Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-24 Correspondencer -- ^`_„_, ®~,~ CITY O F IOWA CITY 3 (1) ~, ~ , ., ~~ NI RANDI.~~ ~ E CJ Date: February 11, 2009 To: City Clerk From: Darian Nagle-Gamm, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Item for February 24th, 2009 City Council meeting; Installation of (1) YIELD sign on the southeast corner of the intersection of Tracy Lane and Davis Street. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A (5); Install (1) YIELD sign on the southeast corner of the intersection of Tracy Lane and Davis Street. Comment: This action is being taken to assign the right of way to traffic on Tracy Lane, requiring that vehicles on Davis Street yield before entering the intersection with Tracy Lane. This action was requested by the Police department. Mgr/agd/dng-davis-tracylane-yield.doc ~' - ;. _.__ ,: ,, ., .__. ~ , ~~J ~~,.®~r ~ui~~~ ,~®,~~ CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM 3 2 Date: February 11, 2009 To: City Clerk and City Council From: Darian Nagle-Gamm, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Item for February 24th, 2009 City Council meeting; Installation of (2) NO PARKING ANYTIME signs and supplemental arrows in front of the home at 1110 East College Street. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action: Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), Install (2) NO PARKING ANYTIME signs and supplemental arrows in front of the home at 1110 East College Street. Comment: This action is being taken to ensure that the disabled resident at 1110 East College Street can access ADA accessible public transportation via the sidewalk curb cut in front of his home. Mgr/agd/dng-nopark a college.doc -- --_ a w. - r`~ '~ y' .~.1 ~~ _) 02-24-09 ~_,-.-,~~ CITY 4F IOWA CITY 3 3 ~,- _ - ,~ ~E~QR Date: February 11, 2009 To: City Clerk and City Council From: Darian Nagle-Gamm, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Item for February 24th, 2009 City Council meeting; Installation of NO PARKING ANYTIME signs on the east side of Heinz Road between Highway 6 and Paddock Boulevard. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 36 of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), install NO PARKING ANYTIME signs on the east side of Heinz Road between Highway 6 and Paddock Boulevard. Comment: This action is being taken to prohibit parking on the east side of Heinz Road to ease congestion. A parking survey was administered to all households that must use Heinz Road as their sole access to their property. The survey responses indicated that 71 % of affected residents (101 out of 139 total respondents) were in favor of the stated action. The east side of the road was selected as it is the location of fire hydrants and because removing parking on this side would improve sight distance due to the curvature of the road. Both the Fire and Police departments support this action. On-street parking is still available on the west side of the road. jccogtplmem/actcom Hei nz6Paddock.doc . ~. . u Y •..l „..I <<~ v.,. -.!r®~ C1TY OF IOWA CITY 34 ~ ~'' ~~~ ~~.~~ ~ ~ ~ c~ u M ~EMo Date: February 4, 2009 To: City Clerk and City Council From: Darian Nagle-Gamm, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Item for Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 City Council meeting; Installation of NO PARKING ANYTIME signs on the west side of Emerald Street between Melrose Avenue and 20 feet south of the water pump station access driveway. As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 36 of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action: Action: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), Install (2) NO PARKING ANYTIME signs on the west side of Emerald Street between Melrose Avenue and 20 feet south of the water pump station access driveway. Comment: This action is being taken to ensure that the Fire Department's emergency vehicle operators exiting the new west side Fire Station have adequate sight distance. jccogtp/mem/d ng-actcomm02-04-09.doc 3 5 Marian Karr From: Joseph M. Jason [jmj2400@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 10:57 PM To: Council Subject: FW: Daniel S. Jason-Asperger Syndrome Honor Roll Student Imprisoned In Iowa Department of Corrections Importance: High Attachments: IMAG0103.jpg; DOJrev[1].doc This correspondence will become a public record. Iowa City Council: I am enclosing a picture of my son Daniel S. Jason at his graduation from the University of Iowa. Daniel was an honor roll student and had an A-average. He has been in your Iowa jails and prisons since March of 2007. He has Asperger Syndrome(high functioning autism) and mental illness and his constitutional rights have been violated. I am a member of the National Alliance On Mental Illness and I am advocating for him. There have been repeated violations of Civil Rights and Disability Discrimination. There has been a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There has been a failure to utilize Asperger Syndrome experts. There has been a failure to recognize severe mental illness despite being informed of this. There has been a failure to give mental health treatment while Daniel was in jail for his first 14 months. There has been violations of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution-cruel and unusual punishment. There has been a failure to recognize that all actions by Daniel Jason were motivated by high functioning autism and mental illness. NAMI(National Alliance for the Mentally III) in Section 10.7 of the Public Policy Platform believes that persons who have committed offenses due to states of mind or behavior caused by a serious mental illness do not belong in penal or correctional institutions. Such persons require treatment, not punishment. A prison or jail is never an optimal therapeutic setting. I am enclosing a paper that I filed with the Department of Justice and the Judicial Qualifications Committee. I ask you to read it and make a difference in Iowa. Additional information can be provided upon request. /s/Joseph M. Jason Joseph M. Jason, MST,CPA Member of National Alliance on Mental Illness 583 Cobblestone Lane Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60089 National Alliance On Mental Illness 2/9/2009 Attachment To Complaint Before The Commission On Judicial Qualifications Of The State of Iowa-Violations of Civil Rights and Disabilitv Discrimination To: United States Department of Justice-Violations of Civil rights and Disability Discrimination Re: In the matter of Daniel S. Jason-State of Iowa- ST VS JASON. DANIEL SAMUEL-06521 FECR078976 From: Joseph M. Jason-Member of National Alliance On Mental Illness Purpose: To File the Following Complaints against the State of Iowa and the following parties In Iowa: A) Judge Kristen Hibbs 1111 East Court Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50319 B)Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Minot and the Johnson County Prosecutors office in the matter of repeated discrimination and violations of civil rights. Johnson County Court House 417 South Clinton Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 The Allegations Are As Follows: This paper will outline the facts that there have been repeated violations of Civil Rights and Disability Discrimination. There has been a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There has been a failure to utilize Asperger Syndrome experts. There has been a failure to recognize severe mental illness despite being informed of this. There has been a failure to give mental health treatment while Daniel was in jail for 14 months. There has been violations of the 8t~ Amendment to the Constitution-cruel and unusual punishment. There has been a failure to recognize that all actions by Daniel Jason were motivated by high functioning autism and mental illness. The Judge and Prosecuting Attorney allowed Cynthia Courter to perjure herself in a number of areas. This has been brought to their attention and they have not followed up on these facts. Definition of Disabilitv The following is a definition of a disability. Definitions of Disability The definitions of disability used as a foundation for this DVD project are listed below: A. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 "Disability. 'The term disability means, with respect to an individual-Daniel has been diagnosed as being mentally ill and having Asperger Syndrome. (A) A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) A record of such an impairment; or (C) Being regarded as having such an impairment." -See the Letters by Doctor Shoshana. B. The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, Public Law 106-402-October 30, 2000 "The term developmental disability means a severe, chronic disability of an individual that- (i) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments; (ii) Is manifested before the individual attains age 22; -Asperger Syndrome was diagnosed in the year 2000. Daniel was 16 at the time. (iii) Is likely to continue indefinitely; (iv) Results in substantial functional limitations in 3 or more of the following areas of major life activity: (I) Self-care, -Daniel is unable to take care of himself. (II) Receptive and expressive language, (III) Learning, (IV) Mobility, (V) Self-direction, (VI) Capacity for independent living, (VII) Economic self-sufficiency, and (VIII) Need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated. Daniel S. Jason was allowed to defend himself in court despite having Asperger Syndrome and severe mental illness. The prosecutor, Deborah Minot and Judge Hibbs ignored the fact that all actions by Daniel Jason were motivated by high functioning autism and mental illness. 2 FACTS: On May 29`", my son Daniel S. Jason was sentenced by the Johnson Country Court to stalking and tampering with a witness. He has been in jail and prison since March 29, 2007. This is the update on the sentencing of my autistic son Daniel S. Jason. The injustice of the persecution of people with high functioning autism and mental illness continues unabated in your state of Iowa. The failure to have mental health courts continues. The failure to have Asperger experts in your courts continue. The failure to listen to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill platform continues. Persons who have committed offenses due to states of mind or behavior caused by serious mental illness do not belong in penal or correctional institutions. Prosecutors can chastise me in Court for speaking out, but I will remain resolved to continue to speak for people to not have cruel and unusual punishments. I will continue to speak for mental health care instead of incarceration. I remain appalled and outraged at the legal system in Iowa. If you could see how my handsome son looked today, you would know exactly how I feel. Joseph M. Jason National Alliance On Mental Illness "Disorder in the Court" Asperger Syndrome and a 12 year sentence for my son- Daniel S. Jason The Iowa Court system made a determination in the case of my son Daniel S. Jason on May 29, 2008. The Prosecutor Deborah Minot decided based upon her non- existent psychiatric expertise that Daniel could control his behavior which includes psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorder. This was despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary including a report from a Psychiatrist, Doctor Olson. She said that Doctor Olson had the longest report she has ever seen and he had taken great pains to diagnose, but then said he was "grasping at straws." Prosecutor, Ms. Minot openly chastised me at the sentencing for advocating for my son by filing motions for the Court that included material that should be read by the Judge. This included many articles on Asperger Syndrome and a position paper that I had prepared. There was no Autism expert present in the Court room. After the Judge sentenced Daniel to 5 years- for Stalking and 2 years -for tampering with a witness, we proceeded to go down to a magistrate who was not aware of the additional charges pertaining to violations of the order of protection and prosecutor Minot requested another 5 years be added to his sentence. This would be 61 times 30 days=1,860 more days. The Defense Attorney requested that the Judge, Bruce Goddard recuse himself for past involvement. Daniel's Attorney acted on his behalf, but it appears that no Attorney was actually assigned.. These violations were the same a-mails that were used for the stalking conviction. This would make for a 12 year sentence for my son Daniel who is autistic and mentally ill. This additional 5 years is still pending, but I have come to expect the worst in Iowa . Please remember that Daniel has not committed any violent acts. I do not deny that after 3 14 months rotting in jail that he has made threats, but he said in Court that he was trying to get attention. Despite our advocating throughout the state which included contacting the Governor and the Chief Supreme Court Justice and State Senators and State Representatives, Iowa has shown the entire nation why it continues to get an F by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for mental health care issues. While Daniel will be evaluated at Oakdale prison, this total miscarriage of justice has continued in the State of Iowa. Daniel appeared in leg chains with his hair uncut for many months. His hair is the longest it has ever seen. He had lot a lot of weight. My wife said that "he looked like a broken bird." I am enclosing my testimony in the Court today. Statement by Joseph M. Jason Regarding the Sentencing of Daniel S. Jason I am the Father of Daniel Jason and I am familiar with his behavior. Daniel had absence seizures at a young age and was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome or high functioning autism in high-school. Despite the autism he was able to graduate the University of Iowa with an A -average in December, 2005. In February, 2006, there was a significant change in his behavior. We lost the ability to reason with Daniel. We found out that he was suffering from a failed relationship and the guilt over an abortion and a miscarriage. It must be reiterated despite Daniel's convictions and anything he has vocalized or written, he has a history of non- violence. Prior to 2006, Daniel was law abiding and was afraid of getting in trouble with the law. He has never smoked, drank alcohol or taken drugs. He has never had hair as long as this. Any statements he would make at present would be as a result of being confined for 14 months without medical attention and not allowed outside. His mental condition has clearly continued to deteriorate by not being treated with any medication. We request that the Court abide by any recommendations by Doctor Loren Olson, a highly respected Psychiatrist from. Des Moines ,Iowa who was the only one to give Daniel a Psychiatric Evaluation. Doctor Olson issued a report in February and I understand that it recommends commitment to a state facility and injections of anti-psychotics. It recommends hospitalization v. prison and also recommends that the court issue an order to medicate involuntarily if necessary, including the use of injectable, long-acting anti- psychotics. It is believed that the brain disorder is treatable and existed before Daniel was charged with any crimes. An expert in the field of Asperger syndrome Dennis Debbaudt, wrote the following in an article called Beyond Guilt or Innocence "Youth with ASD(Autistic Spectrum Disorder) often get in to trouble without even realizing they have committed an offense. Offenses such as making threatening statements; personal, telephone, or Internet stalking; inappropriate sexual advances; accomplice crime with false friends; and making physical outbursts at school, would certainly strike most of society as offenses which demand some sort of punishment. This assumption, though valid at face value, does not take into account the particular issues that challenge the ASD individual. Problems with sensory overload, poor social awareness, semantic misunderstandings, inability to deal with changes in routine or structure, and little to no understanding ofnon-verbal communications, are the very kinds of things that make more appropriate responses 4 to society very difficult for someone with ASD. For example, what appears as anti- social behavior to the `regular" world, is often simply the manifestation of the ASD person's social understandings. While most would see too many phone calls in the middle of the night as aberrant phone stalking, the ASD person might well view the situation as one friend wanting to talk to another, no matter the time or frequency of calls. And a physical outburst at school might well be related to the ASD person's sensory dysfunction or inability to deal with interruptions in the daily routine. So, while the individual with ASD might have committed the offense in question, the intent might well have been anything other than to do harm." I have been involved completely while Daniel has been incarcerated. I have persisted in contact with the Attorneys to get Daniel mental health care treatment. I have worked with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill as well as the Aleph Institute. The Aleph Institute sent a letter to the Court this week. One part of their letter states that "to punish a person whose behavior is motivated by a mental disease or defect would be like punishing a diabetic for having a high blood sugar." Research over the past 30 to 40 years has documented that severe mental illnesses, including bipolar and depressive disorders, autism, panic and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's disorder, are biologically based brain disorders. We are requesting that the Court provide sentencing that helps Daniel obtain mental health care treatment rather than being incarcerated for many years. It is the contention here that Daniel has been a nuisance, but his crimes do not involve violence and he is not a threat to the personal safety of another person. He is but a child in an adult's body. I join with the Aleph Institute in asking you to fashion a sentence that takes into account Daniel's mental illness. I ask you to seriously consider NAMI(National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) in Section 10.7 of the Public Policy Platform which believes that persons who have committed offenses due to states of mind or behavior caused by a serious mental illness do not belong in penal or correctional institutions. Such persons require treatment, not punishment. A prison or jail is never an optimal therapeutic setting. Joseph M. Jason Member of National Alliance On Mental Illness Violations of Civil Rights and Disability Discrimination 1) The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights which took effect in 1791. The amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments. Daniel did not receive any form of mental health services for approximately 14 months days. 5 Daniel had a right to these services and they were denied despite a report by Dan Rogers saying Daniel was incompetent to stand trial as well as a report from Doctor Olson stating Daniel has psychosis and should be treated. While incarcerated in jail, Daniel was also not allowed to be outside and was transferred from jail to jail due to overcrowding. 2) Daniel was kept in jail solely due to his mental illness and this violated his right to equal protection and violated the American Disabilities Act. Numerous Attorneys informed the State of Iowa of the Asperger Syndrome The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Equal Protection Clause can be seen as an attempt to secure the promise of the United States' professed commitment to the proposition that "all men are created equal" by empowering the judiciary to enforce that principle against the states. 