It's called the primary surface. It's at the same level as the runway; it's on the
ground. It is always 400 feet longer than the runway, 200 feet at each end, and it varies in
width depending on the use of the runway. It so happens that we have three nmways here,
and we have all three widths in use, on one of each of the three runways. The reason that
the primary surface is established is that is the base upon which all the other zones are
based. Now in our Ordinance, we don't have a primary zone because all of this land is
owned by the Airport sponsor, by the City. So, what--the other factor that sets up how we
zone is the nominal elevation of the airport. And the nominal elevation of the airport is
generally the highest place on the airport where aircraft land or take off. Now, we have in
the Master Plan for the Airport, a proposal to extend the runway #2/5/7 -- 805 feet
generally to the west. As that runway gets extended, it climbs uphill a little bit. What's in
the Ordinance is the high point of the proposed runway end, and that's the level that
we've used to base the other zones on. That's the 684 feet. That's higher than what we
actually have out there right now. But the rest of the zone is based on that starting point.
So where we begin is at the ends of each runway; there is an area that climbs and gets
wider, trapezoid-shaped area, and it's called the approach slope and in the Ordinance it's
the "Approached Zone," and that slope, again, varies in pitch based upon the use of that
end of that runway. There are three slopes in use, a 20:1 slope, a 34:1 slope. The 20:1 is
where there is no instrument approach to the runway; it is a visual runway only. The 34:1
is sort of a standard instrument approach. Then, we've also incorporated a 50: i approach
to Runway #2/5. That's for a precision instrument approach, which we do not have, but
which the Master Plan calls for sighting at the airport. What does that mean? Well, it's
pretty basic. For every 34 feet horizontally, the slope rises a foot, at 34:1. For every 20
feet it rises, for 50 feet it rises. For 34:1 that means when it's 1700 feet out, it's going up
50 feet. OK? Well, it continues to climb at whatever ratio is set until it reaches a point
which is 150 feet above the runway elevation, the Airport elevation, without regard to
what the land is doing in between. So, if we were to have a 140-foot-tall hill, we'd have a
10-foot clearance over the top of that hill, because the 150 feet is a flat surface, based on
the elevation at the Airport. And that surface is called the Horizontal Zone. It's roughly
circular. And I say roughly, because it is drawn from the end of the runway at either a
5,000-foot circle or a 10,000-foot circle, depending again on how the runway is used or
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 40
anticipated to be used. So you get kind of a squared-off or lop-sided sort of---
Lehman/ That's not in the trapezoid--this is outside the trapezoid?
Blum/That's outside the trapezoid, beyond.
Lehman/OK.
Blum/Yeah. That happens only when the trapezoids reach 150 feet high. Now there's some
funny little stuff that goes on them, Ernie, because the trapezoids start at the elevation of
the end of the runway and the 150-foot plane occurs from the nominal height, and those
may not be the same, and in our particular airport, they're not. You know, we could get
bogged down in that discussion for a long time. Have you seen the maps?
Lehman/Not recently.
Blum/The Zoning map. Did you bring a Zoning map, Al? There's one on file. If you look at the
Zoning map, you'll see this sort of squared-off circle and if you look down on it, it's laid
over the top of the image of the City which is not a real new one. But you get a pretty
good idea. I think the map is dated from '94 or something like that.
Kanner/Dick, what are the limits for the 5,000 versus 10,0007
Blum/If the runway is an instrument runway, the circle is drawn at 10,000. And if it's a visual
runway, it's drawn at 5,000. You see, you draw these circles and then you connect the
tangents and erase the inner parts. So you get these circles that have the squared-off
tangents around them.
Karmer/For instruments, in general, you need more space cleared?
Blum/Yes, exactly. That's exactly the reason. There's more safety margin provided for
instrument approaches.
Pfab/Basically, because your visual is limited. Potentially limited.
Blum/Yeah, well, the visual is--the troth of the matter is--when you can see where you're going,
you don't need as much safety margin as when you can't, and that's the whole concept of
an instrument approach is that you're operating when you cannot see where you're going,
and you're depending entirely upon the instrumentation of the airplane.
