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Home My WebLink About2009-01-15 Info Packet~ - i ~;~,,~_ ri''~~ ,wr®~~~ ~~ CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET January 15, 2009 MISCELLANEOUS IP1 Council Meetings and Work Session Agenda IP2 Memorandum from the Director of Public Works and the Director of Planning and Community Development: Update: Flood-related activities IP3 Response from the Assistant City Manager to Der-Fa Lu: High speed Internet in Iowa City IP4 Police Department P.A.U.L.A. Report December 2009 IP5 Email from Timothy Young: Interest of Iowa City Storage Structure IP6 Iowa League of Cities Legislative Link January 9, 2009 IP7 Invitation: Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Friday, January 30, 2009 IP8 Invitation: Rich Van Pelt Seminar -Dealing with Youth in Crisis- January 23-25, 2009 Invitation: Iowa League of Cities, Legislative Day, January 29, 2009 DRAFT MINUTES IP9 Housing and Community Development Commission: December 18, 2008 IP10 Planning and Zoning Commission: December 4, 2008 IP11 Iowa City Board of Adjustment: December 10, 2008 IP12 Youth Advisory Commission: January 8, 2009 - 1 iwr~~~~ -•~...__ CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET January 15, 2009 MISCELLANEOUS IP1 Council Meetings and Work Session Agenda IP2 Memorandum from the Director of Public Works and the Director of Planning and Community Development: Update: Flood-related a ivities IP3 Response fro `the Assistant City Manager to Der- a Lu: High speed-Internet in Iowa City IP4 Police Departure t P.A.U.L.A. Report Decemb r 2009 IP5 Email from Timothy ung: Interest of Iowa ty Storage Structure IP6 Iowa League of Cities L gislative Link Ja ary 9, 2009 IP7 Invitation: Iowa City Area hamber of ommerce Annual Banquet Friday, January 30, 2009 IP8 Invitation: Rich Van Pelt Semina - D aling with Youth in Crisis- January 23-25, 2009 D FT MINUTES IP9 Housing and Community D elopment ommission: December 18, 2008 IP10 Planning and Zoning Co mission: Dece er 4, 2008 IP11 Iowa City Board of A ustment: December 10, 2008 IP12 Youth Advisory C mission: January 8, 2009 ~ ~ 01-15-09 ~~ ~'~'~~ Cit Council Meetin Schedule and IP1 -~...~""~-.~ y 9 CITY OF IOWA CITY Work Session Agendas ~a~uary 5.2009 www.icgov.org TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE • MONDAY, JANUARY 19 Martin Luther King Holiday -City Offices Closed • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p City Conference Board -Separate Agenda Posted Special Work Session -Budget Boards/Commissions/Community Events • THURSDAY, JANUARY 29 Emma J. Harvat Hall 4:30p Special Work Session -Budget Dinner provided Boards/Commissions/Community Events (continued) General Budget Discussion • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Special Council Work Session • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:OOP Special Formal Council Meeting • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16 Emma J. Harvat Hall President's Day Holiday -City Offices Closed • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p City Conference Board -Separate Agenda Posted Special Council Work Session • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:OOp Special Formal Council Meeting • TUESDAY, MARCH 10 Emma J. Harvat Hall TBA Special Council Work Session Special Formal Council Meeting Continue Special Work Session if necessary • MONDAY, MARCH 23 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Special Council Work Session • TUESDAY, MARCH 24 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:OOP Special Formal Council Meeting ~~~ ``" "''"'®'~~ City Council Meeting Schedule and -~..~_ CITY OF IOWA CITY Work Session Agendas January 15, zoos www.icgov.org • MONDAY, APRIL 6 6:30p Council Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall • TUESDAY, APRIL 7 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:OOp Regular Formal Council Meeting r -- ~~~1..:.®~,~ CITY OF IOWA CITY ~P2 RA ~ Q C~ ~~~a Date: January 15, 2009 To: City Council From: Rick Fosse, Director of Public Works Jeff Davidson, Director of Planning and Community Development Re: Update: Flood-related activities Engineering and Public Works Administration • Invitations mailed for neighborhood meetings to discuss flood recovery and mitigation: o Parkview Terrace Neighborhood: January 22"d , 7:00 pm at the Water Plant o Idyllwild Neighborhood: January 29th, 7:00 pm at the Water Plant • Attended the January 10th Parkview Terrace neighborhood meeting at which the Corps was the guest speaker. • Met with FEMA regarding our ongoing flood recovery and federal reimbursement. • Developing concept statements for FHWA repair projects • Evaluating the damage assessment of the Iowa River Power Dam Water • Continued to replace meters in areas that had been flooded - Idylwild &Parkview, etc. • Worked with HRG to complete Hazard Mitigation contract. Made contact with Hank Manning, IDED, regarding CDBG funding... reviewing application procedure. Wastewater Sewer Crew work this week: • Finished cleaning the Benton Street siphon and Ralston Creek siphon -both are good. Plant Maintenance Crew work this week: • Finalizing repairs to 8 flow meters at the North Plant - 3 have been working; expect 3 finished today, 2 more in the next few weeks when parts arrive. • Finishing Sludge Pump Bldg. lights replacement • Continued with repair of HVAC system pneumatic and electric control defect discovery and repair Additional items to complete: • Finish work on Valve Actuators in Sludge Pump Bldg. - 2 out of 5 remain to be done. • Complete installation of 2 water heaters • Install 2 air conditioners at North Admin • Finish repair of grinder controls - 2 out of 3 remain • Repair Influent wet well float alarms • Bar Screen gate actuator repairs - 1 out of 2 remain • Troubleshoot and repair #2 old Secondary Clarifier - trips out. • Troubleshoot and repair Recirculation Station VFD - trips out • Complete repairs of Humus Pump Station • Complete duct and heat exchanger clean up • Remove old Admin Bldg. boiler • Relocate River Street Stormwater Station controls -higher elevation • Convert West Park Lift station to submersible pump system • Install Iowa Ave. siphon flow monitor system • Replace Iowa Ave. Siphon system January 15, 2009 Page 2 Planning and Community Development • The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Acquisition application (726 pages) for $11,592,681 to acquire 40 homes was submitted to Iowa Homeland Security on January 13, 2009. Iowa Homeland Security changed the requested format of the property section. This delayed the submittal date a couple of days. The deadline for cities to submit the grant is the end of January. • Jeff Davidson reviewed Sasaki's summary report on the Stanley flood mitigation options report. • Currently working with 41 of the 124 applicants for state and federal Jumpstart funds. All of the Jumpstart State funds ($686,196) have been committed and approximately $555,000 in Jumpstart federal funds have been committed. • Jumpstart Iowa Business Summary - 40 applicants - 37 approved totaling $981,286 in loans - 1/13/09, the city has distributed 31 checks totaling $827,536 - 6 applicants must still complete their applications before dispersal-totaling $153,750 - 2% administration cost of $19,625 - Grand Total including admin. cost: $1,000,911.81 • Community Foundation currently has $57,000 earmarked for mortgage/rental payment assistance. Checks have been issued or are imminent for issue this week to 14 households, committing over $38,000. There are a number of families for which we are awaiting confirmation of payment amounts, with hopes of assisting them and expending the remaining funds. r ~_ ~ CITY O~ lOWA CITY ~~.®~~ ~~~I~'~~ N D U ~ ME~~RA Date: January 15, 2009 To: City Council From: Nasseem Hesler Re: Rental Rehabilitation Flood Recovery Program On January 14, 2009 Governor Culver announced a new Disaster Relief Program that will assist owners of rental properties that were damaged by the flood of 2008. This program is called the Rental Rehabilitation Program. The Rental Rehabilitation Program will be administered pursuant to the following guidelines: • Assistance is limited to projects of seven units or fewer. • Eligible landlords may receive up to $24,999 per unit for repairs; supplemental funds will be available for the following (when applicable): lead hazard reduction, project delivery costs and temporary relocation. • Total cost including supplemental assistance cannot exceed $37,500 per unit. • Assistance will be in the form of anon-receding five-year forgivable loan, forgiven in full at the end of the five-year compliance period. • No rental rehabilitation benefits will be allowed for structures or projects located in a designated or proposed buy-out area. The Rental Rehabilitation program will be administered by the Community Development division that currently administers the Jumpstart Housing Program. Rental property owners have until Feb. 20 to apply for the first round of funding. Applications can be found on the City's website at www.icgov.orq/recovery or Rebuild Iowa Office's Web site at www rio.iowa.gov/resources/assistance.html. For additional information you may also contact Nasseem Hesler at 356-5479 or nasseem- hesler@iowa-city. org. Rebuild Iowa Office Page 1 of 3 ~` . -- ~~~ RIQ Press Release For Immediate Release Media Contact January 14, 2009 Tina Potthoff ,Communications Director Gavernar Chet Culver ~ Rebuild Iowa Office Lt. Governor Patty Judge, R1tJ (515) 242-5232 (o) Executive Director Fax: (515) 242-5006 GOVERNOR CULVER ANNOUNCES NEW DISASTER RENTAL REHABILITATION PROGRAM ;~~~ New Program Will Assist Landlords Impacted by 2008 Storms and Flooding (DES MOINES) -Today, Governor Culver announced a new program that specifically helps owners of rental properties damaged ~~ by last year's severe storms and floods. Further details about the program were announced by the Rebuild Iowa Office at today's joint ,;,~„~,,,,,;~, Rebuild Iowa & Disaster Recovery House and Senate Committee meeting. ~..,.~ The Rental Rehabilitation program allows landlords to receive up to $24,999 per unit for repairs. Supplemental funds will be available for a_ the following (when applicable): lead hazard reduction, project delivery costs and temporary relocation. Total cost including supplemental assistance cannot exceed $37,500 per unit. Assistance will be in the form of a five-year forgivable loan (non- receding), forgiven in full at the end of the five-year compliance period. "Landlords are currently not eligible for the Jumpstart program," said Governor Chet Culver. "It is imperative that owners of rental properties receive assistance during this disaster recovery process as well. The Rental Rehabilitation program allows landlords the ability to make repairs and increase the housing availability in and around flood-impacted areas." Assistance is limited to projects of seven units or fewer. A program for projects of more than seven units is currently being developed. A project is defined as a site or sites together with any building or buildings (including manufactured structures that are taxed as real property) located on a site or sites that are under common ownership, management and financing. For example, a person who owns two http://www.rio.iowa.gov/news/releases/2009/011409_rental_rehab.html 1 /15/2009 Rebuild Iowa Office disaster-impacted duplexes and one disaster-impacted triplex can repair all three structures. The Rental Rehabilitation program will be administered by the 11 Council of Governments (COG) and Entitlement Cities that currently administer the Jumpstart Housing Program. Eligible applicants must be: Rental property owners (individuals; for-profit entities; and non-profit entities) whose properties were impacted by the disasters of 2008 Rental property owners seeking rental rehab assistance must have been the owner of record of the property for which funding is sought prior to the disaster event Property owners who can demonstrate the ability to fund on- going operational expenses associated with the rental property over the life of the forgivable loan Property owners must agree to comply with all federal, state and local requirements (including but not limited to Rental Rehabilitation guidelines, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity requirements, accessibility for persons with disabilities, procurement and contracting requirements, etc.). The Rental Rehabilitation program is funded by Community Development Block Grant funds. The distribution of funds to various communities will be based on the need in that area. No rental rehabilitation benefits to structures or projects located within the 100-year Floodplain will be allowed, unless the activity meets all Housing and Urban Development (HUD) environmental requirements, all applicable flood mitigation design standards and the property is insured by the Federal Flood Insurance Program. Also, no rental rehabilitation benefits will be allowed for structures or projects located in a designated or proposed buy-out area. Rental property owners have until Feb. 20 to apply for the first round of funding. Applications can be found on the Rebuild Iowa Office's Web site at wwuv.rio iowa gc?ulresources/assistance.htrnl or by calling the Rebuild Iowa Office at (515) 242-5004. For more information on the Rental Rehabilitation program, visit the Dept. of Economic Development's Web site at www.iowalifect7anging.corn/flood.hirnl. Return. to RIO Online. News F2oorn home page Rebuild Iowa Office Page 2 of 3 http://www.rio.iowa.gov/news/releases/2009/011409_rental_rehab.html 1 /15/2009 IP3 (Original distributed in 12/I6/08 Consent Calendar) Marian Karr From: Dale Helling Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:36 PM To: 'Lu, Der-Fa' Cc: Council Subject: RE: high speed Internet in Iowa City Dear Ms. Lu, Your email correspondence to the City Council of November 25 regarding high speed Internet in Iowa City was received and forwarded to Council members. Council has asked that I respond with some information. The short answer to your question is that the City has not specifically addressed the possibility of providing a municipally owned citywide high speed Internet service. It has not been considered a major priority given many other demands City services. As for the longer answer, a bit of history may be helpful. In the late 1970s the City explored options for bringing cable television to Iowa City and, after some discussion and debate, decided to request proposals from private cable vendors for serving local subscribers. The alternative of building and operating a municipal cable "utility" was rejected in reaching that decision. Since that time, the local cable franchisee (currently Mediacom) and the owner of the local telephone infrastructure (currently OWEST) have owned and controlled the "pipeline" for delivering Internet access services over wire. More recently, wireless services have captured a small share of that market. By the 1980s optical fiber was recognized as the medium of the future for delivering not only video, but also voice and data, with improved speed and quality. In negotiating cable franchise renewals, the City has addressed the need to include more fiber in the "backbone" of local system. Cable franchisees locally have likewise seen the advantage to use of more fiber. Mediacom is thus generally able to deliver Internet service in a "high speed" fashion. QWEST, as a successor to AT&T, holds a franchise granted in perpetuity in the 1890s, and they, too, offer Internet service. Over the years some cities and towns have created municipal cable, telephone, or Internet systems, or some combination thereof. A majority of these were built in the absence of a private company being franchised to provide these services. They have generally been successful and many offer a product as good as or better than private cable vendors, often at a significantly lower cost to the subscriber. However, there are far fewer success stories where competitors, public or private, have built parallel systems and then tried to compete for the customers currently served by the incumbent provider. Generally, such ventures have been found to not be cost effective and are rarely pursued by either local government or private companies. To complicate things further, more recent State and Federal legislation has greatly weakened local cable franchising authority. In addition, nearly a decade ago the FCC and ultimately the courts ruled that Internet service is not a "cable" service and thus is not subject to regulation by a local cable franchising authority. Thus, the City cannot enforce customer service standards or other provisions of the existing cable TV franchise relative to the delivery of telephone of Internet service. Finally, white satellite systems or other wireless services can compete in many venues, they are not seen as offering the same speed and security as optical fiber systems. All told, it is not likely that the City could build the necessary infrastructure and provide high speed Internet service in competition with existing providers without heavily subsidizing that service. With limited resources and greater demands for the improvement in more traditional municipal services such as public safety, parks and leisure time activities, road construction and maintenance, etc., it is unlikely that this will become a high priority in the foreseeable future. While I cannot directly respond on behalf of individual Council members to you original question regarding their vision in this regard, feel free to contact Council members individually if you'd like. Contact information is available on the City website at www.icgov.org. On the A-Z Index, go to "C" and on the drop down menu click on "Council". I hope you find this information helpful. 