3 The Court did not allow adequate accommodations for Daniel S. Jason due to the fact that that he has Asperger Syndrome and severe mental illness. Per his Appeal, 1. Pursuant to Iowa R. of Crim. P. 2.24(2)(b)(5) the Court erred in the following decision concerning questions of law during the course of the trial: a. The Court erred in the procedure in ordering Dan O'Brien to act as stand-by counsel and in granting the Defendant's request to represent himself pro se in the following particulars: 1. The Defendant failed to adequately waive his right to counsel. 2. The Court erred in its refusal to consider the Defendant's disabilities in denying his request fora "hybrid" form of representation. This error impacted the Defendant's right to fair trial and due process as implicated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. 6 Please see the attached exhibit filed for a Motion For New Trial • All individuals with autism must have the right to have the condition of autism be considered first, and the implications of having autism be considered primary to any action taken by the criminal justice system prior to prosecution. • Individuals with autism must have the right to free and appropriate individualized resources (FAIR) to enable them to receive appropriate education and training in order that they not develop nor continue behavior that may be viewed as illegal. • Proper training in the issues associated with the syndrome of autism must be provided to all individuals associated with the criminal justice system, including judges, juries, prosecutors, defense lawyers, law enforcement personnel, and any other forensic science investigators associated with a criminal justice action. • Individuals with autism must have the right to have expert witnesses, who understand the disability of autism, available to them in a court of law. • If prosecuted, an individual with autism must have his disability considered primary when sentencing is handed out, e.g., consideration of a secure residential autism treatment agency if incarceration is indicated. • The criminal justice system must ensure the protection of the civil rights of the individual with autism should the individual be incarcerated in a correctional institution or other human service agency. • Individuals with autism must be protected under the American's with Disabilities Act ensuring that their autism is not the reason for the conviction in a criminal justice action. 4) Cynthia Courter, the "stalking victim" to the best of my knowledge perjured herself in the course of the trial. ST VS JASON. DANIEL SAMUEL-06521 FECR078976 Cynthia Courter perjured herself in the following instances: 1) She testified that in September she did not give Daniel a ride home in September of 2006. She sent an a-mail the next day to the prosecutor and admitted that she did. 2) Cynthia in the matter of the September 14, 2006 false imprisonment charge stated that she was hurt during the incident. The police report states that the victim wasn't injured by the act. Daniel was accused of conduct insulting or offensive. 7 This was holding her hand. Daniel brought her sandwiches from Subway and she ate them with him. 3) She stated that she did not stay in a hotel with Dan in February of 2006. This was the Econo Lodge. 4) She stated that she did not have a second pregnancy. Daniel has a photographic memory and has names for the babies and specific symptoms that Cynthia had during the second pregnancy. Cynthia's sister was fully aware of the second pregnancy. These 4 kids had the names of Derek, Aidan, Hayden, and Dillian. The miscarriage took place in October of 2005. Cynthia told Daniel that she got an injection to keep the baby and she had Braxton hicks with many complications 720.2 Perjury, contradictory statements, and retraction. A person who, while under oath or affirmation in any proceeding or other matter in which statements under oath or affirmation are required or authorized by law, knowingly makes a false statement of material facts or who falsely denies knowledge of material facts, commits a class "D" felony. Where, while under oath or affirmation, in the same proceeding or different proceedings where oath or affirmation is required, a person has made contradictory statements, the indictment will be sufficient if it states that one or the other of the contradictory statements was false, to the knowledge of such person, and it shall be sufficient proof of perjury that one of the statements must be false, and that the person making the statements knew that one of them was false when the person made the statement, provided that both statements have been made within the period prescribed by the applicable statute of limitations. No person shall be guilty of perjury if the person retracts the false statement in the course of the proceedings where it was made before the false statement has substantially affected the proceeding. 5) Judge Hibbs in December of 2007 made Daniel S. Jason go to trial despite a request for continuance. This denied an opportunity for Daniel to be evaluated by a psychiatrist before he went to trial. Daniel was only allowed to be evaluated prior to sentencing. In addition, she sentenced him to 7 years in jail without having an expert in the area of autism in rendering any judgment. 6) The prosecutor, Deborah Minot and Judge Hibbs ignored the fact that all actions by Daniel Jason were motivated by high functioning autism and mental. illness. EXHIBIT IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR JOHNSON COUNTY STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff, NO. FECR078976 vs. DANIEL JASON, MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL Iowa Rule of Crim. P. 2.24(2) Defendant. COMES NOW, the Defendant by and through counsel and moves for new trial in the above referenced matter pursuant to Iowa R. of Crim. P. 2.24(2). In support of this motion the Defendant states as follows: 1. Pursuant to Iowa R. of Crim. P. 2.24(2)(b)(5) the Court erred in in the following decision concerning questions of law during the course of the trial: a. The Court erred in the procedure in ordering Dan O'Brien to act as stand-by counsel and in granting the Defendant's request to represent himself pro se in the following particulars: 1. The Defendant failed to adequately waive his right to counsel. 2. The Court erred in its refusal to consider the Defendant's disabilities in denying his request fora "hybrid" form of representation. This error impacted the Defendant's right to 9 fair trial and due process as implicated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. b. The Court erred in evidentiary rulings that allowed the admission of the following evidence: 1. Allowing improper opinion testimony from the following state witnesses: a. Rena Nerhaus b. Gary Courter c. Abraham Schabilion 2. Allowing a multitude of bad acts testimony 3. Allowing the admission of the victim impact statement from a prior sentencing 3. In failing to grant the Defendant's request for a continuance by order dated December 7, 2007 4. In failing to grant the Defendant's Motion in Limine in its entirety. c. The State exhibited misconduct in the following particulars: 1. According to the Defendant -admitted exhibits that were altered from their original state without consultation with the defense or the Court 2. According to the Defendant engaged in improper plea negotiation by making an offer at the time Cynthia Courter was deposed which depended, in part, on the defense limiting the questions asked of Ms. Courter. 2. Pursuant to Iowa R. of Crim. P. 2.24(b)(6) the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence in the following particulars: a. The evidence was insufficient to support either conviction b. The submitted evidence included acts that were conducted by law enforcement that were deliberate contraventions of the law. c. The evidence included alleged violations of a no-contact order that were imposed in contravention of the law 10 3. Pursuant to Iowa R. of Crim. P. 2.24(b)(8) the Defendant has discovered .important and material evidence including numerous emails that showed a more voluntary flow of communication between the Defendant and Ms. Courter then was presented at trial. WHEREFORE, the Defendant requests that the Court set this matter for hearing and upon hearing grant the Defendant a new trial. Respectfully submitted; Eric D. Tindal #16963 Nidey, Peterson, Erdahl, & Tindal 600 Court Street, P.O. Box 656 Williamsburg, IA 52361 Ph: (319)668-1323 Fax: (319)668-1706 Additional information is available upon request. /s/Joseph M. Jason Joseph M. Jason, MST, CPA Member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) 583 Cobblestone Lane Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60089 (847)537-3009 NAMI, the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness, formerly the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office. The goals of the NAMIWaIks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission. 11 ~T ~~ , -~,,, ~ ~t r ~~~~~ '' a ~~ <=; i~ ~ ~~ _~, N ~, , c 4' ~y, '+~ ,'~ . }Kr~~~~~ ~~1°" ~ ~ s ~, ~$ ~'~ t' y~, 3 6 Cit of Santa Fe, New Mexieo 200 Lincoln Avenue, P.O. Box 909, Santa Fe, N.M. 87504-0909 David Coss,lVlayor Councilors: Rebecca Wurzburger; Mayor Pro Tem, Dist. 2 Patti ]. Bushee, Dist. 1 Chris Calvert, Dist Rosemary Romero, Dist. 2 Miguel M. Chavez, Dist. 3 Carmichael A. Dominguez, Dist. 3 Matthew E. Ortiz, Dist. 4 Ronald S. Trujillo, Dist January 26, 2009 ~. Ya9 Mayor Regenia Bailey - ~' City of Iowa City v !' "` 410 E Washington Street ~ '' nw Iowa City, Iowa 52240 ~ °~ ~~ Dear Mayor Bailey: Congratulations to you and Iowa City on your city's recent appointment to the iTNESCO Creative Cities Network. We are pleased to have you join us and we look forward to working together as the first U.S. two cities to participate in this global partnership. It was a pleasure to have representatives of your city in Santa Fe for the International Conference on Creative Tourism last fall. Santa Fe sees this appointment as an excellent opportunity for international economic development and partnerships. We are very interested in establishing relationships that will assist us to increase our international visitor market and enrich our community through exchanges with the other cities in the network. As a city of the arts, we anticipate many projects and programs will be undertaken in collaboration with cities within and across the disciplines of the network. We look forward to determining specific activities that Iowa City and Santa Fe can use to make the most of this designation. Both our Convention & Visitors Bureau and our Arts Commission will be happy to work with your staff. Sincerely, ~ ~ CX ~~~~ David Coss Mayor r: ,e 3 7 Marian Karr From: Matt Johnson Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:39 AM To: 'ndizzle32@gmail.com' Cc: "City Council; Sam Hargadine Subject: RE: Parking Complaint Nathan Stalheim, In responding to your email (captured below) I have found the following: At 7:47 PM, the Iowa City Police Department received a request from the person who lawfully possesses the parking spot for the address 1054 Newton Rd. to remove a vehicle which was parked in their parking spot. At 8:24PM, our Community Service Officer (CSO) arrived at that location and impounded a vehicle, a tan 1998 Mercury Mystique which is registered to you. I find no other entries in our impound system which relate to a vehicle impound occurring at 41 Village Avenue, the address your email identifies as your location when this impound occurs. If in fact a second impound occurred, I will need your assistance in providing me with additional information so I can research that for you. Regarding the impound which DID occur, on those occasions when we receive a call of this nature, we serve as an agent for the lawful owner, possessor (or agent) of property who has requested that we cause the removal of a vehicle from that property which has been placed on the property without their consent. In cases such as the one at hand, the person summoning our assistance pays for the enjoyment and utilization of a parking space and, when confronted with a vehicle in their space, has to remove it prior to them utilizing it in the manner in which they are entitled. There is no requirement that the lawful possessor of that property wait a certain amount of time before summoning Department assistance to remove the illegally parked vehicle. Using the 2009 DEX phone directory (the same directory our Community Service Officers would utilize to try to retrieve a local phone number for a vehicle's registered owner), I find no listing for your name. Given the absence of such information (owner phone contact numbers) on a vehicle registration, I see no means by which our CSO would be able to contact you, as your email suggests. Based on the Police Department's response to this request for vehicle removal, it appears as if reasonable and consistent measures were implemented to resolve this issue. It is regrettable that those measures caused any undue hardship for you but I am unable to identify any alternatives which existed to resolve this issue in any other manner. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can further assist you in researching this matter. Captain Matt Johnson Operations Commander Iowa City Police Department 319-356-5440 From: Nathan Stalheim [mailto ] Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 12:32 AM To: Council Subject: Parking Complaint Dear Council members; I know you probably have gotten more than a few complaints about parking within Iowa City but I'm 2/17/2009 Page 2 of 2 afraid I am going to have to voice another one. Just about an hour ago I had been at a friend's house warming party at 41 Village Ave. and upon leaving I discovered that my car had been towed. I had only been at my friend's new apartment for 3 hours! Now I know that I parked in a private parking lot and I can appreciate that the person that paid for that spot would be angry to come home and find it being used by someone else, but towing a person's car after such a short period of time seems like a bit of an over reaction. Why not just drag me out of my friend's apartment and beat me up, it is on the same level as tagging me with all of the consequences of having my car towed. I can see how if I was a repeat offender my car should be towed; or if I was there for more than a few hours. But for a first time offender? Seriously, the police have to be called to have a car towed; at least I think that is the way it works. They have all of my information in their computer,it is not like the police couldn't give me a call when the complaint is filled and give me 5 minutes to move my car, they could even give me a ticket. But to just come back and find my car gone, that is cold. The problem I am faced with now is that because I was visiting my friend from 7pm to l Opm the towing place was closed by the time I found out my car had been towed, so there is no way that I can get my car until tomorrow morning. So now I am out not only the money that have to pay for the ticket and the towing but I will also be very late for work; and since I am paid by the hour I will also be out the money that I would have made if I had been working, not to mention the anger and disappointment. Iwill face from the people that I am working for because I will be behind on my work. Certainly, I made a mistake and I am sorry for that; but I don't think the punishment fits the crime here. I'm sure there is nothing that can be done to save me from this situation now; but for the sake of others like me that find themselves in this predicament, I would appreciate it very much if you and your colleagues would give this issue some consideration. All I ask is that the consequences for parking violations be considered. Not all offenders are the same, so should there just be one policy that covers everyone? Should someone that parks in the wrong spot once be given the same punishment as someone that has done so repeatedly and flagrantly? Sincerely, Nathan Stalheim 1967 South Ridge dr. Coralville, IA 52241 "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." (Psalm 9:10) 2/17/2009 u~-za-ua 3 8 Marian Karr From: Sheila Knoploh [sknodole@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 11:21 AM To: Council Subject: FW: closing of Roosevelt elementary Good morning Mayor Bailey, Councilwoman Champion, Fellow Members of Council, I hope this email finds you well. I'm a parent with children at Horace Mann in Iowa City, but I'm writing to you about the closing of Roosevelt because I'm concerned that the district is prematurely headed to shutting down this neighborhood school and that Mann and Longfellow (which are not receiving any funds in the 5-year strategic facilities improvement plan) are on track to being sacrificed next. I'm posting a link to an article entitiled "Why Johnny can't walk to school: Historic neighborhood schools in the age of sprawl." http:ILwww,preservationnation.orgjissues/historic- schoalsjaddibanal-resau_rcesJschoals_why~ohnny_l.pdf I would like to see the City adopt policies in support of preserving community-centered schools, which the article points out are often the anchors in a neighborhood and without which the neighborhood is condemned to economic and social decline. I have listed the policy recommendations from the article below and have highlighted what I feel to be some of the key points: 1. Put historic neighborhood schools on a level playing field with new schools. Eliminate funding biases that favor new construction over school renovation and good stewardship 2. Eliminate arbitrary acreage standards that undermine the ability of established communities to retain and upgrade (or replace on the same site, when necessary) historic and older schools that could continue to serve as centers of community (the state of Maryland has no acreage requirments and is a leader in smart-growth development policies and saving historic schools) 3. Avoid "mega-school sprawl" -massive schools inremote locations that stimulate sprawl development and are accessible only by car or bus 4. Develop procedures for accepting land donated by developers for new schools. Land in "sprawl locations" that are inappropriate for schools should be rejected. 5. Encourage school districts to cooperate with other institutions - e.g. government agencies, nonprofits, churches, and private businesses - to share playgrounds, ball fields, and parking as well as to provide transit services, when appropriate. 6. Establish guidelines, training programs, and funding mechanisms to ensure adequate school building maintenance. Create disincentives for school districts to defer needed maintenance and allow buildings to fall into disrepair. 7. Require feasibility studies comparing the costs of new schools with those of renovating existing schools before new schools are bilt and existing ones abandoned. Hire only architects with experience in rehabilitation work to conduct such studies. These studies should also consider the impact of a school's closing on existing neighborhoods, long- term transportation costs, and municipal service burdens. Finally, these studies must be presented to the public for comment before projects move forward. If they are presented only to the superintendent and school facilities committee, their use is limited. 8. Reexamine exemptions given to local school districts from local planning ,zoning, and growth management laws 9. Work to ensure that a minium of 50% of the students can walk or bike to school in cities, towns, and suburbs. Promote safe-routes-to-school legislation in the states. 2/13/2009 Page 2 of 2 10. When a historic school cannot be preserved and reused, school districts and/or local govenments should implement plans for the bilding's adaptive use or replacement so that it does not become a source of blight in the neighborhood. 