Kanner/But if there's no instrumental, if you can't do a visual landing, go to Cedar Rapids?
Blum/That's one option. When you fly an instrument flight plan, when you file with your traffic
control system, you select an alternate landing point. Sometimes the alternate landing
point is where you came from. So, you know, you fly here from Minneapolis mhd you file
for Iowa City, and if you can't land in Iowa City, you may say, my alternate is
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Minneapolis; I'll just go home. Or it might be Cedar Rapids or it might be Chicago or it
might be Moline, or whatever that pilot determines is their best-bet alternate, and that
often depends on the weather forecast. If both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids are forecast to
have low clouds, most often they wouldn't file Cedar Rapids as the alternate because,
chances are, they might not be able to get in there either. Outside of--oh, in between the
runway side and the horizontal slope, there is this area here. It's called the Transitional
Zone. In close to the runway like this, although the zone exists, it's relatively unimportant
because, again, that's all un-Airport. But when we get out here to the sides, the
Transitional Zone also comes out from the side of the trapezoid and that zone has a slope
of 7:1, and because of the geometry involved, it's 1,050 feet wide at the sides of the
runway. We're going to come back to it in a minute here and show it to you because it
also exists beyond the Horizontal Zone. Out at the edge, the outer edge of this lop-sided
circle, there's another zone, which is also a slope, that climbs at a 20:1 ratio. It goes out
for another 4,000 feet. So, in some places we've got a 14,000-foot circle, other places we
have a 9,000-foot circle. Now, Runway #2/5 in the new Ordinance is anticipated to have
this precision approach slope. That slope is flatter, goes out at 50:1 for 10,000 feet, and
then it continues on for 40,000 more feet at 40:1. So, it makes a total ora 50,000-foot
approach slope. That goes on a long way; that goes almost to West Branch at 40:1. And
then it has a transitional surface on the side of that slope, all the way out. But, of course,
it's pretty high out here so the only things that would be affected by a lot of structures
that would be affected by this area would be tall communication towers. So, that's sort of
the general geometry of the plan. The significance of those trapezoids is that any
structure which penetrates through the surface of that slope, whether it's a manmade
structure or a structure of natural growth-a tree or even a bush--is by definition an
"obstruction" and may be determined to be a hazard. Just sort of as an aside, the thing
we're dealing with most these days is cell towers. We're getting a lot of cell tower
construction all over the state, and it's potentially a big problem. Now, what we've been
talking about so far deals pretty much with height, structural height. Now there's some
other things in there that go on, but in addition to height, there is a concern with use. At
the inner edge of each of these trapezoids, FAA has designated an area they call the
Runway Protection Zone, and in our Zoning Ordinance, we call it a "Controlled Activity
Zone." Emie, you've been around long enough to remember the Clear Zone term; we
used to have what we called "Clear Zones." That's the same thing; the Runway
Protection Zone used to be called the "Clear Zone." And the reason it was called that and
the FAA still has this desire, that they would like to have no structures in those zones at
all. Nothing. And, as a matter of fact, their expectation is that if the sponsor owns the
land, which Iowa City does in a number of areas, that that will be the pattern you'll find.
And there'll be no structures in those Runway Protection Zones. There are some uses that
commonly are allowed in areas where you don't own them. Generally, they're concerned
about wildlife attractants and they're concerned about things that would interfere with
normal movement of aircraft. They spend a lot more time talking about what you cannot
do or what they would prefer that you would not do in Runway Protection Zones. Some
of them are obvious; some are not as obvious. Golf courses, for example, the big thing
about golf courses is they tend to attract geese. Geese, for some reason or another, like
golf courses, and geese and airplanes don't mix very well. They do list, specifically list
these five uses as places of public assembly, which are not allowed, and then they add
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sort ora catchall, anything of a similar nature. We've done a little more to develop that
out in the Ordinance, but basically, we're doing the same kind of thing. We're saying
we're not trying to list everything that you can or cannot do; we're trying to give you
examples and have you follow the examples. We know that as certain as we try to make a
comprehensive list, we'll leave something out, or some new use will come along and
we'll not have anticipated it. Then, lastly, would be obvious: no residential uses. Very
few things are cast in stone in this business, but this is one of them. You will remember, I
am sure, many of you, that there was a time when we did allow an incompatible use, in a-
-at that time it was called a Clear Zone--we got slapped real hard for that by the FAA; it
cost us a significant amount of time and money to get out of that. So, it's something we
do need to protect. There are some other general concerns in the Ordinance. These
particular things that might interfere with safe operations at the Airport are fairly obvious.
