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1997-09-09 Bd Comm minutes
MINUTES PLANNING & ZONING COMM AUGUST 21, 1997 -7:30 P.M CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CH COUNCIL (LISA, 1 SIDED) ject to Approval MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Benjamin Chait, Pam Ehrhardt, Dick Gibson, Phil Shive, George Starr, Lea Supple MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFFPRESENT: Bob Miklo, Scott Kugler, Sarah Holecek, Anne Schulte OTHERS PRESENT: Richard Rhodes, Kirsten Frey, Andre Gallet, Jim Jacob, John Cruise, Lynda Ostedgaard, Brad Houser, Rhoda Cummings, Tom Gruca, Mick Walker, Paul Hoherz, John Rummelhart, Robert Wolf RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Recommended denial, by a vote of 7-0, of REZ97-0013, an application to rezone 3.09 acres located at 1850 W. Benton Street from Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-12) to Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-20). Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of REZ97-0012 & SUB97-0016, an application to rezone 3.63 acres located east of Somerset Lane and south of Wellington Drive from Low Density Single-Family Residential Zone (RS-5) to Planned Development Overlay Zone (OPDH- 5), and a preliminary plat of Village Green, Part Fifteen, a 36.75 acre, 1-lot residential subdivision with 3 outlots. Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of ANN97-0001 & REZ97-0009, a City initiated application to annex approximately 84 acres located between U.S. Highway 218 and Iowa Highway 921 and to rezone approximately 50 acres to Public (P), and approximately 34 acres to General Industrial (I-1). Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of SUB97-0012, a preliminary plat of Windsor Ridge, Parts Nine through Fourteen, an 80.1 acre, 127-1ot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of Arlington Drive and Barrington Road, subject to approval of a'Sensitive Areas Site Plan. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Starr called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Starr said there are three vacancies for three years each on the Housing and Community Development Commission, and five vacancies on the Police Citizens' Review Board: one for a two-year term, two for three-year terms, and two for four-year terms. He added that these appointments would be made at the August 26, 1997 meeting of the City Council. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 2 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ITEM: Public hearing of the Comprehensive Plan, including the South District Plan. Miklo said staff had no further information but will have some revisions, as requested by the Commission, at the next meeting. Starr said the intent of the Commission is to vote on the Comprehensive Plan, including the South District Plan, on September 18, 1997. He added that anyone wishing to address the Commission on the Comprehensive Plan should submit comments by September 18. Public hearing: Richard Rhodes, 2014 Rochester Avenue, said staff characterized his concerns about invasive exotic species as minor. He said that in the last 6 years he has invested about 2,000 hours fighting invasive exotic species in both public and private areas in Johnson County. He said he attended two North American Prairie Conferences where at least 50% of the papers addressed trying to eradicate exotic invasive species in natural areas. Rhodes said he just attended the Midwest Oak Savannah Conference where at least 2/3 of the papers addressed the removal of invasive exotic species to some extent. He added that this is not a minor problem to a natural areas manager and said that a statement dealing with this issue would be quite appropriate in a Comprehensive Plan, particularly in a section dealing with environmental matters. He said a section could be included stating that "invasive exotic species will not be used by City departments in any of their landscaping endeavors." Rhodes said there is a large coalition of natural areas managers that see this as a major concern. Rhodes said our natural areas are being degraded by the invasion of these plants. He said they are taking over the flora in many areas, and they are extremely difficult to control and eradicate. Ehrhardt asked Rhodes if the City was currently planting these species. Rhodes responded that he had not examined Public Works or Parks and Recreation Commission policies, but has seen crown vetch planted in one of the downtown planters as well as buckthorn trees in the downtown area. He said he assumed there are many things still being planted that are not appropriate because of their invasive nature. Rhodes added he also suspected that reseeding of ditches included genetically improved and reed canary grass, an extremely invasive grass. He said it is quite appropriate, since the City's Sensitive Areas Ordinance encourages putting aside natural areas, that the City do something to protect them from these looming risks. Ehrhardt asked if this issue would be more appropriately addressed in ordinance form. Starr said the Comprehensive Plan serves as a guide to provide direction. He said if the decision were made to take the issue a step further, in terms of enforcement, then it would become an ordinance type of issue. Miklo said it would not necessarily be in ordinance form, but could be in the form of a policy for the Public Works Department. Miklo said staff did not mean to characterize the issue as minor, but said this kind of detail is not normally seen in a Comprehensive Plan. He said it is an important issue and suggested Rhodes go directly to Public Works staff and bring their attention to it. Rhodes said he is looking to the City to put forth an example, rather than seeking legislation. Starr asked what the downside is of invasive species. Rhodes said the common buckthorn has taken over the entire understory of an area near the Ronald McDonald house that was once an open oak woodland. He cited another example near Hawkins Drive, where reed canary grass has taken over what used to be a fairly good quality wetland. He said these species overwhelm and take over everything. Rhodes said these invasive species include plum grass and pampas Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 3 grass that decimate everything. He added that in terms of desirability, these invasive species reduce our ability to enjoy environments, e.g. Hickory Hill Park. In terms of economics, Rhodes said if buckthorn moves in and prevents oak regeneration, once the oaks are harvested, there is nothing left. He said there are economic and social impacts, besides the fact that the native flora is overwhelmed. Rhodes said a plant called purple loosestrife can take over a wetland and has absolutely zero value for wildlife habitat. He said there is also a loss of the genetic diversity of the native plants. Starr said a list of all suggestions and comments will be prepared for the September 18 meeting. He said the suggestions would be detailed, along with the recommendations for those items. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Shive moved to continue to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of September 18, 1997, the public hearing of the Comprehensive Plan. Bovbjerg seconded the motion. Gibson asked Rhodes to consider proposing a statement regarding the invasive plant issue for the Comprehensive Plan and submitting it to staff. Ehrhardt said the Comprehensive Plan contains an emphasis on neighborhoods, both new and existing. She said the problem with existing neighborhoods is that there are arterials that go through them and there has been a significant increase in the traffic, resulting in bottlenecks in some places. Ehrhardt said when looking at annexation or increasing density, she would like to see the resulting traffic patterns examined, not just on the immediate arterials but on the whole network of streets. She said she would like to see a mention in the Comprehensive Plan about studying the traffic flow as a whole. She said the Commission does not discuss whether existing arterials can handle the increased capacity of areas that are annexed in. Miklo said when major annexations are done, staff looks at the entire infrastructure that serves them. He said there are times when staff acknowledges that arterials for certain developments are near or at capacity. Miklo said one of the difficulties is that when annexing, traffic is often disbursed among several arterials, and it is difficult to pinpoint which streets, if any, will be overburdened, although staff does use traffic generation models for major annexations. Ehrhardt said the Comprehensive Plan cites the issue as a problem, but does not propose a solution. Miklo said sometimes there is no solution. Gibson said that if a study shows that a particular street will be overburdened, it is difficult to tell how serious the problem will be. He asked what the Commission would do with the information that a street will be overburdened and if the Commission would turn down a subdivision for this reason. Miklo said that with subdivisions, there is not always a choice, but that an annexation might be turned down for such a reason. He added that is why priority is given to properties already in the City limits. Gibson said an implied step that follows that is if this will overtax the arterials and nothing can be done about it, then the annexation is disallowed. He said this would ultimately lead to a no growth policy. He said the Commission should think of it in those terms, and added that he thought the City does not really have a traffic problem. Starr said if someone has a significant enough concern that this be addressed in the Comprehensive Plan, it should be put on the list for consideration at the next meeting. Supple asked if the Comprehensive Plan would be on the agenda on September 4. Miklo said it was not scheduled for that meeting but could be on the agenda. Starr said there will be no informal meeting but the Commission could take public discussion at the September 4 meeting. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 4 AMENDMENT TO THE MAIN MOTION: Shive moved that the main motion be amended to defer the public hearing to September 4, 1997. Bovbjerg seconded the motion. Th....~e amendment to the main motion carried on a vote of 7-0. The main motion carried on a vote of 7-0. REZONING ITEMS: REZ97-0003. Public discussion of an application submitted by James P. Glasgow for a rezoning form RM-20, Medium Density Multi-Family Residential, and RS-5, Low Density Single- Family Residential, to OSA-20 and OSA-5, Sensitive Areas Overlay Zone, for 1.9 acres located at 1122-1136 N. Dubuque Street. (45-day limitation period waived to August 21, 1997) Miklo said staff has received a revised grading and sensitive areas development plan that is quite different from the initial plan that was reviewed in April. He said Public Works and City staff have reviewed the revised plan and have identified some technical deficiencies in the grading plan that need to be revised. Miklo stated that staff recommends that this plan be deferred until there is an'agreement with the adjacent property owners or until the plan is revised so it does not entail grading on the Ostedgaards' property. He said staff is also recommending that Terracon Consultants provide testing and observation during the excavation, grading, foundation, and construction phases of the project and added that the Commission has indicated they would like to have the City receive regular reports on the work of Terracon. Miklo stated that staff also recommends that, if during the implementation, there are any field conditions found other than those in the reports, that the City be notified. He said staff also recommends that the storm water discharge not be directed onto Dubuque Street. Miklo said because there are some deficiencies and no indication of an agreement with the Ostedgaards, staff is recommending deferral until the September 4, 1997 meeting. Kirsten Frev, 2011 Rochester Avenue, said she represents the owners of the property. She said the Commission had concerns about the previously submitted plan for three reasons: 1) there had not been enough analysis done concerning the effectiveness of the proposed approach, 2) the plan was too destructive to the surrounding environment and was inconsistent with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance, and 3) the Ostedgaards had not been consulted. Frey said this plan attempts to address each of these concerns. She said this plan is also a response to Starr's contention that there was only "one shot" to get this plan right. Frey said Terracon Consultants was hired to do a boring analysis. She said once Terracon had its preliminary findings, a meeting was held to discuss various alternatives, and those alternatives are on a handout provided to the Commission. As a result of that meeting, Frey said the approach now before the Commission was preliminarily selected. She added that once Terracon finished its report, which was received in early August, Jim Jacob of Van Winkle- Jacob Engineering devised a plan to implement the design that was recommended and discussed with Terracon. She said the plan was then submitted to City staff and sent back to Andre Gallet at Terracon Consultants for his comments and suggestions. Frey said the suggestions are now being implemented by Van Winkle-Jacob Engineering. Frey stated that Terracon and Van Winkle-Jacob Engineering have worked cooperatively to develop a plan that will, within a reasonable degree of professional certainty, stabilize the slope. She added that this approach is an attempt to minimize the damage to the surrounding area and said the vista from above will not change. Frey said the number of trees that will need to be removed will be drastically reduced, and the plan does not require extremely large construction equipment to be brought in from the top of the slope, necessitating the removal of trees to Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 5 create a driveway for access. She said the area of the fix is not much larger than the area of the problem and that most of the property needing to be graded has already been disturbed. Frey said it is also the intent to replant trees at the base and at the top of the slope to replace some of the trees that will need to be removed. She said this plan is as consistent with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance as it is possible to be. Frey said she realized the Commission was concerned about the Ostedgaards opinion of the revised plan. She said the Ostedgaards were present at the meeting and could therefore best speak to their feelings about the plan. Frey said she provided the Ostedgaards with a copy of Terracon's report and with a complete copy of the revised plan. She said she met with the ©stedgaards to discuss their concerns and questions and is discussing with them the possibility of working out an arrangement. Frey said the reason this plan calls for the use of the Ostedgaards' property is the desire to stabilize the entire slope. She said there is an area on the Ostedgaards' property that has been previously disturbed, and this plan attempts to stabilize it as well, as it is designed to be a comprehensive solution. Frey said she understood the Ostedgaards have not had enough time to review the plans to 'make a decision, but she understood from their counsel that they do prefer this plan to the previous plan. She said that, in any case, she believes the Commission should approve the plan. She said the plan is supported by Terracon's report, is in compliance with City codes, is consistent with the goals of the Sensitive Areas Ordinance, and will stabilize the slope. Frey cited the letter of confirmation stating that the applicant has entered into an agreement with Terracon Consultants to continue their involvement and to supervise the construction process. Supple asked if Frey had said the Commission should approve the plan regardless of the Ostedgaards' attitude. Frey responded that if the Ostedgaards do not agree, there are some minor modifications to the plan that would allow all of the grading to occur on the Glasgow property and to meet the standards and still be approved. Andre Gallet, 3021 Circle Drive N.E., Cedar Rapids, stated that he has a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master's Degree specializing in Geotechnical Engineering. He said he is currently the office manager with Terracon Consultants in Cedar Rapids. Gallet said his company was contracted to evaluate the slope stability problems. He said they did subsurface exploration, analyzed soil conditions, did slope stability analysis, and discussed various options with the applicant. Gallet said the original solution for grading the slope, the proposed 2 Y2 to 1 slope, was not satisfactory. He said that solution would probably result in flattening the slope even further, increasing the damage on the top of the embankment. Gallet said alternatives were suggested including a reinforced earth wall - a geogrid, layered system with compacted fill in between. He said the problem with this solution is that it uses a synthetic material which could result in long-term damage with regard to ultraviolet rays and it would disturb additional land at the top of the embankment. Gallet said another possibility was a retaining wall system, but this would also disturb things at the top of the embankment. He said another option was a the use of a pylon logging material, which would also have to come from the top, and the wood material would have a limited useful life. Gallet said the last option considered was the rock buttress plan, which is the recommended plan. He said the plan stabilizes the embankment by loading the toe of the slope and increasing the factor of safety and reducing the potential slide. Gallet said the analysis is consistent with the Corps of Engineers' standards. As far as total stress analysis, he said they used a computer program called PC Stable Five and Six. Gallet said the Corps of Engineers recommends a 1.3 factor of safety for the end of construction. He said this is achieved with this design. He said they are also trying to control drainage, as the majority of failures along slopes come from ground watedsurface water and that is being addressed in this solution. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 6 Ehrhardt said the plan indicates the concrete retaining walls are anchored into solid bedrock and all the weight is on the keystone and the original retaining wall. She asked who certified that these walls could withstand this. Gallet said Jacob would discuss this aspect of the plan. Gibson asked if Terracon has an agreement with the applicant to provide services during construction. Gallet said Terracon would be doing this supervisory work, but did not yet have a signed contract. Starr asked if the confirmation letter would address all the concerns detailed under the analysis and recommendations sections of the report, and Gallet responded that it would. Bovbjerg asked if Terracon had analyzed the existing concrete walls, and Gallet said they had not. Bovbjerg asked if they should be further analyzed, and Gallet said Jim Jacob, the structural engineer who designed the original wall, had analyzed them. Bovbjerg asked if, as designed and constructed, the walls would perform as expected in this plan, and Gallet said they would. Bovbjerg said the walls currently have drainage holes. She asked in terms of the proposed design, where they should be and how they should function. Gallet said the structural engineer who designed the wall has reviewed the additional stresses from the retaining wall and from the embankment and Gallet has been told that it is satisfactory. Gallet said Terracon had requested that there be a minimum safety factor on the wall of 1.5. He said a factor of safety of 1.0 indicates a structure in equilibrium and less than 1.0 indicates imminent failure. He said the 1.5 safety factor is going one and one-half times above the potential of losing the wall. Bovbjerg asked about the keystone wall. Gallet said the keystone wall would replace the current one and will be of a size and shape and construction that will retain its integrity and do what it is supposed to do. He said the intent of the keystone wall is critical to the slope, because it adds resisting force. Bovbjerg said the fi~l behind it is complete fill and asked if there were also rock behind it as well as weep holes. Gallet said there will be a granular layer behind the keystone wall and there will also be drainage behind the wall. Supple said the report states that the topographical information was provided by others and asked who that was. Gallet replied the information was from Van Winkle-Jacob. Supple asked about the last paragraph on page four referring to boring number 60. Gallet said that was a typographical error and should read boring number 4. Supple asked if the report was proofread. Gallet said he and another engineer proofread it. Supple asked what would keep the rocks from sliding. Gallet responded it was called angle of internal friction, which is basically the friction between the rock particles. Supple asked if it were the size of the rocks or how they were positioned that created the angle of internal friction. Gallet said size was a factor, but the rocks are not positioned in any particular way. He said every material has a certain sheer friction, an angle of repose. He said the material is graded so that it should intertwine and mix and will not all be one size. Supple asked if it would be comparable to the Coralville Dam and Gallet responded that it would be very similar. Starr asked about the last paragraph on page 7 that indicates if variations occur, it will be necessary to reevaluate the recommendations of the report. He said he wanted to be assured that if variations are discovered, that a teevaluation and a new recommendation will occur. Gallet replied if the project was not going to be done right, Terracon would not be involved. Bovbjerg referred to the confirmation letter's statement that summaries will be submitted upon completion or at regular intervals and said the Commission was concerned with having evaluation and recommendations daily, weekly, or as things are done instead of waiting until completion. She said one cannot tell from the letter if reports will be at the end or what it means by regular intervals. Gallet said it depends on how busy Terracon is. He said there will be a staff engineer or one of the senior engineering technicians who has over 15 years experience on this project. Gallet said that each day the supervisor will have a "daily," which will be reviewed by Gallet. He Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 7 added that the engineer or technician can call Gallet, who can be at the site in 20 minutes. He said the intent of that is to report cumulatively on the process to let the client know that they will provide a summary of what was observed and tested and what occurred on site and if any changes are necessary. Gallet said the report is not done on a daily basis; for example, if they end up having to overexcavate an additional foot, it would be too much paperwork to report on a daily basis. Gallet said that is typically summarized at the end of the report or if the job is lengthy, on a monthly basis. He said they do not try to do it on a weekly basis. Gallet said the delays in this project were his fault, because of his hectic schedule. He said he was to blame for the delay on the design and the analysis. Bovbjerg said her concern was if something comes up during the work. Gallet said the engineer on.site will make a decision. He said Terracon made an analysis based on several borings and made some assumptions as far as where the shale bedrock is located. Gallet said if the shale bedrock is at a lower elevation then they need to get there and key into that bedrock. He said they would not change the entire configuration, but may adjust a foot here or there to ensure they are benched into a stable backslope. Gallet said they are counting on going into native soils and have made certain assumptions as far as where that occurs along the slope. He said they may have to go deeper into the hillside. He said those are the types of changes he is talking about. Bovbjerg said those are the kinds of changes she was looking for, because the report states that "this is where we think it is" and if it is not there, they will have to take another look. She hoped they would be on site to make those kinds of changes as needed. Gibson asked if the agreement provides for full-time observation during construction. Gallet said he would recommend that, but the details have not yet been finalized. He said that at some stages they would not have to be there, for example, if there is not any work being done on the site. Gallet said if construction work is being done he will recommend that a Terracon employee is there. Gibson asked if this agreement provided for full-time construction observation and Gallet said it did. Holecek asked Gallet if he was a licensed engineer and if, with his contract with the applicant, his license would be on the line for anything that went wrong. Gallet responded yes to both questions. Holecek said Gallet therefore needed to establish a certain comfort level - to be certain that the activities are not putting his license on the line. Gallet said that was accurate. Starr said he did not want Gallet to feel he was being grilled but that there is a significant amount of concern on the part of the Commission pertaining to this project. Starr stated that the Commission just wants to get it right. Gallet said they were going to do it right. Supple asked Gallet if he was aware of which part of the property belonged to another owner, and Gallet said he was. Supple asked, if the other owners were opposed to the use of their land, if the project could still be done with the same kind of integrity. Gallet said he thought if the Ostedgaards do not do something with their property, they will ultimately have erosion problems with it. He said they have the opportunity at this time to fix the problem with someone else paying for it and if it were him, he would get it done right now. Gibson asked if the erosion on the Ostedgaards' property would have occurred if the building of the Cliffs Apartments had not occurred, or if it was incidental to a general erosion problem in the area. Gallet responded that he could not comment, because he was not here at the time of the original construction. Ehrhardt said page four of the report discussed the groundwater level. She asked who would be monitoring the well. Gailet said Terracon would be. Jim Jacob, 1780 St. Bridqet's, Solon, said he is a principal in the firm of Van Winkle-Jacob Engineering in Coralville. He said he is a registered structural and civil engineer in the state of Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August21,1997 Page 8 Iowa. Jacob said his firm has been involved in the topographical survey work for the Cliffs Apartments, as well as the design of the concrete retaining wall that will act as the ultimate kingpin in this solution. He added that they followed the recommendations of Terracon in establishing the grading plan. He said he would answer any questions and address the summary of the trees that will probably be impacted on the upper part of the slope. Ehrhardt asked if the disturbance of the ©stedgaards' property was caused by the Cliffs Apartments construction. Jacob replied that he believed it was. Gibson said the drawing has the suggestion of a treeline. He said the corrective action does not go to the treeline all along there although, at one place, it overlaps it. Jacob said there are places where the work will go beyond the treeline and places where it does not quite get to the treeline. Gibson asked if when the work is not going to the treeline, it means the erosion has not occurred there and there is some stable slope above that. Jacob said that was correct. Gibson said there is not the undercut situation and Jacob said not all of the entire length will be disturbed. Gibson asked if where the undercut is occurring, Jacob is dealing with it and eliminating it. Jacob said that is correct. Bovbjerg asked if the heavy lines coming out on the sides are drain headers. Jacob said they are drain tiles and are all underneath the rock. Bovbjerg asked if the dash lines are the rock fill. Jacob said where the plan has been crosshatched, it represents the area that will have rock surfacing. Bovbjerg stated that to each side of the drain header, the rock extends away and she asked what it did then. Jacob said it blends in. He said there is an interface where the rock and the undisturbed portions of the soil will interface. Bovbjerg said the elevation lines indicate that the top of the rock will be at the top of what is approximately the current undisturbed portion of the slope. Jacob said that is correct. Gibson said the soils report discusses the need to take the rock buttress, the back toe of the reinforced fill slope, to shale. Gibson asked if that referred to the weathered shale. Jacob said there is the weathered shale, which is not very thick. Gallet said they are looking at going to sound bedrock, which in this case is shale. Supple asked if staff's concern that drainage would drain onto Dubuque Street has been addressed. Jacob said it has. He said they will drop the drain tiles into existing drains, of which there is one on the south side and they will probably be installing a new line on the north side. He said water will go directly to the storm sewer system from both sides. Ehrhardt asked where the construction equipment would go in and out and if trees would have to be removed to facilitate the equipment. Jacob said there is an existing roadway that will provide access. He said they do not anticipate coming down from the top, although there may have to be some minor work done at the very top with a small dozer. Jacob added that they will bring a backhoe in to replace fill as far as they can reach. Supple asked who would be doing the construction work. Jacob responded that Jim Glasgow will be the general contractor, and he also plans to work with Jay Proffitt Construction of Solon for the heavy equipment. Supple asked Jacob if he would also be on site. Jacob said he would only be on site when Terracon calls and requests it. Bovbjerg asked if the person looking at the engineering would be Terracon's representative and not Jacob. Jacob said that was correct - that they were basically following Terracon's recommendations for placement of the rock and it is up to Terracon to monitor that placement. Bovbjerg said she observed that drainage holes on the site go under to the street to the frequently flooded median which goes out to the frequently flooded river. She said she was concerned that this is going down to the existing concrete walls. Bovbjerg said they currently drain out of themselves onto dirt backyards and parking lots. She asked where that would go Planning & Zoning. Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 9 and what the City's requirement for that would be. Jacob said those were weep t~oles designed to relieve pressure on the wall. He did not know that the City has any requirement for drainage from weep holes. He said those are existing conditions and he did not believe there have been any additional requirements to pick up that water. Bovbjerg asked if this new construction might reduce that kind of weepage. Jacob replied that it should be reduced, because the project will be intercepting the water. He said every other terrace will be backsloped to intercept water. He said he would anticipate a reduction in the amount of water that normally accumulates in those lower weeps. Bovbjerg asked how the drains in the small terraces under the rocks would be maintained; what is the assurance that they will drain and stay clean. Jacob said they will have a graded, granular blanket around them that will prevent vines from migrating in and plugging the pipe itself. Bovbjerg asked if the material of the pipe would be impervious to water, roots, etc. or if there is any such material. Jacob said nothing is totally impervious over time, but the pipe will be made of a high-density polyethylene material and is state of the art as far as underground drainage material. He said the pipes will be four inches on the terraces, and the header pipes coming down the slopes will be six inches. John Cruise, 905 Bluffwood Drive, said he is one of the owners of the condominium units that have this problem and has been an owner since construction was started in 1983. He said the history of this is that they did disturb the Ostedgaards' property when they built the project and hauled away the dirt and created the original slope. He said when they did the construction, the Ostedgaards did not own the property. Cruise stated that he thought he owned it, but later learned that it was part of an estate property that the Ostedgaards later bought. Cruise said this project has been doomed from the beginning, and he was sorry they ever built it. He stated that they have no choice, but to fix this problem. He said they intend to do so and will pay the price. Cruise added that it would cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars to get the work done and they will do it as soon as they have a plan approved. Ehrhardt asked Cruise if he felt this is the best plan regardless of the financial cost. Cruise responded that he thought it was the best plan, based on what the engineers say. He said that over a year ago, he took the view that he just wanted this done. Cruise said the money is important, but he wanted the entire thing done and behind him. He said he thinks this is a good plan because it keeps the upper area from being disturbed and keeps the greenery. He said this will be a permanent fix. Public discussion: Linda Osted.claard, 1701 Ridge Road, said she owns the property that would be affected by this plan. She said she and her husband have met with Jim Glasgow and Kirsten Frey and they still have concerns they are discussing. She said this problem has gone on for 13 years and they cannot agree in a week to a plan; she said they needed more advice. Ostedgaard said she and her husband are still not convinced there needs to be this much grading on their property. She said if the Commission decides and the engineers are sure that it has to be done, they would go with it, but they would like more investigation on the grading. Ostedgaard said, as far as the erosion on her property being a problem they would have to deal with later, she and her husband did not create the erosion on the property. She said everything that has been dug out there has been done by Jim Glasgow and whatever is going to erode was caused by him. Ostedgaard said she and her husband should not have any liability for any erosion or anything that is done, because it was totally created by Jim Glasgow from the very beginning. She said she did not like the implied threat that if they don't do something now, Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 10 something will happen to her land later. She said where her property ends on the north corner is probably the most stable part of the slope. Ostedgaard said she and her husband are most concerned about the vista. She agreed that the vista would be much improved with this plan than with the other one. She said she would like the Commission to make some statement about the fact that they will be removing a significant number of trees. She said she wanted them to replant some of those so that her vista is not destroyed and she is not left looking at white rock or riprap. Ostedgaard added that, for the neighborhood, if trees are replanted it would help preserve the sound barrier that is there now. Ostedgaard said her other concern is having someone on site, who knows what they are doing and does not have a financial stake in the Cliffs Apartments to observe and supervise the construction. She said she has watched Jim Glasgow work on the hill for the last 13 years, and he did not do the right thing. Ostedgaard said she wanted.to make sure that whoever does it now is not Jim, but someone who knows what they are doing and that it is done correctly. Bovbjerg told Ostedgaard the Commission has just received a list of trees to be removed within the limestone rock area. She added that any growing tree is a working tree, regardless of age. Bovbjerg asked Ostedgaard if her suggestion was to have more trees planted after construction than is currently indicated. Ostedgaard responded that, as far as she can see, the plan was to only plant things at the bottom of the slope. She said some very large trees will be removed, and replanting could help with the sound barrier and the view. Starr said his understanding was that trees would not be able to be planted in the area to be stabilized. Ostedgaard said she realized that, but was talking about the very top of the slope. Frey said, although it is not in the plan, one of the changes being made is the addition of evergreen trees along the top slope so there will be trees that do not lose their leaves in the winter. She said they will help provide a sound and view barrier for the neighbors and will be an addition to the plan. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to defer to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of September 4, 1997, REZ97-0003, an application submitted by James P. Glasgow for a rezoning from RM-20, Medium Density Multi-Family Residential, and RS-5, Low Density Single-Family Residential, to OSA-20 and OSA-5, Sensitive Areas Overlay Zone, for 1.9 acres located at 1122-1136 N. Dubuque Street. Chait seconded the motion. Holecek asked if the applicant had signed a waiver to the meeting of September 4, and Miklo responded that they had. Starr said although this has been on the agenda for some time, he feels strongly that this application is significantly different from the first application put in front of the Commission and is worthy of a deferral to the next meeting. Holecek noted that the staff recommendation contains some details that need to be evaluated prior to a vote on this item. Gibson said he would hope there is some resolution with regard to the Ostedgaards' property before this comes to a vote. He said he did not see the point of approving a plan that may not be buildable. He said he also had trouble with the notion of deferring this for later action by someone else. Bovbjerg asked if an agreement with the Ostedgaards would be a legal requirement. Holecek said the application could be sent to City Council subject to the property dispute being resolved prior to City Council approval. She added that the plan could be redesigned, but that it would then not necessarily stabilize all the erosion that is occurring out there. Bovbjerg said David Ostedgaard let her view the property yesterday, and she had pictures of the area for distribution. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 11 The motion to defer carried on a vote of 7-0. REZ97-0013. Public discussion of an application submitted by Brad .Houser, on behalf of property owner University Baptist Church to rezone 3.09 acres located at 1850 W. Benton Street from Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-12) to Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-20). (45-day limitation period expires September 5, 1997) Miklo said staff has concerns about this particular rezoning in that it is not in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and there are issues concerning traffic and access to the property. He said staff sees no compelling reason why the zoning change should be approved. Miklo added that the applicant has submitted a letter requesting deferral of this item to the September 4, 1997 meeting so that a design concept might be drawn up and those issues could perhaps be addressed in some manner. Bovbjerg asked if there is a suggestion in the deferral request that the rezoning to RM-20 would be changed or if the rezoning to RM-20 would still be the basic request. Miklo responded that he believed the RM-20 request would stay the same. Brad Houser, 1272 Dolen Place, said he asked for the change, because one of staff's concerns is traffic accessing Benton Street. He said he is trying to work on that issue. Houser said the lot is being split into three different sections, and he is trying to address the concern of all the traffic coming onto Benton as the sections are done in different phases. He said it is still unknown at this time if the section the church is located on will ever be redeveloped. Bovbjerg asked if Houser anticipated that with any of the changes, vehicles from this property would go eventually onto streets other than Benton. Houser said they would. He said there are two curb cuts onto Benton from the site right now, one being the driveway directly onto the church site. Houser said he wants to get one curb cut into Benton Street right now and as they get into the different lot phases, have another curb cut onto Westgate. Bovbjerg said the curb cut onto Westgate would not obligate anyone to go onto Melrose. Houser said they could go either to Melrose or Benton. Bovbjerg asked if the concern was about traffic going directly onto Benton Street, and Houser responded that it was staff's concern. Houser said there are two curb cuts already from the property onto Benton Street, and he wants to propose to combine them into one, somewhere near the middle of the two lots. Starr said he is still looking for a compelling reason to increase the density in an area that is already taxed. Houser said adjoining properties are already zoned multi-family. He said he is trying to set a buffer both ways and there is a mix there now. He said he would be in the buffer either way, be it as RM-20 or RM-12. Public discussion: Rhoda Cumminc~s, 1845 Kathlin Drive, said she has circulated a protest petition for the medium density rezoning, as she did for the previous rezoning. She showed an overhead with 17 properties immediately adjacent to the site marked. Cummings said of those 17 properties, 15 of the owners have indicated opposition to the rezoning by signing a notarized petition or are in the process of getting notarized signatures. Cummings said there has been no decline in neighborhood opposition to this level of rezoning. Cummings said all of the issues raised in the statement from the last meeting still stand; people are very opposed. She said any change will negatively impact the neighborhood and certainly Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 12 the change to medium density would even more negatively impact the quality of life for those in the neighborhood. Cummings urged the Commission to decline the application. Torn Gruca, 1845 Kathlin, urged the Commission to decline the request for a deferral as well as the request for a rezoning. Gruca said Benton Street is the major pedestrian walkway for children going to Horn School. He said the curb cut on Benton Street at the site is currently only used on Sunday for church services and on weekdays for a daycare. Gruca said if this medium density were allowed here, traffic will increase significantly. He said he could not envision any design concept that would cure this problem. Gruca said the applicant is the Baptist Church, and the piece of land will be sold off and developed by a different party. He said it was his understanding that a design plan would not carry over to the subsequent owner. Holecek said a covenant could be placed on the land through a Conditional Zoning Agreement that would be binding on any subsequent purchasers or successors. She said it would be recorded so that subsequent owners would be aware of it and would have to abide by it. Holecek said the City can attach such a covenant and make it binding. Gruca said the current RM-12 zoned area contains a church and a duplex. He said that any development plan should not only address pedestrian safety, but also the volume and safety of traffic. Gruca said there are 13,000 cars going by this area every day, and it is already a dangerous place. He added that another issue would be where the extra cars would be parked. Supple asked Gruca his reason for opposing the deferral of this item. Gruca said the rezoning of this property has been going on since July 11 and this was the fourth time he and his neighbors have attended a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting regarding this issue. He added that the issues that were raised with the previous application are exactly the same as those raised with the current application. Gruca said he thought someone interested in this development would have planned ahead better and come up with answers beyond the response that since the street is already busy, why not have more cars there. He said he would return to more meetings if necessary. Gruca said he did not think there would be any cutting of curbs onto Benton Street that would cure the concerns raised by his neighbors and himself. Mick Walker 1840 Kathlin Drive, said Westgate Street is also a very busy street. He said that would create an additional problem, if cars were using that road and it would exacerbate an already difficult situation. Paul Hoherz, 724 Wheaton Road, asked how many children would come into the area from that development, percentage-wise. He said Horn School is full, as is Roosevelt. Starr said that is a school district issue that the Commission does not deal with. Holecek said it is impossible to determine how many children there would be, and it could not be restricted. Hoherz said a higher density would be more likely to have more children, and it would be a concern to him where they would go to school. Bovbjerg said this is a constant problem because there is almost no way to predict who will go to which school. She said the temporary buildings are a response to that problem. Hoherz said he would prefer this be developed at the lowest density possible. John Rummelhart, 232 South Summit Street, said .a situation like this gives the Commission an opportunity to consider how they can relieve Iowa City taxpayers. He said the cheapest way to keep taxes at a reasonable level is to get more people into Iowa City, which would include increasing density in some places. Rummelhart said he did not know what the tax base is on the property but would like to know what it could be at the medium and higher densities. He assumed that would be a substantial amount of money. Rummelhart added that this is within Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 13 Iowa City and would not require additional infrastructure. He said the cost tradeoff is significant on a tax base basis. Rummelhart said this was food for thought for this application and upcoming applications. Gibson said Rummelhart's argument was entirely based on taxation. Gibson asked if the quality of life in the community, e.g. the way the City functions, the way the streets operate, is of any value to Rummelhart or if taxes should be the only basis for decision making. Rummelhart said the quality of life items are important, but it is up to the Commission to decide to what degree the tradeoff is worth it. He said he did not know how to incrementally say what the tradeoff would be with a higher density. Rummelhart said the City has the services in places in existing areas and if the tax base can be increased without the detriment, it should be examined. Mick Walker, 1840 Kathlin Drive, said he has been coming to Commission meetings for five or six weeks and the staff report has not changed with the change of densities. He said he is questioning why they have to go on another two weeks when staff's opinion has not changed from day one. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Supple moved to defer to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of September 4, 1997, REZ97-0013, an application submitted by Brad Houser, on behalf of property owner University Baptist Church, to rezone 3.09 acres located at 1850 W. Benton Street from Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-12) to Medium Density Multi-family Residential (RM-20). The motion died for lack of a second. MOTION: Gibson moved to approve REZ97-0013, an application submitted by Brad Houser, on behalf of property owners University Baptist Church, to rezone 3.09 acres located at 1850 W. Benton Street from Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-12) to Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-20). Bovbjerg seconded the motion. Supple said it has been the Commission's policy to defer when the applicant requests it. She said it concerns her that the Commission is deviating from the policy and the courtesy. Supple stated that she will be voting no on this issue, because she is strongly opposed to large parcels of high density. She said this already constitutes a very large parcel. Supple said she does not believe it would be appropriate to rezone this, and she was loath to approve anything that would put another access onto Benton Street. Gibson said this is a rezoning issue, and it has not yet been discussed on the basis of the substantive issue of rezoning. He said it is not reasonable to keep deferring this until there is a substantive discussion of the issue. Gibson said he would vote against the application. He said that since he has been on the Commission, it has attempted to deal with three applications on Benton Street. Gibson said that with each of these three applications, it was discussed whether or not the development should even occur because of the high traffic volume on Benton Street. He said the Commission had little choice but to go along with the developments because they were all in order. Gibson said there is not much the Commission can do about development occurring to the west that will use Benton Street. He said, however, the Commission is able to deny increasing densities on existing pockets of land on Benton Street. He added that there is no compelling reason to increase the density on this property. Bovbjerg said she is not in favor of increasing the density on this property. She said the peripheral issues of traffic and other considerations show the wisdom of keeping the zoning at RM-12, and she is not convinced that the requested rezoning would serve the public. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 14 Starr said he would be voting no on this item as he sees no compelling reason to increase the density for this property. He said this is a good buffer with an RM-12 zone next to an RS-5 zone and an RS-5 zone across the street. Starr said the property seems appropriately zoned as it is, and it is the role of the Commission to make those kinds of decisions. As far as services already being available on the property and increasing the tax base, Starr said he agreed that services were already there, but said that services also include transportation. He said the infrastructure is rapidly becoming overburdened in that area. Starr said increasing the zoning would be doing a disservice to the community by overtaxing the infrastructure. Ehrhardt said she would also be voting no. She said the negative consequences to the neighborhood far outweigh any financial gain to a few individuals and a possible loss of tax revenue. The motion was denied on a vote of 0-7. MOTION: Gibson moved to deny REZ97-0013, an application submitted by Brad Houser, on behalf of property owner University Baptist Church, to rezone 3.09 acres located at 1850 W. Benton Street from Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-'12) to Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-20). Bovbjerg seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. REZONING/DEVELOPMENT ITEM: REZ97-0012 & SUB97-0016. Public discussion of an application submitted by Village Partners to rezone 3.63 acres located east of Somerset Lane and south of Wellington Drive from Low Density Single-Family Residential Zone (RS-5) to Planned Development Housing Overlay Zone (OPDH-5) and for preliminary plat approval of Village Green Part Fifteen, a 36.75 acre, 1-lot residential subdivision with 3 outlots. (45-day limitation period expires August 31, 1997) Miklo said staff recommends approval of the rezoning to Planned Development and approval of the subdivision. He said that even though the entire 36 acres is being subdivided, only a small portion of it is being developed at this time. Miklo said the development calls for 16 townhouse- style units. He said it is in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and is in character with the surrounding residential development. Miklo added that the plat, as submitted, is in technical compliance. Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Supple moved to approve REZ97-0012 & SUB97-0016, an application submitted by Village Partners to rezone 3.63 acres located east of Somerset Lane and south of Wellington Drive from Low Density Single-Family Residential Zone (RS-5) to Planned Development Overlay Zone (OPDH-5), and a preliminary plat of Village Green Part Fifteen, a 36.75 acre, 1-lot residential subdivision with 3 outlots. Shive seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 15 ANNEXATION/REZONING ITEM: ANN97-0001 & REZ97-0009. Public discussion of a City initiated application to annex approximately 84 acres located between U.S. Highway 218 and Iowa Highway 921 and to rezone approximately 50 acres to Public (P), and approximately 34 acres to General Industrial (I-1). Miklo said this property includes Ryerson's Woods, a City Park, the right-of-way of Highway 921 and the CRANDIC Railroad, and a private parcel owned by John and Kristin Rummelhart. In order to annex the City-owned property, Miklo said it would have to be made contiguous to the City, which is the reason for annexing the right-of-way. He said in order to do that, the City of Hills would need to sever that portion of the right-of-way from its City limits, and staff has had discussions with them regarding that process. In terms of the private property, Miklo said the property owners asked as a condition of annexation that the City not require that the property hook into the City's water or sewer system for 30 years, unless for some reason the private septic system and well fail and are not able to be repaired to receive Health Department approval. Miklo said staff is in agreement with that condition, and a legal document specifying that will need to be drawn up. He said staff is recommending approval. Supple asked if the agreement was meant to be for 30 years. Miklo said staff originally suggested 10 years, and the property owner requested that it be 30 years. He said the property would have the opportunity to hook into the City system voluntarily if it were adjacent. Miklo said this agreement has not yet been finalized. Supple asked about the agreement with Hills. Miklo responded that there is not a need for an agreement with Hills, but that Hills would have to sever the property. He said there have been discussions regarding starting that process. Bovbjerg asked if the application would wait for this severance before a City Council vote. Starr asked if this would make the application subject to that severance. Miklo said that technically the City could not annex this land until it was severed by Hills. Public discussion: John Rummelhart, 232 South Summit Street, said he bought the piece of property in the county because he is averse to City property taxes. He said he is opposed to this application, although he is in discussion with the City to salvage what he can, if forced to annex. Rummelhart asked what the real reason was for this annexation. Miklo said the reason is to annex Ryerson's Woods, which is a City park. He stated that it is City policy to annex City properties just as the Water Plant and the South Wastewater Treatment Plant were annexed. Miklo showed the long- range growth boundary for the City, as stated in the Comprehensive Plan, on a map and said the City will voluntarily annex properties within that area. He said if anyone approached the City about annexing in that area, the City would analyze the request. Rummelhart asked if the City is attempting to look at those areas that will voluntarily annex in that entire area. Miklo said the long-range growth policy includes an area he showed on the map as being within the City sanitary sewer service area. Rummelhart asked if the owners of the larger parcels of land have been approached for annexation. Miklo said they have not, because the City is not planning to annex them immediately. Rummelhart asked why the City was in a hurry to annex the park land at this time. Miklo said there is not a rush to do this, but it is City property and it is being proposed for Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 16 annexation at this time. Rummelhart asked how long the City has owned the park and how long it has been improved. Miklo said he did not know how long it has been improved, but the City has owned the park for some time. Rummelhart said there were flaws in the staff report. He said there are two items concerning the Comprehensive Plan, one stating that the annexation of land into the City is appropriate when it is within the long-range growth area of the City. He asked how many acres there are in the long- range growth area of the City. He said there are a lot more acres than this in a lot of different areas, and Miklo agreed. Rummelhart said the staff report says the annexation of the property will not result in an undue financial burden to the City. He said that might be true, but the burden would be on him. Starr asked where the flaws were in the analysis. He said these two items are part of the City- approved Comprehensive Plan. Rummelhart said the flaw was in the language, in that there are tons of long-range growth acres in the City, and the financial burden to the City remains to be seen. He said the report also says sanitary services are not available at this time, but with the completion of the Willow Creek trunk sewer, there will be the possibility of providing sanitary services to the annexed property. Rummelhart said the statement concludes by saying a lift station may be necessary. He said that this would be a big deal to him, because he would be paying for it. Miklo said staff is not proposing a lift station at this time. Starr said the City is also not proposing that the infrastructure be put in. Rummelhart asked why the property had to be annexed. He asked why the property could not be left until there was more of a demand for it, when some real ground would come in on the same annexation. Rummelhart said he did not want to be annexed, because it would cost him and his tenants more money. Starr asked how Ryerson's Woods could be developed as a City park if it is not City property. Miklo said the City owns the property, although it is not within the City's boundaries. It is under the County's jurisdiction. Rummelhart said the park could easily continue to stay that way. He said it is used generally as a nature preserve with a trails system. Rummelhart said Ehrhardt had asked at the last meeting what the consequences would be if this were not annexed. Miklo had responded that there is no problem immediately. Rummelhart stated that if it isn't broken, why fix it. He said the last minutes stated that the City has more confidence in its own public sewer facilities. Rummelhart said that was fine for the City, but not for him. He said he does not have faith in the City facilities when he gets his water bills. Rummelhart said he is still negotiating with staff on an agreement. He said he did not know where the ten-year proposal came from. He said he bought the property specifically because it was not within the City of Iowa City, and he would like to keep it that way. Starr asked Rummelhart how long he has owned the property and if it was within the City's growth area. Rummelhart said he has owned the property less than a year, and it was within the growth area when he bought it. Bovbjerg said the staff report discusses not leaving a piece of property an island. She said Ryerson's Woods cannot be an island and that is why the umbilicus comes down the highway. Miklo confirmed this. Bovbjerg asked if the City property came down the highway and did not incorporate Rummelhart's property if that would make Rummelhart's property an island. Miklo said that was correct. He said another reason to annex the right-of-way would be to avoid problems with who would enforce the motor vehicle ordinances there. Miklo said this is a State highway so the Department of Transportation would maintain it. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 17 Ehrhardt asked about the process if the Rummelharts refused an agreement with the City. Miklo said if Rummelhart refuses, he can voice his concerns to the City Council and also to the City Development Board. Robert Wolf, 3732 Humminqbird Lane S.E., said he owns 126 acres abutting this annexation and asked to be put on the mailing list regarding this annexation. He said he owns over 2,000 feet of frontage on Highway 921, and his property was zoned Highway Commercial. He asked why this would be zoned I-1. Miklo responded that Wolf's zoning was in the County, and the City annexation and rezoning would not affect the zoning of Wolf's property. Wolf asked if the grand plan to annex 500 or 600 acres would affect his ability to maintain his existing zoning. Miklo said if eventually Wolf's property were annexed, the City would look at what the appropriate zoning is at that time. He added that staff is in the process of doing an area study for the Comprehensive Plan looking at everything south of Highway 6 and west of the river. Miklo said that someday the I-1 zoning that is east of Highway 921 may change, but given that the adjacent properties are currently zoned I-1, the zoning ordinance requires that the right-of-way be zoned as the adjacent property is. Wolf asked if the City is dealing with half of the highway. Miklo said the City would annex the entire right-of-way. Wolf asked if the City will be providing benefits for the part of the property that is already in the City, e.g. Russell's Salvage and Ace Auto Repair. Miklo said they do not currently have City sewer and water. He said with the construction of the Willow Creek sewer line and a lift station, it would be possible to provide them with these services. Miklo added that the lift station would probably be put in at the expense of one of those property owners, if they wanted to do so. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to approve ANN97-0001 & REZ97-0009, a City-initiated application to annex approximately 84 acres located between U.S. Highway 218 and Iowa Highway 921 and to rezone approximately 50 acres to Public (P), and approximately 34 acres to General Industrial (I-1). Supple seconded the motion. Starr asked how the Highway Commercial zone compared to the General Industrial City zone. Miklo said he thought the Highway Commercial in the County was similar to the City's C1-1 zone, a quasi-industrial, commercial zone. Chait asked if the property abutting the Rummelhart property to the north, east, and south is in the City. Miklo confirmed this. Bovbjerg asked what the status of this would be if the Rummelharts do not agree to be voluntarily annexed. Miklo said the City would have the ability, under State Code, to annex his property over his objections, without offering the benefit of any agreement. He said that would be up to City Council, but the State Code says the City can involuntarily annex land that is less than 20% of the area it is annexing. In order to avoid creating an island, Miklo said the purpose of the agreement was to remove any objections to being annexed, and said staff would need to have further discussion with Rummelhart. Ehrhardt asked why the Rummelhart property was not annexed when the surrounding property was. Miklo did not know; he said that annexation occurred in the late 70s or early 80s. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 18 DEVELOPMENT ITEMS: SUB97-0012. Public discussion of an application submitted by Arlington LC for preliminary plat approval of Windsor Ridge, Parts Nine through Fourteen, a 80.1 acre, 127-1ot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of Arlington Drive and Barrington Road. (45-day limitation period waived to August 21, 1997) Kugler said a revised plat has been submitted that meets all the technical requirements and is ready to be voted on. He said the plat includes an outlot for a potential sidewalk connection between Sheffield Place and Taft Avenue at such time that Taft Avenue is rebuilt. Kugler said there is also a note on the plat referring to the Sensitive Areas Site Plan and Landscaping Plan, which will be a recorded document, indicating that a row of evergreen trees will be planted along the rear of the lots backing to Taft Avenue, outside of the 20-foot temporary construction easement that is being platted for the construction of Taft Avenue. Kugler said the trees will provide a buffer in that area. Kugler said there is a wetland on the property and showed the location on a map. He said the wetland is being disturbed, and it is a jurisdictional wetland as defined by the U.S. Army Corps o Engineers. Kugler said it is being disturbed by the extension of both the storm sewer and a sanitary sewer line that will come down from Court Street. Kugler said there has been development activity there in the past, and there is an existing sanitary sewer there, which is the reason the line hasto come to that point. He said both of these activities will be permitted by the Corps under a nationwide permit and will affect less than an acre of wetland and are therefore exempt from the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Kugler said no rezoning is required at this time, because no other development activities will occur within 150 feet of the wetland. He added that Outlot L is developed, the wetland, which is partially on the property, will require a Sensitive Areas rezoning. Kugler said staff recommends that the City not commit to accepting Outlot K. He said the applicant is proposing a pond, but the City does not have details on the design of the pond, including what kind of maintenance would be required. Kugler said until staff gets that information, staff recommends that the City not accept that outlot as public open space. He said there are notes on the plat to that effect. Kugler said there is also a question as to whether the construction of the pond would comply with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. He said the pond is not an essential public utility, but would be replacing an existing stream corridor with something manmade, for aesthetic reasons. Kugler said staff is recommending that the application be approved, subject to the approval of a sensitive areas site plan prior to City Council consideration. He said the grading plan has been approved, and the Sensitive Areas Site Plan has been approved by Public Works, but not by HIS yet. Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Shive moved to approve SUB97-0012, a preliminary plat of Windsor Ridge, Parts Nine through Fourteen, an 80.1 acre, 127-1ot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of Arlington Drive and Barrington Road, subject to approval of a sensitive areas site plan. Gibson seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 19 SUB97-0017. Public discussion of an application submitted by Jim Anderson for preliminary plat approval of Westcott Heights, a 109.6 acre, 47-1ot residential subdivision located on the west side of Prairie du Chien Road, approximately ~,~ mile north of Newport Road. (45-day limitation period expires August 31, 1997) Kugler said the applicant has submitted a request for a deferral. He said the applicant needs to redesign the subdivision somewhat to meet the requirements of the County Health Department and to add the road connection discussed at the Commission's last meeting. Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to defer to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of September 4, 1997, SUB97-0017, an application submitted by Jim Anderson for preliminary plat approval of Westcott Heights, a 109.6 acre, 47-1ot residential subdivision located on the west side of Prairie du Chien Road, approximately ~,4 mile north of Newport Road. Shive seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. CONSIDERATION OF THE AUGUST 7, 1997 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION: Chait moved to approve the minutes of the August 7, 1997 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, as amended. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. OTHER BUSINESS: Miklo reminded the Commission to meet with the City Council on the Peninsula property on September 4 at approximately 5 p.m. He said he would be sending Commission members a map and a location of the meeting place for a tour of the property. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION INFORMATION: Gibson said he wanted to go on record as saying that the deferral process often consists of a lot of useless motions and asked if they were legal and necessary. He said the City Council deferred an item and did it immediately and without any discussion. Holecek said a deferral can be done without public discussion, but there have been instances where there are people present who wish to discuss the application. She said the Commission has done it three ways: 1) to have discussion on the merits, 2) to have discussion on the deferral, and 3) to have no discussion whatsoever and defer. She added that the third method was not used very often. Gibson said he would like to discuss the process at an informal meeting to see if it could be streamlined, Starr reminded Commission members that there would be no informal meeting on September 1. Planning & Zoning Commission Minutes August 21, 1997 Page 20 The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m. Lea Supple, Secretary Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte g:\d ata\wpda~a~pdadmin~mins~&z0821 .doc RIVERFRONT AND NATURAL AREAS COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1997- 5:30 P.M. IOWA CITY CIVIC CENTER, LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Courtney Daniels, Tom Riley, David Thayer, Jim Pugh, Larry Wilson, Richard Hoppin, Lori Goetsch, Ken Fearing MEMBERS ABSENT: Catherine Pugh, Gretchen Grimm, Joe Kral STAFF PRESENT: Neumann, Dulceak OTHERS PRESENT: Julie Tallman CALL TO ORDER Daniels called the meeting to order at 5:40 P.M. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA J. Pugh asked about plans for a ice rink. Daniels described the current situation with the clubs caring for the frozen ponds and the plans for a rink. Fearing said the ponds are used for hockey and skating. J. Pugh questioned the closing of the Hills Access Campground area. The letter and plan for the marker at Ryerson's Woods are on the way from Miller Monuments. He added that the group should start thinking about the issue of Amtrak coming to Iowa City. Daniels said she wanted more information about other groups' meeting before hand. Wilson mentioned the Council information was important too. Daniels listed Planning and Zoning and others that would be helpful. Neumann said getting on the mailing lists was possible. Fearing suggested adding Hickory Hills as a discussion topic. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE JUNE 18, 1997 MEETING J. Pugh made corrections to page 1 and questioned the term "pockets" from page 4. Neumann explained detention pockets and clarified the section. J. Pugh commented on bicycle safety issues. Daniels commented that signaling was an issue at the Non-motorized vehicle meetings. Wilson said that campus was dealing with the signaling issue too. He added that universal signals work well when used. Fearing said bells and verbal signaling when passing works too. Daniels said the Commission needs to pursue their interest in this issue with the Council, BIC, and other likewise interested groups. Wilson added that speed of bikes is also an issue. Daniels asked Wilson to keep the Commission informed of the developments on Campus and pointed out that the future mixed use of the trails might require a posted protocol. Daniels asked for clarification of the second paragraph of page 2. Goetsch explained how storm sewers can lower the water table. Tallman further explained the effects on the table. MINUTES RIVERFRONT & NATURAL AREAS COMMISSION JULY 16, 1997 PAGE 2 J. Pugh motioned to approve the minutes as amended. Fearing seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. COMMISSION DISCUSSION FEMA'S NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATING SYSTEM. Julie Tallman explained FEMA's rating system and the potential for decreased insurance rates. This effort was tried in the past but was not done. The discounts are based on the City going beyond the minimum education and preventative measures for flooding. The project could result in a 10% discount, $50 per homeowner and $138,000 for the entire community. She has started the research to find out what needs to be done to get the points for the discount. Hoppin said this was attempted in the past. Tallman said it was before the 1993 floods. Wilson suggested she visit again after she has more information on exactly how much work it will take to earn the 10% reduction in rates. Tallman used the FEMA pamphlet to illustrate the way points are tracked and to point out the existing measures that could earn the City points. Fearing pointed out that contour maps already exist. Tallman said they would need 6 months worth of records to enter the program. Daniels questioned the number of points the City could earn for already existing efforts. Tallman said they already have over 500 points in the public awareness area alone. Wilson asked how many points are required before the discount is given. Tallman said 2000 points equals the 10% discount. The potential exists to lower rates up to 45% but that requires a lot of work. Fearing said they earn credit for work done after the flood. Tallman explained the FEMA process and procedures with the discount program. Riley questioned the number of households affected. Tallman said 289 homes have flood insurance in Iowa City currently and the insurance averages $486 a year. Riley asked about the ISO-FEMA connection. Tallman explained the contract between the two entities. Wilson asked about continued compliance requiring more points. Tallman said FEMA will re-evaluate every 3 years and no new points are required. Wilson asked if the cost ratio to benefit would increase over the years. Fearing asked if there were any additional staffing requirements. Tallman said they will not need more staff. Tallman said she would keep the Commission updated on this project. Organize subcommittee to review Iowa City Comprehensive Plan. Daniels said the sub-committee had a lot of information to get through and would make a recommendation to Council after it has all been looked over. Thayer asked for a timeframe. Neumann said the suggestions needed to be made and forwarded before the next RNAC meeting. Fearing said the Parks Commission was given until their next meeting. He commented that the rising average age for Iowa City was not addressed in the plan. Daniels said Thayer, J. Pugh and herself would review the documents. J. Pugh said it was difficult to have an opinion yet since there was so much information. He added that the growth of the City's boundaries and the effects on surrounding communities was not addressed. Thayer said the boundaries were MINUTES RIVERFRONT & NATURAL AREAS COMMISSION JULY 16, 1997 PAGE 3 touched on in the discussion of the gravity flow sewers but not specifically in regard to sprawl. Riley questioned the density goals. Thayer said they were not specific in the plan. Daniels said the plan was hard to comprehend since it had so many parts and each was very detailed. The sub-committee would need to develop a statement about the plan soon. Fearing indicated he was already involved in this area on the Parks Commission. Daniels encouraged members to forward their comments to her so they could be included in the statement. Thayer commented that the environmental impacts of new development were discussed but not the damage already done by previous development. Fearing cited the focus on the future as a reason for that omission. Thayer said the impacts continue into the future especially when there is re-development and re-use. Letter supporting timber bridges in NEXTEA legislation. Neumann passed out a copy of the letter to all members present. J. Pugh noted there had been public comment in the press about this issue. Wilson said the paper did not give a clear story. Riley questioned Harkin's role. J. Pugh said he was on the Surface and Transportation Committee which deals with this topic. Report on iowa City Parks and Recreation annual parks tour. Daniels said she missed the Willow Creek part of the tour but found the rest very interesting. She reviewed the tour destinations and highlights of specific areas of interest to RNAC. The tour walked through Ryerson's Woods and the rest was by bus. Fearing said the tour outlined the trails leading to West High and pointed out the use of a recycled timber bridge frame on a trail. J. Pugh said the trees at Ryerson's Woods were doing well. Wilson asked where the Redbuds were planted. J. Pugh described the location. Daniels said the Parks tour was worth taking. RNAC by-laws update. Neumann said this was the last by-law update. He reviewed the changes and the procedure. Daniels commented on the relation of RNAC with Planning and Zoning. J. Pugh questioned Section 6, Attendance at Council meeting. Wilson said it was required if an issue was related to the commission. FY97 year end report. Daniels handed out copies of last years report and a draft of this year's list of proposed activities. She asked for comments and suggestions from the Commission. Wilson added the signage walk of the IRCT and the Campus Lighting Master Plan development meetings. Thayer asked if the Comprehensive Plan would be included. Daniels said that would be in Future Activities. She reviewed the plans for FY98. MINUTES RIVERFRONT & NATURAL AREAS COMMISSION JULY 16, 1997 PAGE 4 Wilson suggested adding development of a comprehensive inventory of all natural and sensitive areas in the Peninsula area worth preserving. Hoppin said the peninsula has been looked over for archeological areas. Daniels asked who did the investigation. Hoppin said it was a person out of Decorah. Wilson said he got information from Yapp about the archeological survey. Riley asked if the City requested the survey. Neumann said Public Works is required to have one done. Daniels reviewed the changes to the report. Wilson suggested adding Arbor Day activities and a focus for the next year. Daniels said it could be a "sensitive area event" and questioned the formation of a creek maintenance program. Neumann said they would have to hear from the engineers before planning any such action. Wilson suggested Ralston Creek as a focus. Riley said that would be a natural area for the community to get involved in. Daniels added the suggestions and reworded the sentence about FIRST involvement. Neumann discussed the involvement with Planning and Zoning, Sensitive Areas and the flood plain permit process. Wilson said an additional meeting would be needed to address those permits. Neumann explained the City is investigating the issue of meetings and timing. Wilson suggested a flagging or notice system that would allow RNAC time to hold a special meeting to review the permit requests. J. Pugh said there would not have to be a quorum to discuss these permits. Neumann said a sub-committee would not be able to send a decision to Council. Wilson said there was a need to increase input in the process. Daniels suggested a sub-committee on sensitive areas. Wilson questioned whether the group was going to continue having issue oriented sub-committees. Thayer asked if this kind of sub-committee would be on-going. Neumann said it could be. RNAC goal setting session Neumann said the goals would be listed on the final draft of the year end report. Daniels said they may need a special session in September. OTHER BUSINESS J. Pugh said he would investigate the Hills Campground Park issue. Fearing commented that the DOT was given money for trails today. Daniels passed out a flyer for the Hickory Hills Trails Planning meeting on the 22nd. Wilson said the results of J. Pugh's investigation should be on the next agenda. Riley commented that the EIk's Club situation will go to arbitration. Daniels said they will continue to be involved with that issue. ADJOURNMENT J. Pugh motioned to adjourn at 7:05 PM and Fearing seconded. The motion carried unanimously. , ppdadmin\mins\rnac0716.doc MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY JULY 17, 1997 - 5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY TRANSIT FACILITY SE? O2 1997 MEMBERS PRESENT: Howard Horan, Richard Blum, John Penick Rick Mascari MEMBERS ABSENT: Pat Foster STAFF PRESENT: Eleanor Dilkes, Ron O'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Vice-Chairperson Blum called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. quorum was present° A APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the June 12, 1997, meeting were approved as submitted° AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Mascari made a motion to approve the bills° Penick seconded the motion. Mascari asked about a bill for runway repairs. O'Neil said three drain intakes were replaced on Runway 06/24. The motion was approved 3 - 0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: No comments were received. PUBLIC HEARING - SE T-HANGER PLANS: Blum opened the public hearing at 5:50 p.m. John Goree, who lives northwest of the Airport, said he would not be in favor of building any more hangars if it would increase the number of planes based at the Airport. Blum closed the public hearing at 5:56 p.m. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. ACSG project - Greg Bridget presented a map, with parcel numbers, showing all the parcels involved in the land acquisition and easement project. Appraisals have been ordered on several of the parcels, including Mrs. Fitzgarrald's, the Schintler property and the Schellin property. Files are being set up for all the properties. An informational meeting is scheduled for July 22, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for tenants and property owners involved in the project. Approximately 90 meeting notices were sent. b. North commercial area - Mascari said one of the main issues to resolve is whether or not the area would include space for the Public Works building. O'Neil said he discussed this project with Mark Schenkelberg from the FAA. Schenkelberg said he wanted to be kept informed about the project but he did not have specifi~ recommendations on how to develop the property. O'Neil said he discussed this area with Chuck Schmadeke from Public Works and with Jim Larew from the Iowa City Science Center. O'Neil said he suggested to them that if they were ready to proceed with their projects, they should make a proposal to the Commission. The Commission could decide if they wanted to treat the projects individually or wait until the entire parcel is developed. Mascari suggested that if Public Works were to locate in this area, the Commission would not be maximizing their income° The developers proposal to the Commission included a percentage of the profits. This would be forfeited on the parcel leased to Public Works and the science Center. Penick said there would be an advantage to having Public Works located there because they would construct some of the infrastructure for the area. The Commission discussed the project with Jerry Ambrose, a potential developer. He recommended contacting the school district to see if they are interested in relocating their maintenance shop. This would open up access to the area from the east. Horan said the Commission could indicate where they would like to see the Science Center and Public Works locate and then do an RFP on the rest of the property. O'Neil said the Science Center and PW could be located on the southern 30% of the property and the rest of the 54 acres could be offered for development. This would leave the most desirable area for commercial development. Penick said he would like to see the difference in cost between constructing the PW site in the north area as opposed to the south area. Blum said he and Mascari will meet with Schmadeke and the City Manager to discuss the project in more detail. He will also contact Jan Monroe, the planning supervisor for the FAA, to get his views on how the property could be developed. Blum said a letter of interest will be sent to potential developers after information is collected from the FAA and PW. A special meeting will be scheduled as soon as information is available. o. Airport Aircraft Emergency Plan - Blum said he would like to move this item to the end of the agenda. There were no objections. He said he would like to discuss items (d) and (e) together as it relates to Mr. Goree's memo° d. Runway 12/30 - Modifications request - Mr. Goree requested the Commission modify or close Runway 12/30 so airplanes would not fly over his house. He thought the Airport was built to close to residential areas. Blum said a feasibility study was conducted in 1992 to determine if the Airport should be moved because the City was growing around the Airport. ~There were several public meetings, but there was little input from City residents. The Commission decided it would be best to see if a different site was available. That decision was not supported by the City Council. : Mascari asked Goree if his realtor informed him that he was buying a house near an airport ~ Goree said no but he was aware there was an airport nearby. He said it would not have made any difference because he wanted to live in that neighborhood for other reasons. Goree thought the Airport could get by on two runways. Penick said the Master Plan called for eliminating one runway. Runway 17/35 will be closed when it can no longer be safely maintained. He said that although it would be safer to have three runways, it is not going to be financially feasible to maintain all three runways° Runway 17/35 was chosen for closure because of wind coverage of the other two runways and because of the overall condition of the runway. Mascari suggested the Commission request VASI or PAPI lights be installed on 12/30. This would indicate to the pilots the correct glide slope to follow in landing. This would not change the altitude and noise on departure. Another option would be to move the VASI lights from 17/35 when that runway is closed. e. Southeast T-hangar building - O'Neil said on July 15, the City Council formally approved the hangar project. Horan made a motion for a resolution to accept the specifications as presented at the public hearing and proceed with advertising for bids for the southeast T-hangar building. Mascari seconded the motion. There was some discussion concerning adding additional lighting and outlets in the hangars. At roll call.vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Foster being absent. f. Five-year Business Plan - O'Neil said he and Horan would work on the plan and it would be discussed at a future meeting. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: No items were presented. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: No items were discussed. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: Dilkes said Iowa City Flying Service filed a law suit concerning damage to one of their aircraft. This claim was previously reviewed by the insurance companies for both sides and ICFS's insurance company dropped their claim against the Airport. O'Neil said a picture ad for the north commercial area would cost approximately $ 140.00 in the Press Citizen and $ 394.00 in the C. R. Gazette. A temporary tower will be in effect on August 24 for the fly ix breakfast. O'Neil conducted some training for the Fire Department on June 17, 18, and 19 concerning the fire and rescue response needs of the Airport. Additional training was discussed. O'Neil said on July 16th, the Council approved the Iowa River Trails project from Burlington Street to Napoleon Park. He will send. a memo to the Planning Department reminding them that an airspace study will have to be conducted for the section of trail that goes through the RPZ for Runway 24. O'Neil is on the steering committee for the FAA Central Region AIP annual conference in Kansas City. He asked the Commission to forward any ideas they had for the conference to him. O'Neil said Jones, from ICFS, wanted the Commission to make some improvements to the T-hangars and the United hangar° The Commission instructed O'Neil to have Jones to provide costs for the improvements he wanted to make and they would discuss the plan with him° SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular meeting is scheduled for August 21, 1997, at 5:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m. Dick Blum, Vice-Chairperson MINUTES BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1997 - 4:30 P.M. CITY CIVIC CENTER-COUNCIL CHAMBERS PREU ,NAR¥ Subject to Approval MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Bender, Kate Corcoran, Patricia Eckhardt, MEMBERS ABSENT: Lowell Brandt, Bill Haigh STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Holecek, Melody Rockwell, Traci Howard CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Eckhardt called the meeting to order at 4:36 p.m. ROLL CALL: Bender, Corcoran and Eckhardt were present for the roll call. CONSIDERATION OF THE JULY 30, 1997, BOARD MINUTES: Corcoran moved to approve the meeting minutes as submitted, Bender seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 3-0. SPECIAL EXCEPTION ITEMS: EXC97-0018. Public hearing on an application submitted by Parkview Evangelical Free Church for a special exception to permit an expansion of a religious institution for property located in the Low Density Single-Family Residential (RS-5) zone at 15 Foster Road. Rockwell said the applicant has requested deferral .of the item to the Board's September 10, 1997, meeting. She said the applicant is in the process of redesigning the parking area so it will be more acceptable to the surrounding neighbors; the applicant has requested more time to get information together to present 'to the Board. MOTION: Corcoran moved to defer EXC97-0018, a special exception submitted by Parkview Evangelical Free Church, to the Board's September 10, 1997, meeting. Bender seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 3-0. EXC97-0020. Public hearing on an application submitted by Jim Stetzel, on behalf of property owners Clark and JoAnn Stetzel, for a special exception to permit construction of elder congregate housing on Lots 9-14 of Longfellow Manor Subdivision for property located in the Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS-8) zone on Longfellow Place. Rockwell said the applicant has requested deferral of the item. She said the applicant has decided to concentrate on building elder congregate residences on the lots approved at the July 30, 1997, Board meeting. She said the applicant may ask the Board to consider elder congregate housing on Lots 9-14 at the Board's September or October meetings, but that is not certain. Therefore, staff requests that the Board defer the item indefinitely, and staff will put the item back on the agenda when it is ready for the Board's consideration. Board of Adjustment August 13, 1997 Page 2 MOTION: Corcoran moved that EXC97-0020, a special exception to permit elder congregate housing on Lots 9-14 of the Longfellow Manor Subdivision, be deferred indefinitely. Bender seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 3-0. VARIANCE ITEM: VAR97-0004. Public hearing on an application submitted by John and Diana Phipps, on behalf of property owner Gamma Omicron House Corporation of Sigma Alpha Mu, for a density variance to permit a fraternity house to be converted into a rooming house for 30 residents for property located in the Neighborhood Conservation Residential (RNC-20) zone at 932 E. College Street. Rockwell said the applicants have submitted a letter requesting deferral of the item. Holecek noted that since the item was advertised on the agenda and the deferral request is a last minute one, people in the audience wishing to comment on the item could do so. Public hearing. Dianna Phipps, applicant, said she is requesting that the item be deferred so there is more time to gather information and present the proposal more clearly. Corcoran noted that the floor plans on the second and third floors don't reflect the actual number of bathrooms that the Phipps are planning, or the number of persons per room, and asked Phipps how they were going to address that. Phipps said the floor area sketches were of suite-type rooms where there would be a shared bathroom between each room, but they have decided not to do that. She said there is an existing bathroom on each floor, and they will convert an existing room on each floor into a bathroom so there will be two bathrooms on each floor. Corcoran said since the main issue is the density, she would like to have an idea of how many women would be living in each room. Phipps said they are having clearer drawings made that will better answer that question. Corcoran suggested showing how the furnishings will be arranged in each room to give a better idea of possible density. Phipps said she will have some information about that in the near future. Eckhardt said the letter of deferral indicates that the Phipps were put off by city staff's negative recommendation. She said the Board respects staff's research, but the Board is not a rubber stamp. She asked if the Phipps really felt it was necessary to defer. Phipps said this process has been a learning one for her and her husband. She said they have a clearer view of the process now, and would feel more comfortable having the item deferred so they can refine the numbers and make a stronger case for the density level they have requested. Meg Baron, 115 South Summit Street, said she owns the two lots directly behind the fraternity house. She said she would like to see something good happen to the property, but she is concerned about parking availability for all the residents. She said the current parking in the area is very tight, and 30 or more extra cars would only Board of Adjustment August 13, 1997 Page 3 make it worse. She said if there was a way around the parking issue, she did not see a problem with 30 people living in the house. Bender asked how many people lived in the fraternity house when it was a fraternity. Rockwell said the University of Iowa had indicated to Diana Phipps that it was about 35-36 people on average. Hilary Sale, 1016 E. College Street, said she would be thrilled if something good happened to the fraternity house, but she echoes the parking concern. She said she would reserve most of her comments until the application is more fully developed, but she did want to ask a few procedural questions. She asked if there would be an opportunity at the next hearing to speak substantively about the item. Eckhardt said yes. Sale asked what types of conditions could be put on a variance should it be granted. Rockwell said that staff has recommended that if the Board approves the variance, the variance approval for 30 residents be tied to the Phipps' management and business plan. If they were to. sell the business, the variance would no longer be in effect. Sale asked what would happen if the Phipps moved out of the building. She said that part of the project's attractiveness is that the Phipps intend to live in the building with the residents under the terms of the condition. Rockwell said the Phipps would need to be resident managers. She noted it would be possible for the Phipps to ask for an amendment to the variance in the future if they wanted to move out of the building. Rockwell said in that circumstance, everyone in the neighborhood would be notified about the hearing on the proposed variance amendment. Sale asked if a parking proposal would be considered part of the Phipps' business plan. Rockwell said requiring the residents to use off-site parking could be a condition for variance approval, but it would be difficult to enforce. Holecek said the condition could be that the property owners maintain off-site spaces for their residents. Public hearing closed. MOTION: Corcoran moved to defer VAR97-0004, a variance to permit a fraternity house to be converted into a rooming house for 30 residents, to the September 10, 1997, Board meeting. Bender seconded the motion. Bender said she would like better floor plans for the residential areas of the house. She said although parking is currently addressed in the applicants' business plan, she hoped by the September 10, 1997, meeting that the location of some off-site parking spaces would be discussed. Bender said she is very impressed with the. overall business plan and the idea. She said it would be a good use for a neglected property. She said she hoped the Phipps would use the deferral time to answer some of these concerns, including explaining how some of the monetary estimates were calculated, and noting the local contractors and designers who are working with them. Board of Adjustment August 13, 1997 Page 4 Eckhardt said she was surprised with some of the numbers submitted by the applicants, and would like a more thorough explanation. She noted that the neighbors interested in this project care about the neighborhood, and it was good of the Phipps to have an open house and invite the neighbors to keep everyone informed. The motion to defer carried by a vote of 3-0. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION: There was none. OTHER: Corcoran suggested that Brandt take a tour of the fraternity house before 'the September 10, 1997, Board meeting, because she said it had helped her better understand the request. Rockwell said she would arrange with the Phipps for Brandt to tour the fraternity house. She noted that Haigh will not be voting on the item, because he has stated he has a conflict of interest. ADJOURNMENT: Corcoran moved to adjourn the meeting. Bender seconded the motion. The motion carried by a 3-0 vote, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Minutes submitted by Tra¢i Howard. Patricia Eckhardt, Chair M~10CI~ I~'~-w~l~ ~ecreta ry ppdadmin\mins\boaS-13.doc SIGN IN SHEET 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1997 - 4:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS Name Address MINUTES IOWA CITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1997 CIVIC CENTER LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM Subject to Approval MEMBERS PRESENT: Lars Anderson, Ann Cairns, Frank Gersh, Betty Kelly, Ruedi Kuenzli, Pam Michaud, Michael Pugh, John Shaw, Michaelanne Widness MEMBERS ABSENT: Doris Malkmus STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler, Anne Schulte CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Shaw called the meeting to order at 5:38 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. REVIEW OF PROPOSALS FOR THE LONGFELLOW NEIGHBORHOOD. PHASE II SURVEY: Kugler said proposals were received from both Molly Naumann and Jan Nash. He added that Nash had informed him that her proposal was not a serious one but was done so that the Commission could meet its state requirements. Kugler said the actual requirement was for the Commission to solicit three bids. He said he sent three RFPs out and the Commission was therefore on record as having solicited the three bids. Kugler said the proposal from Naumann was in line with the Commission's budget. He said the principal investigator's cost should be based on 112 hours and not 152 hours, although the dollar amount shown was correct. Kelly asked if there would be any difficulty resulting from not surveying garages. Kugler said he would mention that issue to Naumann, but he thought she was aware of it because she had made comments about significant outbuildings on the site sheets. Shaw said the offer of an intern contributing ten hours a week is requested in the proposal, as well as a mention of possible volunteers. He said he was concerned that this would leave the proposal open-ended. Kugler said that Naumann sent out a survey form to residents during Phase I that was very helpful to her. He said volunteers are solicited at the first neighborhood meeting, but he did not think Naumann would be upset if there were no volunteers. Kugler said it is sometimes easier for consultants to work on their own. Widness asked if volunteers have been used in the past. Kugler said some residents have done research work on their own homes, but that the information has to be double-checked. There may be other opportunities to contribute, also. Shaw said the Commission should tighten up some of the things in the contract so that the Commission has a better definition of its expectations. He said he was concerned about the language in the RFP on page 2, second to last paragraph that reads, "will identify individual properties which are potentially eligible for National Register designation..." Shaw said that the workload could be either heavy or light depending on how many such properties are identified. Kugler said he did not necessarily think the sentence was open-ended. Shaw said the phrase implies that if the recommendation is made, then the level of work increases. He said he was concerned that this is not a good definition of the actual involvement and time commitment on the part of Naumann. Shaw said it could be open depending on how many districts would be 3o67 Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 2 identified. Kugler said the decision regarding whether a structure is contributing or non-contribut- ing occurs before the decision on an historic district is made. Kelly asked if Shaw was concerned that after the properties are identified there will have to be another proposal and another consultant for that work. Shaw said he was but felt that the specifics could be tightened up in the contract language. Kugler said he would keep that in mind when the contract is written and would discuss it further with Shaw. Kelly said there is a lot of competition now for funding so that, when looking at proposals, agencies would wonder why an extra phase would be necessary for some of these projects. Shaw said it is important to have a definition for the consultant and a clear understanding of the extent of their involvement. Shaw said the next step is to make a decision about the proposals. 