1 /9/2009 Page 2 of 2 Best regards, Dale Helling, Assistant City Manager From: Lu, Der-Fa [mailto:der-fa-lu@uiowa.edu] Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:21 AM To: Council Subject: high speed Internet in Iowa City This correspondence will become a public record. To Iowa City Council, I would like to explore the possibility to build community high speed Internet connection in Iowa City area. In current econ. crisis, I believe that using Internet to teach English is a good business plan for Iowa City residences. My husband and I had taught in Taiwan. We have connection and witnessed similar teaching opportunities. Iowa City has good human resources in terms of education. I want to know your vision in building high speed IT infrastructure for business locally. Thank you for considerations and look forward to hearing from you! You may review similar development in a small town in remote Wyoming town. http://www.washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/ 11 /21 /AR2008112101990.htm1 Der-Fa Lu, PhD RN Assistant Professor in Nursing Informatics Parent Child Family Area of Study The University of Iowa College of Nursing 426 Nursing Building, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 Office (319)335-7104 Fax (319)353-5326 der-fa-lu(a)uiowa. edu 1 /9/2009 Iowa City Police Department P.A.U.L.A. Report -December 2008 (Possession of Alcohol Under Legal Age) Business Name (occupancy] (occupancy loads updated Oct ~os) Monthly Totals visits arrests Year-to-Date Totals visits arrests 808 Restaurant & Nightclub [176] ~~ 39 46 Airliner [223] ' 18 5 American Legion [140] _ I - --- - _. - - 1 '' - 0 _ _ __ 1 __ __ 0 - Aoeshe Restaurant [156] Atlas World Grill [165] I 5 0 Blackstone [297] __ 1_ _ - - __ - - _- Bluebird Diner [82] Bob's Your Uncle [260'] ~I Bo-James [200] _ Bread Garden Market & Bakery [?] [It's] Brothers Bar & Grill [556] 5 0 [The] Brown Bottle [289] __ - - Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar [189] Cafe Z [56] Carl & Ernie's Pub & Grill [92] _1 ____ Carlos O'Kelly's [299] Chipotle Mexican Grill [119] [The] Club Car [56] _ _ ___ Club Furria [280] 1 0 Colonial Lanes [502] Dave's Foxhead Tavern [87] -- ~_ David's Place [73] ~ DC's [120] [The] Deadwood [218] _ ____ -- - Devotay [45] Donnelly's Pub [49] 1 0 [The] Dublin Underground [57] _ _ ~ [Fraternal Order of] Eagle's [315] EI Dorado Mexican Restaurant [104] [BPO] Elks #590 [205] __ _ _ ___ EI Ranchero Mexican Restaurant [161] Englert Theatre [838] ' Etc [178] - - - ___ Farras [200] [The] Fieldhouse (aka Third Base) [420] 5 2 Firewater (114] Formosa Asian Cuisine [149) George's Buffet [75] 1 ~ 0 Givanni's [158] _ - - -- Godfather's Pizza [170] Graze [49] Grizzly's South Side Pub [265] ~ 1 0 Guido's Deli [20] [The] Hilltop Lounge (90] IC Ugly's [721 _ _~_ _ 4 _ 0 India Cafe [100] [The] Industry [436] Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack [71] Joe's Place (281 ] Joseph's Steak House [226] - I' Kandy Land [120__] _ _ _ ~ _ L_ ___ La Casa [300] La Reyna Linn Street Cafe [80] IP4 PAULA Visit 1.179 0.278 0.000 26 4 0.154 107 76 0.710 5 0 0.000 5 0 0.000 10 0 0.000 6 0 0.000 1 0 0.000 -- - _ _ - 1 - 0 0.000 29 4 0.138 9 0 0.000 7 0 0.000 9 0 0.000 2 0 0.000 42 60 _ 1.429 _ - - - -- 35 - 0 0.000 90 131 1.456 5 0 0.000 1 0 10 0 0.000 2 0 0.000 5 0 0.000 14 0 0.000 21 - 1 -- - --- 0.048 2 0 0.000 "' -, ,. _, ~.~ a - -..~ . _ . ~) _.» :~ ~ ... ""` _~.~ Los Cocos [99] ' 7 0 Los Portales [161] Martini's [200] __'~ _ __ _? _ % 0 Masala [46] Micky's (98] (The] Mill Restaurant [325] - - _ [Loyal Order of] Moose [476] Monica's Italian Bistro & Pizzeria [160] [Sheraton] Morgan's [231] ' _ Motley Cow Cafe [82] i, Okoboji Grill [222] Old Capitol Brew Works [294] 1 -- - 0 One-Eyed Jake's [299] One-Twenty-Six [105] I Oyama Sushi Japanese Restaurant - -- - - - - - [87] Pagliai's Pizza [113] Panchero's (Clinton St) [62] Panchero's Grill (Riverside Dr) [95] _ _ _ Piano Lounge [65] [The] Picador [261] Pit Smokehouse [40] _ _ - ' - - l Pizza Hut [116] , Quality Inn/Highlander [971] Quinton's Bar & Deli [149] 1 0 [The] Red Avocado [47] Rick's Grille & Spirits [120] 1 0 Riverside Theatre [118] _ - _ _ _ Saloon [120] Sam's Pizza [174] 1 0 [The) Sanctuary Restaurant [132] Shakespeare's [90] ' 1 0 Short's Burger & Shine [56] Skybox [47] _ - - - __ _ _ I Speakeasy [311] Sports Column [400] 1 0 Studio 13 [206] - - -- - - [The] Summit [736] 1 3 Sushi Popo [84] Takanami Restaurant [1.4.8] TCB [250] 3 0 Thai Flavors [60] ~ Thai Spice [91] T. Spoons [102] 2 4 Union Bar [854] VFW Post #3949 [197] - __ - [The] Vine Tavern [170] 1 0 Vito's [320] 3 0 Wig & Pen Pizza Pub [154] i _~_ [Iowa City] Yacht Club [206] Zio Johno's Spaghetti House [94] Z'Mariks Noodle House [47 Totals: ~, 44 9 Other PAULA at non-business locations: 2 PAULA Totals: 11 *includes outdoor seating area current month 37 1 0.027 16 0 0.000 6 0 0.000 3 1 0.333 3 0 0.000 __ 63 97 1.540 - _ - - _ --_ 9 0 0.000 4 1 0.250 14 I 0 I 0.000 6 1 0.167 2 0 " 0.000 1 0 0.000 2 0 0.000 2 0 1 0 0.000 31 0 0.000 86 124 1.442 15 6 0.400 71 94 1.324 24 I 0 1 0.000 78 70 0.897 1 0 0.000 1 0 63 42 0.667 18 2 0.111 1065 ~ 766 0.719 113 879 year-to-date ~ .. ,s..1 IP5 Marian Karr From: Timothy Young [timothymyoung@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:42 PM To: Council Subject: FW: The Interest of Iowa City CIty Clerk, Please include this email in the council information packet, which is released on Thursdays. Thanks. Tim Young From: timothymyoung@hotmail.com To: regenia-bailey@iowa-city.org; amy-Correia@iowa-city.org; matt-hayek@iowa-city.org; ross- wilburn@iowa-city.org; mike-Wright@iowa-city.org; michael-lombardo@iowa-city.org Subject: The Interest of Iowa City Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:38:22 -0500 Mayor Regenia Bailey, An unsolicited proposal entitled "Protecting Items in an Area that is known to Flood during a Hurricane or a Tropical Storm" has been prepared that may be of interest to Iowa City, Iowa. As of to date the Cities of Myrtle Beach, Galveston, Houston and New Orleans has obtained this document. The purpose of this unsolicited proposal is to describe a structure that is to be constructed in an area that has a history of flooding, which is due to the failure of flood protection devices (e.g. levees, dikes and floodwalls) or a storm surge. This structure is to provide a place of protection for the temporary storage of vehicles, government owned documents, mail and hazardous chemicals in the event of failure of flood protection devices or a storm surge, which is due to a hurricane or a tropical storm. If there is a desire by Iowa City to review this proposal, please provide me with the recipient's name, the recipient's position, the recipient's mailing address and the recipient's email address. By requesting this unsolicited proposal to review, does not obligate Iowa City. After the review of this unsolicited proposal it is hoped that Iowa City will begin the process that will lead to the implementation of the structure that is stated within this unsolicited proposal. 1/12/2009 Page 2 of 2 I would like to thank you for considering the contents of this email. This email was also sent to the members of the City Council and the City Manager as a source of reference. Your servant of Iowa City, Timothy M. Young Email: timothymyoung@hotmail.com Virginia Windows Liver'": Keep your life in sync. See...._how.._it_works... Windows Liver"': Keep your life in sync. Check it out. 1 / 12/2009 1~5~5- IP6 Marian Karr From: jessicaharder@iowaleague.org Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 10:10 AM To: jessicaharder@iowaleague.org Subject: Legislative Link: January 9, 2009 Attachments: Legislative Link 20090109.pdf; Recommendations Legislative Property Tax Study Committee.pdf ~ ~ Legislative Link Recommendations 109 df L ' I tive Pr 20090 .p ... egis a ... The current edition of Legislative Link is attached to this message. Legislative Link is published weekly as member service by the Iowa League of Cities during the legislative session and periodically during the interim. Past issues may be viewed at www.iowaleague.org. Questions and requests for additional information may be sent to the League's legislative staff at cvC~iowaleague.org. 1 ~ ~ ~~ i. ~ ~~ Session Begins January 12 The 83rd General Assembly convenes next Monday, January 12. Weekly Legis/alive Links with news from the Capitol will be sent to you each Friday, beginning January 16. League Legislative Day on January 27 League Legislative Day will be held January 27. Please, si n u by visiting the League web site. The legislative team will provide an update and a reception will,be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Please, plan to attend and speak with legislators from across the state about League legislative priorities. Property Tax Study Committee The Property Tax Study Committee met for the final time January 7. After reviewing the final report with the consultants, the committee adopted the attached set of six recommendations. The committee recommended the Legislature consider nine specific alternative revenue options, including four of the five suggested alternative revenue options the League Steering Committee and the Metro Coalition previously approved. One committee recommendation would require 75 percent of new revenue generated by each of the nine revenue options to go toward reducing property taxes, with two-thirds of the new revenue going to reduce commercial property taxes and the remainder used to reduce taxes on other classes of property. Another recommendation suggested the legislature consider an expenditure limitation component for any revenue diversification program. Other recommendations include giving cities and counties in flooded areas flexible bonding authority for disaster recovery, sun-setting the local option sales tax TIF (or LOST-TIF) that passed at the end of the last legislative session, and creating a Commission on Smart Growth. League Members can updates on high prianty issues by ~~ I ~ 11 I visiting www.iowateague.org/legrs(ative. The Legislative (/'~` /1 / A Status Update is reviewed weekly or as legislation devel- l../q y ~/ /"'"~ aps. Legislative Link as a member service provided by the I.EAGU E pubUsher, the Iowa League of Cities. Contact us at 317 Sixth Avenue, sorts 800, Des Moines, IA 50309, C?!+ C~ I ~ES (515) 244-7282 arcv@iawaleague.org. Co-Chairs Representative Philip Wise and Senator Joe Bolkcom stated that the recommendations were broad suggestions for the Legislature, and they expected the ideas to be fleshed out in more detail in legislation in both the House and Senate. At the previous Property Tax Study Committee meeting on November 14, the League presented information to the committee on alternative revenues and needed flexibilities for cities to be able to adequately respond to disasters. The League was asked to provide the committee with priorities which provide alternative revenue options for cities and allow for more flexibility in areas like bonding. After that meeting, the League worked with its members to agree on a proposal. The League asked its members to show support for the proposal by sending letters to their legislators and to the chairs of the Property Tax Study Committee. Thanks to all the cities that did so. Your supportive communication with legislators makes a big difference in our ability to move issues forward. Potential Federal Stimulus Package The League was contacted by the Office of Governor Culver and the Department of Economic Development (IDED) to help prepare Iowa for any infrastructure stimulus package or initiative that may come from the federal government in coming weeks. It is crucial to have a more complete picture of the scope of projects that would be "shovel ready" within six months. The League is gathering information on ready-to-go infrastructure projects in Iowa's cities. These projects must be in the planning and development stages, and would need to be under contract and begin within 180 days of the federal appropriation and completed within two years of the start date. Infrastructure is broadly defined, and projects that would have an impact on construction and the creation of permanent jobs may best fit withi the federal guidelines. ~~,: • ~,. `; i °~,. 3'., d'r ~~.. ~, i~~p R`^~ tg5~''rt~ 51„~. ,7,. ~; ~, ,. ;4H;Fy. ~~. ,F ,, ~s '84 i ice'`" yr '` s . r ~- ~; >~' ,;~~< ~° ~`~~ . 3~~g" 'Y,~ 1,:~Y ~5 ~.dt~ ~? V,~~, n ~~~~r ~,. ' , e, "~'~ +; :~ `',~ Although sending this information does not guarantee the projects will be funded, it helps make a compelling case at the federal level, and gives Governor's Office and IDED a way to pinpoint the level of immediate infrastructure funding needs for Iowa s,local governments. Please fill out the surve~,k~y January 1~.