11. Promote "smart codes" legislation to encourage the rehabilitation and modernization of historic schools as well as other still serviceable buildings 12. Provide education and training in school renovation techniques and options for school facility planners, contractors, private consultants, architects, school board members, municipal officials and others. A report on the Roosevelt school has determined that it would cost $5.1 million to rennovate compared to (I think the figure was) $11.5 million to build a new school at the edge of town. In this economy, I don't see how that is being fiscally responsible nor good stewards of our local cultural heritage. I realize some of these recommmendations need to be done at the state level and have written a similar email to Mary Masher and Joe Bolkom as well. I hope you will have some time to read the article in full and begin to adopt policies that will support our community-centered schools and neighborhoods. As one person was quoted in the article: "If an older building can be equated with a poor education, why would anyone want to send a child to an Ivy League school?" Thank you for considering this important matter, Sincerely, Sheila Knoploh-Odole 921 E. Jefferson Iowa City, IA 319-358-7614 2/13/2009 Page 1 of 2 3~ `~J Marian Karr From: mary knudson [mknudson@coe.edu] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 2:31 PM To: Council Subject: Roosevelt School This correspondence will become a public record. Dear Members of the City Council, I have been a resident of the Miller Orchard Neighborhood for 9 years and a parent at Roosevelt Eaementary, our neighborhood school, also for 9 years. Our neighborhood has a racially diverse population consisting of families, students, single working adults and retired people. One of the alder neighborhoods in Iowa City, Miller- Orchard is a low/moderate income area as determined by the federal government. In recent years, the neighborhood has been struggling. Much of our single family housing has turned into rental housin±~. Poor maintenance and management of some of this pausing cause further nuisances, and a transient population makes it difficult to encourage stability and neighborhood investment. The school offers stability to our neighborhood. It is our identity. When the Roosevelt PTO campaigned to raise money for our new playgrounds, neighbors happily contributed. It is a space of green for us, a scarce resource in this part of town. Early in the morning I see a man practicing Tai Chi; during the day I watch kids play an the new equipment that the neighborhood helped pay for; after school I see all ages play soccer, football, and cricket, and frequently I have watched parents teach their kids to ride a bicycle. Without a school in our neighborhood, many of our most vulnerable families will not be able to enjoy playgrounds or even evening school events as they have no car. It has been argued that closing down Roosevelt will help students. It is difficult to see haw. Students now living around Roosevelt will likely be placed at Horn School. I can't imagine the winter walk for our kids, ~>articularly in a neighborhood that lacks sidewalks. Families in our neighborhood will also lose access to a Family Resource Center. The Family Resource Genter strives to be a bridge between students, families, the schoal and the community with the mission oi` promoting increased student achievement by removing barriers to student learning. It provides information ak>out community resources for financial assistance, childcare, food, clothing, housing, energy assistance, medical insurance, and other basic needs. Roosevelt families in the Miller Orchard neighborhood that currently receive this care will na longer receive it under the new plan. I also want to stress that having a neighborhood schoal enhances educations. Families feel mare part of the educational process, and, therefore, are mare vested in it. For the families in my neighborhood, who many work two jobs, forging this attachment is difficult, but is accomplished primarily because of the proximity of the school to their home. Horn School, though just dawn the road, will not be considered in close proximity to these families. Their children's education will suffer as a result. The Miller-Orchard neighborhood has been marginalized in the plan to eliminate Roosevelt. Despite being the neighborhood representative for the Miller Orchard Neighborhood for four years, I learned about the proposed closing of Roosevelt in the January 2$, 2009, P~~ess Citizen. While we appreciate that the school district is soliciting feedback now, the ideal time would have been prior to the construction of a five year District plan that is currently being rushed through the school board. I urge parents and residents to show up at the February 24 schoal board meeting and ask the schoal board to slow down this process. They have invested over 12 months of work an this project; we have had only a couple of weeks to digest it and react to it. Thank you. Regards, Mary Knudson Page 1 of 1 3 ~ ~ ~_) Marian Karr From: Rachel Zimmermann Smith [zmmermann@ptmlaw.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:50 AM To: Council Subject: Iowa City School District Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan Dear Council Members, As the parent of a student in the Iowa City School District, and a proud Iowa City native and citizen I am writing to encourage you to firmly and publicly request that the Iowa City School Board include the City Council in its SFIP planning process The school board and administration, have done a very poor job of including the public or other stake holders in the planning process. While you on the city council use our tax dollars working on new ways to preserve Iowa City's neighborhoods and revitalize those neighborhoods that need it, the school district wants to use our tax dollars (SILO money in this case) on a plan that does just the opposite. As a tax payer I want to see you working together! This plan has major implications for what the Iowa Clty Community will look like in the decades to come. There are difficult issues to discuss, and the school board and administration seem afraid to discuss them in a public setting. I hope that you are more courageous. The community needs to be involved in the planning, and the public forums proposed by the school board do not provide a meaningful opportunity for this. I urge the council to ask that the school board delay the acceptance of the plan for Roosevelt and Horn into the SFIP, and ask that the timeline that they proposed for approval (March 24th is the date it is scheduled for a vote) be set aside so that the City Council and the voters have a real voice in this process. Sincerely, Rachel Zimmermann Smith, Attorney Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker, Gelman, L.L.P. 321 East Market Street, P.O. Box 2150, Iowa City, IA 52244-2150 Phone: (319) 354-1104 --- Fax: (319) 354-6962 E-mail: zimmermann~a ptmlaw.com Notice: This e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you. 2/20/2009 Page 1 of 1 ~~~ ~ ~ Marian Karr From: Dannye Frerichs [dannyefrerichs@yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:32 AM To: Council Subject: closing Roosevelt To the city council: I am a Horn parent with three children in school. I am very much opposed to the closing of Roosevelt, and I worry that adding so many children to Horn overcrowds it and raises the possibility oI~ closing Horn in the future. Thank you for your interest in this issue. I think that one of the main draws to Iowa City is our neighborhood-friendly school system, and I would hate for us to lose that advantage. However, something certainly must be done about Roosevelt's condition. I would recommend that the city look into renovating Roosevelt to be a greener school and thus possibly securing funds from other sources which support this kind of work. There are no laws prohibiting Roosevelt to be renovated or expanded on its current parcel of land, so I fail to see why this option is being dismissed. Certainly some other neighborhood-school-friendly cities do not follow this policy (for example, Baltimore). If successful, this kind of maintenance/renovation can be done on other Iowa City neighborhood schools in need of work. Yours sincerely, Dannye Frerichs, M.A. 2/20/2009 3~ ~~ ~ Marian Karr From: Greg Nims [greg@apba.net] Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 10:53 PM To: Council Subject: school plan Hello, I am a parent of a kindergarterner at Horn Elementary. Like many parents, we are concerned about the new 5 year plan being presented by the school board. Worst of all, it seems like things are getting rushed and trying to get passed before the public can weigh in on the subject. It would be nice if the City Council could somehow get tl~e school board to at least follow the initial June 2009 timeline for the decision. Thank you, Greg Nims 2241 Abbey Ln Marian Karr Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 7:43 PM To: Council; Council Subject: Roosevelt Elementary, Heart of Miller-Orchard Neighborhood Page 1 of 1 Dear Councilpersons, Asa 17 year resident of the Miller-Orchard neighborhood of Iowa City, I am greatly concerned about the possible closing of our elementary school, Roosevelt. I think this would be a tragic mistake for our neighborhood, as would the closings of any other Iowa City schools for the purpose of CONSOLIDATION, I.E., r eplacing smaller neighborhood schools with larger ones to be built farther away from the people being served. Our school is one of the few unifying features of our neighborhood, and I am sure it would adversely affect the quality of our lives if the school is closed. BIGGER is very often NOT BETTER. We want to keep our kids able to walk to school, to enjoy the assistance of our crossing guards, and the rest of us want to continue to hear the kids outside playing at recess. Just when our neigborhood is starting to make improvements in many areas, this is NOT the time to yank the heart out of our small community. Roosevelt should be repaired and upgraded in its existing site. This is not only doable, but precisely the kind of thing that needs to be happening in our current political 'NEW DEAL' with the beginning of the Obama administration. I urge you to do whatever you can to influence the school board from taking this kind of action with our school, or any of the other small neigbborhood schools. Thank you Lindsay Alan Park 2/20/2009 Page 1 of 1 ~' 1 ~.i ~ .) Marian Karr From: PJ Swygard [ps_1915@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:37 AM To: Council Subject: Considerations for work session scheduled for February 23, 2009 Dear Members of the Iowa City City Council, I am a resident of the Miller-Orchard neighborhood and the parent of a West High School student who attended Roosevelt Elementary. I am writing to urge you to consider the impact that the current trend of the ICCSD building large elementary schools on the perimeters of the school district and the city has on the City of Iowa City. In particular, I am very concerned about the effect that moving Roosevelt will have on the Miller-Orchard neighborhood, a neighborhood already experiencing increased instability, downward trends in property maintenance, and verging on being an area in crisis. Please review City policies, particularly Housing Authority public housing policies, to determine how they have factored into to the low socio-economic and minority concentration in the housing of the Miller-Orchard neighborhood, a neighborhood contributing to the Roosevelt School citation by the Iowa Board of Education as a school having a "racially and socio-economically isolated enrollment pattern." What Iowa City Housing policies, particularly clustering of City of Iowa City-owned homes and Section 8 housing voucher participants in the Miller-Orchard neighborhood, can be addressed to help stabilize the area? Additionally, how many more new housing developments can Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty sustain, particularly in this current economic crisis? What effect are these suburban developments having on property values and stabilization of the older areas of Iowa City located more central to its core? The Crossings hasn't even taken off yet as a housing development, and yet the area is rewarded with a new school at the expense of established neighborhoods? What capital improvement projects has the City failed to fund along Riverside Drive, Benton Street, The Iowa River Corridor, Hwy. 1, which would maintain the area, foster better single-family housing homes and entice stable families, attract businesses, and increase the stabilization of that section of the Southwest District? Failure to pay attention to this area has added impetus to the abandonment of Roosevelt School. I realize that the City of Iowa City and the Iowa City Community School District are two separate entities who try not to get involved in one another's jurisdiction. However, for better or worse, you are ultimately entwined. Progress isn't always building more and bigger -additional housing developments, new schools. Progress includes retaining and reinvesting in the core; enhancing, upgrading, maintaining and valuing all areas of a community. Thank you for your time, Paula Swygard 2/19/2009 Page 1 of 1 ~~~~~ Marian Karr From: LESLIE HUBER [monaleslie1@msn.com] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 10:03 PM To: Council Subject: ICCSD SFIP Dear Council Members, I am the parent of two children who attend Horn school I am concerned about the acceptance on the proposed ICCSD's SFIP and its impact on both the Horn and Roosevelt communities. The current plan is that the school board will vote on February 24, 2009 to accept the SFIP. However, I feel a vote is premature as the plan has not been justified to the constituents, nor have any public forums occurred. I myself am a supporter of small neighborhood schools. Please inform yourselves about this issue, as it is critical that the school board and the city collaborate when such high impact decisions are made in our community. Thank you for your consideration, Leslie Huber 1926 Flanigan Ct. Iowa City, Iowa 52246 2/23/2009 3 ~ ~g~ Marian Karr From: Pascoe, Judith M [Judith-pascoe@uiowa.edu] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 7:11 PM To: Council Subject: Roosevelt closure Dear Council Members, The letter below is being sent to the Press-Citizen and to the School Board. Marcia Klingaman-Bollinger can confirm that neighborhood association representatives from all the neighborhoods indicated below have signed on. Thanks very much for your attention to this matter. Yours sincerely, Judith Pascoe Northside Neighborhood Association We are writing to express our opposition to the School Board's plan to close Roosevelt Elementary School, a plan which will have a strong negative impact on the Miller-Orchard Neighborhood and its immediate surroundings. We are also concerned that the ;School Board's failure to keep Roosevelt in good physical condition is being repeated at other old neighborhood schools which are not included in the Board's 5-year spending plan. While acknowledging that the Board has to build new schools to accommodate student population growth, we object to its current plan to build a school where no neighborhood currently exists and to which none of the children who currently attend Roosevelt would be able to walk. College Green Neighborhood Association Creekside Neighborhood Association Galway Hills Neighborhood Association Goosetown Neighborhood Association Grant Wood Neighborhood Association Longfellow Neighborhood Association Manville Heights Neighborhood Association Melrose Neighborhood Association Miller-Orchard Neighborhood Association Morningside/Glendale Neighborhood Association Northside Neighborhood Association Oak Grove Neighborhood Association Peninsula Area Neighborhood Association Ty'n Cae Neighborhood Association Wetherby Neighborhood Association Page 1 of 1 3~ ~ Marian Karr From: TIMTAFCO@aol.com Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 10:05 PM To: Council Subject: Att: Mike Wright, Re:Public School Funding This correspondence will become a public record. Att: Mike Wright Re:Public School Funding Dear Mike: I would like you to know that while I have no children in the Iowa City Schools, I am very concerned about the inadequate and inappropriate funding distribution. As usual, Mr. Wright, I totally support your position. I fail to understand how Iowa citizens continuously expect to lead the nation in quality of education, while at the same time voting for failure. Thank You, Tim Taffe 726 Iowa Avenue Iowa City, 52240 You can't always choose whom you love, but you can choose how to find them. Start with. AC7L_Personals. 2/23/2009 3.~ ~g Marian Karr From: Karen Nichols [nichols.karen@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 12:28 AM To: Council Subject: ICCSD's Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan This correspondence will become a public record. Dear council members: I urge you to draft a letter to the school district communicating concerns about the district's Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan (SFIP) In addition to the issue of closing Roosevelt, the lack of facilities funding for Longfellow and Mann sends worrisome signals about the future of these schools and neighborhoods. Moreover, citizens in these neighborhoods have a right to know why none of their SILO tax dollars will be spent on their neighborhood schools. Please ask the school board and district to postpone the scheduled vote on SF'IP, to solicit more community input, and to set priorities that value small neighborhood schools. Thank you, Karen Nichols 1737 F Street Iowa City, IA 52240 319.321.8728 nichols.karenCgmail.com 1 Page 1 of 1 ~ ~ ~~ 1 Marian Karr From: Julia Wasson [wasson.julia@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 9:09 PM To: Council Subject: Concerning the ICCSD facilities This correspondence will become a public record. Dear Council Members, I understand that you are considering issuing a statement of concern to the ICCSD regarding their vote this week on the fate of Roosevelt, Longfellow, and Mann schools. I support your issuing such a statement. Closing these schools and moving students to the edges of the city will irrevocably damage the character of the neighborhoods they serve. It will add to our children's day with long bus rides. It will add tons and tons of carbon to our city's footprint as we transport children to far-away schools. And, it will surely lower property values in the neighborhoods where schools are closed. Thank you for taking a stand on this important civic issue. Sincerely, Julia Wasson 312 Ronalds Street Iowa City 2/23/2009 Page 1 of 1 3~~&~ Marian Karr From: Renae McKay [Renae@keystoneit.com] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 12:45 PM To: Council Subject: ICCSD's proposed SFIP I am writing to let you know that I am concerned about the ICCSD's proposed SFIP and it's affect on the older Iowa City neighborhoods. As a resident of the Longfellow school district, I fear that the loss of neighborhood schools would result in the deterioration of the immediate neighborhood, the area near downtown, and the city as a whole. It makes no sense to me that the school district's plan for growth is in direct opposition to the city's plan. If this is the case, neither plan will have true success. I support the effort of the city council to coordinate with the school district as they make plans for growth in regard to their SFIP. Regards, Renae McKay 909 Walnut St Iowa City, 52240 2/23/2009 Page 1 of 1 3~ C~' ~ Marian Karr From: Niki Neems [niki@rsvp-asap.com] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 11:34 AM To: Council Subject: Older Iowa City Schools and Vibrant Neighborhoods We are writing to commend Regenia Bailey and Mike Wright for their recent public statements in support of taking another look at Iowa City's strategic priorities as they relate to older core neighborhoods and the schools that they support, specifically Mann, Longfellow and Roosevelt. Saying old schools are bad schools without a thorough examination of the issue seems short sighted. The impact of closing schools in vibrant older neighborhoods is not simply an educational concern, it is a community concern. Therefore, it seems logical to us for the Iowa City Council and ICCSD Board to work together on this issue. On a different note, we would like to point out that few if any of the ICCSD board members live in older Iowa City neighborhoods or the central part of the city, while many of the City Council members do. Thus, council members bring political expertise as well as a personal perspective that would be missing without a school board/city council collaboration. Iowa City needs vibrant schools to maintain vibrant neighborhoods. Please consider voicing your support of an open, informed, and deliberate decision making process as it relates to eventual school closures at Mann, Longfellow and Roosevelt. Thank you, Niki and Ron Neems 1801 Morningside Drive Iowa City, Iowa 52245 2/23/2009 .