Landfills are specifically not allowed within five miles. And some of the larger airports
now six miles. That does not apply to Iowa City. And then an item which I know we'll
talk about a little bit more in a few minutes--any other wildlife attractant within 5,000
feet. There is a notice requirement in the Federal Ordinance in Part 77. It governs any
construction in the general vicinity of the Airport. It requires that the proponent file this
notice--it's called the FAA Form 7460-1. Any contractor or person who does any work in
the general vicinity of the Airport is familiar with it. It is required by Federal law of
anyone who proposes to construct anything that penetrates a rather flat slope, much flatter
than anything in the ordinance within quite a distance of the Airport. That takes up much
of the City, the 20,000 feet, goes north up to just about to Church Street. And that is a
Federal requirement. Oh, and one other thing that's required is any structure which is
more than 200 feet above the ground anywhere is required to file notice. That's why
many of the cell towers are built at 199 feet, just to avoid that requirement. A 30-day
notice is required to the FAA, and there are some exceptions, which we can talk about if
you want to, but in the Ordinance we're requiring a copy of this notice be provided to the
City in some zones, the Critical Zones, particularly, the Approach Zone, the Transition
Zone, Contolled Activity Zone--not in the Horizontal Zone and not in the Conical Zone.
OK. Shall we begin again?
Lehman/Well, I got a question for you.
Blum/Sure.
Lehman/When I first got on the Council, which has been a year or two ago, I flew to Kansas
City and at that time, the first thing Jan Monroe told us was there was not going to be an
instrument approach to the Iowa City Airport. My assumption is that perhaps, GPS
Systems have changed all that. Is that correct?
Blurrff Yes. I wouldn't say that it has changed it. The situation is everybody expects it to change
as a result of that. And all the evidence is that it will change. And so we're presuming
that it's going change. Jan's position still is that we're not going to get an ILS, which is a
specific type of precision instrument approach. But, just recently the government
completed a very critical test of the GPS, enhanced GPS System satisfactorily. They're
talking about commissioning a series of test instrument approaches now and the potential
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for precision instrument approach, which is defined as an approach that guides you
laterally as well as vertically. Right now, we've got lateral guidance but we don't have
any vertical guidance. So, precision, by definition, gives you both. Now, an ILS would
allow you to land when the visibility only gives you a half a mile of forward vision and as
low as cloud level 200 feet above the ground. That's what is in place, for instance, at
Cedar Rapids, and that's what the airliners will fly.
Lehman/But if GPS system, if that is approved for an instrument, that will require the 50:1 as
opposed to the--, 34:1 is what we would be required if we did not have an instrument
approach, is that correct?
Blum/A precision approach, yeah.
Lehman/Right.
Blum/Now, the reason that we're still planning for 50:1 is they haven't come out with another
standard. There was under construction; they were a vision of Part 77 that had reached
FAA's legal department on September 8th last year. Needless to say, that has not gone
anywhere in the interim.
Lehman/Well, just let me ask a question. How restrictive is this 50:1, and we're talking about
Runway #2/5. How restrictive is that over a 34:17 What does that do to structures on
either end of that runway as opposed to a 34:1 ?
Blum/It only applies down to the one end. You fly to both ends--it only applies to the end that
goes out over the river and over toward Gilbert Court---
Lehman/Over toward the Hills Bank, OK? Everything there is OK in 50:1.
Blum/Yes.
Lehman/OK.