~.h~ For questions on the survey, contact Shannon:~P~seka ' ` in the League office. .. ~ , ;~J .nom Y 4~t` ~' ??4t,, y, ,~,, r~~~:,r ~'3 ,~' . ' `ti . ~~~ <~, .. =~ Liquid Assets "The Story of Our Water Infrastructure" will air Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. on PBS. This 90-minute documentary focuses on America's aging and sometimes inadequate water systems. The show will raise public awareness on the need for more financial investment in our underground infrastructure. Congress is considering more money for water systems as part of the economic stimulus package. Check your local public television station for listings. Identity Theft Prevention The Identity Theft Prevention Study Committee met Tuesday, December 2. This Committee is charged with assessing and making recommendations on the extent to which government or government-affiliated organizations are in possession of Iowans' sensitive personal, identifying information. It is also to assess the extent to which public officials, government organizations, and affiliated organizations are in possession of, have access to, make available or are disclosing or selling this information for compensation. At the meeting, the Committee heard presentations from the Ombudsman's Office, the Consumer Protection. Division of the Attorney General's Office, and groups such as the Iowa County Recorder's Association, as well as from companies that use the information for purposes such as protecting consumers during credit transactions. Discussion centered on the online publication of personal information by government entities and the sale of such information to private companies. Dialogue on the balance between open records and the protection of personal information was also at the forefront. The committee adopted a set of seven recommendations submitted by the Ombudsman's office, that include: defining the term "personal information," creating a Public Records, Open Meetings and Privacy Advisory Committee (PROMP), and giving government bodies the authority to redact certain personal information from a public record and the authority to charge a fee for "enhanced electronic access." Energy Efficiency and Building Codes The Commission on Energy Standards and Practices, established during the 2008 legislative session, is charged with evaluating energy efficiency standards applicable to existing or newly constructed infrastructure at the state and local level and making suggestions for their improvement and enforcement. The commission is to report its recommendations to the Legislature in January 2010. Commission members have met twice in 2008, and will continue to meet every two months until the report is complete. A key commission issue is the enforcement of building and energy codes at the local level. Shannon Paseka, League Research and Fiscal Analyst, has been working closely with the commission to develop a survey to help establish a base level of information on building enforcement by cities. We expect the survey to be approved and sent out by February 2009. The Energy Efficiency Plans and Programs Study Committee met December 3. The committee heard from a number of stakeholders including Stuart Crine, State Building Code Commissioner, who discussed the requirements and implementation of legislation enacted in 2008, regarding energy efficiency aspects of the state building code. The Iowa State Association of Counties presented administration enforcement efforts relating to the building code at the county level, including the barriers to code adoption by counties. Shannon Paseka, League Research & Fiscal Analyst, distributed a copy of building code survey intended to elicit information from cities on how they currently handle and enforce building and energy codes in their communities. Phil Delafield, Des Moines Chief Building Inspector, also addressed the committee and described the building inspections process in Des Moines. At the conclusion of the.meeting, the committee compiled a list of potential recommendations addressing an array of issues from consumer education to reinforcing compliance with the state building/energy code. ARRC The Administrative Rules Review Standing Committee (ARRC) met December 9 and 10. Wastewater, antidegradation, and smoking rules were on the agenda during the two day meeting. The League testified to the Committee on both wastewater and antidegradation rules. ARRC requested an informal fiscal analysis on Tier 2Yz - a designation in the antidegradation rules the League opposes. The committee asked for more information on the effects o wastewater rules on city water and sewer rates. The League will continue to work with the Department of Natural Resources on this rule. The Iowa Department of Public Health's proposed rules pursuant to the Smokefree Air Act, HF 2212, which passed last session, were discussed at length. After testimony from the public, the committee decided to let the amended rules move forward with no further action. The final rules will go into effect on January 7, 20n9. Emergency rules have been in effect sihee July 11. 2008. , ~` x~- ~'~ .. €.,.a ;. ~; 'h ~ ter: 4r -~. ':~, ~: :~ ~~- V r ~~ w y ...yyy... r ~ ~r: ~~ ; ~~ ~ 3 ,,;? , ,. ~~ , ~ T. ~R' ,w '`'°~ ~; ~.,,,'~` ~''r~;;.~~ ~ ,. R;, '~; ~,~; , ,; ;l =' ~~ ~}', ~~ ea:". ..~_. f ~~ --.,~. ~' ,~~fC. ~~ "•w,z ,'. ~, `s r : x:.~ ~~. s1 . }. , ,~:t. {: ~_; :;~ °` - ,., .J a Legislative Property Tax Study Committee Recommendations Recommendation #1 Revenue diversification will be allowed for cities and counties. Any new revenue will be coupled with the following requirements: At least 75 percent of the new revenue will be used to reduce property taxes. Of that new revenue, at least two-thirds will be used to reduce commercial property taxes, and the remainder will be used to reduce taxes on other classes of property. The remaining revenue will be used for: o Public Safety o Disaster Recovery and Prevention o Infrastructure o Energy Efficiency Improvements o Service sharing that reduces the cost of government Recommendation #2 The following nine alternative revenue options are commended, without recommendation, to the General Assembly for consideration. 1. Franchise fee-language to include legalizing provisions, up tot 5% 2. Locally imposed hoteUmotel tax increase of up to 2% or a $1.50 per room/per night fee 3. Local option income surtax 4. Entertainment tax 5. Local option cigarette/tobacco tax ,' :~ 6. Real estate transfer fee 7. False alarm fees ~ ~. ~~» 8. Development impact fees ~ ~ --~ 9. Payments in lieu of (property) taxes (PILOTS) 4 ~~W :_, ~ ~: ~- .' «-r Recommendation #3 ~ <; ~„ The General Assembly should consider an expenditure limitation component of arr~ ,,~ revenue diversification program. ~'"' Recommendation #4 Give cities and counties flexible bonding authority for disaster recovery, if they meet a strict definition of disaster impact. Recommendation #5 Sunset the LOST-TIF Recommendation #6 The State of Iowa should establish a Commission on Smart Growth. '?~ ~" ~~ _. -, _: t ^~~ i ~ r ~p,r~ ~~ n ~ ~ ~ '~ ~ ~. d o ~ d A ~~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ aQ~ A ~ U' ~° ~ n~ ~x ~~ ~ ~ P ~ ~~ ~°~O ~,y .~ O o z ~. A ti I . • 0 pb ~ ~ Yw1 1.i ,+• r o ~ d ~ ~ ~ a b ~ ~ ~ A ~~ ~~ ~ W O N. V A I ~ `~ ~ ~ ~ ~~`'~~~ ~~ z o• ~ ~~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ * x ~ ~~ w ° o°~ o ~ ° w ~ M ~ O ~ w ~ ~ .. w ~, V ~ N 'v ~ ~ O a w O a: ~ ~ ~O ~~ V IP8 Marian Karr From: Regenia Bailey [bailey@avalon.net] Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 6:00 PM To: Marian Karr Subject: FW: youth conference Attachments: NLUMC winter youth confrence 1 .doc; parent flyer.doc; 1 Registration Van Pelt.doc . From: Lucy @ Forever Green [mailto:forevergreen@southslope.net] Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 3:23 PM To: jfausett@ci.coralville.ia.us; tgill@ci.coralville.ia.us; jlundell@ci.coralville.ia.us; mgross@ci.coralville.ia.us; jweihe@ci.coralville.ia.us; hherwig@ci.coralville.ia.us; Salm, Tom; iccoleen@southslope.net; hoffmanchris@hotmail.com; hzhonor@att.net; fames.wozniak@northlibertyiowa.org; gerry.kuhl@northlibertyiowa.org; regenia-bailey@iowa-city.org; amy-Correia@iowa-city.org; ross-wilburn@iowa- city.org; matt-hayek@iowa-city.org; mike-Wright@iowa-city.org Subject: youth conference We would like to invite you to attend an event we are hosting for youth, parents and those who work with youth in January 23rd-25th. We have invited Rich Van Pelt an author and speaker on crisis intervention and dealing with the issues that affect our youth. This event an opportunity to learn about the issues that our youth face daily, like suicide, cutting, addiction, bullying, abuse and more and to offer information on ways to deal with these issues when they arise. We are partnering with some of our local organizations who provide information and services to youth and families to participate and provide information to attendees. This event is especially relevant right now with the tragic events that have happened in our area recently. We have attached information, a registration form and flyer about this Winter Youth Conference. Please forward this information to anyone who you feel would be interested in this event. If you would like more information please contact Nichole or myself. Thank you, Lucy Hershberger Email -for__everg.ree_n_a~southsl_ope_._..n..et or phone 319-626-6770 Nichole Sorensen youthdir~southslope.net or phone 319-626-2762 1 / 10/2009 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH NORTH LIBERTY WINTER YOUTH CONFERENCE TOPICS Dealing with issues that face our youth in today's world. • What the issues facing our youth today are and how to identify and respond effectively when we are faced with a crisis. • How to guide kids into healthy self-assessment. • When and how to call in reinforcements, how to partner with parents & schools before, during, & after a crisis. • How to reduce the chances that these crises will result in burnout for youth workers. SPEAKER Rich Van Pelt Minister, Author, Counselor, Parent, Rich Van Pelt is an ordained Presbyterian minister known for his expertise in youth ministry and counseling. He has served as a youth pastor and as chaplain for the Colorado Department of corrections, Division of Youth Services. He also serves as the National Director of Ministry Relationships for Compassion International. Every year Rich is involved in challenging and motivating thousands of educators, professional counselors, youth workers and parents. He is a skilled trainer in youth ministry and parenting, and is considered an expert in the field of crisis intervention and teen suicide. He has authored numerous books and articles including Youth Workers Guide To Helping Teenagers in Crisis and A Parents Guide To Helping Teenagers in Crisis written with Jim Hancock. He is also a contributing editor for Youthworker Journal. SCHEDULE January 23rd -25th 2009 Youth Workers Friday 7:30-9 PM& Saturday 9:30-12 AM Fee 1St registration $30.00 (includes book) additional registrations $15.00 Parents Saturday 7-9:30 PM Free Youth Sunday 1:30-3:30 PM Free Youth activities 3:30-4:30 Talk followed by pizza and discussion Free GOALS Our primary goal is to offer an event where youth workers, parents and youth in our community can learn about issues facing our youth. This will give them and opportunity to identify these issues, understand the importance of open discussion, and provide tools to start the discussion and to cope with those crises that do arise. By starting the discussion we believe that we can help our youth recognize and cope with these serious issues and ideally reduce the extent and severity impact of crisis in our youths lives. We will also provide an opportunity for parents, youth workers and youth to learn about services that are available in our communities. This is an opportunity for the people who care about our youth from churches, schools, community service organizations, city and county governments, to meet with each other to improve our understanding of how we can work together towards the goal of helping our youth deal with crisis in their lives. Learn what's really going on in our kids lives and what you can do about it .violence... sexual assault ...death.... Cutt ing....divorce....eat ing disorders.... ..... "1 heard Rich Van Pel t s,~k last year and I got R ea/ facts abo~.rt renal issue. " This event is open to everyone in our community who care about youth. January 23rd -- 25th 2009 Youth Workers Friday 7:30-9 PM & Sat urday 9:30-12 AM Parents Sat urday 7 -9 :3 0 PM -free Youth ages 12-20 Sunday 1 :30-4:30 Yout h t ime pizza and discussion -free Please register in advance. space is limited. Our goal is t o treat e an environment where we work t oget her t o support each other when we are in need. Rich Van Pelt trains thousands people each year in teen crisis and suicide prevention. He has more than thirty years of youth and family work, including ten years with youth in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Rich is the author of Intensive Care: Helping Teenagers In Crisis and co-author of The Youth Worker's Guide To Helping Teenagers in Crisis. i North Liberty First ~ _ _ thodist Church - ~' United Me _`;~- 85 Jones Blvd. North Liberty Space is limited for this event. Please call for information or to register Nichole 319-626-2762 or Lucy 319-626-6770 CURRENT SPONSORS Lensing Funeral & Cremation services Forever Green Inc. Registration For: Rich Van Pelt Seminar -Dealing With Youth in Crisis January 23rd -25th 2009 North liberty First United Methodist Church Youth worker sessions Friday 7:30-9:00 PM and Saturday 9:30-12:00 AM We have limited space for this event and space will be reserved on a first come first serve basis. 1St registration @ $30.00 $ 30.00 (Includes Rich Van Pelts book "A Youth workers Guide To Helping Teenagers In Crisis'). Each additional registration @ $15.00 x Total $ Registration after January 15th @ $25.00 x Total $ Registration after January 1 S'" does not include the book. Total due $ In order to plan for our space needs we would appreciate if you could make an estimate of the number of parents and youth you would expect to attend the programs. Parents Saturday January 24th 7-9:30 PM ^ 1-10 ^ 11-20 ^ 21-30 ^ 31-40 ^ over 40 Youth Sunday January 25th 1:30-4:30 PM ^ 1-10 ^ 11-20 ^ 21-30 ^ 31-40 ^ over 40 We will contact you as the event date approaches to register parents and youth. Organization- Address Contact person Phone E-mail Please mail or fax this form along with cash or check payment for the total registration fee by Monday, December 1, 2008 to: First United Methodist Church 85 N Jones Blvd North Liberty, IA 52317 319-626-2101 (fax) Registration fees are non refundable after January 15th. If you have any questions or concerns contact Nichole Sorensen at 319-626-2762 or Lucy Hershberger at 319-626-6770. Scholarships are available. Office use only Payment received Small group leader Payment method Date received General age 1 of 2 ~r`~ ~ b /o®s~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~ Marian Karr From: Heather Roberts [HeatherRoberts@iowaleague.org] Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 9:49 AM To: Marian Karr Subject: Iowa League of Cities is shaking up Legislative Day 2009 r - _ --- i ___ _ _ Marian -The League is shaking up Legislative Day in 2009, and we hope to see you there! In these tough economic times, legislators must hear from city officials personally to reinforce the message of the League's lobbying team. We think the new format for Legislative Day will help you make that crucial contact. Take a look at these changes: • New Date: January 27, 2009 • New Location: Embassy Suites Des Moines - On the River, 101 E Locust St • New Time: 2 p.m. informational meetings, 5 - 7 p.m. Legislative reception • New Format: Same great information and Q&A with legislators, but we're saving you a trip to the capitol by hosting a Legislative Reception at Embassy Suites. We think this new format will give you a better opportunity to engage your legislators in a friendly discussion on the issues facing cities today. Critical issues to discuss include: ^ Governor's proposal for rebuilding Iowa ^ Continued push for Alternative Revenues All legislators have already been invited, but you might consider contacting your I_egs_la_tors to urge them to join you there! Your next steps: / Register online or Down_I_oad registration farm, / Contact your_leg~slators Thi~mail is a mQmbership service of the Iowa League of Cities. Contact us at mailbox@iowalea~ue.or~ or (515) 244- 722, ~ .P .. ~"t ~z,.._. . m :: 1/15/2009 IP9 MINUTES HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 - 6:30 PM LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL PRELIMINARY Members Present: Stephen Crane, Andy Douglas, Charlie Drum, Holly Jane Hart, Rebecca McMurray, Brian Richman, Michael Shaw Members Absent: Marcy DeFrance, Michael McKay Staff Present: Tracy Hightshoe Others Present: Maryann Dennis, Charlie Eastham RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL (become effective only after separate Council action): None CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 20, 2008 MINUTES: Drum motioned to approve the minutes. Crane seconded. The motion carried 7-0 (DeFrance and McKay absent ). PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Maryann Dennis of the Housing Fellowship informed the Commission that the Aniston Village Project was awarded low-income housing tax credit status. Dennis said that 35 applications were received, and 15 were awarded, 2 of which were non-profits. Dennis said Aniston Village was the only application from Iowa City, and is the only application in the state that provides single-family housing. There was no other comment from the public. STAFF/COMMISSION COMMENT: Hightshoe noted that in this month's packet there is a report on program income. Total CDBG & HOME program income was $260,000 in FY08. The major source of program income is the City's owner occupied housing rehabilitation program. Alien is placed on the homeowner's property. When they sell or rent the property, the amount of assistance the City provided is repaid. Some households are able to make monthly payments to repay, but for some the City does not get repaid until the homeowner sells, dies or when the home no longer remains their principal residence. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 2 of 9 Economic development loans are also repaid, most with interest. $13,000 was received during the fiscal year. The remaining public facility projects continue to repay their loans. Current policy for public facility loans are conditional occupancy loans that only have to be repaid if the recipient is in default. Total HOME program income was $99,285, which includes rehab from the owner-occupied rehab program, all rental projects, any owner-occupied project where it was sold and the money came back. Total program income is down $42,000 from last year, so it will be interesting to see how FY09 comes in, Hightshoe said. Crane asked why there was a drop from last year. Hightshoe said that on some of the economic development projects there are monthly payments so it is a fairly reliable source of program income. With rehab, however, if the amount of the rehab payment is over what the homeowner pays (if they pay more than 30% of their housing costs already) then the City does not require them to make monthly payments. Instead, a lien is placed on their property and when the property is sold the payment comes due. Rehab makes up a large chunk of program income; however, the income is sporadic. Richman asked if this money is then added to the amounts that are available for allocation the next year. Hightshoe said it is not because they are required to estimate their FY08 program income, so it has already been allocated. Because it is based on estimates, sometimes the following year's estimate has to be lowered to make up for shortfalls in prior year's program income. Hightshoe said that FY09 income will have to be watched closely as if it is not coming in at the rate expected and could therefore affect FY10 funding. Hightshoe passed out a report outlining what financial terms other entitlement cities offer their low- income tax credit projects. She said they vary across the board. She said there were not a lot of cities that provide grants, but there were deferred loans, interest-only payments, etc. Davenport did true gap-financing with a wide variety of terms offered on a project by project basis. Hightshoe said Council Bluffs was interesting because they are in a consortium with Omaha. Thus, when a Council Bluffs project pays program income it does not necessarily get reinvested in their city. Des Moines goes through quite a review process with a balloon payment after year 16. Hightshoe said the majority had a general structure they followed, making exceptions as needed. Richman announced that Deb Briggs of the Iowa City Housing Authority (ICHA) would be leaving her position as Public Housing Coordinator to take a position with the Iowa Finance Authority. Pat McKay, currently an inspector with Housing and Inspections Services will be taking over Briggs' position. Hightshoe cautioned that this could cause some delays for the HOME assisted downpayment program as Briggs' had been running the program and was also a certified mortgage counselor. Hightshoe passed out the FY09 aid-to-agencies recommendations for the Commissioners to review. The FY10 HOME and CDBG application process has just begun, with the first applicant workshop having just taken place. Hightshoe noted that the first home-based business for CDBG economic development funding was just approved. This is a handyman and property maintenance business which qualified as a micro- enterprise that will be hiring one full-time employee. Crane asked if it was ever necessary to monitor the financials on any of these businesses. Hightshoe said micro-enterprises are the easiest because they just have to qualify as amicro-enterprise when the application is made. Even though they have to qualify as amicro-enterprise upon award, we have not had one expand so rapidly as to not be considered amicro-enterprise during the first year. Crane asked how much funding was left for economic development since a lot of funding was used this year. Hightshoe said there had been $155,000, and $35,000 was just allocated to the micro- enterprise she had mentioned. She said that $95,000 would be added to the funds for FY 10. Staff HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 3 of 9 will make recommendations for this money based on applications received. She noted that in the 5- Year Plan, public facility spending is not up to the level required by the goals that had been set. The target for public facilities was 21 % of the budget, and only 13% has been reached. If applications are low, staff may make a recommendation not to fund economic development quite up to the $95,000 level, and shift some of those funds to public facilities or other spending. Hightshoe said she is finding that it is much easier to concentrate on micro-enterprises for economic development funding, and that these generally require less money/capital. Hightshoe said that she has found that businesses that are simply creating jobs have more difficulty maintaining the necessary paperwork. She noted that in prior years City Council has been pretty adamant about fully funding economic development, so staff would have to wait and see what applications are received. Crane asked if many recent applications had been denied. Hightshoe offered an example of a home-based daycare business whose application was denied, as it could not be determined if the benefit would be more to the homeowner in remodeling the home or more for the business. She said staff and the committee have denied potential businesses. Many due to poor credit scores (not caused by a health problem), lack of a business plan, or insufficient information. PUBLIC HEARING & APPROVAL OF THE FY08 CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL PERFORMANCE & EVALUATION REPORT (CAPER): Hightshoe explained that this was the HUD required evaluation report that is typically due by the end of September (3 months into the current fiscal year); however, due to the flood, HUD gave staff an extension to December 31, 2008. Hightshoe said it puts in perspective how much was accomplished over the course of the year. She said the "meat" of the document is actually in the tables found on page 16; they summarize CDBG- assisted projects. These tables outline which projects are still underway, how much was spent, etc. Hightshoe noted that pages 32-36 are all new HUD required tables which take the CITY STEPS plan and breaks it down into estimated numbers for each year. Hightshoe acknowledged that many of the original goals may have been unrealistic given the amount of funds to be received. For example the goal of helping 120 families with down-payment assistance was not realistic given the amount of funds received and how much downpayment assistance is needed for aloes-income household. The new CITY STEPS plan will incorporate more realistic goals based on estimations of the amount of money the City will receive, and what kind of programs can be supported with it. Shaw asked how much was allocated in the FY08 cycle. Hightshoe said that for public services there was about $124,000, $105,000 of which went to aid-to-agencies (MECCA, UAY, Elder Services), leaving only about $19,000 to fund other agencies. Hart said it was her impression that there was only $9,000 left. Hightshoe explained that that was for FY09, and that for FY10 only about $10,000 is available, making it a competitive process. Shaw asked if what this meant was that for Elder Services, for example, the CBDG funding was $59,500; Hightshoe said this was correct. Hightshoe explained that HCDC provides $105,000 for the aid to agencies budget. Rather than dividing this $105,000 among all 16 agencies, staff takes the three agencies (receiving the most funds) and who have the capacity to administer federal funds and enters a CDBG agreement with just those three agencies. In this way, staff avoids imposing all of the federal requirements on the smaller agencies. Hightshoe said she believes that in FY10 the aid to agencies also takes a hit. Douglas asked if it was correct that it had been agreed to put a $2,500 minimum on public service applications. Hart said that her impression was that this would better target the money to agencies that can viably use it; she said she believed Council also liked the idea of making a larger impact. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 4 of 9 Richman gave an example that instead of allocating $10,000 to six or eight agencies; it would now be allocated to a maximum of four agencies. Douglas noted that the Commission will have to discuss how best to prioritize funding. Hart said she has wondered if the Commission should more broadly consider other types of funding sources in its overall discussions, as it is usually the same agencies that require funding. McMurray said she thought there was a three year cut-off for CDBG funding. Hightshoe said that there used to be a three year funding limit for CDBG public service funding, but that it was dropped prior to her employment with the City. Hightshoe said the "double-dipping" question was never really resolved, and the Commission would sort of have to go on the basis of who applies. She said that it could be put on the January agenda as part of the year-end report and the review process. Crane asked if economic development funds could be used for public service. Hightshoe said they could not; CDBG rules are very specific and have very stringent definitions. Economic development basically has to go to for-profits (with some exceptions for specific job training programs). Hightshoe said she has received no public comment on the report. Richman opened the floor for a motion. Hart motioned to approve the FY08 CAPER with corrections as noted in discussions (heading change on a table). Drum seconded. The motion carried 7-0. OLD BUSINESS: • Review and Discuss Amendment to CITY STEPS as it Relates to Changes in Project Financing Currently, cases are not reviewed unless there has been a substantial change in purpose, scope, location or beneficiary of funding. At last month's meeting, Hightshoe noted that there was discussion about modifying language in CITY STEPS so that a change in financial terms also constituted a "substantial change." Hightshoe said that staff has never been thrilled with the review process in CITY STEPS, as even time-sensitive issues can sometimes take two months because they must go back through HCDC and City Council. Staff is looking at alternative ways to review. In the meantime, language changes have been proposed to address a change in financial terms. Richman asked what the schedule for such changes would be. Hightshoe said that a new CITY STEPS plan is due by December of next year; in January a consultant will be hired to take it through the public input steps and community meetings, and then will draft an initial plan. Richman invited Maryann Dennis and Charlie Eastham of The Housing Fellowship to address the Commission on the subject of changes in financial terms resulting in a review. Dennis said that when The Housing Fellowship requested a change in financial terms they felt they were making a reasonable and honest request in order to be able to provide affordable housing to low-income Iowa City residents. Dennis said that it is her personal opinion that this new policy is being established because of The Housing Fellowship, and that she is very sorry to hear that. Dennis said she was not sure it was wise for a local unit of government to try to establish a policy because of one applicant. On the other hand, The Housing Fellowship has been in business for many years and as a private non-profit, Dennis said, their whole intention is to provide housing for people of low-income. She said that she thinks the amendment is unnecessary, and she would ask that projects be reviewed on their merits and their priorities. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 5 of 9 Dennis said that in The Housing Fellowship's case, if their request had had to go back to Council, they would not have been able to submit their application (which ultimately was granted tax-credit status). Dennis said that if this becomes policy, then they will always first seek the amended terms they received (20 years deferred at 0% interest), as will every other applicant. Eastham said that as he understands it this proposed change has the intended purpose of the City and the applicant settling on the most reasonable terms. If that is the general purpose, then it does not get to the ultimate goal of getting to the best loan terms to encourage affordable housing. Eastham said that for tax-credit projects the best terms for HOME funds cannot be known until all of the financing is in place for the project. It is not known what the tax credits are going to sell for until after the application processes are completed and the syndicator commits to a price. At that point, the general contractor knows what all of the financing is. It is not until that point that it is rational to look at the City's terms for financing and see if the original terms should be modified. Douglas asked for clarification on what triggered the request for the change in terms. Eastham said it was the requirement of submitting the application by October 31St. Hightshoe said the financial terms did not change; the budget did. Dennis explained that everything changed between October 7tn (the date The Housing Fellowship requested a change in financial terms from HCDC) and October 31St (the date the application was due). Dennis explained that the ,qualified allocation plan changed and the costs that were eligible changed, as a result, the whole budget changed. Shaw said that it was his understanding that the changes were triggered by changes that IFA made at the last minute. Eastham said The Housing Fellowship had been talking about requesting changes in the terms for the HOME funds since summer time, because they had concerns all along that the original terms would not make it through the tax-credit process. Dennis acknowledged that the budget for the project did change a lot between October 7t" and October 31St. Shaw said that as he recalled, because it was not a substantial change according to CITY STEPS, HCDC did not have the authority to require The Housing Fellowship to return to the Commission. Hightshoe said that based on the budget that was ultimately submitted, staff would not have made the recommendation for the change in financial terms that was granted. Hightshoe said she did not want to get back into a conversation about what had happened, but wanted to focus on how to proceed from here. She said that one way of proceeding with low-income housing tax-credits would be to approve it with no financial terms and then have HCDC give final approval in October when all the numbers are in. Eastham said he is not sure that is even possible; Hightshoe said they would look into it. Dennis said she also believed that it depended on what the City allocated HOME funds were being used for on the project. Dennis said they have always used the funds for land acquisition; with land acquisition, you have to have site control before the application can be sent in. Shaw said that for him changing the policy was not related to one particular agency doing what they needed to do to keep a project moving forward. Shaw said his understanding is that the policy at that time might not have been a good policy to be able to make effective decisions as a Commission and he wants to look at the policy in that context. Richman said that there were, in his opinion, two things that the Commission was not there to discuss: I) Aniston Village; that project is done and their allocation has been made, and 2) concepts for broader investment policy. Richman said the item on the agenda is whether or not an amendment is needed for CITY STEPS to help the Commission respond to changes in projects, and, if so, is this the correct amendment. Richman suggested continuing along Shaw's line of discussion and focus first on whether it is appropriate for HCDC to have the ability to respond to changes in projects. Hightshoe said that there is no pressing need on the immediate horizon to make these changes. She said if HCDC HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 6 of 9 wished to wait and combine it with the other changes to CITY STEPS that would take effect next year that would be fine; if HCDC wished to make more immediate and incremental changes, that is fine too. Richman asked what the consultant's approach to dealing with this issue might be. Hightshoe said that hopefully the consultant would look at what