~ ~;~4?1 ._./ ~ Marian Karr From: meredith.sewell@act.org Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 10:01 AM To: Council Subject: Fw: Vote NO to proposed plan Council Members: I was heartened to read in this mornings paper that the council may weigh in on the School Boards proposal to close Roosevelt and end funding to additional older structures in the city's urban neighborhoods. I encourage you to make a strong statement on keeping these schools open and well maintained. This is a HUGE issue. This single act will surely lead to in the demise of these neighborhoods and effect the character of this city. Message below was sent to the school board earlier this week. I am shocked that the board in this progressive community would make such a short sided decision. I encourage you to speak loudly. Regards, Meredith Sewell 2010 Ridgeway Dr. Iowa City ----- Forwarded by Meredith Sewell/ACTInc on 02/20/09 09:22 AM ----- Meredith Sewell/ACTInc To 02/19/09 09:04 AM Toni.Cilek@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Mike.Cooper@iccsd.kl2.ia.us Patti.Fields@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Gayle.Klouda@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Tim.Krumm@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Jan.Leff@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Shaw.Michael@iccsd.kl2.ia.us, Plugge.Lane@iccsd.kl2.ia.us cc weloveourneighborhoodschools@list.s pinneweb.com, northside@mchsi.com Subject Vote NO to proposed plan All, I was appalled to learn of the School Boards plans to close Roosevelt school due to it's poor physical condition. Neglect will do that. Now Horace Mann and Longfellow are being left out of a five year funding plan. Please do not make the closing of these schools inevitable. Their loss will take the life out of these neighborhoods. You may not consider neighborhood preservation your mission but schools and neighborhoods go hand in hand. Your decision to ignore these schools is a huge mistake and one that will be more costly in the long run, note, Roosevelt. Tax payers money will be better spent maintaining these existing structures. Roosevelt improvement costs are less than half the cost of a new facility, millions less. When a new school becomes essential due to increased enrollment, 1 put forward a bond issue, build it then. SILO funding was not approved to close these schools. Every neighborhood needs a school, and every school it's neighborhood. Shame on you for ignoring these great schools. Meredith Sewell currently 2010 Ridgeway Dr. Iowa City (where my kids can walk to City High) formally 420 Fairchild St. Iowa City (where they walked to Horace Mann) Life is good: when living is simple. when there is a neighborhood school. when children can walk to their school. when children can walk to after school activities. when there is a school playground for neighborhood children to play. when there is a neighborhood school for neighbors to meet. when a there's the sound of a school bell and children come running. 2 Page 1 of 2 4y ~~ s-a ~~ ~,~ Marian Karr From: Mark Cannon [Cannon.Mark@iccsd.k12.ia.us] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 10:38 AM To: Council Subject: Miller-Orchard Neighborhood This correspondence will become a public record. Dear City Council Members, I live in the Miller-Orchard neighborhood and am very active in our neighborhood discussions as to how to improve our neighborhood. We just completed our 4th neighborhood meeting to discuss many issues that we are hopeful will results in a neighborhood that will thrive and grow. I believe I speak for our neighborhood when I say that our neighborhood is a very vulnerable one with a very weak voice. We have a very high number of rental properties owned by absentee landlords. We also have a very high level of economically disadvantaged neighbors. In our neighborhood discussions I also think it would be accurate to say that we feel our neighborhood is one of the less attractive neighborhoods in Iowa City. I believe this view would be shared by many of the City of Iowa City personnel involved in various neighborhood issues. I work for the Iowa City Community School District so as I offer my thoughts, although I have opinions about the closing of Roosevelt school, I am trying to separate my role as neighborhood coordinator from my role with the school district. I feel very strongly that the loss of Roosevelt school would be a loss of the one facility that gives us some sense of `neighborhood' and this would inevitably expedite our overall decline. Our neighborhood has already experienced the pressure to move further along the path of a highly student populated, absentee landlord, dense apartment building neighborhood. Our business district on South Riverside is among the most aesthetically displeasing districts in Iowa City. I would argue that as that progression occurs, the financial burden placed on the city to monitor the neighborhood will be a significant consideration. In spite of the fact that we have a beautiful riverfront in our neighborhood that many planners have recognized could be an asset to our neighborhood and the larger Iowa City, we continue to look at businesses and buildings in that area that detract from any sense of cohesiveness or aesthetics that relate to the riverfront. The Miller-Orchard neighborhood organization, as I said previously, has been actively meeting to discuss: • The aesthetics of our neighborhood • Our relationship with our business district and ways to improve the aesthetics and cohesiveness of that district Transportation patterns in our neighborhood (how they impact the safety and sense of 2/20/2009 Page 2 of 2 neighborhood). We have had very exciting discussions that I feel will move our neighborhood in a very positive direction. As you consider the City's role in the discussion of Roosevelt school, my hopes are that you will advocate strongly for the needs of one of the more vulnerable neighborhoods in Iowa City. (fur voice is very weak since we have so many students and poor people in our neighborhood who either don't have the interest or strength and time to devote to this issue. I moved to Iowa City because I wanted to be part of what I felt was a progressive, innovative, `out-of--the-box' group of thinkers. I hope you will approach the Roosevelt issue with this spirit. I am committed to the growth of our neighborhood and will continue to work diligently to move our neighborhood in a positive direction. I would also ask that as you consider city expenditures, that you prioritize our neighborhood highly. As I have said we are a neighborhood in great danger of deteriorating further without your support. Thank you for considering my thoughts. Mark Cannon 706 Miller Avenue, Iowa City, IA 2/20/2009 Letter on the proposed Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan under consideration by the I... Page 1 of 1 4 Marian Karr From: Christine Blaumueller [Christine-Blaumueller@uiowa.edu] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 9:15 AM To: Council Subject: Letter on the proposed Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan under consideration by the Iowa City School Board Attachments: Our neighborhoods are special.pdf Dear Members of the City Council I wanted to share with you a letter I wrote to the School Board yesterday regarding the Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan that it was recently presented by the District Administration. Thank you in advance for your consideration of my concerns. Chris Blaumueller Horace Mann Parent C'I ; . :arvruellc°. .,f,; ,ya ct .,.,_ . _~.. X22 Ahorte: +i 323 3:~` ,- •:32 .- '. 1Y ~ 1 1, li ~Q.. 7. ... -. (1 O t l i t' C~ '.. i ,r >~it etc '~° t' tp ~ .r r, CE ~ i i*. tl ~k ~u. 2/20/2009 Christine Blaumueller, Ph.D. 304 Reno St. Iowa City, IA 52245 Phone: 339-9331 christnr;-blau..m.....u...elierC?~}uowa:e~.u.. February 19, 2009 Iowa City School Board Central Administration Office 509 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA 2240 Dear Members of the School Board In reading the guest editorial "Small schools worth preserving" in yesterday's Press Citizen, I was struck by how closely the author's concerns about the recent proposals to the School Board for the use of the district's SILO funds mirror my own. My husband and I recently moved back to the US, with our small children, after having lived abroad for a number of years. One the greatest challenges in returning (to be nearer to our families) was finding a community that would support the lifestyle we had become accustomed to: living in a close-knit neighborhood, with several playgrounds and grocery stores, numerous restaurants, and an elementary school all within close walking distance of our home. For that matter, we were able to walk to the hospital when it was time for our children to be delivered. We were very relieved-indeed felt extremely lucky-to find that the Iowa City neighborhoods still have a similar feel, when so much of the rest of the country seems to be focused independence and personal space at the expense of a more interactive community. This was a place where we could, in fact, continue to live the lifestyle we enjoy so much, and hopefully also give our children the opportunity to experience this kind of connection with their neighborhood. This was enough to convince us to focus our job searches here. Until now, we have been very happy with this decision. In fact, the last six months-during which our daughter has been at the Horace Mann Kindergarten-have been particularly special for us. Not only have we have been impressed with the curriculum and the facilities that this school provides (in spite of its small size) for children at even this early stage of their education, but we have also thoroughly enjoyed the new level of immersion in our community, through which we have significantly expanded our circle of friends in the neighborhood. Having experienced this feeling of connection with my own community through the school, I can't help but appreciate the sense of loss and disconnection that the Roosevelt community will experience if that elementary school disappears from its midst. And if I feel this way as a parent, how will the uprooted young children feel? I would like to emphasize that I do not wish to force my values on those who choose a more suburban lifestyle. I hope, however, that the prosperity of the more expansive communities does not come at the expense of the city neighborhoods. Should Roosevelt disappear from the Iowa City landscape only to re-emerge on its fringe, this will certainly be the case. The community surrounding the current Roosevelt-and those throughout the rest of the city-will not have prosperous future in this scenario, for all the reasons mentioned in the cited guest editorial. And once these special places are gone, it won't be possible to bring them back. In closing, I would like to say that I do understand that the issues that have to be considered in deciding on the best use of the SILO funds are complex, and that a solution that resolves all of them will be expensive. I also appreciate this will be difficult in the current financial climate. However, I am convinced that what is currently outlined as the most fiscally sound solution is not what will be in the best interests of the children and families the schools are meant to serve. Let's find another way. Our communities-and more importantly our children-should be worth the investment. Yours sincerely Christine Blaumueller, Ph.D. g, ~"~> v Marian Karr From: Elizabeth Cook [bethcook@iowadsl.net] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 4:29 PM To: Council Subject: research findings Attachments: how much is a neighborhood school worth.pdf; ATT13228095.txt ~; how much is a ATf13228095.txt neighborhood sch... (Z91 B) To members of the City Council: This article was published some time ago in the Journal of Urban Economics, :but speaks to the impact of school closures/redistricting on housing values. Controlling for many other variables, the disruption of neighborhood schools resulted in a nearly 10% decrease in property values in that neighborhood. 1 Journal of Urban Economics 47, 280-305 (2000) doi:10.1006/juec.1999.2142, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on ~ 0 E ~ ~© How Much Is a Neighborhood School Worth?1 William T. Bogart Department of Economics and Center for Regional Economic Issues, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7206 E-mail: wtb@po.cwru.edu and Brian A. Cromwell PricewaterhouseCoopers, 150 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 1200, San Jose, California 95113-2009 Received October 12, 1998; revised June 2, 1999 This paper presents evidence of the effect on house values of a school redistrict- ing in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1987. As a result of redistricting, neighborhood schools are disrupted, bus transportation is introduced, and school racial composi- tion changes. The data include all arms-length sales of houses in Shaker Heights between 1983 and 1994. We find, using adifference-in-difference estimator, that disruption of neighborhood schools reduces house values by 9.9%, or $5738 at the mean house value. This result is robust to a variety of alternative specifications, including repeat-sales analysis and within-neighborhood analysis. ©200o Academic Press "A community is known by the schools it keeps." Motto, Shaker Heights City School District 1. INTRODUCTION How much is your local public school worth? It is well known that the quality of the local public school system is a crucial determinant of the demand for housing in a neighborhood. Any change in the perceived quality of the local public school system is likely to have an important impact on housing demand and therefore housing prices in an area. The relation between school quality and house prices is especially salient when school district realignments are considered. One of the most ~ Thanks to Tom Cunniff, Karen Deangelis, Janine Dukes, Alan Ku, and Betsy Leis for expert research assistance. We thank Thomas Bier of Cleveland State University for the house price and characteristics data. We also thank Beverly Mason and Reginald Blue from the Shaker Heights City School District for their help in obtaining and interpreting school district data. Participants at several conferences and seminars provided helpful comments and suggestions, as did Jan Brueckner and an anonymous referee. 280 0094-1190/00 $35.00 T Copyright ©2000 by Academic Press /,Qu~J All rights of reproductio^ in any form reserved. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 281 important causes for realignment has been the ongoing attempt to racially integrate the public schools, with the well-known result of widespread busing of black and white students. Such policies have always been controversial, and there is ongoing activity in several cities aimed at continuing or undoing court-ordered or voluntary desegregation programs. Another cause for realignment is a change in demographics, as the number of school children and their geographical distribution within a city vary over time. This paper investigates the impact on house prices of a school district realignment (including some school closures) that led to busing of some school children in a suburb characterized by neighborhood schools before the realignment. One effect of redistricting may be that, by making it harder for parents to get involved, it harms the quality of schools. It also makes it more difficult for students to participate in after-school activities relative to the case where they can walk to and from the school. We refer to this as the "neighborhood schools effect" of redistricting. Because the neighborhood schools effect reduces the quality of the schools, it leads us to expect to find a negative relation between sales prices of houses and school redistricting. A second effect of redistricting is to change the racial composition of the public schools. We refer to this as the "racial composition effect" of realignment. If people are racially prejudiced, they may be willing to pay less for a house in a racially integrated school district than in a segregated district. If people prefer integration, then they may be willing to pay more to live in an integrated district. Because both the racial composition and neighborhood schools effects are predicted to reduce the value of housing (in the case of segregationist preferences), it is important to distinguish between them when trying to understand the underlying reasons for a change in house values resulting from a school district realignment. The third effect of redistricting in our sample is that bus service is introduced in areas that previously did not receive it. We call this the "transportation services effect" of busing. If the student now receives transportation while attending the same neighborhood school with the same racial composition, then presumably this service would lead to a higher value being placed on the house. (As far as we know, we are the first to estimate this effect.) However, if the school or racial composition is also changing, this effect might be difficult to identify. Our data include houses that underwent some combination of all three outcomes, and therefore allow us to identify all three effects of redistricting. Z In other words, there are houses that remained in the same school district while the racial composition changed and bus service was not provided, houses that remained in the same school district while the racial composition changed and bus service was provided, and so on. 2$2 BOGART AND CROMWELL Researchers investigating the impact of school district realignment have found evidence that busing of students results in lower house values. Clotfelter [8] surveys the early work. Jud and Watts [17] argue that earlier estimates of the effect of racial composition are overstated because they did not adequately account for varying school district quality. Black [1] makes a similar point. Gill [12] analyzes year to year variation in the price differentials between suburban houses and city houses in an attempt to measure the timing of house price response to acourt-ordered desegrega- tion in the city. Colwell and Guntermann [9] measure the relation between house value and proximity to a school and use it to calculate the financial impact of closing a neighborhood school. Previous research has typically focused on a large urban school district. For example, Clotfelter [7] examined Atlanta, Jud and Watts [17] studied Charlotte-Mecklenberg County, North Carolina, Gill [12] analyzed Columbus, Ohio, and Colwell and Guntermann [9] considered Lubbock, Texas. We investigate the effects of a school district realignment in a relatively wealthy and racially integrated suburb of Cleveland-Shaker Heights, Ohio-using a dataset consisting of house sales between 1983 and 1994. Our approach has several advantages over previous research. First, we examine reform in a school district widely acknowledged to be of high quality. This makes our work more applicable outside the important, but restricted, area of distressed urban school districts. Second, we are able to distinguish among the neighborhood schools, racial composition, and transportation services effect of redistricting. This enables us to be more precise about the determinants of the overall reaction of the housing market to a public school district realignment. Third, our data span several years before and after the reform, enabling us to control for unobservable heterogeneity among neighborhoods. Our study has two limitations resulting from the nature of the data. The first limitation is that we are unable to estimate the effect of redistricting that involves schools of disparate quality, because all of the schools in Shaker Heights are of high quality.3 The second limitation is that we have no information on the social and economic characteristics of the people residing in the houses, although we use tract-level data from the Census of Population and Housing to control for the racial composition of a neigh- borhood. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 provides some background information on Shaker Heights and details the 1987 reform. Section 3 describes the econometric approach. Section 4 provides evidence of the We have standardized third grade reading test scores for each school for the years 1983-1989 which we use to test the robustness of our findings. See Black [1] on the importance of school quality. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 283 effect of the reform on sales prices of houses in Shaker Heights. Section 5 contains concluding remarks. 2. SCHOOL DISTRICT REALIGNMENT IN SHAKER HEIGHTS Shaker Heights is a city of 30,831 people (U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1990) covering about seven square miles and located five miles east of downtown Cleveland. One of the earliest planned communities in the country, Shaker Heights was designed as a group of neighborhoods each centered around an elementary school.4 The neighborhoods contain a housing stock ranging from relatively modest homes in the south and west, to larger houses in central Shaker, to mansions in the northern part of the city. Although the community was designed to include and does include a variety of socioeconomic groups, all students attend the same high school and all elementary schools are held to the same (high) standards. Despite an early history of restrictive racial and religious covenants, Shaker Heights has been a leader since the 1950s in policies designed to promote and preserve racial integration.5 Recent research [10, 11] suggests that affirmative marketing policies in Shaker Heights have resulted in greater integration of previously all-white areas and less racial change in integrated areas than would have occurred in the absence of such policies. In the early 1980s, the school district faced both financial and racial balance problems. The total enrollment had fallen from a peak of 8079 students in 1966-1967 to 5301 by 1983-1984, a decline of 34%. This decline seems to reflect changing demographics-the end of the baby boom-rather than a systematic shift away from public schools to private schools.6 The effect of the decrease in enrollment was that resources were strained as some schools remained near capacity and others were neaxly empty. Further, the pattern of integration within the district was irregular, with some schools (especially Moreland) predominantly black and others (such as Fernway and Mercer) predominantly white. As shown in Fig. 1, Shaker Heights borders some predominantly black neighborhoods in the city of Cleveland to its south and west. The largely black neighborhood of Moreland is in the southwest corner of Shaker Heights, as is the integrated neighborhood of Ludlow. Shaker Heights neighborhoods toward the north and east are progressively more affluent 4See Molyneaux and Sackman [19] or Haberman [13] for a history of Shaker Heights. SSee Keating [18, Chap. 6] for an overview. 6 Using data on Shaker Heights from the U.S. Census, we find that the public school enrollment was 84% of total public and private school enrollment in 1979 and 81% in 1989. An alternative measure, enrollment reported by the Shaker Heights City School as a fraction of the population aged 5-17 reported by the Census was 89% in 1969, 89°70 in 1979, and 87% in 1989. 284 BOGART AND CROMWELL and the racial composition of the neighborhoods becomes predominantly white. The original neighborhoods-which were identified with the names of their elementary school districts-are shown in Fig. 2.' In 1984, a citizen's committee advised the Shaker Heights City School District to close three schools (Moreland Elementary, Malvern Elemen- tary, and Byron Junior High) in order to save money and promote greater racial balance. This proposal caused a great public outcry. In the end, Woodbury Junior High was closed, with all of the other schools remaining open.g By 1987, enrollment in the district had fallen to 5013 and another set of reforms was proposed. This time, four elementary schools (Ludlow, More- land, Malvern, and Sussex) were targeted for closing. The remaining five elementary schools would teach grades K-4, and Woodbury would be reopened to house all fifth and sixth graders. The plan became public in January 1987 and was approved by the school board on March 10, 1987. 'The numbers under the neighborhood/school district names reflect the median sales price of houses in 1989, with 1 being the highest and 9 the lowest. sSee Sullivan [21] and Jordan [14, 15, 16]. ySee Breckenridge [3, 4, 5]. FIG. 1. Cuyahoga County percent black: 1990 by Transportation Analysis Zone 1990 Census data. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 28S The reform necessitated some drastic shifts in boundaries. The new boundaries are shown in Fig. 3, with the old boundaries included to facilitate comparison.10 There was a clear break in the 60-year adherence to the plan of neighborhood schools. The most dramatic case was that of students from the largely black neighborhood of Moreland who would be "airlifted"-in the words of one parent-from the southwest corner of the district to the Mercer school district in the northeast part of the city (a drive of about 10 minutes). Other changes were also significant: the Ludlow district was split between Boulevard and Onaway; the Sussex district and a section of Fernway were redistricted to less affluent Lomond; and the formerly compact Onaway district now meandered from the western border of the city to the affluent Malvern area in the east-central part of the city. In general, the redistricting disrupted many previously coherent neigh- borhood schools. Not all schools were disrupted, however. Students in Boulevard, Mercer, and most of Fernway remained in their original district.tt The plan also resulted in the desired racial balance in the elementary schools, as shown in Table 1. While in the 1986-1987 school 10 The numbers in parentheses indicate the neighborhoods from which students in the elementary schools are drawn after 1987. For example, the Mercer schools now include students from the Mercer (2), Sussex (5), and Moreland (9) neighborhoods. "Because the composition of the schools changed, it is possible that the "neighborhood" school is viewed differently even by those people who did not change districts. We do not have data that allow us to identify such a result, however. FIG. 2. Shaker Heights City School District pre-redistricting. 2$( BOGART AND CROMWELL FIG. 3. Shaker Heights City School district post-redistricting. year the percent nonwhite in the elementary schools ranged from 23% in Fernway to 87% in Moreland, the percent nonwhite in 1987-1988 was in the 42 to 51% range for all of the schools. The school district also began providing bus transportation for students who remained in their original districts but had previously walked relatively long distances. Students who lived relatively close to their schools, however, continued to walk. In sum, this redistricting provides quasi-experimental variation to iden- tify the different effects of the policy on the housing market. Some neighborhoods had their schools redistricted, but not all. Significant varia- tion in racial composition of schools existed both across schools prior to redistricting and over time in the same school as a result of the redistrict- ing. Finally, bus transportation was introduced for many students but some students continued to walk to school. And all of these changes occurred in a relatively homogeneous educational setting. 3. ESTIMATING THE EFFECTS OF REFORM Throughout the debate on redistricting, one of the concerns expressed by residents of Shaker Heights was the impact of school closing on property values.12 We use a unique dataset to investigate the effects. It i~See Jordan [16], Sullivan [21], and Breckenridge [4]. ' " " - ' ' " Previous Boundaries Current Boundaries NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 287 TABLE 1 School Percent Nonwhite Year ~ School district ~, 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 1986-1987 1987-1988 1988-1989 Boulevard 34.5 42.0 35.7 39.6 49.8 52.8 Fernway 23.4 21.6 25.2 22.6 48.2 45.8 Lomond 55.4 56.7 54.9 57.2 42.0 43.6 Mercer 26.8 27.9 28.3 27.9 45.0 45.0 Onaway 34.3 37.1 35.1 31.7 51.4 52.4 Ludlow 53.0 54.6 62.4 65.1 Malvern 27.7 29.2 26.1 23.6 Moreland 79.2 84.4 84.9 86.9 Sussex 41.0 42.1 42.9 44.6 Year -~ School district J, 1989-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 Boulevard 50.5 49.7 53.5 57.0 58.3 63.0 Fernway 51.6 54.8 57.2 59.9 63.3 59.0 Lomond 41.4 44.4 46.7 45.6 52.4 54.7 Mercer 46.9 50.0 48.3 51.8 50.9 52.7 Onaway 50.0 49.6 48.7 46.3 46.1 52.7 Source: Shaker Heights City School District. Note. Ludlow, Malvern, Moreland, and Sussex schools were closed in 1987. includes all arms-length purchases (4463) of single-family homes in Shaker Heights for the years 1983 through 1994.13 There are detailed physical characteristics for each house; descriptive statistics for the variables used in the analysis are found in Table 3. We control for both physical characteristics and neighborhood characteristics in order to focus on the effects of the following variables: whether the house remained in its original (neighborhood) school district or not, whether a student living in the house would ride the bus or not, and the racial composition of the school district the house is in. We use a standard model of an intrametropolitan housing market to motivate our regression analysis [6]. Households are assumed to be mobile among a fixed set of neighborhoods, each of which has a fixed amount of land and a fixed housing stock. Because Shaker Heights is completely built out, this assumption is innocuous. Households derive utility from consum- ing housing (H), amenities associated with locating in a neighborhood (A), 'Thomas Bier at Cleveland State University has invested a great deal of time and effort in checking the accuracy of these data, and we are extremely grateful to him for providing them to us. 288 BOGART AND CROMWELL and a composite good (X). If it is assumed that housing is supplied inelastically, capital and X are in elastic supply from a national market, and production and utility functions are convex, then the price of housing can be written as a function of household income and amenities. If we let P~ be the price of housing in neighborhood j, then the following relation holds true: dP~/dA~ > 0. It is this relationship between the house price and the local amenities that we will estimate. In particular, we will analyze the effect of changing the elementary school from a neighborhood school to another school (a reduction in A~), and we will analyze the effect of instituting transportation service to the neighborhood school (an increase in A~).'4 Our approach has several advantages over previous research on the link between school reform and house values. First, we are confident that the schools in the district are of similar quality.'s As a matter of public policy, all elementary schools are held to the same standards and receive inputs appropriate to do so. This includes, among other things, rotating teachers among the schools in the district. Further, all students attend the same high school, and the school district's overall high quality has been widely acknowledged.16 Second, we have a detailed list of housing characteristics, reducing the effects of unobserved heterogeneity among houses. Third, we are able to distinguish between the three effects of busing on house values introduced in the first section. The racial composition effect is identified because the racial composition does not change much in some schools, but changes substantially in others. The neighborhood schools effect is identified because some houses do not change district, while others do. The transportation services effect is identified because some houses that do not change district nevertheless benefit from the addition of bus service. Hedonic Analysis of Pooled Data Our main econometric approach is to estimate a hedonic price equation using individual transaction prices of houses as the dependent variable and school, neighborhood, and physical characteristics as independent vari- 14 We also estimate the racial composition effect, although our results from Shaker Heights are unlikely to be representative because of the 40-year history of pro-integrative efforts in the city. 's See Jud and Watts [17] or Black [1] on the importance of this point. 16 Whelan [22] cites such accomplishments as Shaker High being ranked among the top dozen (of 16,000 nationwide.) by Money in 1981 and one of the top 15 by Parade in 1984. We include test scores as a meas~,ure of school quality for the years 1983-1989 in order to test the robustness of our conclusions. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 289 ables. In general, hedonic models focus on markets in which a generic commodity can embody varying amounts of a vector of attributes. As a practical matter in applied studies, the price equation is typically estimated by ordinary least squares, with the supply of attributes and the tastes of consumers assumed exogenous. This is the approach taken here. Our preferred approach is to use adifference-in-difference regression to estimate the impact of losing a neighborhood school on house value.l~ It is possible to separate the houses into two different groups: houses that do not lose their neighborhood schools as a result of redistricting and houses that do. It is also possible to separate the sales into those that happened before the redistricting and those that happened after. The idea of a difference-in-difference. regression is to identify a control group and a treatment group, and compare the experience of the two groups. The control group in this case consists of houses that stay in the same school district, while the treatment group consists of houses that change districts. To implement the difference-in-difference estimator, we create three dummy variables. The first dummy variable, School District Change, equals 1 if the house is in a part of Shaker Heights that lost its neighborhood school after 1987, and equals 0 otherwise. The second dummy variable, Sale in 1987 or Later, equals 1 if the house sold in 1987 or later, and 0 otherwise. The third dummy variable, and the focus of our attention, is the product of the other two dummy variables. The third variable is called School District Change and Sale in 1987 or Later. The coefficient on this variable is our estimate; of the neighborhood schools effect. In order to control for other differences among houses, we include a set of variables that summarize the physical characteristics of the house. These characteristics include the lot size, age, average room size, living area, number of plumbing fixtures, the construction grade of the house, and the current condition of the house. We also include observable characteristics of the neighborhood and school district, including whether the street has heavy traffic, the percent nonwhite in the census tract in 1980 and 1990, and the percent nonwhite in the school. Because our sales take place over a 12-year period, there is inflation over time. We deflate the sales prices of the houses using arepeat-sales annual housing price index (shown in Table 2). Let V represent the sales price of the house deflated by the price index, X the matrix of physical and neighborhood characteristics of the house, and Z the dummy variables indicating whether the house was sold before or after 1987 and whether the house was in a part of Shaker Heights that ~~ We are grateful to a referee for suggesting this interpretation of our work. 290 BOGART AND CROMWELL TABLE 2 Housing Price Index Year Index 1983 1.451 1984 1.539 1985 1.559 1986 1.668 1987 1.742 1988 1.844 1989 1.919 1990 2.004 1991 2.173 1992 2.099 1993 2.131 1994 2.288 Note. index calculated using repeat sales of houses in Shaker Heights. Base year is 1976 (index = 1 for 1976). was redistricted. Then the regression that we estimate using ordinary least squares (OLS) is shown as Eq. (1). The variable we are most concerned with is a, which indicates the impact on house price of losing the neighborhood school: ln(V) = X,6 + Zy + a * School District Change and Sale in 1987 or Later + s. (1) While our main results are obtained using the difference-in-difference estimator, we use a variety of alternative specifications to investigate the robustness of our findings. First, we estimate a pooled cross-section regression that includes dummy variables for the various neighborhoc,ds within Shaker Heights, year dummy variables, and third grade reading test scores (a measure of school quality). This approach is similar to the difference-in-difference approach, but estimates a transportation services effect for those houses that remained within the same school district as well as a neighborhood schools effect. We create a dummy variable, Bus & No District Change, that equals 1 if the house receives bus service after 1987 and remains in the same district, and 0 otherwise. There is also a dummy variable, Bres & District Change, that equals 1 if the house receives bus service after 1987 and changes district, and 0 otherwise. The NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 291 omitted option is No Bres & No District Change, which covers the remaining houses in Shaker Heights.18 As before, let V represent the sales price of the house deflated by the price index and X the matrix of physical and neighborhood characteristics of the house. Unlike the difference-in-difference specification, we now include in Z dummy variables indicating which year the house was sold and the neighborhood in which the house is located.19 Then the regression that we estimate using OLS is shown as Eq. (2). The variable we are most concerned with is a, which indicates the impact on house price of losing the neighborhood school. We also pay attention to the estimate of X, the transportation services effect: ln(V) = X(3 + Zy + a * Bus & District Change + X * Bus & No District Change + e . (2) One of the requirements for consistent estimation of a hedonic regres- sion is that the coefficients remain constant over the entire sample. Because of the disruption to the market caused by the redistricting, we do not necessarily expect this condition to hold for the entire sample period. Therefore, we also estimate Eq. (2) splitting the sample into before and after redistricting periods (1983-1986 and 1987-1994) as well as separate regressions for each year. To anticipate, we find that the coefficients on the physical characteristics of the house do not change over the entire time period, so that the principal influence of any changes in' house prices is captured by the variables that directly measure the policy innovations.20' Oaxaca Decomposition--Change within a Neighborhood One criticism of the hedonic approach is that it does not sufficiently account for unobserved differences among neighborhoods. This is espe- cially important when evaluating a policy innovation such as eliminating neighborhood schools in some places. After all, before 1987, the neighbor- is It is also possible that a house could change districts, but the new school would be close enough to the house that no bus service would be required (No Bus & District Change). There were six observations where this occurred, which was too few to include in the analysis, so they were dropped. 