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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-09-22 Bd Comm minutesAnimal Control Advisory Board Minutes, January 15, 1998 meeting Attending: Absent: Staff: Misha C Goodman~Herbst 1. November minutes received and approved by board. 2. Old Business. Discussion took place regarding building renovations and current Progress on the project. 3. Board was updated on results of Deer Management committee progress and City Council response. 4. Coralville updated information relating to the hire of their new officer. 5. Budget was presented to Board There was discussion relating to the possibility of Coralville contracting for service with Iowa City. Diana Lundell and Jan Ashman will work on a proposal. Misha reported on the 1997 statistics for the shelter. Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes, March 19, 1998 meeting Attending: Absent: Staff: Misha C. Goodman-Herbst 1. January minutes approved 2. Old Business. Update was given regarding hire of Coralville officer. 3. Renovations have been completed. 4. Update on City deer management proposal. 5. An outdoor cat enclosure has been recommended to be built using the Constance Irwin bequest. 6. Update was given on the newly revised volunteer program at the shelter. 7. New business: Misha explained new animal trapping procedures which include relocating animals within the neighborhoods in which they are trapped rather than translocating them far away. This is being done to reduce the death rate of animals that are translocated. Educational information will also be handed out to the public relating to wildlife problems and how to avoid conflict with wildlife. Traps will no longer be rented out to the public for wild animal trapping except in extreme cases. Traps will still be lent for stray cat capture. 8. Up coming Riverfest event was discussed. Animal Control will have a booth in the children's educational section. Animals will also be present. 9. Misha stated that proposals were in the works for microchipping shelter animals for Identification purposes and Veterinary contracts for service. SEP-08-98 10=40 FROM=UIHC/JOPMC ID:319 35~ ~10B PAGE Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes, July 23,1998 Meeting Attending: Ursula Delworth, Shawn Lockhart, Diana Lundell, Nadia Vandergast, Absent: Marry Shafer Staff: Misha Goodman-Herbst, Ramona 1. March minutes. In possession of past board member. Lundell will try to retrieve. 2. Old Business. Architect students are designing outdoor cat area (per $12,500 bequest). Landscaping around building has been completed. Especially nice is the walking/visitation path. 3. Report on animal permits issued. Permit ordinance seem to be working well. People (breeders, pet stores) are voluntarily coming in to get permitS. Misha expects to go Iowa City City Council in August to discuss rodeos and circuses (as requested by counciI months ago dudrig odginal ordinance reading). Misha will likely recommend that certain types of rodeos be allowed--along guideline of requirements of the National Rodeo Association. Report on open house/adoptathon_ Held the first weekend in May from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Twenty-five animals were adopted. New business. Misha is proposing changing Saturday hours to 11 am. to 3 p.m. to allow staff time to clean pdor to public coming. New part-time clerk is working out great. He has cleared the backlog of licenses. Discussion ensued about coordination with Coralville on licenses and other items, such as raising non-altered license fee. Lundell and Ramona will discuss with Chief Bedford in about three months_ Some discussion followed about Brenneman Seed and Pet Center not fulfilling requirements to operate a pet store/kennel grooming shop. They were given a waming. Next time there will be contact to City Attomey's office. There was discussion about the vicious animal ordinance vis avis the Animal Control Advisory Board becoming an appeal board, since there currently non cited in the ordinance_ Issue came into focus because of a particular case, which was discussed. The board agreed that it would be appropriate for it to hear appeals. Lockhart moved to recommend to the Iowa City City Council that the Animal Control Advisory Board hear vicious animal appeals. Delworth seconded. Vote - all ayes. Delworth moved to appoint Nadia Vandergast as the board-elected member of the Advisory Board. Lockhart seconded_ Vote - all ayes. 6. S~s~cs. Misha did nothave ~llsta~s~cs, butdid reportthe ~llowing numbers ofanimals entenng the shel~reachofthese yeam: 1994 1,682 1995 1,735 SEP-08-98 10=41 FROM:UIHC/JOpHC ID=319 356 2106 PACE 1996 1,900 1997 1,936 Board member reports. Delworth expressed a desire to cover several issues dudng her tenure on the advisory board. Suggested that a portion of the Sept. 10 meeting be used to brainstorm ideas in increase adoptions. 8. Citizen comments. There were no citizens present. Sumit-ted by Diana Luridell, Sept. 8, 1998 MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY AUGUST 20, 1998 - 5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY TRANSIT FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Pat Foster, Rick Mascari, Howard Horan, Mark Anderson, Tom Bender STAFF PRESENT: Andy Matthews, Ron O'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Horan called the meeting to order at 5:46 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the July 16th, 1998, Commission meeting were approved as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Mascari made a motion to approve the bills. Bender seconded the motion and the bills were approved 5-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: No items were discussed. PUBLIC HEARING- SOUTHWEST FBO HANGAR: Horan opened the hearing at 5:50 p.m. There was no public comment. Horan dosed the hearing at 5:51 p.m. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: ACSG Project: Dave Kisser, from ACSG, gave an update on the land acquisition and easement project. He said as of today, we have a .signed offer for the Schintler parcel. Numerous attempts have been made to contact the Rupperts through theft attorney. A letter has been sent to their attorney, requesting a reply to the information sent to them and for settmg a meeting to present a formal offer. Negotiations are in the final stages for the Iowa City Mobile Home Park Several residents from Terrace Hill Mobile Home Park have been reloeated, with several more relocations pending. Kisser said he thought the Fitzganald parcel could be closed out by October. O'Neil said the FAA would not require the Airport to condenm for avigation easements. Kisser said ofters have been made on about half of the parcels. He thought that the number of closings would accelerate in the near future. Fuel site - H. R. Green: Carl Byers, from H.tL Green Company, gave a preliminary report on options for siting a new fuel farm at the Airport. He said he thought he would have a final project report by this time but he is still waiting for cost estimates for the different tank systems. Byers went through his prelimmary report with the Commission, including the present site and the potential new site. He said the site indicated in the Master Plan should be adequate to meet future Airport needs. The !andside access is somewhat constrained but should meet the needs as they currently exist. d, Byers compared requirements for above and below ground tanks. There are EPA and fire code requirements, as well as any local requirements that exist. Byers said the installation costs might be fairly close between above and below ground tanks. He will design a matrix to compare the factors affecting above versus below ground tanks. Anderson wanted to know what the deadline is for making a decision ? Horan said that although a decision isn't urgent, the Commission should keep moving forward with the project. O'Neil said that this is a project that ICFS and the Commission are interested itt Byers should have his final report ready for the next Commission meeting. Horan said this could be an issue to discuss in October during budget time. Mascari said he did not think the Commission should pay for the new fuel site. He thought the FBO should pay for the systems. Byers said H. R. Green is bidding on a fuel farm on Monday and he would have a better idea of costs at the next meeting. Horan said there is the possibility that ICFS will participate in financing part of the new fuel farm. This was part of the negotiations for allowing ICFS to have six more years on their lease. O'Neil said he received a Certificate of Insurance for ICFS for their fuel tanks. The clean-up insurance policy is good from August 1998 to August 1999. Airport Terminal renovation: O'Neil said this would be on the Council agenda for August 24, 1998. The City Manager will give the Council an update on several AbOrt projects. Anderson distributed a memo, showing a breakdown of costs for the public space and the ICFS space. Anderson said there should be some "soft costs" allocated in the budget. This would cover any cost overrims. Horan asked the Commission if this is the project they would like to see ICFS participate in, in exchange for the right to negotiate six more years on their lease ? There was no clear consensus from the Commission. Mascari said he that although he would prefer to rehab the building as opposed to tearing it down, ff the costs are too high to refurbish, the Commission should look at demolition and rebuilding. Bender said the Commission would probably have more success raising private funding for preserving and renovating the Airport Terminal than for tearing it down and rebuilding. Mascari suggested hiring a fundraiser to see ff it is feasible to raise private funds to help renovate the Terminal. He said he thought the Parks and Recreation Department nsed this process for the Mercer Park addition. O'Neil will cheek with Terry Trueblood to see how they conducted their fundraiser. Southwest FBO Hangar: O'Neil noted that the plans and specifications have been developed for the hangar. He has reviewed the plans with ICFS and they were in agreement with the general plans. There may be some minor changes, but the plans are sufficient to advertise for bids. The Commission reviewed the plans and made comments for some minor changes. Foster made a motion to accept the plans and specifications and advertise for bids. Bender seconded the motion and it passed 5 - 0. O'Neil suggested the Commission should set a public hearing for the ICFS lease for the hangar building. He said the bids will be opened on September 16th and the Commission will know how much the lease payment ~vill have to be in order to build the hangar. The Council will want a signed lease before they will approve the loan. Foster made a motion to set a public hearing for the ICFS hangar lease for September 10, 1998. Anderson seconded the motion and the motion passed 5 - O. Iowa Jet Services: O'Neil said Dennis Mitchell has sent another letter to IJS, requesting the FBO application and comments on the land lease. O'Neil said several letters have been sent, requesting this information. O'Neil said he requested IJS to have their engineer show the Commission where they would like to put their building on the lot. This is important to know in order to coordinate where the access road will be located. Anderson said he drew a diagram showing how IJS could position their