other city's do, and perhaps look at financing at the same time. The current policy is very rigid, with little flexibility. That sort of a discussion would have to be part of a process, and would not get done in one night. Hightshoe said she wants to revamp CITY STEPS quite a bit, and the current amendment is not critical to her at this time. Richman said that he strongly supports the need to deal with this issue, but also supports what Eastham said, which is that adopting the current amendment does provide very little incentive for a developer to ask for anything other than a 30-year non-amortizing loan at 0% interest. This amendment requires the Commission to take a more active role in setting financial terms. Richman said he is not sure that is a role the Commission is ready to take on at present, or if it would be better to discuss the matter fully with the consultant. Hightshoe said the Commission does get a variety of housing applications that present their financial terms to the Commission (transitional housing, down-payment assistance, low-income-tax-credits) so that will continue to be a question asked in the application process regardless of whether an amendment is adopted. Hightshoe said that economic development loans are also at issue with this amendment; payment deferrals (for small time periods) are granted without taking the matter back to HCDC or City Council. Richman said it sounds to him like the choices are to 1) approve this amendment (or amend it and approve it), 2) do nothing, or 3) direct staff to have the consultant address the issue in the larger CITY STEPS revision. The general consensus was to address the issue on a more macro-level with the consultant. Richman said he had a somewhat related question for Hightshoe. He asked if there could be a policy that if members of the public or agencies cannot provide the Commission with supporting documents at the time the agenda is put out then they simply will not consider it. Drum said it was important not to cut somebody out, and that there may be extenuating circumstances that reasonably prevent someone from submitting documents ahead of time; these would be things to consider before creating a written policy. Hightshoe said she would discuss the matter with the City Attorney's Office and see what if anything was already in place. Hightshoe said the applicant workshops have been and will be addressing this very issue to cut down on duplicate, incomplete, and late additions received after the deadline this year. • Discussion of a HCDC Sponsored Event Focused on Affordable Housing Douglas said he had an idea for this and wanted to present it to the Commission. One of the Commission's roles is to educate the public about affordable housing issues as well as provide new options for affordable housing. Given the present need for more affordable housing and the economic downturn, the Commission needs to encourage more environmentally sustainable building. Douglas suggested that a few public events could help place attention on some of these needs. The original idea was for a conference on affordable housing options that are not currently being considered or utilized, such as shared equity cooperative housing for families and co-housing (groups of smaller houses that share a communal area). McMurray said she was aware of this phenomenon for retirees, but not for young families. Douglas also suggested smaller houses as an option. Other concepts are the ecological village (one exists in Fairfield) and the idea of universal design. Douglas said that at the FAIR! meeting last week the idea was HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 7 of 9 put forward to put on an affordable housing fair so that affordable housing consumers could get a better idea of what was out there. Douglas said he simply wanted to present some of these ideas and see if anyone was interested. Hightshoe said she and Steve Long had tossed around some ideas prior to the flood, one of which was a marketing campaign about who needs affordable workforce housing. Basically, Hightshoe said, it is just a campaign that reminds people that everyone needs housing. Committing HOME funds for a design sponsored by a University student for a green building, universal design, starter home, or affordable housing and then deeding it over to anon-profit for rental housing was another idea. Hightshoe noted that the Housing Trust Fund does do a Housing Summit so it would be important to do something different from what they are doing. Hightshoe said her office receives a lot of literature on building smaller houses and noted that it might be good to see what could be done to encourage private developers to build smaller houses, making them affordable without the need for subsidy. Shaw suggested determining where the gap is, so that they can target those who do not typically attend the Housing Summit. Hightshoe said that she felt the Housing Summit targeted lenders and developers. Hart noted that the Energy Expo created a venue with a wide variety of target audiences, creating room for multiple focuses. Hightshoe noted that an advertising campaign could similarly reach a wide range of people. Hightshoe said she likes the idea of a partnership with the University, but that it would require looking at the University's schedule too. Richman asked where the money would come from to co-sponsor such an event. Hightshoe said that money from the City's general fund and administrative budget would have to be used, as public service funds have not been applied for in the past. Shaw noted that the library would be a good venue if the target audience was the community, whereas if the target audience was academics, the University would want to have the event on campus somewhere. He recommended defining the purpose and the audience as the first step in determining the scale of the project. Hightshoe said the idea behind a marketing campaign was to reach an audience that had not been reached before. She said that in all honesty people who would come to an affordable housing event are going to be people who are already in favor of affordable housing and versed in the issues. Douglas stated that it had been suggested at the FAIR! meeting that a "Housing Week" could be held, with different days targeting different audiences, i.e., one targeting consumers, one targeting policy makers, etc. It was suggested to plug an event into an existing venue, such as "Homeless Week" or the annual Homebuilders Association event held in April. Richman noted that many of the ideas Douglas had put forth would be developer driven ideas, and suggested seeing if the Homebuilders would be interested in having an expert in such topics come and speak to them, thus creating some energy around some of these ideas. Crane suggested having different booths at the builders show supporting some of these concepts. It was noted that the Homebuilders Association had previously been against the concept of universal design as cost- prohibitive but now embraced it as sound policy, and that the same could happen with some of these design concepts. Hightshoe asked if the general idea was to form a subcommittee at the present meeting and bring the issue back up in a subsequent meeting in January of February. She noted that in February and March the Commission would have a lot of materials relating to allocation. Richman asked if anyone wished to volunteer for a committee to look into the issue. McMurray and Drum volunteered. Hightshoe suggested looking into partnerships in the community for transitional housing for domestic violence and other issues. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMEN"I' COMMISSION DECEMBER 18, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Page 8 of 9 MONITORING REPORTS: • Hawkeye Area Community Action Program - Housing (Douglas) Douglas said he spoke with Al Axeen who said that they have 50 units for people who are moving from unstable situations to more stable situations. Douglas said that HACAP had received $80,000 from HCDC & intended to purchase another unit after the ls` of the year. All of HACAP's clients have an income of under 30% of the median income. • Iowa City Housing Authority -Down-payment Assistance & Tenant-Based Rent Assistance (McMurray) No report. • Compeer ProSram -Operations (Hart) No report. • Extend the Dream Foundation -Operations (Douglas) No report. • Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County -Facility Rehab. (Crane) No report. • Shelter House - FY04 Land Acquisition (Hart) Hightshoe said that Shelter House got their land; the state court ruled in Shelter House's favor. The project will be closed out. The neighborhood filed a new suit, this time in federal court. The City is anticipating that the lower federal court will dismiss the case, but has not heard what the Court will do. Shelter House hopes to be finished building by December 2009. • Goodwill (Shaw) The work is done, but they have not yet been billed for the retainer. ADJOURNMENT: Crane motioned to adjourn. Shaw seconded. The motion passed 7-0. C .N .~ O U c ~. v O G1 d ~ > ~, d 0 ~ ~+ ~ C ~ 3 Ea 0 U otS c .N O O N N ~ x o x x x x x x o 0 N ~ X ~ ~ X X X X x ~ o x x o x x x x x x x x x x x o x x X o~ N X X O X X X O X ~ x O X ~ ~ X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O ~ x X X X X ~ v N x x x x x x x x x ! M ~ X X X ~ X X X X X M N x X x x o x x o x N N n , x x x x x x x x x ~ . N N QN o o x x x x x o x i to N O 0 O 0 O 0 O 0 O ~ O ~- O O O r- O O ~- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ N fl- ~ x W 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 rn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 U N o c ti ~ ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ Y V ~ O ~ L L Q ~ ~ ~ U Q' 0 N O (0 Z ~ - O ~ ~ (n ` ~ ~ C Q ' ~ L U _ O 2 N N ~ ~ .~ m ( E L .U ~ L ,U ~ ~ N ` to O 7 L x ~ E W +' N ~~~~~ ,~N~~ca ~ Q ~ Z O Q Z II ~I II II II >+ W_ ~ Y X O O Z IP10 MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION DECEMBER 4, 2008 - 7:30 PM -FORMAL CITY HALL, EMMA J. HARVAT HALL Preliminary MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Freerks, Josh Busard, Charlie Eastham, Elizabeth Koppes, Michelle Payne, Wally Plahutnik, Tim Weitzel MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Karen Howard, Sarah Greenwood-Hektoen OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Clark RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: The Commission voted 6-1 (Payne voting in the negative) to approve amendments to the Zoning Code Article 14-5A, Off-Street Parking and Loading Standards, to include minimum parking requirements for Household Living Uses in the Central Business (CB-10) zone. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:33 p.m. by Chairperson Ann Freerks. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT QN THE AGENDA: None. ZONING CODE ITEM: Discussion of amendments to the Zoning Code Article 14-5A, Off-Street Parking and Loading Standards, to include minimum parking requirements for Household Living Uses in the Central Business (CB-10) zone. Howard stated that the goal of this particular initiative was to ensure that the downtown remains healthy and economically viable over the long-term with a wide variety of businesses, including: retail, office, restaurant, service and entertainment venues. Howard said that to maintain the vitality and variety of businesses downtown it is important to attract a diversity and mix of residents living in the downtown. Howard said it was important to keep these two perspectives in mind in discussing the parking issues. Howard stated that the Commission had forwarded to the City Council recommendations addressing both attracting a mix of residents downtown and parking issues, including a reduction in occupancy limits and a new parking requirement for residential projects. Howard said that the City Council basically agreed to the occupancy standards, but deferred the parking amendment, asking the Commission to review their recommendations. Howard said a recommendation is expected for Council's consideration at their December 16'h meeting. Howard said that some of the concerns Council expressed about the parking requirements as currently written were that it could: 1) discourage renovation of existing buildings, 2) wind up actually discouraging efficiency and one bedroom apartments because of the required bedroom to Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 2 parking space ratio, and 3) may not provide enough flexibility for smaller residential projects needing parking in City-owned facilities. Howard shared staff recommended revisions to the parking language, which they felt addressed concerns expressed by Commissioners in their informal session as well as those expressed by Staff and members of the Housing and Inspection Services Department (HIS). Previous language, Howard said, was confusing in that it mixed language concerning apartments and bedrooms, possibly lending itself to misinterpretation. Staff suggests language stating that for the first 10 bedrooms, no parking is required, but for all additional bedrooms, 0.5 spaces per bedroom will be required. For new buildings, the layered approach would continue, requiring 0.5 parking spaces for efficiencies and one-bedrooms, one parking space for two-bedroom apartments, and two parking spaces for three-bedroom apartments. Howard said that Staff also recommends allowing developers to lease parking spaces in City-owned parking ramps to fulfill smaller-scale parking requirements regardless of the distance between the parking ramp and the apartment building. Applications for these parking spaces would be carefully considered and would be granted by special exception through the Board of Adjustment. Staff also suggests eliminating the requirement that a building have a floor area ratio (FAR) of at least 7 to building above-ground structured parking. She noted that there are currently no buildings in the downtown that have achieved an FAR that high. Howard offered to answer questions from Commissioners. Eastham noted that the wording in Table 5A-1 may not make it clear to users of the code that an efficiency apartment is considered to have one bedroom. Howard concurred and said Staff could make the language more clear. Koppes pointed out that with the current formula existing buildings converted to three-bedroom units would only be required to have 1.5 parking spaces, whereas new buildings with three-bedroom units would be required to have 2 parking spaces. Howard said that there is a limited supply of existing buildings available for conversion to apartments and that it was Staff's feeling that the very slight advantage that may be given to developers of three-bedrooms in existing buildings versus those in new buildings did not warrant creating a more complicated formula. Eastham stated that for buildings built after January 1, 2009, parking requirements are only listed for 3- bedroom apartments and smaller. He said that while occupancy standards have changed in the CB-10 zone, allowing for only three unrelated persons to reside together, there was nothing actually prohibiting developers from building units with more than three bedrooms. Howard said that the likelihood of developers building apartments that were larger than what the occupancy standards allowed was quite small. Eastham said he understood this, but that for the sake of clarity he feels language should be added to address the possibility of apartments larger than three-bedrooms. Greenwood-Hektoen and Howard stated that adding such language could confuse the occupancy issue, and perhaps misleadingly indicate that four and five-bedroom apartments were more possible than they actually are. Plahutnik said he feels the words "or more" added to the ordinance would cover every possibility. No changes to the wording were agreed upon at that time. Payne asked if Staff knew if there was a current waiting list for those wishing to lease parking spaces in city ramps. Howard said she believed it varied from ramp to ramp, but that conversations with Chris O'Brien, Parking Director, had indicated that there is flexibility to move parking spaces around to different ramps as necessary. The purpose of requiring parking for large-scale projects, Howard reminded Commissioners, is to alleviate'the strain the City feels they would place on city parking facilities. City