'Kelly asked if a decision could be made with the unclear language. Shaw said the proposals are responses to the scope of work presented in the RFPs. He said the vague areas can be cleaned up with the contract language or can be discussed with the consultant to make sure she is aware of expectations. Kugler said it is really a matter of taking things that are understood and putting them down in writing. He added that if a contract cannot be worked out, the Commission can consider the other proposal or seek out more. MOTION: Kuenzli moved to accept Molly Naumann's proposal for the Longfellow Neighborhood, Phase II, Survey. Widness seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. ORIGINAL TOWN PLAT SURVEY, PHASE I: Shaw and Kugler said they had both attended the neighborhood meeting at the Senior Center Library. Shaw said the presentation was a little different than the one Nash had given at the Commission's special meeting, in that she discussed other structures in the Original Town Plat Survey area. He said the focus was still on folk architecture. Kugler said there were 15 people at the meeting and that everyone was generally supportive. He said there were questions about what effect being on the National Register would have. Kugler said one person had questions about the historical aspects of the neighborhood. Shaw said the people there were more interested in the history aspect than their property rights. Kuenzli said he still had concerns about the draft report and the focus on folk architecture as well as the narrow recommendations for historic districts, He asked if anyone had spoken with Nash since the last meeting. Kelly said she spoke with Nash and that Nash is not convinced there is a larger historic district there. Shaw said he and Kugler and Bob Miklo would be having a meeting with Nash the next morning. He said they planned to talk about some of the issues that had been raised and the nature of the report. Shaw said they would inform Nash that the report would have to have very complete site inventory forms to fill in some of the gaps and to use as building blocks toward the overall report on the whole area. He said they would mention some of the Commission's concerns regarding the strong concentration on architectural matters and the lack of information on historic issues and historic personages and also the lack of information on how the neighborhood developed. Shaw said they would let her know that the report should not include anything that could be used as ammunition at a later time by someone opposed to historic districts. Kuenzli said they should tell Nash that the Commission expects attention to other architectural dimensions besides folk architecture. Shaw stated that the Commission did have a special Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 3 meeting at which Nash informed the Commission of the direction her report would be taking. Shaw said this is a good argument for defining the scope of work more clearly in the future. He added that Nash has well-founded arguments to say that she has completed what was asked of her. Shaw said the results may not be what the Commission expected and that Nash certainly took the project in her own direction, but she has completed what she contractually agreed to a large measure. Shaw said there is mention of archival and historic research that is not yet in the report. He said the Commission might have to realize that it probably was not definitive enough in its expectations. Gersh asked what the Commission's response was when Nash talked about the folk architecture. Kelly said the Commission urged her to look further but Nash still went ahead with the folk architecture research. Shaw said that Miklo had a discussion with Nash and she seemed willing to include more historic information in the report. Shaw said Ralph Christian was very supportive of the work done by Nash. Shaw said that Nash's argument was that this is a cumulative document and that the phases build on each other. He said that much of the historic information was already included in the Multiple Property Document that Marlys Svendson did. Kelly asked what percentage folk architecture represents out of the overall structures in the area. Kugler said it was about 21% and that Nash feels this amount is significant. Kugler said the Commission should be concerned about the other information but said there are other opportunities to build the info.rmation in. Shaw said it is the Commission's duty to define its expectations and the Commission also has the right to say this was not what it wanted and ask to move in that direction somewhat. Kuenzli said the suggestion should be to strongly move in that direction, not somewhat. Kuenzli said the RFPs seem quite clear to him. He said he is concerned that after already giving direction as to information in the proposal, the Commission should inform Nash that it does not want an M.A. thesis on folk architecture. Kuenzii said the Commission needs consideration for the other architecture in the other 79% of the properties. Kelly said there is precedent for having gone back to a consultant and informing them that this is not what the Commission wanted. Pugh said there is a difference between what the Commission expects in terms of the discussion and what is expected in terms of the results. He said the criteria in the RFP include an array of factors, not just architecture. Pugh said the Commission had a good basis to say it would like the report to include other factors. He said that, in terms of the conclusions, the Commission should not force any results because the Commission relies on the experts to make the determinations based on their expertise. Pugh said it is important to separate the discussion from the results. Kuenzli said that Nash's report on the College Hill area was too exclusive. He said the area was then split into two districts because of Nash's opinions. Kuenzli said Nash made an issue of leaving out a wonderful building that was not considered a contributing structure and the building was then torn down. Kuenzli said that once there is determined to be a certain percentage of con- tributing structures, there could be many other structures that are not contributing but are still in the historic district. Cairns said that such a structure could become a major contributing structure in the future. Shaw said there are obviously different ways to interpret what is or is not eligible for an historic district. He said viewpoints could be very inclusive or very exclusive and that Nash was rather exclusive in this study. Shaw said that if the Commission is too inclusive, it runs the risk of being less defensible and also making the designations less valid. He said this is one reason for discussing conservation districts. Cairns asked if there were any conservation districts in the City. Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 4 Kugler said there is an ordinance and a definition and there has been a recommendation for a few of them. Shaw said the conservation districts are a major task for the Commission and they have not been defined because the definition will be dependent on the unique qualities of each district. Gersh said the goal is for Nash to include more historical information in the report. He asked if she would get more money for updating the report. Shaw said he felt Nash gave a good piece of work although it was not what the Commission expected. He said she gave a clear warning as to the focus of the report. Gersh asked what would happen if she included the material and the results do not change much. Kugler said this is the third time this area has been surveyed, with the most recent survey occurring about 15 years ago. Shaw said it is important to keep in mind that the Commission has not seen any site evaluation forms yet. Cairns said the forms are done a certain way and are very well defined. Kelly said the analysis could be swayed one way or another depending on the interpretation of the data on the forms. Kugler stated that each form has a section for the preparer to give their evaluation of architectural and historical significance of the building. Shaw said it will be important to have the necessary data to compile all the information when the survey of the entire area is complete. Pugh said the Commission should tell Nash the additional factors to include in her analysis. Cairns said that if Nash, from a scholarly standpoint, does not think the area is suitable for an historic district, then the Commission needs to know why and how the area might be defined as a conservation district. Kugler said this involves a State funded grant with a deadline of July 31, 1997 and that even an extension would not grant much additional time. Kugler said there are three phases for this area, one for each of three different areas and additionally, a fourth phase that would bring all the information together and make recommendations for historic or conservation districts. Shaw said it might be appropriate for the Commission to discuss what the goals of the survey are since it is the Commission's responsibility to tell the consultants what the expectations are. He said much has been defined by the RFPs in the past but they were all very similar and there should now be more input into the RFP content. Pugh said that a request for an evaluation of an area to see if there are districts that are eligible as historic districts either under the City's own ordinance or under the National Register is fairly self-explanatory. Kuenzli said the consultants have followed the plan adopted by the City for historic preservation. He said that the Northside and Goosetown were determined to have precedence because the area was felt to be more threatened. Kuenzli said it was obvious from that plan that an historic or conservation district would be needed in order to preserve what is there. Shaw said the Commission is probably more interested in the conservation report than the scholarly and would like a consultant to be more inclusive rather than scholarly. Kelly said the consultant should examine all three aspects of historic preservation, not just architecture. Anderson said he would not have a problem if the consultant came to a non-inclusive result as long as the result was based on all the factors. Kuenzli said there is a practical side to the issue. He said that when an apartment building goes up, it hurts the nearby historical buildings. Widness said she agreed that conservation should take precedence over scholarly considerations. She said she would be willing to pay the price for surveys that may not meet the highest levels of work. Pugh asked why the two previous northside districts failed to become historic districts. Kugler said the climate for historic preservation was different at that time. He added that the areas Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 5 were large and therefore less defensible, and there were many absentee landlords with properties in the area at that time. Shaw said he would discuss the Commission's concerns with Nash, specifically the concerns that not all the ammunition was used that could have been used towards defining historic preservation districts. He said he would inform Nash that there was some concern that the concentration was too focused. ORIGINAL TOWN PLAT SURVEY. PHASE I1: Kugler said he is waiting to see if the grant for this project was received. He said the area covered would be from Davenport Street to Jefferson and from Linn Street to Governor Street. Shaw asked how crucial it would be to have continuity in the consultant. Kugler said it would be difficult for someone else to pick up the research, but not impossible, especially given that only one of three phases was done. Kugler said that whoever completes the phases will have to do some looking back anyway, including a review of Naumann's Linn Street research. Shaw said all the documents are intended to be cumulative so that anyone doing the research will have to look back at previous research. Kugler said that, before even considering hiring someone for Phase II, Phase I will have to be completed. He said that would enable the Commission to see the final product and the site forms and then make it clear what the Commission expects for the next phase. COLLEGE GREEN/EAST COLLEGE STREET NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATIONS: Kugler said the nominations had hit a snag but that, according to Ralph Christian'and Pat Eckhardt, the holdout is simply a matter of getting more information about the outbuildings in the districts to the National Park Service. He said the National Park Service wants to know how many outbuildings there are and whether they are contributing or non-contributing. Kugler said that once that information is provided, it is likely that the two districts will be listed. Shaw said Christian had informed him that additional investigation would not be required. Kugler responded that it would be a matter of adding some statements regarding the garages to the nominations. He added that Eckhardt thought it would be sufficient to count the garages and list them. Kelly said this inclusion of outbuildings is a change in procedures by the government and .was not required for the Summit Street Historic District. Gersh added that a count of buildings would not give any indication of contributing or non-contributing status. Kugler said Eckhardt felt that a couple of blanket statements would cover the outbuilding issue. Shaw added that Christian said it was necessary to have every standing structure in the districts accounted for. Pugh said that if, in the future, the Commission decides to go ahead with a local historic district designation rather than a National'Register district, the Commission might choose not to spend the money to apply for National Register designations. Kugler said the idea was to get the district on the National Register first. He added that he used the reports that were generated as a result of the National Register nomination process, with a few modifications, for the local designation. Kugler said that a report for the City Council would have to be done on the local level anyway, either by Commission volunteers or by hiring someone. He added that there are no fees involved in applying for National Register designation; the only additional cost is for some photography that is required. Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 6 Widness said the effect of the National Register designation should not be discounted. Shaw said if the time is going to be expended to organize the data, it might as well be done in a manner that will accomplish two things at once. DISCUSSION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT UPDATE: Kugler said last year's report and a draft of this year's report were included in the packet and asked for suggestions. Pugh suggested adding the Dubuque Street/Linn Street survey to the plans for fiscal year 1998. Kelly suggested changing number 9 under plans for fiscal year 1998 regarding the brochures and guidebooks to include "evaluate and update". Gersh asked about the tax abatement plan. Kugler said the Commission worked with the Johnson County Historic Preservation Commission last fall to put together a resolution and present it to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. He said the Johnson County Board of Supervisors passed the resolution than allows Johnson County residents to take advantage of a State program which says that if a resident is doing rehabilitation of at least $5,000 on a building that is designated in some way as an historic structure, the homeowner can file paperwork to have property taxes frozen at the pre-rehabilitation level for four years, and then the increase is phased in over the next four years. Kugler said a certain amount of the rehabilitation must be exterior. Kuenzli suggested that under "Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 1997", number one, the initial phrase be changed to "Proposed the first series of Iowa City Historic Landmarks..." He suggested that under number three, the statement be changed to read "Proposed designation of the College Green and East College Street areas as Iowa City Historic Districts" since they were not districts at that point. Shaw said the word "proposed" was not inclusive enough for the work done by the Commission. The consensus was to change the wording to "Nominated College Green and East College Street areas as Iowa City Historic Districts". In the same section under number two, Kelly suggested adding a reference to National Register properties. Kuenzli suggested leaving out the term Northside on page 3, number 6, because the term is no longer used. Kugler said he used the term because using Original Town Plat Survey was awkward there. Pugh said the reason it was changed to Original Town Plat was because it had definitive boundaries. Kuenzli asked if the Commission was still considering additional surveys for the Northside. Kugler said the Commission had applied for one but had not received it yet. He said he would remove the Northside from number 6 because it has been applied for. Shaw asked for a reference in number 6 as to how the surveys are tied to the overall Preservation Plan. Pugh asked if the report would be included at the annual meeting. Kugler said it would be included and would help with the work plan. UPDATE ON HISTORIC LANDMARK PLAQUE INSTALLATION PROCESS: Kugler said the plaques were received but two of them had wrong dates. He said the company was sending corrected plaques. The only remaining issue will be how to install them. Kelly said many cities in New England have guidelines as to how their plaques should be placed. Kugler said the important thing is to make certain they are visible. He said it would be difficult to make them uniform on all the properties. Kugler said Friends of Historic Preservation is not willing to install the plaques, although he might be able to find a couple of volunteers to install them on their own time. Kugler said Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 7 another idea would be to solicit volunteers from Friends to give a City intern some training on how to install them. Pugh asked if Public Works would install the plaques. Kugler said Public Works might be very reluctant to install the plaques because they do not deal with old buildings, and the Commission has raised concerns about some of the things Public Works has done in the past. Shaw asked if Kugler had investigated any standards or recommendations from the National Historic Register. Kugler said he had not yet checked into that. Shaw said it is important to be aware of those recommendations, and he would be willing to investigate how the plaques should be handled. He said it would be important to use specifications as to how the plaques should be mounted in different types of materials. Kugler said one approach might be to get advice from Steve van der Woude for guidance on some of the more difficult structures. Shaw said there should be a methodology in place. Anderson said he would prefer to err on the side of not having uniform standards if the standards would prevent some property owners from installin~l the plaques. Widness said the location should be left up to the discretion of the homeowner. Kugler said the agreement specifies that the City and the property owner will come up with an acceptable location. He added that the main thing the Commission is looking for is visibility. Anderson asked if the plaques had to be installed on the house. Kugler said it could be negotiated to put the plaque somewhere other than the house as long as it is visible. Widness said there is a type of screw that locks and would therefore thwart theft. Shaw said the Commission could easily develop guidelines for where the plaques would be most visible. Shaw asked what the ordinance specified about who should install the plaques. Kugler read the ordinance; it did not address the installation. Shaw said he would also try calling Chuck Schmadeke, the Director of Public Works, to see if they would be willing to provide any help with installation. DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS PROGRAM: The consensus was to postpone the discussion until next month's meeting. CONSIDERATION OF THE JUNE 10. 