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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ Agenda Packet 02.21.2024PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Wednesday, February 21, 2024 Formal Meeting – 6:00 PM Emma Harvat Hall Iowa City City Hall 410 E. Washington Street Agenda: 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda 4. Case No. CREZ24-0001 Location: South of 355 St and East of Kansas Ave SW, Unincorporated Johnson County An application for a County conditional use permit to allow a telecommunications tower on land zoned County Agricultural (A) in unincorporated Johnson County. 5. Case No. CREZ24-0002 Location: South of IWV Rd SW and West of Kansas Ave SW, Unincorporated Johnson County An application for a County conditional use permit to allow a temporary concrete and asphalt recycling use on land zoned County Agriculture (A) in unincorporated Johnson County outside the City’s growth area. 6. Case No. REZ24-0001 Location: 302-316 E. Bloomington St An application initiated by the Historic Preservation Commission for a rezoning of approximately 0.45 acres of land from Central Business Service (CB-2) zone to CB-2 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/CB-2) zone to designate the property as an Iowa City Historic Landmark. 7. Consideration of meeting minutes: February 7, 2024 8. Planning and Zoning Information 9. Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this meeting, please contact Anne Russett, Urban Planning, at 319-356-5251 or arussett@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Upcoming Planning & Zoning Commission Meetings Formal: March 6 / March 20 / April 3 Informal: Scheduled as needed. Date: February 21, 2024 To: Planning and Zoning Commission From: Parker Walsh, Associate Planner, Neighborhood & Development Services Re: CREZ24-0001 Conditional Use Permit for property located south of 355 St and east of Kansas Ave SW, Unincorporated Johnson County Background Information: Michael Huizenga has submitted a Conditional Use Permit application to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment for the allowance of a 180’ tall self-support telecommunication tower located south of 355 St and east of Kansas Ave SW, parcel 1102376001, in unincorporated Johnson County. The subject property is not located in the City/County Fringe Area. However, the Johnson County Unified Development Code requires that for Conditional Use Permits a copy of the application and notice of the hearing shall be sent to each municipality whose extraterritorial jurisdiction includes the property involved in the proceedings. Extraterritorial jurisdictions are properties that are located within 2 miles of a city. It is the role of the Planning and Zoning Commission to make a recommendation on the conditional use permit to the City Council. The City Council will then make a recommendation to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment. Conditional use permits in Johnson County require a 4/5 majority vote of the Board of Adjustment to approve if the use is opposed by a vote of the City Council. The subject property is zoned County Agricultural (A). Adjacent properties to the immediate north are zoned County Agricultural and County Residential (R20). Properties to the east, south and west are zoned County Agricultural (A). Proposed Land Use: The subject property is undeveloped. The applicant has requested to construct a 180’ tall telecommunications tower. The tower will be fenced in with 5’ chain link and be topped with 3 strand barbed wire for security and safety concerns. The tower will be screened with species that have a minimum planting size of 5-6’ and a mature size of no less than 60’. Additionally, the tower will need to meet the Johnson County Unified Development Code requirements. Review and approval to these standards will be done by Johnson County Planning staff. The requirements are as follows: Communication Towers, Commercial. Commercial communication towers are conditionally permitted in the all zoning districts, except for the ERP district, and are subject to the following conditions: 1. Application Materials. In addition to standard application materials for conditional use permits, all applications for new communication towers shall have the following: a. In compliance with Iowa Code, an explanation stating why the proposed tower location was selected and why collocation is not being used. b. Proof of liability insurance. c. Site plan showing the location of the tower, fencing, associated structures, guy wire anchors, landscaping, and any other pertinent information. d. All plans required by the Environmental Standards in Chapter 8:3. February 15, 2024 Page 2 2. Setback Standards. a. Communication Towers shall be setback from parcel lines and occupied structures a minimum distance of one hundred and ten (110) percent the height of the tower. b. All guy-wire anchors, support structures, or associated structures shall comply with the setback requirements for the district for which it is located. 3. Landscaping Buffer. In an effort to mitigate the negative effects and reduce the visual impact of the tower, the perimeter of the tower site shall be landscaped to create a visual screen from neighboring properties to the tower base. Landscaping shall be installed within a planting area around the tower base, in accordance with the following standards: a. Landscaping shall utilize native species. b. The landscaping buffer shall use a combination of trees, to provide a vegetative overstory, and plants, to provide a vegetative understory. Trees shall have a minimum mature height of twenty five (25) feet, and shall be at least six (6) feet tall within three (3) years of installation. Plants can include shrubs, grasses, or other native plants. c. Landscaping screening shall be evaluated under leaf-on conditions. d. The planting area shall extend no further than fifty (50) feet beyond the outside of the security fence. 4. Security Fencing. The tower and guy wire sites shall be fenced with a minimum eight (8) foot tall security fence with barbed wire. Warning/no trespassing signs shall be posted every twenty (20) feet. 5. Lighting. All tower lighting shall comply with subsection 8.1.24. 6. Independent Inspection. An independent expert shall inspect all communication towers in accordance with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. The report shall be provided to the Zoning Administrator. Deficiencies shall be remedied within ninety (90) days of their discovery Independent Inspection. An independent expert shall inspect all communication towers every thirty six(36) months. The report shall be provided to the Zoning Administrator. Deficiencies shall be remedied within ninety (90) days of their discovery. 7. The applicant shall submit a plan for the safe operation and maintenance of the tower. 8. Decommission Plan. The applicant shall include a decommission and restoration/reclamation plan, including financial assurance 113. If the tower is unused for a continuous one (1) year period, the permit holder will have one year to implement the approved decommission and restoration/reclamation plan. The permit holder shall notify the Zoning Administrator when the tower is fully decommissioned. 9. The application shall comply with all Environmental Standards in Chapter 8.3. 10. Legal Nonconforming Towers. Those towers that were erected legally, but do not conform to these regulations may have minor alterations. Any alteration that changes tower height or location must be done in conformance with these regulations. February 15, 2024 Page 3 11. Compliance with FAA and FCC. The applicant shall provide proof of compliance with FAA and FCC regulations at the time of application, including documentation of a Determination of No Hazard. If requested by a local airport in writing, the applicant shall provide the results of a FAA Airspace Obstruction Evaluation Study prior to approval by the Board of Adjustment. 12. Where a commercial communications tower is proposed to serve a small wireless facility as defined by Iowa Code Section 8c, and is proposed to be sited in the ROW of a primary or secondary road, the provisions for setback from parcel lines, landscape buffer, and security fencing as outlined in this subsection shall not apply unless otherwise specifically attached as a condition of approval by the Board of Adjustment. Towers shall still maintain setbacks from occupied structures as required by subsection 8:1.23.H.2.a Analysis: The subject property it is located outside the Fringe Area in an extraterritorial jurisdiction, requiring the City’s review according to the County’s Unified Development Code. According to the Johnson County Future Land Use Map, the subject property is designated agricultural. The proposed use is a conditional use in the County’s Agriculture zone and is subject to additional approval criteria. The County will ensure compliance with the specific conditions. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of CREZ24-0001, an application submitted for a County conditional use permit to construct a 180’ tall self-support telecommunications tower. Attachments: 1. Location Map 3. Fringe Area Map 4. Application Information Approved by: ________________________________________________ Danielle Sitzman, AICP, Development Services Coordinator, Department of Neighborhood and Development Services ATTACHMENT 1 Location Map ATTACHMENT 2 Fringe Area Map ATTACHMENT 3 Application Office Use Only $ Date Filed Fee Application Number Updated and current as of 06.04.2020_LMM JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA APPLICATION FOR: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT Application is hereby made for approval of a (official use as listed in the Johnson County UDO, and briefly describe the proposed use [e.g. Home Industry for Antique shop, Special Events for Corn Maze, etc.]): Address of Location: Subdivision name and lot number (if applicable): Current Zoning: Parcel Number: PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE The undersigned affirms that the information provided herein is true and correct. If applicant is not the owner, applicant affirms that the owner(s) of the property described on this application consent to this application being submitted, and said owners hereby give their consent for the office of Johnson County Planning, Development, and Sustainability to conduct a site visit and photograph the subject property. Name of Owner Name of Applicant (if different) Applicant Street Address (including City, State, Zip) Applicant Phone Applicant Email Applicant Signature See back page for Application Submittal Requirements and Checklist US Cellular is proposing the construction of a 180-foot-tall, self-support telecommunication tower and associated facilities by way of Conditional Use Permit. There is no current address for this parcel. A The Parcel ID # is 1102376001. Dean R. Smith and Sylvia R. Smith USCOC of Greater Iowa - Application by Mike Huizenga of GSS, Inc. 3311 109th Street, Urbandale, Iowa, 50322 (515) 238-6696 MHuizenga@GSSMidwest.com The following items must be submitted for the application to be complete. Incomplete applications will be returned and will not be considered until the next submission deadline. If working with an engineer who can provide CAD or GIS line work, electronic submissions should be submitted in accordance with the PDS department’s electronic submission guidelines (see below). Preference is that electronic submission is provided prior to hard copy submission, or the day after the posted submission deadline. Initial each item below to confirm that you are aware of the submittal requirements for an application to be considered complete. ______ A letter of intent explaining the proposed use including but not limited to the number of employees, parking facilities, days and hours of operation, estimate of maximum number of public expected on site an any one time, provisions for water and wastewater, type of equipment to be used, signage, etc. ______ A location map for the proposed site showing County roads serving the site as well as surrounding properties. ______ Three (3) copies of the required site plan identifying the access, any structure(s) for the proposed use, parking areas, signage location, and any Supplemental Conditions as required by Chapter 8:1.23. ______ The names and addresses of owners of all property within five hundred (500) feet of the parent property or parcel. ______ Application Fee ($250) is due at the time of submittal. For uses which are required by Chapter 8:1.23 to comply with Environmental Standards (found in Chapter 8:3), the application must include the following (if not required, write N/A): ______ Either one (1) copy of the Sensitive Areas Analysis in compliance with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance OR an approved Sensitive Areas waiver. ______ Either one (1) copy of the Stormwater Management Plan (including soil erosion and sediment control) in compliance with the Stormwater Management regulations OR an approved Stormwater Management waiver. ______ Official comment or waiver from any City located within two (2) miles of the proposed use. •For applications located within two (2) miles of any city, the applicant must obtain official comment or waiver from the City Council (or the Council’s duly authorized representative) before the Johnson County Board of Adjustment will hear the request. ______ Proof of application to the Johnson County Health Depart for a Public Health Zoning Application. (Optional) Electronic Submission Requirements – If an electronic submission of a building site plan or other line work related to a Conditional Use Permit is being submitted, it should conform with the following: ______ Electronic or digitized copy (CAD line work or GIS geodatabase) of proposed plat in .dwg format (.dxf is also acceptable if .dwg is not an option. No .zip files will be accepted). •Submission must be saved in AutoCAD 2007 or older format. •Submissions must use Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Iowa_South_FIPS_1402_Feet •If applicable, submission should include existing structures (if any), property lines, road right-of-way lines, required setback lines, and requested setback lines. •Submission should NOT include legends, legal descriptions, location maps, signature blocks, etc. MPH MPH MPH MPH MPH MPH MPH MPH MPH Date: February 21, 2024 To: Planning and Zoning Commission From: Anne Russett, Senior Planner, Neighborhood & Development Services Re: CREZ24-0002 Conditional Use Permit for Temporary Asphalt & Concrete Recycling Background Information: Tyler Rogers has submitted a conditional use permit application to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment for temporary operation of asphalt and concrete recycling facilities near the intersection of IWV Rd SW and Kansas Ave SW. Specifically the proposed site is located in the northeast corner of parcel number 1115176001, in unincorporated Johnson County. The subject property is located within in the City/County Fringe Area. The Johnson County Unified Development Code requires that cities be allowed to review conditional use permits within their extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is the area within two miles of a city’s corporate limits. It is the role of the Planning and Zoning Commission to make a recommendation on the conditional use permit to the City Council. The City Council will then make a recommendation to the Johnson County Board of Adjustment. Conditional use permits in Johnson County require a 4/5 majority vote of the Board of Adjustment to approve if the use is opposed by a vote of the City Council. The subject property is zoned County Agriculture. Adjacent properties to the immediate north, west, and south are also zoned County Agriculture. There are also three parcels to the north that are zoned County Residential; however, they are vacant. The land to the east is owned by the City of Iowa City for the purposes of the landfill and is zoned County Public. Proposed Land Use: The subject property is currently used for agriculture, specifically row crops. Mr. Rogers also owned the land to the north, which contains a home. According to the application, a portion of the property currently used for agriculture would be used for the temporary operation of asphalt and concrete recycling facilities. The applicant is requesting this use for the one year. The applicant has proposed to have two to four workers on site. Access to the site will be provided by the existing field entrance off of Kansas Avenue SW. Operations will be limited to daylight hours. Asphalt and concrete recycling requires a County conditional use permit and compliance with the supplemental conditions outlined in 8:1.23 (C) of the Johnson County Unified Development Code. C. Asphalt and Concrete Recycling. Permanent asphalt and concrete recycling operations are permitted in the MH district and are subject to conditions 1-3 below. Temporary asphalt and concrete recycling operations are conditionally permitted in the A, C-Ag, and ML districts and are subject to all supplemental conditions below: 1. The applicant shall obtain written approval for the proposed entrance to the public roadway from the appropriate authority, and the primary truck route(s) from Johnson County Secondary Roads. February 16, 2024 Page 2 2. The applicant shall obtain written approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the discharge of any waste from the proposed facility. 3. The application shall comply with all Environmental Standards in Chapter 8.3. 4. The permit shall be issued for a specific period of time. Permit expiration shall coincide with the estimated completion of the project. Where a temporary asphalt and concrete recycling operation is permitted in conjunction with a temporary ready-mix plant, both operations shall have the same expiration date. Where a temporary asphalt and concrete recycling operation is permitted in conjunction with, and collocated with, a mining and mineral extraction operation, the asphalt and concrete recycling permit shall be issued for a period not to exceed 5 years, or both operations shall have the same expiration date, whichever timeframe is shorter. Permit extension shall only be approved by the Board of Adjustment via permit modification, as outlined in 8:1.28(F)(5). 5. The facility shall be removed and the facility's site shall be restored to its original productive state within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the completion of the identified highway or road project or projects. A facility site restoration plan and performance agreement with financial assurance shall be submitted and approved prior to the beginning of operations. 6. Supplemental conditions 4 and 5 above shall not apply to permanent asphalt and concrete recycling operations located in MH districts. Analysis: When reviewing applications for property located outside Iowa City corporate limits, staff relies on the policies outlined in the Fringe Area Agreement, which was recently updated. The Fringe Area Agreement is a component of the City’s Comprehensive Plan and applies to areas not specifically planned for in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The Fringe Area Agreement is intended to provide guidance regarding the development of land located within two miles of Iowa City’s corporate limits. The agreement’s slated purpose is to provide for orderly and efficient development patterns appropriate to non-urbanized areas, protect and preserve the fringe area’s natural resources and environmentally sensitive features, direct development to areas with physical characteristics which can accommodate development, and effectively and economically provide services for future growth and development. The subject property is located outside of the City’s growth area. According to the Johnson County Future Land Use Map, the subject property is designated agricultural. The proposed use is an allowed use in the County’s Agriculture zone, is temporary in nature, and is subject to additional use specific conditions. The County will ensure compliance with the specific conditions. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of CREZ24-0002, an application submitted for a County conditional use permit for a temporary asphalt and concrete recycling facility. Attachments: 1. Location Map 3. Fringe Area Map 4. Application Information Approved by: ________________________________________________ Danielle Sitzman, AICP, Development Services Coordinator, Department of Neighborhood and Development Services ATTACHMENT 1 Location Map ATTACHMENT 2 Fringe Area Map ATTACHMENT 3 Application Concise Earth ConstrucƟon 4185 Alyssa Court Ste 2 Iowa City, IA 52240 Concise Earth ConstrucƟon 4185 Alyssa Court, Ste 2 Iowa City, IA 52240 January 31, 2024 Johnson County Planning, Development & Sustainability AƩn: Josh Busard 913 S Dubuque Suite 204 Iowa City, IA 52240 RE: CondiƟonal Use ApplicaƟon – 2965 IWV Road SW Dear Mr. Busard: On behalf of the landowner, Tyler Rogers, we would like to respecƞully request your consideraƟon of the aƩached CondiƟonal Use permit for temporary operaƟon of asphalt and concrete recycling faciliƟes within the farmstead located on Parcels 1115176001, 1115101002, 1115126004 and 1115151001. More specifically, the proposed condiƟonal use would be limited to the northern and eastern corner of Parcel 1115176001. The zoning of these parcels is: A – Agricultural Zoning District with the primary use being Agricultural uses. SecƟon 8:1.6(C)(23) of the Johnson County Unified Development Ordinance idenƟfies the requested temporary use as a permissible condiƟonal use within this district. We also recognize and acknowledge SecƟon 8:1.23(C) as the applicable supplemental condiƟons for this use and 8:1.28(F) as the governing condiƟonal use general regulaƟons. Pursuant to the above referenced code secƟons, the condiƟonal use permit is being requested for a duraƟon of 1-year. The intent of this request is to provide concrete recycling operaƟons using concrete crushing equipment with 2-4 workers at the work site. Access will be provided by the exisƟng field entrance off of Kansas Avenue SW with no addiƟonal signage anƟcipated. Workers will park within the work zone area and limit operaƟons to daylight hours. The natural topography of the requested use area is a gradual undulaƟon to the south. The south perimeter of the site will be appropriately protected with erosional control measures and/or berms. The land is not located on, or adjacent to, any FEMA regulated sensiƟve areas according to the Johnson County Property InformaƟon Viewer. The land is located within the 2021 City of Iowa City’s Fringe Area – Outside Growth Area; however, we do not anƟcipate addiƟonal submiƩal documents to the City of Iowa City due to the temporary nature of this request. Sincerely, Josh Entler Concise Earth ConstrucƟon (319)213-1588 jentler@conciseearth.com Cc: Johnson County Public Health Department Jo h n s o n C o u n t y Jo h n s o n C o u n t y G I S We b P r i n t i n g Pr i n t e d : 1 / 2 9 / 2 0 2 4 Th e i n f o r m a t i o n p r e s e n t e d he r e i n i s i n t e n d e d t o b e a n ac c u r a t e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f ex i s t i n g r e c o r d s . J o h n s o n Co u n t y a s s u m e s n o l i a b i l i t y fo r e r r o r s o r o m i s s i o n s . Us e r s r e l y i n g o n t h i s in f o r m a t i o n d o s o a t t h e i r ow n r i s k . . 0 25 0 50 0 ft 1 i n c h = 4 1 7 f e e t My M a p Pr o p o s e d Cr u s h i n g / R e c y c l i n g Ar e a Ow n e r / A p p l i c a n t Fa r m s t e a d B o u n d a r y 1 1 1 5 1 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 1 5 1 2 6 0 0 4 1 1 1 5 1 5 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 5 1 7 6 0 0 1 Ut i l i z e F i e l d E n t r a n c e fo r T e m p . C r u s h i n g Fa c i l i t y Pr o t e c t S o u t h Pe r i m e t e r w i t h S i l t Fe n c e a n d / o r B e r m STAFF REPORT To: Planning and Zoning Commission Item: REZ24-0001 302-316 E. Bloomington St. Prepared by: Melanie Comer, Planning Intern and Madison Conley, Associate Planner Date: February 21, 2024 GENERAL INFORMATION: Applicant: Owner: City of Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 (319)-356-5230 Gary Skarda 312 N Linn St Iowa City, IA 52245 garyskarda@yahoo.com Contact Person: City of Iowa City 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 (319)-356-5230 Requested Action: Rezone from Central Business Service (CB- 2) zone to CB-2 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/CB-2) zone. Purpose: To designate the property as a Local Historic Landmark. Location: 302-316 E. Bloomington Street Location Map: Size: 0.45 acres Existing Land Use and Zoning: Central Business Service (CB-2) Surrounding Land Use and Zoning: North: Neighborhood Stabilization Residential (RNS-12) with a 2 Historic District Overlay (OHD) South: Central Business Service (CB-2) East: Central Business Service (CB-2) West: Neighborhood Stabilization Residential (RNS-12) Comprehensive Plan: Mixed Use District Plan: Central Neighborhood Open Space District: C1 Public Meeting Notification: Properties within 500’ of the subject property received notification of the Planning and Zoning Commission public meeting. A Landmark Designation sign was posted on the site. File Date: January 17, 2024 45 Day Limitation Period: March 1, 2024 BACKGROUND INFORMATION: On October 9, 2023, the City of Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission recommended moving forward with an application to designate the property at 302-316 E. Bloomington Street, formally known as the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, as a Local Historic Landmark. Designation of a Local Historic Landmark is a rezoning process that requires rezoning the property to apply the Historic District Overlay (OHD) zone. After the Historic Preservation Commission stated its intent to move forward with a landmark designation, staff reached out to the property owner. Staff, along with the Historic Preservation Commission’s Chair, met with the owner of the property to discuss the significance of the building, the landmarking process, and requirements related to historic review if landmarked. On February 8, 2024, the Historic Preservation Commission considered the landmark rezoning and recommended approval by a vote of 8-0. See Attachment 3 for the staff report, which includes the architectural and historical evaluation of the property as an attachment. The HPC found that the property is significant for its role in the ethnic and commercial history of Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood and as a well-preserved example of Italianate architecture and additionally met the following criteria for Local Landmark designation: • Significant to American and/or Iowa City history, architecture, archaeology and culture; • Possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship; • Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; and • Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; or represents the work of a master; or possesses high artistic values; or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. At the Historic Preservation Commission’s meeting the property owner, Gary Skarda, stated that he did not support the rezoning. Several members of the public expressed their support of the rezoning at the meeting. Additional correspondence regarding the rezoning is included in Attachment 4. 3 ANALYSIS: Current Zoning: The property is currently zoned Central Business Service (CB-2) zone. The purpose of the CB-2 zone is primarily to serve as a transition between intense land uses in the Central Business Service district and adjoining areas. Proposed Zoning: The purpose of the Historic District Overlay Zone is to designate Local Historic Landmarks and Local Historic Districts. The property is not currently located within a Local Historic District. In order to designate the property as a Local Historic Landmark, the rezoning process is required. If designated, any exterior modifications to the building that require a regulated permit will need to go through the historic review process. In addition, the property is eligible for special exceptions (Section 14-2B-8 of the zoning code) that would allow the Board of Adjustment to waive or modify certain zoning requirements to help support the continued use of historic buildings. The property will also be eligible for financial incentives such as tax credits and the Iowa City Historic Preservation Fund. Planning and Zoning Commission Review: Designation of a Local Historic Landmark is a rezoning process; and therefore, requires a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to the City Council. Per 14-8E-1E the Commission’s role is to review the proposed designation based on its relation to the Comprehensive Plan, as well as proposed public improvements and plans for renewal of the area involved. The IC2030 Plan includes principles, goals, and strategies that are in support of the Local Landmark Rezoning. The neighborhood design principles of the comprehensive plan include Preserve Historic Resources and Reinvest in Established Neighborhoods (pg. 20). The intent of this principle is to ensure the stability and livability of the city’s historic neighborhoods to preserve the culture, history, and identify of Iowa City. The Land Use section includes a goal to Continue to protect the community’s historical, environmental, and aesthetic assets. Associated with that goal are the strategies to encourage the protection of natural areas and historic features and to continue support for the Iowa City Historic Preservation Plan. This section of the plan also notes that historic preservation policies have helped to save Iowa City’s most historic buildings and have preserved the distinctive architecture of entire neighborhoods (pg. 26). The Housing section includes a goal to Preserve the integrity of existing neighborhoods and the historic nature of older neighborhoods. This goal is supported by the strategy that aims to support the Historic Preservation Commission’s efforts to meet its goals (pg. 29). 302-316 E. Bloomington Street is in the Central Planning District. The Central District Plan encourages preservation of historic homes, resources, and neighborhoods, especially in areas close to the University. The introduction of the plan notes that the City has also been successful in protecting historic resources in the Central District through the adoption of historic district and conservation district overlay zones, and by bestowing historic landmark status on the area’s most significant buildings and properties (pg. 9). The Northside Marketplace is included in this plan and is defined as the historic commercial neighborhood bounded by Bloomington and Jefferson Streets and North Gilbert and Dubuque Streets. The subject property is located at the northern end of this area. Although this area is close to downtown, the plan notes that it maintains a distinct identity and scale. The plan explains that some redevelopment within the Northside Marketplace is likely. However, there is a strong desire to maintain the historic mainstreet character (pg. 15, 16). Many community members also indicated that the historic character of the Northside Marketplace is one of its greatest assets (pg. 55, 56). 4 Furthermore, the Northside Marketplace section contains goals and objectives that relate to the importance of the historic character of the neighborhood. This section includes Goal 1: Preserve and promote the unique aspects of the Northside Marketplace. The objectives that support this goal including establishing policies and regulations that will preserve the existing scale and mainstreet commercial character of the Northside Marketplace and protecting historic buildings as an integral part of the Northside Marketplace (pg. 57). The designation of the subject property as a Local Historic Landmark will achieve the objective related to protecting historic buildings. The Historic Preservation Plan includes several goals and objectives to achieve its overall Mission Statement: Iowa City and its citizens seek to identify, protect, and preserve the community’s historic resources in order to enhance the quality of life and economic well-being of current and future generations (pg. 16). In the plan, Goal 1: Identify historic resources to Iowa City’s Past, is relevant to the designation of 302-316 E. Bloomington Street as a Local Historical Landmark due to the objectives that the Historic Preservation Commission is expected to carry out. The first objective is to continue to research and evaluate historic resources through the systematic and prioritized completion of neighborhood and thematic-based historical and architectural surveys. The third objective under this goal calls for the Historic Preservation Commission to set designation priorities for historic districts and landmarks that emphasize the most important or threatened resources first. The fifth objective further encourages local landmark designations by the Historic Preservation Commission by continuing to nominate individual properties and historic districts to the National Register of Historic Places and when appropriate, pursue local designation as landmarks and historic districts for National Register properties (pg. 31-33). The plan also includes a section which discusses the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District. This historic district is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The locally designated district is referred to as the Northside Historic District. Although the subject property is not located in either of these districts, because they are residential districts, this section of the plan discusses the importance of various properties both in and outside of these districts. Objective 6 for the Gilbert-Linn Street neighborhood is to Incorporate historic preservation efforts in planning for the Northside Market Place retail district (intersecting blocks at Market, Linn, Gilbert and Bloomington streets). Within this objective the importance of the subject property is discussed. Specifically, this objective discusses promoting the preservation of architectural elements such as the Slezak Building-National Hall (pg. 83). CORRESPONDENCE: Staff has received 43 letters of public correspondence (Attachment 4) from the community in support of the proposed Local Historic Landmark rezoning. Based on testimony at the Historic Preservation Commission’s public hearing, the property owner does not support the proposed Local Historic Landmark rezoning. SUMMARY: In summary, staff finds that the Local Historic Landmark rezoning of 302-316 E. Bloomington Street, from Central Business Service (CB-2) zone to CB-2 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/CB-2) zone is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan, including the Central District Plan and the Historic Preservation Plan, encourages pursuing local landmark designations when appropriate to provide protection for important historic resources. In the case of 302-316 E. Bloomington Street, the property has been identified as an anchor in the community with significant cultural and historic values. The history behind this property 5 highlights the generational success and perseverance of immigrants in Iowa City. NEXT STEPS: Upon recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission, the rezoning will be considered for approval by the City Council. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of REZ24-0001, an application to rezone 302-316 E. Bloomington Street from Central Business Service (CB-2) zone to CB-2 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/CB-2) zone in order to designate it as a Local Historic Landmark. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Location Map 2. Zoning Map 3. Staff Report to the Historic Preservation Commission; January 31, 2024 4. Correspondence Approved by: _________________________________________________ Danielle Sitzman, AICP, Development Services Coordinator Department of Neighborhood and Development Services ATTACHMENT 1 Location Map ATTACHMENT 2 Zoning Map ATTACHMENT 3 Staff Report to the Historic Preservation Commission; January 31, 2024 Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission City Hall, 410 E Washington Street, Iowa City. IA. 52240 Memorandum Date: January 31, 2024 To: Historic Preservation Commission From: Jessica Bristow, Historic Preservation Planner Re: 302-316 East Bloomington Street, Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Background The Historic Preservation component of the Comprehensive Plan encourages the identification and preservation of properties and neighborhoods that are significant to Iowa City’s architecture and culture. Towards achieving this goal, the Commission designated the first group of local landmarks in 1996. This first group included many of the properties that were previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Even while this group of local designations was still in process, the Commission began a list of properties for their next group of local landmarks, including properties that were eligible for listing in the National Register. In 2015, as part of the Commission’s work plan, they created another list of properties that were prioritized for local landmark designation because they were not located in local districts. The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, at 302-316 East Bloomington Street, appears on both lists of significant Iowa City properties. This building has been owned by the same family since it was built from 1875 to 1880. Even without designation as a local landmark, the building has been cared for as a preservationist would recommend with exterior elements being repaired instead of replaced for almost 150 years. On October 9, 2023, the Commission discussed moving forward an application to designate the property at 302-316 E. Bloomington Street as a Local Historic Landmark. Designation of the property as an Iowa City Historic Landmark will require Commission approval of any significant changes to the exterior of the building. Landmark status will also make the property eligible for special exceptions that would allow the Board of Adjustment to waive or modify certain zoning requirements and for State Tax Credit funding of rehabilitation work. The property would also be eligible for the City’s Historic Preservation Fund to help with exterior repair work. Since the HPC’s October 9th meeting, staff, the Commission Chair, and the property owner met to discuss the landmark designation. At this meeting staff explained what it means to own a property that is designated as a Local Historic Landmark. Staff also discussed the process by which the landmark status is evaluated. After this initial meeting with the property owner, Friends of Historic Preservation hired local historian, Jennifer Price, to complete the site inventory form that documents the history, integrity, and significance of the property (see attachment). The first part of the local landmark designation process is the public hearing before the Commission, which is scheduled for February 8, 2024. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission City Hall, 410 E Washington Street, Iowa City. IA. 52240 Analysis The site inventory form for the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building evaluates the property according to the National Register criteria as required by the state. For National Register listing, all properties must be significant and exhibit appropriate historic integrity. These two conditions are equivalent to criteria A and B of the local landmark process listed below. National Register listings must be significant in at least one of four applicable criteria which are equivalent with criteria C through F as shown below. In the review of Local Historic Landmarks, it is the role of the Commission to determine whether the property meets criterion A and B and also whether it meets at least one of the criteria C, D, E, or F: a. Significant to American and/or Iowa City history, architecture, archaeology and culture; b. Possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship; c. Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; d. Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; e. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction; or represents the work of a master; or possesses high artistic values; or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; f. Has yielded or may likely yield information important in prehistory or history. As Jennifer Price determined that the building has both the significance and integrity required for National Register listing, staff finds that the building is significant to Iowa City architecture and culture and exhibits recognizable integrity (Local Criteria A and B). The Site Inventory Form summarizes the cultural importance of the building to the Iowa City community because it is “associated with both the ethnic and commercial history of Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood.” As Price continues, “the complex of brick Italianate style commercial buildings at the corner of East Bloomington and North Linn Streets was a one-stop shopping, dining, lodging, entertainment, and cultural center for the ever- growing Bohemian-American community in Iowa City and northern Johnson County.” The National Hall on the second floor “was home to Iowa City’s many Bohemian fraternal and community organizations that used the hall for their meetings and housed a comprehensive cultural library.” Even by 1900 the building was considered “one of the landmarks of this city.” The building was built and operated by Joseph Slezak for 25 years and then it was run by his son-in- law Joseph Holub. As originally built, the building consisted of the two-story portion on the corner that included two stores on the first floor with a saloon and dining hall accessed around the corner from Linn Street. The second floor was the fraternal hall with dance floor, stage, and a balcony. The three-story building behind was a boarding house. Along the alley a carriage house had laundry and sleeping rooms on the upper floors. Adjacent to the carriage house on the east was the stable and feed barn. By 1920, the boarding house was running as a hotel and the stable was converted to a garage. Later, about 1930, Holub remodeled the hotel and hall into apartments, creating a large storage attic in the vaulted space above the former National Hall. The former stable/garage became a laundromat in 1958 and Pizza Palace/Pagliai’s Pizza moved into the grocery space in 1969. Based on the information in the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission City Hall, 410 E Washington Street, Iowa City. IA. 52240 Site Inventory Form, staff finds that the building is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history (Local Criterion C). As stated in the Site Inventory Form the Slezak/Holub Building is a remarkably well-preserved example of commercial Italianate architecture. It features a two-bay storefront that was remodeled 55 years ago for the Pizza Palace (with the tile base likely introduced in the 1930s). Above the sign board that covers the storefront transom area, there is a mid-level bracketed cornice with dentils below narrow round- arched windows with brick hoodmolds. The upper portion of these windows was closed with beadboard at the time of the 1930s remodel. The building is topped by a heavy bracketed cornice and a Baroque pediment that is similar to architectural details found in 19th century Central European architecture familiar to Bohemian immigrants, such as Slezak. The saloon entrance off Linn Street was bricked in at some point and a single window was also bricked in. The three-story Holub Apartments has a projecting entrance (likely from the 1930s remodel), more decorative, cast hoodmolds over the windows and a more elaborate cornice with triglyphs and metopes between brackets. The carriage house is a simple brick building with synthetic siding on the south wall and mid-century 2-over-2 horizontal lite window sashes. The laundromat is a brick building with large gable and sliding stable door evident on the alley side and large Baroque pediment on the street-façade. Because of its Baroque pediments, unique in Iowa City, and the Italianate commercial style, that has not been altered in many years, staff finds that the building also embodies the distinctive characteristics of its type and is also eligible for local landmark designation for its architecture (Local Criterion E). Based on the information provided in the Site Inventory Form, staff finds that the property meets criteria A, B, C, and E and therefore qualifies as a Local Historic Landmark. Next Steps Following the recommendation from the Historic Preservation Commission, the rezoning application establishing the Historic District Overlay zone will be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Planning and Zoning Commission will review the proposal for compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and make a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council will then hold a public hearing and consider the recommendations of the Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission before deciding whether to establish the historic overlay zone, creating the Local Landmark Designation. Recommended Motion: Move to approve the designation of 302-316 East Bloomington Street, the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, as a Local Historic Landmark based on the following criteria for local designation: criteria A, B, C, and E. Attachments: Property Location map Iowa Site Inventory Form 52-00602 Slezak -Holub-Skarda Building Letter of support from Marty Boller Letter of support from Marybeth Slonneger Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission City Hall, 410 E Washington Street, Iowa City. IA. 52240 Property location map for the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, adjacent local districts, and nearby local landmarks (stars). Northside Historic District Goosetown- Horace Mann Conservation ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORICAL EVALUATION OF Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building 302-316 E. Bloomington Street Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa Iowa Site Inventory Form No. 52-00602 Prepared for Friends of Historic Preservation P.O. Box 2001 Iowa City, IA 52244 Prepared by Jennifer A. Price, PhD Price Preservation Research P.O. Box 5201 Coralville, Iowa 52241-0201 January 2024 Iowa Site Inventory Form State Inventory Number: 52-00602 New Supplemental State Historic Preservation Office 9-Digit SHPO Review & Compliance (R&C) Number: (July 2014) Non-extant Year: Read the Iowa Site Inventory Form Instructions carefully, to ensure accuracy and completeness before completing this form. The instructions are available on our website: http://www.iowahistory.org/historic- preservation/statewide-inventory-and-collections/iowa-site-inventory-form.html • Property Name A) Historic name: Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building B) Other names: Narodni Sin; National Hall; Slezak Hotel; Holub & Son Grocery; Holub Apartments; Pagliai's Pizza • Location A) Street address: 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts B) City or town:Iowa City ( Vicinity) County:Johnson C) Legal description: Rural: Township Name: Township No.: Range No.: Section: Qtr: of Qtr: Urban: Subdivision: Original Town Plat Block(s): 57 Lot(s): 5 and part of 6 • Classification A) Property category: Check only one B) Number of resources (within property): Building(s) If eligible property, enter number of: If non-eligible property, District Contributing Noncontributing enter number of: Site 1 Buildings Buildings Structure Sites Sites Object Structures Structures Objects Objects 1 Total Total C) For properties listed in the National Register: National Register status: Listed De-listed NHL NPS DOE D) For properties within a historic district: Property contributes to a National Register or local certified historic district. Property contributes to a potential historic district, based on professional historic/architectural survey and evaluation. Property does not contribute to the historic district in which it is located. Historic district name: Historic district site inventory number: E) Name of related project report or multiple property study, if applicable: MPD title Historical Architectural Data Base # • Function or Use Enter categories (codes and terms) from the Iowa Site Inventory Form Instructions A) Historic functions B) Current functions 02E11 COMMERCE/specialy store/grocery 02G COMMERCE/restaurant 01D01 DOMESTIC/transitory housing/hotel 02A08 COMMERCE/business/laundry 03A04 SOCIAL/meeting hall/hall of patriotic organization 01B02 DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling/apartment building • Description Enter categories (codes and terms) from the Iowa Site Inventory Form Instructions A) Architectural classification B) Materials 05B LATE VICTORIAN/Italianate Foundation (visible exterior): 04 STONE 09F03 OTHER/Commercial/Arcaded Block Walls (visible exterior): 03 BRICK Roof: 05 METAL Other: C) Narrative description SEE CONTINUATION SHEETS, WHICH MUST BE COMPLETED Site Number: 52-00602 Address: 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts City:Iowa City County: Johnson • Statement of Significance A) Applicable National Register Criteria: Mark your opinion of eligibility after applying relevant National Register criteria Criterion A: Property is associated with significant events. Yes No More research recommended Criterion B: Property is associated with the lives of significant persons. Yes No More research recommended Criterion C: Property has distinctive architectural characteristics. Yes No More research recommended Criterion D: Property yields significant information in archaeology/history. Yes No More research recommended B) Special criteria considerations: Mark any special considerations; leave blank if none A: Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. B: Removed from its original location. C: A birthplace or grave. D: A cemetery E: A reconstructed building, object, or structure. F: A commemorative property. G: Property less than 50 years of page or achieved significance within the past 50 years. C) Areas of significance D) Period(s) of significance Enter categories from instructions 02 ARCHITECTURE 1875-1969 05 COMMERCE E) Significant dates F) Significant person Construction date Complete if Criterion B is marked above 1875 check if circa or estimated date Other dates, including renovations c.1930 (apts); 1938 (storefront); 1969 (store interior) G) Cultural affiliation H) Architect/Builder Complete if Criterion D is marked above Architect Builder/contractor I) Narrative statement of significance SEE CONTINUATION SHEETS, WHICH MUST BE COMPLETED • Bibliography See continuation sheets for the list research sources used in preparing this form • Geographic Data Optional UTM references See continuation sheet for additional UTM or comments Zone Easting Northing NAD Zone Easting Northing NAD 1 2 3 4 • Form Preparation Name and Title: Jennifer A. Price/Consultant Date:January 2024 Organization/firm: Price Preservation Research E-mail:pricepreservationresearch@gmail.com Street address: P.O. Box 5201 Telephone:319.594.9513 City or Town: Coralville State: IA Zip code:52241-0201 • ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION Submit the following items with the completed form A) For all properties, attach the following, as specified in the Iowa Site Inventory Form Instructions: 1. Map of property’s location within the community. 2. Glossy color 4x6 photos labeled on back with property/building name, address, date taken, view shown, and unique photo number. 3. Photo key showing each photo number on a map and/or floor plan, using arrows next top each photo number to indicate the location and directional view of each photograph. 4. Site plan of buildings/structures on site, identifying boundaries, public roads, and building/structure footprints. B) For State Historic Tax Credit Part 1 Applications, historic districts and farmsteads, and barns: See lists of special requirements and attachments in the Iowa Site Inventory Form Instructions. State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Use Only Below This Line The SHPO has reviewed the Site Inventory and concurs with above survey opinion on National Register eligibility: Yes No More research recommended This is a locally designated property or part of a locally designated district. Comments: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHPO authorized signature: Date: Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 1 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building is located at the northeast corner of N. Linn Street and E. Bloomington Street on the north side of Iowa City, seat of Johnson County in eastern Iowa. The property is bordered on the west and north sides by the southern boundary lines of the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District, a National Register-listed residential historic district containing a large neighborhood of late nineteenth and early twentieth century houses. Although it is outside the boundaries of the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District, the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building is visually part of the district both architecturally and historically and is a familiar landmark in the overall Northside neighborhood of Iowa City. Along the west side of the property, N. Linn Street retains its original brick paving. Across Bloomington Street to the south is a large, paved lot that provides overflow parking for Pagliai’s Pizza – the commercial tenant in the main level store unit since 1969 – and other nearby businesses, including Hamburg Inn No. 2 just south of the parking lot. The surroundings to the southeast, south, and southwest feature a mix of late- nineteenth to mid-twentieth-century commercial buildings, historic residential buildings repurposed for commercial use, and a modern condominium building at the southwest corner of N. Linn and E. Bloomington streets. The subject property is a complex of four adjoining brick buildings built from 1875 to the 1880s that together form an L-shape around a central courtyard and parking lot with access to E. Bloomington Street. The entire Slezak Block complex is comprised of the main two-story brick block (40 by 80 feet) built on the northeast corner of N. Linn and E. Bloomington streets; a three-story brick Italianate style hotel addition (38 by 42 feet) built adjoining the rear of the main building with entrance on N. Linn Street; a two-story hotel addition (22 by 72 feet) adjoined to rear of the hotel addition and extending east along the north property line that originally held a carriage house, laundry, and sleeping rooms; and the laundromat (34 by 80 feet) – originally the stables and later a garage – built adjoining the east end of the carriage house and extending south to face E. Bloomington Street. The main building, 302 E. Bloomington Street, was built by Joseph Slezak in 1875 in the commercial Italianate style. The building has brick exterior walls, a front gabled roof clad in metal with three ventilators spaced evenly along the ridgeline. The front-gabled roof is hidden on the south side façade by “a wooden pediment with Baroque curves. Below this is a heavy, projecting, wooden cornice with single, widely-spaced windows with three sashes, the upper section of which is boarded up. Around the semi-circular window tops the raised brick molding forms a rectangular panel. At the top of the first story is a less extended cornice” (Alexander 1970). The storefront was remodeled in 1938, creating a single central recessed tiled entry with wood and glass entry door, black tiled bulkheads, and plate glass windows. In 1969, the store interior was remodeled to house the pizza parlor that is still located there nearly 55 years later. “The second-story cornice extends along the east and west sides with upper- story windows repeating those of the south façade. On the west side was a second entrance, leading to apartments, using cast iron elements and large glass windows. This has been bricked up and the present entrance is to the north” (Alexander 1970). The three-story northern addition (308-312 N. Linn Street) was built as a hotel and is five bays wide with a central entrance. It is also built of brick with a front-gabled roof. “The façade is topped by a high cornice with a version of triglyph and metope ornament, and single, widely spaced brackets. All openings are topped by very plastic pressed tin arches with delicate inset floral ornament of an Eastlake character, the kind of tool used in the 1880s. The cornice continues around the building. Windows on the sides and back are topped by a segmental arch with a separate molding formed by protruding brick” (Alexander 1970). The adjoining two-story rear addition (former carriage house) has a flat roof and an entrance on the narrow west side, with the addresses 310-314 N. Linn Street. The segmental arch windows have newer 1/1 double hung sash windows. The south façade, clad in vinyl siding, overlooks the small courtyard and parking lot. A central entry door and overhead garage door near the east endwall are features of the façade. The easternmost addition (316 E. Bloomington Street) is also built of brick with a front-gabled roof hidden by a curved Baroque pediment that complements the one on the main building. “The curving features of the Baroque Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 2 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City pediment is executed in brick (rather than wood like the main building) and outlined in wood” (Alexander 1970). It served originally as a barn with stables for the horses of hotel guests. The building was converted by 1920 to a heated garage. In 1953, it housed a linen service, and in 1958, it was remodeled into a coin-operated laundromat. The brick façade and the brick portion of the Baroque pediment appear to have been stuccoed and painted white. The recessed central entrance is flanked by two square fixed store windows. This storefront configuration (and perhaps the stucco as well) likely dates to 1958, when it was remodeled into the coin-operated laundromat that it remains today. Statement of Integrity In 1996, consultants Molly Myers Naumann and Brian Schultes – in their Survey and Evaluation of the Dubuque/Linn Corridor, Iowa City, Iowa – determined the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building one of 10 sites that “appear to be individually significant” and likely “eligible for the NRHP and/or local landmark designation” (Naumann and Schultes 1996:10). Although the fifth-generation owner chose not to pursue National Register listing or local landmark status at the time of the survey, he has continued to maintain the historic building complex to a high degree. The building, therefore, remains deserving of local landmark designation and meets the seven aspects of integrity (location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, feeling, and association) that make it individually eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building complex is in its original location at the northeast corner of E. Bloomington and N. Linn Streets. Although the immediate surroundings to the east south and southwest have changed in the past 50 years (see Site Plan in Additional Documentation), the Slezak-Holub- Skarda Building is a landmark that anchors the south boundaries of the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District, a well- preserved National Register-listed residential district of houses dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (see Site Plan in Additional Documentation). View looking north at the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, home of Pagliai’s Pizza since 1969. Photo by Price Preservation Research, December 2023 The original footprint and design of this Italianate style building complex is intact, and the workmanship and materials of the original builders is visible on all sides. Extant original character-defining features – including the face brick, fenestration pattern, hood molds, brackets and cornices, and Baroque pediments – have been preserved throughout periods of remodeling and repurposing. The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building conveys a feeling of time and place of a late-nineteenth-century Italianate commercial block – even with its modern commercial tenants – that the building’s original owners and customers would instantly recognize. The building is now thoroughly associated with Pagliai’s Pizza, which has been located here since 1969, and yet the entire complex has been remarkably preserved so that its modern uses do not overwhelm the building’s character-defining features or its historic association with the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District and Northside neighborhood of Iowa City. Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 3 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building is locally significant and individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C. Under Criterion A, the building is a landmark associated with both the ethnic and commercial history of Iowa City’s northside neighborhood. Begun by Joseph Slezak in 1875 and completed in the 1880s, the complex of brick Italianate style commercial buildings at the corner of E. Bloomington and N. Linn streets was a one-stop shopping, dining, lodging, entertainment, and cultural center for the ever-growing Bohemian- American community in Iowa City and northern Johnson County. Even the curved Baroque pediment recalled the Central European architecture that would have been familiar to Slezak and his fellow immigrants. His second-floor hall, known as Narodni Sin, or National Hall, was home to Iowa City’s many Bohemian fraternal and community organizations that used the hall for their meetings, and housed a comprehensive cultural library. The hall also included a dance floor, a stage, and balcony, and was the venue for numerous dances, parties, sporting events, and staged entertainments over its four decades of existence. Slezak himself operated his commercial and cultural complex (hotel, hall, saloon, and grocery/dry goods store) for 25 years, specifically serving Solon, Swisher, Shueyville, and rural Johnson County farmers, who came to town for market day or to visit the nearby hospitals. By 1900, just before Joseph Slezak turned over the businesses of the grocery, hall, and hotel to his son-in-law, Joseph F. Holub, the Slezak Block with its popular National Hall was already considered, as the Iowa City Daily Republican stated, “one of the landmarks of this city.” Holub took over the property in 1909, continuing the hall, rooming house, and grocery store into the late 1920s and early 1930s. Holub remodeled the hall and rooming house into modern apartments around 1930, essentially creating the commercial property that it remains today. The additions of the laundromat in the former stable/garage in 1958 and Pagliai’s Pizza in the former grocery store in 1969 have added more recent layers to the historical significance of this beloved 149-year-old property that has passed through five generations of the same family and continues to be a landmark in Iowa City. Under Criterion C, the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building is a remarkably well-preserved example of commercial Italianate architecture. As Molly Myers Naumann wrote in her Survey and Evaluation of the Dubuque/Linn Street Corridor in 1996: “This two story brick commercial building from 1875 (with three story addition…) is individually eligible as a fine example of Italianate commercial design. It features tall slender round arched windows on the second floor with simple brick hoodmolds, while on the first floor the windows are segmental arched with brick hoods. The three story addition has more elaborate cast hoodmolds. A bracketed wooden cornice surrounds both sections. Relatively few alterations have been made over the years, but these include: bricking in an entrance on the secondary (west) facade and putting in two small modern windows, bricking in a doorway on the west elevation, installation of smaller windows at the second floor level, creating a new brick foyer or vestibule entry to the rear wing, and new plate glass windows and entry door on the storefront.” Although changes to the building over the past nine decades “sound extensive,” according to Naumann, the building’s overall integrity remains very high. Moreover, each of its remodels (c.1930, 1936, 1958, and 1969) are now over 50 years of age and thus part of the historic fabric. These changes are unobtrusive and do not diminish the building’s overall architectural integrity or its original character-defining features, which include the unique curved Baroque pediment, the complementary pediment on the former stable/laundromat, arched fenestration, hood molds, and bracketed cornices. The entire building complex remains individually eligible for the National Register and would be a contributing resource, as Naumann wrote in 1996, “in any historic district that includes Linn Street.” The preliminary period of significance for the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building is 1875 to at least 1969, from the year the main building was completed and put into service to the year the store unit remodel was completed and Pagliai’s “Pizza Palace” opened for business. History of the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, 1875-1975 By 1850, new residents to Iowa City included many immigrants from Bohemia (the area of Central Europe known today as the Czech Republic). They mainly settled in Cedar Rapids and Linn County, Johnson County north of Iowa City, and in the eastern part of Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood, which came to be known as Goosetown Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 4 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City (Naumann 1996;E-6). “Arriving in Linn County, Iowa, around 1855, Johann (John/Jan) and Anna Sichrova Slezak came from Přívrat, Bohemia, a village in the Ústí Nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of today’s Czech Republic” (Boller 2023). By 1870, the Slezaks were living in Monroe Township in Johnson County and in 1872 – fours year before his death – Johann (John) Slezak purchased Lots 5 & 6 in Block 57 of the Original Plat of Iowa City. This property, located at the corner of N. Linn and E. Bloomington streets, had been home to the State “Blind Asylum,” which was in 1872 “an old stone building” built in 1853 that had been sitting unused since that institution was moved to Vinton in 1862. In March 1874, the Slezaks deeded the property to their oldest son Joseph (“Joe”) (1847-1912) (Iowa Anti Monopolist, March 27, 1874). Two months later, Joe Slezak had moved into the “old Blind Asylum” and opened a grocery store and National Hall, or “Narodni Sin” in Czech (Iowa State Press, May 19, 1875; History of Johnson County Iowa 1883;75-76). The complete Slezak building complex as shown on the 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Source: Library of Congress website When the old Blind Asylum was badly damaged by fire a year later in May 1875, Joe Slezak tore it down and began construction of his own building to house his grocery and National Hall. The result was an Italianate style two-story brick block with an unusual Baroque pediment (Iowa Anti Monopolist, May 1, 1874; Iowa State Press, May 19, 1875). When it opened in November 1875, the main building featured two store units, a dining room, and saloon on the main floor, while the second floor served as a large meeting and dance hall and likely hotel rooms in the rear. Upstairs, the National Hall, or Narodni Sin, included a dance floor, a stage, and balcony, and would be the venue for numerous meetings, dances, parties, sporting events, and staged entertainments over the next four decades. Slezak’s Hotel, or “Farmer’s Home,” was officially opened on November 1, 1875, and his National Hall (or “Narodni Sin”) was opened on November 15, 1875. Slezak advertised both grand openings in the local Bohemian language newspaper, Slovan Americky (Slovan Americky, October 28, 1875; Boller 2023; Jacobsen [1981]:12). Slezak sought especially to cater to farmers living in rural Johnson County, who regularly traveled by horse and wagon into Iowa City on market days to trade their farm products and purchase goods on Iowa Avenue, the city’s main marketplace and just blocks from Slezak Hall. Because these trips to town often included an overnight stay, entrepreneurs like Joe Slezak “opened ‘farmers hotels,’ offering inexpensive overnight boarding that also included a hearty meal and a stable where farmers could safely park their horses & wagons” (Boller 2023). After the grand openings, Iowa City’s other newspapers praised Slezak and his new brick block: The “National,” the new Bohemian hotel built on the site formerly occupied by the old Blind Asylum, was completed last week. The splendid hall on the second story was dedicated on Monday night by a grand ball, participated in by over 400 persons. The structure cost $8,000, and is the property of [Joseph] Slezack [sic] (Iowa City Republican, November 17, 1875). Mr. Slezack [sic] has built, on the site of the old Blind Asylum, a most creditable brick structure, in which is the finest and best proportioned public hall in town. This new building will be the home of the Ochotnik and other Bohemian societies and there will be their library, one of the largest selections of Sclavic [sic] literature in the United States (Iowa City Daily Press, November 29, 1875). Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 5 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Slezak opened his grocery/general store and saloon at the same time, but no advertisements have been found yet announcing those features. The first advertisements for Josef “Joe” Slezak’s new building appeared in the local Bohemian language newspaper, Slovan Americky. On the left, Slezak gives details of the grand opening of his new “Farmers’ Home” with dining room and stables on November 1, 1875, and on the right of the grand opening of The National Hall (Narodni Sin) with a dance ball on November 15, 1875. The “Farmer’s Home” was located in the original building, and the stables were nearby. The extant brick hotel, carriage house, and stables were complete by 1888. Source: Slovan Americky, October 28, 1875 Slezak added more buildings until the entire Slezak complex was complete by 1888 (see 1888 Sanborn Map). To his main brick block on the northeast corner of N. Linn and E. Bloomington streets, he added a three-story brick Italianate style hotel addition (38 by 42 feet) on the north side with entrance on N. Linn Street; an adjoining hotel addition (22 by 72 feet) to the north and extending east that originally housed a carriage house, laundry, and sleeping rooms; and a large barn with stables (34 by 80 feet) adjoined to the east end of the carriage house and extending and facing south. Altogether, the buildings formed an L-shape. Slezak intended his corner building complex to be a one-stop shopping, dining, lodging, entertainment, and cultural center for the Bohemian-American community in Iowa City and Johnson County environs. Even the building’s curved Baroque pediment recalled the Central European architecture that would have been familiar to Slezak and his fellow immigrants. From 1875 to the 1910s, “Slezak’s National Hotel and Hall” was home to the following Bohemian fraternal and community organizations using the hall for their meetings: Trasti (c. 1892), Zastit (1901- 15), Slovanska Lipa (1892), Forum Palacky (1904-9), and Iowa City Lodge #180 of ZCBJ (1914)” (Boller 2023; Jacobsen 1981). Slezak operated his commercial and cultural complex (hotel, restaurant, hall, saloon, and grocery/dry goods) for 25 years, specifically serving Solon, Swisher, and Shueyville and northern Johnson County farmers, many of them Bohemian immigrants, who came to town for market day or to visit the nearby hospitals and needed overnight accommodations (Jacobsen 1981; Boller 2023). In 1886, a notice in the Iowa State Press told readers Joe Slezak had turned over operation of the grocery/dry goods store “to his former clerk, Joseph F. Holub, who will continue the business at the old stand, National Hall building.” Eva Slezak, Joe’s wife, continued to be in charge of “the boarding house as heretofore,” while Slezak continued as proprietor of the National Hall. Holub (1867-1934) eventually married the Slezaks’ daughter, Anna (1872-1963), in 1892 and apparently left the Slezak store to work elsewhere until 1901 (Iowa State Press, September 29, 1886; Boller 2023). City directories show the grocery was run by Joe’s son, Frank Slezak, in 1899, and again by Joe Slezak in 1901. A saloon operated by Joseph Slezak was listed in 1878, by Frank Slezak in 1899, and again by Joseph Slezak in 1901 (Jacobsen 1981). Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 6 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City By 1892, Joseph Slezak was praised by the Iowa City Weekly Republican as “Prominent among the Bohemians,” “a natural leader among men,” and “a man of indomitable energy.” Commencing in a small way he has built up in Iowa City an extensive property occupying the site of the old blind asylum, his National Hall, a place of public meetings and social gatherings. Beneath it are two commodious store rooms devoted to groceries, dry goods and general merchandise. In the same building he conducts a well appointed hotel. Mr. Slezak has in every way deserved his success (Iowa City Weekly Republican, December 20th, 1892). In 1901, Joseph F. Holub took over the grocery store, and “all the other business ventures centered in the Slezak block:” Joseph Holub . . . will succeed his father-in-law, Joseph Slezak, as proprietor of the National hall, the Farmers’ home, the grocery store and all the other business ventures centered in the Slezak block. Mr. Slezak, as a hard-working, popular pioneer, has built up a great business there, and his son-in- law certainly starts an independent commercial career with a fine outlook for prosperity and fortune. As to Mr. Holub himself, everybody knows him. His connection with Gramling’s, Denecke & Yetter’s and Yetter’s has made him acquainted with thousands of householders in Johnson county [sic]. He is a diligent, courteous and always good natured salesman, and as “his own boss” will doubtless do exceedingly well (Daily Iowa State Press, September 25, 1901). In 1909, Slezak sold the entire property to Holub: An important transfer of property has taken place through the purchase from J.J. Slezak of the property owned by the former at the corner of Linn and Bloomington streets. Mr. Holub has for some time been in active charge of the business conducted there, and is therefore familiar with the proposition which he has undertaken. The building on the site is one of the land marks [sic] of Iowa City and well built many years ago. It was a structure of fine construction and is therefore well preserved. The upper story is devoted to Dancehall and hotel purposes while on the ground floor are the grocery and saloon and the restaurant. No announcement of the consideration is made but the property is one generally valued at about $40,000. Mr. Holub will have the wish of his many friends for success in his continued business activities in his own property (Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 6, 1909). In 1919, Joseph Holub brought his son, William, into the business with him, styling themselves Holub and Son until 1933, when the name changed to Holub’s Grocery (Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 24, 1933; Iowa City Press- Citizen, March 31, 1934; Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 16, 1935). Joseph Holub also continued the National Hall, which became known as Holub’s Hall, until c.1926-1928, when he embarked on his long-held plans to remodel the hall and rooming house into modern apartments (Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 26, 1924). Eventually the carriage house would be remodeled into apartments, as well. He had already converted the barn and stables into a heated garage by 1920 (see 1920 Sanborn map). In 1953, the former stable/garage became the home of the Iowa City Home Linen Service (Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 23, 1953). In 1958, the building was remodeled into a coin-operated laundromat that continues today (Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 3 and 4, 1958). In 1936, I.C. Nichols and his Self Serve Grocery replaced Holub’s Grocery (Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 16, 1938). In 1938, William J. Holub (1892-1975), the third generation property owner, remodeled the storefront, likely creating the single central recessed entrance that is mostly extant (Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 25, 1938). The same year, Nichols remodeled the grocery store interior (Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 25, 1938). In 1953, Raymond Tweedy purchased the business and opened Tweedy’s Self Serve Grocery Store (Iowa City Press Citizen, December 30, 1953). In 1960, Val and Marilyn (Holub) Skarda, the fourth generation of the Slezak/Holub family took over. The couple moved into William Holub’s former home in the building, and Val Skarda became, as his obituary in 2019 stated, “the patriarch of the Holub Apartments, an Iowa City landmark” (Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 6, 1960; Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 15, 2019). Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 7 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Tweedy’s went out of business in 1968 (Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 29, 1969). One year later, Val Skarda remodeled the store unit into a “pizza house,” and Armond Pagliai moved his Pizza Palace from 127 S. Clinton Street to 302 E. Bloomington. Around 1975, the name changed to Pagliai’s Pizza, and it has been located there ever since. By 1981, as this advertisement shows, Pagliai’s Pizza had become the familiar face of the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building. Today, the restaurant is part of its historic significance. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 5, 1981 Already considered a landmark by 1900, the history of the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building was periodically the subject of the recurring feature, “A Fact A Day About Iowa City” in the Press-Citizen. Its “Narodni Sin” was an especially popular topic, used as a way to talk about Iowa City’s Bohemian cultural past or the “old Blind Asylum,” or to reminisce generally about Iowa City’s Northside neighborhood and the “good old days.” During his first year writing for the Press-Citizen, Iowa City historian Irving Weber made Slezak Hall a focus of his recurring series, “How’s Your Building IQ,” in which he implored his readers to “Look Up!” at the upper stories of the city’s historic buildings. The popular history of the building appeared again in Weber’s book, Historical Stories About Iowa City – Volume 1 (1976). Weber revisited the subject again in 1981 and in 1990 to discuss historic metal roofs (Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 15, 1973; Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 18, 1981; Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 20, 1990). These remembrances of the building’s history have bolstered its significance as a beloved Iowa City landmark. The additions of the Holub apartments in the former National Hall in c.1930, the laundromat in the former stables/garage in 1958, and Pagliai’s Pizza (an the Iowa City institution) in the former grocery store in 1969 have added more recent layers to the historical significance of this 149-year-old property. The building has passed through the ownership of five generations of the same family and continues to be individually eligible for the National Register and a landmark in the Northside Neighborhood of Iowa City. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES Ad for Basket Ball and Dance, Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 20, 1925. Ad for Home Linen Service, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 23, 1953. Ad for Holub’s Grocery, Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 16, 1935. Ad for Iowa City Home Linen Service, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 23, 1953. Ad for Going out of business sale for Tweedy’s Self Serve Grocery, Iowa City Press Citizen, November 29, 1968. Ad for New Location-Store No. 2 Self Serve Stores, Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 16, 1936. Ad for Newly Remodeled Self Serve Store, Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 31, 1938. Ad for Pagliai’s Pizza, Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 5, 1981. “A Fact A Day About Iowa City: ‘Narodni Sin,’” Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 24, 1947. Alexander, Robert. 302 & 316 East Bloomington & 308-314 N. Linn.” Historic American Building Survey Inventory, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1970. On file at State Historic Preservation Office, Des Moines, Iowa. Aurner, Clarence Ray. Leading Events in Johnson County Iowa History. Vol. 2. Cedar Rapids, IA: Western Historical Press, 1913. Baxter, Elaine. Northside Neighborhood Preservation Study: Historic Structures Inventory. Report prepared by the Department of Community Development, City of Iowa City, and Institute of Urban & Regional Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1977. “Big Property Was Sold, Jos. Holub Buys Slezak Hall, Also Gets the Hotel, Grocery and Saloon Business,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 6, 1909. Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 8 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Boller, Marty. “Saving Iowa City’s Slezak National Hall,” Our Iowa Heritage, 2023. Accessed at https://ouriowaheritage.com/slezak-national-hall/ - 12/2023. “City Issues 33 Permits for Building,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 10, 1969. “Fire Causes Much Damage,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 9, 1940. “Give Surprise Party for William Holubs,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 6, 1960. Grand opening ads for Self Serve Laundromat, Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 3 and 4, 1958. Help-Wanted Ad for Pizza Palace, Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 1969. History of Johnson County, Iowa. Iowa City, IA: [?], 1883. Iowa City Daily Press, January 18, 1876. Iowa City Daily Press, November 29, 1875. Iowa City Daily Republican, December 4th, 1900. Iowa City Republican, November 17, 1875. Jacobson, James E. North Side Neighborhood Preservation Study. Prepared for Division of Historic Preservation, Iowa City, Iowa, [1981?]. “Joe Holub Climbs,” Daily Iowa State Press, September 25, 1901. “National Hall (Slezak Hall),” Iowa Site Inventory Form No. 52-00602. On file at State Historic Preservation Office, Des Moines, Iowa. Naumann, Molly Myers, and Brian Schultes. Survey and Evaluation of the Dubuque/Linn Corridor, Iowa City, Iowa. Prepared for the City of Iowa City, the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, and the Iowa City Planning and Community Development Department, Iowa City, Iowa, 1996. Naumann, Molly Myers. Architectural & Historical Resources of the Dubuque/Linn Street Corridor, Iowa City, Iowa, 1839-c.1940. Multiple Property Document, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1996. “New Store Front to Be Erected by Holub,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 25, 1938. “Placemat Features Historic Homes, Businesses Here,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 23, 1971. “Planning New Apartments,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 26, 1924. “Raymond Tweedy Buys Self Serve Grocery from Ralph Westcott, Iowa City Press Citizen, December 30, 1953. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Iowa City, Iowa, 1883, 1888, 1892, 1899, 1906, 1920, 1926. Obtained from Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn- maps/?q=Iowa+City,+Johnson+County – 12/2023. Svendsen, Marlys A. Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District National Register Nomination. National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 2004. Weber, Irving E., “How’s Your Building IQ,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 15, 1973. _____________, “’Narodni Sin’ Remembered,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 18, 1981. _____________, “To Top It Off: Metal Roofs,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 20, 1990. Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 9 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION Latitude: 41.664918 Longitude: -91.531348 Location of Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building in Iowa City Base Map: Johnson County GIS/2023 Imagery Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 10 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Site Plan Base Map: Johnson County GIS/2023 Imagery Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 11 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Location of Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building (star) abutting the south boundary lines of the National Register-listed Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District Source: Marlys A. Svendsen, Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District National Register Nomination, 2004 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 12 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City CURRENT PHOTOGRAPHS (Photos by Price Preservation Research, December 12, 2023) General view looking northwest Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 13 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City General view looking northeast Façade, looking north Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 14 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Looking east-northeast Looking east at Holub Apartments Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 15 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Looking southeast Looking north-northwest Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 16 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION Praise fo the grand opening of Slezak’s “new Bohemian hotel” and “splendid hall,” 1875 Sources: (left) Iowa City Republican, November 17, 1875; (right) Iowa City Daily Press, November 29, 1875 Ads for Joseph Slezak’s National Hall with “One flight of Stairs, large Audience Room, ample Stage and Scenery,” and Slezak’s “Farmer’s Home,” 1876, offering “good stabling” and “good boarding and lodging.” Sources: (left) Iowa State Press, March 2, 1876 and (right) Iowa City Daily Press, April 12, 1876 Bohemian theatrical entertainment at Slezak’s new hall, “for the benefit of the Herzegovinian rebels,” 1876. Source: Iowa City Daily Press, January 18, 1876 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 17 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City The Slezak property as shown on the 1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Note the saloon is gone, replaced by a new dining room and parlor. Source: Library of Congress website Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 18 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City The Slezak property as shown on the 1899 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Carriage house and livery are still in use. Note the two dining rooms and saloon in the east store unit. Source: Library of Congress website ’ Joe Slezak was thinking of selling the Slezak Hall property in 1900, but instead he put his son-in-law Joseph Holub in charge of the businesses the following year. Note the Slezak building is referred to as “one of the landmarks of this city.” Source: Iowa City Daily Republican, December 4th, 1900 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 19 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City The Slezak-Holub property as shown on the 1906 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Joseph Holub had been proprietor since 1901. Source: Library of Congress website Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 20 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In 1901, Joseph Holub, son-in-law to Joe Slezak, took over the proprietorship of all the businesses located in the Slezak Block. In 1909, he purchased the property from father-in-law, which at the time was generally valued at $40,000 and still considered “one of the land marks of Iowa City.” Sources: (left) Daily Iowa State Press, September 25, 1901; (right) Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 6, 1909 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 21 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Looking northeast at Slezak-Holub Building, 1913, with signage on the pediment reading: J.F. Holub / Narodni Sin / National Hall. Holub had purchased the property in 1909. J.F. Holub Grocery was in the storefront and the Holub Hotel was at the rear. The popular National Hall (or Narodni Sin) was above the grocery store, and came to be known as Holub’s Hall. Source: Aurner 1913:690 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 22 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City The Slezak/Holub property as shown on the 1920 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Note the livery stable has been remodeled into a heated 12-car garage, but the carriage house remains, reflecting the transition from horse-drawn to motor transportation just after of World War I. Source: Library of Congress website Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 23 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Holub and Son Grocery, The National Hall, and Rooming House, looking northeast, 1920s. Note the original double storefront configuration and the tall upper-story 4/4 double-hung sash round-arch windows. Source: Kent Photograph Collection, V3-45, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 24 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City 302 Bloomington Street as shown on the 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Iowa City. Note the hotel is now a “rooming house,” soon to be apartments, and the carriage house (marked D for “dwelling”) has been remodeled into an extension of the rooming house. Source: Library of Congress website Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 25 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In 1924, Joseph Holub made public his plans to convert the old National Hall and rooming house into modern apartments. The plans were realized before 1930. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 26, 1924 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 26 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City One of the last events that took place in Holub’s Hall was a basketball game and dance between Williamsburg and the Iowa National Guard in January 1925. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 20, 1925 One of the last ads for Holub’s Grocery, 1935. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 16, 1935 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 27 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In 1936, after Holub’s Grocery closed for good, the Self Serve Grocery, owned by I.C. Nichols, opened a second store location at 302 E. Bloomington Street. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 16, 1936 In 1938, William Holub, son of Joseph Holub and third-generation owner of the building, remodeled the storefront. This remodel is likely the extant storefront today, complete with tiled bulkheads, central recessed tiled entry, and wood and glass entry door with sidelights and transom. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 25, 1938 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 28 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In 1938, Self Serve Stores completed an interior remodel of their No. 2 store at 302 East Bloomington Street. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 31, 1938 This story about a fire in the Holub Apartments reveals a linoleum store located in the building at 304 N. Linn Street. This was probably located in the space behind the grocery store originally occupied by the saloon and dining room. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 9, 1940 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 29 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City A history of Joseph Slezak and his famous hall was the subject of the popular column “A Fact A Day About Iowa City” in the Press-Citizen in 1947. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 24, 1947 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 30 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Raymond Tweedy purchased the Self Serve Grocery in 1953, styling the business Tweedy’s Self Serve Grocery. He operated it until he went out of business in 1968. Sources: (left) Iowa City Press Citizen, December 30, 1953 and (right) Iowa City Press Citizen, November 29, 1968 Ad for the Iowa City Home Linen Service in the remodeled former horse stable/auto garage at 316 E. Bloomington Street, 1953. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 23, 1953 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 31 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Grand opening ads for “Iowa City’s First Coin-Operated Self Serve Laundromat,” 316 East Bloomington, 1958. The claim of being “the first” may or may not be true. Sources: (above) Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 3, 1958; (below) Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 4, 1958 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 32 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In July 1969, Val Skarda, fourth-generation owner, received a permit to remodel the grocery store at 302 East Bloomington Street into a “pizza house,” at a cost of $10,000. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 10, 1969 One of the first help-wanted ads for the new “Pizza Palace” location, 302 E. Bloomington, 1969. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 21, 1969 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 33 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Illustration of Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building right after the 1969 store remodel was completed and Pizza Palace moved in, and before the restaurant changed its name to Pagliai’s Pizza around 1975. By 1973, the signboard covering up the store transom lights was installed. The black tiled bulkheads and the central recessed entry with wood entrance doors and tiled entry, likely from the 1938 storefront remodel, are extant, but an outer glass entry door with sidelights and transom was added by 1981, creating an entry vestibule. Note also the N. Linn Street side entrance doors (probably providing entry to the original saloon, dining room) were still there; these have since been bricked in and converted to two small windows. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 23, 1971 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 34 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City In 1973, not long after the Pizza Palace (later Pagliai’s Pizza) opened at 302 E. Bloomington Street, Iowa City historian Irving Weber called attention to the history of the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building during his first year as a columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Note the Pizza Palace sign affixed to the upper story façade before the familiar “Pagliai’s Pizza” sign replaced it. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 15, 1973 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 35 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City View looking north at the former carriage house – part of Holub Apartments – taken in 1981 during the Northside Neighborhood survey. Source: Jacobsen 1981 View of the Bloomington Street Laundromat, taken in 1981 during the Northside Neighborhood survey. Source: Jacobsen 1981 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 36 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City View of the now familiar Pagliai’s Pizza in the Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building, 1981, from an Irving Weber column. Note the signboard and neon lettering and extant original bracketed cornice covering the store transom, as well as the exterior glass entry door and sidelights. The Bloomington Street Laundromat is visible in the background at lower right, looking very much as it does today. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 18, 1981 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 37 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City Slezak Hall and the Narodni Sin was a beloved piece of Iowa City history that Irving Weber returned to in 1981 and again in 1990. Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 18, 1981 Iowa Site Inventory Form Site Number: 52-00602 State Historic Preservation Office Related District Number: Continuation Sheet Page 38 Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building Johnson Name of Property County 302-316 E. Bloomington and N. Linn Sts Iowa City Address City The Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building had been the location of Pagliai’s Pizza for 20 years when this photo was taken for Irving Weber’s story about Iowa City’s historic metal roofs. Photo by Rodney White for Irving Weber’s column, October 20, 1990. Source: Weber Collection, Iowa City Photograph Collection, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City 1 Jessica Bristow From:Marty Boller <mjbhawkeye@gmail.com> Sent:Saturday, October 14, 2023 1:18 PM To:Jessica Bristow; Marty Boller Subject:followup on Slezak Hall recommendations Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   FYI ‐ I wanted to share my webpage in support of the committee's decision to recommend "Landmark" status.  THANKS!    https://ouriowaheritage.com/slezak‐national‐hall/    please keep me posted on how the process is moving forward. THANKS!  mb    ‐‐   Marty Boller ‐ MJBHawkeye  Check out our websites:   www.ouriowaheritage.com/  www.johnsoncountyremembrancepark.org/      1 Jessica Bristow From:Marybeth Slonneger <mbslonn@mchsi.com> Sent:Monday, October 16, 2023 9:38 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:National Hall ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **  I’m writing in support of designating the National Hall as a local Landmark. It’s distinctive baroque‐style parapet has  made it a familiar, eye‐catching building on the Northside.     Years ago, when I was researching material for my book, Small But Ours, I talked with the late Marge Hayek, wife  of William Hayek, and she showed me dance souvenirs from dances held at the Hall and spoke of the pleasure  people took in meeting there for dances and other events. It was a genuine social meeting place for the Bohemian   community.    And it’s just fun to look at and a very contributing building to our visual landscape.    