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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-10 Info PacketI ® t ra�.'� swillfk��� 1 City Council Information Packet ti.at CITY OF IOWA CITY Ocbba-10, 2019 www.icgov.org IP1. Council Tentative Meeting Schedule October 14 Joint Entities Meeting IP2. Joint Entities Meeting Agenda October 15 Work Session IP3. Work Session Agenda: October 15 IP4. Memo from City Manager. Riverfront Crossing Form -Based Code Work Session Discussion IP5. Report from Opticos: Riverfront Crossing FBC Draft Assessment Memo I136. Pending City Council Work Session Topics Email from Mayor Throgmorton: Preliminary thoughts about FBC IP7. Memo from Assistant to the City Manager Kirkwood English Language Leamer program IP8. Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show IP9. Memo from Parks & Rec Director. October 15, 2019 at 11 a.m. - Public Tree Planting Event at North Market Square Park IP10. Article from City Manager. Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities IN 1. Article from Assistant City Manager. Top Challenges Municipalities are Facina with Changing Eriengy, Economic and Environmental Conditions IP12. Article from Assistant City Manager. Census 2020 Information Security Q and A IP13. Email from UISG Austin Wu: UISG Renter's Guide for 2019-2020 IP14. Iowa City Area Development: 2019 Annual Report IP15. Invitation: Multigenerational Center Grand Opening IPI 6. Civil Service Examination: Customer Service Representative: Transportation Services/Resource Management IPI 7. Civil Service Examination: Mass Transit Operator Draft Minutes IP18. Airport Commission: September 12 1 � i �►it U@.ii1kl CITY OE IOWA CITY wrr. wwcgow.org City Council Information Packet October 10, 2019 IN. C6 nal Tentative Meeting Schedule October 14 Joint Entities Meeting IP2. Joint es Meetina Aaenda / IP3. Work Sessi IN. Memo from Discussion IP5. Report torr IP6. Pendina Cit October 15 Work ida: October 15 Session T IP7. Memo from Assistant to the ' an er. Ki IP8. Memo from Ci Clerk: %Rio Show IP9. Memo from Parks & Re Director. ober 1 Plantigg Event at Nglodarket Sgu4e Park 1P1 0. Article from Citv Man er Climate Chal4ge C States and Cities F1 1. Article from Ass' tant CRy Manager Top QW with Chan-gincrtnergy, Economic and EnvirN 1P1 2. Article from 6istant Cily Mangger Census: IP13. Email fro • UISG Austin Wu: UISG Renter's IP14. Iowa C' Area Development: 2019 Annual R IP15. In ' on: Multi -generational Center Grand O IP16. ' 'I Service Examination: Customer Service Draft IP17. Civil Service Examination: Mass Transit Operator Dry Minutes 1P1 8. Airport Commission: September 12 Work Session Costlier Item Number: 1. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule ATTACHMENTS: Description Council Tentative Meeting Schedule as of 10-10-19 r 1 City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule Subject to change CITE IOWA CITY October 10, 2019 Date Time Meeting Location Monday, October 14, 2019 4:00 PM Reception City of Iowa City 4:30 PM Joint Entities Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, October 15, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Monday, November 4, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, November 19, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, December 3, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, December 17, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, December 17, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Thursday, January 2, 2020 8:00 AM Special Formal (Organizational Meeting) Emma J. Harvat Hall Saturday, January 4, 2020 7:30 AM Breakfast on a Budget Reception Emma J. Harvat Hall 8:00 AM Budget Work Session Tuesday, January 7, 2020 3:00 PM Budget Work Session (CIP) Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, January 21, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, February 4, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, February 11, 2020 7:00 PM Joint Meeting with UISG 125 N. Madison Street Black Box Theater -Room #360 Tuesday, February 18, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, March 3, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, March 24, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, April 7, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, April 21, 2020 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Joint Entities Meeting Agenda ATTACHMENTS: Description Joint Entities Meeting Agenda Item Number: 2. r JOINT MEETING AGENDA!�-=,-r p IX Invitees: �Z__q Johnson County Board of Supervisors University of Iowa CITY OF IOWA CITY Cities: UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE Coralville; Hills; Iowa City; Lone Tree; North Liberty; Oxford; Shueyville; Solon; Swisher; Tiffin; University Heights School Boards: Clear Creek; Iowa City Monday, October 14, 2019 Reception 4:00 PM; Meeting 4:30 PM Harvat Hall — City Hall 1. Call to order 2. Welcome and introductions 3. Update on the Guideway Access Center by Matt Miller, Project Manager and Susie Nehring, Assistant Johnson County Attorney (Johnson County) 4. Update on the Childcare Summit by Jennifer Banta, Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce 5. Explore interest in a future discussion on the multi -family and hotel building expansion in Johnson County communities (Iowa City) 6. Other Updates 7. Public comment 8. Schedule next meeting 9. Adjourn (Entity in parenthesis has asked for the item to be placed on the agenda) Item Number: 3. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Work Session Agenda: October 15 ATTACHMENTS: Description Work Session Agenda: October 15 Ir AMM CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX 1vww,lC8ov.0rg City Council Work Session Agenda Tuesday, October 15, 2019 Emma J. Harvat Hall - City Hall 5:00 PM • Review of RFC Form Based Code changes recommended by Opticos, and discuss possible changes to the density bonus provisions and height allowances [IP3, IP4] • Clarification of Agenda Items • Information Packet Discussion [October 3, October 10] • Council updates on assigned board, commissions, and committees Item Number: 4. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Memo from City Manager: Riverfront Crossing Form -Based Code Work Session Discussion I_1ir_ ll:ILvi14zkI&_5 Description Memo from City Manager: Riverfront Crossing Form -Based Code Work Session Discussion r -ZZ. -4 CITY OF IOWA CITY `Q�w MEMORANDUM Date: October 10, 2019 To: Mayor and Council From: Geoff Fruin, City Manager Re: Riverfront Crossings Form -Based Code Work Session Discussion Earlier this year, the City Council noted a desire to review certain aspects of the Riverfront Crossings Form -Based Code, which was adopted in June of 2014. To aid this discussion, staff has attached a review of the code recently completed by Opticos, a recognized leader in form - based codes across the country. This third -party review was initiated by staff and approved by Council with the recognition that there has been significant building in the Riverfront Crossings District in the approximately five years since the code was adopted. The third -party review was aided from input from a sampling of developers, architects and engineers that have been directly involved with projects that have utilized the form -based code. With plenty of redevelopment potential still remaining in the district, it is a good time to take a look at the code and the built environment that has been constructed with it in place. As expected, there are several areas that probably need revisiting. Some of those items are noted in the Opticos report and will be considered by staff as time permits in 2020-21. Additionally, the City Council has expressed interest in revisiting the height bonus portion of the form -based code. Among the questions raised include whether height bonus maximums are appropriately set and whether the criteria for achieving height bonuses generate commensurate public benefit. Copied below is the text from the Iowa City Zoning Code that covers height bonuses. G. Building Height Bonus Provisions: The building height bonus provisions provide an incentive for developments to incorporate features that provide a public benefit or that further important goals and objective of the downtown and riverfront crossings master plan according to the eligible bonuses set forth in this section. 1. Review Process: Request for building height bonuses will be reviewed by the FBC Committee through the design review process according to the following rules. If Level 11 design review is required the proposal must also be approved by the City Council. a. Bonus height up to two (2) additional stories above the applicable subdistrict height standard may be approved through a Level I design review. b. A Level 11 design review is required for a height bonus that exceeds two (2) stories above the maximum height established for the applicable subdistrict. c. A Level 11 design review is required for open space height transfers, historic preservation height transfers and public right-of-way height transfers. d. Multiple height bonuses or transfers may be applied to one (1) site, however, the resulting height may not exceed the following maximums: (1) Fifteen (15) stories maximum for properties within the South Downtown, University, and Park Subdistricts. (2) Twelve (12) stories maximum for properties within the West Riverfront Subdistrict that have frontage along the Iowa River. October 10, 2019 Page 2 (3) Eight (8) stories maximum for properties within the Central Crossings and South Gilbert Subdistricts. (4) Five (5) stories maximum for properties within the Gilbert Subdistrict and properties within the West River -front Subdistrict that do not have frontage along the Iowa River. However, bonus height is not allowed on lots that abut a residential zone. (Ord. 16-4675, 9-20-2016) (5) Height bonuses are not allowed in the Eastside Mixed Use District and Orchard Subdistrict. (Ord. 16-4675, 9-20-2016; amd. Ord. 17-4705, 5-16-2017) (6) In no case shall the building height exceed the maximum height allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). e. All requests for bonus height shall meet the applicable approval criteria. All proposals shall demonstrate excellence in building and site design, use high quality building materials, and be designed in a manner that contributes to the quality and character of the neighborhood. The resulting development must meet all other applicable zoning standards. Bonus height is granted solely at the discretion of the City based on the quality of the proposal. For buildings receiving height transfers or granted bonus height, additional upper floor stepbacks may be required to help reduce the mass and scale of the building as it relates to surrounding development and public open space. 2. Open Space Height Transfers: The following transfer of development rights and corresponding height bonus provides an incentive for the development of needed public open space as envisioned in the downtown and riverfront crossings master plan: a. Eligibility.- The open space height transfer is an option for sites that meet the following criteria: (1) Minimum size of the open space dedication is twenty thousand (20,000) square feet; and (2) The site must have sufficient frontage on a public street or future public street so that it is highly visible and accessible to the public or is land that can be added to an existing park or land that is suitable for development into a park node along a stream or river corridor trail, and (3) The site is designated on the riverfront crossings regulating plan as green space; or if the site is not designated as green space on the regulating plan, the applicant must demonstrate through a level 11 design review process that the site is ideally located to serve the need for public open space for people living or working in the area and the city parks and recreation department approves the site. b. Requirements: (1) The area designated for the open space must be dedicated to the city as a public park. (2) All buildings and structures that will not be retained for park purposes must be removed and the land graded and seeded to the satisfaction of the city, unless the city council approves an alternative arrangement. c. Transfer Of Development Rights: (1) The floor area that results from multiplying the number of stories allowed at the sending site as specified in the applicable subdistrict standards by the acreage of the sending site may be transferred to one or more eligible site(s) within the riverfront crossings district. For example, if the land being dedicated for public open space is located in the park subdistrict and is twenty thousand (20,000) square feet in size, then one hundred twenty thousand (120,000) square feet of floor area (20,000 x 6) may be transferred to one or more eligible sites and the resulting building or buildings October 10, 2019 Page 3 on the receiving sites may exceed the height limit of the respective subdistrict, within the limits established in this section. (2) The resulting building or buildings on the receiving site(s) may not exceed the maximums stated within subsection G 1 d of this section. 3. Historic Preservation Height Transfers: The following transfer of development rights and corresponding height bonus provides an incentive for the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic properties: a. Eligibility: The historic preservation height transfer is an option for sites that meet the following criterion: (1) The site from which the height transfer is requested (sending site) is designated as an Iowa City landmark, eligible for landmark designation, registered on the national register of historic places, or listed as a historically significant building as determined by the survey and evaluation of the historic and architectural resources for the vicinity. b. Requirements: (1) If the sending site has not already been designated as an Iowa City landmark, the applicant must apply for and obtain approval of this designation as a condition of the transfer of development rights; and (2) All historic buildings and structures on the sending site must be preserved against decay, deterioration, and kept free from structural defects by the owner or such person, persons, or entities who may have custody or control thereof, according to the provisions of section 14-3B-7, "Prevention Of Demolition By Neglect", of this title. c. Transfer Of Development Rights: (1) The floor area that results from multiplying the number of stories allowed at the sending site as specified in the applicable subdistrict standards by the acreage of the sending site may be transferred to one or more eligible site(s) within the riverfront crossings district. For example, if the land being preserved as a historic landmark is located in the central crossings subdistrict and is twenty thousand (20, 000) square feet in size, then eighty thousand (80,000) square feet of floor area (20,000 x 4) may be transferred to one or more eligible sites and the resulting building or buildings on the receiving sites may exceed the height limit of the respective subdistrict, within the limits established in this section. (2) The resulting building or buildings on the receiving site(s) may not exceed the maximums stated within subsection G1d of this section. 4. Public Right -Of -Way Height Transfers: The following transfer of development rights and corresponding height bonus provides an incentive for dedication of land for public rights-of-way necessary to realize the vision of the Riverfront Crossings master plan: a. Eligibility: The public right-of-way height transfer is an option for sites that meet the following criterion: (1) The land proposed for dedication (sending site) is needed in order to construct or improve rights-of-way necessary to realize the vision of the Riverfront Crossings master plan. b. Requirements: (1) The subject land must be dedicated to the City for use as public right-of-way. (2) All buildings and structures on the land to be dedicated must be removed, unless the City Council approves an alternative arrangement. c. Transfer Of Development Rights: October 10, 2019 Page 4 (1) The floor area that results from multiplying the number of stories allowed at the sending site as specified in the applicable subdistrict standards by the acreage of the sending site may be transferred to one or more eligible site(s) within the Riverfront Crossings District. For example, if the land being dedicated for public right-of-way is located in the South Gilbert Subdistrict and is twenty thousand (20, 000) square feet in size, then one hundred twenty thousand (920, 000) square feet of floor area (20,000 x 6) may be transferred to one or more eligible sites and the resulting building or buildings on the receiving sites may exceed the height limit of the respective subdistrict, within the limits established in this section. (2) The resulting building or buildings on the receiving site(s) may not exceed the maximums stated within subsection G1 d of this section. 5. Height Bonus For Class A Office Space: Two (2) additional floors of building height may be granted for every floor of Class A office space provided. To qualify for this bonus, the office space must be located on floors above the ground floor of the building and meet the definition of Class A office space as stated below. Only nonresidential uses shall be allowed in the designated Class A office space. As defined by the Building Owners and Managers Association international (BOMA), Class A office space is space that is of a quality that is attractive for premier office users with rents above average for the area. Class A office buildings have high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and a definite market presence. (Ord. 16-4675, 9-20-2096) 6. Height Bonus For Public Art: One additional floor of building height may be granted for a contribution to the City's public art program equal to one percent (1 %) of threshold value of the project. Threshold value is the sum of all construction costs shown on all building permits associated with the project, including site preparation. For alterations to existing development, the threshold value is the sum of all construction costs as defined above plus the value of existing improvements to the property, as listed in the City Assessor's records. Funds contributed shall be used by the City for public art within the Riverfront Crossings District as approved by the Public Art Committee. (Ord. 18-4770, 11-20-2018) 7. Height Bonus For Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design: Up to four (4) additional floors of building height may be granted for projects that are designed to meet high standards with regard to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, according to LEED or other similar environmental or energy efficiency rating system. In general, the higher the level of energy efficiency or environmental stewardship demonstrated, the greater the bonus. The amount of bonus granted will be based on the overall quality of the project. Bonus height may also be granted for projects that are designed to minimize the impact of stormwater runoff on the environment through the use of bioswales, rain gardens, greenroofs, rainwater harvesting, and stream bank stabilization and restoration along Ralston Creek or the Iowa River, as described in the riverfront crossings district subarea plan adopted in April 2011. Any such green feature(s) must be designed using best management practices and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the city that the design will be successful given applicable factors, such as soil conditions, access to sunlight, topography, etc. A long term maintenance plan must accompany any proposal for such green features. 8. Height Bonus For Student Housing: Up to five (5) floors of additional building height may be granted for projects that are ideally located and designed to provide a high quality living environment for college students. a. Location: To qualify for this bonus, projects must be located on land that: (1) Is within the University Subdistrict, South Downtown Subdistrict, or the West Riverfront Subdistrict; and October 10, 2019 Page 5 (2) Is within one thousand feet (1,000) walking distance along public rights-of-way from the University of Iowa campus as defined for these purposes and illustrated on the regulating plan, section 14-2G-2, figure 2G-1 of this article. b. Management, Design And Amenities: (1) An enforceable plan for on site management and security must be submitted to and approved by the City; (2) For projects with two hundred (200) or more bedrooms, professional twenty four (24) hour on site management and security must be provided. A professionally staffed management office/reception desk must be provided in the entrance lobby of the building; (3) Interior and exterior usable shared open space must be provided with amenities that create a high quality living environment for students. The management plan must include adequate provisions for management, maintenance, and security of such spaces; (4) A secure bicycle parking/storage area shall be provided and maintained within the building or parking garage; (5) The owner shall maintain a valid rental permit and comply with all applicable City codes; (6) The City reserves the right to inspect the property to verify compliance with these provisions. 9. Height Bonus For Hotel Space: One additional floor of building height may be granted for every floor of high quality hotel space. The additional building height may be used for additional hotel space or for other uses. The resulting building must demonstrate excellence in building and site design as demonstrated through use of high quality building materials, architectural detailing, building amenities, landscaping and streetscaping elements, and similar. 10. Height Bonus For Workforce Or Affordable Housing: Up to five (5) floors of additional building height may be granted for projects that designate a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the dwelling units within the development as "affordable housing", as defined in section 14-2G-8 of this article and regulated in accordance therewith. 11. Height Bonus For Elder Housing: Up to five (5) floors of additional building height may be granted for projects where all or a portion of the dwelling units are designed to provide a high quality living environment for elders or persons with disabilities. The project must satisfy the following criteria: a. The development is designed for use and occupancy by elders and/or persons with disabilities; b. All individual dwelling units and any communal space must be handicap accessible, as defined in the Iowa Administrative Code; c. No more than ten percent (10%) of all individual dwelling units within the project can contain more than two (2) bedrooms; d. Prior to issuance of the building permit, the owner must submit an affidavit to the City that all designated dwelling units will be reserved for and occupied by elders and/or persons with disabilities, e. The units may be renter or owner occupied. If rented, the owner shall maintain a valid rental permit, unless the use is licensed by the State of Iowa; and f. The City reserves the right to inspect the property to verify compliance with these provisions. (Ord. 16-4675, 9-20-2016) October 10, 2019 Page 6 It is likely that a conversation on this topic will span several meetings and may need to be divided into smaller topic areas for appropriate focus. At the October 15th work session, staff is seeking some general direction from Council on the level of policy discussions that you wish to have in the future about the code. Knowing what items you are comfortable with staff prioritizing and which items require further policy discussion will help us prioritize workload for the coming year. Item Number: 5. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Report from Opticos: Riverfront Crossing FBC Draft Assessment Memo ATTACHMENTS: Description Memo from Opticos: Riverfront Crossing FBC Draft Assessment Memo O PTK05 07/11/19 To: Anne Russett City of Iowa City 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52245 From: Tony Perez, Senior Associate Subject: Riverfront Crossings FBC Draft Assessment Memo As directed by Task A.1 in the scope of work, Opticos and LWC reviewed the above code for content, internal consistency, usability, and general technical performance. In addition, we reviewed the comments you provided to us from the development community and local architects. The following is our collective analysis of the code along with recommendations for improvement. Overall. The code has been in effect since June 2014 and has produced 14 new buildings. Their overall quality is good to high with some exceptions as described throughout this memo. Overall, we have made the following major observations. The analysis supporting these and other observations is attached to this summary: A. Certain Standards are not Necessary. Several of the code's regulations are not necessary to achieve good quality buildings. • Upper story fagade stepback (standard within each subdistrict). As written, this standard is ineffective at reducing the perceived scale of buildings over 5 stories and complicates the design while adding cost. The stepback should only be applied to buildings 5 stories or less and increased from the current 10 feet minimum to at least 15 feet or the standard should be eliminated entirely. Building Types (section 14-2G-5). We typically include building types in the codes we write but here, as written, we recommend removing them. The standards do not currently provide enough information to be effective in guiding the physical form. We have found that building types are most effective in contexts where buildings are detached, 5 or less stories, and where the spaces or adjacencies between buildings are a major concern. In the RFC, after applying bonus height, only the Orchard, Eastside and Gilbert subdistricts are planned for 5 or less stories. The majority of the RFC is for large and tall buildings. These standards should be revised to only apply to Orchard, Eastside, and Gilbert or be eliminated entirely. • Parking Types (14-2G-6). The section provides information about the types of parking approaches but does not include numerical standards. The location of and access to parking is addressed in the subdistrict standards and the ratio of off-street parking spaces is already addressed in section 14-5A-4 of the Zoning Code. The section should be removed entirely or moved to definitions. Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 12.5, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com • Fa4ade Composition (14 -2G -7 -F -1-C). This section limits the maximum horizontal length of upper floor facades to 50 feet. This is appropriate for less intense areas such as Orchard, Eastside and Gilbert but is too limiting in areas where large buildings are expected. This limitation should be limited to less intense subdistricts and either removed from the other areas or changed to 100 feet. • Upper story height Limitation (14 -2G -7-F-4). This standard limits upper stories to 14 feet in height. The limitation is applied to all buildings and could prevent creative upper story unit design, especially in larger buildings. This limitation should be removed entirely or at least not applied to buildings over 4 stories. • Roof Design (14 -2G -7-F-6). Two of the code's 10 building types are required to have pitched roofs. This is unnecessary given that there are many appealing examples of these building types with a parapet roof. Given the large scale of buildings throughout Riverfront Crossings, we recommend removing this section entirely. The above issues have led to a situation where the code content is not fully supported by the development and design community, resulting in a disconnect between what the standards require and why they are being required. In talking with stakeholders, most recently in February 2019, city staff received feedback about how developers and architects feel stifled by the standards and are directed to a limited set of potential outcomes. While it is the purpose of standards to direct development into a certain set of potential outcomes, this code is perceived to be unnecessarily limiting. In our experience, this reflects that the standards were not clearly established through a process that would have laid out the code's content for feedback and improvement or removal. The RFC master plan certainly had such a process but it's clear that the RFC code did not because of the substantial number of standards that are being questioned as to their relevance. B. Unhelpful or confusing content. Some of the code's content is not helpful to understanding the code's intent or the type of development allowed. For example, the description of the maximum height allowed in each subdistrict is different after applying potential bonuses. It's understandable that every possible combination of bonuses could be confusing to the reader. However, it's more confusing to read the maximum height for the subdistrict and then need to go near the end of the code for the bonuses and additional available height. The bonus section can still be its own section but the maximum bonus possible in each subdistrict needs to be disclosed in the subdistrict. C. The Code is not easy to use. The third overall observation is that the code has many areas of good content but it's not consistently clear or easy to use. The code's visual organization and numbering make it difficult to navigate through the content. Further, the content is dominated by text and would be easier to use if the amount of text was reduced and tables and diagrams were added. The code needs to be refined in some areas and heavily revised in others. At the end of this memo, we have identified some 'priority items'that can begin to improve the code's content and how it's used. 2 Opticos Design, Inc. . 2100 R4ilvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, C:?, 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com Regulating Plan Diagrams. The code uses two diagrams to identify the subdistricts and one diagram to identify the allowed height in each subdistrict. The diagrams need to direct the reader to the subdistrict standards. Currently, the reader needs to refer to the table of contents to find the reference. This should be provided in the key for each subdistrict. The height diagram only identifies the maximum height allowed without height bonuses but does not state this for the reader. The key needs to include the maximum height for each subdistrict with and without maximum bonuses. Last, we recommend that the three diagrams be consolidated into one and have sketched a version that is attached. Too Many Zoning Districts. The code identifies 9 subdistricts and after reviewing the intended physical form, we recommend that they be consolidated into a total of 4. We show the recommended consolidation of subdistricts on the attached regulating plan sketch. D. Rezoning Required for Every Project. The current process requires each applicant to receive approval of a zone change to the subdistrict(s) identified on the regulating plan diagram , adding uncertainty and time to the process. In our experience, it is common to apply the new zoning to all parcels within the code boundaries as part of the code adoption process. This combined with a tiered system for project approvals based on size, certain uses, or both, removes the need to use the rezoning process as the tool for accomplishing the same thing. This approach enables projects that comply with the standards and are below the size or use threshold to be processed administratively, adding certainty and cutting time out of the process. Analysis. The analysis on the following pages elaborates on the above summary and includes additional observations. The analysis provided in the order that the content appears in the code. 3 Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125. Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com 1. Applicability (14 -2 -G -1.C). The section provides typical statements for the application of the FBC standards and includes provisions regarding inconsistency or conflict between provisions. However, this section does not clearly identify when for example, the frontage type standards apply to an existing building. Or, when do the massing standards of a building type apply to a major renovation? Language is needed for when the standards apply to existing buildings. Regarding open space requirements, the text in section 14- 2G -7-E is clear for when the requirement applies but nothing in the code refers you to this section to know that it applies, leaving the reader to go through the table of contents to find the section. Open space requirements should be identified in each 'subdistrict', referring the reader to the section on open space standards. The section includes a definition for "grade" which is out of place as this term belongs in the definitions section of the code. Including the single definition here could be confusing to a code user, especially given that there is not a cross-reference to definitions in Chapter 9 of the Zoning Code. Either the definitions unique to the FBC should be included in a separate definitions section within the FBC or, they need to be added to Chapter 9. We also recommend that this section include a 'road map' for typical types of projects either in table format or simple flowcharts that show the required steps in the process. For example, what is the process for a new building? Is that process different for buildings over a certain size? What's the process for minor adjustments? What's the process for an addition or renovation? It's helpful to show the required steps to prospective applicants and it reduces the questions of staff about processing steps, timing, etc. Regulating Plan (section 14-2G-2). The section describes the regulating plan as one diagram but it's really three diagrams: one that identifies 8 of the 9 subdistricts, a second for the Eastside subdistrict, and a third that identifies maximum building height in each subdistrict. Regulating Plan. The diagram identifies the subdistricts and additional frontage and open space requirements but does not direct the reader where to find the requirements. This leaves the reader to go to the table of contents or hunt for it in the document. In addition, the code does not clearly establish the role of non - zoning district information shown on the diagrams (i.e., Green Space, Required Retail Storefront, Required Ralston Creek Frontage). What is the responsibility of the applicant for these items? Are these guidelines or standards? How are the locations and length shown of the 'Required Retail Storefront' to be interpreted? The graphic symbol is not applied consistently and raises the question of whether or not the identified length is intended to be proportional to the lot. In addition, some requirements on the regulating plan have no standards. For example, we could not find standards for the 'green space' and the 'required retail storefront' requirements. How are these requirements implemented? We recommend two additions to the code: 1) the key for the diagram needs to include the code 4 Opricos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 12.5, Berkeley, CA 94704 : 510.558.6957 , opticosclesign.com section for the above requirements, and 2) the missing standards need to be added. b. Building Height Diagram. The diagram identifies the minimum and maximum number of stories for each subdistrict. However, it states that these are only the 'base' heights and that additional standards may apply that could change the 'base'. This does not properly disclose the height that could be allowed because it requires the reader to find the information much farther into the document in section 14 -2G -7-G and apply it to what is allowed on the diagram. In addition, this is inconsistent with the description of each subdistrict. For example, the diagram identifies a maximum height of 8 stories for the South Downtown subdistrict. But section 14 -2G -7 -G -1-d-1 allows up to 15 stories for this area through a variety of bonuses. This is a significant difference in what is possible and what can be expected from what is described on the diagram or in the subdistricts. Further, in reviewing the Riverfront Crossings Master Plan, there is inconsistency between the master plan's description of the height in each subdistrict and the height allowed by the code. To be clear, the bonuses are not in question; the issue is a lack of coordination between the physical character and scale that each subdistrict allows and what can ultimately be allowed through height bonuses. This situation does not help in implementing the code or in knowing what built outcomes can result from the code. We recommend that the diagram include a small table that shows each subdistrict, the base height allowed and the maximum possible height after bonuses. The diagram uses a technique of fading two colors to identify very different allowed heights in each color (4 stories max. and 8 stories max.). The fading implies that there is a boundary between these two different heights yet to be determined. We could not find information about this and recommend that this be resolved graphically on the diagram or in narrative that explains what process needs to occur in these areas. We recommend consolidating the three diagrams into one effective regulating plan that identifies all 9 of the subdistricts as well as maximum height (see attached sketch). 3. Subdistricts (section 14-2G-3). a. Unnecessary Layer. Section 14 -2G -1-B identifies the entire code area as one district and then divides that district into 9 subdistricts. This is unnecessary. If the code's subdistricts are the new zoning, the new zones should be applied directly without the additional layer. b. Too Many Zoning Districts. It is not clear why the South Downtown, Park, and University subdistricts are mapped as individual subdistricts when their standards are almost exactly alike except for an additional 2 stories in one of the subdistricts. In our experience, an additional 2 story allowance is a large difference when the context is primarily 2-4 story buildings; however, when the Opticos Design, luc. , 2100 Milvia tit, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com scale is primarily 6-8 story building (as is the case in these areas), the additional 2 stories do not change the physical character enough to necessitate an additional subdistrict. Also, the Central Crossings and West Riverfront subdistricts are almost exactly alike except for a 4 -story difference on what will be large buildings. As mentioned earlier, there are not a substantial differences between an 8 and 12 story building. Once above 5 stories, typically the upper stories don't change the fact that the building has a large footprint and likely is attached or very near adjacent buildings. Consideration should be given to consolidating these two subdistricts into one subdistrict. In our experience, a subdistrict ("zone") needs to be created when no other zone adequately describes the intended physical character or provides the necessary standards to generate that form and character. However, because the intended physical character of this code's subdistricts is not easily understood, it's not clear if all of the subdistricts are really necessary. If they are not all necessary, their existence adds to complexity and complication while reducing clarity and usability of the code. We have prepared a sketch of our recommendations for consolidating the 9 subdistricts into 4 while eliminating the need for the height diagram. This is summarized below: • Zone 1: South Downtown, Park, University • Zone 2: South Gilbert • Zone 3: Central Crossings, West Riverfront • Zone 4: Gilbert, Eastside, Orchard As discussed earlier, the subdistricts do not clearly identify the full height possible when bonus height is added. This is also an issue with the height diagram. We recommend that the text for each subdistrict be revised to describe the maximum height possible with bonuses. For example, the text or a simple table could state the base maximum height without bonuses and the maximum height with bonuses. Further, by appropriately describing each subdistrict's physical intent, including bonus height, it is recommended to eliminate the height diagram and only have the regulating plan diagram. In the key for the diagram, each subdistrict can include the base height and maximum with bonuses height. c. Terminology. Title 14 Zoning Code uses the term 'Zones'. The Riverfront Crossings code uses subdistricts. We recommend using the term 'zone(s)' to be consistent with the rest of the Zoning Code. d. Importance of Intended Physical Character. The intended physical form and character of each subdistrict is not readily apparent through the description in the 'Intent' statement or through the diagrams for building placement. In the long-term implementation of this code, the lack of a clear physical form and character for each subdistrict could complicate matters as staff and E. Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com committee/commission members change and requests are submitted to change the standards. The intent statements in section A.1 of each subdistrict should be revised with additional language to provide a more complete picture of the intended physical character (e.g., primarily attached or detached buildings? Most or all of the facade at the setback line? Are the setbacks small, none, or moderate? Is on-site open space required or is it provided in a public space shared by the subdistrict? general direction for massing?), including the maximum possible height with bonuses. Uses. The uses in the FBC are set forth by reference to the CB -5 zone with additional specific uses in each subdistrict. The existing uses allowed in the FBC area are generally appropriate, but emphasis should be given to uses appropriate in walkable environments (e.g., active ground floor uses, multifamily, etc.) and should be organized in consolidated land use categories consistent with best practices. Additionally, uses should be regulated and formatted in one consolidated use table, with specific use standards and exceptions in a separate section. We recommend a list of allowed uses in the RFC code. f. Facade Stepback(s). Eight of the nine subdistricts require upper story facade stepbacks. The requirement ranges from above the 211 to the 3rd, 4th, or 5th story. The maximum height after bonuses ranges from 5 to 15 stories. In the subdistricts where the maximum height after bonuses is 5 stories, the stepbacks can be effective, if increased in depth. But above this height, especially at the current requirement of 10 feet, the stepback appears small and not visually effective in reducing the scale of the building along the streetscape. In our review of the master plan we did not see a clear form objective for these stepbacks. It is best practice to apply these types of facade stepbacks when there is either existing historic character to respect or when there is an objective of having a smaller perceived scale along a streetscape while allowing taller buildings overall. A clear intent is needed for the standard and a connection to the master plan's vision, establishing why the stepbacks are important and relevant to the district. We recommend three changes to this standard: 1) only require the stepbacks on buildings up to 5 stories where the maximum in the subdistrict after bonuses is 5 stories. The adjacencies in areas like this can benefit from reducing the perceived scale along the streetscape, 2) increasing the minimum stepback to 15 feet, and 3) removing the stepback requirement for buildings over 5 stories because it can unnecessarily complicate large buildings without clear benefit. Below are photos of new buildings designed per this standard. 7 Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Alilvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley-, CA 94704 , 510,558.6957 , opticosdesign.com pi 1 i—The way that stories 2 through 5 ore organized make the upper story stepback appear more as a projection than a stepback. The end result is that this stepback does not effectively reduce the perceived scale along the streetscape. Although of high-quality materials and design, this stepback is unnecessary. ii—The stepback on the 4 -story building to the left is effective because it is deeper than the minimum requirement of 10 feet. The corner building has a stepback along part of the side that is not easily noticed and ineffective at reducing the scale of the building. D Opticos Design, Inc. 1 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 ; 510.558.6957 opticosdesign.com iii. This 4th story stepback does little to reduce the perceived scale of this 12 -story building. If the idea is to emphasize the scale of the building to the west across the street, the stepback needs to be increased to a depth similar to the top story of this building so that the lower scale faVade reads more clearly as the primary volume. 4. Rezoning. In reviewing comments from the development community, we became aware that all projects are required to go through a rezoning process. The current process requires each applicant to receive approval of a zone change, adding uncertainty and time to the process. We recommend rezoning all parcels within the code boundaries as one action. In our experience, it is common to apply the new zoning as part of the code adoption process. This is made possible by working with stakeholders to gain upfront support for the standards so that applying new zoning is well understood and not cause for concern. A comprehensive rezoning of all parcels will enable the city to have two types of projects: a) administrative processing for projects in compliance with all standards that are under certain thresholds, and b) discretionary processing for projects that exceed certain thresholds. We recommend establishing thresholds for projects that are more complex or of a certain size. For example, three such thresholds could be: a) the project is over half the size of the block, b) the project is over 6 stories, c) the project includes a use that is only allowed up to a certain size. Any of these triggers would require discretionary review by the Planning and Zoning Commission and in some cases, also by the City Council. Some communities use the rezoning process to negotiate enhancements in projects. If one rezoning was applied, enhancements could still be made through the discretionary process for projects that exceed an established threshold. Another option is to include enhancements such as additional open space or enhanced materials directly in the code and connect those enhancements to receiving approval for projects and/or uses of a certain size. 5. Not Enough Tables and Diagrams. The code's usability could greatly benefit from more tables that replace paragraphs of text that hold key information. An example of this is the 'building placement' standards section in each subdistrict. The diagram implies that the �01 Opricos Design, lnc. i 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 ; 510.558.6957 i opticosdesign.com standards are clear and easy to understand. However, the diagram is paired with a lengthy narrative and numerical standards that require unnecessary reading and referencing. 6. Unhelpful Numbering Approach. The numbering and lettering of the code is confusing because there is no clear hierarchy and the full reference is not provided at the top or bottom of each page to let the reader know where they are in the document. The current approach makes it difficult when looking up a reference. In addition, the combination of that numbering, '3.b.(1)(a)' with 'A' on a diagram on the page makes the reader look for 'A' instead of (a). Further, if a reader copies the diagram as 'a' and not 'A', there could be confusion. This is avoidable by revising the numbering to have a clear and logical hierarchy. We also recommend a section number on each page header or footer to aid in orienting a code user with their location in the document without having to flip through several pages. Frontage Type Standards (section 14-2G-4). This section contains key standards for achieving an effective ground floor lining the streetscape. The standards are reasonable and thorough with the exception of frontages where ground floor housing is allowed. We saw examples where the finished ground floor was about 12 inches above the adjacent sidewalk that was about 7 feet from the building. These windows were all covered with curtains which is usually a sign that the ground floor doesn't feel private enough. We're not clear on how the 12 inches was allowed when the stop frontage requires at least 18 inches. Maybe the frontage was considered a terrace in which case the standards only identify the maximum of 36 inches but no minimum. We recommend adding the dimensions in the standards to the axonometric diagrams in this section along with photos for each type to be clear about what is intended and required. iv These ground floor units do not have enough vertical separation from the adjacent sidewalk. This combined with the 5 -6 -foot setback often results in ground floor units that don'tfeel private enough for the tenants. Generally, the closer the ground floor unit is to the sidewalk the more vertical separation is needed. 10 Opticos Design, Inc. 1 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.conn v. The ground floor of this building is raised from the adjacent sidewalk but lacks entries along the streetscape. Future designs should allow common entry access like in this building but combined with entries along the street forground floor units. vi. The ground floor of these units is raised appropriately from the adjacent sidewalk, providing agood transition between the front of the unit and the sidewalk. 11 Opticos Design, Inc. ; 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.5.58.6957 , opticosdesign.cont vii. Thisground floor is a partial basement that is currently curtained off from view inside which makes the building look awkward. In addition, the requirement that balconies project at least 18 inches from the facade makes this facade visually busy. Below, we have made additional observations about the frontage types section: a. The table at the beginning of the section identifies the allowed frontage type but does not direct the reader to the frontage type(s) selected. The table needs to direct the reader to the standards for each allowed frontage type. In addition, cross-references to the relevant standards need to be provided in this table for all subdistricts. b. The standards do not identify when the frontage types are required/triggered. it is assumed that the standards only apply to new construction, but they are silent about ground floor renovations. c. The standards do not identify the minimum and/or allowed mix of frontage types per applicable building type. For example, how much of a 100 -foot -long facade is required to include frontage types? d. The phrase 'See Table 2G-5 to determine appropriate building types' is used in the description of each frontage type, which implies that the reader can make that determination or that there are choices available not listed. As expert code writers, we understand that this is not the intent, but in daily code implementation, this type of language invites unnecessary questions. This phrase should be changed to 'See Table 2G-5 for allowed types.' e. The street view diagrams are simple and effective. A plan and/or section diagram is needed to accompany each street view diagram with a simple table of standards to replace the page of text and numerical standards. Some items may 12 Opticos Design, Inc. 1 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 . opticosdesign.com still need text, but it will be minimal compared to the half or full-page text that currently contains the standards. Building Type Standards (section 14-2G-5). As written, this section should be removed because the current standards are very general and do not provide substantive direction or information to the project design that is not already addressed by other standards. In our experience, building type standards are critical for projects where the buildings tend to be detached and under 4 stories and are not necessary when the buildings tend to be attached and over 4 stories. Below, we have made the following observations about this section: The building placement standards are supplemented by a table of the allowed building types in each subdistrict. As with the frontage types, this would work better if the table directed the reader to the standards for each allowed building type. Currently, the table simply identifies if the type is allowed. After the code user has selected a type, they are not able to go directly to the type(s) selected. References to the relevant standards need to be provided in this table for all subdistricts. The standards do not identify minimum lot width requirements. This is especially important toward the lower end of the building type spectrum, as there are realities about what individual types need to function. For example, can the Apartment Building type fit on a lot width of 75 feet or does it need 100 feet? Same question for the Multi -dwelling type. One reason to know is to understand which types really will fit well in less intense areas, for example, areas under 5 stories. c. The standards do not identify the maximum building types allowed per lot. We recommend one primary building type per lot to make site planning and review simple. Exceptions can be made for certain situations, but a general approach of one primary building type per lot is clear and reasonable. d. The standards do not identify when the building types are required/triggered. It is assumed that this section only applies to new construction and is silent about major renovations. e. The diagrams do not acknowledge variations within each type. This should be addressed by providing a simple plan diagram that shows what is essential to regulate about each type, stating that other variations are possible in compliance with the standards. Otherwise, there is an open question as to whether or not a variation is within the intent of the type. f. The 'Townhouse' type, as depicted on page 54, is not a recommended type in our experience. We have found that this results in a very narrow side or rear condition that becomes the front entry for the second or'rear' row of townhouses. When a skillful designer and developer are involved, this situation 13 Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 : opticosdesign.cotn can be designed very well. But in general, this is not the case. If this type remains in the code, it should require design review for the stated site plan concerns. g. The 'Apartment Building' type is defined in part by being '...configured as a double -loaded corridor building.' What if a proposed building includes portions that are not double -loaded? In addition, the description identifies that parking 'shall be provided in an underground structure'. Yet, in the standards, 'additional surface parking' is allowed but it doesn't state how much is allowed as additional. The type's description is too narrowly defined, and the parking standards are internally inconsistent. h. The differences between the 'Commercial' building type and the 'Mixed -Use' building type are subtle and, as written, do not need to be two different types. These two types should be consolidated into one type with language for the changes needed for a mixed-use approach. 9. Parking Type Standards (section 14-2G-6). This section identifies seven types of parking and coordinates them with the ten building types. This could be very helpful if each type had more than a description and included standards that are particular to each type. But because the types lack standards, the content reads similar to definitions. Section 14-5A- 4 addresses the required amount of parking and the subdistrict standards already address parking setbacks and access. As written, this section should become definitions and be removed from the code. 10. General Requirements (section 14-2G-7). This section includes standards for a wide variety of topics: from Streetscape and Frontage Area Improvements, Pedestrian Streets, Pedestrian Passageways, Street Screens, Open Space, and Building Design to Height Bonuses, and Minor Adjustments. We have made the following observations in the order that they appear in the section: Pedestrian Streets. Except for where the regulating plan shows a pedestrian street, it is not clear when other projects need to include a new pedestrian street. This may seem like an obvious requirement and not necessary to be stated. But in our experience, the code or regulating plan need to identify the threshold(s) for when any new street is required to avoid this coming up in the process and becoming a major design and cost issue that was not expected. b. Building Frontage. The phrase 'Buildings may front on a pedestrian street...' is concerning. In our experience, this is intended to mean that buildings can front on the specified street or another street, as selected by the applicant, but it raises the question on corner lots: does the street that previously was the 'front' now become a side street for that lot? In addition, the phrase can be read as though the applicant has the option of fronting the building(s) on the street at all, which invites confusion and potentially undesirable site designs. This should be clarified to inform the reader that for corner lots where the building fronts on a 14 Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 . 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com pedestrian street, the other street needs to comply with the code's requirements for equal architectural quality and detail on both facades (Building Design standards 14 -2G -7 -F -1-f). c. Open Space. These requirements are reasonable but are not identified anywhere except in this section. How is the reader to know that these requirements apply? This section and the threshold for when it applies needs to be referenced in the subdistrict standards, so the reader knows where to find the requirements. In addition, the standards should be formatted into tables for more usability replacing unnecessary pages of text. d. Building Design Standards. These requirements are helpful but are not identified anywhere except in this section. How is the reader to know that these requirements apply? Facade Composition. These standards have been questioned by the design and development community, especially the requirement to design buildings with a base, middle, and top (tripartite design). We do not find the requirement problematic, if left more general. The details describing how each of those three portions of a facade are to be designed seems unnecessarily limiting. The language needs to be revised to simply require the tripartite facade design without specifying how the materials are to be arranged. This provides minimal direction for good design while allowing creativity and flexibility to developers and architects. An additional refinement could be to offer an exemption from tripartite design through discretionary review for the fa4ade design in exchange for the applicant agreeing to provide a project enhancement that is not listed in the required project enhancements for projects of a certain size and that is of at least equal quality. ii. Window Design. The standards specify general window size and the specific size of window trim, and do not appear to be coordinated with how different architectural styles arrange windows and their details. For example, some architectural styles include window trim and some do not. We recommend either of two approaches: 1) the standards need to be revised to address windows for a variety of architectural styles, or 2) the standards need to be simplified to address house -scale buildings (3 stories or less) in more detail while requiring less detail for main street and mid -rise buildings. iii. Story Heights. The standards for ground floor height are reasonable. However, the limitation of 14 feet on upper stories currently applies to all buildings and could prevent creative upper story unit design, especially in larger buildings. This limitation should be removed entirely or only applied to house -scale buildings where tall upper stories could be a concern. 15 Opticos Design, Inc. . 2100 Jk4ilvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com iv. Permitted Location/Application of Material. This is helpful information but does not provide any criteria or a procedure for allowing adjustments to these standards. For example, are there certain combinations of materials not shown that could be allowed? In reviewing the table, it shows that 8 of the 11 materials listed are allowed throughout buildings and 3 of the materials are not allowed in certain locations. This makes the table almost unnecessary because it focuses attention on what is not allowed. This section could be more helpful by 1) eliminating the table, 2) converting the 9 extensive footnotes into the actual standards, and 3) using one statement to identify the locations where the three materials are not allowed. v. Roof Design. The standards require that buildings over 3 stories have flat roofs. This should be revised to allow pitched roofs on 4 story buildings when that could help to better relate to smaller adjacent buildings. Currently, this is not an option. Two of the code's 10 building types are required to have pitched roofs (cottage home, row house). This is unnecessarily limiting given that there are appealing examples of these building types with a flat roof. Either this standard should be revised to allow these two types to have flat roofs or, this section should be removed from all subdistricts except for the Gilbert and Orchard subdistricts and possibly the West Riverfront subdistrict. The Gilbert and Orchard subdistricts only allow 3 stories and the West Riverfront subdistrict allows up to 4 stories. Neither of these subdistricts allow bonus height and these could be areas where requiring pitched roofs make sense. vi. Signage. Signage standards are not in this code. After talking with city staff, we realized that the standards are set forth by reference to various zones where it has been determined that the character of the sign standards are comparable. In some cases, specific standards and exceptions are included. This makes it difficult to navigate and understand the code as the code user is required to check the sign regulations in other sections of the zoning code that may or may not have anticipated the type of development in the RFC code. We recommend that the sign standards be in one location and arranged by sign type in a content -neutral manner. e. Building Height Bonus Provisions (section 14 -2G -7-G). The standards provide a menu of 7 bonuses and criteria for receiving additional building height. Each type of bonus ranges in the additional stories it provides. For example, some bonuses provide one additional story while others provide 2, 4 or up to 5 additional stories. The bonuses can be combined up to the maximum identified in the opening part of this section. As stated earlier, this information needs to be linked 16 Opricos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.5 8.6957 , opticosdesign.com to the subdistricts and the regulating plan to both disclose the maximum height possible in each subdistrict and to direct the reader to the standards in this section. This information should be organized in a table that identifies all available bonuses to allow easy visual comparison and selection by an applicant. This information could be paired with or cross-referenced to the maximum height in each subdistrict to remind the reader that their proposed combination of bonuses must fit within the maximum identified height. Last, it's not clear if all bonuses are available in all subdistricts, even if not exceeding the maximum allowed height. It would seem not, but it is not stated. 11. Minor Adjustments (section 14 -2G -7-H). This section is organized within the 'General Requirements' section and because it involves procedural types of content, should be moved to its own section (e.g., 14-2G-9). This section allows flexibility in the standards but is not appropriately cross-referenced with the development standards to alert the reader that deviations from the standards are possible. Additionally, the amount of available adjustment is unstated. The phrase ,...may approve deviations...' is used to allow the deviation(s), but without some type of limit, the FBC Committee could be asked to consider proposals that are consistent with the phrasing of the standard, yet inconsistent with the intent of the zone and desired design outcome. We recommend that instead of a general percentage that is applied to all standards, that each available topic receive the percentage or actual number that makes sense for that topic. Although it may be implicit in the standards, we recommend a statement about existing utilities, large trees or other site features to remain that make compliance with the standards not possible. This is often why deviations from the standards are necessary. The Minor Adjustments section should be revised for clarity, including a better connection to Chapter 8 (Review and Approval Procedures) and the addition of adjustment maximums to streamline and provide more predictability in the development review process. 