bulldinEs if the access road for the North Commercial area goes along the southern option. The buildings could be situated with little change to the area that was originally surveyed. O'Neil suggested that the area not be resurveyed until there is a commitment from IJS. Mascari said Bob Staib said he would have the FBO application to him by no later than August 19th. Mascari contacted Staib on the 19hh, and Staib assured him he would absolutely have the application to him by August 24, 1998. The Commission agreed that they will do everything possible to help HS develop their business at the Airport, but they will need some type of commitment before any more funde are spent. O'Neil suggested that ff the Commission wanted to commit to do additional engineering for IJS, they should hire an engineer to do the design work. ff it is a significant engineering contract, the Commission will need to ask the Council for ~mding. f. Mascari will take the latest drawing to Staib and get the FBO application. O'Neil reminded the Commission that the Minimum Standards fee schedule for an FBO application is $ 600.00. Public Works site: O'Neil suggested the Commission and Public Works get their land lease completed so it does not cause a delay when PW gets ready to develop the site. O'Neil said since this is a long-term agreement, a public hearing will need to be scheduled to receive comment on the agreement. The dollar amount of the lease will be based on the appraisal. Foster made a motion to set a public hearing for September 10~, 1998, to receive comment on the agreement between the Commission and the Public Works Department. Anderson seconded the motion and it passed 5 - 0. North Commercial Area: O'Nefl said he met with Rick Fosse, Chuck Schmadeke, and Dennis Mitchell to review the five proposals for the design work for the infrastructure for the North Commercial area~ He said the staff recommended MMS Consultants. The parcel will be developed as a subdivision and MMS has extensive experience in subdivision development. The only change in the contract was to make a Commission member and someone from Public Works as representatives for the City on the contract. The Commission said O'Neil, Bender or Anderson would need to be closely involved in the contract administration. Mascari made a motion to approve the contract as amended. Anderson seconded the motion and it passed 5 - 0. O'Neil said this would be on the Council agerich for their August 25, 1998, meeting Airport entrance sign: O'Neil said that there is a proposal in the Commission packet to install a new Airport entrance sign~ The sign will be two 10' by 15' limestone walls, with individually lit lettering The bid for the sign is $ 5600.00. O'Neil said he has not received a bid for the lettering, which is a separate contract. The sign will be similar to the signs that will be installed at the entrances to the City of Iowa City. Foster made a motion to hire Doug Zangerle to build the new sign. Mascari seconded the motion and it passed 5 - 0. O'Neil asked the Commission what lettering should be on the sign. The consensus of the Commission said the name on the sign should be Iowa City Airport. Storm damage repair contract: O'Neil said the City Attorney's office said that since the roof repair for the east T-hangar is over $ 25,000, it would have to be considered a capital improvement and not just repair of storm damage. This would delay getting the roof fixed because the Commission would have to develop plans and specs and go through the public bidding process. This would take an additional six to eight weeks. There are four hangars that are not usable because of the hole in the roof. O'Neil said there is a provision in the Iowa Code that allows for immediate repair if a certified engineer determines it would be detrimental to wait to have the building repairect He hired an engineer to examine the structure and the engineer recommended the building be repaired as soon as possible. Bender made a motion for a resolution to hire Hermingsen Construction to repair the hangar roof. Anderson seconded the motion and it passed 5 - 0. O'Neil will contact Henningsen tomorrow and have them order the material. It will be at least three to four weeks before the material is here. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: Hotart went through a list of pending projects and updated the Commission on the progress of the projects. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: Mascari gave the Commission information on a new precision landing system. He thinks it may be possible to install the system at Iowa City. He thought the system cost $ 650,000. O'Neil said he received additional information on the system. The system is FAA certified, but it is not on the list of projects fundable through the Airport Improvement Progrant He said initial set-up is about $ 750,000. There is a possibility that the Airport could lease the unit. There may be companies that use the Airport that would contribute to a lease. O'Neil is waiting on additional information that will explain the lease options. This will be on an agenda in the near future. O'Neil and Mascari will try to get additional information. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: O'Neil said he ordered the trophies for the paper airplane contest. None of the Commissioners were going to be able to help. O'Neil will ask SERTOMA for help. There ~vas a letter in the Commission packet concerning banner towing O'Neil reminded the Commission that, because of traffic congestion at home football games, their current policy prohibits towing banners from the Iowa City Airport. This is considered a commercial activity and the business owner would have to have an agreement with the Commission. O'Neil said there was a theft from ICFS. The locks have been changed and the number of keys to the building will be strictly limited. If the Commission members need to get into the Terminal Building for an emergency, they will need to get the key from the Manager' s office. The cleaning company has changed their schedule, and will clean the building only when someone from ICFS is there. SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for September 10, 1998, at 5:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The meet~g w s adj o ed at 8: ~~ Howard H0ran, Ch~irpersoh ~' ~ MINUTES IOWA CITY BOARD OF APPEALS MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, IOWA CITY CIVIC CENTER MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: Anna Buss (7:15 p.m.), Robert Carlson, Gary Haman, Wayne Maas, John Roffman (7: t 7 p.m.), Tom Werderitsch John Staska Doug Boothroy, Loren Brumm, Bernie Osvald, Andrew Rocca, Kathy Zuckweiler Cole Chase, Andrea French, Mark Hall, John F. Shaw, Dennis Spencer, Gary Werle, Craig Willis 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Chairperson Carlson. 2. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE JULY 13, 1998 MEETING Haman moved to approved the minutes of the July 13, 1998 meeting as submitted. Carlson seconded. The motion carried unanimously 4-0. 3. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON ADOPTION OF THE 1997 UNIFORM CODE FOR BUILDING CONSERVATION Carlson stated this item would be delayed until John Shaw arrived to discuss it. 4. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997 UNIFORM FIRE CODE Roeca said that the Fire Department proposed only one change to the UFC - an amendment to the section entitle "Fire Prevention Bureau Personnel and Police" which would enable the Iowa City Fire Marshal to attend the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and have police powers. Werderitsch asked if the Fire Department required the amendment to be able to send personnel to the Law Enforcement Academy. Rocca replied that the amendment localized the model code language and legitimized the actions and powers of the Fire Department. 5. CONTINUE PUBLIC COMMENT ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997 UNIFORM BUILDING CODE Item 1 - One-hour Walls Separating Dwelling Units: Carlson said that inspectors had encountered repeated problems with field-designed methods of achieving a one-hour fire rating between dwelling units that are not UL listed, and the Building Department proposed requiring one unbroken layer of 5/8-inch gypsum board between dwelling units to meet the one-hour ~re-resistive separation as an alternative to properly constructed UL listed methods. There was no further discussion on this item. Iowa City Board of Appeals August 3, 1998 page two Item 2 - Exterior Gypsum Sheathing on One-Hour Fire Resistive Buildings: Carlson said that the UBC requires a layer of gypsum board on the exterior of the building to achieve a one-hour fire-resistive rating for the entire building. Carlson said that this requirement has not been enforced in Iowa City, but that staff can find no reason for lessening the fire protection of buildings in Iowa City and proposed enforcing the code requirement as written. Spencer asked if the requirement for exterior gypsum board was affected by proximity to the property line. Osvald replied that it was not. Roffman asked if a brick building would require exterior gypsum board in addition to the brick. Brumm replied that gypsum board would not be required if the brick could be determined to provide equivalent fire protection. Werle expressed some concem about the necessity of providing additional fire protection where buildings abut parking lots or other unbuilt areas. Hall said he understood the amendment to affect when a one-hour fire-resistive construction is required, not to discuss what a one-hour fire rating is. Maas said that the City had not enforced the requirement for exterior gypsum board in the past and was only proposing to enforce the requirements that already exist in the code. Carlson said the requirement does not apply to single-family dwellings, and does apply to multi-family dwellings that exceed 6,000 square feet per floor level. In response to a request, Carlson said that some information could be provided by the Building Department to clarify the acceptable means of providing a one-hour fire-resistive wall on the exterior of a building, and reiterated that this is not a code amendment, but merely a notice of enforcement. Item 3 - Minimum Clearance for Window Wells Containing Egress Windows: Carlson said the Board sought input from the Fire Department on this issue. Rocca said that these windows are escape and rescue windows, which indicates that their purpose is both for persons to exit the building through the window and for firefighters to enter the building. Rocca said that since the windows are also for rescue, adequate space must be provided for the firefighters and their equipment to access the window. Rocca said that, due to these considerations, the Fire Department would advocate a seven-foot clearance under decks or porches. Carlson asked what was the minimum clearance the Fire Department required. Rocca said that low clearances above window wells create hazards for firefighters and they would not be comfortable with anything lower than seven feet. Spencer said that he builds split-level single-family homes where the lowest level is four feet underground. He said he builds these homes on relatively narrow lots, where the only area to provide lower level egress is out the back of the house. Spencer said many of these homes also have decks off the upper level which extend