Blum/We don't get into any substantive obstructions until we get out near the Kirkwood
Campus, and there's some towers out there. There are three towers. There are some trees
that are listed as obstructions, and there's a pole or two that are listed as obstructions.
Those are considered easily mitigated. Trees are real easily mitigated. Poles are
considered easily mitigated. The cell towers get to be a little more complex. But even
they, of course, can be relocated or the height can be changed.
Lehman/One other question. The Master Plan and the indications of the FAA is that the north-
south runway will not be maintained.
Blum/The Master Plan calls for closing that runway---
Lehman/Right.
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Blum/...when Runway #2/5/7 gets extended.
Lehman/Right, and then that would be reflected as well in the zoning, right? Once that runway
is closed, the zoning offeach end then would come back to (can't hear). OK.
Blum/As a matter of fact, we've significantly reduced the impact in the current Ordinance.
Remember, I said earlier that we have three widths of primary surface. #7/2/5 is 1,000
feet; the other runway is 500 feet; the north-south runway is 250 feet.
Lehman/OK.
Blum/As a matter of fact, do you remember the discussions we've had about the bowling alley?
Lehman/Right.
Blum/By making it 250 feet wide, the bowling alley is no longer in the Controlled Activity
Zone.
Lehman/OK.
Kanner/To continue what Ernie was saying about 50:1 versus the other ratio, the lower ratio.
What things--what are some heights that could be built with the--in 30:1, you said?
Blum/34:1 is the standard.
Karmer/What could be built with 34:1 versus 50:1 ? What are some heights?
Blum/Well, it depends on the distance from the runway.
Kanner/Well, give me some different distances that, let's say, near Hills Bank and then farther
out.
Blum/Well, here's another way to answer the question. Generally speaking, within the City in
that area, the absolute limit without a special exception--without getting special
permission (laughter)--what time is it?
Lebanan/You've still got three minutes.
[llum/OK. Is a 35-foot-tall building. OK, so---
Kanner/Is that under the Airport Zoning?
Blum/No. Under City Zoning.
Kanner/Under ours, OK. 35-feet.
Blum/Thirty-five feet is the standard height limit except in the central business district, the
standard height--any other district where 35 can be exceeded, Karin? OK, so basically,
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then if you multiply 35 times or divide 35 times by 100 you can get---
Lehman/1750 feet.
Blum/Yeah, you get 1800 feet roughly from the end of the runway of 34:1 or less than that,
1650 feet, I guess. You can build a 35-foot-high building. But if it was 50:1, you would
not be able to build that building there. You would have to go out--for the same height,
you'd have to go out about 4,000 feet.
Lehman/But. basically, what you're saying is that that part of the City is developed. As you're
going over. So this really has no impact whatsoever?
Blum/On future development?
Lehman/No. I mean this doesn't, which, that was my point. If going to a 50---
Kanner/Ernie, I don't understand why it doesn't have impact?
Lehman/Well, it doesn't have any impact because as you go farther off the end of that runway,
the farther out you go, the taller you can build a building. By the time you get to the area
of the City that's undeveloped, which is on the east side of town, you can probably build
one 60 or 80 feet tall and you're only allowed to go 35 feet. So there is no impact.
Blum/Right.
Kanner/Well, but them are some areas close in actually that we might want to build, aren't there,
and that---
Lehman/I don't think there's any part that isn't developed.
Kanner/East of Riverside?
Lehman/No. Yeah. Take the Hills Bank and goes northeast. There isn't a vacant piece of
property anywhere in there. Not until you get clear out past Scott Boulevard.
Kanner/How wide is it that--how much does it spread out? Does it go down to South Gilbert a
bit?
Blum/Yes.
Kanner/How far down?
Blum/The comer of the zone at the edge of South Gilbert is roughly, well, yeah, right about
Stevens Drive. On that end.
Kanner/Where is Stevens Drive?
Lehman/Stevens Drive is south of the Hills Bank a little. Still, even using that trajectory you
would still go out to Heinz Road before you came to anything undeveloped. So, literally,
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this has no effect whatsoever on development.
