Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-08-06 CorrespondenceJuly 22, 1996 TO: FROM: RE: City Council Deb Liddell, Chair Parks & Recreation Commission Oakland Cemetery CITY OF I0 WA CIT PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT As you are aware, Oakland Cemetery is running out of space. The Parks and Recreation Commission has discussed this issue on at least three occasions. These discussions have centered around whether or not it is possible or desirable to extend the cemetery onto a small portion of City-owned property abutting the east boundary of the existing cemetery. For many years, this property has been generally regarded as part of Hickory Hill Park, but evidently was never officially dedicated as parkland. This is a very sensitive issue, with strong f~elings on the part of both park and cemetery supporters. At our meeting of July 10, 1996, the commission asked that I correspond with you, before proceeding further, to ask two basic questions: Is it the City Council's intention to allow for the expansion of the City's cemetery operation (i.e. either expanding Oakland Cemetery in some fashion or constructing a second municipal cemetery)? If so, does the City Council wish to receive a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission? If issue prior to proceeding We await your direction. you would like staff and/or commission to address you on this further, we would be pleased to do so. 220 SOGTII GILBERT STREET IOWA CITY IOWA 52240- 1632 PHONE (319)356-510 FAX (319)356-548 City of Iowa City City Council Civic Center 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Council Members: Iowa Citians and visitors walking down the Kimball Road sidewalk face a dilema when they arrive at busy, four-lane Dubuque Street. They may choose to risk running across Dubuque Street (many of all ages do) or they can trek on the muddy trail on the east side of Dubuque and at the Park Road intersection find that there is no "Walk" signal which would allow thcln to cross. Tim lack of a safe walking access to the west side of Dubuque Street and Park Road cuts off pedestrians of this part of Iowa City from City Park, Hancher Theater, and other University of Iowa facilities. We respectfully ask you to fund the construction of a sidewalk on the east side of Dubuque from the Kimball Road-Dubuque Street intersection to the Park Road-Dubuque Street intersection. A "Walk" light at that intersection would also need to be installed. Rick Foss, City Engineer, has indicated that the above mentioned sidewalk addition could be made part of the upcoming sidewalk widening project on the west side of Dubuque Street. We feel that this is a great opportunity in terms o('timing and logistics to construct the sidewalk on the east side of Dubuque Street. It is also a great opportunity for the City Council to enhance the safety of Iowa Citians and others who walk in this area. NAME DATE 7 ~' 7 - ADDRESS -2- (Continuation of co-signers to letter requesting City Council funding for east side of Dubuque St. sidewalk from Kimball Rd. to Park Rd.) NAME DATE ADDRESS City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: July 15, 1996 To: The Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Clerk From: James Brachtel, Traffic Engineer Re: Stop Sign Installation on Washington Street at its Intersection with Dartmouth Street As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3 of the City Code, this is to advise you of the following action: ACTION: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A5 of the City Code, the City Traffic Engineer will direct the installation of STOP signs on Washington Street at its intersection with Dartmouth Street so as to create an all-way stop at this T-intersection. This action will occur on shortly after August 7, 1996. COMMENT: This action is being taken at the request of the Iowa City Police Chief. cc: R.J. Winkelhake, Police Chief ~m%brach[el.715 · j' q I .011,~ 91 Ilar 96 July 9, 1996 CITY OF IOWA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination - CUSTODI~ We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Custodian. Michelle Miller Hired: 7/8/96 Micha l~y, Chair ATTEST: Marlan Karr, C~ty Clerk July 16, 1996 CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination - I~AINTF~AI~CE We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Maintenance Operator. Steve Ralph Hired: 9/1/96 MidSael W. ~nnedy, Chair ATTEST: arian Karr, Cit~ Clerk July 16, 1996 \ CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination - PAREINQ CASRIER We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Conu~ission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named Derson(s) as eligible for the position of Parking Cashier. Wendy Miller Hired: 7/17/96 IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMissION Ml~ha'~'~![Ken Chair · - 'Ke~~ndy, ATTEST: arr, City Clerk DR. GARY FAIRMONT FILOSA II Box 1207, Iowa City, Iowa 