over the lower level egress window. The clearance between the underside of the deck and the top of the window well is approximately five feet. Spencer requested that someone from the Fire Department do a site inspection at one of these properties and review the clearance for feasibility. Maas asked if Spencer had any alternatives for placement of the egress window. Spencer replied that the house is 39 feet, six inches wide and placed on a 50-foot wide lot. Spencer said that the house was not 40 feet wide to allow for some margin of error in pouring the foundation, while maintaining 5-foot setbacks on each side of the house. Spencer said that the protrusion of a window well into the side yard is limited by the required separation from the property line and also said that a retaining wall is installed along one side of the house and the grade is sloped so that the house is six feet underground along this wail. Rocca said he would meet with Spencer to inspect one of his properties. Carlson said the Board is trying to find a solution that both protects the safety of the firefighters and allows ease of construction. Item 4 - Handrail Height and Continuity: Carlson said that the UBC Handbook clearly shows that the suggestion considered by the Board at its last meeting is not permitted by the code. Carlson suggested that, based on this information, the Board will uphold the national code language unless compelling reasons for a local amendment are presented. Iowa City Board of Appeals August 3, 1998 page three Item 5 - Requirement for Natural Light in Habitable Rooms: Carlson said the question about the need for natural light in habitable rooms had been raised at the last meeting and it was noted that bedrooms and basements require egress windows which provide nearly the full amount of natural light required by the code. Carlson said he did not have a satisfactory answer to the question and said that the natural light requirement had been incorporated into the code in the nineteenth century to combat living conditions in tenements. Carlson suggested a local amendment to eliminate the natural light requirement in habitable rooms since light would be provided by other required windows and doors. Chase said the Homebuilders Association would favor a local amendment that eliminates the need for required natural light. Carlson suggested that the amendment apply only to single-family dwellings. Item 6 - Reinforcement Requirements for Walk-Out Basements: Carlson said the Board had received the report from the third engineer. The third engineer's report differed from that of the first two engineers in its assumption that lateral soil force is applied as a dead load instead of as a live load, which the first two engineers assumed. Carlson said he had been unable to find a definitive determination of the type of load lateral soil forces apply. Carlson said that the third report called for vertical steel bars to be placed 18 inches on center, whereas the first two reports called for steel bars placed 30 inches on center. Hall said the Homebuilders Association had not had adequate time to review the engineers' reports and requested a continuation until the next meeting of the Board. Carlson said he would provide copies of the report to the Homebuilders Association and table discussion of this item until the Board's August 31, 1998 meeting. Spencer said that he would like clarification on the definition of "unbalanced lateral forces." Carlson noted that the three engineers who had prepared reports on foundation reinforcement did not express uncertainty as to what characterized unbalanced lateral forces. Spencer referenced the side-split houses he builds and said that, on one half of the house, the south side of the house is six feet underground on an eight-foot wall and the north side is four feet underground on a four-foot wall. He said that the other half of the house rests on a slab that is perpendicular to and at the top of the four-foot wall at the north side of the house. Spencer said that this construction has been considered unbalanced lateral force and he was required to install reinforcement. Spencer said that he did not argue with the reinforcement required for walk-out basements, but questioned the need for reinforcement in a side-split home. Carlson said that the wood foundation manual describes how to transfer load from the foundation diagonally to the side wall and may be useful to Spencer. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON ADOPTION OF THE 1997 UNIFORM CODE FOR BUILDING CONSERVATION Carlson returned to this item as the interested party had arrived. Shaw said he supports adoption of this code. He said he is a registered architect and has been involved in the historic preservation movement in Iowa City for many years. Shaw said the code allows some flexibility in meeting current code standards and provides equivalency values for meeting safety standards in old buildings. Shaw said he understands that Des Moines has successfully adopted this code. Shaw also said that the UCBC provides guidelines for appeals and may be useful to the Board when dealing with historic buildings. Carlson said that it appeared that the UCBC included two sections; one addressing occupancy changes and one conceming historic structures. Carlson asked Shaw if he advocated adopting both sections. Shaw said he did. Shaw said that the UCBC does not noticeably lessen public safety standards from the UBC. Carlson Iowa City Board of Appeals August 3, 1998 page four said the equivalencies listed in the UCBC are not stated in any other code and are very helpful when working with historic structures. Carlson said he would encourage staff to prepare an ordinance to adopt this code. CONTINUE PUBLIC COMMENT ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE 1997 LrNIFORM PLUMBING CODE Item 1 - Experience Requirements for Licensing Exams: Haman said he had spoken with plumbers and reported that they supported a change in the experience requirements that would redistribute the number of years of experience required to take licensing exams. Carlson said the experience requirements for electricians would be changed to match those of plumbers when the next edition of the electrical code was adopted. Carlson explained that two combinations of experience requirements had been discussed: two years' experience prior to taking the journeyman's exam and two years with a joumeyman's license prior to taking the master's exam; and three years' experience prior to taking the journeyman's exam and two years as a journeyman prior to taking the master's exam. Osvald said that the state organization has a standard of four years and one year experience and said that changing Iowa City's experience requirements may cause problems for plumbers seeking reciprocal licenses in other jurisdictions. Carlson asked if three years and two years would be a problem. Osvald said that some of the jurisdictions may not reciprocate a joumeyman's license until the plumber had four years' experience even if that plumber had passed the licensing exam. Item 2 - Food-Handling Establishments: Carlson said that there was apparently a conflict within the code, and the way he understood this section, in a single-family dwelling, a bathroom over a kitchen is prohibited. Osvald said the simplest solution may be to exempt residential uses from the food-handling establishment provisions. Item 3 - Fixture Unit Value for Bathtubs and Tub/Showers: Osvald said this provision was put into the code when the UPC and the 1040 Code joined, and the 1040 Code stipulates that the waste line from bathtubs be 2 inches from the point at which the vent came off the waste. He said that the trap arm could be 1.5 inches, but the waste was required to be two-inch. The 1040 Code's fixture unit value table was adopted into the UPC, without the authors realizing the ramifications of the table on the wet-venting requirement. Osvald said staff recommended reducing the fixture unit value to two for bathtubs, which is consistent with the fixture unit value for tub/shower combinations. Item 4 - Storm Drainage: Carlson said this was a new chapter in the UPC. Haman suggested eliminating this chapter from the code. Osvald said it had always been in the code as an appendix, and suggested adopting the chapter as a reference. Haman said that would be acceptable. Carlson said this would be a good idea and would provide the guidelines for storm drainage, should they be needed. Item 5 - Medical Gas Systems: Carlson said staff recommended deleting this chapter and requiring that medical gas systems be inspected and certified by a third party. Osvald said he understood that there are some differences between this chapter and the NFPA. Carlson said that hospitals and other healthcare organizations were required to install medical gas systems according to the standards of the NFPA and that it would be simpler if this chapter was deleted so that healthcare organizations were not required to attempt to satisfy two conflicting codes. Iowa City Board of Appeals August 3, 1998 page five Carlson said that he would like to amend the code to require licensed plumbers to install gas piping. Haman said that plumbers currently install gas pipe more than HVAC contractors. Carlson asked staff to investigate the feasibility of requiring gas piping to be installed by plumbers. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON ADOPTION OF THE 1997 UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE Carlson said the Board intended to adopt the amendments from the 1994 code change process, with the appropriate changes to the fee structure and the Board composition. 8. RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON ADOPTION OF THE 1997 UNIFORM CODE FOR THE ABATEMENT OF DANGEROUS BUILDINGS There was no public discussion on this item. 9. ADJOURNMENT Werderitsch moved for adjoumment at 8:30 p.m. Haman seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved and the meeting adjourned. Minutes submitted by Kathy Zuckweiler. Approved:( ~d of Appeals Chair Date MINUTES IOWA CITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1998 ~- PRELI , INARY Subject to :pproval MEMBERS PRESENT: Frank Gersh, Mike Gunn, Betty Kelly, Doris Malkmus, Michaelanne-Widness MEMBERS ABSENT: Lars Anderson, Trudy Day, Pam Michaud STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler, Sarah Holecek OTHERS PRESENT: Eleanor Steele, Ruedi Kuenzli, Cecile Kuenzli, Donald MacFarland CALLTO ORDER: Chairperson Malkmus called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: Malkmus announced that the City Council appointed a new member, Marc Mills, to the Commission as the Brown Street representative. She said he will be attending the next meeting. She asked about a potential Woodlawn representative. Kugler said that appointment will be made at the Council's September 9 meeting. DISCUSSION OF GRANT PROJECTS: Steele asked for clarification, and said she was there to discuss issues related to item #2 under Commission Information/Discussion. Malkmus said if that item was on the agenda the Commission will discuss it. Steele asked if public discussion is required for that agenda item. Holecek said that public discussion is not required; it is up to the Chairperson's discretion. Malkmus said she did not think there was any reason not to hear public comments on that issue. Longfellow Neighborhood Survey, Phase II Kugler said that everyone should have a copy of the report, which is a compilation of the first and second phases of the survey. He said that Naumann put the two together so it could be handed out to the public as one document, and the executive summary at the beginning ties the two phases together and explains things a bit. He said the survey project is officially completed, and there is a recommendation for historic and conservation districts. He said that the Commission can choose to proceed with those recommendations as it wishes. Kelly said that Naumann is not there to answer questions. Kugler said that Naumann's project and her involvement is basically done, and it is now up to the Commission to go through with her recommendations. Kelly, Malkmus and Widness noted that the maps were very difficult to read. Malkmus said there are four recommended conservation districts, which form a halo around the proposed Longfellow Historic District. Kugler said the area to the north along Burlington was recommended as part of the first survey, and at the time there was some question about that one since on the other side of the street there are properties that were part of another survey and there was no conservation district ordinance in place at that time. He said he thought the Commission should look closely and collectively at that one before proposing any designations. Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 2 Widness asked why Naumann recommended that. Kugler said that recommendation came out of the previous survey. Widness said that the second survey concurs, and notes on page 8 in the last full line of the first paragraph it says that "she, being Jan Nash, recommends that the two sides be considered jointly and the present survey concurs." She said in the middle of the paragraph it says, "Although only the south side of the street was included in this survey, the north side was included in the College Hill survey conducted by Jan Nash." She said she looked on the map, and nothing was done with it. Kelly said the map is terrible, and had questions about the similarity of some of the houses on Clark Street with those in the historic district. Kugler said Naumann's analysis was that there was quite a mix on Clark Street that included everything from well back into the 1800's to some contemporary buildings. He said there is not a sense of time and place along that street like there is along Summit Street or in the Rundell addition. Kelly said there are a couple of Lustron houses that on the east coast, are already on the National Register. Malkmus said Naumann recommends that they be listed. Widness said that came up with the Melrose Avenue widening because there is a Lustron house on Melrose, and they looked at all the Lustron houses and it is questionable whether any of these houses maintains enough of the original integrity. Kugler said that survey noted that other examples of that house type in the area were better preserved than the one on Melrose. Kelly said that it will be kind of unwieldy to have one small conservation district going across the street. Malkmus said that one does not include the houses on Muscatine, although it looks that way on the map. Kugler said the City's graphics person created the map based on a sketch that Naumann had made. Malkmus said she found it difficult to work with the report because of its double nature. Widness agreed, and said that Kelly's point is more puzzling based on Naumann's recommendation on page 12, #6 "The Commission needs to review the manner in which surveys are being conducted. Due to time and money constraints some areas have been combined with others and do not share commonalties, and in other cases..." Kugler reminded members that this is part of the original Longfellow report, which was completed in 1996. He recalled that the Commission applied for a grant to survey basically Governor, Summit and Clark Streets. He said Naumann's bid for the survey was submitted well under budget, and the Commission decided to include Oakland and Grant in the survey area instead of give up a portion of the grant money, so that is what she is referring to. He said the recommendation was that if the Commission was going to do that, to include Rundell and Dearborn and get it all done before any decisions were made. Malkmus said she thought there were two things: a very clearly eligible historic district outlined around Longfellow School, and there are four somewhat scattered conservation districts, which will be a little bit harder because the Commission will have to come up with guidelines for each of them. She asked what the Commission's next move should be. Kelly said that they could designate the proposed historic district, and then go the proposed conservation districts. Kugler said one thing the Commission talked about was trying to get a conservation district started this year, and the process has been stalled this summer. He said that they also discussed looking at the Longfellow Historic District once this report came in. He said the Commission needs to decide what they want to do. Malkmus said she did not think there would be many objections to following through on the recommendations. She asked when the Commission would fund the nomination of the historic district to the National Register. Kugler said that would likely require a grant, and it is possible to nominate the district for designation as a local historic district without going through the National Register process. He said it would require work by the Commission to put together a package for the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. Kelly said the people on Court Street having been waiting a long time for a historic district. Kugler said he thought an informal decision was made to move local designation ahead for Longfellow without waiting for the national register nomination because there would likely be strong support from the Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 3 neighborhood. Gunn said he thought that was voted on at a meeting in the late spring or early summer. Malkmus asked if members should try to nominate the historic and conservation districts as proposed at the same time. She noted that this would be the first conservation district the Commission would bring before the Council. Gersh said the Commission did not have the conservation district standards fully completed, so he suggested going for the historic district first. Malkmus asked if members felt there was support in all five areas proposed, one historic and four conservation districts, to get some help in developing the conservation district guidelines. Kugler said there was a lot of interest on the part of the residents at a neighborhood meeting held earlier this year, but he did not know if that had changed. Malkmus said she would like to see the five areas put together as a package the way the report does because trying to sell what will look like piece meal districts without the historic district centerpiece might be more difficult. Kugler said at the last planning session, members decided to do one conservation district and go through the process, rather than deal with three or four different sections of the neighborhood at once. Kelly said she thought it would be hard to do three sections at once. Gersh said that South Governor was the one that was discussed the most. Kugler said there was a lot of support from residents at the neighborhood meeting interested in having that happen. Kelly said she thought the Commission needed to set their priorities, if they were going to go the direction of conservation districts first and then a local designation of the historic district. She said she thought it would be difficult to work on both at the same time because they are really in two different directions. Malkmus asked Gersh how the subcommittee was coming with the conservation districts. Gersh said they do not have the standards drafted yet, and they still have to go to the proposed neighborhoods and see what the residents thought. Then the standards would need to be modified, so there is still a lot of work to be done. Malkmus asked what timeline Gersh saw for the project. Kugler said that it could be started anytime. Gersh said that it cannot occur until all this other stuff is cleared away and there is time to work on it. Kugler said Gersh and Michaud created a draft set of standards this spring, and he has had no time to look them over given the events of the summer. He said they also need some sketches to help illustrate some of the standards. Gunn asked if there was any information brought back from the conference that could be useful in this situation. Malkmus said she has lots of information on writing guidelines, but they were not specific to conservation districts. She asked if it would be possible to organize a neighborhood meeting with the standards before winter. Gersh said he did not know because he had not done this before. Kelly asked if staff would already have pictures because this area has already been surveyed. Kugler said that staff has information on the buildings, but they do not have complete information on items such as setbacks, and if those are seen as important in the neighborhood that information would have to be collected. Gersh said he thought it would take at least two months to get the neighborhood meeting arranged. Widness asked about contacting the neighborhood association and have them advertise a meeting in their newsletter. Malkmus asked R. Kuenzli if the Longfellow newsletter went to Governor Street. R. Kuenzli said yes. Malkmus asked when the next newsletter issue would be out. Kugler said he could find that out. Malkmus asked if R. Kuenzli felt there would be enthusiasm among the neighbors to work with the Commission in developing the standards. R. Kuenzli said he imagined so. Widness said they could also send out a supplemental flier apart from the newsletter if necessary. Kugler said that the Commission could work with the neighborhood services coordinator regarding that meeting. Malkmus said she would like the Commission to move this along because they have a very clear message from the neighborhood on the historic district, and also on the conservation Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 4 district. Kelly asked if there needed to be an educational process for the Council first. Malkmus asked how Kelly would propose doing that. Kelly said that she thought the Council may not understand what a conservation district is at this point and how it is different than a historic district, so Commission members could attend a work session to explain it. Gersh said that makes sense. Malkmus agreed that the Commission needed to do some education for the City, City Council and specific neighborhoods surrounding Governor Street as a part of this process. She said she thought the guidelines Michaud and Gersh developed were pretty basic, so now they need to set up a meeting to refine the standards. Malkmus asked if the Commission should add this item to their annual planning agenda, or make a decision to nominate the historic district and conservation district at the same time. Widness asked when the planning meeting was. Kugler said September 24. Widness suggested giving it another month so that more members will be in attendance for the discussion. Gersh said that he did not have time to work on it now because the Commission was already meeting one or two times per