Blum/Even if it were redevelopment on a given parcel, you'd still have the 35-foot limit.
Lehman/Right.
Kanner/Well, actually, not. I mean, there are exceptions. If we do, we're building, because of
Sensitive Areas, I'm thinking also in that area. I don't know if it affects Sand Road area,
the prairie.
Lehman/No.
Kanner/We might want to make exceptions.
Blum/No that area is---
Lehman/ That's way south of there.
Karmer/Could we get a map by tomorrow again?
Blunv' Yeah, we have a map.
Lehman/We have the hearing. It'd be nice to have the map.
Blum/We do have the map for the hearing. Would you want to have the map projectable?
Lehman/Well, it'd be nice to have---
Vanderhoef/It could just go on the TV.
Kanner/Yeah, for the audience it would be good, and also, I think, a paper one for us. Both, I
think.
Champion/I'd like mine three-dimensional.
(People laugh)
Lehman/We'd like to go up in an airplane and have you show us.
Blum/Absolutely, I'd like that, too. Let's do that.
Vanderhoef/OK. Just practical.
Kanner/Dick, is that possible to get that?
Blum/There are--do you have the map in your office? We'll have to look at the map. You can
see what it looks like and you can decide how many copies you want. I'm sorry.
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Vanderhoef/I'm thinking about the Aviation Park Commercial Area at the north end of the
Airport and I'm also thinking about this area to the south of the Airport where the Dane
property, the Davis property, where we are extending Mormon Trek. What do we have in
the way of height limits in those two areas?
Blum/In the north commercial area, you're in one of those Transitional Zones where the land,
the restriction is flat, for 500 feet from the center line of the runway. And then starts up at
7:1. That 7:1 hits the 35-foot-tall building limit 495 feet out from the edge or thereabouts,
so we're talking about roughly 1,000 feet from the center line of the runway to the place
where you can put a 35-foot-tall building. And that line appears on the North Commercial
Area Development plat. And it's called the 35-foot Building Restriction Line. So if you
look at your copy of the plat, you can see where that is. It cuts through the south bank of
lots from near the back of the lot at the, for want of a better description, the west end, the
end down toward Cub Foods. And it comes diagonally across that parcel to a point where
it pretty much eats up Lot #1. So, if you were going to construct anything on Lot #1,
you'd have to go below 35 foot. And the closer you get to the nmway, the lower you have
to go.
Lehman/But, actually, the restrictions on those lots are probably significantly less than the
restrictions that are presently on Carousel Motors, Wal-Mart and Menard's; 35 feet, I
mean, you could build, any of those lots probably have a 20-foot clearance.
Blurrff Oh, yeah, probably---
Lehman/And very few commercial properties are built 20 foot taller.
Blum/Yeah, I think that's right. I think when we were sort of pencil lining things in, we figured
you could go back quite a ways before you--I mean, look at the sheds and storage
facilities almost to the back of the lot.
Lehman/And that probably is true on the south side of the Airport as well.
TAPE 02-83, SIDE 1
Blum/With 1230, the width of the primary surface is only 500 feet wide, so you only have to
come out 250 feet from the X before you set up at (can't hear). So, the structures there by
the time you get on the other side of the creek, you know, you're---
Lehman/Two-five is the one that would have the biggest restrictions.
Blum/That's the biggest (can't hear)
Lehman/And with the hill where, like John Dane's home on top of the hill, probably---
Blum/That's actually out of any of the areas.
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Lehman/It is out of everything, which means that almost all of the commercial area will be, too,
along Mormon Trek, but that's what we need the map for.
Vanderhoef/Mm..hmm.
Blum/Yes, I think you should.
Franklin/Since you're talking about development around the Airport, one of the issues that I
have raised with the Airport Zoning Commission is that of the regulation pertaining to the
bird-strike hazards.
Pfab/What?
Franklin/That bird-strike hazards is how it's expressed in the Ordinance.
Pfab/OK.