19 Because the price index varies annually, we could use the year dummies alone to control for inflation rather than deflating the sales price. Doing so would alter the variance of the dependent variable relative to the difference-in-difference approach, making comparison of RZ across the approaches less straightforward. There is no effect on the parameter estimates or standard errors of using the deflated sales prices, so we continue to use them. 20 We reject the hypothesis of equality at the 5% significance level for the years 1984 and 1989 as described in detail I~elow. Reestimating the regression omitting those years does not change our conclusions with respect to the effect of redistricting on house prices. 292 BOGART AND CROMWELL hood and the school district were identical, making it impossible to estimate the pre-1987 variation in house prices due to the school alone. This concern leads u.s to use an alternative econometric approach that uses within-neighborhood variation in school district after 1987 to identify the effect of the school district on house values. The approach is a statistical implementation of the following thought experiment: take a house in one school district and move it across the street into the other school district while keeping the house in the same neighborhood. The physical characteristics and neighborhood characteristics of the house remain the same, so that any change in the value of the house must result solely from the change in the school district. The econometric approach we use was originally developed by Oaxaca [20] to study male-female wage differences. He decomposed the difference in the mean wage of males and the mean wage of females into a part explained by observable characteristics and a residual based on unobserv- able characteristics. In his work, the residual component was assumed to reflect labor market discrimination. We apply Oaxaca's approach in the following way.21 First, we identify neighborhoods where there are sufficient observations in both the neigh- borhood school and another school to estimate hedonic regressions using the observable characteristics of the house. Second, we estimate regres- sions for the sales in l:he different parts of the neighborhood. Third, we apply the coefficients from the regression in one part of the neighborhood to the mean house in the other part of the neighborhood, giving us a difference in the means due to observable differences in physical charac- teristics. The remaining difference we attribute to the effects of changing from the neighborhood school to another school. This gives us two alter- nate estimates (one using each of the two regressions within the neighbor- hood) of the neighborhood schools effect estimated by the School District Change and Sale in 1987 or Later variable in the difference-in-difference specification and the bus & District Change variable in the pooled hedonic regression specification. We compare the implied change in the value o:f a house with that found using the other approaches in order to investigate the robustness of the e;arlier results. Formally, let V and. Vk represent the sales price of a house in school district j and school district k, respectively, where the houses are in the same neighborhood. Let X~ and Xk represent the observed characteristics 21 The description of this approach is based on Bogart and Cromwell [2], who apply it: to estimating the effect of school districts of different quality on house prices. Black [1] also focuses on the boundaries between school attendance districts in identifying the effect. of schools on house prices. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 293 of each house. We estimate the following regressions using OLS. Note that the same set of right-hand-side variables is used in each of the two regressions: In (V) = X~ ~~ + s~ (3) ln(Vk) = Xk ~k + Ek . If we let V~ and Vk represent the geometric means of V and Vk, X~ and Xk the means of X~ and Xk, and b~ and bk the estimates of ~; and ~k, then, from the properties of OLS estimation, it must be the case that ln(V,) _ X~ b~ and ln(Vk) = Xk bk. Now consider the following decomposition of the difference between ln(V~) and ln(Vk). Let OX be defined to equal X~ - Xk and let 0b be defined to equal bk - b~. Then we can write the following equation: ln(V~) - ln(Vk) = X~b~ - Xkbk = OXbk - ObX~ = OXb~ - ObXk. (4) Equation (4) shows two alternative ways of expressing the idea that the difference in the mean house value across school districts has two parts: first, a part due to differences in observable characteristics (OXbk or OXb~) and, second, a residual part that we attribute to the value of a neighborhood school (,,bX~ or ObXk). We also apply this approach to studying the effect of instituting bus service in one part of a school district but not in the other part of a school district. In this case, the unobservable characteristic is the value of bus services rather than thf; benefit of having a neighborhood school. Applying the decomposition technique provides an alternate estimate of the trans- portation services effect of school district realignment. Repeat-Sales Analysis As we have already noted, a criticism of the hedonic approach is that: it does not sufficiently account for unobserved physical and neighborhood characteristics. Awell-known alternative to pooling the data is to estimate regressions using only those observations where the house sells more than once. We use a variation of the so-called "repeat-sales" approach to provide yet another estimate of the neighborhood schools and transporta- tion services effects. (Our approach is a variation on that described in Yinger et al. [23].) We focus on houses that sold twice-once before 1987 and the second time after 1987, and whose physical characteristics did not change. These houses have the same physical characteristics and are located in the same neighborhood during both sales. The only differences are that the house 294 BOGART AND CROMWELL might be in a different school district, bus service might have been instituted, the racial composition of the school might have changed, and the reading test scores (school quality) might have changed. Our basic regression is as follows, where i indicates the house, t indicates the year of the second sale (between 1987 and 1994), and T indicates the year of the first sale (between 1983 and 1986): ln(Pricel~) - ln(Price17 ) = a~YEARt - a7YEAR7 + (3~School Nonwhite %~~ - (37 School Nonwhite %L7 + B~rReading Score %~t - 817 Reading Score %17 + ¢ Bus & No District Change + y Bus &District Change + E~~ - ~1?. (5) Equation (5) is estimated using several alternative samples of repeat sales to check the robustness of the results. The first sample includes all repeat sales where the first sale occurred between 1983 and 1986 and the second sale between 1987 and 1994. The second sample is the same as the first with the exception that sales that occurred in 1987 are omitted. (Because reading scores are available only for the years 1983 to 1989, they are not included in these first two regressions.) The third sample only includes second sales that occurred between 1987 and 1989, in order to investigate whether school quality as measured by test scores affects the results. The fourth sample is the same as the third sample except that sales that occurred in 1987 are excluded from the analysis. The coefficients on the variables Bus & No District Change and Bus & District Change provide; estimates of the transportation services effect and neighborhood schools f;ffect, respectively. The coefficients on School Non- white % give a set of annual estimates of the racial composition effect. Finally, the coefficients on Reading Score % yield a set of estimates of the effect of school quality on house prices. 4. THE EFFECTS OF REFORM: EVIDENCE FROM HOUSE PRICES The results of estimating the difference-in-difference specification are reported in Table 4. Hedonic regression results using a pooled cross- section are reported iri Table 5. Tables 6 through 8 report summaries of the findings for the Oaxaca decomposition and the repeat-sales regression approaches. The main findings with respect to the effects of the redistrict- ing are discussed below, as is the test for the assumption that data from several years can be pooled together to analyze the housing market. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 295 TABLE 3 Summary Statistics Variable (continuous) Mean Standard deviation In (house price/index) 10.970 0.466 Average room size/100 2.867 0.611 In (living area) 7.742 0.287 In (age of house) 3.944 0.293 Plumbing fixtures 10.241 2.771 In (lot size) 8.977 0.354 Third grade reading test scores 62.627 6.157 ~/o Nonwhite in school 0.468 0.116 % Nonwhite in tract 1980 0.268 0.218 % Nonwhite in tract 1990 0.338 0.239 Variable (0 - 1) Observations = 1 Bad or fair condition 752 Good condition 1805 Excellent condition 368 Construction grade AA or A + 543 Construction grade A 256 Construction grade B + 2262 Construction grade B or C or D 1014 Lomond 1007 Ludlow 65 Malvern 45 Moreland 301 Sussex 660 Fernway 701 Mercer 1065 Onaway 423 Boulevard 196 Year of sale 1983 348 Year of sale 1984 370 Year of sale 1985 386 Year of sale 1986 444 Year of sale 1987 396 Year of sale 1988 379 Year of sale 1989 347 Year of sale 1990 340 Year of sale 1991 330 Year of sale 1992 341 Year of sale 1993 382 Year of sale 1994 400 School district change and sale in 1987 or later 1012 Bus & district change 1012 Bus & no district change 509 Heavy traffic 232 Note. 4463 total observations except for third grade reading test scores, for which there are 2670 total observations. 296 BOGART AND CROMWELL TABLE 4 Regression Results-Difference-in-Difference Estimator Variable Coefficient (standard error) School district change 0.050 (0.016) Sale in 1987 or later 0.062 (0.013) School district change and safe in 1987 or later - 0.104 (0.019) % Nonwhite in school - 0.051 (0.044) In (lot size) 0.223 (0.018) In (living area) 0.317 (0.026) Construction grade AA or A + 0.193 (0.016) Construction grade A 0.097 (0.019) Construction grade B or C or D 0.026 (0.010) In (age of house) - 0.079 (0.017) Bad or fair condition - 0.083 (0.012) Excellent condition 0.089 (0.018) Average room size 0.080 (0.009) Plumbing fixtures 0.017 (0.002) Heavy traffic - 0.220 (0.020) % Nonwhite in tract 1980 1.329 (0.271) % Nonwhite in tract 1990 -1.758 (0.257) Intercept 6.632(0.228) Adjusted RZ 0.65 Observations 4463 Dependent variable mean 10.97 Note. Estimated impact of redistricting is the coefficient of "school district and sale in 1987 or later." Omitted dummy variables are normal condition and construction grade B + . Dependent variable is the lc~g of house price deflated by the housing price index (see Table 2). Neighborhood Schools Lffect Our preferred approach to estimating the neighborhood schools effect: is to use the difference-in-difference regression reported in Table 4. The neighborhood schools effect is represented by the coefficient on the variable School Districts Change and Sale in 1987 or Later. This variable is negative and statistically significant, indicating that the loss of a neighbor- hood school reduces house value, all else being equal. The magnitude of the effect is substantial, with an estimated reduction in the house price of 9.9% (calculated as 1 - e-o.to4 where -0.104 is the coefficient on the variable). Evaluating this at the mean house value of $58,090, this implies redistricting reduced the value of the average house by $5738. The remain- der of this subsection :investigates how robust this finding is to alternative regression specifications. In the pooled cross-section hedonic regression, the neighborhood schools effect is captured by the variable Bus & District Change. This variable is NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 297 TABLE 5 Regression Results-1983-1994, 1983-1989 Year ~ Variable ~, 1983-1994 1983-1989 (without test scores) 1983-1989 (with test scores) Bus & district change - 0.072 (0.014) - 0.064 (0.021) - 0.064 (0.021) Bus & no district change 0.026 (0.018) 0.039 (0.026) 0.040 (0.026) % Nonwhite in school 0.245 (0.048) 0.117 (0.064) 0.055 (0.069) Third grade reading test scores - - - 0.003 (0.001) In (lot size) 0.284 (0.019) 0.251(0.023) 0.252 (0.023,1 In (living area) 0.299 (0.025) 0.321 (0.033) 0.321 (0.033) Construction grade AA or A + 0.195 (0.015) 0.193 (0.020) 0.191 (0.020;1 Construction grade A 0.103 (0.018) 0.119 (0.023) 0.119 (0.023;1 Construction grade B or C or D 0.004 (0.010) 0.002 (0.013) 0.002 (0.013;1 In (age of house) - 0.050 (0.018) - 0.057 (0.022) - 0.056 (0.022;1 Bad or fair condition - 0.062 (0.012) - 0.063 (0.015) - 0.063 (0.015;) Excellent condition 0.086 (0.018) 0.098 (0.023) 0.098 (0.023,) Average room size 0.052 (0.009) 0.038 (0.012) 0.038 (0.012,) Plumbing fixtures 0.012 (0.002) 0.011 (0.003) 0.011 (0.003.) Heavy traffic - 0.216 (0.019) - 0.200 (0.024) - 0.201 (0.024) % Nonwhite in tract 1980 4.893 (0.444) 4.982 (0.570) 5.002 (0.570) % Nonwhite in tract 1990 - 4.939 (0.419) - 5.009 (0.538) - 5.031(0.538) Ludlow 0.009 (0.041) 0.068 (0.051) 0.096 (0.052,) Malvern - 0.107 (0.052) - 0.066 (0.069) - 0.069 (0.069) Moreland - 0.174 (0.032) - 0.081 (0.043) - 0.084 (0.043) Sussex 0.278 (0.025) 0.308 (0.031) 0.292 (0.032) Fernway 0.257 (0.023) 0.278 (0.029) 0.271 (0.030) Lomond 0.128 (0.024) 0.170 (0.032) 0.161 (0.032) Mercer 0.015 (0.033) 0.059 (0.042) 0.043 (0.043) Onaway 0.070 (0.026) 0.108 (0.034) 0.107 (0.034) Intercept 6.157 (0.232) 6.371 (0.293) 6.614 (0.308) Adjusted RZ 0.69 0.67 0.67 Observations 4463 2670 2670 Dependent variable mean 10.97 10.97 10.97 Note. Standard errors in parentheses. Regressions also included year dummies that are not reported. Omitted dummy variables are normal condition, construction grade B + , and Boulevard. Dependent variable is the log of house price deflated by the housing price index (see Table 2). Reading score, available for 1983-1989 only. negative and statistically significant, as reported in the first column of Table 5. The loss of the neighborhood school is predicted to reduce t:he value of the house by about 6.9%, or $4060 at the mean house price. The result is robust: to including reading test scores as a measure of school quality. The second and third columns of Table 5 present t:he results of estimating the pooled cross-section hedonic regression for the years 1983-1989, when the school test scores are available. The second column includes the same variables as the first column, only for the 298 BOGART AND CROMWELL TABLE 6 Within Neighborhood Estimates of Neighborhood Schools Effect, Lomond Neighborhood (1987-1994) Difference in mean house value $6,545 Percent of difference due to district change 52.9%-59.1% Effect of district change on mean house value (decrease) $3462-$3868 Dummy variable estimate of effect of district change $3779 Number of observations (662 total sales) 476-same district 186-change district Note. Percent of difference due to district change equals 100% minus the percent explained by differences in observable characteristics. Included characteristics are heavy traffic, ln(frontage), ln(living area), ln(lot size), ln(age of house), average room size, plumbing fixtures, attachea' garage, finished attic, construction grade AA/A + , construc- tion grade A, construction grade B or C or D, bad or fair condition, excellent condition, and a set of year dummies. Regressions estimated using data from 1987 to 1994. Complete regression results available on request. smaller set of years. The third column adds the reading test scores to the list of variables. The point estimate of the neighborhood effect coefficient is slightly smaller than for the period 1983-1994, but the estimated reduction of mean house values is $3621, only slightly less than found using the entire sample;. In order to further investigate how robust are results are, we focus especially on the possibility that neighborhood characteristics are not completely accounted for by the hedonic approach. We begin by estimat- TABLE 7 Within Neighborhood Estimates of Transportation Services Effect, Mercer Neighborhood (1987-1994) Difference in mean house value $11,437 Percent of difference due too bus service 52.6%-59.7% Effect of bus service on mean house value (increase) $6013-$6825 Dummy variable estimate of effect of district change $5010 Number of observations (703 total sales) 473-do not get bus service 230-get bus service Note. Percent of difference due to district change equals 100 minus the percent explained by differences hi observable characteristics. Included characteristics are hea»y traffic, ln(frontage), ln(living area), ln(lot size), ln(age of house), average room size, plumbing fixtures, attached garage, finished attic, construction grade AA/A + , construction grade A, construction grade B or C or D, bad or fair condition, excellent condition, and a set of year dummies. Regressions estimated using data from 1987 to 1994. Complete regression results available on request. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 299 TABLE 8 Neighborhood Schools Effect and Transportation Services Effect, Repeat Sales Only Neighborhood schools Transportation services Sample Observations effect at mean value effect at mean value 1983-1994 634 - $7593 $16,024 (including 1987) 1983-1994 539 - $7003 $16,562 (excluding 1987) 1983-1989 290 - $7377 $9745 (including 1987) 1983-1989 195 - $7396 $11,534 (excluding 1987) Note. Only repeat sales where the first sale was before 1987 and the second sale was in 1987 or after are includes in the analysis. All regressions include the percent nonwhite in the school; regressions for 1983--1989 also include third grade reading test scores. ing the effect of disrupting the neighborhood school using the Oaxaca decomposition described earlier. We analyze the Lomond neighborhood, where there were enough obser- vations of both houses that changed districts and houses that remained in the Lomond schools to make estimation feasible. The results of using this approach are summarized in Table 6. The difference in the (geometric) mean value of houses that remained in the Lomond school district and those that were transferred to another district is $6545. Between 40.9% and 47.1% of the difference is explained by observable physical and neighborhood characteristics.22 Thus, the difference in value attributable to the change in school district is between 52.9% and 59.1% of $6545, or between $3462 and $3868. This number is only slightly smaller than that found using the entire city over the period 1983-1994.23 Another check of robustness is also reported in Table 6. A hedonic regression as in Table 5 was performed using data on the Lomond neighborhood only. A dummy variable was included to indicate whether the school district changed after 1987. Evaluating the effect of this variable at the mean house value, the estimated effect of changing schools was found to be $3779. Tr~is number is within the range estimated using the decomposition technique (it does not have to be-see Bogart and Cromwell ~~ Recall that there are two different regressions used, so that two different estimates are obtained. In the terms of the thought experiment described earlier, this is like saying you can move the house in either dv-ection across the district boundary. z3 We also estimated the regressions omitting the 1987 observations. We found an esti- mated neighborhood schools effect of between $2307 and $3384, or not very different from the results including 1987. 