12. Getting Started on Improving the RFC Code. We understand that addressing all of the recommendations in this memo could require substantial effort and time. In that context, we recommend the following as initial improvements that require low to moderate effort and have immediate effect. a. Minor Adjustments. Identify the amount(s) of adjustment that is available for each topic. Identify how much is available administratively and if an additional amount is available through a public hearing. 17 Opticos Design, Inc. 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 � 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com b. Add the Maximum Height to the Regulating Plan. Revise the key for the diagram to state the maximum base height for each subdistrict and the maximum height with bonuses. c. Add Review Process ('Road Map') Information. Immediately following the regulating plan section, add new content to identify the types of projects (e.g., new building on site less than 1 -acre, new building over `x' square feet in site area, addition or renovation, new use over Y square feet) and what process is required. This information lends itself to be shown in a simple table or flowchart. d. Organize the Height Bonuses. Complement the current text with a table that identifies all of the available bonuses, when they apply, and what is required of the applicant. e. Facade Stepbacks. Only require the stepbacks on buildings up to 5 stories where the maximum height after bonuses is 5 stories, 2) increase the minimum stepback to 15 feet, and 3) remove the stepback requirement for buildings over 5 stories. f. Building Design Standards. Implement the recommendations for Fagade Composition, Window Design, Story Height maximum, and Roof Design standards. g. Move the Parking Type information to Definitions. Remove this information from the code and add it to Chapter 9 of the Zoning Code. Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate with you on the review of this code. We look forward to discussing this with all of you on our upcoming trip to Iowa City. 18 Opticos Design, Inc. , 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com Zone 1 E] F-11 2 min.; 8 max. 15 max South Downtown 1,2 2 min.; 6 max. 15 max. Park 1.2 2 min.; 6 max. 15 max. University Zone 2 ■ ❑2 2 min.; 6 max. 8 max. South Gilbert Zone 3 ■ 3.1 4 max. 8 max. Central Crossings 3.2 4 max.; 12 max. West Riverfront 8 max. at Iowa River frontage Zone 4 0 4.1 3 max. 5 max- Gilbert 4,2 3 max. None Eastside 4,2 3 max. None Orchard IU Opticos Design, Inc. 1 2100 Milvia St, Ste 125, Berkeley, CA 94704 , 510.558.6957 , opticosdesign.com Item Number: 6. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Pending City Council Work Session Topics ATTACHMENTS: Description Pending City Council Work Session Topics � r , ,•�•� CITY OF IOWA CITY UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE PENDING CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION TOPICS October 9, 2019 Other Tonics: 1. Evaluate need for a Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) 2. Consider a plan for rubberized surfacing at park playgrounds and develop strategies to address equity gaps noted in the Parks Master Plan and plan for the equitable distribution of destination parks within an easy and safe distance of all residents. (Parks Commission to discuss in July) 3. Review of staff's growth boundary analysis (Johnson County Fringe Area Agreement Update) 4. Discuss amending City Code to require staff and rezoning applicants of large-scale developments to consider the effects of the proposed projects on future carbon emissions and absorption capacity, and to take actions that will help achieve the City's carbon emission reduction goals 5. Discuss alcohol usage policies in City parks 6. Possible joint work session with Planning and Zoning Commission on the South District Form Based Code (Fall 2019) 7. Discuss possible changes to residential zoning classifications to allow and/or require a greater diversity of housing types (i.e. missing middle) Item Number: 7. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Memo from Assistant to the City Manager: Kirkwood English Language Learner program Description Memo from Assistant to the City Manager: Kirkwood English Language Learner program CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: October 7, 2019 To: City Council From: Simon Andrew, Assistant to the City Manager Re: Kirkwood English Language Learner program At the September 17, 2019 City Council meeting, Council approved a resolution authorizing financial participation in Kirkwood Community College's English Language Learner programs. Councilmember Salih inquired as to whether proof of citizenship is required in order to participate in the program. Staff reached out to Kirkwood staff with this question and received the response below. Please let staff know if you have additional questions. "KCC's non-credit English Language Learner programming uses federal and state funding. Per federal funding rules we are to ask for SS# but it is not a requirement for students to provide a SSN. We are to provide services even if a SS# isn't provided. We follow that federal guidance by asking students to report a SS# but not denying services if they do not provide a SS#." Item Number: 8. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show ATTACHMENTS: Description Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show r 'z -a®- I CITY OF IOWA CITY IA..*� It M EMORA Date: October 9, 2019 To: Mayor and City Council From: Kellie K. Fruehling, City Clerk Re: KXIC Radio Show KXIC offers a City show at 8:20 AM every Wednesday morning. In the past Council has volunteered for dates, and staff filled in as necessary. Please take a look at your calendars and come prepared to help fill in the schedule at your work session on October 15. Wednesday October 30 — Cole November 6 — November 13 — November 20 — November 27 — December 4 — December 11 — December 18 — ** Please remember that KXIC is very flexible with taping the sessions ahead of the show. &CIk/Council KXIC Radio Schedule/radioshowasking.doc Item Number: 9. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Memo from Parks & Rec Director: October 15, 2019 at 11 a.m. - Public Tree Planting Event at North Market Square Park Description Memo from Parks & Rec Director: October 15, 2019 at 11 a.m. - Public Tree Planting Event at North Market Square Park !W61 rks 9. reatlon• TO: City Council FROM: Juli Seydell Johnson, Director of Parks & Recreation DATE: October 10, 2019 RE: October 15, 2019, 11 a.m. Public Tree Planting Event at North Market Square Park Earl May Nursery has donated four shade trees along with services to plant these trees at North Market Square Park. The public and City Council are invited to celebrate these plantings and learn more about City forestry operations at a brief event beginning at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 15. The trees will be planted along a path to Horace Mann Elementary School where the trees will provide shade to the walk way and adjacent playground. City forestry staff will be present to answer questions about management of Iowa City's Urban Forest. The address for North Market Square Park is 430 N. Van Buren Street. Item Number: 10. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Article from City Manager: Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities Description Article from City Manager: Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 1 From City Manager Fruin Stateline Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities STATELINE October 1, 2019 By: Alex Brown Topics: Energy and Environment & Economy ARTICLE Read time: 6 min A woman walks along a flooded street in Miami Beach, Florida. Miami -Dade County has been praised by analysts for its infrastructure investments focused on climate preparedness as credit ratings firms begin to focus on climate change. Lynne Sladky/The Associated Press Someday soon, analysts will determine that a city or county, or maybe a school district or utility, is so vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding, drought or wildfire that it is an investment risk. https://www.pewtrusts.org/enlresearch-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 2 To be sure, no community has yet seen its credit rating downgraded because of climate forecasting. And no one has heard of a government struggling to access capital because of its precarious geographical position. But as ratings firms begin to focus on climate change, and investors increasingly talk about the issue, those involved in the market say now is the time for communities to make serious investments in climate resilience — or risk being punished by the financial sector in the future. "We look not just at the vulnerability of state and local governments, but their ability to manage the impact," said Emily Raimes, vice president with Moody's Public Finance Group. "While we'll be looking at the data on rising sea levels and who may be more vulnerable, we'll also be looking at what these governments are doing to mitigate the impact." Moody's has been especially vocal about its climate change concerns. The firm has issued numerous papers assessing climate risk, and two months ago it purchased a majority stake in Four Twenty Seven, a climate -risk data firm. Emilie Mazzacurati, Four Twenty Seven's founder and CEO, said that the bond sector's attention to the issue should prompt local governments to make it a priority. "It creates an incentive for them to be better prepared, because it's going to cost them money if they don't." https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 3 Share T Embed - Cities Borrow Big to Pay for Infrastructure State and local governments depend on municipal bonds to finance two-thirds of their infrastructure projects, and analysts are starting to consider how the bond market should adjust as its issuers face increasing risks because of climate change. HI $388B U.S. total municipal bond issuance in 2018 NH MA 121 CT NJ T DE MD DC $0.213 $52B Show Data Table Copyright © 1996-2019 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All rights reserved. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/ 10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 4 But some worry that punishing places for their susceptibility to climate change will just make it more difficult for them to finance the infrastructure improvements that might protect them. "Nobody has yet been penalized for having a bad environmental policy or practice or system," said Tim Schaefer, California's deputy treasurer for public finance. "I don't know how much longer that's going to go on. I'm assuming not much longer." Assessing Florida's Future Governments large and small rely on the $3.8 trillion municipal bond market for much of their infrastructure work. When officials want to build a highway or a school — or a seawall or an emergency operations center — they often issue bonds, bringing in the money needed to complete the project. Investors are repaid with interest over a period that can run for decades or more. About two-thirds of infrastructure projects in the United States are paid for by municipal bonds, and more than 50,000 states, local governments and other authorities have issued bonds to finance their work. Governments pay higher interest rates on those bonds when their credit ratings are low. Firms such as Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Financial Services issue the ratings assessments. "Investors are in a position of demanding a higher return when they see greater risk," said Kurt Forsgren, managing director of S&P Global Ratings. Municipal bonds are considered a conservative investment, with a current default rate of around 0.3%, according to Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics. To date, the bond market has done little to reflect that the risk may be increasing. "There is almost no impact on muni bond prices with respect to climate change vulnerabilities. Prices do not acknowledge the risk in climate change," he said. "Most investors believe that [climate change] is going to start affecting the market right after their own bonds mature." https://www.pewtrusts. org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/ 10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities ' The Pew Charitab... Page 5 As more investors and firms study the risks, however, that might change. "We are about a year away from climate change beginning to affect the muni market — a little," Fabian said. "Changes on the investor side are going to happen first, [credit] ratings will come second, and issuer behavior will be a distant third." ''Most investors believe that [climate change] is going to start affecting the market right after their own bonds mature.'' Matt Fabian, partner MUNICIPAL MARKET ANALYTICS Some investors already have begun to factor climate change into their decisions. Eric Glass, a portfolio manager with AllianceBernstein, said his portfolio opted to steer clear of a recent three -decade bond in the Florida Keys, which is facing rising sea levels. "What does [the Florida Keys] look like in 30 years?" Glass said. "I don't know. But I know it's not going to look like what it looks like today. That is a tough calculus to make, and we've decided not to take it." David Jacobson, vice president of communications for Moody's Public Finance Group, called a downgrade over climate projections a "what -if type of thing." Moody's ratings are based on what its analysts expect a government's creditworthiness to be in the next 12 to 24 months, he said, even though the bonds they issue can run for decades. "The things that are happening right now or in the next 24 months weigh a whole lot more than things we think will happen in 15 to 20 years," said Lenny Jones, a managing director at Moody's. "We're not scientists." Credit -rating firms have always acted conservatively, said Justin Marlowe, a professor at the University of Washington who studies public finance. To some critics, that reluctance to downgrade pre-emptively is leaving the market unprepared for the onslaught of climate effects that so many local governments will face. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysisiblogs/stateline/2019/ 10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 6 That's the conundrum facing the municipal bond market right now: If the market fails to be proactive about future risks, it could lead to billions in ill-fated investments in communities at the forefront of climate change. But making it more expensive for governments with environmental liabilities to borrow money could prevent them from making the improvements needed to strengthen their infrastructure. And just because a city is likely to be struck by sea level rise or wildfire doesn't necessarily mean it will default on its bonds. Further effects like crop yields and population shifts — and their impact on a tax base — could prove even harder to project. "It's a pretty big step from 'we have economic impacts' to `this is going to affect their long- term ability to repay their bonds.' There's a really big difference," Mazzacurati said. "[Ratings firms'] focus is really about counties who repay their debt. That's it. There can be really important impacts that are not going to be reflected in the bond rating, and that doesn't mean the bond rating is off." Disaster Fallout So far, the few climate -related credit downgrades have come after specific disasters. New Orleans and Port Arthur, Texas, experienced credit downgrades after major hurricanes. And after a fire nearly destroyed Paradise, California, last year, the pool of pension obligation bonds it was a member of saw its credit downgraded. As New Orleans rebounded, its credit improved. The city adopted a resilience strategy, bolstered its levee system and pursued other projects, such as turning green space into water reservoirs during periods of flooding. Today, the city sees its biggest climate threat as extreme rainfall, which has increased in frequency in recent years and flooded parts of the city. Leaders in New Orleans are asking voters to approve $500 million in new bonds, which would pay for infrastructure improvements such as the replacement of outdated pipes, as well as other goals like affordable housing. City officials say it shows New Orleans is "doubling down" on its infrastructure program. "The environment is changing. More water's coming down in a shorter period, and we have to respond to that," said Norman White, the city's chief financial officer. "Our first responsibility is to the citizens of New Orleans. Fortunately, that lines up with investors." https://www.pewtrusts.org/enlresearch-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Climate Change Could Make Borrowing Costlier for States and Cities I The Pew Charitab... Page 7 Coastal cities across the country are building seawalls to stave off rising oceans. Others are elevating roadways to prepare for more frequent flooding. Some are requiring sturdier new construction and retrofitting existing buildings to withstand severe weather events. Communities in drought -prone areas may focus on projects such as water storage, while those with flooding concerns must fortify their sewage infrastructure. Last year, Moody's surveyed the 50 largest U.S. cities; 28 responded. Among them, they had 240 climate resilience projects, totaling $47 billion. Some 60% of the projects were to combat flooding. Florida's Miami -Dade County has been praised by analysts for its infrastructure investments focused on climate preparedness. Ed Marquez, the county's deputy mayor, said future financing is a "concern," but officials are trying to address that with capital plans focused on dealing with the changing climate. "This is a many -year process as we fix our infrastructure, as we add new infrastructure, as new science comes on board," he said. "Miami is still growing. People are still coming. Investors are buying our bonds. We're telling them what the odds are, but it's odds that they're willing to play." Statewide, Florida remains in good shape creditwise, despite the challenges many of its communities are facing. Ben Watkins, the state's director of bond finance, said that's likely to continue, even amid hurricanes and rising sea levels. Even the most devastating hurricane seasons have ended up being a "blip on the radar" in terms of Florida's credit health, he said. But concern remains for smaller governments within the state. "People are dying to come to Florida and coming to Florida to die," he said. "Until that changes, we'll have the economic engines to be able to access credit." Cities with climate change risks should follow Florida's lead and borrow now for local projects, said Fabian, the analytics researcher. "As investors get smarter about climate change risk, it will become more expensive for governments with the largest need to borrow," Fabian said. "Their costs to borrow could certainly be higher. Acting earlier is almost always cheaper." Top State Stories 9/30 Top State Stories 10/1 https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/ 10/01 /climate -ch... 10/8/2019 Item Number: 11. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Article from Assistant City Manager: Top Challenges Municipalities are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic and Environmental Conditions /_AAG_Ta:ILvi14zIII 1&-5 Description Article from Assistant City Manager: Top Challenges Municipalities are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic and Environmental Conditions From Assistant City Manager Monroe 10/7/2019 Top Challenges Municipalities Are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic, and Environmental Conditions I icma.org ICM/ Home/ Blog Posts Top Challenges Municipalities Are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic, and Environmental Conditions To gain a better understanding of the energy challenges, ICMA conducted a survey in 2019 with Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. BLOG POST I Sep 30, 2019 As technology advances, so do the expectations placed on our local governments. The United States is gradually transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, and some are referring to these shifts as the "energy transition." From LED bulbs in streetlights to electric -powered city fleets, the energy transition is impacting the way our local governments do business. With climate strikes happening across the world, it has become increasingly common for environmental concerns to be listed among a municipalities'top priorities. Local governments like the Hillsboro, Oregon, Iowa City, Iowa, and McHenry County, Illinois, identify environmental sustainability as a top goal in their strategic plans, including goals associated with the energy transition. ICMA has been supporting communities through the energy transition for over a decade. ICMA's work with SolSmart has designated 275 cities, counties, and regional organizations in 40 states and the District of Colombia for fostering the development of mature solar markets. SolSmart helps eliminate excessive solar permitting, planning, and regulations to make it easier, faster, and cheaper to go solar. One in five Americans now live in a SolSmart-designated community. As the market becomes increasingly "green," so do our cities and counties. To gain a better understanding of the challenges municipalities may be facing with changing energy, economic, and environmental conditions, ICMA conducted a survey in 2019 with Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Here are some key findings from the survey: Most respondents viewed the effects of the energy transition on their jurisdiction as either neutral (45 percent) or at least somewhat beneficial (43 percent). Although some of the impacts of the energy transition can be positive, substantial changes can lead to negative impacts on local government. Twelve percent of respondents felt the energy transition's effects have been https:Hicma.org/blog-posts/top-challenges-municipalities-are-facing-changing-energy-economic-and-environmental 1/3 10/7/2019 Top Challenges Municipalities Are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic, and Environmental Conditions I icma.org somewhat or very harmful to their jurisdiction. Respondents that viewed the transition as harmful cited local economies that rely on fossil fuel industries, long-term commitments to coal -based utilities, and low support from their governing bodies as explanations. Nearly half of local governments with capital improvements plans (CIP) report addressing the energy transition in these documents/strategies, and 67 percent of municipalities ranked aging infrastructure among the most important issues facing their local government today. Transitioning energy impacts a number of municipal services and departments. Although efforts can save money overall, upfront costs are often large expenses for cities. Forty-eight percent of respondents plan for infrastructure costs associated with energy transition as part of their Cl P. Cities like Austin, Texas, and Eugene, Oregon, have dedicated sections of their Cl P to the energy transition. The potential for cost savings, potential for local economic development, and concern for environmental sustainability are among the most significant motivations for local governments to address issues related to the energy transition. Aspen, Colorado announced $1.6 million in energy savings in their community in 2016. Other communities like Lackawanna, New York, redeveloped an old steel mill into a wind power facility using the energy transition to spur economic development. Motivations for the energy transition are numerous, but so are deterrents. Lack of funding, lack of staff capability, and lack of information on how to proceed were respondents most significant inhibitors for issues related to the energy transition. This survey was distributed by email to 3,131 ICMA member municipal chief administrative officers, 476 of which responded, for a 15.2% response rate. ICMA is pleased to provide detailed results of this survey in a recently published survey summary report. Learn more by downloading the report today! ICMA Blog Get more content like this in your mailbox! Subscribe via emaii Subscribe to the latest from ICMA EMAIL https:Hicma.orglblog-postsltop-challenges-municipalities-are-facing-changing-energy-economic,and-environmental 2/3 10/7/2019 Top Challenges Municipalities Are Facing with Changing Energy, Economic, and Environmental Conditions I icma.org About Contact oin ii::MA Donate x Privacy Statement I lerms of Use I Siternap I'm not a robot SUBSCRIBE reCAPTCHA Privacy - Terms c, ICMA 2019 All Rights Reserved https://icma.org/blog-posts/top-challenges-municipalities-are-facing-changing-energy-economic-and-environmental 3/3 41 Energy Transition Survey SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS September 2019 -M "'c" - = ICM/ survey research - !Y n f r w ICM/ survey research Introduction The United States is gradually transitioning from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources. Some refer to these shifts in energy sources as the "energy transition." The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs partnered to conduct the Energy Transition Survey to learn about challenges municipalities may be facing in regard to changing energy, economic, and environmental conditions. Response Rates Survey Population Surveyed Responded Response Rate Overall 3,131 476 15.2% Population Surveyed Responded Response Rate 100,000 and above 187 25 13.4% 10,000 - 99,999+ 1,620 223 13.8% Under 10,000 1,324. 228 17.2% Region Surveyed Responded Response Rate Northeast 481 74 15.4% Midwest 992 175 17.6% South 954 130 13.6% West 704 97 13.8% This survey was conducted in April and May 2019. It was distributed via email to 3,131 ICMA member municipal chief administrative officers (CAOs), 476 of which responded for a 15.2% response rate and 4% margin of error. Topics explored include the impact of changing energy conditions on communities, strategies on how to handle the transition, utilization of federal programs and funding, and motivations/barriers related to energy transition actions. The survey results show the percentages that provided answers in response to each individual question. Not all local governments answered each question, so the percentages are not based on all survey respondents. The number reporting (n) is provided for each question. Key Findings • A majority of respondents ranked aging infrastructure and jobs/economic development among the most important issues facing their local governments today. Affordable housing was selected by a near majority. Local governments are more divided on the relative importance of other specific issues. • Most respondents viewed the effects of the energy transition on their jurisdiction as either neutral (45%) or at least somewhat beneficial (43%). A minority (12%) of respondents felt the energy transition's effects have been somewhat or very harmful to their jurisdiction. • Nearly half (48%) of local governments with capital improvements plans report addressing the energy transition in these documents/strategies. • Potential for cost savings, potential for local economic development, and concern for environmental sustainability are among the most significant motivations for responding local governments to address issues related to the energy transition. • Lack of funding, lack of staff capacity, and lack of information on how to proceed are the most significant factors inhibiting efforts of responding local governments to address issues related to the energy transition. Energy Transition Survey icma.org/research surveyresearch@icma.org 1CMA Survey Results From the list below, please pick the three most important problems facing your jurisdiction today. (n=473) Aging infrastructure _ Jobs and economic development Affordable housing Transportation Other Crime and safety Climate change Opioid abuse Education Poverty alleviation Healthcare Energy access and affordability Immigration Please rate the effects of the current energy transition on your jurisdiction on the following scale, which ranges from very harmful to very beneficial. (n=470) _ Very harmful Somewhat harmful Neither harmful nor beneficial Somewhat beneficial Very beneficial Does your local government currently address issues related to the energy transition in any of the following official documents/stratea Capital improvements plan (n=452) Comprehensive plan (n=449) Sustainability or green infrastructure plan Hazard mitigation or resilience plan (n=45 Economic development plan (n=451) Energy plan (n=443) Yes 44.9% 37.2% 29.0% 28.8% 27.3% 22.1% Does your government provide or support any of the following policies or programs? Installation of solar equipment on individual residences (n=447) Weatherization for individual residences (n=446) Energy audits for individual residences (n=443) M� i Energy bill assistance for individual residences (n=442) Community choice aggregation program in which local governments purchase renewable energy on behalf of residents (n=448) Purchase of ener--v efficient appliances for individual residences (n=447) Heating/air conditioning upgrades for individual residences (n=446) Financial assistance to businesses impacted by the energy transition (n=446) Financial assistance to workers impacted by the energy transition (n=446) No 49.1% 51.9% 30.5% 55.2% 55.9% 30.9% Percent of spondents 67.4% 55.8% 47.6% 31.9% 19.5% 17.5% 11.2% 11.0% 9.7% 9.1% 7.8% -4,.7% 1.3% Percent of Respondents _ 2.1% 10.0 44.9% 27.7% 15.3% We Don't Have One 6.0% 10.9% 40.5% 16.0% 16.9% 47.0% Energy Transition Survey icma.org/research surveyresearch@icma.org 'CMA Don't Yes No Know 29.1% 68.5% 2.5% 25.3% 71.7% 2.9% 21.4% 75.6% 2.9% 20.8% 76.2% 2.9% 18.5% 77.0% 4.5% 17.9% 79.2% 2.9% 16.4% 80.5% 3.1% 7.8% 88.3% 3.8% 1.6% 94.8% 3.6% Energy Transition Survey icma.org/research surveyresearch@icma.org 'CMA To the best of your knowledge, are the following federal energy assistance programs transition? (n=444) Don't offered for your residents? Yes No Know The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (n=448) _ 52.7% 16.5% 30.8% Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) (n=448) 50.7% 19.6% 29.7% _Community services block grants specifically to help residents pay energy bills (n=448) 20.5% 48.0% 31.5% government to address issues related to the energy transition (i.e., gradually Not To what extent is your jurisdiction currently partnering (e.g., sharing information, Very shifting energy sources from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources)? Significant attending meetings or workshops, developing policies and programs) with others on Significant Potential for cost savings (n=430) Don't issues related to the current energy transition? Yes No Know Businesses (n=441) 16.9% 27.3% 55.9% _Utilities (n=440) 16.0% 28.8% 55.2% Other Local Governments (n=442) 10.9% 37.2% 51.9% Nonprofit Organizations (n=439) 6.0% 44.9% 49.1% To the best of your knowledge, does your local government (including the local K-12 system, if applicable, and/or any community or technical colleges under your direction) support or provide any job training opportunities that are specifically targeted to workers displaced by the current energy Percent of transition? (n=444) Respondents Yes 5.6% No 55.9% Don't Know 38.5% How significant are the following factors in motivating efforts by your local government to address issues related to the energy transition (i.e., gradually Not Somewhat Very shifting energy sources from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources)? Significant Significant Significant Potential for cost savings (n=430) 15.3% 46.7% 37.9% Potential for local economic development (n=428) 24.1% 46.0% 29.9% Concern for environmental sustainability (n=427) 27.6% 46.8% 25.5% Leadership of local government staff (n=427) 30.2% 45.9% 23.9% State or federal policies (n=428) 32.2% 48.4% 19.4% Leadership of local elected officials (n=427) 35.1% 40.3% 24.6% Examples from other communities (n=424) 40.8% 50.7% 8.5% Concern for vulnerable populations (n=427) 48.0% 42.6% 9.4% Community pressure (n=428) 51.6% 34.6% 13.8% Advocacy groups (n=426) 57.3% 33.1% 9.6% Business/industry pressure (n=428) 57.7% 35.0% 7.2% How significant are the following factors in inhibiting efforts by your local government to address issues related to the energy transition (i.e., gradually Not Somewhat Very shifting energy sources from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources_)? Significant Significant Significant Lack of funding (n=415) 14.0% 31.6% 54.5% Lack of staff capacity (n=418) 27.5% 41.1% 31.3% Lack of information on how to proceed (n=417) 36.0% 46.8% 17.3% Leadership of local elected officials (n=418) 48.3% 36.1% 15.6% Challenges coordinating across agencies (n=419) 54.4% 37.7% 7.9% Challenges coordinating with other jurisdictions (n=419) 59.4% 34.1% 6.4% Restrictive state or federal policies (n=415) 59.5% 28.7°%0 11.8% Community pressure (n=419) 71.8% 22.4% 5.7% Business/industry pressure (n=418) 73.0% 21.1% 6.0% Advocacy groups (n=418) 75.1% 21.1% 3.8% Restrictive local policy (n=419) 82.3% 15.0% 2.6% Energy Transition Survey icma.org/research surveyresearch@icma.org Ice MA Item Number: 12. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Article from Assistant City Manager: Census 2020 Information Security Q and A Description Article from Assistant City Manager: Census 2020 Information Security Q and A From Assistant City Manager Monroe Smartphones, Online Responses Among Census Technological Innovations Population Population Smartphones, Online Responses Among Census Technological Innovations As Cybersecurity Awareness Month Begins, a Q&A With Census Bureau's Chief Information Officer AMERICA COUNTS STAFF I OCTOBER 07, 2019 From incorporating smartphones to allowing online responses, the U.S. Census Bureau is ramping up technological innovation for the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau's cybersecurity program is designed to protect its networks and systems against mounting cyber threats. In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Kevin Smith, Census Bureau's chief information officer, answered a few questions about the technology and security procedures involved in collecting - and safeguarding - information about every person living in the United States. The Census Bureau includes a team of cybersecurity experts who monitor and protect all agency technology around the clock. Q. The 2020 Census will mark the first time that the Census Bureau has used the internetin Shape UniwdStatw, your future C20 S such a significant way to conduct a decennial operation. It is also the first time that the START HERE > primary mode ofresponding to the census will be online. How will you keep everyone's data safe? In order for us to conduct a successful 2020 Census, we know that the American public must trust we are able to protect the data they provide. We have designed our cybersecurity program to protect our data and technology to ensure it remains resilient in the face of persistent and evolving cyber threats. The technology we use to collect data online has been designed with many layers of security and advanced security tools. The Census Bureau includes a team of cybersecurity experts who monitor and protect all agency technology around the clock. Using encryption, we protect every submission as soon as it is transmitted. And, to complement our secure technology, we have strict policies and procedures in place that limit access to, and disclosure of, data. Our cybersecurity meets the latest, highest standards for protecting your information. We work with industry experts to continually review and refine our approach to make sure we are staying ahead of threats and ensuring quick response. From the moment we collect your responses, our goal — and legal obligation — is to keep them safe. Q: How are smartphones being used for data collection during the 2020 Census? How are they protected? If you do not initially respond to the 2020 Census online, by phone or by mail, a census taker hired from your local community will visit your home to help you fill out the questionnaire. Census takers will use a secure mobile phone application to record your responses to the 2020 Census. When the census taker submits your answers, the information is encrypted and safely transmitted to our private, internal network. Our network is isolated from the internet by firewalls and other security measures. We also have designed our mobile devices to immediately remove the information once the census taker submits it. If a mobile device gets lost before data are transferred to the data center, we can remotely delete all content and disable the device. Q. Is there anything that the public can do to protect themselves if they respond online? The Census Bureau works with the federal intelligence community and industry experts to stay abreast of emerging cyber threats to continuously update protections and safeguards for your information. Yet, there are several online threats that are outside of our control, and we are working diligently to build awareness about these threats. Therefore we are asking the public to take some simple actions to protect yourself online, whether that be answering the 2020 Census or any other online activity. To begin, it is important to know that the Census Bureau will not send unsolicited emails to request your participation in the 2020 Census. Further, during the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau will never ask for your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, or money or donations. So, if someone contacts you via email or phone and asks for any of those details, it would be a tip-off to a scam. If you do receive an email that appears to be from the Census Bureau, don't open any attachments or links in those emails. One of the most common ways people become victims of a cyber attack is through emails disguised as being sent by someone you trust. In mid-March, you will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. For many of you, it will include a URL for you to type into your browser that will bring you to the secure website where you can answer the 2020 Census questionnaire online. We plan on working with the U.S. Postal Service to stagger the delivery of these invitations over several days. This way, we can spread out the number of users responding online, and well be able to serve you better if you need help over the phone. It is important that you only use that trusted web address to be sure you are visiting the correct site to respond to the 2020 Census. You will note that the URL will start with "https://, with an "s", which indicates it's a secure site. Visit www.2020census.gov to find out when and how to fill out the 2020 Census. Q: What if I do receive a suspicious email? Who do I contact? If you do receive a suspicious email or other online activity, please report that information to the Census Bureau. We have a team of security experts working 24 hours a day to make sure the 2020 Census is safe. If you require immediate assistance to verify a survey is conducted by the Census Bureau, contact the Census Bureau Regional Office for your state or our customer service Call Center for more information. Q: Looldngahead to the 2020 Census, whatare you most excited about? The 2020 Census questionnaire is not only important for every person living in the United States to fill out, but this coming year it will be even easier to be counted with the online option. Online data collection will make the 2020 Census much more effective and efficient than in the past, saving taxpayers' money and reducing the burden on the American public for not only the 2020 Census, but also for future decennial censuses. People will be able to access the website from their personal computer, mobile phone or tablet. For those without their own device, they will be able to go to a public library or other partnership event to log into the website and get help filling out the survey. We are making it easier than ever before to meet every person's need when filling out the 2020 Census. It's only going to take a few minutes to complete online, but your responses are going to influence a decade's worth of funding for important community programs like hospitals and clinics, schools and education, and construction and improvement of roads and bridges. Note: If you have a question about something not addressed here or see false information about the 2020 Census or the Census Bureau, please contact rumors@census.gov. To see common questions/rumors, visit our dedicated rumors page. More stories I If klluctivltyl% acturing Day_ Growth? Recognizing OManufacturing's Impact ono I theEconomy UnmarriedParUt� re" Diverse Than 20 Years Ago 0 About Median Household Income Was $63,179 in 2018, Not Significantly 0 Poverty Dropped for the Fifth Consecutive Year 0 to Mainland United States, Poverty Declines 0 Item Number: 13. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Email from UISG Austin Wu: UISG Renter's Guide for 2019-2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Email from UISG Austin Wu: UISG Renter's Guide for 2019-2020? Kellie Fruehling From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Attachments: Hello there everyone, Wu, Austin <austin-wu@uiowa.edu> Monday, October 07, 2019 9:34 PM Council Lenkaitis, Charlotte E UISG Renter's Guide for 2019-2020 comments.pdf, renters guide fast facts.pdf, Renters -Guide-2019-2020.pdf, Renters- Guide-Dataset.xlsx Attached is UISG's Renter's Guide for the 2019-2020 school year. The aim of the Guide is to provide a comprehensive and quantitative look at off -campus housing in the Iowa City area by landlord, particularly for ones that are frequented by UI students. Also attached is a fact sheet containing some quick numbers from the default report of the springtime survey upon which the Guide was based off of, comments from that survey, as well as a scorecard that shows the results in a more compact fashion along with the actual numbers themselves. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Austin Wu (he/him/his) B.A. Public Health I University of Iowa '20 City Liaison I UI Student Government austin-wu@uiowa.edu L L THE UNIVERSITY U0 lli11' UISG fl OF IOWA University of Iowa @u iowa stud entgov @uisg /ulowastudentgov Student Government I FON&IR Rfll c�srnnn�M4s Thank you for reading this year's edition of the University of Iowa Student Government's (UISG) Renter's Guide for 2019-2020. The guide provides you with data on landlords and property management companies in the Iowa City area, which was gathered from a survey administered by UISG in the spring of 2019. We hope the information contained here will help to clarify questions that may arise during your search for off -campus housing and will contribute to the making of well-informed decisions when signing a lease. The Renter's Guide is only one of many UISG initiatives designed to improve your quality of life at the University of Iowa. For more information on your student representatives aswellastheworkthatwedo, please visit ourwebsite at uisg.uiowa.edu. We welcome your feedback. Please feel free to contact us with questions,concerns, ori nputonhow UISG mightbebetterabletoserveyou. Enjoy the Renter's Guide! On Iowa, and go Hawks! 0) P P 9 IR P 0) � T The data presented in the following report is intended to provide helpful information about the previous experiences of UI students living off -campus in the Iowa City area. This was done through an extensive survey of off -campus renters, evaluating the perceived level of service and quality tenants received from their landlords. Survey participants were asked various questions relevant to their experience with their landlord or property manager during the past academic year. ,XVAA1� �TMnnnn nr�,�� The survey from which data was collected for this report was distributed by UISG in April 2019 via social media and a mass email to the student body. In addition, emails were sent by UISG to various student and professional organizations to further distribute the survey to its members. The survey received a total of 548 responses. A little over 450 individuals lived off - campus and completed the survey in its entirety. A landlord/property management company had to have at least five responses to be included in the visual comparisons (i.e., bar graphs and scorecard). In addition, select data points were taken out to eliminate bias within the dataset. For example, all data points with a rent above $1,400 were taken out of the data in the rent category due to the worry that the question was answered incorrectly by the respondent. Averages were collected from the entire dataset, not just from the major landlords. Analysis of the data was completed via Stata and Excel. P 0 �� (q f� L% D th"M N INN, The University of Iowa Student Government (UISG) does not endorse or support any company or business. This information is a direct report of tenant's experiences and opinions via a survey distributed in spring 2019. The data shared is a representation of opinions of the respondents. UISG does not assume responsibility for the reader, tenant, or prospective tenant's interpretation or reaction to the data. V Huhnmmla ori KM0P@HF2)MHU0 Landlord Number of responses Apartments at Iowa 39 Apartments Downtown 37 Apartments in Iowa City/Hodge 25 Apartments Near Campus 29 ASI Rentals 5 Aspire at West Campus 17 Big Ten Property Management 11 Campus Life and Style (Hawks Ridge) 8 Campus View 15 Cruise Properties LLC 8 Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 7 Heritage Property Management Company 17 Keystone Property Management 10 KMB Property Management Company 13 McLaughlin Rental Properties 7 Penningroth Apartments 9 Prestige Properties LLC 8 Private landlord 72 Rentals IC 6 Rise at Riverfront Crossings 5 Tailwind Managements (The Quartet) 15 Van Buren Village 5 Watts Group 9 Westwings Rest Estate 15 Note: the total number of respondents listed here will not necessarily add up to 450 or 548. Note: Questions about rental/security deposits were asked in regards to individuals' 2017-2018 lease rather than their 2018-2019 lease. As a result, the dataset for questions about rental/security deposits is somewhat smaller than the primary one and similarly uses a somewhat different list of landlords. 2 U & M I P (�DPr (9� (Q) Lm U Ln L,., Page 5: Rent Page 6: Utilities Page 7: Exact unit vs. model unit Page 8: Lived in current unit Page 9: Date of lease signing Page 10: Description of lease Page 11: Landlord cooperation during move -in Page 12: Cleanliness of property Page 13: Repairs at move -in time Page 14: Copy of lease Page 15: Move -in checklist Page 16: Repairs prior to move -in Page 17: Safety measures Page 18: Exterior maintenance Page 19: Contacting landlord Page 20: Landlord professionalism Page 21: Notice before entering apartment Page 22: General maintenance requests Page 23: Landlord responsiveness to general maintenance requests Page 24: Emergency maintenance concerns Page 25: Landlord responsiveness to emergency maintenance concerns Page 26: Entering apartment for non -emergency reasons Page 27: Recycling Page 28: Recommendations Page 29: Likeliness to rent again Page 30: Overall landlord performance Page 31: Security deposit Page 32: Security deposit Page 33: Percentage of income Average rent per person, without utilities RISE at Riverfront Crossings Aspire at West Campus Rentals IC Watts Group Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Average KMB Property Management Company Apartments at Iowa Prestige Properties LLC Heritage Property Management Company Private landlord 2 Penningroth Apartments 0 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) cs ASI Rentals Big Ten Property Management Apartments Downtown Apartments Near Campus Campus View Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC McLaughlin Rental Properties Keystone Property Management Apartments in Iowa City Westwinds Real Estate Van Buren Village 761.1 1 678.3 650.3 640.1 620.1 617.5 615.5 610.2 609.5 607.8 607.8 606.5 599 592 571.1 570.3 570.2 551.5 534.4 528.6 514.7 507.8 496.5 965 365.1 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Average rent (USD) 5 Average amount of utilities provided McLaughlin Rental Properties Rentals IC Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Big Ten Property Management Prestige Properties LLC Apartments in Iowa City Cruise Properties LLC Penningroth Apartments Westwinds Real Estate Private landlord Apartments Downtown Average o Watts Group JTailwind Management (The Quarters) KMB Property Management Company Heritage Property Management Aspire at West Campus ASI Rentals Apartments at Iowa Keystone Property Management Apartments Near Campus Van Buren Village RISE at Riverfront Crossings Campus View Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 0: None of them 1: Some of them 2: All of them 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Average rating 7 Prior to signing your lease, did your landlord show you the exact unit you would rent, rather than a model unit? Prestige Properties LLC 1 McLaughlin Rental Properties Cruise Properties LLC Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Private landlord Apartments at Iowa Keystone Property Management KMB Property Management Company Big Ten Property Management Watts Group Heritage Property Management Average Westwinds Real Estate Apartments in Iowa City Apartments Downtown Van Buren Village Penningroth Apartments Campus View Rentals IC Apartments Near Campus RISE at Riverfront Crossings ASI Rentals Aspire at West Campus 1 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 1 1 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Proportion of respondents answering 'yes' How long have you lived in your current rental property? Watts Group Private landlord Van Buren Village Westwinds Real Estate KMB Property Management Company Rentals IC Prestige Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Heritage Property Management Company Average Apartments in Iowa City Aspire at West Campus Penningroth Apartments Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Keystone Property Management McLaughlin Rental Properties Big Ten Property Management Apartments Downtown Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Campus View Apartments Near Campus Apartments at Iowa ASI Rentals Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC RISE at Riverfront Crossings JL i 1: 0-1 year 2: 1-2 years 3: 2 years or more 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Average timepsan in building When was your lease signed for the 2018-2019 academic year? Keystone Property Management Aspire at West Campus ASI Rentals Private landlord Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Westwinds Real Estate Heritage Property Management Company Average Apartments Near Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties Cruise Properties LLC KMB Property Management Company L 0 Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 0 Van Buren Village Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Apartments at Iowa Watts Group Big Ten Property Management Apartments Downtown Penningroth Apartments Prestige Properties LLC Apartments in Iowa City Rentals IC Campus View RISE at Riverfront Crossings 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Average month of lease signing 1: August 2017 2: September 2017 3: October 2017 4: November 2017 5: December 2017 6: January 2018 7: February 2018 8: March 2018 9: April 2018 10: May 2018 6C My landlord clearly described my lease in-depth A5I Rentals Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Apartments in Iowa City Campus View Private landlord Watts Group Heritage Property Management Company Westwinds Real Estate McLaughlin Rental Properties Average Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Van Buren Village L 0 -a RI5E at Riverfront Crossings 6 J Cruise Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus KMB Property Management Company Penningroth Apartments Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Keystone Property Management Apartments at Iowa Apartments Downtown Prestige Properties LLC Big Ten Property Management Apartments Near Campus Rentals IC to (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Average rating 10 My landlord was cooperative during my move -in ASI Rentals Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Watts Group Campus View Heritage Property Management Company Westwinds Real Estate Penningroth Apartments Aspire at West Campus Prestige Properties LLC 0 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) cs Average Van Buren Village Keystone Property Management KMB Property Management Company Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) RISE at Riverfront Crossings Big Ten Property Management Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa Rentals IC Apartments Near Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties F 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 Average rating Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1) 3.5 4 4.5 5 11 L 0 0 My rental property was clean at the time of move -in ASI Rentals RISE at Riverfront Crossings Watts Group Aspire at West Campus Campus View Apartments in Iowa City Rentals IC Cruise Properties LLC Private landlord Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Penningroth Apartments Westwinds Real Estate Average Van Buren Village KMB Property Management Company Prestige Properties LLC Heritage Property Management Company Keystone Property Management Big Ten Property Management McLaughlin Rental Properties Apartments at Iowa Apartments Downtown Apartments Near Campus Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) T 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 Average rating e (5) to Tree (1) 3.5 4 4.5 5 12 My rental property did not need repairs at move -in time ASI Rentals Aspire at West Campus Campus View Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Watts Group Tailwind Management (The Quarters) RISE at Riverfront Crossings Rentals IC Average KMB Property Management Company Keystone Property Management Van Buren Village Heritage Property Management Company Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Apartments at Iowa McLaughlin Rental Properties Westwinds Real Estate Prestige Properties LLC Apartments Downtown Penningroth Apartments Apartments Near Campus Big Ten Property Management 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Average rating ee (5) to _._agree (1) 3 3.5 4 13 Did your landlord provide you a copy of your signed lease agreement? Van Buren Village RISE at Riverfront Crossings Campus View Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Big Ten Property Management Aspire at West Campus KMB Property Management Company Apartments at Iowa Apartments in Iowa City Penningroth Apartments Prestige Properties LLC oCruise Properties LLC JAverage Apartments Downtown Westwinds Real Estate McLaughlin Rental Properties Private landlord Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Heritage Property Management Company Apartments Near Campus Keystone Property Management ASI Rentals Rentals IC Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Proportion of respondents answering 'yes' 14 Did you receive a move -in checklist upon moving in? RISE at Riverfront Crossings Keystone Property Management Campus View Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Westwinds Real Estate Aspire at West Campus Apartments in Iowa City Penningroth Apartments Big Ten Property Management Rentals IC Cruise Properties LLC oTailwind Management (The Quarters) Heritage Property Management KMB Property Management Company Prestige Properties LLC Average Van Buren Village Private landlord McLaughlin Rental Properties Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC ASI Rentals Apartments at Iowa Apartments Downtown Apartments Near Campus 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Proportion of respondents who answered 'yes' 15 If requested, how many repairs to your rental property were completed prior to move -in? Campus View Watts Group Penningroth Apartments ASI Rentals Private landlord Heritage Property Management Company Apartments in Iowa City Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Westwinds Real Estate Cruise Properties LLC Average Apartments at Iowa Keystone Property Management Prestige Properties LLC Van Buren Village RISE at Riverfront Crossings Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Aspire at West Campus Apartments Downtown KMB Property Management Company McLaughlin Rental Properties Big Ten Property Management Rentals IC Apartments Near Campus Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC I 0 0.5 1 1.5 Average rating them F them 2: Most of them 3: All of them 2 2.5 16 My landlord provided adequate safety measures for my rental property, such as deadbolt locks on exterior doors ASI Rentals Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC RISE at Riverfront Crossings Apartments in Iowa City Aspire at West Campus Watts Group Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Private landlord Rentals IC Westwinds Real Estate Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Penningroth Apartments Average Cruise Properties LLC Van Buren Village Heritage Property Management Company Prestige Properties LLC Apartments at Iowa KMB Property Management Company Campus View Apartments Downtown Apartments Near Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties Keystone Property Management Big Ten Property Management 5) to Z (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Average rating 17 My landlord properly maintained the exterior of my rental property, such as providing adequate lighting, cleaning up yard trimmings, and fixing damaged pavement ASI Rentals Aspire at West Campus Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Penningroth Apartments Rentals IC Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Watts Group Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Westwinds Real Estate Campus View L Average 0 JRISE at Riverfront Crossings Heritage Property Management Company Cruise Properties LLC Van Buren Village Prestige Properties LLC KMB Property Management Company Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa McLaughlin Rental Properties Apartments Near Campus Keystone Property Management 0 1 2 3 4 5 Average rating It was easy to contact my landlord with concerns or requests ASI Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Aspire at West Campus Campus View Prestige Properties LLC Heritage Property Management Company Cruise Properties LLC Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Keystone Property Management Westwinds Real Estate Average L 0 a Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 6 J Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) KMB Property Management Company Watts Group Van Buren Village RISE at Riverfront Crossings McLaughlin Rental Properties Penningroth Apartments Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa Rentals IC Apartments Near Campus Big Ten Property Management 0 1 2 3 4 Average rating Agree (5) to Disagree (1) 5 19 My landlord was professional and polite with requests A5I Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Heritage Property Management Company Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus Campus View Cruise Properties LLC Westwinds Real Estate Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Average Prestige Properties LLC L 0 a Watts Group 6 J Penningroth Apartments Keystone Property Management Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) KMB Property Management Company Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa Van Buren Village McLaughlin Rental Properties Apartments Near Campus Rentals IC RISE at Riverfront Crossings Big Ten Property Management 5) to e (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Average rating c Did your landlord provide a 24-hour notice before entering your property in non -emergency situations? RISE at Riverfront Crossings Keystone Property Management Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus ASI Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Apartments Near Campus Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Heritage Property Management Westwinds Real Estate Penningroth Apartments Apartments at Iowa L 0 a Average cs J Prestige Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Campus View Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Private landlord Apartments Downtown Big Ten Property Management KMB Property Management Company Van Buren Village Rentals IC Watts Group McLaughlin Rental Properties 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 Proportion of respondents answering 'yes' 21 How many times was a general maintainence request placed at your rental property during the past year? ASI Rentals Cruise Properties LLC Rentals IC Penningroth Apartments Private landlord KMB Property Management Company Campus View Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus Heritage Property Management o Average JWatts Group RISE at Riverfront Crossings Apartments in Iowa City Westwinds Real Estate Prestige Properties LLC Apartments Near Campus Keystone Property Management Apartments at Iowa McLaughlin Rental Properties Apartments Downtown Van Buren Village Big Ten Property Management 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Number of requests placed on average 7 How long did it take for your landlord to respond to a general maintainence concern, if there was one? Apartments in Iowa City Penningroth Apartments Campus View Prestige Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus Heritage Property Management Company Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC RISE at Riverfront Crossings Average Apartments Downtown oCruise Properties LLC JPrivate landlord KMB Property Management Company Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Apartments Near Campus Watts Group Rentals IC Apartments at Iowa Westwinds Real Estate Keystone Property Management ASI Rentals McLaughlin Rental Properties Big Ten Property Management 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Average time to respond in days El How many times did you have an emergency maintainence concern last year? Rentals IC ASI Rentals Campus View Penningroth Apartments Cruise Properties LLC Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Watts Group Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus Prestige Properties LLC Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Apartments in Iowa City L 0 Average 6 J Private landlord Apartments Downtown L' Westwinds Real Estate Il j Heritage Property Management Company F - Apartments at Iowa 1 1 Apartments Near Campus 1 1 RISE at Riverfront Crossings KMB Property Management Company If 7 Keystone Property Management 1 Van Buren Village 1 I AL McLaughlin Rental Properties Big Ten Property Management 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Number of requests placed on average How long did it take for your landlord to respond to an emergency maintainence concern, if there was one? Keystone Property Management Big Ten Property Management Van Buren Village RISE at Riverfront Crossings Apartments in Iowa City Heritage Property Management Company Private landlord Apartments at Iowa KMB Property Management Company Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Watts Group Average Aspire at West Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Prestige Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Apartments Near Campus Apartments Downtown Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Penningroth Apartments Westwinds Real Estate Campus View Rentals IC 0 1 2 3 4 Average time to respond hours or less -24 hours E-36 hours -48 hours 4 hours or more 5 6 25 How many times has your landlord entered your apartment for non -emergency reasons, even after giving a 24-hour notice? Van Buren Village Keystone Property Management Cruise Properties LLC Private landlord Penningroth Apartments Westwinds Real Estate Tailwind Management (The Quarters) RISE at Riverfront Crossings Rentals IC Aspire at West Campus Campus View L_ Apartments in Iowa City L 0 -a Average 6 J Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Prestige Properties LLC Heritage Property Management Apartments Downtown Apartments Near Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties KMB Property Management Company Apartments at Iowa ASI Rentals Big Ten Property Management Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Watts Group 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Average number of entries Was recycling provided at your rental property? RISE at Riverfront Crossings Prestige Properties LLC Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Aspire at West Campus McLaughlin Rental Properties Private landlord ASI Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Average Westwinds Real Estate Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Big Ten Property Management z 0 -a Apartments Downtown a J KMB Property Management Company Heritage Property Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Apartments Near Campus Watts Group Rentals IC Penningroth Apartments Apartments at Iowa Keystone Property Management Cruise Properties LLC Campus View Van Buren Village for cardboard 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Average rating v I would recommend this landlord to a friend ASI Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Cruise Properties LLC Private landlord Prestige Properties LLC Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Campus View Westwinds Real Estate Van Buren Village Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Aspire at West Campus Heritage Property Management L 0 -� Penningroth Apartments 6 J Average McLaughlin Rental Properties Watts Group Keystone Property Management KMB Property Management Company Rentals IC Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa Apartments Near Campus RISE at Riverfront Crossings Big Ten Property Management Pe (5) to agree (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Average rating %: I would rent from this landlord again Apartments in Iowa City Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC ASI Rentals Private landlord Prestige Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC Campus View Westwinds Real Estate Keystone Property Management Heritage Property Management Company Penningroth Apartments Aspire at West Campus L 0 o Average 0 J Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Watts Group Van Buren Village McLaughlin Rental Properties KMB Property Management Company Rentals IC Apartments Near Campus Apartments at Iowa Apartments Downtown Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Big Ten Property Management RISE at Riverfront Crossings ee (5) to ,gree (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Average Rating wo Overall performance of this landlord was great ASI Rentals Apartments in Iowa City Private landlord Aspire at West Campus Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Westwinds Real Estate Cruise Properties LLC Prestige Properties LLC Campus View Heritage Property Management Company Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Average v L 0 -a Penningroth Apartments 6 J Van Buren Village Watts Group McLaughlin Rental Properties Keystone Property Management Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) KMB Property Management Company RISE at Riverfront Crossings Rentals IC Apartments Downtown Apartments at Iowa Apartments Near Campus Big Ten Property Management 5) to z (1) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Average rating 30 How much of your rental/security deposit did you recieve back after your 2017-2018 lease? Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Cruise Properties LLC KMB Property Management Company Apartments in Iowa City Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Other Van Buren Village t ASI Rentals Average 0 Prestige Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus Apartments Downtown Keystone Property Management Apartments at Iowa Campus View Heritage Property Management Company Apartments Near Campus Big Ten Property Management 0: None 1: <25% 2: 25-49% 3: 50-74% 4: 75-99% 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Average amount recieved back 31 Did you feel like you should have less, more, or about the same of your rental/security deposit (referring to your 2017-2018 lease)? Big Ten Property Management ASI Rentals Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Apartments Near Campus Apartments at Iowa Apartments Downtown KMB Property Management Company I Campus View Heritage Property Management 0 v Average Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Other Apartments in Iowa City Van Buren Village Prestige Properties LLC Keystone Property Management Cruise Properties LLC Aspire at West Campus t 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 Average rating 1: Less 2: About the same 3: More 2.5 3 3.5 WN What percentage of your income did you spend on housing? KMB Property Management Company McLaughlin Rental Properties Keystone Property Management Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) Heritage Property Management Company Cruise Properties LLC Private landlord Van Buren Village Penningroth Apartments Big Ten Property Management Apartments Downtown Tailwind Management (The Quarters) Westwinds Real Estate Average Prestige Properties LLC Apartments at Iowa Apartments Near Campus ASI Rentals Aspire at West Campus Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC Watts Group Rentals IC Apartments in Iowa City RISE at Riverfront Crossings Campus View 1: 0-19% 2: 20-29% 3: 30-50% 4: >50% 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 Average rating al ADVICE FOR IOWA STUDENTS SINCE 1971 LANDLORD/TENANT SMALL CLAIMS CRIMINAL LAW IMMIGRATION DIVORCE AND MORE! 319-335-3276 G115 Iowa Memorial Union legal.studentlife.uiowa.edu @UlStudentLegal UNHAN Student Legal student-legal@uiowa.edu 0F10WA Services 4 uisci University of Iowa Student Government To learn more about UISG resources and initiatives, check out uisg.uiowa.edu U@uistudentgov /uiowastudentgov @uisg UISG Renter's Guide 2019-2020: Fast Facts Information here is overall data for all respondents, and wasgathered directly from the survey itself • 28.92% of respondents rented from Apartments Downtown, Apartments at Iowa, or Apartments Near Campus, compared to 33.7% the year prior o This might be related to the number of graduate/professional student responses • Average rent was $620.1 per month, excluding utilities o This is $55 more than last year o It is possible that the inclusion of RISE has skewed numbers somewhat • On average, only slightly more than 60% of students saw the exact unit they were renting before signing a lease. The rest saw a model unit or a unit different from the one they were renting. • Students tend to live about 1.5 years on average in a unit. This is fairly similar to results seen from last year. • The average month of lease signing was in January 2018. o 47.8% of students sign their leases in the first semester of the school year, compared to 59.5% in the previous year's study • 16.5% of respondents did not receive a signed copy of their lease agreement or were unsure whether they did or not • 19.4% of respondents reported their landlord not providing a 24 hour notice prior to entering their dwelling in non -emergency situations • 21 % of respondents reported their landlord entering their apartment five or more times in the past year for non -emergency reasons • 35.8% of respondents reported that recycling was not provided at their dwelling • 25.1% of respondents reported that only cardboard recycling was provided at their dwelling • Only 37.7% of respondents reported the full provision of recycling at their dwelling • 25% of respondents reported receiving none of their security deposit back from the previous year o This is fairly consistent with last year's report, where 23% of respondents answered in the same way Demographics of respondents • Year of study: o 1" year: 1 % 0 2nd year: 17.9% 0 3rd year: 29.8% 0 4"' year: 16.2% 0 5r' year and above: 1.9% o Graduate/Professional: 33.2% • Gender: o Male: 25.3% o Female: 70.5% o Other (including transgender and nonconforming peoples): 4.2% • Race: 0 2.7% Black 0 8.9% Asian 0 5.9% Hispanic 0 77.5% White o Other, including American indigenous peoples: 5% • Other notable numbers: o International students comprised 14.4% of respondents o First -generation students comprised 40.23% of respondents o Military veterans comprised 4% of respondents o Non-traditional students comprised 13.8% of respondents What was the rent r landlord • your Howyou have you sign your My landlord My rental renDid did your landlord per person What utilities show you lived in lease for the My landlordmonthly property Was property not need give you a copyof Did you receive for your including you responsible unit you your current academic 1clearly described my cooperative during my time of move- time of move- lease Landlord Apartments at Iowa utilities? 615.4621 for? ---would 1.162162 rent? 0.7941176 unit? year? 1.205128 lease 5.461538 depthnot in 2.552632 . 2.973684 2.605263 2.236842 checklist i 0.9166667 upon 0.21875 Apartments Downtown 571.1042 1.368421 0.5263158 1.27027 4.783784 2.540541 3 2.405405 2.027027 0.8684211 0.1764706 Apartments in Iowa City 507.79 1.6 0.5416667 1.52 3.96 3.72 4.2 3.68 3.48 0.9130435 0.9090909 Apartments Near Campus 570.3304 1.103448 0.3793103 1.206897 6.178571 2.25 2.678571 2.142857 1.75 0.7692308 0.1428571 A5I Rentals 599 1.2 0.2 1.2 7.8 4.75 4.75 4.5 3.75 0.75 0.5 Aspire at West Campus 761.1176 1.235294 0.1176471 1.470588 8.705882 3 3.764706 3.882353 3.529412 1 0.9333333 Big Ten Property Management 591.95 1.636364 0.7272727 1.272727 5.181818 2.4 3.1 2.8 1.7 1 0.875 Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 640.125 0.875 0 1.25 5.75 2.625 3.25 2 2.5 1 1 Campus View 570.2321 1 0.4166667 1.214286 3.214286 3.571429 4 3.857143 3.5 1 1 Cruise Properties LLC 534.375 1.5 0.8571429 1.625 5.875 3 4.25 3.625 3.125 0.875 0.8333333 Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 551.5 1.666667 0.8333333 1.166667 7.5 4.5 4.333333 3.5 3.333333 0.6666667 0.5 Heritage Property Management Company 609.5394 1.294118 0.6470588 1.588235 6.529412 3.3125 3.875 3.125 2.5 0.8 0.7857143 Keystone Property Management 514.7222 1.111111 0.7777778 1.333333 8.888889 2.555556 3.444444 3 2.666667 0.75 1 KMB Property Management Company 617.5455 1.307692 0.75 1.692308 5.846154 2.923077 3.307692 3.153846 2.692308 0.9166667 1.076923 McLaughlin Rental Properties 528.5714 2 0.8571429 1.285714 6.142857 3.166667 2.5 2.666667 2.166667 0.8333333 0.5 Penningroth Apartments 607.7778 1.444444 0.4285714 1.444444 4.444444 2.666667 3.777778 3.444444 2 0.8888889 0.875 Prestige Properties LLC 610.2075 1.625 1 1.625 4 2.5 3.75 3.125 2.125 0.875 0.625 Private landlord 607.8299 1.3875 0.8 1.930556 7.75 3.541667 4.166667 3.611111 3.347222 0.8311688 0.5441176 Rentals IC 678.3333 1.666667 0.4 1.666667 3.5 2 2.833333 3.666667 2.833333 0.6666667 0.8333333 RISE at Riverfront Crossings 965 1 0.2 1 3 3 3.2 4.4 3 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) 606.5333 1.333333 0 1.4 5.6 3.066667 3.666667 3.6 3.066667 1 0.8 1 0.8 Van Buren Village 365.066 1 0.5 1.8 5.6 3 3.6 3.2 2.6 1 0.6 Watts Group 650.2778 1.333333 0.6666667 2 5.333333 3.444444 4.111111 3.888889 3.111111 1 1 Westwinds Real Estate 496.4738 1.4 0.6 1.692308 6.846154 3.230769 3.846154 3.307692 2.153846 0.8571429 0.9333333 Average 620.1122 1.347253 0.6085973 1.526316 6.204846 3.106904 3.652551 3.75F175 ? 7S77Qa n 47nn1Qr- n CA 7'70» Apartments at Iowa if your .rd My agreed tocomplete provided repairs prior ■ your move in, how• were completed / time? my 1.666667 landlord My landlord ■maintainedmy for •my rental rental unit unit 3.368421 2.605263 It was easy ■contact landlordwas concernsor requests 2.710526 My landlordnotice• professional andpolite with requestsLandlord 2.605263 Did your landlord provide 24 hour How ■ did you before pr • 0.8108108 many times place a 4.405405 How If you / placeyou • ■ concern respond 3.868421 many times have an 0.7567568 Apartments Downtown 1.333333 2.864865 2.648649 2.810811 2.810811 0.7368421 4.736842 3.243243 0.7105263 Apartments in Iowa City 1.846154 4.36 4 4.48 4.24 1 4.04 1.375 0.52 Apartments Near Campus 0.4285714 2.653846 2.346154 2.423077 2.576923 0.9230769 4.192308 3.576923 0.9615385 ASI Rentals 3 4.75 4.5 4.75 4.25 1 1.75 4.5 0 Aspire at West Campus Big Ten Property Management 1.285714 0.875 4.294118 2.3 4.294118 1.8 4 1.5 3.941176 1.5 1 0.7 3.235294 6.4 2.470588 4.9 0.3529412 2.2 Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 1 3.875 3.5 3.25 3 0.75 2.875 3.5 0.4285714 Campus View 2.666667 3.307692 3.307692 3.923077 3.846154 0.75 2.769231 2.076923 0.1538462 Cruise Properties LLC 1 3.625 3.25 3.75 3.625 0.75 1.875 3.25 0.25 Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 0 4.666667 2.833333 3.5 4 1 3.166667 2.666667 0.3333333 Heritage Property Management Company 1.7 3.4375 3.25 3.75 4 0.875 3.3125 2.5625 0.75 Keystone Property Management 1.333333 2.5 2.111111 3.555556 3.111111 1 4.222222 4.111111 1.111111 KMB Property Management Company 0.8571429 3.307692 2.846154 3.230769 2.846154 0.6923077 2.769231 3.384615 1 McLaughlin Rental Properties Penningroth Apartments 1.2 2.4 2.6 3.75 2.6 3.625 3 2.875 2.6 3.125 0.2 0.8571429 4.6 2.75 4.8 1.5 1.4 0.25 Prestige Properties LLC 1.6 3.375 3 3.75 3.375 0.75 4.125 2.25 0.375 Private landlord 1.864865 4.056338 3.704225 4.056338 4.014085 0.7464789 2.75641 3.271429 0.6923077 Rentals IC 0.6666667 4 3.5 2.666667 2.333333 0.5 2.333333 3.833333 0 RISE at Riverfront Crossings 1 4.5 3.25 3 2.25 1 4 2.75 1 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) 1.222222 4.071429 3.357143 3.642857 3.428571 0.9166667 3.071429 2.571429 0.2857143 Van Buren Village 0.6666667 3.6 3 3 2.6 0.6666667 4.8 6.2 1.2 Watts Group 2.75 4.111111 3.444444 3 3.222222 0.4444444 3.625 3.75 0.3333333 Westwinds Real Estate 2.142857 3.923077 3.307692 3.538462 3.461538 0.8666667 4.066667 3.923077 0.7333333 Average 1.559809 3.645309 3.273973 3.5 3.426941 0.794686 3.583524 3.156322 0.6811927 Landlord Apartments at Iowa If you did have an emergency maintenance on respondhow;long did it take the landlord to rthe 3.947368 How many times has your landlord entered Did your • for landlordyour non -emergency provide reasons, even after recycling giving a 24 hours your 3.297297 your at 0.5945946 I would current property management •••a ♦ landlordi2017-2018 1.868421 I would rent Overall from my performance current my 1.973684 of landlord 1.815789 How much of Did you feel rental/ should have security deposit or about the did you receive your rental/security lease)? 2.611111 like you less, more, same of to the 2.5 Apartments Downtown 4.567568 2.894737 0.8918919 1.891892 1.972973 1.864865 2.857143 2.428571 Apartments in Iowa City 3.6 2.416667 1.12 4.041667 4.04 3.88 3.8125 2.058824 Apartments Near Campus 3.56 3.192308 0.6923077 1.730769 2.076923 1.769231 2.066667 2.533333 ASI Rentals 6 3.5 1.25 4.25 4 4.25 3.333333 2.666667 Aspire at West Campus 4.176471 2.058824 1.588235 3.294118 3.117647 3.588235 2.857143 1.857143 Big Ten Property Management 3.2 3.888889 0.9 1.333333 1.444444 1.444444 2 2.875 Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 4.375 4.25 1.75 2 1.75 2.375 N/A N/A Campus View 5.692308 2.384615 0.1538462 3.615385 3.615385 3.230769 2.6 2.4 Cruise Properties LLC 4.5 1.5 0.375 3.875 3.625 3.375 4.25 1.875 Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 4 2.666667 0.8 3.666667 4 3.5 4.75 2.25 Heritage Property Management Company 3.75 2.75 0.8125 3.25 3.25 3.1875 2.5 2.3 Keystone Property Management 2.666667 1.125 0.5555556 2.75 3.25 2.375 2.666667 2 KMB Property Management Company 4 3.230769 0.8461538 2.538462 2.384615 2.307692 3.9 2.4 McLaughlin Rental Properties 4.2 3.2 1.4 2.8 2.8 2.6 N/A N/A Penningroth Apartments 5 1.75 0.625 3.125 3.125 2.875 N/A N/A Prestige Properties LLC 4.5 2.75 2 3.75 3.625 3.25 3 2 Private landlord 3.768116 1.628205 1.276316 3.873239 3.859155 3.71831 N/A N/A Rentals IC 6 2 0.6666667 2.5 2.166667 2.166667 N/A N/A RISE at Riverfront Crossings 3.5 2 2 1.75 1.25 2.25 N/A N/A Tailwind Management (The Quarters) 4.857143 1.928571 1 3.357143 3.071429 3 3.6 2.6 Van Buren Village 3.4 0.4 0 3.4 3 2.8 3.333333 2 Watts Group 4.125 4.333333 0.6666667 2.777778 3 2.777778 N/A N/A Westwinds Real Estate 5.153846 1.866667 1 3.583333 3.5 3.416667 N/A N/A Average 4.13164 2.441379 1.018476 3.0553 3.078161 2.947126 3.243028 2.25498 Landlord Apartments at Iowa D. you consider What year yourself be are you at the financially university? independent? 3.135135 What percentage your you spend housing? 2.5 . income did on 2.857143 Apartments Downtown 2.971429 2.542857 3 Apartments in Iowa City 3.5 2.75 2.304348 Apartments Near Campus 3.125 2.666667 2.833333 ASI Rentals 2.75 2.75 2.75 Aspire at West Campus 5.5 1.875 2.6875 Big Ten Property Management 4.333333 2.111111 3 Campus Life & Style (Hawks Ridge) 2.714286 2.142857 3.142857 Campus View 2.666667 2.583333 2.25 Cruise Properties LLC 3.75 2.5 3.125 Hawkeye Campus Properties LLC 2.25 3 2.666667 Heritage Property Management Company 5.375 2.2 3.133333 Keystone Property Management 4.666667 2 3.166667 KMB Property Management Company 4.076923 1.923077 3.461538 McLaughlin Rental Properties 4 2.5 3.25 Penningroth Apartments 4.25 2.625 3 Prestige Properties LLC 2.857143 3 2.857143 Private landlord 4.637681 1.764706 3.088235 Rentals IC 4.333333 2.166667 2333333 RISE at Riverfront Crossings 3.25 3 2.25 Tailwind Management (The Quarters) 3 2.5 2.928571 Van Buren Village 3.4 2 3 Watts Group 5.625 2.25 2.571429 Westwinds Real Estate 4.25 2 2.916667 Average 3.997613 2.256595 2.88835 Default Report Renter's Guide Survey 2018-2019 October 7, 2019 4:19 PM MDT Q33 - Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have about your 2018-2019 lease and/or unit. Please make sure to be specific: Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... The landlord, Jeff, was an individual with one property. He didn't live in town, refused to hire someone to do work and insisted on doing everything himself even if he didn't know how/wasn't good at it. The place was not cleaned at all by move in day, and he insisted he couldn't get a cleaning crew so he cleaned it himself (we argued that it wasn't available as described in the lease and were delayed moving in for a week, with prorated rent. It was still dirty and we did a lot of cleaning/moving previous tenants furniture/repairing/painting ourselves.) He hung around the house all the time after we allowed him to stay in the garage 1 night, and intruded on our gatherings at the house because he said he had no place to stay, until we asked him to leave and give notice before returning with specific hours for working on the house. We documented bug spray bottle already in the house when we moved in but when we found bed bugs he insisted we brought them and were financially responsible. He made sexist comments including a text calling a housemate "sweetcheeks" and only took the one male housemate seriously. The company gives you an option to rent a parking lot. So we had our car in the parking lot and use it often, however it was an old car and didn't have the traction 4x4. So in the whole winter we couldn't use it because they never cleaned the snow even when we tell them since the car had to go up a small loop. Mark and Liz are the best landlords we could ever ask for. They are so nice, understanding, and friendly. I feel very safe at my apartment and they have been working on renovations such as the laundry rooms. I love it there and have signed a lease for next year already. My biggest problem was that the front steps to my building (and occasionally the front sidewalk) were often icy in the winter, resulting in some falls. Also, my parking agreement states that I must clear my own space of snow, but the alley was often so full of ice and snow that I could not get in or out of my spot easily! (not sure if that's on the landlord or the city) Moving out is when I expect my landlord to show their true colors. We have a sizable deposit down and we have kept this place clean and reported all maintenance issues. It is nice. Keystone property has been a terrible experience. They do not provide adequate heat in the wintertime, and they pretend like there is no problem after contacting them multiple times. They barely shovel or salt the sidewalks in the winter. They also question their tenants when making basic maintenance requests. Would not recommend at all. I understand that working with college students is probably frustrating at times, but that is not an excuse to withhold basic safety and comfort from current tenants. ANC is ajoke. My landlords who own properties at 604 Bowery and 521 college are great! But prefer graduate students. The building itself isn't half bad, but the management/landlord is very disingenuine and dishonest with their claims (consistent bus, clean rooms at move -in, model rooms which are in much better condition and much more furnished than the real rooms you'll get, which they will absolutely not let you see before move -in, staff enters your room without warning on about a bi-weekly basis for "scheduled maintenance", having to pay for electric when that was not in the original lease and then updating the lease a month before move -in, etc) The maintenance guys were excellent and courteous when working in the apartment, however the property manager is very difficult to contact and not polite. The dryers in the laundry never seem to work properly, and ALWAYS require multiple cycles to dry half the load that my home dryer handles in a single cycle. The sidewalks were ALWAYS icy over winter. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... I am generally antagonistic to my landlord because I feel that they are not looking out for my best interest. I feel like I'm always one or two steps from getting a bad deal and being taken advantage of by my landlord. KMB is by far the most inept management group I've ever interacted with. They're bad for tenants, and they're bad for property owners. Even simple requests, like confirming that they're getting our rent checks on time, was apparently too much to ask. The owner, Mitch King, literally responded that they manage so many properties that they have to emphasize quantity over quality. They also tried to raise our rent from $1195 to $1495 starting in the 2019-2020 lease period. Apartment advertised free wifi, but it never worked. Most of our neighbors and ourselves ended up purchasing our own internet. The apartment is slightly outdated and could be nicer, but is a lot better than my previous year's rental experience. The unit is out of date and not kept up with normal maintenance needs. There were no locks on bedroom doors. We put in many maintenance requests for leaky sinks, wires and sharp objects hanging out of places and many other things that should have been done before we moved in and no response or fixing of these issues occurred. The landlords have not been very nice people in general, or compliant when we bring up issues that arise. They are disrespectful toward our space and money, by leaving lights on and doors open when entering our unit. They enter our unit for different things that what they tell us they are going to be entering for. We have had issues with creatures in our house, such as bats that have still not been taken care of by our landlord, when we notified them when it occurred nearly seven months ago. Overall, they are the worst landlords I have ever dealt with or heard about and they only care about getting their money and nothing about keeping their properties up to date or the people who rent their properties. Off campus housing, especially with the landlords of Apartments Downtown, has been one of the worst experiences of my life thus far. Not sure conditions as of move in because I took over a lease. Landlord was not reasonable in certain requests. Would not go through again if we had moved Landlord responds to requests, but hired an assistant halfway through the year through whom we are now supposed to submit all requests. She never responds and only makes requests of us. Her method of contacting us about someone coming into our apartment is by putting a paper outside our doors with the dates people are coming in (our doors open to the outside, not to a hallway). Additionally, rent was raised from last year to the current year without informing us. The assistant brought our lease over and only then, after taking five weeks to be able to schedule a time when all roommates would be home at once (and communicating consistently during this time), did she tell us that rent would be raised by $30/month/person. Also, this is not a small complex --it has over 120 occupants in 20 apartments. They took nearly a year to provide recycling and only got a small bin despite all 120 occupants. ty for reading my air of grievances Heritage properties is very'hit or miss', depending on which employee is your designated property manager. I rented from them in the past and had an excellent manager who would always contact us before entering. The property manager I currently have tends to'forget' to let people know they are coming in, especially for apartment showings. The lease also clearly spelled out that we could have a pet, and when we went to adopt one, they property freaked out and we almost couldn't adopt the dog we wanted. It was very stressful and upsetting to be told you can't have a dog once you found the one you wanted to rescue. Apartments at Iowa did not clean my unit prior to move in, as they stated they would in our lease. There was dirt, dust, and grime everywhere, and light fixtures were burnt out. My roommate and I spent an entire day scrubbing the floors, walls, ceilings, and everything in between when we moved in. Also, during the winter, they did not attempt to clear sidewalks or lay down ice melt. So much so that my friends, my roommate, and myself all ended up slipping and falling on the exterior stairs (on separate occasions). One of these times, the handrail on the stairs broke, making the fall much worse, and it still has not been repaired. It was an absolute nightmare walking in the parking lots and on the sidewalks around my building. It was awful. No option for recycling of any sort no information about recycling at all when you don't have a car it's very hard to recycle without looking homeless live in telly and j Michael real estate had been my favorite to rent from. I've rented from apartments at Iowa and that was a nightmare so I'm happy with the improvement. They did not make accommodations for us when I asked if we could have more time to consider if we would resign. I was not sure if my roommate was staying and we were not going to know for sure until April. We had to resign in march because they were showing our apartment. Once we resigned they cancelled the showing Our units doesnt have air conditioning in the bedrooms. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... Didn't provide recycling for us until last month but they never announced the cardboard bin addition and that it was available for our use when they did finally provide it. They were awful in the winter. Never plowed or shoveled. I get charged for everything. They do not keep up with the yards. The grass grows so high. AIC apartment buildings are very reliable. They are one of the few apartment companies in this town that I trust. This was much better than my previous landlord experience, with KMB Property Management (they rented to me without a rental permit, which is illegal, and were generally horrible). However, the house is not in great shape and many of the windows need to be replaced. I was lucky to find an individual landlord who was not affiliated with a rental group. I've heard so many horror stories about those businesses in Iowa City. There's a desperate need for a renters' union here. But until conditions improve, I highly recommend finding an individual who owns the property. Awful landlord, would recommend any other possible landlord before him Not much affordable housing locally, especially for people like my roommate who have criminal history (non-violent even) and no cosigner. They also promised new flooring within 90 days of move -in but none has been installed (it's been 8 months). Maintenance requests are often left unresolved and never responded to. Heat went out completely one night in sub -zero temperatures and no one responded until 12 hours later (I had to call twice). They have not changed the locks in 15+ years. Someone used their key from 15 years ago and was able to enter the building. The downstairs fire extinguisher was expired by 2 years when we moved in, but they got us a new one promptly when I emailed them. The door to our apartment became very difficult to open. We had to throw our whole body into the door to get it to open, and occasionally were trapped inside. We could not get maintenance to come fix this so our dad fixed it. We requested that they fix the garbage disposal, and they instead came into our apartment without 24 hours prior notice and removed the garbage disposal unit entirely. Ralph is a wonderful, reasonable landlord in the Iowa City area. He is very flexible with things and wants to hear what his tenants need and works with them to fixthings. the apartments at (20, 24,30) Lincoln Ave are a dump... cockroach maintenance bi-weekly, drafty windows and doors, poor/failing condition of all household appliances, carpet like 20 years old, does not prevent non -renters from using the parking lot, did not replace a window after it had leaked a liter of water during a rain storm, does not maintain sidewalks or parking lots in the winter. This property management company left the unit very dirty, with the carpet basically un -liveable when I moved in. They have not fixed these things and I have had to beautify the apartment myself. The parking is expensive and the landlords do not provide adequate snow -removal and de-icing to the point where I could not get my car out of a spot I pay a great amount of money per month for. They are very unprofessional and pretend to be nice when in reality they treat you as if you are a nuisance. Westwinds is very good about responding to maintenance requests and makes it easy to put them in. The online portal keeps everything in one place: lease, maintenance, rent, etc. I lived in Seville Apartments (management company is Barker). One thing I am extremely impressed about is the prompt response from the office staff when requesting service/repairs. They normal can get things done within the day by 5pm when I request something in the morning. Never EVER rent from Apartments downtown or any of their affiliated realty companies. They prey upon students and only seek to separate the maximum amount of money from their tenants. I mean I'm not usually a survey guy butjeez these scumbags fucking suck. Hope they go out of business asap. The owners of this place were a nightmare to deal with. The wife takes care of most of the work even though everything has to go through the husband (Dave). We had a mold problem after all the rain we got last fall and they tried to pass it off as dirt. We eventually were able to break the lease due to health concerns and they were very unprofessional and rude once they realized they weren't getting money from us anymore. The unit was also crawling with bugs, which they did nothing about. The owner, Terry Vargason, lives nearby and is very kind and understanding if tenants have concerns, and is overall a great landlord. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... I requested the opportunity to stay in my unit longer, since my lease ends July 15, which is almost two weeks before leases typically end in college towns. This request was denied, with no discussion of if it was feasible. It's a great place but overpriced and a little loud. If it's your first year here it's great but you can get the same thing for cheaper elsewhere. I really enjoy leasing from KMB. They are polite, easy to work with, and fairly timely. They do sometimes take a while for maintenance, but nothing was ever too severe that it needed immediate attention. I wish that they would have gone through the lease more in depth as well as provided a move -in list. My unit was owned by KMB originally and without our consent they switched it to Apartments Downtown. I had a terrible experience with them my previous year and my apartment was broken into, got infested with roaches, and had many showings with no notice. This year they did not do as bad, but they never shoveled or deiced our parking lot and it was unsafe and a huge hazard. When I requested maintenance for it they ignored and lied to me. They are very inconsiderate. They told me they would be coming for inspections sometime during a window of FOUR DAYS, which meant I didn't feel like I could even get in the shower during that period of time. Overall lack of communication and consideration for the renter. You arejust a number with a bank account to them. Be wary of charges such as those for late fees. My roommates have been double -charged multiple times for fees and expenses and have had to go to ADT office to clear things up. Make sure to keep all receipts and take pictures of the interior or any existing damages when you move in so you aren't liable for fees. ASI Rentals has always been great, would recommend The rent is way too high at Aspire and keeps increasing. The property is not always well cared for- there is quite a bit of trash that has blown across the property and has not been picked up. Also, they offered a decreased security deposit as an incentive to lease, without revealing the conditions of that incentive, and so later rescinded it. I put in a request to have my very scratched living room windows fixed months ago and that has yet to happen. It's a nice location but not a good value. Too noisy. Poor quality walks that are not sound -proof. We had several ongoing issues that were never resolved. The biggest example: we had bugs in our apartment for months. They never replied to our maintenance requests regarding spraying for bugs etc. The bugs were coming from our neighboring unit. Over the past month, they have entered our unit 6 times for seemingly unnecessary reasons (eg to check the paint). They have also cheated us out of rent and have overcharged us for nearly everything. When we moved in, one of our toilets didn't work. They did not come to fix it for 6 weeks. There were also safety hazards when we moved in; our fume hood on our stove was hanging by a piece of duct tape. Also didn't come to fixthat until nearly a month later. No one should have to rent from a money grubbing company like Apartmets Downtown. They charged us over $300 dollars for a door replacement. My roommate was charged $40 because their online rent paying web page double charged him and he had to pulled out his charges to get food for the following week. The only reason we did not leave was because we know that we will lose our deposit and the rent is cheap. I highly recomend not renting from Apartments Downtown. Overall the units are nice. They are spacious and the design was with good intention. However it is clear that they were built in hurry with floor boards not lining the floor but rather with an inch gap, water damaged cupboards (in a brand new unit), and paint chips and large scratches on floors and railings (again in a brand new unit). The property management throughout the year was unresponsive to requests. The parking lot is always full, despite being permit parking only, and you are not guaranteed a spot near your unit. The snow was not properly removed and the grounds are full of dog feces. AIC is great. The Quarters should have recycling I only subleased for the Spring 2019 semester, and the landlord was super flexible with the subleasing and managing a parking spot. I'm satisfied with my experience living at Van Buren. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... 38 Apartment showings in 8 months, constant disruptions. Entered apartment sooner than 24 hours notice. Complained multiple times. Place was filthy on move -in. Non -prorated rent is a scam, sent me a letter asking for my signature to not sue them over it in exchange for 8 days of extra tenancy in July if I remember correctly. My landlord switched from Apartments Downtown to Apartments at Iowa about a month into our lease. Also, we had extreme water damage from the snow and they kept not fixing it. He was nice and reasonable but doesn't take care of the property and doesn't want to spend money to bring the property up to standard Although generally, service with my landlord was adequate. Aspects of the community felt cheap for the price of the space I rented. A 2br/2ba in a town of X&lt;80,000 people renting for a total of 1,400 is notjustifiable... particularly in the state this complex is in. Having come from a large metropolitan city in Missouri, these prices are generally given to higher quality units with soundproof walls, stainless steel appliances, large dishwashers and dryers, and real hardwood flooring. The sidewalks and parking lot were not maintained at all. There were multiple occasions where cars got stuck in the parking lot, because it was too icy to get out. Parking is very expensive there too. There were also multiple occasions where a car parked in my spot, which I pay $400 extra for, and the landlord was completely unhelpful in resolving the situation. Landlord just very nosy and coming in and out a lot. Also university heights is very discriminatory against students and place a lot of restrictions on student living. Their city counsel is legit insane and want to eradicate any students living in "university heights". I've rented from Apartments Near Campus and Apartments Downtown and both companies were absolutely awful to deal with. It made both years at the university very stressful and frustrating. I would not recommend either companies to anyone and never rent from them again. You don't get what you pay for and the living spaces are lacking in every area. ANC does not care if its customers are happy. It only cares about money. Not a single employee of ANC has ever asked if I was satisfied with the (awful) treatment I've received since moving in. AIC management was very rude to me every time I contacted them! I would never rent from them again! We believe there is mold in the apartment, landlord has been notified multiple times but have not done anything about it. The unit was dirty and had many broken things in it (dishwasher doesn't work, oven in poor condition, floor radiators broken) and the landlord did nothing about it. We were told the unit we viewed would be the one we would rent, we trusted this and didn't carefully read the lease and actually signed for a different unit. Apartments at Iowa, Apartments Downtown, and Apartments Near Campus are all owned by the same family and virtually run a monopoly, it sucks. Locks on exterior doors can be unlocked with any skinny key, which means unwanted visitors can be in building. Landlord tried to fix dishwasher with duct tape twice before finally giving us a new dishwasher when it leaked everywhere (dishwasher was faulty before we moved in). Wish Iowa City apartments weren't so expensive and had more recycling options other than cardboard. They lied to us about the size of the unit, and I believe we are paying far too much. Online, it said our unit was going to be much larger than it ended up actually being. This might be illegal I would think. Gaslight Village is a weird place and all of the units are a bit strange. I'm very happy here and find the design and layout of the rooms interesting and attractive. Others may have other opinions. Our lease was straight forward and not entangled in complex and confusing language and terms. Greg is easy to work with and responds efficiently to maintenance request. KMB responded quickly to maintenance requests, but often tried to find the cheapest solution. For instance, we called 4 times and got 4 different "fixes" for a leaky dishwasher before theyjust replaced it completely. Halfway through the year our landlord switched to Apartments Near Campus on short notice. I was unhappy with how KMB informed us of the change, but something got messed up and our total rent went down by $100/month so I didn't complain! Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... doesn't tell you there will be a late fee but it is in the contract. you have to all pay on one check and by mail it can be hard if you're the person who has to send the big check in. My rent is a little high for the distance to campus but I do have two parking places included in my rent which are sometimes hard to come by. Van Buren Village has some of the cheapest rent around - a parking space for the entire year is only the cost of one month rent, and each individual bedroom is spacious. For low incoming students, this housing is do -able, but most things are very cheap in the apartment. Over the course of living there for three years, the following have happened: I got bed bugs, our apartment flooded from the washing machines breaking above us, pipes have burst, our garbage disposal has broken, our mirror has fallen off in the bathroom and broken (which wasn't replaced for over 6 months), our doorknob has broken, our windows have leaked when it rains. When we moved in, there was a used condom on the floor of my room. My bike was stolen off of the bike rack at our apartment. I have never had a screen in my room, and my ceiling fan has never worked when the lights aren't on in my room. My roommate never received closet doors. The shower drain has clogged multiple times. The toilet has broken and leaked across the whole apartment. The washing machine/dryer does not work well at all. Signed a lease for a unit that was promised to be same as I was shown. Upon move in unit was filthy, animal urine everywhere (Not a pet friendly building, KMB had no idea that this person had a pet). Doorjam had been ripped out of wall and hastily put back in place. Lots of other damages to unit. Refused to answer my phone calls on move in day, had to use another person's number in order for them to pick up the call. Finally was offered another unit in the building for a higher price so they could properly address the destroyed unit. KMB acknowledged that they send cleaners to clean between leases but no one from the company had been out to the site in years. Do not rent from this company. DO NOT rent from Apartments at Iowa. We started out leasing from KMB and our lease switched over to them halfway through our rent (is this legal?) and everything changed. They also turned off our heat in the middle of March when temperatures were still FREEZING. The apartment was gross but the price was right We were living in the bottom half of our house (the basement) and after a couple months of being sick and uncomfortable in the damp, we discovered mold growing under our furniture and beds. When we contacted the landlords, they were rude and not willing to work with us. They came over to look at the black mold under the furniture and claimed it was dirt. They tried their best to not let us photograph it. They proceeded to use a shop vacuum to clean it, which I was furious about because you're not supposed to vacuum mold because it shoots all the mold spores into the air. They then cornered one of my roommates in the stairwell and told her not to tell her parents and that it wasn't a big deal. SHADIEST, most disgusting people I've ever met. After showing them how sick I was and our parents getting involved and threatening to call their lawyers, they finally let us break our lease. It was a terrible experience and it made me realize they don't care about their renter's health or safety at all, only about getting their money every month. We drove by the place less than a month later and people were already moving into the basement again, which definitely hadn't been treated. Kami and Dave are the WORST landlords I've ever had, and I've now lived at three different properties with four different landlords. Do not rent from them and do NOT live at 701.5 N Gilbert St. House is in poor condition and I'm pretty sure there is mold in it. It is an inexpensive apartment. I wasn't expecting much for that price. When I moved into the apartment the fridge was filled with cockroaches. It would take a week to replace this and in the meantime I had to stay in a hotel room which was only partially reimbursed. In addition the unit I stayed in consistently smelled of smoke even though the units were supposed to be smoke free. Maintenance requests sometimes were fixed, but other times were not. We live in a 3 bedroom townhome that rents for $850 a month, it's a dump but that is the trade off for how cheap it is. Affordable housing in Iowa City = rundown I would not recommend Aspire housing to anyone. They paint this wonderful picture of Cambus transportation, workout facility, and washer/dryer in the common areas. 1. work out facility is way too small (only fits 2-3 ppl to work out) 2. WAY overpriced --they make you sign your lease less than half way through your already established lease (they also do this business strategy of 35% of your'x' units have already been renewed and if you don't renew by 12/15/2018, your rent will go up to $1200/month--the smarter business strategy would be to retain your already established clientele, so they can say positive things about your landlord. If we don't renew early, we have to pay an additional $100/month just to stay in our unit. This is frustrating as we don't know if we will stay at Aspire, and it doesn't give enough time for newly established rentees to know if they like Aspire or not. Aspire locks you into their leasing agreement). 3. internet doesn't properly work --works way too slowly My unit contains mold. The bus is not always working. The staff is very uneducated and rude. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... My landlord was super responsive, very friendly. Maintenance requests were filed with ease online and often the maintenance guy was there within a few hours. I'm very happy with my landlord and would definitely recommend them. They remodeled our entire kitchen this past summer and gave us the option to move to a different unit or accept the rent increase. My landlord harasses students through email and phone calls and calls them names. The best part is having a garage for storage and my car. It is worth the 1 mile walk to campus Distance from campus was the only issue, as it took me about 10-15 by car or moped and 20-25 minutes by bus to get to campus. Unprofessional and inflexible company. A family emergency arose and I had to move out of state. I was made to pay 8 months rent ($9,000) on an empty apartment, in addition to my new apartment rent out of state. This was a financial hardship. Rental company would not assist with finding new renter for the unit, despite being required to by Iowa state law. Nicer (both in terms of management and physical building) apartments abound in the area. I would not recommend for my worst enemy to live at SoDo Flats (MWACR Property). We asked to move in early, so the company was still completing the repairs/renovations at the time we moved in. But, when we moved in, they completely replaced all flooring, gave us a brand new toilet and shower head - and then later, when there were some issues with the appliances, they've replaced the refrigerator and dishwasher. They're very prompt, very courteous, and wonderful to work with. They've also sent us emails to help with the extreme cold winter temperatures with helpful hints and guidelines so as to avoid freezing pipes and dangerous falls outside. Wish we had more recycling options and better snow removal for the parking lot! We had severe issues with response to maintenance issues - there are still a few things that were broken when we moved in and we requested maintenance on within a week of moving in but the issues still have not been addressed or completed 8 months later, despite several maintenance requests and contacting both the property manager and maintenance company for follow-up multiple times. Eventually theyjust stopped responding to our calls. The carpet was filthy when we moved in, turning the soles of our feet black within minutes of walking barefoot on it. The managers claimed every unit was steam -cleaned before move -in but that did not seem to be the case and we paid $200 to get it actually cleaned. Our whole building was without a working heater for about a month in late fall when temperatures outside were into the '30s at night. The alley that leads to the building entrance is rarely plowed in winter, resulting in 6'+ of ice when the snow melts and refreezes. Our heat doesn't work. It made for a very frustrating winter. Because our "Landlords" are a company, they can be hard to get a hold of and requests can get lost. They DON'T do snow removal well, even though it's in our lease that they're supposed to. It makes our back alley, front stairs, and sidewalk extremely icy and dangerous. The maintenance crew is great about fixing things regularly twice a semester regardless of if we request things. It makes it so we don't have to request things since they come often enough! We also got a $50 drop in rent once we renewed our lease for 3 years! Great deal! Overall, it's cheap and close to campus. Typical college housing that can definitely be put up with for a couple years. The apartment complex (4 buildings) is super safe, new, and clean. I love that we have a temperature controlled garage, secured lobby area in front of elevators, indoor mail, and a well -lit large center parking lot for visitors. The landlords arejudge-y and if they notice that you and/or your roommates are not part of the wealthy, white college student population they will try to find any reason they can to evict you. They have pest control once a month and the landlords will come in with the pest control service to spy on you, and will threaten to evict you if your dishes aren't done. It's terrible. Apartments Near Campus is DISGUSTING. To list the top issues upon move in: ROACHES, FILTHY carpet. MOLD in shower. Best advice if you rent with them: get a move -in check list, request pest control immediately, plan on requesting for snow/ice removal multiple times. Apartments at Iowa has been rather impersonal and distant as a landlord. I had a request to create a more secure bicycle rack outside the front door of my apartment (light or security camera) because of a destruction of property incident and they told me to email them my complaint/request so they can forward it to the actual landlord. I sent the email and heard no reply from them or my actual landlord, who I have never met. Instead of getting the bicycle rack issue resolved, I have to carry my bicycle up 2 flights of stairs into my room now. I'm happy that I'll be renting from a smaller company next year who will actually listen to my comments and concerns. Stayed here because it is pet friendly. Very difficult to find pet friendly apartments in the area Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... They are really annoying because they are constantly doing showings or repairing things in my apartment that I do not request to be repaired. Their telephone line is irritating to dial because u have to select which option you would like and they do not have one pertaining to current renters. They also say they provide heat, but all the heaters are broken in my apartment and they expect me to heat my apartment with the "warm" setting on my AC (which is only in the family room). Honestly this apartment isn't worth what I pay in rent either but there isn't many better options out there for someone looking for an one bedroom. Do t be dicieved by the utilities packs other companies offer like apartmss at iowa/downtown ...they're stealing from you and won't return your deposit unless you sue them and even then you might get a fraction. Those companies are abusers. Go with private landowners or keystone. You'll have to wait and do a little more research but it is worth it! Terrible apartments. One bed room has the ac unit right next to the door. You can stand in the kitchen or in the living room. Overall, very bad experience. Mitch was very unprofessional and never responsive to maintenance requests. when there was an emergency situation at the home and the police department showed up he did not come to discuss the situation because he was "drunk". He did not take our concerns seriously regarding our own safety and the safety of our belongings. He was upset when we had a housing inspector from the city come look at the black mold, broken AC, leaking pipes, exposed nails, etc. after he failed to come take care of the situation himself. My landlord was pretty rude when emailing back and forth about concerns regarding lack of snow removal in our parking lot that resulted in multiple stuck cars. Our landlord also told us when we first moved in that we could get a discounted rent if they used our apartment for showings and after multiple emails to her year after year to try and get this deal, she was rude and never gave it to us. Landlord is not professional at all. Our apartment flooded 3 separate times, and we were not given any money off the rent despite the fact that we had to live in the living room for several weeks while the landlord waited to call the carpet cleaners. The landlord also comes in without asking and doesnt respond to maintenance requests unless they are sent multiple times (and even then they are usually ignored for weeks or never taken care of). Cruise properties is great. Much better than our last landlords. Renting from them has been stress free as possible. ANC sucks ass and I woefully regret that my options were either resigning with them or coping with homelessness (aka the """""lease gap"""""") over the summer. They faked not getting my rent payment so they could throw on late fees and when my apartment on several occasions lacked running water they dawdled on repairing it for 24+ hours because it was not an "emergent issue." Excuse me? I'm a human being, and maybe unlike the sectoids at ANC I (and my cats) *need* water to live. They left the heating on full blast after entering my apartment over winter break and left the bill to me. Their barely qualified contractors knocked over my personal possessions and left them lying on the floor after entering my unit when I was not around. Fuck 'em x100 My landlord has been extremely disrespectful and unprofessional. He has not followed through with the contract agreement to provide safe living conditions and I tried to break my lease a month ago, but failed. Landlords in Iowa City truly do not care about the quality of homes and service they provide to college students. The renting system is difficult to navigate and understand- I do not know who I can trust and feel as if I am constantly being taken advantage of as a young female renter. I have been looking for a place to live next year, and it has been highly stressful and time consuming. I wish there was an easier way. Fantastic housing, even better land. Never want to leave. Unit was kind of crappy and the roommates turned it into a trap house. Westwinds didn't seem to care about late rent or evictions Charges for both non emergency and emergency maintenance are quite high. Non emergency starts at $30 and emergency cost me $100. Utilities cost anywhere from $7-$20 depending on the time of year. Very accommodating for ESA cases. I think they have fair practices. I never had to repay my security deposit over my time living here (a common problem with others). Subletting is allowed, nice to have that option and have it documented for all those involved. My place was dated but as things became in poor repair they were replaced with brand new in &lt;2 weeks (AC from 1980s having huge bill, stove tripping the breaker whenever oven was on, dryer didn't wring out). It is huge and heat, water, and parking are included so I stayed here my entire time outside of the dorms. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... My landlord verbally harassed my roommate for needing an emotional support animal. (They told him after signing a lease, which is fine because he's legally required to accommodate that. He responded by yelling at them-- to the extent they were afraid to come home in case the landlord was there to confront them. My landlord threatened to evict my roommate and all of the tenants in our apartment for having a "pet" and sue us all. My roommate gave him a week to simmer down, during which he must have talked to his lawyer, because he finally "permitted" them to have the ESA.) My basement apartment has bugs (we think carpenter ants) that hatch and crawl up through our shower drain every spring. There's a period of about 3 weeks where our shower will just be covered in about 40+ flying ants every 2-3 days as they hatch and come out to breed. We've called the landlord about this-- he just comes and sprays chemicals in the shower. This doesn't seem to help any more thanjust washing them down the drain with water. We've talked to the City Housing inspector about this, but all he can do is document that the bugs are there and instruct the landlord to spray. He can't enforce any long term solution. (Carpenter ants also live in damp wood so this probably means that there is rotting wood in the walls behind the shower..) There's mold in my apartment, and I've also asked the city housing inspector about this. Apparently, there is no city, state, nor federal law requiring landlords in Iowa City to test an apartment that has mold to make sure that the mold isn't a health risk. We have mold on the drywall above our shower due to really poor ventilation and very old bathroom fan. The Housing inspector said tojust spray a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water on it regularly to kill it. Water regularly seeps through the exterior wall of my room and through the drywall, which is another recipe for mold, and water regularly pools in my kitchen with any rainstorm. The city housing inspector said he can document that these areas are damp and instruct the landlord to air them out, but that's about all he can do. Lastly, my landlord tried to bypass the new city law requiring him to provide recycling by claiming that a tenant -run recycling system was his own. He did this 3 times with city inspectors, and it took me (the tenant) fully removing the public recycling system I had set up for other tenants and reporting him multiple times to the city before this was fixed. Needless to say, neither the landlord nor the city are big fans of me anymore, lol. And my landlord also has a very volatile personality. He is perfectly nice about 90% of the time, but he gets irrationally angry at the drop of a hat and responds in an overtly aggressive manner the other 10%. For example, one time my roommate had their car parked in the assigned parking space of an adjacent apartment they knew was vacant. The landlord stopped by unexpectedly to do some maintenance work one day and was so enraged to find a random car in this parking space that he physically bent my roommate's windshield wiper in retribution. (He claimed hejust left a note under the wiper, but my roommate had to literally replace their wiper blades.) He also assigns parking, but it's not guaranteed in the lease so when people park in our parking spaces (we're near Carver and Kinnick), we have no power to tow them. And our landlord won't tow anyone unless they've parked in our space twice. This mean that there are stretches of time (especially during football season) where 1 or more random cars use our parking spaces every week, and we have no power to tow them and no nearby street parking. He also refuses to put up any signage indicating that our parking lot is private parking to mitigate this situation. Overall, this apartment has been super cheap, which is the only reason I've stayed there for so long, but my roommates and I are moving out to Coralville because we are done with this entire situation. This was by far my worst living experience in Iowa City so far. I definitely would not recommend this property or even Mike McLaughlin as an individual. He is all about money and doesn't give a shit about his tennants. When getting an ESA, he caused unneeded stress. He enters the property whenever he sees fit. The day we moved in, he pushed back the move in time to 12pm because he was still doing work on the house. Came into the house and the floor was freshly painted so we were unable to move our furniture into our house until the next day. He neglected to tell us that we only have one exit. And there is no fire exit in this house. Extremely dangerous to even live here. And rent is outrageously expensive for the shit hole of a house he has. Please ensure students don't go through the same stress that I have. I moved in August 2017. What most would consider emergencies they often do not, for instance not having a toilet. We were left without a toilet for almost 3 days. Or, having a bat inside our unit and inside the walls of the entire length of the apartment. They do not shovel or put sand or salt in the winter. They also do not repair things adequately. The city inspector said they must cut out and placed a new ceiling after a MAJOR water leak from a faulty drain above, and they simply plastered it - you can see brown watermarks coming through the plaster. I would suggest no one rent from them or their family companies. They are over priced and do not take care of their properties - leaving you to deal with a lot of issues. Iowa City renting has been the worst experience I have ever had renting and I have lived in 5+ units outside of the state. My wife feels similarly and has stayed rented even more than I have. My landlord has failed to uphold their end of the lease several times. I had a neighbor who smoked in their unit, which was against the lease and I was forced to move. I was only allowed to move after several months of working with the landlord, documentation, and threatening legal action from the breach of contract. Most repairs are done quickly but my cracked window took over a year to fix when they told me it would be done before I moved in. They failed to notify me of when it would be fixed until I called several times to inquire. I have been charged for repairs which our contract says the manager will pay for. When I called about bulk item disposal, (which they ask tenants to do), no one at the office knew what to do. If you find the right person to talk to, you can get results but in general, they treat tenants really horribly and you have to read the contract carefully and force them to uphold their end. They subtly lock you into their unit by requiring renewals in the winter, only a few months after you have lived in the apartment - which I think might be common in Iowa City. On top of that, I have been told horror stories about other managers so I have been afraid to move to another apartment. Westwinds may be the best of the worst places to rent from, and that is scary. I am looking forward to renting from a private owner with only one property for the next year. I would never suggest to lease from this property management again. Every time I had an issue, the workers were unhelpful and rude. They charged me for a maintenance request on something that I didn't break. I was set to re-sign a lease with this same apartment, despite all of these issues, and the company GAVE MY APARTMENT AWAY. Overall awful experience with this company. I will say the apartment itself is nice and worth the rent I pay, BUT walls and ceilings are paper thin. I hate being on the second floor and hearing people stomp above me. Or have parties going on until 4 in the morning. I DO NOT RECOMMEND renting from here. spacious and clean, quiet neighborhood Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... Our apartment at van buren village was falling apart around us. We had black mold, leaky walls that lead to wet carpet twice, leaky windows, ants, more ants, fridge handles break, screen on windows were missing or kept falling off, a bush with vines that over took our windows, washers and dryers that broke or were too full of coins nearly once a month.... the list goes on. They took forever to get back to us and we were never sure what number we were texting, if it was the landlord Rod, Mitch or Maitance because we all thought we had number A for person B and my roomate had number C for person B. Once they fixed things it was good but telling them and getting them to respond to us was another thing. The landlords also were really bad about telling us when they were fixing things and if they had done so yet. They never responded to our maintenance request. We originally signed with Apartments at Iowa, but our landlord upon move in was KMB, and neither landlords notified us of this change prior to move in. We requested a copy of our lease, but they lost it. It then switched from KMB to apartments downtown. Apartments downtown sent us an email addressed to the wrong unit, giving us 2 days notice in the middle of the school week to remove EVERYTHING from our apartment to re -do the flooring. They then refused to respond to our email asking if they made a typo when writing the unit number, and what would happen if we failed to move everything from our unit (because I am small and can not move my bed frame, bed, and shelf by myself). Strongly urge grad students to not choose this as their next living location! Defective building, horrible undergrad neighbors, and management doesn't know what it's doing! Can't wait to leave this place. I'm not sure if I would recommend my real estate company. They are very courteous, though. Depending on the location, some units seem outdated or neglected and is offered in an "as is" condition. They do repairs, but renovations are not always at their disposal. I blindly leased a unit while I moved from California, and when I finally entered the unit, I realized the unit/location was too sketchy for me. Fortunately, they worked with me until I got my preferred unit. The one I settled for still needed some maintenance, but it was more to my liking than the initial one. The price is also reasonable. Living in a sorority house one issue I did experience was that I wanted to drop the sorority, however I lived in and it was only possible to drop if I continued paying rent and moved out. Something that was outlined in the sorority rules, however not the lease. I think that many people find themselves end up signing a lease before fully thinking through it because of the short lease deadline. You have to sign a lease for many places shortly after beginning your time here at the University. At that point, you're not always 100% on the people you've met. With this in mind, the renew your lease also comes up early, ex: October. With that in mind, you've only gotten to experience living in your place for about 3 months and how you get along with your roommates. A pipe burst in our building twice in one weekend and the electronics locks are broken. They have nails sticking out of trim they ripped off sitting in the hall since Feb. the workers they got stole my spare tires and there is no evidence of this because both the fire alarms and the security cameras are not connected and haven't been since the flood in Feb. they have not fixed my front door which is showing signs of shift. My friend's apt has stress fractures in her unit like it was not built correctly. If I do send in a maintence request, they often enter with no notice and don't fix the issue. Overall I don't like this place. The landlord is not awful and there isn't anything glaringly wrong with our apt. However, he is not the most friendly man, and I feel takes advantage of college students who are not aware of all of their rights and what an apartment should offer to them. Overall, living in the apartment is a pleasant experience, but the website for paying rent is not intuitive and doesn't display how much you owe; you just have to know how much your rent is and charge that much to your account each month. I'd prefer if there was some confirmation that I don't owe anything else. The landlord also posted a notice that she had "amended our lease" so that we were now responsible for clearing snow or else we'd be charged. We never agreed to that amendment, so I don't think it's reasonable to enforce it. Other than that, the apartment is nice and the location makes it worth all the annoyances. It is great that you can text or call him whenever you want, however maintenance is very strange here. The landlord does everything, and sometimes he will come immediately and sometimes he will never come. The pipes burst in our apartment due to the polar vortex on a Thursday night and that same Friday night the other pipes burst in our apartment and the fire alarms were going off. No communication from the landlord until I complained to them specifically about how we didn't even know if it was safe to enter our apartment. We had to call the non -emergency fire department number to confirm it was safe to return back into our apartment since our calls weren't being answered. The apartments themselves are nice, but if you have to deal with the management it's a really big issue. We've had multiple issues with the actual landlord/group running the apartments and our apartment was not adequately cleaned before our move in. Landlord was absent. Most business was done indirectly through ex -renters, which was proven to be a horrible idea. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... Standard living conditions were not met. The vents are full of dirt and were never cleaned after multiple requests. The landlords did not respond to complaints of people smoking in the lobby of our smoke-free building. I sent a complaint over a year ago and have yet to receive a response. Our apartment was under different management when we moved here and the quality and management significantly decreases after Watt's Group took over. Parking is $60/month. We are renting a two bedroom apartment, which with two parking spots comes tojust under $450/month per person. Please never rent from Watts Group. They don't respect their tenants. Maintenance enters often without 24 hours notice. Requests are never responded to. Our previous landlord (who was wonderful) was bought out by Watts group. Since then, the apartment quality has diminished. They must be using cheap air filters because the dust level in our apartment skyrocketed. This does cause us to worry about our health as my allergies have worsened. They allow individuals to keep pets (non service animals) who urinate and defecate on the hallway carpeting even though it is against our lease to have pets. There was a problem last fall where there were bees continuing to come into my room through a window and Apartments at Iowa always said threat they would handle the situation when I reached out to them. They did not come out to eliminate the bee hives until the first snow fall of the year last winter. I was responsible for killing all the bees up until that point and they never got back to me. I would say that it was difficult to live here and have privacy Make sure you stand your ground and don't let them take advantage of you. Know your rights. The pricing was great for rent, however maintenance was not up to par. Barely responded, had to ask to come clean things that should have been done. Parking lot is unacceptable and snow removal is not taken into account. My landlord was not explicit about renting my backyard and driveway to tailgaters on football game days. It was only briefly explained to me in my lease. I wasn't allowed to use my driveway on Saturday or Sunday on all home football game days, and they provided parking that was 3 miles from my house on the other side of town. My backyard was rented out to a fraternity party, even though the only entrance to my apartment is through my backyard. The party completely destroyed the turf grass, and Big Ten left 12 port -a -johns in my driveway for two months. I had to pay for water/electricity for the parties as well. Apartments at Iowa is supposed to provide heat for our unit, however they shut off our heat supply over spring break while I was still in the unit and the temperatures were sometimes in the 30s. This was unacceptable and is not the first time it has been done. They also do not shovel the sidewalk in front of the complex when it snows, nor do they clear the parking lot. They are often rude about requests or questions. They also scheduled a showing for my apartment because I hadn't renewed my lease for the following year, yet I still had a week before the deadline. The maintenance crew is great and kind. I would never recommend Apartments at Iowa to anyone. In addition to my rent and utilities I also pay $600 for parking. During Iowa Football games I am unable to use my car as my landlord fills the lot in with cars so that there is no room to enter or leave. Parking is a huge issue on and near campus is general which is why I tried for an apartment location within walking distance to class. The apartment is shoddy and falling apart --just enough that it's probably considered wear -and -tear and I won't get my deposit in it's entirety. Rudest rental company I've ever had the displeasure to work with. I honestly have no idea how they stay in business. Absolutely terrible! Friendly landlord with newer properties. Landlord is Tom Kaut. He is extremely hard to work with, rude, condescending, hard to contact, and overall extremely unprofessional. He can go from a seemingly polite man to complete asshole in approx 10 seconds. He increased the rent $30 from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019. Rent is relatively expensive (especially since the apartment overall and especially the bedrooms are extremely small), and we have to pay energy (avg $80 total per month) and utilities (avg $45 total per month) on top of it. Parking spots are a whopping $1200 a year (a $300 increase from 2017-2018.) Tom conducted ..showings" of our apartment fall semester, totaling around 8 total trips into our apartment with strangers. He never seems to come to the building to check on things, evident by hallway lights being out for weeks, trash throughout hallways/entrance/garage, bikes in the garage that have sat there for 3+ years, etc. I complained that a car was blocking in the bikes, and later Tom insisted that I had vandalized the car, which was a complete lie. I would not recommend leasing from Tom Kaut to anyone. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... Campus View is the most professional housing company I have heard about on campus. Maintenance always came within a day of the request and was quick and friendly. They also take care of their apartments and clean the hallways monthly. recycling is not provided yet but will be for next year. I will never rent from Keystone Property Management again. I would not recommend them to anyone. They are horrible and they do not care about their tenants, only the people who's property they are managing. We knew within a month of moving in that we would not be able to live in the unit we had leased - the neighbors were on a totally different schedule than us and although we had asked them to be a little quieter, they refused and maintained they were making no noise. This was not normal shared space noise. This was the loudest noise I have ever heard in my life. We were not sleeping. I am in graduate school. It was not working out. We came up with several reasonable accommodations to take to Keystone about the issue but our main concern was that we get out of the space as soon as possible. They told us it wasn't possible because we were in a condo and that we should have understood the difference between a condo and an apartment before moving in. I have never felt so belittled or put down in a situation before. They did not care we weren't sleeping and they certainly didn't care that our neighbors were making our space uninhabitable. When I raised the issue of the noise, they said "call the cops." Which, may I add, is highly problematic because they weren't doing anything wrong besides staying up all night. We saved every penny and sold a lot of our stuff to move out and pay out the remainder of our lease. We didn't even try to find a sub -letter because we felt that tricking someone into staying in that space was not fair. This doesn't even mention the sewage problem that we begged to have fixed and did not get fixed in 8 months or the vandalism of our washer and dryer or the police being on the property for this or that every single day. SERIOUSLY. Do not live here. The price is low for a reason but it's not low enough to forgo sleep and safety. Apartments at Iowa has a lot of places to deal with, but we have not had wifi or cable all year and our AC does not work super well which makes our electric bill super high. We've also had our garbage disposal and dishwasher break and back up into our sink. We live in a super old place that needs major updates. They also had a lot of hoops tojump through in order to get needs met. I typically don't complain about places and am sure others have had a great experience but my roommates and I are not renting from them again. We really liked out unit but the building itself was so-so. The biggest problem we had through the year was with the elevator; there is an elevator in the building that anyone can use, but it breaks down frequently. Sometimes they are quick about fixing it, but there have been a couple times where it takes 1-2 weeks. The parking costs for the garage under our unit are also obscenely expensive, but I suppose that doesn't have much to do with our specific lease. The landlord is extremely hard to get in contact with she doesn't answer phone calls or return voicemails or emails. Grad student - 2BR/1BA live alone with a dog. It was so hard to find a dog -friendly place and I am very pleased with it here. The unit I am living in is almost certainly not up to building code. The studs are extremely far spaced out, and the walls are bowing in some locations. However, the landlords haven't been *difficult* to deal with by any means - they were even considerate enough to have a representative personally text us to remind us about signing dates, lease details, et cetera. My largest complaint is how long it took for the company to fixthe maintenance requests we submitted. We submitted a handful of requests at move -in (August) that were seemingly ignored. However, once I resubmitted them in March, they came in almost immediately to fix them (1-2 days) and didn't charge us. The apartment was not repainted before we moved in so the walls, ceiling, and doors all had visible damage. The kitchen was very dirty and obviously not cleaned when I moved in. In addition, they charged both me and my roommate twice for a month's rent (took out the money from my account twice) for no reason and then blamed it on us; they refused to work out the issue or give us our money back, then also charged a $40 fee even though the issue was with their computer system. My landlord did not disclose to me that the fireplace would not be working, which it said it was in the lease. She didn't fix it until 8 months later, nearly the time I moved out. Also, she didn't disclose that I was to have three landlords in an LLC before I signed the lease, so I had to deal with all of them. They have been the most invasive landlords I have ever had in the vetting process of approval as well as for various things that they really didn't need to come by for. In addition, she had an illegal carpet cleaning clause that I informed her was illegal. It has been a constant battle since day one. She also took months to install a new garage opener when I moved in so I couldn't use the garage. She's also very bullying when it comes to the organization and cleanliness of the apt to show to other future tenants and I'm an extremely clean person as it is. Did not address an emergency safety concern that had to do with other tenants being aggressive toward me. The space itself is fine but for these reasons I wouldn't rent again or suggest to rent from them I wish they didn't have to enter my unit so often to do maintenance. I prefer my privacy and I am a good tenant. There are a few things our landlord hasn't fixed. Our lease says she fixes things at her discretion. We also apparently pay for maintenance, although we weren't charged (to my knowledge) the one time we had maintenance fix something. She also changed our lease in the middle of the winter- to make us liable for shoveling snow, or we would be charged. But these are all sacrifices I made to be near a specific part of campus. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... They encouraged us to sign a lease early to get the "cheapest rates" but then they change ownership again and he rates went down. They wouldn't change the rate we signed our lease for so I was paying $100+ more for one bedroom in a four bedroom apartment when others in the apartment were paying the new cheaper fees. Entered the apartment all the time for "maintence" or "wellness checks" Stairway and carpet was never kept cleaned. Computer lab printer never worked. Price was very fair for the amount of amenities that you receive. There is a private shuttle to campus, you don't have to pay for cable or wifi, pool, hot tub, full work out area, etc. It is usually pretty clean around the property, a lot of community events for residents. Very responsive, friendly and prompt. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking for an apartment. I did actually recommend them to one of my friends and now she lives in the building too Former Iowa city resident (now a part time grad student in Des Moines). Please please try to pass a city ordinance that forbids landlords from renewing leases more than 90 days out. When I was an undergraduate student, we had to renew our lease 90 days after moving in! Ridiculous 808 on 5th LLC does provide a 24 hour entry notice, however, they are not very open about it. Rather than contact tenants, they post small notices near the door and in the elevators. These notices remain posted long after the reason for entering apartments, so when they get replaced with new notices, you may not realize it. Tracy Barkalow (owner and property manager, Big Ten Property Management and TSB Holdings LLC) has been the subject of a number of class action lawsuits in the Iowa City and Coralville area relating to his businesses. We rented from Tracy and were responsible for the cost of electricity and natural gas. The 5 units in the house I lived in are individually metered for electricity but not for natural gas. We pay our electric bill through the MidAmerican website but, for natural gas and water, we were sent an invoice on TSB Holdings LLC letterhead. At the beginning of my lease, the amount I was charged seemed reasonable and, even though it seemed strange that I would receive a separate invoice for gas and water, I paid without question. In the winter months, the cost of natural gas quickly exceeded $100 per billing period. Since I lived in a one -bedroom apartment with an electric stove, I thought that this cost was in excess of what I ought to be paying so, I requested to see the metered usage statistics to calculate the cost of natural gas per unit in the house. Upon my first request, I received no response and did not pay the bill I was issued. There was no late notice or request for payment. I received another natural gas invoice on TSB Holdings LLC letterhead, higher than the last (exceeding $100 dollars). I requested the metered usage statistics from Big Ten Property Management again via email and was assessed a $55/hr "bookkeeping" fee to retrieve the information. They told me they were not the property owners - just the management company. I contacted MidAmerican to get the information myself but required authorization from the property owner. Since the bill I received was on TSB Holdings LLC letterhead, I looked up the business with that name on the Secretary of State's website and contacted the registered agent listed there - a local Iowa City lawyer - and asked him to sign the authorization form. He replied saying that he was instructed by Tracy Barkalow, of Big Ten Property Management, not to authorize the release of the information. Shortly after I contacted the registered agent of TSB Holdings LLC, I received a phone call from Tracy asking why I would get an attorney involved (it was his attorney) and asked if I was "stupid or something". He said he would get me the information I requested by the end of the week and make sure to bill me for "everyone's time I was wasting". He let me know that his personal billing rate was $500/hr. I have not yet received any meter information, "bookkeeping" fees, or utility bills since his phone call - which was about two months ago now. In addition to the stressful and distracting situation I described above, we have had rodent problems, spent days without heat in the middle of winter, have had outstanding maintenance requests since September of last year, and have had our apartment shown 3 times per week since October (including on weekends). I wonder why no one has signed yet? Rent is cheap but you get what you pay for with Big Ten Property Management. The landlord/company was relatively easy to work with overall. The unit was a little on the outdated side, but nothing that inhibited our ability to use it or its cleanliness. We had to have the dishwasher replaced, but I believe that they are doing renovations on all the apartments in the building next year. We had the option to choose a renovated one, but chose this one because it was $100/month cheaper that way. Overall, I would rent from Big Ten Property Management again because maintenance was always dealt with within 48 hours and the building was relatively quiet compared to other apartments. The person that owned our unit lived in the building and micromanaged everything we did. We could not even take the trash out without getting intersected by the owner. There was prior plumbing damage in our apartment that has caused repeated issues, which we weren't informed of. Our apartment also has a flooding issue, which the company has brought in fans for but has never fixed The place was smelly and dirty when we entered, they have been terrible about responding to service requests, the driveway was dangerous the entire winter. Doesn't clear sidewalks during the winter, parking lot butts up against another unit and sorority house so parking is tight. Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... My apartment was not cleaned even though they claimed it was before I moved in. There are not fire escapes on my apartment, which is dangerous as I live on the second floor and I am quite sure illegal. The parking lots and sidewalks surrounding my apartment were never salted during the winter and a clear hazard to all residence; I feel numerous times as did my friends. The carpet in our apartment should have been replaced long ago, but it has not been. Big Ten Property was unfortunately very rude and unprofessional. They refuse to take action for their maintenance requests and tend to also refuse to pay for things wrong with the unit prior to moving in. Any time an issue was attempted to be discussed in a respectful and reasonable manner, they would get very aggressive and reply unprofessionally. Emails were not reply to. As a college student it is rough to struggle to pay rent and not get your moneys worth. The place itself looks nice, but the things that are wrong over -weigh the look of the unit. Parking can be tight sometimes but it is free so not many complaints. Recycling would be nice to have You have to pay for every maintenance/service request, I once got notification they were going to enter my apartment and then they never came, you can't recycle glass, one shade is still broken, light bulbs go out so easily I don't even buy light bulbs anymore I just avoid turning on the lights, they told me to pick up my keys at a certain place but didn't specify that was only on a certain day but didn't say that, the dishwasher is worthless and uses so much water KM is a terrible management company and I can not recommend choosing another company. Communication was poor, has entered unit with no notice multiple times, failure to maintain property which has now become filthy and broken down, refusal to repair certain things Prestige is local and their leasing office is easy to walk into to ask questions. They are very receptive I actually had to file a formal complaint against Penningroth Apartments with the State of Iowa Civil Rights Commission due to discrimination on the basis of disability. My landlord contacted my therapist and demanded private medical knowledge, despite the fact that I had complied with all of the state -required laws for proving disability status. This was all over a $25 pet fee, and then they tried to raise my rent $100/month in retaliation. We eventually settled our dispute, but I have consistently been disappointed and appalled by management's poor communication skills and outright anger towards their tenants. I would highly recommend that no student ever rent here if they can avoid it. The maintenance is a little slow if it is not an emergency request, however, when they do maintenance its typically very well done. They sometimes can take a while to email back in non -emergency situations but are always friendly and helpful in my experience. apartments at iowa sucks and they do not clean their places properly nor fix maintenance issues in a timely manner Apartment manager responded to my maintenances requests in a timely manner, but that did not mean maintenance showed up in a timely manner. Also, maintenance would not attempt to notify me of when they were going to show up, or even announce themselves at my door. There also aren't any handicap accessible automatic doors from the underground parking to the elevator, so I'm not sure my building is even ADA compliant. The only problem I have with my rent is the price. They showed a model apartment that looks nothing like the apartment you get. Whole apartment is dirty and things aren't well kept. Dishwasher hasn't worked all year and has never been fixed. The whole building is dirty. When you have questions the front desk doesn't know anything. Bus is constantly broken down and so is the printer. They did a very poorjob of clearing ice off of secondary entrances, the on site laundry utilities are overpriced and barely operational, and some maintenance requestsjust get completely ignored time after time. Rise at Riverfront Crossings is an overpriced apartment complex with sub -par amenities. It's quite and clean and seems very safe to me! Move in was rough but they are really accommodating and respond quickly New building but had lots of problems Please use this space to add any additional comments that you might have ab... Apartments downtown is horrible! From the very beginning they lied about the apartment I leased. Then they would not take care of repairs and then they ignored an emergency issue I had for 5 months. Their staff is rude and unprofessional and they would never let me talk to anyone "in -charge" because apparently those who own or run the property who are the actual "landlords" tenants are not allowed to speak to or have their contact information. Such a joke. BEWARE!!! NEVER lease from them. They don't care about students, only car about money and offer shitty customer service The apartment washer/dryer had flooded into our complex and emergency maintenance was not helpful, we basically had to deal with it ourselves. We cleaned our entire apartment before moving out and still got $150 cleaning fee (when asked to see a check list of what was cleaned after they refused). We never received our deposit check at the end of moving out and in order for them to send it again and made us pay $50. We recieved $94/$300 of the deposit because of necessary charges ASI Rentals is great! I highly recommend. I hear horror stories about other rental agencies on campus, but ASI was wonderful. They were always quick to respond to emails, and everything was clean and taken care of in a timely manner. I stayed at the 630 S Capitol St. apartments, and it was so nice that it was close to campus (CRWC/library). The apartment is very spacious. When we rented the unit for the 2017-2018 school year it was under different management and got bought out by Watts Group. Watts Group responds promptly to requests but they do have a lot of properties in Coralville so take longer on bigger projects (i.e. repainting staircase walls after water damage) We had severe flooding in our basement that our landlord knew about prior to signing the lease but we were not told about it. We brought it up several times during the fall and nothing was done. It wasn't until we had several inches of standing water in the spring that anything was done but it was very minimal My landlord does not tell us when they have been in the unit for maintenance when no one is home. Sometimes I notice it has been done but nothing is ever left indicating anyone was in the apartment. *test survey* Our unit had to be carpet cleaned when we first moved in. The questions regarding landlord visits should all incorporate a none option. End of Report Item Number: 14. It i r = _ 12ft Z % r"=0 CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Iowa City Area Development: 2019 Annual Report ATTACHMENTS: Description Iowa City Area Development: 2019 Annual Report IPA.- R t -IN t� W, i-❑pMULf. —OP SUCCESS V �•' ��, jr Aff . M., 35 YEARS sn� of �r[wrc�wt ow K MWA. - 1 ri', 201 9 ANN1[JAL REPORT IOWA CITY -- AREA DEVEI-OPMENT . s mr�enrn As the Iowa City Area Development Group celebrates 35 years of serving the Iowa City area, we are humbled to look back at the monumental growth that has taken place in our organization and our communities. From ICAD's original focus on attracting manufacturing companies to our present-day holistic approach to creating an environment where all interstate commerce companies can succeed, our work has evolved tremendously. Throughout the years, ICAD has led with a spirit of innovation and has demonstrated an ability to be proactive in addressing our companies' needs when they arise. We're proud of the numerous state and national awards we've received recognizing our cutting edge work in the economic development industry. As we celebrate this 35 year milestone, and look back at our organization's history, it is clear that while much has changed — such as our approach to doing business, our logo, people, and office spaces — our dedication to serving our companies and communities has remained constant. Today, the ICAD team makes it our mission to find ways to serve, to solve problems, and to look ahead for opportunities and threats so we can do everything in our power to ensure our interstate commerce companies continue to grow. We will continue to be responsive to the challenges of today while being mindful of the changes coming our way. We are grateful forthe support and trust of our investors, who make our work possible. We look forward to the prospects ahead and will continue our work driving innovation. While we celebrate the past, our focus is on the future and doing everything we can to ensure that the Iowa City area — and our region — continues to thrive as a destination for people and businesses. Mark Nolte President MERGE COMPANIES MERGE INNOVATION SPACE TextPress AG SPONSORS HDR Iowa City Area Development Aelieve Group JourneyWithLeong City of Iowa City SuredBits The University of Iowa The Accel Group RAMDO Kirkwood Community Bright Star Care College RDG Planning & Design MLC Edammo Inc. Neumann Monson City Church Architects Code Geek Modus Journimap ImOn Communications Mazira LLC Allsteel Faster Insurance Clear Wealth Tallgrass Business We Write Code Resources Medtronic Office Elements Ovolv3 Hamilton IP Law Winnow St. Martin Land Company Ciras Image Relay Protostudios Ceres Imaging Compass- Finances God's Way Janssen Oncology Hayoon Kane Law Firm P.C. Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce Suits Off Media LLC Shadow LLC Astig Planning The Accel Group Mallum FaceX Anaman Concierge Services 2019 BY THE NUMBERS TOTAL REVENUE � $11133,442 TOTAL EXPENSES 58% of companies saw an increase in sales of companies saw an increase in market share 952 New positions our interstate commerce companies plan to create in the next three years 5 3 "Yo of companies plan to expand over next three years 185 unfilled positions at the time of the survey WORLD ICAD Apple Computer Inc. — CONNECTION unveils the Macintosh First Capital Development, personal computer Inc Ray Muston is named Prince releases his president 1 MILLION CUPS "Purple Rain" album Based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and engage with their communities over a million cups of coffee, the The first artificial heart Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation developed 1 Million Cups in transplant occurs First Annual Meeting 2012 — a free program designed to educate, engage, and inspire Queen rocks the world at Rockwell Collins entrepreneurs around the country. 1 Million Cups works with Live Aid at Wembley locates in Coralvdle entrepreneurs, empowering them with the tools and resources 43 50 to break down barriers that stand in the way of starting and 1 Million Cups 1 Million Cups Organization renamed growing their businesses. Every week, we feature one new idea. sessions presenters "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is to Iowa City Area After giving a six -minute pitch, entrepreneurs receive questions, first broadcast nationally Development Group feedback and connections from the audience. Join us every The U.S. Space Shuttle Wed. @ 9 AM @ MERGE. Challenger explodes Office moved Commerce Center woo — MERGE Excel, PageMaker are born IV , The MERGE Innovation COMPAN INDU TRY Rock & Roll Hall of Fame EPC (Victor Plastics) Space is designed to create inducts 1 st female artist, locates in Kalona and cultivate a knowledge TYPE Aretha Franklin ecosystem for entrepreneurs ( 1 and startups, offering vital f "48 Hours" premieres resources and connections Startup 52%+ Technology 42% 121 on CBS -TV to successfully create, MERGE events launch, and grow new Transport America locates Small Business 20% Services 23% ' ' Prodigy dial-up service in North Liberty Enterprise 16% Non-profit 13% becomes available companies in the Iowa City— Other 12i" Cedar Rapids area. Finance 10% Media 8% The Berlin Wall comes down 'l Other 4% STARTUP WEEKEND Naystar's first operational Integrated DNA locates jj'GPS satellite was launched in University's TIC Startup Weekend'" is a 54 -hour weekend into space event, during which groups of developers, 54 28 8 3 business managers, startup enthusiasts, Nelson Mandela released marketing gurus, graphic artists and after 27 years imprisonment Martin Kelly more pitch ideas for new startup in South Africa ; , named president companies, form teams around those hours participants coaches organizers Americans with Disabilities Number of investors ideas, and more! Act signed into law grows to 125 - - MENTORSHIP PROGRAM U.S. announces massive nuclear cutback in*rp Organization endorses The ICAD / JPEC mentorship program connects student formal relationship with entrepreneurs at the University of Iowa to businesses in the U.S.S.R. Comes to a- Priority One community. ICAD's former Director Entrepreneurial Connections, formal end Andre Wright, helped lead this program until leaving to pursue his — - -p------ - own entrepreneurial endeavors in July. 100+ 100 Bush and Yeltsin proclaim a mentors businesses formal end to the cold war General Mills finalizes In the past three years, we've had mentors and mentees from lease with Iowa City Can edtech, healthtech, restaurants, financial tech, fashion, agriculture North American Free Trade - Company tech, manufacturing, food and leisure, and media industries. Agreement signed +W* Beanie Babies are launched Apple enters the handheld computer market with Newton OP Corridor Committee expands point marketing efforts to Canada and Europe STRATEGIC DOING O.J. Simpson arrested in killings 100 STRATEGIC DOING of wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, live attendees livestream attendees and friend, Ronald Goldman Kalona purchases 40 acres for Industrial Park In January, ICAD brought Ed Morrison and his team from Olympic figure skater Purdue University to Iowa City to train 25 community members Nancy Kerrigan attacked in Strategic Doing. Strategic Doing is all about collaboration — v Mary sue Coleman is first woman to become bringing together constituents to lead complex collaborations. With the addition of this year's cohort, Iowa City is officially University of Iowa U S Midwest -Japan one of the highest concentrated cities of trained Strategic ` president Conference m Iowa City Doing practitioners in the nation! Additional) eve member g p X every of the ICAD team is a trained Strategic Doing practitioner, Oklahoma City bombing making us the first Economic Development Group in the nation to achieve this distinction. This past year, Kate and Tom Pokemon is introduced became Certified Workshop Leaders (CWL). Iowa City is slated to the world 4hosted Integrated DNA Technologies requests to host next year's Strategic Doing Practitioners Conference, SummerOlympicsare CEBAforexpansion which will bring Strategic Doing professionals from across in Atlanta, Georgia the nation to Iowa City. We also hope to expand the use of Strategic Doing across Iowa and to become the first Strategic Doing faculty center in Iowa. Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars GEICO opens in Coralville Princess Diana passes away -1 COMMUNITY *a7 Google was founded Europeans agree on single currency, the Euro Woodstock 99 took place in New York Boy Bands Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, 0 -Town, and 98 Degrees dominate the music charts The world celebrates the turn of the millennium, Y2K scare The dot-com bubble bursts The human genome sequence revealed School to work initiative launched - .. V Engineered Rubber Products opens in West Liberty •rk Joe Raso becomes president ICAD website launched September 11 i + Advisory Council formed Terror Attacks in the United States TEDX TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading". The TEDx Iowa City event, which took place August 30, 2018, centered around the topic of "The Power of Community" We had eight speakers from near and far (some even from our own backyard!) who spoke on a wide variety of topics that emphasized the power that rises from communities. 8 100 100 speakers live attendees livestream attendees @ hotelVetro @ MERG E+ Kirkwood Regional Center January 2018 25 Strategic Doing Practitioners trained June 2019 Kate and Tom attended SD Practitioners Conference in West Lafayette July 2019 Launched SD Consulting work with 11 Statewide IINTAC Workgroups in partnership with Kirkwood CC. Sept 2019 Kate and Tom became Certified Workshop Leaders (CWL) Dec 2019 Hosting 3rd SD Training is Iowa City Summer 2020 Host City for 5th annual SD Practitioners Workshop Speakers Included: Bisi Williams "The Art of Design in Community" David Gould "Inviting the City to School" Kent Stock "How Will You Be RememheredT Lisa Song Sutton "Find Your Crown and Put it to Work For Your Community" Marc Zornes "Solving the Food Waste Crisis, One Community at a Time" Paulo Simas "Get to Know Your Audience' Ryan Siskow "The Myth of the Generational Divide' Sarah Gardial "Benefits of a Radical Learning Community' COLLABORATION Winter Olympics hosted in • Salt Lake City, Utah Alpla breaks ground WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP LUNCH U.S. begins invasion of in Iowa City Afghanistan This past year, we collaborated with JPEC to reignite our Women's Entrepreneur Series. Since launching in February, The U.S. and Britain launch we've hosted two events; one featuring war against Iraq Pnority One and ICAD Anna McClain of Lion Bridge Brewing Group sign formal and one featuring Leslie Nolte of Nolte 2 2 150+ US space shuttle agreement Academy. The women talked about the events female female entrepreneurs, Columbia crashes. trials, tribulations, and accomplishments of being a female entrepreneur in their entrepreneur students, and business speakers women in attendance Oil peaks at just over The Forbes Milken respective industries. $50.00 a barrel Institute index ranks the Martha Stewart is convicted ®� Iowa City area No 1 for of a felony and sentenced to "Best Places for Business five months in prison and Careers" ICAD/CHAMBER PARTNERSHIP ON EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION EVENT Hurricane Katrina strikes the For the first time ever, ICAD and the Chamber partnered on the Louisiana, Mississippi, and �, 2019 Excellence in Education Event, which honored teachers, Alabama coastal areas ® IDT expands in Coralvdle administrators, support staff, volunteers, and students in the 0[ The video -sharing website, Iowa City Community School District. The red carpet event was 20 8 Youtube, was founded held at the Englert Theater. awardees awards Tornado sweeps through Iowa ICAD launched a five-year City, destroying numerous Is funding program and plan homes and notable landmarks ®l of action to fund critical business and workforce TALENT Pluto loses its status as a planet programs TALENT HUB Apple announces the release IV — — —_ of the first iPhone Acciona North America The US Housing Bubble bursts it opens in West Branch 37 / candidates in the ICR Talent Hub Tesla Roadster goes into production Iowa City named the ICR IOWA O The Great Recession hits the U.S #2 Best Small Place TALENT 32 3 0 / l 7 228 for Business by Forbes O Iowa City area experiences the great Magazine HUB different states have lived in ICR have accepted new inquiries from flood of 2008 represented in the past opportunities here employers The world Health Organization A WINGMAN IGNITE ICR declares Hl N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as "swine flu", as a global pandemic. IGNITE Certified Shovel Ready site`� � 494 Michael Jackson dies program launches 610 WINGMAN -FFL16Ni " A7.0 magnitude earthquake to Y^ community tours Wingman college interns events devastated Haiti r , Whirlpool $20M for candidates matches showcasing investment provides our region Apple unveils iPad tablet 60 newlobs Occupy Wall Street movement begins The U.S DOD tests a missile that could travel at five times the speed of sound Sandy Hook shooting kills 26 children and teachers in Newton, Connecticut In Facebook goes public ICAD hosts first TEDx Iowa City and the region's first Startup Weekend • CIVCO opens its doors in Coralwlle Edward Snowden leaks IC CoLab opens information about the NSA i Mark Nolte named Boston Marathon Bombing ®i president rr Prince William and Catherine #IowaBrag is launched welcome first child, Prince George 7 w Oil prices crash Ebola strikes West Africa Europe experiences the beginning of the refugee crisis The Supreme Court votes to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide Britain votes for BREXIT Joaquin "EI Chapo" Guzman is recaptured after escaping from a maximum security prison in Mexico #MeToo movement takes over social media Las Vegas experiences mass shooting at outdoor music festival Leaders of North and South Korea meet at historic summit Sears and Toys "R" Us go bankrupt More Than 100 Women Are Sworn r In To The 116x" Congress oil e nopens its s � secoand d building 1 Million Cups Iowa City — Cedar Rapids is launched 2ND Annual Workplace (R)evolution in Iowa City F13 ICAD wins Business Retention and Expansion award for TEAM from PDI ICAD and CRMEA form joint venture to tackle regional branding and workforce MERGE opens Iowa City named #2 Best City for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine IDT & ISE both acquired ORAL B expands MERGE designated Bicycle Friendly Business CoWork @ 808 opens in Coralville City Managers sign formal Communications Protocol FUTURE FUTURE Coalition of 100 individuals 176 educators received computer 7 school districts representing organizations, schools science professional development have added career and employers throughout the ICR region training through Grant Wood AEA pathway maps to their ICR consultants prospective and NewBoCo. program of studies Implementing 4 core strategies to 30 educators received STEM Innovator 94 new employers increase the # of high school students Training, and a workshop was held to in the Workplace who select high demand career pathways introduce district leadership to ACT's Learning Connection and graduate with work -ready skills. Tessera, a platform that measures internship program social and emotional learning. CHOOSE TARGETED BUSINESS STRATEGIES CHOOSEL ' 24 72 $17.6 M 18 20 102 53 site visits newjobs in new capital active sales trips meetings meetings created investment projects to promote with site with ICR consultants prospective businesses INCLUSIVE ICR fi INCLUSIVE �us .' Coalition of 80 individuals representing 50 employers 3 core strategies to help employers: 2 online newcomer guides 1 Develop diversity, equity, and inclusion programs 2 Support the attraction and onboarding of underrepresented minority candidates 3 Increase the underrepresented minority candidates who are connected to our employers through internship programs 1 African American/Black Professionals 2 Asian/Pacific American Professionals acaiowA ONE INVESTORS Acciona Acme Electric ACT Alliant Energy AI (steel AlphaGraphics Amana Society American Trust AW Welt Ambrisco Insurance Bachmeier Interiors Benson & Hepker Design BerganKDV BioNeos, Inc. Blank & McCune Bradley & Riley PC Brandt Heating & Air BRL HR Build to Suit CBI Bank Cedar Rapids Bank& Trust Cedar Ridge Vineyard Central Iowa Power Cooperative City Construction City of Cedar Rapids City of Coralville City of Iowa City City of North Liberty City of Solon City of Tiffin CIVCO Collins Aerospace Collins CCU Community CPA Conlon Construction Cook Appraisal Compleware Corporation Corridor Business Journal Creative Mellen Dave Biancuzzo / Coldwell Banker Eastern Iowa Airport EcoCare Economy Advertising (Bankers Advertising/ TruArt Color Graphics) Exceed Services First Trust & Savings Bank Gazette GEICO MMS Consultants Shari DeMaris (Chair), Hills Bank GLD Commercial Modus Kim Becicka, Kirkwood Community College Great Western Bank Mortenson Construction Pauls Burns, Bradley & Riley PC Green State Credit Union Neumann Monson Kim Casko, Iowa City Area Chamber Hawkeye Hotels New Ventures of Commerce Hawkeye Ready Mix Office Elements Jim Conard, West Bank Hayek, Moreland, Smith & Bergus LLP OPN Architects Patrice Carroll, IMON Communications HBK Engineering Pear Deck Jon Darsee, University of Iowa Higher Learning Technologies Pearson Michal Eynon -Lynch, Pear Deck Hills Bank & Trust Company Phelan, Tucker, Mullen, Walker, Tucker, Scott Fisher, McCrossen Consulting HJR Financial Group Gelman LLP Geoff Fruin, City of Iowa City Hodge Construction PIP Printing Mike Hahn, McComas-Lacina Construction Hosper and Brother Printers Procter& Gamble/P&G Oral-B Kelly Hayworth, City of Coralville HR Green PSC Distribution Ryan Heiar, City of North Liberty Ideal Ener Energy Pugh Hagan Prahm PLC Pat Hobson, U5 Bank iHeartMedia Randy's Chris Klitgaard, MediRevv Innovative Software Engineering (ISE) RDG Kathryn Kunert, MidAmerican Energy Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) River Cit Radio/ KCJJ Radio y Marty Lenss, Eastern Iowa Airport Iowa Book LLC Riverside Casino Hass Maching Innovative Software Iowa Cit Downtown District Y RSM US LLP Engineering Iowa Interstate Railroad Ryan Companies Peter Matthes, University of Iowa ITC Holdings Selzer Werderitsch Associates Trey Martin, Integrated DNA Technologies Jeff Edberg, Broker at Lepic-Kroeger Realtors Shive-Hattery Inc Mike McCleary, Procter & Gamble- Oral B Johnson County Shuttleworth & Ingersoll Todd Means, MidWestOne Bank Katy Brown Marketing Skogman Steve M Iowa City Community s Material King's South Slope Cooperative Telephone l Disley,trict School District Kinseth Hospitality SouthGate Companies Cami Jo Rasmussen, City of Solon Kirkwood Community College Storey Kenworthy Janelle Rettig, Johnson County Knutson Construction Tallgrass Business Resources Laura Seamans, ACT KZIA TEDCO Sabi Singh, University of Iowa Hospitals Lee fro P 9 Think Iowa City and Clinics Liberty Communications Transamerica Robin Therme, CIVCO Liberty Growth, LC TrueNorth John Thomas, City of Iowa City City Council Linn County REC Two Rivers Bank and Trust John Warren, gan KDV LL Pelting University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics erc Sean Williams, Mercy Hospital Iowa City Locals Love Us University of Iowa JPEC Scott Wilson, Green State Credit Union McComas-Lacina Construction US Bank McCrossen Consulting LLC Van Meter Meardon, Sueppel & Downer PLC Veridian MediRevv Vetter's Inc -Culligan Water Technologies Mercer Watts Group IOWA C I T Y Mercy Wells Fargo MidAmerican Energy Company West Bank AREA DEVELOPMENT MidWestOne Bank West Music DRIVING IN NOVATION Miron Construction Whirlpool Item Number: 15. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Invitation: Multi -generational Center Grand Opening ATTACHMENTS: Description Invitation: Multi -generational Center Grand Opening FtyOUGH TO Sj �Vz . -""'I ENOUGH TO Kt4o\" ` - RIBBON CUTTING CEREMOW& GPANDOP,ENING of the Caring Hands & More Multi -generational Center Tuesday, Oct 22nd 4pm - 6pm 1552 Mall Drive, Iowa City The multi -generational center will provide child care and adult day services, and will host public events for all generations and abilities. I l f w 1. l,.l 1 1 1 F6 l 1 4�f f 1 �.I J 4�' f'" 1 1 1 L/1 5,.. , 1-L/1 1 1 CJ 319-337--8922 Item Number: 16. CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Civil Service Examination: Customer Service Representative: Transportation Services/Resource Management /_AAG_1;a:ILvi14zIII 1&-5 Description Civil Service Examination: Customer Service Representative: Transportation Services/Resource Management � r 1 �A"I an CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 32240-1826 (319) 3S6-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www.1Cgov,org October 1, 2019 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — Customer Service Representative — Transportation Services/Resource Management Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Customer Service Representative — Transportation Services/Resource Management. Lisa Hargrove Justin Gill IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Melissa Jensen Item Number: 17. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Civil Service Examination: Mass Transit Operator ATTACHMENTS: Description Civil Service Examination: Mass Transit Operator ANWANA Ma �f X111 fir. ,� � ima r ��• �. CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1 826 (3 19) 356-5000 (3 19) 356-5009 FAX www icgov.org September 18, 2019 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — Mass Transit Operator Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Mass Transit Operator, Mark Vollenweider IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Rick yss, Chair Item Number: 18. jr ;;rw®J� CITY OC IOWA CITY www.icgov.org October 10, 2019 Airport Commission: September 12 ATTACHMENTS: Description Airport Commission: September 12 September 12, 2019 Page 1 MINUTES DRAFT IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 — 6:00 P.M. AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING Members Present: Scott Clair (arrived late), Christopher Lawrence, Bob Libby, Judy Pfohl Members Absent: Warren Bishop Staff Present: Eric Goers, Michael Tharp Others Present: Carl Byers, John Moes, Pat Prior, Matt Wolford RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): None. DETERMINE QUORUM: The meeting was called to order at 6:01 P.M. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the August 22, 2019, meeting were reviewed by Members. It was noted that the header date is incorrect on the agenda. Libby moved to accept the minutes of the August 22, 2019, meeting as amended. Pfohl seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Clair, Bishop absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Airport Farming Operations L Farm Management Agreement — Tharp spoke to Members regarding this agreement, stating that it is time to either cancel it or continue it. He gave a brief overview of this agreement, noting that Farmers National Company has been the farm manager, with John Yeomans being the representative for the farm management. He finds a farmer who will plant approximately 112 acres of crop land and the Airport gets roughly $30,000 from this agreement. Tharp noted that tonight, however, is just about whether the Commission wants to continue with the farm management agreement as it has been doing. Members agreed that they see no reason to not continue with the agreement with Farmers National Company and John Yeomans. Pfohl moved to continue the Farm September 12, 2019 Page z Management agreement. Libby seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Clair and Bishop absent. b. Airport Website Updated — Tharp asked Members if they would like to wait until Clair arrived before having this discussion. Members agreed to move this item down in the agenda, as needed. Returning to this discussion, Tharp spoke to the desire to do a redesign of the Airport's web site. He stated that the team from FUEL is present to help Members figure out what they want in this redesign. John Moes and Pat Prior with FUEL joined the discussion, further explaining what their role in this project would be. Members began a discussion of what they would like to see on the Airport's web site. It was noted that from a pilot's perspective they would want to know things like whether or not the tie downs are free, is there overnight parking available, is there a courtesy car available, what are the fuel prices, and general information about the area. Information about the FBO would be useful, as well, letting pilots know what services are offered. Jet Air's web site was recently updated by FUEL and it was noted that there could be a lot of interaction between the two web sites. The discussion continued, with Members sharing their ideas of what type of information would be most helpful for those visiting the Airport. Tharp shared the various ways the Airport gets information out to the public, such as on Facebook, through press releases, and various web site calendars. The use of apps was also briefly touched on, as was YouTube. Members continued to share their ideas with the FUEL team, speaking to the marketing aspects of a redesign project. C. FAA/IDOT Projects i. Obstruction Mitigation — Tharp stated that they have received back the information they needed from property owners on tree removals and replacements. AE Com should have a draft set of plans ready yet this week, and Tharp stated that once received, they can get these plans to the FAA for their approval. The bid process will start as soon as the FAA's approval is given. Tharp stated that since this process has gone on longer than anticipated, a special meeting or two may be needed so they can get this project moving forward. ii. Runway 25 Threshold Relocation — Tharp gave members a brief rundown on this project. iii. FY20 Iowa DOT Grant offers — Tharp spoke to these two grants, noting that they have received them. He gave a brief history of what will be involved in each project. I Consider a resolution accepting a grant offer for rehabilitation of aircraft apron and taxiway — Lawrence moved to accept Resolution #A19-12, accepting grant offer for rehabilitation of aircraft apron and taxiway. Pfohl seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-0, Bishop absent. 2. Consider a resolution accepting a grant offer for fuel facility expansion — Lawrence moved to accept Resolution #A19-13, accepting grant offer for fuel facility expansion. Clair seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-0, Bishop absent. September 12, 2019 Page 3 iv. Fuel Farm Expansion — Tharp spoke briefly to this, noting that they will delay signing the contract on this until they receive the State's signature on the grant package. This is due to a change in the State's procedures. 1. Consider a resolution approving work order 2 with Bolton and Menk for professional services for fuel facility expansion project — Lawrence moved to approve Resolution #A19-14, approving work order #2 with Bolton and Menk for professional services for fuel facility expansion project. Pfohl seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-0, Bishop absent. (returned to item b. at this point in the meeting) d. FBO / Flight Training Reports (item e. was moved up to this point in the meeting) i. Jet Air — Wolford reviewed the monthly maintenance reports with Members. Highlights included mowing; self-service fuel nozzle replacement; purchase of a scissor -lift in collaboration with Jet Air; prepping for the Sertoma breakfast. A new event this summer was the Monarch Festival, which went over well according to Wolford. Game day weekends have now started, which adds to the work around the Airport. Speaking to Jet Air, Wolford noted that things are staying steady. He noted that they are looking to add to their crew car fleet. e. Airport Operations i. Management — Tharp spoke briefly to this, stating that he is prepping for the 2021 budget, and that the sub -committee will be hearing from him soon regarding a meeting. Again he noted that a special Commission meeting may be needed in order to keep current with budget timeframes. ii. Budget — Tharp stated that during general pavement inspections, it was found that there are some spots needing attention. He explained the locations to Members, adding that he estimates around $4,000 to fix these. 1. Flight Simulator — Tharp began the discussion, speaking to the flyer that was created after last month's meeting. The idea is to send flyers to current pilots and interested parties, asking them to pre -pay, hopefully to a sufficient enough level, that the Airport would not have to then put up all the money in order for this project to get done. The discussion turned to what they might expect as far as how long it would take to get the pay -back on such a system. Tharp then spoke to several of the options available to them, noting some of the costs involved. He also spoke to some of the costs involved in getting the room readied to house the system. Members continued to share their ideas on how they should proceed with this. At the next meeting, the sub -committee will have a finalized flyer to mail out. Goers spoke briefly to the language regarding the 'pre -pay' idea here. He asked how the Commission would like to handle this and the various other September 12, 2019 Page 4 aspects of such financing. Members agreed that they need to move forward with getting this information out to the public. 2. FY2021 Budget — iii. Events — Tharp stated that there are currently no events planned. f. Commission Member Reports — None. g. Staff Report — None. SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING FOR: The next regular meeting of the Airport Commission will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2019. at 6:00 P.M. in the Airport Terminal Building. This is the second Thursday of the month, versus the third. ADJOURN: Lawrence moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:35 P.M. Pfohl seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-0, Bishop absent. CHAIRPERSON DATE September 12, 2019 Page 5 Airport Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 Kew X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = Not a Member at this time TERM N 0 0 N 0 W 0 A 0 S=1 0 01 0 -4 0 0 NAME EXP. -' m 01 o 00 w N 00 W W cc co Warren 06/30/22 O Bishop X X X X X X X X X /E Scott Clair 06/30/23 N N N N N N N M M M M M M M X X X Robert Libby 07/01/20 O/ O X X X E X X /E X X X Christopher 07/01/21 Lawrence X X X X X X X X X X Judy Pfohl 06/30/22 N N N N N N M M M M M M X X X X Kew X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = Not a Member at this time OWN CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (3 19) 356-5000 (3 19) 356-5009 FAX www.icgov.org City Council Agenda — October 15, 2019 Information submitted between distribution of packet on Thursday and close of business on Monday. Late Addition(s): Correspondence 10.d James McCoy: Request Resolution Endorsing the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividends Act Late Handout(s): Info Packet of 10/10 IP Email from Mayor Throgmorton: Preliminary thoughts about FBC Kellie Fruehling From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Attachments: Fellow Council members, ---P Jim Throgmorton Monday, October 14, 2019 1:09 PM Council Pauline Taylor, Susan Mims; Bruce Teague; John Thomas; mazahir-saleh@iowa-city.org; Rockne Cole; rickt2128@aol.com; susanmims04@me.com; bruce.teague@caringhandsandmore.com; johnfredericthomas@gmail.com; salihmazahir@gmail.com; rocknecole@gmail.com; Geoff Fruin; Eleanor M. Dilkes Preliminary thoughts about FBC Mayor's comments on RFC FBC.docx Please see the attached memo for tomorrow night's meeting. Mayor Jim Throgmorton Iowa City City Council, At -Large Late Handouts Distributed (Date) To: City Council From: Mayor Jim Throgmorton Subject: Riverfront Crossing Form -Based Code Work Session Discussion Date: October 14, 2019 Tomorrow night we will be discussing Opticos' third -party review of the Riverfront Crossing District's (RFC's) Form -Based Code (FBC), including the height bonus portions of that Code. Geoff s October 10 memo provides a good overview of the material we will be discussing, and Tony Perez's July 11 memo to Anne Russett adds important details. My sense is that Perez's memo makes many valuable recommendations, most of which are fairly technical and will require careful review by the staff. For now, I simply want to draw your attention to a few key aspects of both memos and to share my thoughts about them for the Council's future deliberations. First, Perez observes that the existing code "is perceived to be unnecessarily limiting." This "reflects that the standards were not clearly established through a process that would have laid out the code's content for feedback and improvement or removal. The RFC master plan certainly had such a process but it's clear that the RFC code did not because of the substantial number of standards that are being questioned as to their relevance" (p. 2). Perez's comment is consistent with my own recollection: crafting the RFC Master Plan involved a market analysis, a 3 -day design charrette, and extensive public participation, review, and comment, but the RFC Form - Based Code involved only cursory public participation and review. With regard to the FBC's height bonuses, Perez notes that "it's confusing to read the maximum height for the subdistrict and then need to go near the end of the code for the bonuses and additional available height" (p. 2). Moreover, Perez finds "a lack of coordination between the physical character and scale that each subdistrict allows and what can ultimately be allowed through height bonuses" (p. 5). He further notes that "the lack of a clear physical form and character for each subdistrict could complicate matters as staff and committee/commission members change and request are submitted to change the standards" (pp. 5-6). In my judgment, the Form -Based Code deserved considerably more attention than it actually received prior to being adopted back in 2014. At the Council level, we scarcely discussed the height bonuses at all. Consequently, I would bet dollars to donuts that the vast majority of the public had no idea what kinds of buildings could result from the maximum heights permitted after bonuses were approved. Second, as Geoff s memo indicates, the RFC's FBC identifies 10 public benefits that potentially could warrant height bonuses, with the bonuses varying by type of benefit. In my view, this has created something like a "candy store" from which developers can choose in order to obtain the height bonuses they want. I strongly believe we should revise the range of benefits to account for changes that have occurred since the FBC was adopted in 2014. Bonuses currently can be obtained for the 10 benefits listed below. My tentative comments about those benefits are italicized. I . Open space transfers. There is one strip along the Iowa River north of RFC Park for which open space transfers would be meaningful; however, open space transfers might also prove valuable if we can identify a good site or two for pocket neighborhood parks in the district. 2. Historic preservation transfers. Other than the old railroad depot and the properties on the east side of Clinton Street from 530 South Clinton Street to the Iowa Interstate Railroad tracks, I am not aware of any historic structures remaining in the RFC District. Clarification would be helpful. 3. Public Right -of -Way (ROW) transfers. Other than the 12 Court Street ROW, I am aware of only one other location that could warrant a meaningful ROW transfer: the Master Plan's proposed street connecting Kirkwood with Capitol Street. 4. Class A office space. We should direct the staff to provide us with information about the number of projects that have obtained height bonuses for Class A office space, and about the extent to which those bonuses have resulted in the office space being occupied. 5. Public art. I am skeptical that adding public art justifies the economic value of a height bonus to the developer. In a memo shared with us several months ago, Thomas Agran made numerous potentially valuable suggestions about this. 6. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Desmon. The criteria for this bonus are far too vague and need to be updated. Given the climate crisis resolution we adopted in August, we need to amend this bonus considerably. Ideally, I think we should simply require developers to achieve, as a condition for rezoning to a RFC zone, a level of energy efficiency that is considerably higher/stronger than the State Energy Code. If Eleanor advises us that we cannot do that, we should tie any bonus to the achievement of that higher level of efficiency. 7. Student housing. Unlike back in 2014, there is now considerable uncertainty about the University's future enrollments and its plans for housing 2nd year students on campus. Moreover, the RISE's —550 -bed student housing building on S. Linn St. and the proposed 1,800 -bed Pentacrest Gardens project at 12 Court St arguably have (or will have) amply met the need for subsidized student housing in the RFC district. This bonus should be suspended until the University clarifies its intentions. 8. Hotel space. We have succeeded in attracting several excellent new hotels, but there now is much more hotel capacity than needed. We should suspend this benefit until the hotel market situation changes. 9. Workforce or affordable housing. The RFC Code currently requires the inclusion of affordable housing in any new residential or mixed-use building, so this bonus is no longer needed. 10. Elder housing. Unless I'm mistaken, this bonus has not been used. It would be helpful to know why. Third, it is possible that other priorities now warrant height bonuses. If we want the district to achieve the objectives of the RFC Master Plan and become a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood, then we need to ensure that the bonuses will help achieve that objective.' As Perez notes in his 1 On p. 24, the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings Master Plan stipulates the following objectives: (1) ensure pedestrian -oriented, mixed-use redevelopment, (2) create a resilient memo, "emphasis should be given to uses appropriate in walkable environments (e.g., active ground floor uses, multi -family, etc.)" (p. 7). With this in mind, we should consider providing incentives for development of non -student as well as student -oriented housing and for an affordable child care facility. Regardless of how the Council decides to proceed, it should ensure the public has an adequate opportunity to influence the decision. I look forward to our discussion Tuesday night. riverfront park system, (3) enhance Ralston Creek to become a community asset, (4) develop a multi -modal transportation network, (5) create a network of green streets in the district, (6) incorporate art throughout the district, and (6) promote sustainable design practices throughout the district.