Franklin/And the regulation, I believe, is that you can have no bird-strike hazard within 5,000
feet of the end of any runway. Well, 5,000 feet is obviously almost a mile. What that
means is that as we look at storm water detention, if we have any areas, where we have
wet-bottom basins, such as Carson Lake, that that would come into conflict with the
Ordinance. Now, there am ways to mitigate that in that you put devices within the
detention area that are going to deter birds from landing.
O'Donnell/Like hunters.
Lehman/Hunters.
(Laughter)
Franklin/Yes, we're going to put the two of you in a raft.
O'Donnell/Been there, done that.
Franklin/And you must be there always. (Laughter) It will add potentially to the cost of those
detention basins. And, I mean, Carson Lake is one where we've looked at a regional
detention basin, and then what we'll have to do is incorporate into the construction of that
basin something which will deter birds from landing.
Lehman/How about the Wolf's Pond down there now?
Franklin/Well, that's existing; so's the Iowa River. And Wolfs Pond is static and so I don't
know whether birds land on that or not. But, as I understand, that becomes the issue is
when you have bodies of water in which they are not moving like the river does, and that
flocks of birds will land on these bodies of water. The detention basin behind Wal-Mart is
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an issue. And that was an issue when we went through that development process and
there was something that was supposed to be done with that which evidently got lost in
history. At any rate, this is just something, you know, to keep in our minds, that it's kind
of a, you know, a conflict here between what we're trying to do with the Airport and
what we're doing with storm water management. It is resolvable but what it adds is a cost
to those wet-bottom detention basins whether they are publicly built or privately built.
Lehman/What happens on South Sycamore. We're very close to---
Franklin/ South Sycamore is there, that regional, it's there before this is adopted.
Lehman/So it would be grandfathered in. I like that "grandfather" word.
Franklin/Mm..hmm.
Vanderhoef/Like the golf course, too.
Franklin/Yeah. And I mean that one is problematic. I don't know how much that will draw
flocks of birds.
Lehman/I don't--it's pretty shallow.
Franklin/It is habitat, but it's not something I don't think that's going to draw a flock of geese.
Lehman/Too shallow.
O'Donnell/And the geese we get here in the area aren't particularly deep-diving geese.
Lehman/They're just skimmers.
O'Donnell/They're surface geese.
Lehman/Skimmers.
O'Donnell/Skimmers.
Vanderhoef/Dick, you'll have to use the mic.
Blum/One of the reasons that I am told that the pond south of Airport does not draw a lot of
geese is because it's so deep.
Lehman/Afraid of drowning.
Blum/Well, it doesn't create a food source that the geese can reach with a typical shallow dive.
So, the things that attract geese and ducks are moderately shallow but not real shallow.
But, you know, those water detention ponds behind Wal-Mart and Cub Foods are
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relatively shallow---
Lehman/Right.
Blum/...and there's a lot of birds that roost in there, because there's a lot of vegetation.
O'Donnell/The big ponds on the other side of the river, going east?
Blum/I'll tell you when they tend to congregate and you may have seen them, that pond, at one
edge--but the main part of that is fairly deep--around the outlet from the treatment plant
just north of the Highway 6 bypass bridge, you'll see a lot of waterfowl there. They like
still water. They don't like to be carried away by the current. So they don't congregate in
the fast-moving areas of the river. But where there's a back eddy, like up by City Park,
along the inside edge where the water's moving very slowly, if at all, you'll see them but
they won't go out---
Lehman/Karin, are there any other issues that we have to deal with other than water?
Franklin/No, I---
Lehman/ It appears that most of this (can't hear)---
Franklin/ I think that's the only one. Runway #7, which is the old #6. That's the southwest. That
was one I was concerned about, but the regulations don't change from what we have right
now.
Lehman/That's two-five, right?
Franklin/Right, the other end of 2/5, 7/2/5. So Runway 7 is at the end where any regulatory
measure off the end of that runway is going to affect development around Mormon Trak
and Highway 1 intersection.
Lehman/So, basically, the height restrictions that would be opposed by the Zoning has little or
no effect on anything that we've got going on.