Marybeth Slonneger    ATTACHMENT 4 Correspondence 1 Jessica Bristow From:mbslonn@mchsi.com Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 1:49 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Fwd: A CALL TO ACTION – SAVE THE SLEZAK! Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. ** Hi Jessica,    At the behest of Friends of Historic Preservation last October, I wrote to Mayor Teague and, I think, Council encouraging  all to  protect Holub Hall; Mayor Teague sent back a very nice reply.     Am not sure you follow Marty Boller's Our Iowa Heritage blog, but thought you might be interested in his call for  attendance at  the meeting. Will look forward to seeing you.    Marybeth     ‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded Message ‐‐‐‐‐  From: "Our Iowa Heritage" <comment‐reply@wordpress.com>  To: "mbslonn" <mbslonn@mchsi.com>  Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2024 1:06:32 PM  Subject: A CALL TO ACTION – SAVE THE SLEZAK!    Post : A CALL TO ACTION &#8211; SAVE THE SLEZAK!  URL : http://ouriowaheritage.com/2024/02/03/a‐call‐to‐action‐save‐the‐slezak/  Posted : February 3, 2024 at 7:05 pm  Author : Our Iowa Heritage  Categories : Did You Know?    Thursday, February 8th ‐ 5:30 pm ‐ Speak Up to Protect this 1870s Iowa City Icon!    https://bollerfamily.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/iowacityicon.jpg  Saving Iowa City’s Slezak National Hall ‐ 302‐316 Bloomington Street ‐ Iowa City. As was reported earlier, the iconic  building that houses Pagliai's Pizza is for sale. The property is advertised as "PERFECT FOR REDEVELOPMENT.” Can you  imagine a new structure occupying this block?    The first official step to protect this building is a PUBLIC HEARING on Thursday, February 8 by the Historic Preservation  Commission. The hearing starts at:    5:30 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall ‐ 410 E Washington Street ‐ Iowa City    2 The commission will vote whether to designate 302‐316 Bloomington Street in Iowa City as a local historic landmark.    Read more about this historic building here. ( https://ouriowaheritage.com/slezak‐national‐hall/ ) The commission  needs to hear from you:    Speak up! The hearing is open to the public and the commission wants to hear from Iowa Citians. If you care about the  building, step up and say so. Comments should be brief.    Show up! We need many people sitting in the audience. Just your presence shows you care. Hope to see you at 5:30 PM!    Put it in writing! Send your message to the Historic Preservation Commission in care of Jessica Bristow at  jbristow@iowa‐city.org ( mailto:jbristow@iowa‐city.org ) . Plan to send it no later than Thursday, February 8 at noon to  have your message reach the commissioners.    Review the Commission Packet for February 8 to Learn More:(Pagliai's building description starts on page  3):https://www.iowa‐city.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=2190301&dbid=0&repo=CityofIowaCity (  https://salvagebarn.us3.list‐manage.com/track/click?u=1ee5435ef6548681345b8ec77&id=56ec48e420&e=df6aa85c1e )  Thank you for adding momentum and showing you care about protecting this neighborhood anchor and important piece  of Iowa City history.    PLEASE PASS THE WORD! Let's SAVE THE SLEZAK!    Add a comment to this post: http://ouriowaheritage.com/2024/02/03/a‐call‐to‐action‐save‐the‐slezak/#respond    ‐‐       Manage Subscriptions  https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=366acf0f232da333a1328cfe5d9787c1&email=mbslonn%40mchsi.com    Unsubscribe:  https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=366acf0f232da333a1328cfe5d9787c1&email=mbslonn%40mchsi.com&b=R4fZk BRWsFjxfYU9rRcp7HsoBhWrJ3Rg8QjXGqbTrDMJH3GyY8qHHUao0HVqVGf1Ckea9dslJUMKmM2uNDBaBb8oG3qzeyzpdv2 3473NIHM7d1ozsxYcl698YYHlEgBpANsuTPdSAJsK3‐MbLL42nPlLSUdGD69P&oneclickunsubscribe=true  1 Jessica Bristow From:Richard Hakes <hakes@southslope.net> Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 1:50 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Please designate Pagliai building as historic.... ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **         Dear Ms. Bristow,     Count me among those who would hate to see another IC historic site lost – The Pagliai’s Pizza building.     Richard Hakes  North Liberty     Sent from Mail for Windows     1 Jessica Bristow From:Frank Gersh <fsgersh@gmail.com> Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 1:54 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliai building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. ** As a long time resident (50 years) of Iowa City, former member of the Historic Preservation Commission  and someone who lives in a historic district, I would urge you and the other Commissioners to vote in favor of making  the building that houses Pagliai’s Pizza a local historic landmark.  Sincerely yours,   Frank Gersh  1041 Woodlawn Ave, Iowa City, IA 52245  1 Jessica Bristow From:Lisa Lisa <lrd5353@gmail.com> Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 4:14 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Paglias building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   We must preserve the paglias building! Also I'll be mad if anything comes between me and my Paglias pizza lol. We have  already lost so much of what made Iowa City Iowa City. Soon all we will have is sterile buildings and less affordable  housing because of rich people's greed  1 Jessica Bristow From:Amy Woodward <amywoodward8@gmail.com> Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 6:05 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **     Please designate 302 East Bloomington Street a local historic landmark.    I care about the building and its importance to the community. Let's preserve this wonderful treasure for Iowa City.     Thank you!   1 Jessica Bristow From:Pamela <iowahawk3@aol.com> Sent:Saturday, February 3, 2024 11:16 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 e bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello.  Please designate this building as a local historic landmark. This building, as well as Pagliai's, are icons to the downtown  area. We don't need another parking lot or high rise. Some things are better left alone. Newer is not always better!    Thank you from a long‐time Iowa City resident,  Pamela Miller‐DeKeyser       Sent from AOL on Android  1 Jessica Bristow From:Kathy Volz <kathy.volz@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 7:51 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Re: 302 E. Burlington St. ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   To whom it may concern:        If in fact this building is sold and there is a chance it could be demolished, it must be named a historical landmark.  Period.       Please preserve the beautiful and historic architecture in Iowa City.  ‐Kathy Buxton Volz    Sent from Gmail Mobile  1 Jessica Bristow From:gmlauer@gmail.com Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 3:37 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 E Bloomington / Paglia’s buildng. ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Dear Jessica Bristow,      I am writing to you and your capacity of historic preservation planner for the city of Iowa city regarding the status of 302  East Bloomington St. in Iowa city also referred to at times as the Paglia’s building.      Please accept these comments for the record as the historic reservation commission meets to consider the status of this  nearly 150‐year‐old Iowa city landmark.      The Iowa city northside neighborhood is a gem in the landscape of our community with many older buildings, and  establish businesses creating a zone, unlike any other in the city. As such it Serves as an economic anchor, as well as a  social anchor in many many ways from the weekly musical events in the areas between oasis and brick, the venerable  hamburg inn, nearby, Johns grocery and other classic Iowa city landmarks.  Certainly the business business that’s located at 302 East Burlington has its own iconic history. However, businesses do  come and go and buildings can remain with support.      I urge the placement of 302 E. Burlington on the landmark registry, and for consideration for a degree of preservation  status. I would also be hopeful that the buildings owners might access some degree of city supports for the upkeep  maintenance and or rehabilitation of the structure whether it be through city budget, funding, or through grant funding,  supported and guided by your offices.      Thank you for receiving these comments and forwarding them to the historic preservation commission.      I am a lifelong resident of this community and would be deeply saddened to see this building, raised for new  construction.      Sincerely,      Geoffery Lauer  1601 Center Ave.  Iowa city, IA 52240  1 Jessica Bristow From:Devin Redmond <devinredmond@hotmail.com> Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 7:11 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliais bldg ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  Hello, as a 20+ year home owner in the northside neighborhood, I hope the Pagliais building will be registered as a  historical landmark. I do not want to lose this building in our community.   Thank you.   Devin Redmond      Sent from a mobile phone : please excuse brevity/typos.    1 Jessica Bristow From:Diana H. <cwcrrr@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 8:41 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliai building complex ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  I support the effort to make the Pagliai building complex a historic landmark. Iowa City, and parƟcularly the older  neighborhoods in town, has lost too many historic buildings. Saving such buildings will help keep the character of the  neighborhood as much as possible.     Thank you.    Diana Harris  523 Brown Street  IC    1 Jessica Bristow From:Peter Speltz <peterspeltz@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 9:21 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Save Pagliai's Pizza – officially known as the Slezak ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  Hi Jessica.  Please designate the beauƟful Slezak building historic.  If any house or building on the north side is , this one  should be. I would buy it if I could.  We  are out of town for the hearing February 8.  Please know you have our support  and let is know if we can do anything to help preserve this building.      Thank you,    Peter and Ida 615‐585‐2715    1 Jessica Bristow From:Peter Speltz <peterspeltz@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, February 4, 2024 9:23 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Re: Save Pagliai's Pizza – officially known as the Slezak ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  One more thing , we live at 317 Fairchild St.    Save Pagliai’s!     Peter    > On Feb 4, 2024, at 8:21 PM, Peter Speltz <peterspeltz@gmail.com> wrote:  >   > Hi Jessica.  Please designate the beauƟful Slezak building historic.  If any house or building on the north side is , this  one should be. I would buy it if I could.  We are out of town for the hearing February 8.  Please know you have our  support and let is know if we can do anything to help preserve this building.  >   > Thank you,  >   > Peter and Ida 615‐585‐2715    1 Jessica Bristow From:Susan Shullaw <smshullaw@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, February 5, 2024 9:33 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliai Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Jessica, I am writing to urge you and the Historic Preservation Commission, when you meet on  Feb. 8, to designate the Pagliai’s building complex on Bloomington Street as a local historic  landmark.      While I concur with many of my neighbors and friends that these structures should be  preserved due to their historic architecture, I also want to make a more personal appeal. By  preserving the Pagliai’s building, you also will be preserving many decades of deeply held  family memories. It’s been the site of countess birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, first  dates, alumni reunions – and plenty of ordinary but treasured pizza nights with parents,  grandparents, and kids. Allowing this building to be demolished won’t destroy the memories,  of course. But it will destroy the opportunity to relive and renew those memories in the same  cherished spot, year after year.     The Pagliai’s building is already a landmark in thousands of hearts in Iowa City and beyond. On  Thursday, I hope you will vote to give the building the official historic landmark status it  deserves.     Thank you.     Susan Shullaw  718 N Johnson St  Iowa City        1 Jessica Bristow From:Timothy Daly <timothy.locnar@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, February 5, 2024 11:17 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington Street ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello,    As an Iowa City resident, I am in favor of preserving this building as a part of the heritage of Iowa City.     Thank you,     ‐‐   Timothy Daly  1 Jessica Bristow From:Karl Schulz <kamaschulz@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, February 5, 2024 11:22 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Save the Slezak Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello,    I am a former Iowa City resident who grew up in Iowa City and am very familiar with the Slezak building. I hope that you  give this building the proper protected historic status that it deserves. It is an icon of the northside, and of Iowa City in  general.    Thank you,  Karl Schulz  1 Jessica Bristow From:Bonnie Hays <bonnie.bradley11@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, February 5, 2024 11:58 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:The Slovac Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Myself and 50 of my friends on Facebook are definitely for the historical designation of this building. It would be foolish  to tear it down.    Sincerely,    Mrs. Bonnie Hays  607 Pepper Drive   Iowa City, IA 42240    Mr. Harley M Hays  607 Pepper Drive   Iowa City, IA 52240  1 Jessica Bristow From:Amy Weismann <alwiowa@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, February 5, 2024 1:03 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Designate 302 E Bloomington a local historic landmark ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   I write today as a long time resident of Iowa city to urge the Historic Preservation Commission to designate 302 East  Bloomington Street a local historic landmark! This building is an integral part of our city and an iconic part of the  historic Northside.     Thank you,  Amy Weismann  112 S. Lowell St.  Iowa City, IA 52245  1 Jessica Bristow From:Willow Yoruk <willowyoruk@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 7:55 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington Street ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Historic Preservation Commission in care of Jessica Bristow: Please designate 302 East Bloomington Street as a local historic landmark. This building has a long running history with many memories to many people and is a landmark in Iowa city. The unique architecture and beauty of the brick building should remain intact. Willow Yoruk 1 Jessica Bristow From:Becky Smith <rebeccaliedersmith@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 9:07 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliai Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   I heartily support designating the Pagliai's complex at 302-316 Bloomington Street as a local historic landmark. Pagliai's is an iconic Iowa City pizza restaurant, known and loved throughout the state. The building itself is historic and significant: Tennessee Williams actually lived in an apartment above Pagliai's when he was in Iowa City. I strongly believe the building should be preserved and not allowed to be redeveloped. Thank you. Becky Smith 431 North Van Buren Street Iowa City, IA 562245 319-594-2947 1 Jessica Bristow From:Richard Blazek <rbzeke.2448@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 10:27 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Saving the Pagliai's building Attachments:We sent you safe versions of your files; Keepers.pdf ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Mimecast Attachment Protection has deemed this file to be safe, but always exercise caution when opening files. Jessica,    I have lived on the north side for over 40 years when I started attending the University. I was attracted to its historic  architecture and cultural amenities and proximity to the downtown and the University. I feel that preserving that history  and character should be a priority for the North Side. "Development" rarely implies that history will be preserved and  protected; very often it means that history will be erased and replaced.     I sincerely hope that the City Council will approve a historic designation to preserve the Pagliai Building and not succumb  to "development." As a friend of mine once said, "Money talks and big money swears!" Let's hope there's no swearing  when all this is settled.     I've attached an essay entitled "Keepers," that has always inspired me to respect and preserve what's most meaningful.  Americans find it all too easy to throw things away, sometimes very thoughtlessly.    Sincerely,  Richard Blazek        Thoughts about “Keepers” My grandmother even ironed Christmas ribbons—they were rayon then. I grew up in the Forties and Fifties with a practical parent. My grandmother, God love her, who ironed Christmas wrapping paper and reused it and who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recylce queen, before they had a name for it. And for my mother, it was the time for fixing things—a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, a screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more. But then my Mother died. and I sat in my kitchen that Sunday afternoon reading her old handmade cookbook in a binder. I was struck with the pain of feeling all alone, learning that sometimes there isn’t any “more.” Sometimes what we car about most gets all used up and goes away . . . never to return. So . . . while we have it . . . It’s best we love it . . . and care for it . . .And fix it when it’s broken . . . and heal it when it’s sick. This is true . . . For marriage . . . And old cars . . . And children with bad report cards . . And dogs with bad hips . . . And aging parents . . . And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away—Or—A classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important. Like people we know who are special . . . And so, we keep them close! 1 Jessica Bristow From:Toni Potter <trpotter760@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 1:21 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:I have heard from classmates that the building at 302 E Bloomington Street may be bought, sold and possible taken down. This building is apart of our story of Iowa City. Built before any of us where born or thought about. My father was a former busines... ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   town history.  My history goes back to the mid 50's when my father, Raymond Tweedy, bought the grocery business  from Ralph Westcott.  I was young but so proud of dad. I love to go there after school and hang out till my mother ,who  worked there also, went home in the late afternoon. I got to see and meet  students from all over the world as they  came into the store.  My dad worked long hours there.  He was open seven days a week,  He delivered to frat houses  and sororities. Let some run up bills,  times could be tough for some.  When Chistmas came Dad always sold Christmas  trees.  The pretty ones went fast ... we got the last one so you can imagine what it looked like!  By the mid 60's I was old  enough to work at the store.  Then in  the early 70's Dad sold the business and relocated to Daytona Beach." Semi  retiring."  