300 BOGART AND CROMWELL [2] and the results in t:he next section) and again is quite similar to the result found using the entire sample. The final robustness check was to use a sample of only those houses that sold twice, once before and once after the redistricting. This approach allows us to focus on changes in the observable neighborhood characteris- tics by holding the physical characteristics and geographical location of the house constant. We estimated four variations of this approach, and the results are reported in Table 8. The first regression included all repeat sales from 1983-1994 where the first sale was before 1987 and the second sale in 1987 or after. The observable characteristics that (could) change were the percent nonwhite in the school and the school district itself. Evaluating the coefficient on Bus & District Change at the mean value of the houses in the sample implied a reduction in house value of $7593. This is larger than the change found using the other methods, suggesting that neighborhood effects we-re not perfectly controlled, even in the within-neighborhood estimation procedure. The second regression included all repeat sales from 1983-1994 where the first sale occurred before 1987 and the second sale after 1987 (so sales in 1987 were excluded). The results were quite similar to those found including 1987, with an estimated effect at the mean of - $7003. The third regression included repeat sales from 1983-1989 that straddle 1987. This specification allowed us to include data on third grade reading test scores as a measure of school quality. There was little impact on the estimated effect of losing a neighborhood school, however. The estimated effect at the mean was - $7377, almost identical to the effect found using the entire period and not accounting for test scores. The fourth and final regression again used 1983-1989 but excluded 1987 sales. The result was again similar, with an estimated effect of - $7396 at the mean. Transportation Services Effect The transportation services effect is captured in the pooled cross-section hedonic regression by 'the variable Bus & No District Change. This variable identifies those houses for which the school remained the same but which were now eligible to receive bus service to and from the school. The regression coefficient using the entire sample is reported in the first column of Table 5. The estimated impact of instituting bus service, all else being equal, is to increase the mean house value by about 2.6%, or $1502 at the mean house value. As with the neighborhood schools effect, we undertook a variety of tests on the robustness of c,ur result. The first test was to include reading test scores and restrict tree time period to 1983-1989. The result of this NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 301 specification is found in the second column of Table 5, an estimated impact on the mean house value of $2370. The results of estimating within-neighborhood regressions are found in Table 7. Between 52.6~7o and 59.7% of the $11,437 difference in the mean value of houses in the 'two parts of the Mercer neighborhood is attributed to the institution of bins services. Thus, instituting bus service is estimated to increase the value of the average house by between $6013 and $6825. This number is larger than that found using the hedonic approach re- ported in Table 5, which suggests that the neighborhood controls were not accounting for all unobserved characteristics. (The mean house value in Mercer is larger than the mean for Shaker Heights as a whole, which would tend to increase the point estimate.) This explanation is reinforced by the results of estimating a hedonic regression on the Mercer neighbor- hood including a dummy variable indicating whether or not bus services were provided to the house. The effect of this variable at the mean was to increase house prices by $5010, intermediate between the results including the entire city and the results using the two different parts of the Mercer neighborhood.24 As was the case with the neighborhood schools effect, repeat-sales analysis (reported in Table 8) yields estimated effects of the policy inter- ventions that are large relative to the results obtained via the other regression methods. When the entire period from 1983-1994 is included, the impact of providing; bus service is estimated to be between $16024 and $16562 at the mean, depending on whether 1987 is included or excluded from the analysis. Restricting the sample period to 1983-1989 and includ- ing reading test scores reduces the estimated impact substantially, to a range of $9745 to $11,334 depending on whether 1987 is included or excluded. Coupled with the decomposition results, these results suggest that unobserved heterogeneity among neighborhoods is important. How- ever, the main conclusions of the hedonic analysis are robust to these alternative specifications. Tests of PoolingAssum~tions Because we are pooling observations from a period of over a decade, it is possible that the c;oefficients on the physical characteristics of the houses could have changed during that time. If that were the case, then it would be inappropriate to pool observations from the various years. We tested the hypothesis that the coefficients on the physical characteristics of the house (including whether the street had heavy traffic) remained the same for the entire time period by estimating separate regressions for z4 Regressions omitting 1987 were also estimated, and the transportation services effect was found to be between $4578 and $5865. 302 BOGART AND CROMWELL TABLE 9 Hypothesis Test: Cof:fficients on Physical Characteristics Equal across Years Years F' statistic (degrees of freedom) P Value 1983-1986 1.661(11,1522) 0.08 1987-1994 0.854 (11,2883) 0.59 1983-1989 0.449 (11,2638) 0.93 1983 0.860 (11,325) 0.58 1984 2.588 (11,347) 0.004 1985 0.829 (11,363) 0.61 1986 1.288 (11,421) 0.23 1987 1.716 (11,371) 0.07 1988 0.852 (11,354) 0.59 1989 3.011 (11,322) 0.001 1990 0.763 (11,315) 0.68 1991 1.338 (11,305) 0.20 1992 1.265 (11,316) 0.24 1993 0.608 (11,357) 0.82 1994 0.810 (11,375) 0.63 Note. The test is whether the coefficients on the following list of variables are equal to those estimated using the entire sample 1983-1994: ln(lot size), ln(liuing area), construction grade AA or A + ,construction grade A, construction grade B or C or D, ln(age of house), bad or fair condition, excellent condition, average room size, plumbing fixtures, heavy traffic. The higher the P value, the less probable it is that the null hypothesis of equality of the coefficients can be rejected. Years for which the null hypothesis of pooling is rejected at the 5% significance level are shown in italics. 1983-1986, 1987-1994., 1983-1989, and for each of the years 1983 through 1994. We then performed an F test on the hypothesis that the coefficients were the same as those estimated using the entire set of sales between 1983 and 1994. The results of these tests are presented in Table 9. In most of the cases, we fail to reject the hypothesis that the coefficients are equal, which means that our approach of pooling the various years is appropriate. There are some exceptions, though. The null hypothesis of pooling is strongly re- jected for the years 1984 and 1989. In 1984, as described earlier, there was significant uncertainty about the school district, so the inequality of the coefficients is easy to understand. There is not as clear an explanation for 1989. We also reject the null hypothesis at the 10% significance level for the period 1983-1986 and the year 1987. The 1983-1986 result is explained by the 1984 result, while 1987 was again a year of tremendous upheaval-t:he focus of this paper-and thus a year where the housing market might be expected to systematically differ. In order to investigate the robustness of our results, we reestirr~ated our regressions omitting the years 1984, 1987, NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 303 and 1989. There were no qualitative changes in the results as a result. (Complete regression results are available upon request.) Recall that we also estimated the within-neighborhood regressions and the repeat-sales regressions both including and excluding sales during 1987, with minimal effect on the findings. Racial Composition Effect The coefficient on the variable School Nonwhite % in the various regressions is a measure of the racial composition effect. In our main (difference-in-difference) specification, the coefficient is negative, which is consistent with racial prejudice against nonwhite students. The coefficient is not statistically significantly different from zero, though, so one cannot draw too strong an inff;rence from the point estimate. The positive and statistically significant coefficient on the variable School Nonwhite % in the pooled cross-section hedonic regression (re- ported in the first column of Table 5) is difficult to explain, even given the 40-year pro-integrative history of Shaker Heights. At face value, this result implies that households are willing to pay more for a house in a school district with a higher fi-action of nonwhite students, all else being equal. The results in the second and third column of Table 5 provide some explanation of this otherwise anomalous finding. When the time period studied is changed from 1983-1994 to 1983-1989, the coefficient on School Nonwhite % is somewhat smaller, but still larger than its standard error. When third grade reading test scores are included, the coefficient on School Nonwhite % drops substantially, and in fact is less than its standard error. This suggests that the coefficients in the first and second columns are picking up some sort of unobserved heterogeneity in schools and neighborhoods, rather than a racial composition effect per seas This interpretation is reinforced by the results of the repeat-sales analysis. The coefficients on School Nonwhite % in the repeat-saxes analysis are never statistically significant, with some being negative and some positive in no particular pattern. (Complete regression results are available upon request:.) These results suggest that unobserved neighbor- hood heterogeneity is not completely accounted for by the various dummy variables in the hedonic regression. 25 The simple correlation between School Nonwhite % and Third Grade Reading Test Score is -0.33. When both variables are included in the analysis, they have opposite signs, as we would expect. However, the signs are in the "wrong" direction: test scores have a negative coefficient, while percent nonwhite has positive coefficient. Our interpretation is that these variables are proxying for unobserved heterogeneity among schools and neighborhoods. 304 BOGART AND CROMWELL School Quality and House Prices In a study that is closely related to this one, Black [1] focuses on the value of houses that are close to attendance district boundaries and uses test scores as a measure of school quality. She finds that a 5% increase in test scores increases house prices by about 2.5%, all else being equal. Our hedonic regression including reading test scores comes up with the surpris- ing result that test scores are negatively related to house values. We explain this finding iri three ways. First, the test scores do not vary systematically among the schools. (The year-to-year correlations are rela- tively low.) Second, the test scores are mainly serving as a proxy for unobservable heterogeneity among schools and neighborhoods. This inter- pretation is strengthened by the results of the repeat-sales analysis, in which the coefficients on reading scores are positive (with one exception) and usually statistically significant. Third, there is not a great deal of difference in the quality of the schools. Recall that all of the students in the various elementary schools attend the same high school, and that public policy in the school district is aimed at ensuring a consistent high level of academic quality. One final test of these results was to include third grade math test scores in the regressions. Whether they were entered separately or jointly with the reading scorc;s, including the math scores did not change the qualitative results reported here. (Complete regression results are avail- able upon request.) 5. CONCLUDING REMARKS This paper has presented evidence on a familiar question, the relation between local public schools and house prices. Our main result is that disrupting neighborhood schools reduces house values by 9.9%, all else being equal. We were also able to measure the value of providing trans- portation services, something that has not (to our knowledge) been done before. Instituting transportation services increases house values by 2.6%, all else being equal. Our findings are robust to alternative econometric specifications that focus on the unobservable heterogeneity across neigh- borhoods. The neighborhood schools effect is about $570 per year at a 1CI% discount rate. To put this number in perspective, consider that the mean school property tax rate for this period was about 60 mills, applied to an assessed value of 35% of market value. At the mean house price of about $58,000, this implies ari annual property tax bill for schools of about $1200. This neighborhood schools effect has an equivalent impact on house values of a fully capitalized 47.5% increase in property taxes. This is a substantial number, and one that indicates the importance of the way in which public schools are provided as well as how they are financed. NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS 3~J5 REFERENCES 1. S. E. Black, Do better schools matter? Parental valuation of elementary education, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114, 577-599 (1999). 2. W. T. Bogart and B. A. Cromwell, How much more is a good school district worth?, National Tax Journal, 50, 215-232 (1997). 3. T. Breckenridge, Shaker to pick 4 schools it plans to close, Plain Dealer, 21 January 1987, 6-B (1987). 4. T. Breckenridge, Shaker Heights agonizing over closing of four schools, Plain Dealer, 8 March 1987, 1-B andl continuing (1987). 5. T. Breckenridge, Shaker to close 4 grade schools, Plain Dealer, 11 March 1987, 1-A (1987). 6. K. E. Case and C. J. Mayer, Housing price dynamics within a metropolitan area, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 26, 387-407 (1996). 7. C. Clotfelter, The effect of school desegregation on housing prices, Review of Economics and Statistics, 57, 446-451 (1975). 8. C. Clotfelter, School desegregation as urban public policy, in "Current Issues in Urban Economics" (P. Mieszkowski and M. Straszheim, Eds.), Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore (1979). 9. P. Colwell and K. Guntermann, The value of neighborhood schools, Economics of Education Review, 3, 177-182 (1984). 10. B. A. Cromwell, "Pro-integrative Subsidies and Housing Markets: Do Race-based Loans Work?," Working Paper 9018, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (1990). 11. G. Galster, Neighborhood racial change, segregationist sentiments, and affirmative mar- keting policies, Jounial of Urban Economics, 27, 344-361 (1990). 12. H. L. Gill, Changes in city and suburban house prices during a period of expected school desegregation, Southern Economic Journal, 50, 169-184 (1983). 13. I. Haberman, "The Van Sweringens of Cleveland," Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland (1979). 14. G. Jordan, Shaker chief backs closing of 3 schools, argues for 2 others, Plain Dealer, 21 August 1984, A-21 (1984). 15. G. Jordan, Shaker Hts. board ends classes at Woodbury next fall, Plain Dealer, 26 September 1984, A-a and continuing (1984). 16. G. Jordan, Shaker Hts. bites bullet, axes school, Plain Dealer, 30 September 1984, A-25 and continuing (1984). 17. G. Jud and J. Watts, Schools and housing values, Land Economics, 57, 459-470 (1981). 18. W. D. Keating, "The Suburban Racial Dilemma," Temple University Press, Philadelphia (1994). 19. D. Molyneaux and S. Backman, Eds., "75 Years: An Informal History of Shaker Heights," Shaker Heights Publlic Library, Shaker Heights, OH (1987). 20. R. Oaxaca, Male-female; wage differentials in urban labor markets, International Eco- nomic Review, 14, 693-709 (1973). 21. E. Sullivan, Close 3 schools, panel urges, Plain Dealer, 13 June 1984, A-1 and continuing (1984). 22. E. Whelan, Surviving social upheaval in Shaker Heights, Cleveland Magazine, 14, 97--99, 152 (1985). 23. J. Yinger, H. S. Bloom, A. Borsch-Supan, and H. Ladd, "Property Taxes and House Values: The Theory and Estimation of Intrajurisdictional Property Tax Capitaliza- tion," Academic Press, New York (1988). Page 1 of 1 3, ("~~ Marian Karr From: Brandon Ross [brandonross@mchsi.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:02 PM To: Council Subject: Elementary schools letter All, Just one more person who believes in the council sending the letter regarding Roosevelt and Horn (and related schools), as I believe it is the job of the city council to steer the course when it comes to city charter and city plannning considerations. Alarge part of the community feels like it is being sacrificed. Not to mention such effected issues related to innfill development, carbon footprint, historic preservation, integrity of the fabric of old neighborhoods, as well as economic concerns of neighborhoods and the city. Sincerely, wit best regards, Brandon Ross. 2/24/2009 Page 1 of 1 3~ ~~~ Marian Karr From: Niki Neems [niki@rsvp-asap.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 11:12 AM To: Council Subject: Vote on letter of concern to the ICCSD Board We commend Matt Hayek, Mike Wright, Regenia Bailey and Connie Champion in voting in support of an open dialogue between the city and the school district, as it relates to planning and fund sharing. It is our opinion that both the school board and the city council are representative of our interest in being thoughtful community stewards when it comes to supporting a COMPREHENSIVE plan for all neighborhoods in our community. Niki and Ron Neems 1801 Morningside Drive Iowa City, Iowa 52245 2/24/2009 .:_ f Marian Karr From: Moreton, Melissa [melissa-moreton@uiowa.edu] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 6:31 PM To: Council Cc: bgotwals@shive~-hattery.com; Moreton, Melissa Subject: IN SUPPORT OF HORACE MANN! Dear City Council Members: We are writing you as residents of the Northside Neighborhood. I am a PhD stu-dent and teacher at the University of Iowa. My husband, Brian Gotwals, is an architect. in Iowa City. We bought our house four ye°ars ago and part of our decision to move to this historic neighborhood was its historic and diverse neighborhood school. We have many friends with children at Horace Mann and have only heard good things about this public school - its quality teachers, dedicated staff=, diverse student population, community outreach and integration with its neighborhood. We knew we wanted to have children and as two adult children of a public school education (with several advanced degrees!) we have always had a commitment to a quality public school education - so being close to Horace Mann was of utmost importance. We now do have a 3 year old and are expecting our second this fall. Aurelia, our 3 year old, should be going to Horace Mann in a couple of years, with her brother-to-be not far behind her. When my husband heard that Horace Mann might be closing, he said "that is reason enough to leave IOWA" - (not just the neighborhood!) I was shocked at his reaction - but understand his disdain and frustration. We made a commitment to this neighborhood, have invested in our home, participated in Horace Mann fundraisers, love where we live and WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL. We have absolutely NO INTEREST in living or commuting or sending our child to another neighborhood or to Coralville to go to school. We live 3 blocks from Horace Mann and want to WALK our children to school. I know that our family friends in the Longfellow and Roosevelt neighborhoods feel the same. I have not heard one family express any support for the destruction of their neighborhood schools. Let's invert in them, not take them down. Surely there is some creative solution to this dilemma. I think more research, thought and community feedback needs to be taken into consideration before allowing the School Board to vote on behalf of its communities and make this life- changing decisions about its neighborhood schools. Please urge them to take measures in support of our local schools. Sincerely, Melissa Moreton & Brian Gotwals (and Aurelia Moreton-Gotwals!) melissa-moretonCuiowa.edu bgotwals@shive-hattery.com (Horace Mann school district) 823 Ronalds Street Iowa City, IA 52245 tel: 319.354.5638 ~_ .