Franklin/From what I can tell.
Lehman/Unless somebody wants to put up a 300-foot cell tower inside the City limits, which
(can't hear)---
Franklin/We did have some concern about Plaza Towers because of a communication they had
received from FAA indicating they could build at a certain height, which with the base of
684 and 150 feet above that, it's about 2 feet short of what FAA had indicated they could
build at. However, the architect has met with the Airport Zoning Commission and was
there at their last meeting and it appears that they're going to be able to work through
that, that they have enough flexibility. But it will--it means that there is a cap, that it puts
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on development downtown.
Lehman/But that's a pretty tall---
Franklin/ That's a generous one. Yes, it is. Given what we've had to date.
Lehman/Karin, now, you're, I'm sorry, go ahead. Well, you're familiar with this. Do you have
any problems with this?
Franklin/Mm..nnn (negative).
Lehman/I don't see---
Franklin/The bird strike is the only thing.
O'Donnell/I don't see any problems with it.
Champion/Karin, what do you do to water to keep birds from congregating in it?
Franklin/Well, I don't know, because I know the fountain things don't work. At Wellington
Condominiums, for instance, if we had something like Wellington Condominiums come
in within this 5,000 feet, that would be problematic because those ponds have aerators,
and it's probably more for mosquitoes and stuff like that. There are a lot of waterfowl in
those ponds now, I mean, flocks of geese that are there.
Lehman/Right.
Vanderhoef/So, what we're saying there then is that there really isn't any change from the old
Zoning Code in this new one that changes the Protection Zones or regulating heights?
Franklin/No, that's not correct.
O'Neil/No, I think that's understating it.
Franklin/Yeah, Runway #2/5, the 1:50 slope is a definite change from the 34:1 that we have
right now. The 50:1 is a flatter slope than we have right now, which the current one is
34:1.
Lehman/But it doesn't impact anything.
Franklin/As far as we know, it does not impact anything. You would have to be quite close to
the Airport and you would have to have a high piece of ground for it to be, to have a
significant impact. Now, we haven't looked at every single property with every single
first-floor elevation to determine that it's not going to affect anyone. I mean, it does
flatten it down.
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Lehman/You need to talk in the mic, Jerry. Don't trip and fall. We don't have insurance for
people who talk on Monday nights (laughter). So if you fall, you're on YOUr own. Do you
fly, too, do you?
Jerry Full/ I do. We had a discussion with the Airport Conunission about this, of having a more
restrictive area out there, and I was--my thought is that we're not going to get a precision
approach. That's just my personal opinion, and I said to the Airport Commission, if five
years down the road it looks like we're not going to get a precision approach and
somebody wants to build a larger structure off the end of that runway, we could change
the Ordinance at that time.
Lehman/Yeah, but it seems to me that the Airport is a significant investment in the community,
and as long as we're not impacting anything now with the 50:1, we probably would
continue to protect that, because heavens knows, with technology the way it is, you let
them build it in five years and eight years later you find out that if you'd have kept it, you
could allow it. So, I mean---
Full/That option is there.
Lehman/My concern is that impacting existing structures, which apparently we do not.
Franklin/I have to qualify this, Emie. I have not looked at every single---
Full/ Well, there's that tower out by (can't hear)---
Blum/Well, what will happen, for instance, if a tower penetrates, it will be allowed to stay there
but it becomes a permitted nonconforming use. So, you know, if it gets destroyed by
lightning strike, they will not be able to reconstruct it if it's like more than 50 percent,
you know that whole routine. Now, you're telling us to ask the question about what you
might do with ponds, and Karin had brought up the fact that it might be costly. There are
some things that can be done. Large waterfowl need horizontal space to be able to take
off and land, kind of like airplanes. So, what other jurisdictions have done is string cables
across ponds, low-down, to disrupt that ability (laughter). That's right. Some places have
put lots of posts in the water to disrupt the surface. Some have actually laid what amounts
to horizontal chain-link right at the surface of thc water. You don't see it, but it
essentially prevents the waterfowl from landing there. But those could--especially in a
large, you know, pond--those could be pretty expensive. But it is certainly something that
FFA is very concerned about because bird strikes are, you know, obviously, are a serious
problem. And, Dee, there's another answer to your question as well. There are some
administrative things that have changed in the new Ordinance. For example, I mentioned
that the City must receive a copy of that Federal 7460 before it can act in certain zones,
and I also mentioned that there's a 30-day period that you must, prior to any construction,
you must file that form.