parking facilities cannot accommodate multiple large-scale projects; if they could, no parking requirement would be necessary. That said, Howard went on, there is flexibility within the parking system to provide a small number of spaces to more moderately-sized projects. Howard said that on one hand, the City Council had concerns about jeopardizing small-scale renovations and additions that could not possibly put parking on site; on the other hand, they felt that large-scale projects should have to provide some on- site parking. Eastham asked if Staff had considered what criteria to use in evaluating large-scale parking requests from a developer. Greenwood-Hektoen replied that the standard would be the same regardless of size; capacity would be evaluated based on an audit of parking needs and demands. Howard said it was difficult to speculate on how much parking would be available for any given project as the ordinance is Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 3 being written for the long-term. She said there are already a number of criteria set up in the zoning ordinances for the Board of Adjustment to use when evaluating whether or not to grant a special exception. However, Howard said there is no set mathematical formula. Plahutnik pointed out that when the City agrees to supply parking spaces to a developer they are agreeing to lease those spaces to the developer in perpetuity. He said he believed the City would be very hesitant to have parking spaces tied to the occupant of a building in perpetuity. Plahutnik said that while some on the Commission are worried about the over-leasing of parking spaces in City-owned ramps, it is just as reasonable to worry about a kind of under-leasing, in which the City is very hesitant to grant leases as they would be for such a long term. Freerks opened the public hearing Jeff Clark, AUR Property Management, said that the new occupancy and parking requirements took his company by surprise when they were introduced a few weeks ago. He said they are not philosophically opposed to the changes, but said they wondered if there was a way to tweak the changes to make them work for developers in the downtown area. Clark said his company had been working on a project at 328 E. Washington, the Northwest Mutual Building, for over a year, trying to move the current occupants to other locations and designing a building. He said he is disappointed because the project has been halted due to the new occupancy standards. The original plan called for sixteen four-bedroom apartments; this is no longer possible. Clark said the building could nicely accommodate one and two-bedroom units; however, it could not do so with the new parking requirements. Clark said that his company paid $1.1 million for the lot based on what they could put on there. When the new occupancy requirements passed, Clark said, the lot became worth $500,000-$600,000. Clark said there are a lot of questions with the new parking requirements. He said there is no guarantee that a special exception will be approved for additional parking, and a lot of lives are affected by the change. Clark said he did not know if this amendment was ready to go through, although he acknowledged that the Planning staff had done a good job of trying to think it over. Clark said it would be nice to see something laid out so that developers know what they are looking at when they want to develop something. He acknowledged a need for one and two-bedroom units in the downtown, and stated his desire to build them. However, the topography of their current lot simply will not allow for enough parking. He said it was possible they would not be able to develop the lot and may have to let it sit the way it is. Clark noted problems in the economy and that a lot of potential job hours will be lost in the delay and possible discontinuation of his project. He estimated that for every unit put in there will be roughly 1,500- 3,000 man hours required. This helps the local economy in a difficult time. Clark also noted that prior to this ordinance, on-site residential parking was not even allowed in the CB-10 zone, and now it will be required. He suggested a transition period of a year or two that allowed some time wherein parking was allowed in the CB-10 but not required, and then abetter-working ordinance could be designed based on the needs discovered during that time period. Clark said he hoped the Commission would take these concerns into consideration. Eastham asked if it was correct that the ordinance as currently proposed would not allow Clark to develop the property at 328 E. Washington Street at all because of the parking requirements. Clark said that currently he could fit approximately 12 parking spaces on-site, which allows only 24 one-bedrooms. He said the lot is fairly large for downtown, and 24 one-bedrooms would make for a pretty small building. Clark said that he would not be guaranteed any parking from the City, based on the way the ordinance is currently worded, and would have to apply for a special exception to receive any. Clark said that 24 units would not be acost-feasible project based on the amount of money they already have invested in the land. Clark said that to have to slow down a project based on inadequate parking is a real financial burden. Eastham asked Clark if he would accept parking in a City-owned parking lot if it were available. Clark replied that he would. Clark said that the uncertainty lies in the special exception process and the availability of parking at the time it is requested. Clark added that if the available parking is 600 feet away it is virtually worthless, as renters will not use it anyway. Clark said if parking is more than 300 feet from Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 4 the building, developers would essentially be just paying a fee for parking that residents would not use. He acknowledged that if parking were guaranteed to be available then developers would not have to worry about purchasing properties that could not then be developed due to parking constraints. Clark said rents are based upon costs, and he would rather have cheaper buildings and cheaper rents than high cost buildings and high cost rents. Freerks asked how many parking spaces he would be short for his current project based on his calculations of the new parking and occupancy standards. Clark said he would be approximately 20 spaces short. Freerks asked Staff if it seemed reasonable that the City could come up with 20 additional spaces. Greenwood-Hektoen said it was not really possible to speculate. Howard said the idea is that if you have a site of a certain size that can accommodate a certain number of parking spaces, then the question becomes how much more development can be accommodated on that site. Howard said that in this particular case the site is fairly close to a parking ramp and she presumed the chances of approval were better than if 50 spaces were being requested. Freerks asked how many residential spaces had been granted to date. Staff did not know. Howard said that the idea that the City does not allow parking downtown is misleading. She said that special exceptions to provide on-site parking are allowed under the current ordinance; already, Howard said, the system functions in such a way as to allow long-term permits. Busard asked Clark if he had considered creating higher-end apartments. Busard said he thought the whole point of these two ordinances was to encourage long-term residential and family living in the downtown area. Busard said based on the predicament Clark is in it seems as though the ordinance may be working. Clark said that his intention was to build extremely nice one and two bedroom apartments. He said that his company does not do high-rises; the Moen group does high-rises and high-end building. Clark said that his building on Market and Linn Street has a mix of residents; however, students will remain the predominant market for downtown. Plahutnik pointed out that although Clark said parking that was 600 feet away would be useless, the closest parking would be at least four or five blocks away if there was no parking requirement. The social cost of passing the parking problem off into neighborhoods is what the Commission is attempting to address, Plahutnik said. Clark said that where parking is not required, fewer people park. That is to say, people are disinclined to bring or use their cars regularly when they know that there will not be easy access to parking near their home. Clark said that AUR does have parking lots in areas where they are not required; some years they are completely packed, and some years there are availabilities. He said he would obviously rather transfer people to AUR-owned parking lots if necessary rather than rent additional stalls from the City. Plahutnik noted that off-site parking was allowable as long as it is developer- provided. Howard said that the use of parking ramps was just one option, parking spaces anywhere in the city can be procured through the same special exception process. Clark noted that parking availability in his lots changes from year to year, so that would be a difficulty unless he could procure some sort of blanket statement saying any ten stalls would be acceptable. Eastham asked Clark if dropping the need for a special exception, while keeping all other aspects of the requirement the same, would make a difference in the problems he was describing. Clark said that either way there would be no guarantee of parking space availability in city ramps. Clark said he believed Staff would do a great job in reviewing the projects, but that he felt it would be nice if there was a standard that would dictate exactly what a developer was required to do to have parking allowed, rather than designing a project, spending thousands of dollars, and then having the necessary parking denied. Clark said it was his opinion that every layer of these requirements would hurt development and building downtown. Howard said that there are a lot of special exceptions in the zoning code that are there for good reasons. Howard said there are criteria set up for the Board of Adjustment to review each of those. When a special exception is required, most people will do preliminary design and submit that to the Board of Adjustment. Full blown designing and planning is not generally done prior to securing a special exception. Howard noted that there are a number of criteria in securing a special exception above and beyond simply the number of parking spaces; these criteria include: how the parking looks, how it is accessed, how it is screened from the street, etc. Howard said that generally a special exception is granted if the specified criteria are met; however, it would still be necessary to go through the Parking Department to secure the necessary spaces from the ramps. Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 5 No one else wished to comment and the public hearing was closed. Freerks said she would entertain a motion. She reiterated that a goal had been set to give something to City Council for their December 16th meeting. Eastham motioned to approve the amendments to the Zoning Code Article 14-5A, Off-Street Parking and Loading Standards, to include minimum parking requirements for Household Living Uses in the Central Business (CB-10) zone. Plahutnik seconded. Freerks opened the floor for Commission discussion Eastham made a second motion to eliminate the provision that required a special exception for when the applicant was seeking to satisfy parking requirements off-site within aCity-owned parking ramp. Plahutnik said he would be interested in hearing more about this idea. Freerks noted that in order to proceed to discussion of the matter, the motion must be seconded. There was no second and that motion died for lack of a second. Freerks returned discussion to the initial motion. Busard said he believed the ordinance would not discourage any small-scale development and would definitely help to curb the dormitory-style apartments that had been developing downtown. Busard said it was his wish that the downtown was more business-oriented rather than residential, and that he believed that these ordinances would go a long way toward keeping the downtown viable for business. Payne said that she believed the new occupancy standards addressed the dormitory-style living, but did not see that the parking ordinance was doing anything to address that. Payne said that she sees the current parking ordinance as more of a hurt than a help. Freerks asked Payne if she believed that the parking ordinance hurt the whole community or just the developers. Payne said she felt it hurt both. She said she did not like the idea of long-term residential parking in municipal ramps because she felt it would perpetuate a perception that more ramp parking was needed than actually is. Freerks asked Payne where she suggested the parking should be done. Payne acknowledged that presently parking was spilling over into the nearby neighborhoods. Freerks said that simply not addressing the parking problem is not a solution to the problem. Koppes noted that mention had already been made of the option of renting space from another building. Payne noted that you could not simply rent space from another building; the special exception process would actually require property owners to deed those parking spaces over to the other building with a restrictive covenant. Howard said it was important to keep in mind that for the majority of new projects these requirements would make developers build the parking on site. That, she said, is the purpose of this ordinance. Freerks said that she felt that the city has come a long way, noting that Clark was correct when he said that atone point on-site parking was not even allowed in the CB-10 zone. She said that Clark had acknowledged that people want to park near their homes, and she noted, nothing could be more ideal than parking right beneath your building. Payne said that a better alternative may be to require that developers have some parking on-site rather than requiring that they have a certain number of spaces (which could be off-site). Freerks said that for her that would not address the issue. Payne said if the goal is to encourage on-site parking, then that should be what the ordinance addresses. Busard said that having parking on-site would almost force developers to create higher-end apartments. He said that it is not affordable to build underground parking for standard student apartments. Busard said that the intent of the ordinance was to curb dormitory-style living in the downtown area. He said forcing developers to build underground or provide on-site parking would be more conducive to family-friendly development. Eastham asked Busard to elaborate, because he did not see how requiring on-site parking would result in higher-end units. Busard said that the additional costs would require ahigher-end market. Eastham asked if he meant that the parking cost per unit would be significantly higher, and Busard said that was correct. Plahutnik said that in the CB-10 zone the problem that is being faced is high-rise, high-density residential buildings. Plahutnik said that when the switch is made from several floors of office space to residential, Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 6 then the parking needs increase to semi-permanent spaces needed for day and for overnight. This is something the City has not been faced with before in the downtown area. Plahutnik said the Commission had been quick to pull the trigger in moving the CB-10 zone across Burlington Street without really considering the parking repercussions. The Hieronymus Building was a situation that was solved due to the close proximity of a parking ramp. However, when the Clarks came up with a similar plan the question of where all of these people would be parking came up. Plahutnik said the parking ordinance is partially a response to that situation and partially a response to Big Ten's ten-story project of five- bedroom units. Plahutnik said that the three-bedroom requirement is to help prevent ten stories of dorm- style apartments, and the parking ordinance is to address what to do with the cars belonging to these ten stories of people. The intent is to contain some of the vehicles on-site, Plahutnik said. He noted that the parking