~ Marian Karr From: Daniel Smith [dj:smith@buckledown.com] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 5:02 PM To: Council Subject: keep funding for' Horace Mann Dear City Council Members: Please do what you can to dissuade the school board from removing funding for the upkeep of Iowa City's older school buildings, notably Horace Mann. These schools area excellent, and they are economic anchors for the vitality of the city neighborhoods. If bussing became the norm for families within the city proper, we would see the beginning of the reduction of the economic base oi'_ the city. Thank you for your attention to t=his matter. Sincerely, Daniel J. Smith 418 N. Governor St. Iowa City, IA 52245 319.339.4334 1 Page 1 of l 3 ~~ C s~ Marian Karr From: Gidal, Eric [eric-gidal@uiowa.edu] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:57 AM To: Council Subject: SFIP To the Council: I am very disappointed that the City Council could not muster the consensus to ask that the ICCSD and the City should engage in consultation regardint; the district's Strategic Facilities Improvement Plan. Any reasonable understanding of the role of city government would suggest that the different elements of that government should work together towards coherent: urban planning. Regardless of one's individual opinion about the merits or faults of the current SFIP, to ask that the ICCSD seek consultation with city planners does not seem at all unreasonable. What is the use of having a city staff, ci1:y plan, city council, if they won't get involved in issues and plans that directly and significantly impact the city. Yours sincerely, Eric Gidal 328 Brown St. Iowa City 2/24/2009 Page 1 of 1 J Marian Karr From: Jill De Young [jgringer@hotrnail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1 1:57 AM To: Council Subject: letter of support Thank you for voting to start a dialogue with the School Board. I greatly appreciate your involvemE~nt in this issue and hope that working together a comprehensive plan and vision can be established for the Iowa City area that preserves our neighborhoods and schools. - Jill De Young, 21 Prospect Place, Iowa City, IA 52246 2/24/2009 -~~~~~ Marian Karr From: Helen Burford [hburford@mchsi.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 12:43 PM To: Council Subject: Responding to School Board Plans Members of Council It is disappointing to learn that= the Council cannot communicate with the School Board, especially when impact of the act=ions of the School Board pay no attention to the Central Plan nor the Iowa City Comprehensive Plan. The Council should entreat the School Board to cooperate and include the City in its planning process. Disappointed. Helen Burford 1 Page 1 of 1 3~ ~~~ Marian Karr From: ps_1915@yahoo.com Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1:11 PM To: Council Cc: toni.cilek@iccsd.k12.ia.us; mike.cooper@iccsd.kl2.ia.us; patti.fields@iccsd.k12.ia.us; gayle.klouda@iccsd.k12.ia.us; timm.krumm@iccsd.k12.ia.us; jan.leff@iccsd.k12.ia.us; michael.shaw@iccsd.k12.ia.us Subject: City of Iowa City and the ICCSD Dear Members of the Iowa City City Council: To those of you who are not supportive of sending a letter to the ICCSD requesting that the two entities have better communication: 1 am disappointed to learn that while, on the one hand, you support the Southwest and Central District plans for the City of Iowa City which include neighborhood schools in these areas, and yet on the other hand you are not willing to engage in communication with the Iowa City Community School District concerning their proposal to close Roosevelt and build a new school in an area of town which, at this point, has not yet been developed. T'he proposed new school site is land was donated to the ICCSD by Southgate Companies, a developer who stands only to gain by moving forward with the "new Roosevelt ." But, of course, that was why they donated the land in the first place, and the prospective school placement has been touted on their website for several years. Now thereality of "If :you build it, they will come" is within their sight. Pm sure they, and other developers, are monitoring these events as they unfold and are looking down the road towards future housing developments, complete with new schools on donated land. The precedent has been set. It will influence the shape of Iowa City for years to cone. Please rethink your position. To those of you who are supportive of sending a letter to the ICCSD requesting that the two entities have better communication regarding where they focus their resources: Thank you. Thank you for your willingness to become engaged with the ICCSD and work ~rogether in planning for the betterment of the whole of the Iowa City area, not just the special interests of development companies who are looking out for themselves. Please continue to pursue all avenues of cooperation and conununication between the City of Iowa City and the ICCSD. Thank you for your time, Paula Swygard 2/24/2009 Page 1 of 1 3 (~~ Marian Karr From: Tim Weitzel [tweitzel.email@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1:30 PM To: Council Subject: Support Governmental Coordination I am not going to suggest that Council should have the power to select the curriuculm, to approve school board members or to hire teachers. Certainly we all pay school taxes--and until recently I did so without a second thought. Howver, I do maintian it is in the best interest of Iowa City for its government to seel< out cooperative planning with the Iowa City School District. Anyone who has studied or observed urban planning in action can see the effects that closing or moving schools has on the surrounding residential areas. This is a city issue as much as a school district issue. Iowa City recently invested, at the direction of a large number of its residents, to develop the Central Distrrct Plan. That plan involved many hours of public input. It was an open and a participatory process. Among the many goals that you as our Coucil recently approved is to redevelop our urban core. Along with that, expert advice from planning staff recommended the mainatainace of the existing historic schools, also which you recently approved. I would suggest it is in the best interest of our communtty and it is the business of Council to be involved in the planning of the community and part of that planning should include the location of our conununity schools. As I understand it, our City has provided support to the school district in various ways. I think it is time that C'oucil ask for a seat at the table to discuss issues of communty wide importance such as the placement of schools. Council members O'Donnell, Correia, and Wilburn: I ask that you reconsider your position and join Bailey, Hyak, Wright, and Champion. If not that, then I ask the majority to make the motion and vote to send a letter reflecting the majority. It is in the best interests of the community to do so. Sincerely, Tim Weitzel ?/24/2009 3~ ~~) Marian Karr From: Diana Colgan [colgandiana@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1:40 PM Ta: Council Subject: Concern about 1:he school board's plan Dear City Council Members, I am writing to express my concern about the plan the school board has concerning Iowa City's elementary schools. I belsieve this plan lacks long-term vision that will not only degrade the quality of Iowa City's educational offerings but also threaten the small town appeal for which Iowa City is farnous. The school board has also recently responded to criticism by claiming that it= is too late to disagree with the proposal. I heartily disagree. If they had fairly and o~>enly put together the plans, garnering the input of the very people paying for the schools, they would be voting on a very differf°nt proposal. It is THEIR responsibility, as elected officials, to coordinate gathering community input. It is THEIR responsibility to be accountable to the people paying for these schools. Now is the time to do things right by changing course. We are at a pivotal point. We can leave a legacy that makes education in Iowa City uniquely outstanding, by supporting an environment of smaller schools in downtown neighborhoods. (This lifestyle is truly threatened, at a sad cost to all.) I have written the board asking ahem to vote down the plan and vote to support the small schools, embedded in the neighborhoods they serve. I hope they will see it is important to leave a legacy ensures Iowa City will endure as an educational example for the rest of the country. Sincerely, Diana Colgan, PhD -I r 5c 24 February 2009 The Honorable Terrence Neuzil, Chair Johnson County Board of Supervisors 913 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Terrence and Members of the Board, ~~'= V~ ~ ~W,~~ CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240- 1826 (319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www.icgov.or~, Johnson County has received an application from Richard Wonick to rezone approximately 40 acres from agricultural (A) to residential (R) located in Fringe Area A along the east side of Buchmayer Bend. At its February 5, 2009, meeting, the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission recommended, by a vote of 6-0, that the City Council forward a letter to the Board of Supervisors indicating that the City finds the requested rezoning is not in compliance with the Fringe Area Policy Agreement (FAP.A). The Commission believes that the request is inconsistent with the policies contained within the Fringe Area Agreement for Area A. The FAPA standards state that RS zoning may be considered "if the application to rezone includes a concept plan showing a minimum of 50% of the property designated as an outlot for open space or agriculture." The submitted concept plan does not meet the standard. Moreover, the proposed rezoning would lead to the development of land that is currently in agricultural production, preserving no land for such use. We understand that the County is considering an amendment to the County Land Use Map that would, if approved, remove the subject property from the County's growth area boundary. In this case, because the property is located outside of the Iowa City Growth Boundary, it is most appropriate for the County to determine whether the proposed rezoning is consistent with County Land Use Policy. If a rezoning is approved, staff would recommend that Buchmayer Bend be improved to meet County road performance standards and that the applicant address stormwater detention as well as ownership and management of the outlot. Sincerely, Regenia Bailey Mayor City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: February 5, 2009 To: Planning and Zoning Commission From: Sarah Walz RE: Item CZ09-00002 2939 Buchmayer Bend NE BACKGROUND INFORMATION The applicant, Richard Wonick, is requesting a rezoning from Agriculture (A) to Residential (R) for approximately forty (39.92) acres of land located on the East side of Buchmayer Bend NE, a gravel road, and west of Highway One in Newport Township. While the subject property is outside the city limits of Iowa City and outside the growth area, it is within the area covered by the Fringe Area Policy Agreement. The applicant has submitted a concept plan illustrating his intent to subdivide the 40-acre parcel into 19 lots with 17.96 acres of open space. ANALYSIS Existing Land Use and Zoning The subject property is zoned for agricultural uses and most of it is used for grain production. Land abutting the subject property to the north and west is zoned agricultural, save for properties to the southwest along Jenn Lane, which are zoned Residential (R) and developed as a 10-lot subdivision. Properties east of Highway One, along Running Deer Road and Penny and Fox Lanes, mostly consist of R or R3 developments, however the development is limited in the area between Highway One and Newport Road (to the west) where land is mostly agricultural fields or woodland. Infrastructure Vehicle access to all nineteen proposed lots would be provided along three cul de sacs extending from Buchmeyer Bend NE. The applicant has indicated that the cul de sacs would be built to County subdivision standards, but has not addressed the condition or upgrading of Buchmayer Bend, which is currently a gravel road. Staff believes that if a rezoning is approved for this area, Buchmayer Bend should be brought up to County road performance standards, which would likely include conversion to a chip-seal surface. The 1-acre lots would be served by individual septic systems and three community wells will provide water service to the entire development. The applicant has not addressed stormwater detention for the development. Compliance with Comprehensive Plan The Fringe Area Agreement, an element of the Iowa City Comprehensive Plan, is intended to provide guidance regarding the development of land located within two miles of Iowa City's corporate limits. The stated purpose of the agreement is to provide for orderly and efficient Page 2 development patterns appropriate to anon-urbanized area, protect and preserve the fringe area's natural resources and environmentally sensitive features, direct development to areas with physical characteristics which can accommodate development, and effectively and economically provide services for future growth and development. The agreement states that any rezoning for property outside Iowa City's Growth Area will be considered "on the basis of conformity with the Johnson County Land Use Plan and other related policies." At this time a proposed amendment to the County Land Use Map is under consideration. If approved, the amendment would remove the subject property from the county's growth area boundary and rezoning the property for non-agricultural uses would not likely be approved. The Fringe Area Agreement indicates that R zoning, which allows one-acre lots, will be considered if the submitted concept plans shows "a minimum of 50% of the property designated as open space or agriculture". The proposed plan does not meet the 50% standard. The proposed "common open space" is somewhat amorphous-it appears to be left over land at the margins of the development rather than open space intended to serve a collective purpose for the development. (The applicant has not defined an ownership arrangement for longterm management of the outlot.) It is not clear whether the outlot is designed to preserve sensitive environmental features or agricultural land. Moreover, the requested rezoning would allow conversion of farmland to residential use, which runs contrary to the goals of the County Land Use Plan. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Because the application does not meet the 50% open space requirement in the Fringe Area Agreement, Staff would recommend against approving the current plan. Moreover, rezoning this property for non-agricultural uses appears inconsistent with the proposed map change now under consideration and with the County's stated goals for preserving agricultural land. In this case, because the property is located outside of the Iowa City Growth Boundary, it is most appropriate for the County to determine whether the proposed rezoning is consistent with County land use policy. If a rezoning is approved, staff would recommend that Buchmayer Bend be improved to meet County road performance standards and that the applicant address stormwater detention as well as ownership and management of the outlot. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Location Map 2. Aerial Photograph 3. Concept plan Approved by: ~' Robert Miklo, Senior Planner, Department of Planning and Community Development i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -- -- ~ -- - _--- -~-- - -__ _...._ I_ --- z ~ ------____ o ~~'~'' o -- ~ - ~ ~ ~~ _ _ -._.. - N V 1 - 1 _,. - --- ~;i ~_---~ _.~ ~~,,. -~- - .., ... ~--~Lj __ .. .- ~ 1 ~ , ~' ~~ _, .\ o I I `, \ 3 I~ \ -C ``~ C 1 I I I ~~A __._ '~: O U r_, w 1 I 1-'7 I 1/-i. v „w a ~ ~ ~~ o ~ i ~j. _ i - ~ _ i ~ V -~, ~ € ~ W ~- ~-+ ' ~"'' ,: ~~ /~. I ^I j January 30, 2009 Page 4 Aerial view of the area between Highway 1 and Newport Road. The proposed amendment to the County Land Use Map removes this area from the North Corridor Growth Boundary. aa~"x€."~n,y3m~ w~m z~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ WWO z z ~ x ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~~Ny h^ Wa~~~ a°~~E °~ ~ZQ6~.~~ E ~'~ ~z ~ c~ ~~~~o ~~ `2 W Z Z O w oc 1J.. nW I..L O _`V/J Y U z O ~~ ~§ ~ ~ ~~ $~_ W [V m u c°'o ~ a o u •' ~ u m m u v ~ A T y T A Q ~ ~I1991.. ~ ~ N a y ¢ E °i g ~ GG n ~_ II ~ J U ~ W ~ ~ ~' ~ ~ a ¢ v ~ 8 ; ° w ~ a a z m '6 l 5 '3 'S '9 ~ m ~~ ~ ~ ~< \~ 3 ~ ~ Z .S~ nr .. S-LI U. ~ F• ~ (n Y oo 6O `O Z/GL/i ~ 8 ' o0..1~t\CVti( Z \ !.' •- a ~~ ~ Om ~ ~ Z UW o ~ ~ ~ a - ,~ ~ ~ n~ _ N 2 Za Z ~ (A O 0 0 ~ Z o cf 3 n o c7 ~ ~o a 0 N ; ~ ~~ ~w 3a ~~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~ o ~ ~ w_ > ` 5 a ~ W ~~ 3 C ~ ^ ° ~ ~ N ~ ~ ~ N p 3 .° E r~ a ^ ~ V p ` 1 T N V.r ~ o op~.0 W z a:N ^ I p O JTit 03~~ ~°I °~EN~$&.~z~ga~~W,$~ Ba ~ ~ 4 $ N~~g-z J ~ z a~ ~ ~ ~'" a ~z 6 d~ ~ 0°~0 ~ 0 3 NCC3 ~~ ~ -~~"N ~3 '~,~cq o t ~ m .. ~~ ~ ~~ sIQ ~ p 4 yyp8~~ 'o L G ,~ ~ N C I N ~ m t~ O O ~ + V 1 ~ a ~ 2. A n ; p 3z~ i~°6 ~seo '° ~~ .v Y i o gg ~fio~~S ~ ' ~ i ~3 c °~~°~~'H ~a tom;; ~ 'Eo~g ` ~ b T q m~~ ~ ~ + Q ~'u ~ - " x i2Vd. `WC' Vl ~ ~ p'~ F 'O C 3 L ~ y~ [ c ~ ,O ~ L ~~ ~ e~a3~ ~ F 6ww ~~ ~o' ~ o a'P ~p V¢.. V .W y0 u W m C ~~ G~ ~.'O°°ay.~~~ { 2 ~~g °J°v Nay ac ret ~y ~ .g 9 a oh° w 3~sa~m"~o^~=~a€ma ~ a ~ ~ ~S3 ~~s 3~~ mm~j~v°m~-z~~ ~~guo m .~ 33` ~q aqo f pp~B ° ~ ma°'m~ ~~ evyyy'gy ~~`? qua ~' lil o ~ g '~~5 g ° y~ ¢os. `o 9'~3 m~.°'.n^_"m~~~m~maC ~an ~~5 [i Q .S a 0. a '~ .~ ~n ;~g~~ <~~<- W~o~o ~ ~ ~ ~ ::..>. ~~M~_ bMp ~J~l ~~~~0 a ". _ m n. - ~`- 4_ .. czar _.. ~ ~ .. _ //~ ti~_ ,o r cnsr rNe Nr M s[c zs .~, _ _ T ~ -~ M Y r ` IZ solve a6'c fise.zx _. t-7_~ _~_~'~ zogrs ,ra ~_-~ ~~ _ eZ J35 'A 1S 3NIl 16V3 1. . . . . . . . . . ~~'. . . . . ~ 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I ` ~ - =.; ~ ~ / 500'x) n2~F hex 65 z 1. . . . . . . ~ I ~ ~ ~ / ~ \ I .. ... .. CJ 15t r Y `.:,.,t.. i S~~~JJ r•~ ~ R 8 o n ~ ~+ ~~- ~R ~~~ , ~ U . .. .E - ~ .I..~ 2 ~. " ~~. e.. ~ ~p_ . ~ ~ ,! ..,i ,~ ~® ~ Q~~ --~~~Q _._ ~,~~ ~- N I ~ I 1; ~ '~ ~ ®' ~ ~~'-~ rcP W I ~ ~' ~ ~ - N ~ ®~ -{ ~\ I `~ ~ ~t~/ i1 ~~ 8 1 ~ I I ~"~~f j Q~~ ~'~~ h ~ ~ I ®~ ~ ~ ~ ~_- _ ` S #~ M ~~NS~.TL`~'AN~S, INS. M IOWA CITY IOWA I CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA OFFICE: 319-351-8282 OFFICE: 319-841-5188 Your Vision + Our Innovatiora =Inspired Results February 24, 2009 Project # 7342-002 City of Iowa City Planning & Zoning ~, Attn: City Clerk -Marian Karr cz, 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 Re: Bill Wonick -Johnson County Rezoning Application z I Dear Marian; r On behalf of our client, Bill Wonick, MMS Consultants, Inc. would like to indefinitely defer the review of the Wonick rezoning off of Buchmayer Bend in Johnson County. be making revisions on the exhibit this week and will be forwarding them to the City and the County for further review. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Respec~ully submitted, D r ~ Q2~.r..,~T- A- Sandra Steil r a z d a b m a x n~ -~ MMS Consultants, Inc. cc: Bob Miklo Bill Wonick RJ Moore 1917 S. GB_BERT ST. • IOWA CITY • IOWA 52440 WEBSITE: WWW.MMSCONSULTANTS.NET EMAIL: MMS@MMSCONSULTANTS.NET