Please save this building so we can show our children and their children and so on, our past.  Show them what  and who we were and how we lived so they can be who they are and know why.  We can't keep vanishing the past  because that's what holds us together as a people.  Otherwise we are like Iowa fall leaves blowing in the wind scattered  everywhere.  1 Jessica Bristow From:Toni Potter <trpotter760@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 2:04 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Save 302 E. Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   I have been told that 302 East Bloomington may be sold and at worst be vanished from this location.  This old building is  part of our history and my past.  It was built before any of us were born or even thought about.  My father was a former  business owner of this property, Raymond Tweedy.  He purchased the business from  Ralph Westcott back in the mid  50's.  I was so proud of Dad.  I loved to go there after school and hang out till my mother, who worked there also, went  home in the late afternoon.  I met students from all over the world  as they came into  the store to shop. My Dad  worked long hours there.  He was open seven days a week.  He delivered to frat houses and sororities.  He let some run  up tabs, times could be tough for some.  When Christmas came Dad always sold trees.  The pretty ones went fast.....we  got the last one!  You can imagine what it looked like!  By the mid 60' I was old enough to work there.  Dad sold in the  early 70's and retired to Florida.  Please save this building so we can show our children and their children who and what  we were.  If we keep getting rid of our History what is going to keep us together?  We will be like Iowa fall leaves  scattering in the wind with nothing to hold us together... this is US!  This building ,the Hamburg Inn, the Old Capitol  Building, the Congregational Church.  1 Jessica Bristow From:dennis kowalski <mayflyd@yahoo.com> Sent:Tuesday, February 6, 2024 4:11 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:paglias ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Please help save the Paglias building, as it has architectural character and historic significance. Thank you, Dennis Kowalski 1932 Hafor Dr Iowa City IA 52246 1 Jessica Bristow From:kbefeler <kbefeler@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 6:44 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Save 302 East Bloomington Street ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Jessica,    Please pass along our wishes to save 302 East Bloomington Street and to designate it as a local historic landmark.  This iconic building represents the beauty and history of Iowa City. It absolutely needs to remain here just as it is.    Kasey & Dennis Befeler  1 Jessica Bristow From:Blake <iowa.blake@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 8:25 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hi Jessica,     Please consider designating this building as a historic landmark.     ‐Blake Hendrickson  20 years as an Iowa City resident  1 Jessica Bristow From:Risa Dotson Eicke <risamde@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 10:55 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302-316 Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   I support designating 302-316 Bloomington as a local historic landmark.   Thank you,   Risa Dotson Eicke  Iowa City  1 Jessica Bristow From:Nathan Morton <nathan.e.morton@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 11:38 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:In Support of Historic Preservation ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello,    I am writing in support of historic preservation/landmarking of downtown Iowa City buildings, generally and in support  of landmarking 302‐316 Bloomington, specifically. I can't imagine more over‐priced apartment buildings with empty  ground level retail space will make Iowa City any more interesting or friendlier to economic growth.    thank you,  Nathan Morton  Iowa City, Iowa  1 Jessica Bristow From:Helen Burford <hsburford@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 3:17 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302-16 East Bloomington St., Slezak-Holub-Skarda Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   It would be unimaginable if the Slezak‐Holub‐Skarda building was not recognized as a landmark in  Iowa City. In fact, as the site analysis details, all four of the structures on the site are part of the  “historic fabric” of this community center.    For the life of these structures, all three families have  preserved and adapted the buildings keeping them a vibrant part of Iowa City history.  We need to follow in the footsteps of these families and support the rezoning application to establish an  Historic District Overlay zone for them, and make them a local Historic Landmark      Thank you,  Helen Burford  1 Jessica Bristow From:Rebecca Conard <rebeccaconard@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 4:18 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Slezak Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Dear Ms. Bristow:     I fully support designating the Slezak‐Holub‐Skarda Building as a Local Historic Landmark. Jennifer Price's architectural  and historical evaluation presents a well‐researched and reasoned analysis of the building's historic significance at the  local level.      Rebecca Conard, Consulting Historian  522 Larch Lane  Iowa City 52245      1 Jessica Bristow From:Susan Bryant <leaderservices@yahoo.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 5:47 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Please save Pagliai’s ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. ** Dear Jessica,  It may not look like much, but the old Pagliai’s building is an icon for thousands of students and residents from all over  Iowa City. We are already losing many historic buildings around the core of downtown. Please help save the character of  our old neighborhoods.    Thank you,  Sue Bryant  831 Clark Street  Iowa City IA     Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone  1 Jessica Bristow From:Carol&Bob Wally Wise <cbwwise@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 9:05 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Historical Landmark 302 E Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Ms, Bristow,  I petition “The Historical Preservation Commission” to designate the building at 302 East Bloomington a Historical Landmark.   The building sits within the Dubuque Linn Corridor as described in the March 28th 2000 National registry of Historical Places while it physically sits within the block and next to properties in the “the Original Plot of Iowa City”.   The building at 302 E Bloomington was constructed in 1878 and is the only building left in the area with its architectural design. Since it’s construction, 302 E Bloomington served as a Hotel & Grocery store. No other building within the “Original Plot of Iowa City Area” has the same architectural features depicting that Era. 302 is as unique in design and architecture as the brewmaster Conrad Graf’s home across the Street (constructed 6 years earlier in 1872), the Union Brewery Building on Linn and Market & John’s Grocery on Market and Gilbert.  Pagliai’s Pizza has occupied 302 E Bloomington since 1957. Thus, both the building and the business are viewed by Generations of Students, Alumni, Professional’s & families (both local & visiting) as an Iowa City Landmark.  302 East Bloomington is also believed to be connected to Iowa City History as part of the system of tunnels which were connected to the 3 Breweries in the Original Iowa City Plot. Sitting in the NE corner of Linn & Bloomington it may very well be connected to and a part of “The Iowa City Beer Riots of 1884 & A tale of the Iowa City Beer Mafia” depicted in S.C. Sherman’s Book BEER MONEY published March 26th, 2013. These tunnels are still under investigation and are believed to exist under the property at 302 E. Bloomington adding to the building’s Historical connection to Iowa City.  Without the designation of Historical Landmark 302 E Bloomington is left open to demolition which would be a grave historical mistake to the Iowa City area & “The Original Plot of Iowa City”.   It would be a shame to see 302 E Bloomington go the way of other historical buildings in Iowa City becoming yet another piece of lost history. The Historic City Hall & original Fire Station sat till 1965 when urban renewal arrived at the corner of Linn & Washington Streets. Now rather than a Pristine Building of History depicting a piece of the cities by gone years we have a Vacant lot.  I polled 7 of my peers, only 1 knew of the “Original Plot of Iowa City”. I only found out about The OPIC because of this meeting. How many others have no clue of its existence?  2 Please, strongly conclude and designate the building at 302 E Bloomington as the Historical Landmark it is.  Respectfully,  Robert M Wise  3059 Oakridge Road NE  North Liberty, Iowa  320-293-0417    P.S. I hope to be able to attend the 5:30 pm meeting at City Hall Iowa City 2/8/24  1 Jessica Bristow From:Kay Irelan <kirelan52@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 9:10 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Preserving Slezak Hall ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   When I first came to Iowa City as a UI student in the 1970s, Pagliai’s Pizza was a popular restaurant that I  frequented. When I lived on the north side of Iowa City, I often walked by the building that houses Pagliai’s and  appreciated its architectural integrity. It felt to me like an important anchor in an historic neighborhood. I learned  that in the 19th century, it had been a grocery store and tavern, with a meeting hall on the second floor for the  Bohemian community on the north side of Iowa City. I learned that later in that century, a hotel was added in the  back, where farmers would stay when they came to town to sell their products. The presence of that lovely brick  building encouraged me to imagine what life in Iowa City was like in an earlier time. I think it's important to  preserve this building, because it's a symbol of our community's heritage. If our town didn't preserve any of our  historic buildings, would future generations be as aware of our history? I strongly support designating this building  as a local historic landmark.    Sincerely,  Kay Irelan  1 Jessica Bristow From:Alison Guernsey <alisonguernsey@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 10:27 PM To:Jessica Bristow Cc:alisonguernsey@gmail.com Subject:Historic Designation for 302-316 Bloomington ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  Ms. Bristow —    I’m wriƟng to express my sincere hope that the Commission will designate as local historic sites the buildings at 302‐316  Bloomington. Over the past 15 years, I have seen Iowa City change in ways that appear to value commerce over culture  and modernity over memory. Each, of course, has its place, but the importance that these buildings have in helping tell  both Iowa City’s immigrant and literary history make them uniquely important to preserve.     Sincerely,    Alison K. Guernsey  Iowa City, Iowa    1 Jessica Bristow From:B.E. Dearborn Huston <bedearborn@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 11:03 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Pagliai's Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello!    I'm a Northside resident writing in support of designating the Pagliai's building as a historical landmark.  What a loss it  would be if put into the wrong hands! I cherish these older buildings that remind us of who lived here before us. Caring  for their beautiful places is caring for the dream they had for our city.    Thank you for your time.  ‐Brooke Dearborn Huston  429 N Governor St  1 Jessica Bristow From:Nathaniel Gavronsky <nathaniel.gavronsky@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, February 7, 2024 11:43 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington Street ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Dear Jessica Bristow,    Can you imagine losing this iconic Iowa City building?  Iowa City had for 150 years a very classic and original north end  mom and pop comercial and food vibe. From 1970 to 2016 the city had hundreds of iconic Iowa City locations all over  town. The park where Farmer Markets let you know summer was in the air on Gilbert and Washington, and  establishments (Dubuque and Burlingtin) that were seen as part of the city itself are now almost all gone.     Has any of these changes improved the lives of the people in this great city? No. We took down the only true  independant book store (the book shelf) for more over priced apartments. Every single change has made our excentric  town into just another corporate blank face. There are enough newer buildings (built in last 25 years) that can be  redeveloped. Riverside Drive, South Gilbert along the Bowery, are all lost to redevelopment.     In 1869 the City of Boston lost John Hancock's house to a developer (who never actualy developed anything) Nashville  TN lost President Polk's house (and had to relocate his and his wifes graves in the process) in the name of progress.  Again nothing was actually developed and it laid vancant for decades until the land was put to use. The actual taven  where Reigley NC was founded stood until 1969 now its a parking lot for a Marriott. Noone wanted it demolished, but  busy lives prevented people from being made aware to save it. That Hotel was not the reason for it to be knocked down.  A developer had big plans.     Iowa city need not repeat the follies of other cities. Iowa city needs to stop trying to reinvent itself. Who and what Iowa  City is with its historical locations is fine how it is. Go build some overpriced luxury apartment in Coralville, North Liberty,  or University Hights.     Oh and by the way I dont have any idea of who or what is threatning to tear down this building, but how close am I  about a developer?    Its time to take Iowa Ave from Clinton to Van Buren up to Brown street (plus other areas of Gas light district) and  dedicate the whole area.     Nathaniel Gavronsky  3196210364  636 South Dodge  #8  Iowa City, IA  52542    1 Jessica Bristow From:Mary and Tom Curtis <maryallenehcurtis@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 8:10 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302-316 Bloomington Street ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   What a wonderful building; if it could speak it would  tell you all the wonderful people and events that have  taken place here. Maybe a first date with the woman  or man you ended up spending the rest of your life with.    Please save it, let it remain unmolested; grant it every  possible consideration so other fond memories can take  place.    Do your duty, Commioniers, vote  to save this wonderful building.    Tom Curtis  University of Iowa  Class of 1966  And longtime resident of Iowa City   1 Jessica Bristow From:Ceil Miller-Bouchet <ceilmillerbouchet@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 8:39 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:yes for Paglia's building as a local historic landmark ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello Jessica,    Please let's designate 302 East Bloomington Street‐‐a place that has such wonderful memories for all of us (through  many generations) here in Iowa City‐‐ as a historic landmark.    Thanks,      Ceil  Ceil Miller Bouchet  LinkedIn  ceilmillerbouchet.com    1 Jessica Bristow From:Jackie Biger <jackiemhbiger@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 9:00 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Saving the Sezlak-Holub-Skarda Building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   I am writing to state my support in adding the Sezlak‐Holub‐Skarda building to historic preservation. It is shocking to me  it isn't already listed as a protected property! This, alongside the laundromat, are such important pieces of Iowa City's  history and a perfect example of how build environment impacts how a neighborhood feels.    I hope the Preservation is passed this evening.     Best,  Jackie Biger  519 N. Johnson st.   1 Jessica Bristow From:Tim Weitzel <tweitzel.email@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 9:53 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302 East Bloomington Street local landmark consideration ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Jessica,     This letter is in support of the designation of 302 East Bloomington Street as a local landmark.    Tim    ___________________    I recommend that 302 East Bloomington Street, known variously as Sleazak Hall, Hollub Hall and Apartments, and  Pagliais' Pizza be made a local landmark. It has been recommended eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.  The building is not included in a historic district. The building is significant for its associations with the Czech community  in Iowa City and for Architecture. It retains a high degree of historic integrity on the exterior and is fairly unique in its  design relative to other buildings from the same time period. The building holds a place in the Northside Neighborhood  as a tangible link to the period of European Immigration to Iowa City in the late 19th century and featured prominently  in the  lives of the members of the northside Czech community. The building clearly meets the criteria to be considered  for a local landmark. It is fortunate that the current owner has maintained the building with a high degree of fidelity to  the original design and materials. Only a local historic designation and historic preservation overlay zoning would require  review of any future modifications or demolition of the building.     Sincerely,    Tim Weitzel, MA  Historic Preservation Consultant  1 Jessica Bristow From:goodphilla@aol.com Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 10:24 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:Protect Slezak Hall ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Hello, I plan on attending the Historic Preservation Commission meeting today at 5:30 to support its proposal to give Slezak Hall local historic landmark status. It's a beautiful building that's been a landmark in the Northside neighborhood for almost a century and a half. It anchors that neighborhood on its northern side, and to tear it down would diminish the beauty and historic character of the whole block. Its architectural style perfectly matches the strip of buildings on the east side of Linn St. in particular. In addition, its past use as a gathering place for the Czech community in Iowa City makes it an important monument to the diverse ethnic history of our city. The fact that for the past 67 years it's housed one of Iowa City's most popular and iconic restaurants, Pagliai's, ensures that Slezak Hall is important not simply for its age but because it continues to serve as a vital part of the business and cultural life of Iowa City. It must be preserved. I enthusiastically support designating it a local historic landmark. Thank you, Phil Beck 613 E. College St. 1 Jessica Bristow From:Dawn Frary <kittycatbandit@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 10:35 AM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:302-316 Bloomington St. ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Ms. Bristow, I am writing to voice my strong belief that 302-316 Bloomington St. in Iowa City, aka the Pagliai's building, be designated as a historic landmark. As Iowa City continues to lose icons like The Mill, it also loses its personality and the essence that has drawn folks to this city for decades. Pagliai's is an institution in this city and to lose yet another important part of Iowa City history is, in my opinion, something we cannot afford to do as development and (wasteful! unattractive!) new construction begins to dominate our cityscape. Please consider designating this building as a historic landmark. It deserves this status and warrants protection from yet another greedy landlord developer. It is part of the spirit of this city, more than a restaurant or even a physical structure, but an archetype, a legend, a part of our culture. Sincerely, Dawn Frary Iowa City resident   ‐‐   Dawn Frary  she / her / hers  dawnfrary.com      1 Jessica Bristow From:Jacqueline Briggs <jackiebriggs@earthlink.net> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 11:46 AM To:Jessica Bristow Cc:Eric Subject:Encourage pursuing Landmark for Slezak Buidling ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  aƩachments. **  This leƩer is to encourage the pursuit of landmark designaƟon for the Slezak(Pagliai’s) Building in Iowa City.     As it is one of the historic cornerstones of the Northside neighborhood, its landmark status is integral to maintaining the  integrity and  character that is so rooted to Iowa City's history. It is one the few buildings sƟll standing that makes a direct link to both  the agricultural history of this Iowa City as well as its deep Bohemian pioneers. There are many  people who are eager to see this local building conƟnue to anchor the neighborhood and town.     Landmark the Slezak Building.    Sincerely,    Jacqueline Briggs  328 Brown Street  Iowa City, IA 52245    1 Jessica Bristow From:Sharon DeGraw <sharondegraw@yahoo.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 12:29 PM To:Jessica Bristow Subject:re: local landmark designation for Slezak building ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   Dear Historic Preservation Commissioners, Please go forward in pursing a local landmark designation for the Slezak Hall building at the corner of East Bloomington and North Linn Streets. It is an important step in protecting a building that has been a business and cultural anchor to the Northside Neighborhood for149 years. The families that have owned the building, including the current Skarda family, have been particularly careful stewards of the three-story brick building. In the early 2000s, I was a Holub Apartment resident for four years –– it was a wonderful building to live in. At the time, many of the building's residents had an affiliation with the University of Iowa's writing programs. I enjoyed meeting and collaborating with Writers' Workshop faculty member Cole Swensen on book projects, and meeting visiting faculty member Joy Harjo who lived in the building one summer. There were also numerous graduate students enrolled in the same writing program. Since it was a popular place for writers to live, the building was a small cultural hub acting as an aid in the formation of life-long friendships. There are few apartment buildings in Iowa City as large and with historic character similar to this one. I hope it can receive the historic protection it deserves. Sincerely, Sharon DeGraw 519 Brown Street Iowa City 1 Jessica Bristow From:Daniel Kinney <daniel.justin.kinney@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, February 8, 2024 2:48 PM To:Jessica Bristow; jsellergren@gmail.com Subject:Permission to read this letter at 2/8/24 special meeting to designate 312 North Linn as an historic landmark ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or  attachments. **   To whom it may concern:    I am writing to urge the Iowa City Historic Preservation Committee to move to designate the Holub building at 312 North  Linn Street in Iowa City as a protected Historic Landmark. As a lifelong resident of the historic neighborhoods of Iowa  City, I and many others in the community stand in support of the effort to save this building from demolition for  irreparable modification.    Regretfully, I am unable to attend the public meeting this evening.    Sincerely,    Daniel Kinney  Teacher, Tate High School  530 Ronalds Street  Iowa City, IA 52245  MINUTES PRELIMINARY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION FEBRUARY 7, 2024 – 6:00 PM – FORMAL MEETING EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Craig, Mike Hensch, Maria Padron, Scott Quellhorst, Billie Townsend, Chad Wade MEMBERS ABSENT: Maggie Elliott STAFF PRESENT: Liz Craig, Anne Russett, Parker Walsh OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: By a vote of 6-0 the Commission recommends approval of REZ24-0002, a rezoning of approximately 4.5 acres of properties located at 429 Southgate Ave, 430 Southgate Ave, 436- 438 Southgate Ave, 501 Southgate Ave, and 1916 Waterfront Dr. from Intensive Commercial Zone (Cl-1) to Community Commercial Zone (CC-2). CALL TO ORDER: Hensch called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. REZONING ITEMS: CASE NO. REZ24-0002 Location: 1916 Waterfront Dr, 429 Southgate Ave, 430 Southgate Ave, 436-438 Southgate Ave, and 501 Southgate Ave A City-initiated application for a rezoning of approximately 4.5 acres of land from Intensive Commercial (Cl-1) zone to Community Commercial (CC-2) zone. Walsh began the staff report showing the location map of the five properties and also the zoning map. The area is currently zoned CI-1 and it's bordered by CC-2 to the north and then farther to the west and to the east. Walsh noted there are some residential zones to the south. In November 2023 City Council adopted multiple amendments to the zoning code that were intended to improve housing choice, increase housing supply and encourage housing affordability. The amendments also included provisions to address potential fair housing issues. Walsh stated those changes included treating assisted group living uses more consistently with multifamily uses and reclassifying community service long-term housing as a residential use. He also clarified community service long-term housing is no longer a use in the zoning code so the existing properties are now considered multifamily. Since the Code amendments removed residential uses from CI-1 zones and any residential uses that are existing in CI-1 are considered non-conforming. Planning and Zoning Commission February 7, 2024 Page 2 of 7 Regarding the zoning history, as of 1983 the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code update turned many of the commercial properties to CI-1 in this area and then gradually over the last 40 or so years this area has evolved from more than just CI-1. The change started in 1994 with the HyVee property to the north and then in 2006 some properties along Boyrum Street and locations just east of HyVee were rezoned to CC-2 to accommodate a HyVee expansion. Also in 2006 properties located north and south of Stevens Drive were rezone CC-2 and the last rezoning in 2006 for this area was along South Gilbert Street and that extended north through Stevens Drive and then along both the west and east side of South Gilbert Street. The properties discussed tonight began establishment in the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s and they have remained CI-1 since they were established. However, during the last 40 years the meaning and the intent of the intensive commercial zone has also changed. When CI-1 was first adopted, multifamily assisted group living and transitional housing were all allowed in CI-1 through special exceptions, and CI-1 was initially an all-encompassing commercial zone. That has changed over time as the zone now focuses more on intensive commercial uses and in 2005 multifamily was removed from an allowable used in a CI-1 zone. Then in 2016 community service long-term housing was added as an allowable use through special exceptions and then in 2023 the City addressed potential fair housing issues by aligning assisted group living and community service long-term housing with other residential uses changing those uses to be no longer allowed in CI-1 zones. The properties are currently zoned Intensive Commercial which is a zone generally focused towards operations typically characterized as outdoor display, repair and sale of large equipment or motor vehicles. Outdoor commercial amusement and retail uses are limited in this zone to provide opportunities for those more intensive commercial uses. Walsh reiterated no residential uses are allowed in CI-1 following the 2023 Zoning Code Amendment. Staff are proposing Community Commercial or CC-2 zone as this zone usually provides areas tended for a variety of retail goods and services, they're usually indoor services with limited outdoor activities. If there are to be outdoor uses in the CC-2 zone they tend to come with approval criteria that include more intense screening or increased setbacks. CC-2 zoning would allow residential uses such as assisted group living and multifamily and without this rezoning these properties could continue operating as legal non-conforming uses, but they would be unable to expand unless they are rezoned or the use changes. Walsh next shared the table that was included in the agenda packet that compared the CC-2 property uses and CI-1 uses. Again, residential uses are only allowed in the CC-2 zone and have all been removed from Intensive Commercial. Some of the more notable Intensive Commercial uses that would not be allowed in Community Commercial include industrial services, heavy manufacturing, warehouse and freight movement and wholesales. There are still some uses allowed in CC-2 that may be seen as more intensive, but these are generally provisional uses that would require increased screening or increased buffers to maintain compatible to the neighborhoods. Staff did prepare an analysis to summarize the existing non-conforming uses in detail of what will change as part of this rezoning. The CC-2 zone would better align the zoning with the existing land uses and compatible development. While the sites may continue to operate as legal nonconformities in the CI-1 without this rezoning there are zoning code standards that would prohibit any redevelopment, expansion or alterations under the existing uses. Planning and Zoning Commission February 7, 2024 Page 3 of 7 Walsh next reviewed the individual properties included in this rezoning. The 501 Southgate Avenue property is a multifamily use, 429 Southgate is a community service use, 436 and 438 Southgate are multifamily with ground floor offices, 430 Southgate is assisted group living and then the last property of the subject rezoning is 1916 Waterfront Drive which is general community service and medical offices. The 1916 Waterfront Drive property is bordered to the north by HyVee, to the east with Plumb Supply Company and to the west with Fiddlehead Gardens and an auto repair shop. 1916 Waterfront Drive is the Four Oaks property and they received a special exception to establish a group care facility, which is now referred to as assisted group living but the property is no longer used for assisted group living. The property owners shared that the existing use is now general community service and medical office, and both of those existing uses would be permitted under the CC-2 zone. However, if it were to remain CI-1 and they wanted to have an expansion it would require another special exception for that general community service use and if they wanted to reestablish the assisted living use they could do so in a CC-2 zone provisionally. 430 Southgate Avenue is the Community & Family Resources property. They received a special exception in 1985 for assisted group living so this is currently a legal non-conforming property following the 2023 Zoning Code Amendment, but associate group living would be allowed in the CC-2 zone. 436 - 438 Southgate are another Community & Family Resource property. The existing uses are multifamily with ground floor office, and multifamily has not been allowed in CI-1 since 2005 so the property is a legal non-conforming use right now but again if rezoned these uses would be allowed provisionally and the multifamily wouldn’t be additional non-conforming concerns as it is located above the ground floor. 429 Southgate Avenue is the Shelter House property and they received a special exception in 2004 for community service shelter with up to 70 temporary residents. The community service shelter requires a special exception in both CI-1 and CC-2 so they could continue to operate in either zone as it's already been legally established. 501 Southgate is another Shelter House property that received a special exception in 2020 for community service long-term use. As mentioned, this use no longer exists in the Zoning Code following the 2023 Zoning Code Amendment and it's now referred to as multifamily. So, the existing uses on the site would be multifamily with accessory supportive services. Multifamily again is not allowed in CI-1 and it would be allowed provisionally or through a special exception in CC-2 and that just depends on where the multifamily would be located, if on the ground floor it requires a special exception, above the ground floor staff can approve it provisionally. Currently the site has 36 one-bedroom units so it does exceed the maximum density allowed in CC-2 and therefore would remain a legal non-conforming use. Walsh noted the rezoning wouldn't resolve all of the non-conformities, but the site could continue to operate as a legal non-conforming use. Walsh stated the Comprehensive Plan identifies the properties suitable for General Commercial and Intensive Commercial with specific land use goals that include transitions between residential and intensive commercial uses to promote long-term healthy neighborhoods. There are also specific neighborhood design principles, such as buffering residential development from Planning and Zoning Commission February 7, 2024 Page 4 of 7 incompatible uses. The South District Plan also identifies this area as commercial and encourages mixed use residential development with commercial areas to achieve goals of long- term neighborhoods with strong health and appeal. By rezoning the CI-1 to CC-2 the development aligns more with the Comprehensive Plan and the South District Plan’s vision for commercial areas as they would allow residential uses mixed in with commercial uses. Also the existing uses become more compatible with zoning designation and any potential redevelopment. The rezoning would maintain the existing transition of uses to the single family to the south followed by multifamily and office uses and then more multifamily and office across the north of Southgate with assisted group living and then general community service and offices at 1916 Waterfront followed by the commercial area of HyVee to the north. The surrounding properties may require increased screening if they were to be redeveloped in the future as there are existing residential uses in the area. Walsh stated the rezoning to CC-2 will restore the existing uses to conforming use status. Additionally, given the existing development in the area rezoning a CC-2 would create a more compatible neighborhood as envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan while emphasizing buffers between incompatible uses. Rezoning to CC-2 also removes the potential for development of some of those more incompatible or more intensive commercial uses that would be allowed in CI-1 zones. Staff recommends approval of REZ24-0002, a rezoning of approximately 4.5 acres of properties located at 429 Southgate Ave, 430 Southgate Ave, 436-438 Southgate Ave, 501 Southgate Ave, and 1916 Waterfront Dr. from Intensive Commercial Zone (Cl-1) to Community Commercial Zone (CC-2). Following the recommendation from the Commission, the anticipated timeline would be February 20 Council sets public hearing and first consideration for March 19. Hensch asked why the not for profit located east of this area, an assisted group living, was that not included in the rezoning. Russett stated that nonprofit operates the community service shelter use which is allowed in the CI-1 zone and the text amendment didn't create any non- conforming situations for that nonprofit. Wade asked when a property is rezoned what happens to the special exceptions that have been granted to the property such as the parking reduction permitted at 430 Southgate, does that remain. Russett explained the special exceptions still exist and would still be applied to the property. The rezoning doesn't affect the special exceptions. Hensch opened the public hearing. Seeing no one come forward Hensch closed the public hearing. Townsend moved to recommend approval of REZ24-0002, a rezoning of approximately 4.5 acres of properties located at 429 Southgate Ave, 430 Southgate Ave, 436-438 Southgate Ave, 501 Southgate Ave, and 1916 Waterfront Dr. from Intensive Commercial Zone (Cl-1) to Community Commercial Zone (CC-2). Wade seconded the motion. Planning and Zoning Commission February 7, 2024 Page 5 of 7 Townsend stated it just looks like it should happen as that whole area is commercial and to add the assisted living sections they already have those type of facilities there so to add the addition makes sense. Wade added with the changes that they made back in November of this year they need to realign the zoning to match the use so it makes sense. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: JANUARY 17, 2024: Craig moved to approve the meeting minutes from January 17, 2024. Townsend seconded the motion, a vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: Motion by Townsend for Hensch to be chair. Wade seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. Motion by Townsend for Craig to be vice chair. Padron seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. Motion by Craig for Townsend to be secretary. Wade seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. PLANNING AND ZONING INFORMATION: Russett reported that the Moss Ridge Road rezoning was approved at Council last night. Hensch asked if anyone was still working in the Pearson building or if they were all working from home now. Russett stated the property was for sale but she is not sure if it's vacant or not. Craig noted the Historic Preservation Commission is having a hearing on the status of the Pagliais building and assuming that they do something official there does that ever come to Planning & Zoning. Russett replied that yes, it would be a rezoning so after the Historic Preservation Commission votes tomorrow night it'll be on the next Planning & Zoning agenda. Craig asked if they can actually rezone something even if the owner doesn't want it to happen. Russett replied that is correct however the property owner hasn't said if they oppose it or support it, so it's unknown at this time. Russett noted if a property owner does not want the rezoning they can always formally protest the rezoning through a protest petition and then Council has to approve it by a super majority. Craig noted on Dubuque Street off the interstate there is a big sign there now listing the area for Planning and Zoning Commission February 7, 2024 Page 6 of 7 sale or available for development, so apparently the development that was proposed with the mobile home park never happened so what is the status. Russett confirmed the property has been sold but the City hasn’t received any applications for development. ADJOURNMENT: Townsend moved to adjourn, Quellhorst seconded and the motion passed 6-0. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2023-2024 1/18 2/15 3/1 4/5 4/19 6/21 7/5 7/19 8/2 8/16 10/4 10/18 11/158 12/6 12/20 1/17 2/7 CRAIG, SUSAN X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X X ELLIOTT, MAGGIE X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E HENSCH, MIKE X X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X PADRON, MARIA X X X X X X X O/E X X X X X O/E X X X QUELLHORST, SCOTT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X X X X X X X X SIGNS, MARK X O/E O/E X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- TOWNSEND, BILLIE O/E X X X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X WADE, CHAD O/E X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member