ramp issue was intended as a tweak to the language which would provide flexibility to those near ramps, or on very small lots. Plahutnik said that in a simple two to three story building downtown parking is not that big of an issue. Parking becomes a big deal when you are dealing with ten stories of residential. Plahutnik said the Commission was attempting to give developers something by reducing the parking requirements from the original draft; however, the Commission is also trying to give the neighborhoods who receive the parking overflow some relief. Payne said that the issue she has is that developers will continuously come to the City and ask for more spaces. The City will then talk to the Parking Director who will continuously try to accommodate the developers. The special exceptions will be granted over and over, Payne said, because the necessary criteria will have been met. Soon parking will reach capacity,' Payne said, and then the City will want to build another ramp. Payne said her concern is that the public will be subsidizing the parking. Eastham said he was not sure about the subsidy angle, although he did understand her concerns for capacity issues that could arise in the future. If the parking systems are well managed, Eastham contended, the lease fees developers pay will pay for the cost of providing and maintaining the parking. Payne asked if lease fees go back into the parking system, and was told that they do. Eastham contended that if there are empty spaces in the ramp and full parking systems on the street then it is not a parking capacity problem but a user preference issue. Plahutnik said he was thinking that the parking department would be loathe to give out parking spaces in perpetuity. He said he understood that Payne's fear was in the opposite direction. Eastham said he believes the Council had asked the Commission to consider at least two issues: 1) giving developers the opportunity to develop residential units in buildings built before December 31, 2008, and 2) what is a reasonable parking policy for new buildings. In his view, parking is basically an infrastructure issue, like police, fire, and water. Freerks had pointed out that what is -being attempted is to retain the commercial viability of the downtown. Eastham said he hoped this would be at least an initial attempt to do that. He said that he did not know if it was adequate to incentivize the building of underground parking for existing buildings. Eastham said he was not so sure the availability of ramp space or privately owned parking has really been determined. Eastham said that in considering this ordinance he is bothered by the lack of data that can be used to determine if these specific measures accomplish the stated goals of providing residential living in the CB-10 areas without overburdening the City-owned parking system. Eastham said he is nonetheless going to vote for this measure, although he believes it is possible that it may need some tweaking as development progresses in the downtown area. Plahutnik said he has been fairly clear that he supports this measure. He said that not all development downtown should be residential, and that the City needs to encourage business uses and strive to keep downtown as a viable business area. He said this ordinance is one more method of trying to encourage business development and steer residential development in a different direction. Koppes said she would be supporting the amendment. Payne noted that the people who currently park on the street overnight in residential neighborhoods already have the ability to go lease a spot in a City-owned garage and choose not to do so. Payne said she believes the ordinance needs more thought. Planning and Zoning Commission December 4, 2008 -Formal Page 7 Weitzel said he believes that planning is not an exact science and there are too many variables for the Commission to come up with a formula agreed on by everyone. He said the Commission is doing its best to come up with some compromises and make some predictions. Weitzel said he believed the current one was a very practical solution. He said he was not sure that it was a permanent solution, but that he felt it was good for the time being. Freerks said she saw this measure as a compromise. The downtown is a unique and fragile atmosphere that is always changing. That being said, downtown has many wonderful aspects that need to be nurtured and protected. Things will always change, said Freerks, and development will always be needed. Freerks said that change needs to be thought about in a way and at a pace that the community can accept and integrate. Development may go forward at a pace that better suits and accommodates with these parking changes, Freerks said. She said that the issue is two-pronged for her and includes both the residential aspects and the need to maintain a viable commercial presence downtown where people can walk and park. Freerks said she will support the measure, noting that while it is not perfect, it is something that she can support. A vote was taken and the motion carried 6-1 (Payne voting in the negative). CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: November 17 & November 20, 2008: Eastham motioned to accept the minutes. Payne seconded. There was discussion of some wording changes noted by Payne. The minutes were approved on a vote of 7-0. OTHER: Busard notified Commissioners and Staff that he would be absent the week of December 14'h. Plahutnik stated that the University of Iowa is in the process of figuring out what to do with the riverfront, and, he noted, the City has its own problems with riverfront areas south of Benton Street. He said that now is a crucial time to start working seriously on a comprehensive plan for those riverfront areas along Burlington Street and to the south. Plahutnik said the University will be making some decisions about which the Commission will have no say, but those decisions will affect what happens down-river. He said that if the City could integrate in with the University's planning process and make that area a better part of town, this would be a crucial opportunity. Plahutnik said this is an area the Commission should address pretty quickly because it is the area where the fastest change is going to happen. Howard said that there are some areas of the Central District plan that can be looked at; specifically, there has been interest in the creation of the urban mixed use zone addressed in the plan. Plahutnik said he expects to see fewer large-scale subdivision projects over the next eighteen months as the financial world sorts itself out; and these would be the issues addressed in the Southeast District Plan, which is the next plan on the agenda. Plahutnik said that once the University gets rolling on its planning for the riverfront in the Central District things will begin happening pretty quickly. Howard said she knows that the City is having ongoing conversations with the University about the use of the riverfront. She agreed that were a few implementation items from the Central District Plan that could be put on the Commission's list in the near future. ADJOURNMENT: Weitzel motioned to adjourn. Busard seconded. The meeting was adjourned on a 7-0 vote at 8:50 p.m. 0 .y N .~ O U 'a ~o c ~ c ~ N d c ~ N rn ~ c ~ C y C ~~,, ~a a U R O N X X X X X X X X X X X X X D X X X ~ ~ X X o x x x x x o x ~ x x x x x x x o~ X X X X X X X N X X X ~ ~ X X o x x x x x x x x x x x n ti o x x x x x X X X X X X m X X X ~ ~ X x x x x x ' x x x o x r` `- X X X X ~ , x x x x N x x x x M i i i T ~ X X X ~ X ~ i X X X ~ i X ~ ~- ~ M N O O M o o o o o 0 0 F--w C R Y d d Y C _ d ~ c0 r d = _ E ~ fn ` C to t d z m W ~ Y a a ~ ~ : ~ v d ui 3 - j X X X X X X ~ r ~ x x x x x X o M ~ x x x x x x x M o x x x x X x x ~ X x x x x x x o~ ° x x x x x X o ; x x x o ; o x M X X X X X X co X X X ~ X X ; x x x x x N ~ ~ ~ ; x x x ; x ; N N i X X X ~ W O i I~ N i X X X i ~ W ~ i ~ ~- ~ M N O - O M ~ .~' ~ ~ r r r ~ ~ f w 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N -p la E Z w L vi ~ d ~ ~ ~ N~ z N m ~ W d ~ Y a = a 3 N N U X W +r }, C ~ ~ N N ~ ~ ~ ~ Q a Q u T II II LLJ Yxoo 01-15-09 IP11 MINUTES PRELIMINARY IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT DECEMBER 10, 2008 - 5:00 PM EMMA J. HARVAT HALL Members Present: Terry Hora, Karen Leigh, Caroline Sheerin, Edgar Thornton, Ned Wood Members Excused: None Staff Present: Sarah Walz, Sarah Greenwood-Hektoen Others Present: Dick Noble, Dwight Dobberstien RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Ned Wood at 5:00 p.m. An opening statement was read by the Chair outlining the role and purpose of the Board and the procedures governing the proceedings. ROLL CALL: Hora, Leigh, Sheerin, Thornton and Wood were present. CONSIDERATION OF THE SEPTMEBER 10, 2008: Sheerin pointed out a missing word on page one and the inappropriate use of a hyphen on two occasions. Wood noted the need for a word to be removed on page four. Leigh asked that page numbers be included on the minutes submitted to the Board. Thornton motioned to accept the minutes as amended. Leigh seconded. The motion carried 5-0. SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS: EXC08-00016: An application submitted by the University of Iowa Community Credit Union for a special exception to allow adrive-through bank facility to be located in the Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 2 Commercial Office (CO-1) zone at the southwest corner of Dodge Street and Scott Boulevard. Walz explained that drive-through facilities are only allowed in a CO-1 zone by special exception. The property in question was recently rezoned for the CO-1 use with a conditional zoning agreement covering the design and layout of the building location. Walz said that the special exception requires that the number of driveway lanes and stacking spaces necessary for the drive-through facility are not detrimental to adjacent residential properties. Walz explained that stacking spaces are the spaces where cars wait to get to the service window or the ATM in adrive-through facility. In this case, Walz said, the site plan shows 16 stacking spaces spread over three lanes. The adjacent residential properties in this case are across the street from the bank on one side, and several hundred feet away from the bank on the other. The drive-through spaces are more than 300 feet from the residences in Hickory Heights, and more than 200 feet from the residences across the street. The entrance to the bank will be adjacent to North Dubuque Road. When the use is established, the building itself will screen the properties across the street on Dodge Street from any view of the drive-through facility. The site-plan does demonstrate the necessary S-3 screening, consisting of tall, dense evergreen material, which will effectively screen both the drive-through area and the parking lot from the adjacent residential properties. Staff has asked the applicant to provide clear signage and markings for the pedestrian crossings in the drive-through area and near the entranceway to the development. Walz said that one obvious question that comes up is the issue of traffic flow from Dodge Street onto Scott Boulevard, given the short turn and the merging of two lanes of traffic into one lane near the entrance to the bank. Walz said that the transportation staff had looked carefully at this issue and had determined that this was indeed a safe and appropriate location for adrive-through and that adrive-through facility in this location would not unduly hinder the flow of traffic. The drive-through lanes must be set back at least ten feet from the adjacent lot lines, Walz said. According to the site plan, the setbacks far exceed what is required. Lighting for the drive- through will be reviewed by the building department to ensure that the City's lighting standards are met. Walz said that the general criteria require that the specific proposed exception will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, comfort or general welfare. Because of the adequate number of stacking spaces, the fact that the drive-through lanes are set back quite a distance, and the fact that the pedestrian walkways will be marked, Staff feels that this proposed exception is a safe one for the public and its general welfare. The specific proposed exception also cannot be injurious to the use or enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity and cannot substantially diminish or impair property values in the neighborhood. Walz said that because of the distance that the drive-through will be set back from surrounding properties and the direction traffic is heading (when cars are waiting for the Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 3 drive-through facility their headlights are pointed away from the residential neighborhood), the drive-through should not be injurious to nearby properties. The neighboring property across the street is publicly owned and is slated to be the location of the north-side fire department. The residential property across Scott Boulevard is a rural property slated as future office-style development by the Comprehensive Plan. As a result, the establishment of this exception should not impede the normal and orderly development of the surrounding properties. Utilities and proper drainage are already in place for this property; the access roads have been reviewed and found to be safe. Adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress/egress design so as to minimize traffic congestion on public streets. Walz noted that traffic planners have indicated that additional signage may be necessary, but that the intersection (specifically right turning traffic) has been deemed safe. Except for the specific regulations applicable to the exception being considered, Walz said, the plan in all other respects meets the requirements for the zone in which it is to be located. Walz said that a final site plan must be approved by the building department to ensure full compliance. The proposed use will be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as amended, Walz said. She noted that in the conditional zoning agreement, a number of issues were addressed concerning the building's appearance due to its location at a major entrance-way into Iowa City. Walz stated that Staff recommends approval of application EXC08-00016, a special exception to allow adrive-through bank facility to be located in the Commercial Office (CO-1) zone at the southwest corner of Dodge Street and Scott Boulevard subject to substantial compliance with the submitted site plan, including cautionary signage and pavement markings for pedestrian crossings in the area of the drive-through and the bank entrance. Walz offered to answer questions from the Board. Sheerin noted that the staff report indicated there were 19 stacking spaces for the drive-through whereas the site plan indicated there were only 16. Walz said she believed the correct number was 16. Hora asked if the traffic engineer had addressed the issue of northbound traffic turning left into the facility. He noted that having two or three cars backed up there could cause major traffic congestion. Walz said this had been looked at by traffic engineers, and they had concluded that it was unlikely that the drive-through facility would generate enough traffic to cause that kind of a problem. Hora asked if the S-3 screening at the entrance would block the view of those attempting to leave the bank parking lot, causing them to creep forward onto the sidewalk or into the street. Walz said she believed that the distance that landscaping was set back in that location would prevent that from becoming an issue. She said she believed there was adequate distance from the curb- Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 4 line to the street. Hora said his concern was for pedestrians on Scott Boulevard being blocked by cars trying to see around the screening. Walz said that the screening has a minimum setback requirement often feet from the sidewalk. Thornton asked if Staff had ever talked about the nature of what would go on inside the building. He wondered if there would be a large room that generated larger activities thereby generating more traffic. Sheerin asked if the Board was allowed to consider that or if their considerations were confined to the stacking spaces in the drive-through facility. Sheerin noted that the Board was not approving the parking or the use of the facility, but the stacking spaces for the facility. Walz said that the uses of the facility are CO-1, general office uses, which tend to be lower traffic-generating uses. Walz said that she agrees with Sheerin in the sense that, in general, what happens in the facility is a rezoning question and not a special exception issue. Greenwood- Hektoen said that while she agrees with that assessment, she does believe that traffic circulation related to the drive-through and its impact on the neighborhood is something for the Board to consider. Wood asked if there were any other questions from the Board for Staff. As there were none, he invited the applicant to address the Board. Dick Noble, 173 Glenn Drive, Iowa City, spoke on behalf of the University of Iowa Community Credit Union (UICCU). He said that he was accompanied by Dwight Dobberstein of Neumann- Monson Design to answer any questions the Board might have that were architectural in nature. Noble said he wanted to first recognize and thank Bob Miklo and all of the City staff and departments who had helped in the design and rezoning process. Noble said that no specific design had been set for the building and the interior uses/design would not be determined until all zoning and special exception matters had been resolved. To answer Thornton's questions, Noble indicated that while the UICCU did have a large community room at their Mormon Trek office, he did not anticipate one for the facility in question. In general, Noble said, the building would largely be for administrative purposes, with a small 5,000-6,000 square foot branch office. The main use of the building would be operational, with administrative staff keeping the basic hours of 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Noble said he did not anticipate a rush of people coming to the facility at any one specific time of day. Noble offered again to answer any questions the Board might have, and then introduced Dobberstein. Dwight Dobberstien, 221 College Street, noted that there are in fact 19 spaces shown on the site plan, and that 19 is the correct number.