1997 MINUTES: MOTION: Kelly moved to approve the June 10, 1997, regular meeting minutes, as amended at tonight's meeting. Gersh seconded the motion. Kuenzli said on page two, paragraph three, the first sentence should read "...replacing the built- in gutters on the front porch". He said that on page two, paragraph four, the sentence should read "built-in gutters", not "building gutter. On page five, paragraph six, Pugh said the last sentence should be changed to "The consensus of the Commission was that the Council should be made aware..." The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. COMMISSION INFORMATION/DISCUSSION: Miscellaneous correspondence relative to the proposed east-west arterial street name (Captain Irish Parkway). Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 8 Kugler said his memo regarding the street name would be attached to the memo that Jeff Davidson sends to the City Council. He said the City Council would make a decision on the street name at its July 15, 1997 meeting. Widness said that Shaw's letter to Icon Publishing was well done. Kugler said it was published in the next issue of ICON. Pugh asked if Shaw's letter to the ICON would find its way to the City Council. Kugler said he would ask Davidson to present it to them if they have any questions about it. Project Restore: All Saint's Church, Stewart, Iowa, Web Site. Kugler said this web site is an interesting way to get information out. He said it has been successful with almost 1,500 hits at the web site. Park House Hotel. Kugler said the Board of Appeals extended the deadline to September for Mike Hodge to decide whether or not to go forward with the rehabilitation project. Kugler said that by the Board's January meeting, Hodge must have plans submitted to the City for a building permit. Shaw asked if Hodge owned the building. Kugler said Hodge did own the building. Shaw said that the last he heard, there was nothing at the Assessor's Office to show that a transaction had taken place. Kugler said he would follow up on the ownership of the building. Kugler said the third deadline imposed by the Board of Appeals was to have the project completed by August 1998. He stated that Hodge may or may not take advantage of some of the low income housing money that is available. Kugler said there are some programs that Hodge could take advantage of that would not require Hodge to hold down rents. Kugler asked if anyone on the Commission would be willing to assist Hodge in preparing a grant application for the HRDP Program. Shaw suggested that he contact Friends of Historic Preservation to see if anyone there would be willing to help. Summit Street Apartment Cooperative Kugler distributed a letter from Glen Ehrstine, the Vice President of the Summit Street Apartment Cooperative. Kugler said they would like to make this summer's commemoration an annual event. Kugler said the co-op residents see the event as a positive historic preservation- type thing. Kugler said they would like the event to be held at various locations, perhaps rotating through the historic districts or being held at a site where something specific is being celebrated. Kugler said the letter is offering the assistance of the co-op organization and may also be looking for help with funding. Kugler said the Commission probably does not have the funds to assist. Kugler said Ehrstine basically wanted to know if the Commission would be interested in participating with the Co-op to make this an annual event. He said the Commission could discuss it in more detail at the next meeting and get back to Ehrstine with a response. Shaw said that Ehrstine took the celebration farther than people thought he would and made a success out of it. Kuenzli said the tour of the apartments was the most impressive thing to him. Shaw said the event was something to be encouraged because it had a real concentration in historic preservation and drew people who would not normally be involved in it. Cairns asked if the group broken even financially. Gersh said Ehrstine contributed about $800 to $1,000 of his own money. Historic Preservation Commission July 8, 1997 Page 9 Taste of Plum Grove. Kelly said The Taste of Plum Grove would be held at Plum Grove at 1030 Carroll Street on July 30 from 5:30 to 7:00. She invited everyone to attend. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m. ppdadmin~mins~hpc7-8.doc MINUTES IOWA CITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1997 5:30 P.M. - Subject to Approval MEMBERS PRESENT: Lars Anderson, Ann Cairns, Frank Gersh, Betty Kelly, Ruedi Kuenzli, Mike Pugh, John Shaw MEMBERS ABSENT: Doris Malkmus, Pam Michaud, Michaelanne Widness STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler, Anne Schulte OTHERS PRESENT: Daisy Owen CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Shaw called the meeting to order at 5:36 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 2 BELLA VISTA PLACE: Shaw said he has been involved with this project and will therefore abstain from voting and from chairing the Commission. For this item, he indicated he would be available to answer questions regarding the drawings or any items that the owner could not. MOTION: Cairns moved to elect Kelly the interim chair. Gersh seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. (Pugh arrived at 5:42.) Kelly asked if everyone had had an opportunity to look at the site and at the revised plans. She said the structure of the railings had been changed but not the dimensions. Shaw said the columns are now attached and have moved out even with the rail. Kugler said the porch seems to be compatible with other properties in the area and the design seems appropriate. Kelly said the porch fits fairly well with the house. Kugler said the materials seem to be compatible. Kelly asked if the downspouts would need to be moved. Shaw said existing downspouts will stay and will funnel into the new gutter and then into the new downspouts. Kelly asked if there were any objections to the plan. There were none. Gersh asked if the porch would interfere with any future replacement of siding on the house. Shaw said there are pilasters where the porch connects to the house. He said the shingles would be removed in the area where the porch is, which gives a way to connect there and have the area of connection treated as new and separate. MOTION: Cairns moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness for the construction of a new porch for the property at 2 Bella Vista Place. Kuenzli seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0, with Shaw abstaining. (Pugh left the meeting at 5:46.) MOTION: Kelly moved to turn the meeting back over to Shaw as Chairman. Gersh second- ed the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 2 DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED COVENANT FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 716 NORTH DUBUQUE STREET: Kugler said he received a request from the property owner's attorney, Tim Grady, to defer this item to the September meeting. Kugler said Grady would like more time to review the covenant and would like to attend the meeting at which the Commission makes its decision. Kugler said the main item to be resolved is under item #6, the 30-year period of the covenant. He said the federal guidelines state that the covenant should be in perpetuity, but apparently it is not legal to require this in Iowa. Anderson said the statue of limitations for covenants in Iowa is generally 21 years. Kugler said the owner will be held to some rent limitations for 15 years and would rather see the covenant cover the same period of time so that after 15 years all the obligations will be gone. Kugler said that within the next 15 years, the building could be designated as an historic landmark. He said if the building were appropriate for that kind of protection, then it would be covered under the landmark designation and when the covenant expired, requirements would not change. In light of this, perhaps 30 years is excessive. Gersh asked why there was to be a covenant for this particular building. Kugler responded that a couple of months ago the Commission did a section 106 review on the building. He said the owner was asking for assistance from the City, through the Community Development Block Grant Program, to purchase the building. In this instance the State said the City should place a covenant on the property, saying that the owners would follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, effectively making the City the watchdog .for the length of the covenant to make sure the standards are followed. Kugler said the sale has already occurred and the owners have signed a statement saying they would agree ~o a covenant of this sort. Kugler said the Commission would therefore be deferring this issue until September with this issue. He said he would amend the covenant to read 15 years, if the Commission is comfortable with this. Shaw asked about the 21-year statute of limitations. Anderson said at the end of the 21 years, to keep the agreement in force, it would have to be renewed and the property owner would have to agree. MOTION: Kelly moved to defer to the September meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission the proposed covenant for property at 716 North Dubuque Street. Cairns seconded the motion. Anderson asked if the only issue to be resolved were the time period of the covenant. Kugler said there are a couple of other minor items to be worked out. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. DISCUSSION OF NORTH SIDE PIN GRANT REGARDING NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION OF THE EMMA HARVAT HOUSE: Shaw said he had contacted Eleanor Steele, who has agreed to at least take the project to the point where the Commission can get a proposal from a consultant. Kelly asked why the project was delayed. Shaw said Steele simply did not have the time. Kugler said Steele is no longer President of the Northside Neighborhood Association. Kelly asked if Friends of Historic Preserva- tion would contribute money to this project. Shaw said Steele had noted that the sources of funding mentioned in her proposal would probably still be available and she would verify that they were. Kugler planned to send a list of consultants to Steele. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 3 Kugler asked if the Commission would be willing to oversee this project, if Steele can find a consultant to do it. He said the Commission would need to review the nomination form before it is sent to the State. Kugler said there is a lot of information available on Emma Harvat and the nomination could probably be written based on the properry's association with her. Shaw said the hope is that Steele can find someone on the list of consultants who would agree to do the work for the funds available. Shaw asked if there were any resistance on the part of Commission to overseeing the project. Kelly said the Commission usually oversees these projects anyway. Kugler said that is usually after the work is prepared and it has gone to the State and been subject to comments and revisions. Kelly asked if the Commission would be financially liable. Kugler said the PIN grant was for $1,000. Shaw said the amount coming from all sources is $1,350. Gersh said the current resident of the home is Carol De Saint Victor, a writing teacher. He said she might be interested in overseeing the writing aspect of the report. Gersh said that since De Saint Victor lives on the property, she might be interested in spending a few hours editing the writing. The consensus of the members was that the Commission would be willing to oversee the project. Shaw added that if Steele did not want to carry the project forward, he and Kugler would probably be able to investigate available consultants to see if anyone could do it for the available funding. Kuenzli suggested asking Pat Eckhardt for several reasons: 1) she lives in the area, 2) she is a friend of historic preservation, and 3) she might work for a little less money than other consultants. DISCUSSION OF GLEN EHRSTINE LETTER OF JULY 4. 1997: Kugler said the Commission should-respond to the letter and also decide if it wants to participate in a program such as that suggested by Glen. He said Ehrstine would like to hold another Summit apartment festival and then make it into a moving event, to focus on a specific accomplishment or celebration. Kugler said Ehrstine is offering the organizational assistance of the Summit Apartment Cooperative and, in exchange, is probably looking for financial assistance. Kuenzli said it is difficult to discern what Ehrstine wants. Kuenzli said Ehrstine is suggesting this festival kind of thing but never asks specifically for money. Kuenzli suggested sending Ehrstine a letter thanking Ehrstine for his efforts, expressing appreciation for the event and especially the apartment tour. He said it should state the Commission is considering possibilities for other events. Shaw said Ehrstine has a lot of enthusiasm and that, as well as thanking Ehrstine, the Commis- sion should tell him it would like to use his services in the future. Shaw said the letter should state that when the Commission formulates different things to do to promote historic preservation, it would like to call on him for his help. Kuenzli said Ehrstine has been ingenious in getting media coverage. Gersh agreed the letter should thank Ehrstine and say the Commission would like to talk to him again when more specific plans are developed. Gersh said that the summer's festival was well attended but that if such an event were held every year, it might not be as well attended. Shaw said there might be difficulty finding an event to focus on every year. Anderson said it might then lose the historic preservation focus and become more of a neighborhood celebration. He offered to draft the letter but said he did not attend the Summit Street event. Gersh volunteered to draft the letter, as he attended the event. He added that he would present the draft at the next Commission meeting and would talk to Ehrstine in the meantime to give him some interim feedback. Kelly and Shaw agreed that it would be good to have more of a celebration than just the Awards Ceremony. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 4 DISCUSSION OF IOWA AVENUE STREETSCAPE PUBLIC INPUT SESSION HELD ON AUGUST 4: Shaw said he had attended the meeting, as well as Kelly, Kugler, and Nancy Seiberling. He said that in the time that was allotted for historic preservation input, they met with the landscape architecture firm that is researching alternatives for the area. Shaw said it was an all-day event meeting with a wide spectrum of anyone who had any interest in the three-block area, including the University, and business owners. Shaw said he wanted to emphasize and have addressed from a historic standpoint that this is probably the most significant interface between the City and the University. Shaw said the University is in the process of infilling much of the green space along the streetscape. Kelly said no one yet realizes how much of an impact the new biology building will have; she said it would be flat right up against the sidewalk with no setback. Shaw said it was suggested that the University needs to demonstrate some good faith effort in the future to show an interest in preserving what is left of its side of the street, if anyone is going to be excited about doing anything to the public side of the street. Shaw said the vista looking up to the Old Capitol and back down Iowa Avenue was discussed at some length. He said that is probably one of the easiest things to deal with. Shaw said the business owners had made it clear they did not want to lose any parking. He added that it would be impossible to add any parking there because it is physically impossible. Shaw said he saw a possibility of removing some of the parking and providing some relief in the form of green treatments. Cairns asked if t~at would be at the expense of the green dividers farther east on Iowa Avenue. Shaw said he did not think so. Kelly said the architects were just information gathering and will come back with proposals at a later date. Shaw said the entire downtown has to be considered. Kugler said the downtown aspect has been held up by all the discussions going on. He said the Iowa Avenue project has gone ahead, with the understanding that whoever was hired for the downtown area would work with those hired for the Iowa Avenue project. Kelly said there was also some discussion about facades. Cairns asked if there was anything the Historic Preservation Commission could do to claim the piece of land where the new building would be built. Kugler said it was designated as an open space in the original town plat but that landmarking it would probably not affect a State-owned property. Shaw said the atom smasher is a classic structure that will soon be disappearing and is very eligible for the Register. Shaw said that when the City got involved in the skywalk issue, it was discovered that the City has no air rights whatsoever over it and therefore no jurisdiction. Shaw said City Council members were opposed to the skywalk. Cairns stated that the University did not want to spend the money for a tunnel. Kuenzli asked if the new apartment building on Iowa Avenue was discussed. Kugler said the area of the street to be discussed did not reach that far east. He added that the Planning Staff is now doing research on design guidelines to address infill apartment construction. DISCUSSION OF HISTORIC LANDMARK PLAQUES: Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 5 Kugler said 14 or 15 of the plaques have already been installed. Kugler said he installed some with the help of a City intern. He added that Dave Powers assisted with installing the more difficult properties. Kugler said the only question that has come up from property owners is security. He said the plaque is brass and so he has used brass screws so that there would not be a reaction between the metals. Kugler said he could not find brass tamper-resistant screws, but he would look again before he installs any more. Shaw said it would be good to stay with the brass screws. Shaw asked what input Kugler