week. Malkmus said the Commission could decide if this issue was their priority at the end of September meeting, and put more people to work on it. Original Town Plat Survey, Phase II Kugler said that he had heard from Svendsen that she is about 75% done with the site inventory forms. He said he did not know when we would have a draft report, but he thought the project is moving along ahead of schedule. Survey of the Early Neighborhood Northeast of the Original Town Plat, Phase III Kugler said this project and its grant application are pending, and staff has not heard from the review committee yet. He said the Commission should find out sometime next month if they received a grant. Malkmus asked if they discussed proceeding with the third phase instead of funding the Longfellow National Register nomination. Kugler said since they applied for the third phase grant, Commission members voted to complete the third phase. STATE GRANT PROGRAMS: HRDP Grant Program Kugler said he wanted to update the Commission on some changes. He said the HRDP program has been reworked, and he is going to a training session in September to learn of those changes. He said they have moved the grant deadline up from May 1 to January 1 or 15. He said the Commission needed to be ready a little earlier this year if they want to apply for this grant. CLG Grant Program He said there are no changes to the CLG program, and their deadline is in December. He said they do fund projects other than survey projects, and asked members if they wanted to apply for that money to take care of other items recommended in the preservation plan rather than getting into a new neighborhood. He said the Commission has recommendations for looking at providing incentives and tightening certain things in the ordinance, and this is a potential funding source for that. He asked members to think of other projects that this money could be used for. New Grant Program He said the second handout is notice of a new grant program that is funded by tax money the state has received from gambling proceeds. He said it is a 1:1 match grant, and is intended for large projects, so the grants will range from $40,000 to $200,000. He said this grant sounds perfect for the Butler House, but there will be a lot of competition for the money. He said he thought the Commission would have to pass on applying this year because they do not have a clear plan for the Butler House yet, and he thought better-defined projects would be awarded money. He said there is no guarantee that this is coming back next year, but he thought it was Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 5 likely to. Malkmus asked what the Commission would need to do in terms of planning and trying to identify other matching funds to create a good application for next year. Kugler said the Commission cannot use state money to match this, but he thought local and federal funds would be acceptable to use. He said they could use Community Development Block Grant money, but for the most part that money has been going for housing-type projects. Malkmus asked if the Department of Transportation was an option. Kugler said they have missed the ISTEA deadlines, and if there is money left over from that it will come back up and the Commission will have to go through an application process. He said other than donations; this is the only program where the Commission could get a significant amount of money. Gunn said the ISTEA grants should be thoroughly investigated for how well they will work because the program details are very cumbersome. Kugler said the program was just reauthorized and it is supposed to be more flexible. Gunn said it is geared toward highway projects, and all the projects are treated that way. Malkmus said she thought she remembered some interest expressed by the Riverfront and Natural Areas Commission. Kugler said there are a number of different projects going on the City's water plant and Peninsula sites, and they are approaching the Butler House as if it will be there but not be an integral part of their planning. Malkmus said she thought the people out walking the area and assessing it were part of a self-selected group from a variety of different interests, and she asked if they needed to be notified of this grant possibility for next year to get them in a position to organize themselves a little bit and come up with a use and a project. Kugler said the Historic Preservation Commission needed to be involved in that. He said it seems pretty clear that the use will somehow be associated with the park, but the Council indicated clearly that the Commission will need to come up with money and he was not sure that funding for half of a large project was going to be enough from their standpoint. He said this is something to discuss at the planning session if the Commission wants to take the time to get some fundraising efforts going or identify who can be involved in that. Malkmus said she was sorry to see this opportunity come and gone before the Commission could use it. Kugler said the state apologized for that, but apparently they found out early this summer that the money was available and had to arrange to get all the specifics put together. He said they hope it comes back next year so a project like the Commission's could receive consideration. Malkmus said in the mean time the Commission could lobby a bit for this. Kelly said there will be a change in administration between now and next year too. Malkmus said she wrote a letter to the Iowa City Press Citizen that talked about this project and how important it might be, and the dignity of that historic building and how it might add depth to the idea of the trail. She said it seems that the Commission needs to get people who are really interested in this project notified. Kelly said that when the Commission first mentioned this project, one of the State Archaeologists expressed some interest in helping. Kugler said he was brought here by Colette Pogue, and the Commission has not heard from him since. Malkmus said that Sue Licht is personally involved with the project, so they should make sure that she knows about the grant program. REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FORUM: Malkmus said the most important thing she wanted to bring back from this forum is that the Commission is not alone in terms of historic preservation. She said because the federal government wanted to encourage development of local preservation commissions they developed a program called "Certified Local Governments". She said that meant that the Commission designates historic districts that helps them meet federal standards. She said CLG is a program in use across the nation, and the Commission can receive money and technical assistance from it. She said the funding for CLG is about half of what was first designated in 1980, about $3 million, and the number of CLGs across the nation has increased immensely, so Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 6 there is more competition for less money. She said one idea she picked up is that local Commissions will have to rely on themselves and networking with other local groups to develop awareness and create programs. She said there was a consensus from Commissions all over the country about the need to proactively communicate with homeowners who are in districts. She said there are two ways that this is generally done; one is that Commissions develop guidelines for each district that will talk about the district's character, historical significance, spacing, texture and any other attributes that make that district unique and significant to history. She said that the Iowa City ordinance allows this, but the Commission has not done it in the past. She said that other communities have resisted this idea, and simply say that any building done in a district should be suitable to that district. She said she did not think this was very helpful to communicate this issue with neighbors ahead of time. She said the Commission could develop guidelines with lots of pictures, diagrams and proportions, and could use some of the CLG grant money to do it. She said another option is to involve people in the neighborhoods to help put this together. She said another option is develop a mission statement for the neighborhoods. For example, in 100 years what would we like this district to look like in character and nature. She said the Commission should also specify that new design should be appropriate. She said there was a lot of debate about using the Department of Interior Standards as a guideline. She said that some people felt they were too vague to be a guideline for a district, and some were uncomfortable with standard #9 dealing with scale and mass. Kugler read the standard. Malkmus said some of the discussion dealt with different interpretations of the standard. She said even with guidelines, most Commission members at the forum said it was most helpful and effective to work with homeowners during the planning process before a project came before the Commission. She said the Commission might want to consider not only developing guidelines for the conservation districts, but also for the historic districts. Gunn asked if there was funding available if the Commission chose to hire someone to help create the guidelines. Kugler said there could be some grant money from HRDP or CLG, it is just a matter of writing a good grant application. Kelly noted that the Commission has some guidelines, and they are not starting from scratch. Malkmus asked if there would be enough money in an average CLG grant to take the historic districts that have already been nominated, look at information about their character and quality and develop guidelines. Kugler said he did not know, but could talk to a few consultants to see what they might charge. Gersh said he thought having specific standards for each district is a good idea. Malkmus said she thought it would be helpful for new Commissioners too. UPDATE ON FALL SEMINAR: Kugler said Marlys Svendsen, one of the speakers, asked if the date could be pushed back to either Oct. 24 or 31, and she would be willing to talk to whomever the Commission has already lined up for speakers about that change. Kugler noted that there is a home football game on 24th. He said that Svendsen has been asked to speak at a regional planning conference in Cedar Rapids. He said that she would decline the Cedar Rapids invitation, but he noted that they would be paying her and she is doing the Commission's seminar for free, so he wanted to know if the Commission could accommodate her schedule. Malkmus said the Masonic Temple said Saturdays are good for them, but they would lose the option of the realtors' tour of remodeled houses. She said she could not be there on the 31st. Kelly said it was already advertised in the newspaper. Widness said since it has been advertised she thought it was too late to change it. Malkmus agreed, and said it has also appeared in some newsletters. Kugler said that he did not know it had been advertised, so he would tell Svendsen that those other dates would not work. Historic Preservation Commiss~on August 27, 1998 Page 7 COMMISSION TIME: Widness said that she found the meeting between staff and selected commission members that took place Monday very personally offensive. She said she objected to the fact that the meeting was very hastily scheduled not involving all the Commission