52244-1207 / 1-800-555-9044 5 August 1996 The HonoraBle Naomi Novick Mayor Iowa City City Council Civic Center Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Good morning, Mayor Novick, as a recent addition to the population of Iowa City may I thank you and your fellow Council Members for a vibrant and pleasaut place to live. Other than the proverbial struggle to find a parking place downtow~ there is much of which the city fathers (and mothers) can be ju~ttfiably proud. My first and only surprise was that the downtown merchants did not rise early in the morning to hose down their sections of the public walkways as is the common practice in other first-class cities worldwide. Iowa City can use further motivation in this regard. In Tel Aviv, for example, the law obligates each commercial property owner to clean the public streets from his/her property line to the center of the public road. It is a good law and I urge you to consider it. If enacted it could help create those extra jobs needed for workfare as merchants engage others to rinse their area obligations each morning. With a continually changing student population the Iowa City atmosphere perhaps tends to be less clean than a city where a permanent and more mature popula- tion takes pride in the freshness of their thoroughfares. A recent widower moved to Iowa to be near relatives, again permit me to thank you for this creative and forgerive city. Slncerel~ _~-/ gf/lk cc: City Council City Manager FOLLOWING IS BEST DOCUMENT AVAILABLE August 6, 1996 CITY OF I0 WA CITY Don Sehr, Chair Johnson County Board of Supervisors 913 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Re: Detweiler Rezoning (CZ--9628) Dear Members of the Board: An application has been submitted to Johnson County by the Detweiler Family Revocable Living Trust to fezone a 1.58 acre tract located in area 4 of the fringe area policy agreement, from A1, Rural to R2 Two-Family residential. This site is located northeast of Iowa City, approximately one-quarter mile east of the City corporate boundaries on Lynden Heights Road in Newport Township, At its July 18, 1996 meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended by a vote of 7-0, that the City Council forward a comment to the County Board of Supervisors finding that the request torezone this 1,58 scretract from A1 to R2 is inconsistent with both the current fringe area agreement and the proposed fringe area agreement for Area 4, and should be denied. Council agrees with the recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission and therefore respectfully forwards a comment to the Board that the requested rezoning be denied, on the basis that it is not consistent with neither the current nor the proposed fringe area policy. Sincerely, Naomi J. Novick Mayor 410 EAST WASHINOTON S'TREET · IOWA CITY. IOWA ~,2240-1126 · (319) 3,~6.~1000 · FAX (,~19) ]56-$009 City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: July 18, 1996 To: Planning & Zoning Commission From: John Yapp, Associate Planner Re: CZ-9628. Detweiler Rezoning The Detweiler Family Revocable Living Trust has filed an application with Johnson County requesting that a 1.58 acre tract located in Area 4 of the Fringe Area Policy Agreement, be rezoned from A1, Rural to R2, Two--Family Residential. The site is located northeast of Iowa City, approximately one quarter mile east of the City corporate boundaries on Lynden Heights Road in Newport Township. The 1.58 acre tract contains an existing duplex which was apparently created in violation of the Johnson County Zoning Ordinance. The proposed rezoning would amend the zoning map to allow the duplex to remain on the site. In the absence of approval of the rezoning, the building would have to be converted back to a single-family home, In addition, the site contains a trailer which cannot be used as a residence without the property owner successfully rezoning and subdividing the area it sits on. 'rhe 1987 Fringe Area Policy between the City and the County states that "residential development should be discouraged,,, in areas not zoned for residential development." Agricultural use is the preferred and stated use for this properly and surrounding properties. The proposed Fringe Area Policy for this area states that residential development would be permitted, on a case by case basis. by considering proposals to rezone land to RS-3 (one dwelling unit per three acres of lot area). RS zoning (one dwelling unit per acre) would be considered if the application to rezone includes a plat showing 50% of the property as an outlot designated as open space. R2 zoning is not contemplated in either the current or proposed Fringe Area Policy. Therefore, staff believes the zoning of this tract should not be changed to conform with a land use which is in violation of the Fringe Area Policy. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council forward a comment to the County Board of Supervisors recommending that the request to fezone the subject area from A1 to R2 be denied, as it would not be consistent with either the current nor the proposed Fringe Area Policy for Area 4. ATTACHMENT: Location map. Approved by Robert Miklo, Senior Planner Department of Planning and Community Development LOCATDON MAF' I I I I i I I I ! 8/4/96 To: From: Re: City Council Dee Norton and Larry Baker Downtown-21 As we near our September meeting with the Library Board, we would like to offer an approach for the Council to consider. Mixing metaphors ....... the Council is too busy fighting small fires while losing sight of the forest. As important as the Library expansion project is, it is not the only, perhaps not even the most important, issue facing us when we look at the downtown. And, as much as the Board would like us to quickly resolve their concerns, the Council should step back and put the Library in the overall context of how we see the future of downtown Iowa City as we head into the twenty-first century. In the last few years there has been an increasing sense of concern about downtown Iowa City. Consider this list (to which much could be added): 1. 64-1A development? 2. Library expansion? Where? Cost? Design? 3. The City's role in funding arts and cultural events? Renovation of the pedestrian mall? Landscaping? Playground? Fountain? Additional staffing for maintenance and policing? 5. Parking problems, real and perceived? 6. Informational signage, interstate and downtown? 7. The relation between the established "downtown" and the Near Southside area? 8. The role of design review and/or tax abatement? 9. A Municipal Improvement District? 10. Sales tax as a source of revenue for downtown improvement? Discussions of the above items have usually been compartmentalized, isolated for their individual resolution. That has to stop. None of the above issues, and other related issues, can be resolved by the actions of city gover~nent alone. None of them, not even the Library. Unless a significant portion of the public comes to share the same concerns, or comes to generally agree about a path to take, and is then willing to support a dramatic commitment of public resources-- unless those things happen, nothing will be done. Unless the downtown business conununity is willing to work WITH city government, then nothing will be done. We should be encouraged by the initiative and the activism of the Monday Forum group, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Downtown Association. They will all need to be strong leaders in the future. However, the simplistic view that ~government ought to get off our backs" will lead to failure. Relying on the invisible hand of the private market to wave a magic wand ...... that approach might lead to some individual profit, but the downtown will wither. A role for this and subsequent Councils? First, we must have the political courage to tell various groups that their goals must be subsumed into a larger vision for downtown. But we cannot put the brakes on their projects unless we are willing to organize and facilitate that vision quest. Iowa City urban renewal occurred over a quarter-century ago. That was then. Now is the time to prepare ourselves for a twenty-first century vision. To that end, this Council should commit itself to hiring OUTSIDE expertise and objectivity which will be used to bring together a Downtown-21 Cormmittee of Iowa Citians whose charge will be to prepare that twenty-first century vision of do~]town Iowa City. All prior assumptions should be questioned. Regulations reviewed, eliminated, streamlined, enacted. Design coordinated. Sources of revenue identified. The status quo challenged. Expressed in its most basic form: we want a NEW downtown, a BETTER downtown. How would we measure our success? Imagine this: Someone left Iowa City in 1996 and returned in 2001. That person's first response upon coming downtown should be ~This is not the scene I left!" Two years ago, the previous Council hired an outside firm to prepare a design plan for the Near Southside. The cost was fifty thousand dollars. A comparable effort for the entire downtown will cost as much or more. But such an approach is absolutely necessary. As part of that search for outside expertise, we might also invite notable elected officials from other communities who have undergone the same process. For example, the mayors of Missoula, Montana, and Charleston, South Carolina, are well known for their ability to stimulate public discussion about community re-development. Still, before we commit ourselves to that expenditure, each of us now on the Council and those who might serve in the near future have to acknowledge that such a planning effort will inevitably lead to some difficult decisions. Those decisions will require money and political certitude. We will not be the ONLY leader, but we must be A leader, fhat leadership requires a willingness to take the first step.