* He said this would be the maximum number of spaces, and that the actual number would not be known until more was known about the design. He said what was in the building would ultimately determine how big the parking lot was. Dobberstein said that City staff had determined that a turning lane would not be warranted for the driveway intersection due to the limited increase in traffic volume that was likely to result from the bank. The screening, Dobberstein said, would meet the S-3 screening requirements of the code, but actual screening materials would be determined at a later date. The evergreen screening shown on the current site plan was a generic screening used for demonstration purposes only. Dobberstein said he was confident Staff would very carefully review the final site plan and its Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 5 landscaping plan. Dobberstein said he did not believe the concern Hora expressed for pedestrians crossing the entrance-way would be an issue, but that he believed that the additional signage and pavement markings recommended by the City would definitely help to address that potentiality. The pictures of the proposed building also represent a generic vision, useful for the general concept, but not necessarily representative of the ultimate building design. Wood noted that the design plan shows limited parking on the right side of the building and extensive parking on the left side of the building. Wood noted that this caused pedestrians to have to cross a large expanse of parking lot that included the drive-through area and the entrance-way. Dobberstein replied that the parking on the right side of the building was intended for the public and for bank customers, while that on the left side of the building was intended for staff. As staff would not usually be accessing the building from the parking lot during drive- through hours, Dobberstien said he believed that this made the most sense. Hora asked if Dobberstein really anticipated needing 19 stacking spaces. Dobberstein said that he did not, as it was intended primarily to be administrative office space. However, Dobberstein said, as soon as the name is out on the building, customers will want to bank there. Noble noted that even at larger UICCU facilities cars are seldom backed up more than two or three spaces per lane even at the busiest times. He said people generally would not want to wait longer than that and would simply go inside to do their business. As a result, he did not believe that 19 stacking spaces would be utilized even if that was the end-design plan. Walz clarified that the idea behind the stacking spaces is for the applicant to show the maximum number that could be utilized without blocking the flow of traffic. Walz explained that the number of stacking spaces shown does not necessarily represent the amount the applicant thinks necessary, rather the maximum amount that are available given the space available. As there were no more questions for the applicant the public hearing was closed. Thornton moved to approve application EXC08-00016, an application by the University of Iowa Community Credit Union for a special exception to allow adrive-through bank facility located in a Commercial Office (CO-1) zone at the southwest corner of Dodge Street and Scott Boulevard subject to compliance with the specifications and arrangements worked out with Staff, including the proper signage and pavement markings for pedestrians crossings as well as appropriate screening. Sheerin seconded. Leigh stated that she felt it had been well established that this application met both the specific and the general standards required for granting this special exception. The specific proposed exception will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or general welfare. Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 6 Leigh said there is proper screening to buffer adjacent residential properties, noting that this was probably one of the biggest concerns. Leigh noted that drive-through lanes had been arranged to minimize congestion, and that it has been established that the arterial streets involved can support the traffic generated by the use. For the same reasons given above, the specific proposed exception would not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of the property in the vicinity and would not diminish or impair property values. Leigh said that because of the arrangement of the stacking spaces, vehicles waiting in line will not cause congestion on public streets. Leigh said that utilities, access roads, drainage and other facilities were being addressed as part of the larger development of the property. Leigh said she did not believe she had anything to add to what she had already said, and that the standards had been met as discussed in Staff s overview and Board discussions. Thornton said he agreed with his colleague that the applicant adequately showed that they would have a maximum of 19 stacking spaces, that they are 300 feet from the nearest residential property to the north and 200 feet from the nearest residential property to the south. Thornton said that it appeared that Staff had provided input on the issue of traffic congestion. He also noted that the proposed specific use is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. He said the project appears to be well thought out and will likely be a very welcome addition to the community. He said that he will likely vote in favor of the motion. Hora said that he too agreed with the statements of his colleagues on the Board and that he would likely support the motion. Sheerin said she would like to add that the applicant has indicated that the recommended pavement markings and signs will be put in place to warn pedestrians of drive-up area entrances and exits. She also noted that there is appropriate outdoor lighting. She said that for these reasons and for the previously stated reasons she believes the specific and general criteria have been met and she will vote in favor of the motion. Wood said he believed the specific and general standards have been met and that the facility will be an asset to the area. He said that he expects to vote in favor of the motion. Greenwood-Hektoen asked if she could clarify Thornton's motion to be clear of its intent. She asked Thornton if his motion was to approve the application subject to substantial compliance with the site plan, including the cautionary signage and pavement markings that Staff had recommended. Thornton said that was the case. A vote was taken and the motion was approved on a 5-0 vote. OTHER: Iowa City Board of Adjustment December 10, 2008 Page 7 None. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION: Walz thanked Leigh for her service, noting that she had agreed to fill in for someone who had vacated their seat mid-term, after having served in prior years. The December 10th meeting is Leigh's last as a Board of Adjustment member. Walz thanked her for doing a wonderful job and providing excellent service to the community. Walz also welcomed Hora to the Board. ADJOURNMENT: Sheerin motioned to adjourn. Thornton seconded. The motion carried 5-0, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:36 p.m. 0 C N O ~ 'C N O ~ v 'a m Q ~ w ~ o v ~ O L ~ m ~ Q 0 N X X X X X T ~ Z Z Z Z Z r ~ Z Z Z Z Z r X X ~ X M X X X X X X X X X X X ~ X X cc >( ~ X X X X X X X X 0 X X X M M ~ ~ ~ X X X X N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r Z ; Z Z Z Z N M M O ~ O ~ ~ ~ N ~ N ~ N ~ ~ r ~ ` N Q- r O r O r O ~ O ~ O O O ~ W r r ~ r ~~- r r O O O O O O O --~ L w O "" . ~ .y ~ .~ :~ ~ ,C ~D ~ ~ ~ O ~ M U ~ ~ '~ v~ ... `' N y op o2S C a~ Z ~+ , O d ~ ~~ ~' ,C O i N m ~~~ °'~ ~ a~,a o La •+ U C L N J O d~ N ~ ~ Fes- O N _ cB ` > jC~o Y~ Z t~Q W H~ '~ L U ~ O X C W +- N C ~ ~ ~ N ~ ~ ~ ~ O O ~ II Q II Q II z II z II w ~ X O O z W Y MINUTES Youth Advisory Commission January 8 - 7:00 P.M. Lobby Conference Room -City Hall Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 7:00 P.M. Members Present: Diamitani, Han, Heywood, Green Members Absent: Malatek Staff Present: Karr, Wilburn Others Present: None. IP12 ~~~~P Recommendations to Council (become effective only after separate Council action): None Elect temporary Chair: Karr explained that Nelson's Board term expired before his term as chair (which ends in March) the Commission needed to elect a temporary chair. Green volunteered, and majority agreed. Approval of Minutes: Diamitani made a motion to approve the minutes of December 11 and December 18, Green seconded the motion. Minutes were approved unanimously, 4/0. Budget presentation for FY10: Green asked if the copy provided was what Diamitani had written. Karr said that she had written the current copy from memory as neither the copy nor the minutes were available at the time. Han volunteered to be present at the budget presentation. It was decided that she focus on new items and changes while recapitulating other items. Youth Empowerment Grant: Before reviewing the three grant applications, Karr asked whether Diamitani was a part of the group submitting the request and if so should not participate in the discussion. He said he wasn't .Han voiced the concern that the applications seemed to be less detailed than ideal. Green also added she had some questions. For Heywood and Diamitani's benefit, Karr added that usually the subcommittee would have had the chance to meet with the applicant to ask questions prior to formal consideration of the request by the Commission. Diamitani clarified that the 3 grant requests would be used for different purposes within the one event. Han asked whether they would have a contract ready and also brought up that if the grants were approved for different purposes, they would only be reimbursed for the money used for those specific causes. Diamitani clarified that he would be forwarding the existing contract and added that the group would be signing the contract, and not the Commission. Green asked how the group would get the other funds to sign the contract, and Diamitani said that the group had separate funds for such events. January 8, 2009 Page 2 DRAFT Green voiced that she felt she could not approve all three of the grants. Han agreed. Wilburn reminded the Commission that the grant was based on a reimbursement system. After discussion, the group agreed that the two grants specifically applied for lighting or advertisement and should not be approved because the attached information did not show the actual costs to total the grant request. On the other hand, the group agreed that the one grant for location rental could and should be voted on. For the other two applications, the subcommittee members decided that the applicant resubmit a fully completed application with specific intended uses outlined. Heywood voiced her concern about the probability of the event. She specifically addressed the location of the proposed event, which can discourage students from City or Regina high school. Heywood specifically cited other events she had been involved in to voice skepticism over the projected number of guests. Diamitani stated the applicant was aware of that and were still confident that they would be able to attract many guests. Karr explained that the location was an issue before because of its size and cost as well as its location outside of Iowa City. Heywood suggested various locations within Iowa City, including UAY and the Recreation center. Karr also clarified other aspects of the event. Moved by Green, seconded by Diamitani, to approve the grant request for $500 for location rental. The grant was approved 4/0. Regarding the other two applications, Wilburn suggested that the Commission inform the group that the Commission did not make a decision and outline what would be needed and when to consider the requests. Subcommittee members Han and Green agreed to draft an email from the subcommittee and also to include a date for the applicants to resubmit more complete applications. It was decided that the packet distribution would be the 23rd and that the Commission meet on the 27t" at 7:30 p.m. to consider the requests. Green and Han said they would make the recommendation to the full Commission on that date. The alternative meeting date of the 30t" at 7:30pm was scheduled if needed. 2009-10 Subcommittee Reports: None Goals and planning for 2009: The youth survey report was scheduled to come out in February. Green explained to Heywood what the Commission was planning to do with the results to increase youth participation. It was decided that the Commission wait until the results were obtained. Update on website: Karr said that the by-laws had been updated and Green reminded members to update the bio information if needed. January 8, 2009 Page 3 Public Discussion: None DRAFT Student Citizenship Awards: Green and Karr briefly explained the current situation concerning the presentation of the awards. The Commission decided that despite the possible positive exposure, they should not commit to more dates at this time. Members agreed that the decision be made later in the fall when the school year starts and when hopefully the Commission would have more members. Staff update: Wilburn said that the council may wish to ask the Commission for recommendations on future decisions or that the Commission may even make recommendations to the Council without prompting as well. Karr added that this had been done twice in the past. Members agreed that it would be a good idea. Wilburn also added that members should remember to notify Karr if members know they will not be able to make meetings. Members agreed and decided to have further discussion about notification guidelines. Announcements/Invitations/Events/Opportunities: None Meeting Schedule: Previously discussed. Moved by Han, seconded by Diamitani, to adjourn 8:20 PM Submitted by: Han Z O ~0 ~~ ~O ~ U ~- OWrn.°3 V ~ c A ~-WN ~ ~ U ~ ~ fn Q W ~ °w}~ Q~ ~a 0 ~ ~ ~ Z ~ Z ~ Z ~ Z ~ Z C C ~ d A W ~ O r M N ~ O r M N ~ O r ~ N ~ ~ O r M N ~ 0 ~ r N 0 ~ r N 0 ~ T N a Z (~ .C ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ _ Q ~ ~ ~ ~ Q ~ ~ ~ _ ~ U ~ --~ ti... ~ ~ > . ~ j L 0 3 O 7 Z d V ~~ W r y ~ ~ = y ~ y N N ~ w a`aazz II II ~ II I XOpZ Y