members, at which even the Chair was not present. She said regardless of what took place at the meeting, she felt it certainly gave the appearance of something shady taking place. She said more than that, she objected to the motive. She said if there is a perceived "right decision" that this Commission needs to make on some of these very controversial matters, it seems that there are two options; one that the City can be much more selective in terms of the people who are asked to serve on Commissions, and the other would be to have some sort of educational process. She said she felt that either of these would go a long way toward thoroughly discrediting any work that this Commission tried to do. That aside, she felt the time to do something like that would be before these decisions are made and certainly not after. She said all members are trying to make the best decisions they can. She said they may not all possess the expertise they would like, but no one she knows on this Commission is trying to make these decisions hastily or capriciously, so she took great exception that these decisions or this particular decision should be reconsidered because maybe the Commission did not think hard enough about it or maybe everything was not brought up that should have been brought up. She said she understood the fears that were involved. She said that one has to do with the fact that Mr. Houser has written City Council, and he has requested that he be allowed to use any material for his siding at his option. She said she realized the possibility that the Council may not look beyond the Commission's 4-4 decision and allow him to use vinyl or aluminum. She said she understood the fear that the Commission will be perceived as too fanatic in what they are requiring of property owners in historic districts, and future districts will be reluctant to sign on because of this. She said she felt there were a number of ways to get around all these problems, but she did not see how this Commission could do anything meaningful for this community if these kinds of activities are allowed to go on. Malkmus asked if Widness meant in terms of "these kinds of activities", staff requesting several Commission members to attend a meeting. Widness said she was referring to the meeting held last Monday. Kugler said that one of the reasons that the Monday meeting was called was that two of the Commission members who voted to require wood siding, Gersh and Day, had indicated they did not get a chance to go out and look at the examples of the fiber cement material in place. He said the City Attorney in attendance felt that there was some hint of arbitrariness that the applicant might attack, and said she thought it would be a good idea to make sure that everyone had a chance to look at the material. He said he was asked if he could get Gersh or Day out to look at the material, talk about the issue and see if either of them would be willing to make a motion to reconsider. Kugler said he didn't think it would be fair to single any one individual out and put that kind of pressure on them. He said he thought it would be more appropriate to also get Kelly involved because she was strongly adamant in requiring wood, and Gunn because he seemed to have some arguments for allowing the fiber cement, rather than singling out Gersh or Day. He said there is also a limitation on the number of people who could get together without having an official meeting, having to advertise, and having a quorum. Also, the only time a Commission is able to reconsider an item is at its next meeting. He said if the Commission would have put together a formal meeting the decision to reconsider would have had to be at that meeting. He said as it stands, tonight would be the only opportunity if anyone wants to make that motion for the Commission to reconsider its vote on that topic. Widness agreed that everyone should have seen that building material, but she thought the decision should have been delayed until everyone had seen it. She did not think the time to have them go out and look at it was after the Commission voted. She said she did not know how Historic Preservation Commission August27,1998 Page 8 this could be perceived as anything but pressure tactics to get people to change their votes, and it does a disservice to everyone on the Commission. Malkmus said unless there is something else a member wanted to bring up, she would like to move ahead to item #2, which is the letter from Brad Houser appealing this decision. She said having the summary of what took place and reasons from staff, this might be a good time to entertain a motion. Kugler clarified that staff was not trying to hide anything here. He said he spoke with most Commission members before this meeting took place to let them know that it would be happening. He said those decisions were made at the meeting, and it was clear that if a decision was going to be made it was going to be made at this meeting tonight. He said staff was not trying to be shady or underhanded about anything, but simply had some concerns that a number of staff people felt should be considered. They were concerned that some issues were not considered, and this issue of two members not seeing the materials was one of them. Widness said she was not called; she found out from another Commission member and called Kugler at 10 a.m. on Monday. Kugler said the meeting was not arranged until the weekend, and he intended to call everyone. Widness said it did not give one great feeling of being part of the team. Kugler said he could understand that, and there was a lot of discussion if they should go forward with the meeting or not and staff thought that it would be better for the issues to be addressed titan not. Gunn said it should be emphasized that there was an appeal to Council between the time the Commission voted and this is new information. He said he thought that warrants some activity. Widness asked why not activity for everyone; why not just schedule a special meeting. She asked why select four people, three of whom happened to vote against allowing anything but wood. She said it was predominately a meeting that was attended by people who came down on apparently the wrong side of the decision. She asked how this could look like anything but that. Gunn said it was not simply the matter of a decision being questioned in the absence of anything else that happened. He said that something transpired to trigger the process, which was an appeal to Council, and it did not just come out of the blue. Widness said if this is going to be the Commission's standard response to an appeal to Council, she would say that they do not have a very good procedure in place. Gunn said he was not arguing what happened procedurally. Kelly noted that Malkmus was out of town, and that was why she could not attend. Kelly said she was notified of the meeting Sunday night. Kugler said that if a motion to reconsider is going to be made, it needs to come from someone on the prevailing side (who voted for wood), and the second could come from anyone. Malkmus noted that Houser sent a letter to the City Council appealing the Commission's decision that only wood siding products could be used on his project, and indicating that he would like permission to use vinyl, fiber or possibly wood products for siding at his choice. She said this will go before the Council on Wednesday, September 9. Kugler said that Houser has filed for a building permit, and may have already received it. Malkmus said that he has already started excavation. Kugler noted that he is doing that at his own risk if the Council does not favorably consider his appeal. He said that Houser needs to have a 10% investment in the property in order to be able to continue building the duplex before the Council sets the public hearing on the neighborhood rezoning item. He said if the Council upholds the wood siding, he would have to put the wood on. Malkmus said Houser understood that. Malkmus said that she felt the Commission needed to come up with a response to his appeal, and she said the Commission would be remiss to not be there (before the City Council) when he is there. She said they need to explain their position, reasoning, points of view and need to present as much information as possible to the Council. She said an option is to reconsider the item with public input and discussion. Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 9 Widness said she did not attend the July 9 meeting, and read from the minutes of that meeting regarding reconsideration, "The attorney representing the Calhoun's said, 'Nowhere in the ordinance that establishes the Commission or in any of the by-laws or regulations of the Commission is there any procedure that allows for reconsideration. He said that there was a reference to Robert's Rules of Order, but those rules are not incorporated anywhere in the ordinance that creates the Commission or the Commission's by-laws. Weston said this represents a serious procedural due-process issue." Then Lars Anderson said, "The Commission is now compounding that procedural error in reconsidering the matter in that there is nothing in our rules that specifically mentions a reconsideration. There are only Robert's Rules of Order that are not referred to in the by-laws or procedures of the Commission." Then Ms. Dilkes said, regarding the reliance issue, "Because there is no procedure in the ordinance for reconsideration, and because Robert's Rules are not incorporated, that just heightens the level of the reasonableness of the Calhoun's reliance." Widness said she thought Dilkes supported what the Calhoun's attorney had asserted with that statement. She said she spoke with Kugler about the issue, and he said that the Commission could reconsider an item. She said she went back and found that Dilkes had said, "The City Council asked for an opinion, and also asked if they could make a non-binding request that the Commission take a look at reconsidering, and she responded that they could." Widness said by that statement, Dilkes told the Council that the Commission could reconsider, but she also said, "A vote to reconsider this issue is legally an error." Kugler said that was directly related to the fact that the applicant had taken some reliance. Holecek said Dilkes was not talking about the procedural aspects, she was talking about the ramifications of doing a reconsideration after someone has gone forward in reliance upon the Commission's decision, so there is a different assessment there. She said Dilkes was talking about is that it feeds into their reasonableness since there is nothing out there that says reconsideration is a possibility, what you look at for detrimental reliance is how reasonable it is for someone to rely on your decision. Holecek said in that case the decision was made that the Calhoun's could do the expansion, hence they went forth and made an arguably binding purchase agreement and took other steps in reliance upon that decision. She said it is akin to Houser getting a building permit and having 10% of the building in the ground and having relied on the decision of this body or other bodies, and when the public hearing is set to not allow the zoning or the use that is there. Malkmus said that Weston referred to the fact that there was no provision for the neighbors to appeal. Kugler said no; he was talking about reconsideration. Holecek said he was talking about