Vanderhoef/And what was it before?
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 53
Blurn/Well, I suspect that, I don't know that there's been any limit to getting a building permit,
if you came in w/th all the i's dotted and the t's crossed, I think you got a building permit
in a relatively short time, a matter of a few days, maybe less than that. So, what this is
going to have a practical effect on is that people who want to construct in those zones
will have at least a 30-day wait. Now, the truth of the matter is they're required by
Federal law to give that notice, without regard to whether we had this Ordinance. So, I
guess what we're doing is helping those people not violate Federal law.
Lehman/You're just consistent with the Federal Law.
Blun'ff Absolutely.
Vanderhoef/So, what we're saying at the City level for our staff and everything else, the first
time someone comes in and is even remotely interested in a property in one of our new
Commercial Zones, it's called go get your---
Blung Absolutely. File that permit.
Vanderhoef/...file the permit.
Blum/It's not actually a permit. It's a notice. File that notice.
Vanderhoef/OK.
Blum/Which they should be doing anyway. But, you lmow, I think, we need to be aware of the
fact that we are now codifying that requirement within the City as well. I personally don't
see that that is any disadvantage to anybody.
Vanderhoef/No.
Blum/As I said, I think we're really helping in a sense the citizens of the City to conform with
that requirement.
Champion/Well, I think since they've made the decision to keep the Airport where it is at, and
they've obviously put a lot of money into it in recent years that we must maintain the
ability to make it an instrument landing. It's foolish not to.
Franklin/Oh, yeah.
Lehman/All right.
Vanderhoef/I don't want to skip on the---
Lehman/Anybody else have any questions about air--we learned more than we ever wanted to
know. The only ones I'm not sure about are the waterfowl and we'll work on that one.
Are there other questions about, pardon? Are you hung up on the chain?
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October 21, 2002 Council Work Session Page 54
Blum/Never mind.
Lehman/You got caught in the cable? (Laughter). All right, Richard, thank you.
Wilbum/Thank you.
COUNCIL TIME
Lehman/Hey, guys, Council time. Anything?
O'Donnell/Tomorrow night.
Lehman/Tomorrow night.
O'Neil/You didn't answer the question--do you want that map?
Lehman/You know, it would be very helpful, frankly, and I don't know that you can produce it
between now and then, but if that map were to have the streets and build--if that were
superimposed over a picture, would that be a lot simpler?
Blum/Well,---
Lehman/ I don't have a problem. We've established that where, that it really does not impact. So
I don't have a problem with it. But I did want to see the map to determine that.
BIum/We talked about whether or not we could use a picture like that and put it on there, and
technically I think we could do that, but it's involved. And no, we wouldn't be able to do
it by tomorrow. We could ultimately do it. I---
Lehman/ Well, just a second. Are there Council people who feel we need that after having
determined that this has no impact on any structures? I have no problem now that I can
see that.
Blum/I can get this one done, I think.
Pfab/Is it possible it could be put on someplace where, if the public wants to look at, it will ali---
Karmer/Well, I think the point is, Ernie, that the public might come in and see that it might have
some impact. So, I think it would be good to have something up for the public hearing if
they do find, they might have some wisdom that we're lacking here.
Pfab/But also it would be important---
Blum/Just post them on the wall? Is that---
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Lehman/It has no impact that we're aware of on any existing structures.
Champion/I think you're---
Kanner/You could say that, but they again, might have greater wisdom than us though it's hard
to believe.
Lehman/Well, then they'd (can't hear)
Wilburn/All right.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Council Meeting of October 21, 2002..