received from owners. Kugler said most owners wanted to be present for installation and that he worked with all of them regarding location. He said all the plaques have been received now and the two with mistakes were replaced with no problem. Kugler said Trinity Church would like to have its plaque installed in September when the students are back so that they can have some sort of event. He asked if anyone on the Commission would attend the event and present the plaque. Shaw said he would attend. REPORT OF ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF NO MATERIAL EFFECT: Shaw said he and Kugler have had several discussions about this. He said he does not want to usurp the authority of the Commission with this procedure but it is fairly easy to tell which things do not need to come before the Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Shaw said this presents a nice method for streamlining things and the signage issue is a good case in point. He said he and Kugler were comfortable that the Commission would concur that this was eligible for a Certificate of No Material Effect. Shaw showed plans for a boiler replacement for a home on Summit Street, which would entail the installation of a Iouver in an existing window. He said it would not be visible from the street, but the Iouver was necessary for combustion air and it is a life safety issue. Shaw said he thought this would be an issue for a Certificate of No Material Effect but was looking for direction from the Commission. Cairns asked about screening in a front porch by the use of wooden frames with screens. Kugler thought it would require a building permit, but Kuenzli did not. Shaw asked Kugler to see if a building permit would be required for this kind of porch. Kugler said if it does require a permit and is on the front of the building, the issue should probably come before the entire Commission. Cairns said the Commission might need to make a policy on these types of porches. Shaw said he and Kugler have considered whether or not something is going to be highly visible when looking at these projects. He said the Commission should have input with these highly visible things, but a lot of small things that require permits can be dealt with via the Certificate of No Material Effect. Anderson said he was comfortable letting Shaw and Kugler decide if Commis- sion attention is needed. Gersh suggested showing pictures of the items at the meeting. Shaw said the issue is that by the time the Commission sees the pictures, the decision has already been made. Kugler added that at least he and Shaw would know from feedback if they were overstepping their bounds. Shaw discussed the light tunnels being used for the Brown Street Inn. He said he informed the owner that skylights would require the Commission's attention, which resulted in the owner's using the light tunnels. Shaw said the fire escape for this house has received City approval and will look good. Shaw added that there would be a change in the form for the Certificate of No Material Effect requiring Kugler's signature, as well as that of the Chair. DISCUSSION OF GRANT PROJECTS: Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 6 Original Town Plat Survey, Phase I Kugler said Nash incorporated a few pages to address the rest of the neighborhood in her report. He said the report quotes extensively from Marlys Svendsen's report, as opposed to continuously referencing Svendsen's report. In looking at the site forms, Kugler said he is confident that whoever does the final phase of this project will be able to gather enough information from the site forms to put together recommendations for the entire area. Kugler said there are very few cases where there is only a small amount of information about a particular property and those are typically the newer buildings from the 40's and 50's. He said there was a lot of work put into analyzing each property. Kugler said Nash corrected a few errors right away. Kuenzli said the report says that the person doing the research on the buildings devoted most of the time to folk architecture buildings. Kugler responded that the intern was specifically hired to look at the folk architecture. He said that Nash had her own assistant who did all the fieldwork and the photography and added that each building was looked at. Kuenzli asked how the meeting between Shaw, Miklo and Nash came out. Shaw said no one likes to be questioned about their intent and methodology but that Nash responded positively to the Commission's concerns and made a good faith effort to address those concerns. Shaw said she made an effort to include the things she reasonably could at such a late date. Kuenzli responded that it was done in a perfunctory way by leaving the information in quotes and almost dismissing it. He said that is a weakness of the report - that it seems Nash is saying she is not really interested in this information. Kuenzli cited, on page 11, the reference to the border of Goosetown and Northside, as an example of where Nash is already making a judgment which cannot yet be made. Kuenzli said Nash uses the term "northside" throughout the report. Kuenzli said he is concerned about a statement on page 8 that says the City and Commission supported the focus on folk architecture and the focus then changed in that direction. Kugler said the Commission did discuss changes to the scope of work, but the impression seemed to be that the folk architecture analysis was in addition to the normal survey products. Shaw said he remembered discussing the issue of folk architecture, and said the City agreed to hire more intern help at that time. Anderson said Nash could have taken that as a license to do the report as she did. Kugler said Nash indicated that, even had the Commission not agreed, she would have taken that focus to at least some extent, as she felt it was needed. Kugler added that the State agreed with Nash. Kelly said the number of folk houses was small compared to the total number of houses. Kuenzli said there are 41 folk houses out of 239 total houses, according to Nash's account, coming to 17% of the total. Anderson said it is too late to do anything about these issues at this point in the project. Kelly agreed but said the Commission needs to be more careful when it signs another contract. Kugler said statements regarding the border and other issues could be revised. Shaw said the Commission is hiring consultants to give it a product and if the Commission has preconceived notions of what the product should be, it needs to more clearly define what is expected. He said he reviewed the RFP and the signed contract and does not feel there is anything there that is inconsistent with the work Nash did. Kugler said Nash was reminded to reserve judgment on the general survey area and only propose what could be justified within these boundaries. Shaw said he was supportive of Nash's work and said the work is a valuable addition to the multi-property document. Kuenzli said he would like to see a conservation approach more than a scholarly activity. Gersh suggested putting a statement from the Commission at the beginning to put the report into context, stating that the consultant was told not to do the work on the area as a whole, resulting in a narrow focus. Shaw said this is in the report and is also in the recommendation that an Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 7 additional phase look at the entire area. Kelly agreed that it is important not to make any statements on where boundaries lie. Kuenzli said he was concerned about the large amount of information on Goosetown on pages 12 and 13. Shaw said Nash was asked specifically to include information on how the area developed and this data is the response to that. Kugler said this information from "Historic Resources of Iowa City" was incorporated so that people would not have to search for this other report to get the information. Kugler said the report has been submitted to the State and that Nash is not required to do anything further, although she might be willing to revise some things, e.g. the site forms. Kelly said she had no problem with the site forms and they were well done. She said she did have a problem with some of Nash's statements. Kuenzli said Nash was selected because of her stature and therefore, her views on where the dividing line would be between Goosetown and the part of town called the northside would be taken seriously. Kuenzli said taking information from Svendsen's report predates the problems with defining the borders. Shaw said he felt those statements came from the fact that Nash is an Iowa City native and she had always used those terms to describe that area. Shaw said the Commission could certainly ask Nash to take the reference to the Goosetown' border out of the report, as well as the references to the Northside. Kuenzli said he felt the two pages referring to Goosetown were not integrated but were just added on. Gersh suggested that there be a statement that the border of Goosetown is not generally agreed upon. Shaw asked when Goosetown would become defined. Kuenzli said it would be defined as whatever is east of the Original Town Plat. Kelly said the issue will have to be addressed but there are not enough facts to address it at this time. Kugler said the borders may not be defined as a result of these surveys, but if they are, there should be no determinations until all three phases are done. Kuenzli asked what the status was of the report. Kugler replied that the grant project is essentially over and the report has been sent to the State. He said he would ask Nash for some changes but it is unlikely she would rewrite the report. Kugler said the Commission could send the State an amended copy with no problem but the grant project had a July 31 deadline. Kuenzli said the Commission normally Uses these reports to argue in front of the City Council for new historic districts. Kugler said that in this case, the Phase IV report would be used for any larger districts, and this report for the smaller districts now being recommended. Shaw said the Commission needs to be careful to have recommendations that can be well defended. He added that if Nash's statement that foursquares and craftsmen bungalows are the most prevalent form of housing built between 1905 to 1918 is accurate, then there is a reason not to press for the inclusion of vast parts of this area as historic preservation districts. He said there might be conservation districts there and that the Commission needs to work on conservation districts and push forward with them. Kelly said Nash states in her report that the Commission should not be considering so many little districts. Shaw questioned the appropriateness of that statement and thought it was editorializing that did not belong in the report. Gersh said the section regarding Goosetown was offensive and stereotypical and asked whether the statements were from a book or from Nash.' Anderson said that section was not in quotes because it was a block quote from the book. Anderson suggested the Commission approve the report with changes: taking out the editorial comment and the references to any border between Goosetown and the Northside. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 8 Kuenzli said that with the quotations from Svendsen, Nash falls into the language from Svendsen when talking about the Northside and it is a post-problematic period. Shaw said he would rather know whom the statements can be attributed to with a block quote than to have the material paraphrased. Kuenzli said paraphrasing would present the area to be looked at differently from the way Svendsen presented it. Gersh asked who Svendsen was. Kugler responded that Marlys Svendsen wrote the preservation plan for the City and included the original multiple property document in it, with potential historic neighborhoods delineated. Shaw asked Kuenzli if there were any other achievable changes that would make the report more acceptable to him. Kuenzli said he would take out the long quote about Goosetown on pages 12 and 13. He said this will come up when surveying the area east of the Original Town Plat. Shaw asked if, without the reference to Goosetown, the people who know that a good part of Goosetown lies in the Original Town Plat will feel they have been overlooked in this report. Kelly said most of Goosetown is not included in this study. Cairns said the overlap part is in this study. Shaw said if it is necessary to the flow of the report to leave this section in, the Commission could ask Nash to acknowledge the fact that there are many differing opinions of where the actual borders lie. Cairns suggested leaving the first three sentences of the block quote, with references to the Goosetown border, out of the report. The consensus was to make these two changes to the report, as well as deleting the editorial comment. Shaw asked Kuenzli if he had other concerns about the report. Kuenzli said he had general concerns about the report. He said an attempt at a new survey postdates Svendsen and quoting that report is repeating the problem that the Commission does not want to raise. He said he saw no way out of it but to rewrite the report, which he agreed was not possible. Kuenzli said he was amenable to accept the report as it is with the agreed-upon changes. Kugler said one of the problems may have been that Nash talked to the Commission about the findings before the Commission could view the draft report and has not been in to talk to the Commission since then. He said, in the future, the Commission should make sure the discussion with the consultant is based on the draft report. Kelly said this report does not have the depth of the others. Kelly added that it has been seven years since Svendsen's report and things have changed considerably. Shaw asked if it were necessary to vote to accept the report. Kugler said the Commission hasn't voted in the past. Shaw said the recommendations within the report can be discussed at another meeting. Kelly said this report is only the first of four. She said the Commission should consider how to proceed and what to expect with the other phases. Shaw said he felt the Commission did not get caught in a trap and felt there was valuable information in the report. (Anderson left the meeting at 7:35) College Green/East College Street National Register Nominations Kugler said the districts have been listed on the National Register and the property owners have been notified. Longfellow Neighborhood Survey, Phase II Kugler said the contract has been drafted and was included in the packet. He said he discussed certain statements in the RFP, that were questioned at the July meeting, with Naumann, and she did not feel they were a problem. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 9 Shaw said he reviewed the RFP and the contract that was signed for the Original Town Plat and felt the documents were fairly loose. He said the RFP and the contract need to be tightened up, particularly if there is a strong sense of giving the Commission documents it can use to justify either conservation or historic preservation districts. Gersh asked if the researcher is ever invited before the research starts to fill him in on what the Commission is looking for. Kugler said the State requires certain things, and those cover what the Commission is looking for. He said this last project was different, in that Nash recognized something she felt needed to be looked at more closely. Kugler said that before Nash talked to the Commission, she discussed the matter with Ralph Christian and he felt it was worthy of deviating from the standard survey project. He said Nash then discussed this focus with the Commission, where she was given the go-ahead. Shaw asked if there were a time constraint with the Longfellow Neighborhood Survey contract. Kugler said there had to be a consultant under contract by September 1s' or funding would be lost. Kuenzli said he was satisfied with the Longfellow Neighborhood Survey, Phase I and would have no problem with Naumann doing Phase II. Shaw suggested that this contract should not be rewritten at this late date, but in the future he would like to tighten up the language. Original Town Plat Survey, Phase II Kugler said there was nothing to report on this project. Kuenzli asked if a proposal has been submitted. Kugler said 'the Commission has an application pending and should hear back in October. SCHEDULE SEPTEMBER ANNUAL PLANNING SESSION: Kugler said Kerry McGrath, the Certified Local Government Coordinator with the State Historical Society, would like to do an orientation session for members of the Commission. Kugler said the orientation should probably be done before the planning session and added that the session would last about two hours. September 16~' was proposed as the tentative date. Kugler said he would arrange the planning session for some time after this orientation. (Kelly left the meeting at 7:46.) DISCUSSION OF MINUTES FROM THE JULY 8 MEETING: Cairns pointed out that the Historic Preservation Awards Program was tabled at the last meeting but was not on this month's agenda. Shaw said the connection between page 1 and page 2 was lost. Kuenzli said that, on page 2, paragraph 3, where he refers to architecture, the word "folk" should be added before "architec- ture". Shaw said the paragraph at the bottom of page 7 is repeated on page 8. Shaw said the minutes could be voted on at the September meeting when there is a quorum. COMMISSION INFORMATION/DISCUSSION: 932 East College Street Kugler said the former fraternity at 932 East College Street has a potential buyer: a couple that proposes to live on the first level and use the upper two levels as a rooming house. He said this Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 10 would require approval by the Board of Adjustment because the number of occupants they are proposing exceeds what would be allowed by the Zoning Ordinance. Kugler said the planning staff is recommending denial at this point because staff feels that the 28 roomers they are proposing would be too dense. He said the applicant is requesting deferral at this point. Gersh said he believes they are asking neighbors for support, but he thinks most people in the neighborhood are against the increased density. Gersh said there were only 20 people living in the fraternity before. Kugler said staff might be willing to negotiate to some number between the allowed 13 and the proposed 28. Kuenzli asked if the rental contracts for the building could stipulate that the renters do not have a car. Gersh said this could not really be enforced. Jefferson Street/Governor Street Area Kugler said the Commission would probably receive a request in the near future from the Jeffer- son Street/Governor Street area to look at the neighborhood as a conservation district. He added that some of the neighbors have already done a lot of research and legwork and are willing to do whatever it takes to have standards in place for future development and building alterations. Historic Preservation Commission Minutes August 12, 1997 Page 11 Mildenstein Deck Shaw said he received a call from Brian Mildenstein indicating he would build a scaled-back deck on his property that would not be visible from the front of the property. Shaw said Mildenstein asked what the procedure would be, and Shaw responded that the procedure would be the same as before. Shaw added that the proposal sounded much less intrusive than the plans from the last time. Kugler said Mildenstein had considered having a bed and breakfast at that location, but that parking requirements would be a problem. Brandt Railing Shaw stated that Bob Carlson, Chair of the Building Board of Appeals, informed him that they okayed Lowell and Paula Brandt's lower railing for historic compatibility purposes. Carlson told Shaw it was a difficult decision, and the Board would like a set of standards and recommendations for these issues. Shaw said this could be similar to fire safety equivalency work done by the University, in that it gives the Commission the opportunity to state what would or would not be appropriate. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. ppdadmin~mins~h pc0812,doc