reconsideration; he was advocating on behalf of his client who had reasonably relied on the decision of the Commission to allow the expansion, and that reasonableness was because there is no explicit outline. Kugler noted that this is not the only Commission to discuss reconsidering a motion; the Planning and Zoning Commission has done it on occasion and he did not think there was anything in their ordinance or by-laws that specifically says they can or cannot. He said it is more of a procedural due-process/Robert's Rules of Order type-thing. He said that Robert's Rules of Order does provide specifically for reconsideration and how that may happen. He said the issue with the Calhoun's, and the reason the City Attorney's office was recommending against it, was because of the reliance issue, not because the Commission cannot reconsider a decision. Kelly said that the Commission is not giving themselves a very good reputation by saying one thing one time and one thing another time. She said it looks like if a person comes before this body and enough pressure or enough activity is applied, they will change their mind. She said she did not think that was fair to anyone involved. Malkmus said that if there is a motion on the table to reconsider, she would take that as the beginning of a period of public input and Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 10 discussion on this question. MacFarland asked if there could be public input on the previous agenda item. Malkmus said the Commission is not in a position at this time to have public input, and will notify members of the public when the Commission gets to that point on the current item. MacFarland said this could have been addressed under item #1. Kelly said it would be addressed under item G if it is anywhere. Kugler said that if there is no motion, there is no reason to address the issue. MacFarland said at item B, items that are not on the agenda can be addressed, and this item is not on the agenda. He said the public has many major procedural questions, one of which being that they would urge the Commission not to reconsider. Malkmus said that Commission will proceed with their discussion, and if and when there is a motion there will be a time for public input before the vote. MacFarland said he did not want a vote; that is the whole point. Malkmus said the Commission has business to do, and they will ask for public input when it is appropriate. Steele said she asked if she would be able to discuss this issue under "Public Discussion" or under the current agenda item, and it was indicated that she would be able to discuss under the current agenda item. Holecek said it was indicated that it would be at the discretion of the Chair. Steele said Malkmus indicated that she would allow it. Holecek said Malkmus said if there is a motion, meaning if there is any interest by this Commission in entertaining a motion for reconsideration, the public will be given time for input. She said if there is no motion on the floor, the whole issue is moot. R. Kuenzli said the issue is not moot for the members of the public. Malkmus said she would be willing to have public input whether or not there is a motion, but she would like to give the Commission time to discuss first. MOTION: Gersh moved to reconsider the vote on the Certificate of Appropriateness for 803 South Summit Street. Gunn seconded the motion. Gersh said as much as he hated to do it, he thought it was worth considering because of Houser's appeal and the wording of his letter. Kelly said the wording of the letter indicates that the Commission could not make its mind up in the beginning. Gersh said this is new information since the vote that needs to be considered. He said that the Commission also needed to talk more about the fiber cement siding. Gunn said he thought the Commission should discuss the way it is left to the Council at the present time. He said he seconded the motion for reconsideration to facilitate that discussion. Public discussion opened. Donald MacFarland, 620 South Summit Street, said he was very concerned and asked Gersh and Gunn to withdraw the motion and its second. He said he was very concerned about the procedural aspect of this. He said the Commission members studied the question carefully and spoke to the issue of what is the appropriate planning for this house. He said in good conscience, the Commission arrived at a 4-4 vote. He said he thought the applicant should appeal that because there is a lot of money available for the applicant if he happens to win this at the next level. He said the right thing to do is for the Commission's 4-4 vote just to go before the Council. He suspected the Council would uphold the failure to approve the fiber cement, and that it is highly unlikely that the Council will say that the Commission did not consider this issue because they did at great length. He said he was very concerned about the procedural aspect of this because it haunts him that the City Attorney's office should come to the Commission and ask them to change their mind when they smell that the process is being used. He said the process is that an applicant makes an application, the Commission considers the application and could turn it down and then it goes on appeal to the City Council. If the Council upholds the decision, the appeal can go to the district court. He said the Commission should let the process happen because he did not want the message to go out to the community that one could make Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 11 an absurd application to this Commission, and then appeal it to the Council with a loyal letter and the City Attorney will come and brow-beat some Commission members into changing their vote. He said that completely undermines the whole principle of this Commission, which is quite simply that they do their best. He said that they cannot be perfect, and that he did not know what the right material for the house siding was or if he would have voted for or against it. He said he wanted to uphold the sanctity of the Commission's deliberation and the conclusion they come to. He said if the Commission did not uphold that, then they really did not have a Commission but rather an animal that is being pushed around against their will and better judgement. He asked Gunn and Gersh to withdraw the motion and let this matter die, and take it up before the Council. Cecile Kuenzli, 705 South Summit Street, said the Commission debated the cladding for over an hour. She noted that there have been many wood substitutes that have come onto the market, and when she bought a house in Iowa City in 1973 it had one of those on it. She said it was called Masonite and all the builders were using it all over town and giving their seal of approval. She said after they lived there for 13 years, they kept wondering why they were getting a "rash" on one side of the house that made the paint look as though it had scabs all over it. She said they went down to Nagle lumber and were told that it was the Masonite and that after a while the components break down and the wax rises to the surface. She said when that was put on, and three years after it was put on, and five years after it was put on no one knew that. She said it took 13 years for the problem of the "new, wonderful" material to emerge, and while she understands this proposed fiber board is in a similar category of being a new product that people are starting to use, no one knows what it will look like 10-13 years from now. She said it is probably not the best idea to test this new product out in a historic district, but rather and see how it turns out to look on G Street and F Street, and then if it is fine try it. She said since the Commission debated for an hour, and decided the safe thing to do was to go with the tried and true wood, they do not have any reason to feel bad about their vote. She said the new product is unknown. Ruedi Kuenzli, 705 South Summit Street, said that one reason why some of the members were willing to allow this developer to use Hardi-Board was a financial one. He said the applicant made a financial statement about how this would not be quite feasible anymore. He said he thought that the financial consideration for the Commission, which would use the Secretary of Interior Standards, applies to the individual homeowners and not to developers. He said in this case when a developer is building a property in a historic district in which he will not live, the financial considerations are not the same as with a widow who lives in a house and has to conform to some standards. He said he also felt that if the Commission made their vote based on economic feasibility for the developer, Eleanor Steele gave them the square footage costs that are by far lower than any equivalent square footage costs. He said he did not know how the Commission could make the choice on the basis of finances. He said that he read Houser's letter, and although the Commission had a 4-4 tie on the issue, it had to take another vote because Houser would not have received a Certificate of Appropriateness on a tie vote. He asked what the second vote was that allowed the Certificate of Appropriateness. Kugler said 6- 2. R. Kuenzli said that that is the vote of the Commission, not the 4-4 tie. Gersh noted that the results of the second vote were not included in Houser's letter. R. Kuenzli reminded the Commission that there are conservation district components in their guidelines that were adopted by the Council in 1990, and those guidelines were specifically developed for historic districts to have a conservation component in them. He read from the general section. He said that this guideline states that when there is infill, the Commission needs to aspire to some of the best properties, which are contributing structures. He said he felt the Commission had guidelines, which allow them to make an argument to the Council. He said he did not understand procedurally why they would want to entertain a motion for reconsideration since it is not listed on the agenda as such. He said he thought the Commission would discuss what the Historic Preservation Commission August 27.1998 Page 12 argument should be to the Council at the time for them to reconsider. He said that at least one member needed to argue and explain why Houser should use wood cladding, and the neighbors will make arguments to help the Commission and its decision that the structure should have wood siding. Eleanor Steele, 710 South Summit Street, said that she agreed with Widness in that this move was very divisive and inappropriate, and she was very concerned with the direction that staff is taking and how that affects the Commission. She said she sat in a fairly lengthy meeting earlier today with Kugler, Bob Miklo, Karin Franklin and Eleanor Dilkes because she wanted to find out why this meeting took place, and because she asked Kugler if it was in violation of the open meetings law. She said she checked the law herself since she didn't get an answer, and now knows that it was not in violation of that law, although she still questions the integrity of that action. She said the open meetings law exists to avoid this kind of behavior, and the fact that there was one less person at the meeting so the law was not broken suggests a tactic was in place. She said one thing that was brought to her attention by staff during this meeting, and she noted that staff would not speak to her unless she agreed to this 3:30 p.m. meeting with their lawyer present. She said the Commission needs to understand the culture that exists here, what they are operating with and the influence that staff can have on members. She said she was not allowed to discuss this unless the lawyer and all members involved in planning were present. She said that what she got out of this meeting was that it was better and safer to do it that way, and that is an attitude that she very much objected to. She said she agreed with MacFarland that there is a process in place, and the Commission needs to follow that process. She said that process may result in a mess, but the Commission is part of a democratic system and they are politically appointed people. She said one thing staff told her was that there would be no difference for her if this issue was worked out among Commission members or the Council, and she did not agree with that because she thought it was very important to follow through the political process. She said that she understands that the Commission is not at the point of reconsidering now because public notice has to be given, but the Commission can choose not to hear her. She said the Council would hear her if this item gets to them, so there is a very real difference in the political process that takes place. She said she was briefed on this issue and understands that staff has some concerns about the way people who supported wood siding chose to support their decision, and she is curious as to how hard they worked to find the mistakes that occurred in the arguments the Commission gave in support wood siding. She said she knew from speaking to John Shaw and Kugler before the meeting that there was a strong push to encourage the substitute the material. She said she felt there was inappropriate influence taking place and she was very bothered by it. She said she thought the Commission should follow through with the processes outlined in their guidelines. Holecek said that Dilkes stated with respect to the reconsideration, the Commission does not have to hear from the public, which is not quite accurate. She said with regard to the motion to reconsider, which is an internal motion to the Commission, you do not have to take public comment on the motion before you. Upon reconsideration of the case of the merits the public would be allowed input. Steele asked Kugler to clarify, and said that was not what Dilkes said in the meeting earlier today. Kugler said with regard to this discussion this evening, the motion to reconsider did not have to be brought open for public discussion; Malkmus chose to do that. He said that if the Commission votes to reconsider, the procedures outlined in the Commission's Guidelines and Procedures will be followed as if it is a Certificate of Appropriateness-type application. Kugler said he would like to respond to Steele because she exaggerated a few things and he would like to clarify them with what happened earlier today. He said that Steele came into the office that morning without an appointment and asked to speak to him. He told her that he had limited time available, but he tried to answer her questions. He said she was not satisfied with Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 13 his answers, so he told her that she could speak with Karin Franklin or Bob Miklo if she had questions or concerns beyond that, since they were the staff members that directed him to set up this meeting that occurred on Monday night. He said that Steele agreed, and he went to ask Franklin if she was available. He said Franklin was not available, and indicated that she would not be until later in the afternoon. He said that he also mentioned that Steele had brought up the open meetings law concerns, which he answered but Steele did not accept. He said in addition to that the City Attorney's office had expressed some concerns about the nature of the Commission's decision, and whether there were some aspects that were arbitrary. Therefore, Franklin felt it would be good to have Dilkes sit in, and because Miklo has also been involved, she thought it would be good for him to also sit in. He said that it was not a case where staff was not willing to respond to Steele's questions because he tried to do that, but she was not satisfied with the answers and no one else was immediately available to answer questions. He said staff felt it would be wise to have everyone who has been involved together at one meeting rather than have Steele meet with multiple people separately, as well as have staff get together afterward to discuss what happened. He said it was not a case of staff trying to impede her right to information in any way as Steele seemed to be suggesting. Steele said she is not intentionally misleading anyone, and if she misspoke it might be because of the anger that she is feeling right now. She said she entered the meeting with Dilkes explaining to her that she was frustrated because she had to go pick up her child, and Steele said she had been downtown all day because of this issue and she a seventh grader at home who probably needs help with his math homework. She said there was a certain pressure put on her to quit acting like she was a gnat. She said that she sees things differently from Kugler, it might venture to say that she is exaggerating, but they see things differently and she felt it was appropriate for her to express her view of the situation. C. Kuenzli said that the point mentioned before about the Commission's appearance of being wishy-washy is true if they keep reconsidering things. She said it just becomes a question of who will apply the most pressure to get something changed. She said regarding the reconsideration issue and Dilkes' comments when the Council asked if they could asked the Commission to reconsider, Dilkes said, "You can ask them to reconsider. It has no legal force whatsoever. I do not advise you to do it for legal reasons." MacFarland asked if the applicant had asked for reconsideration. Malkmus said the applicant has appealed the Commission's decision to the Council, which is the next step in the procedure for him. MacFarland asked if the applicant had asked the Commission to reconsider. Malkmus said no. Kugler said if the reconsideration would happen tonight it would be at the request of one of the Commission members. MacFarland asked if that was substantially correct, or whether the request for reconsideration has actually come from staff. Kugler said staff recommended to the group of people that got together Monday night that they consider reconsidering the issue. MacFarland asked if the recommendation was made by staff after a recommendation was requested or did the recommendation arise from staff. Kugler said there was no request from the applicant to reconsider. He said after the meeting the applicant filed a letter with the City Clerk appealing the Commission's decision regarding the wood siding. MacFarland asked if any Commission member asked staff for their recommendation. Kugler said no, it was initiated by staff due to concerns on the staff level. MacFarland said he thought that was very important for the public to understand, and he suspected that it was important for Commission members to also understand that. He said he thought it was entirely reprehensible for the City staff to interfere with the deliberations of a Commission unless the Commission members, the applicant or a member of the public requests it. Public discussion closed. Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 14 Malkmus said she would like to respond to a couple of things. She said that the Commission has staff liaisons, and according to the ordinance they are supposed to advise members and give them background information. She said that is part of their job, and it is the Commission's job to hear the evidence, look at the proposals and to make the decisions. She said she thought it was a little disingenuous of the people who are attending the meeting to be so righteous about the Commission following their procedures and how they should not reconsider votes when the original decision was made on 621 South Summit Street, and people were in here saying that that item should be opened and discussed again. C. Kuenzli said that was because the Commission did not follow procedures. Malkmus said she thought it was only fair to say that, and it seems to her that the people attending were taking advantage of the arguments when it suits their case and ignoring them when it does not. She said that there are only five Commissioners in attendance, and it should be recognized that it is a pretty limited group to actually make a decision to reconsider. She said she meant that for all the people who are not there who made the original decision, they need to be aware that the members in attendance made the decision, and she thought that the credibility of a small number of members to make a decision would be awkward to discuss before the Council. Gersh noted that the Commission is not voting to reconsider the item now, they will be voting to reconsider the item at another meeting. He said that if some of the Commission members are not able to show up for that meeting, it should not reflect badly on those who do. Gersh said that he made the motion because if this simply goes to the Council, and they know that the Council is getting more and more development oriented, they could say that Houser has all three options or could approve vinyl. He said that is the exact opposite of what everyone in attendance tonight wants. He said the Council could approve vinyl siding in order to save Houser money, and that is what they want to avert, which they could do by possibly considering another option besides wood. He said that he also moved to reconsider because this issue is relatively small as compared to some other issues. He said that if the Council keeps hearing about these issues, such as what should be on the surface of a house or what should be added to a house, and the Commission goes to propose a new historic district or conservation district, which is a much bigger issue, the Council might be tired of hearing things that they feel the Commission should deal with themselves and the Commission could lose their credibility with the Council and not be able to get more from them in the way of new districts. He said when it comes down to the fiber cement board, it gives the appearance of wood. Malkmus said that Gersh is changing his position from previous statements. Gersh said it is not exactly the same and he could tell the difference, but it is much closer to wood than vinyl. He said he thought the appearance was more important, and that is what he thought the Secretary of Interior Standards was mainly about, and while they do go farther than that, that is the main part of their thrust. He said there is some subjectivity to the issue because it is based on how the product looks, and he found it difficult to come up with a hard argument and objective evidence against the fiber cement board. Malkmus asked Gersh if he was saying that given what he perceived as a threat that the Council would approve vinyl siding. Gersh said he did not know how much of a possibility that was, and said he had asked staff to find that out what the Councilors opinions are regarding this issue at the meeting on Monday because he felt that this information was necessary. He thought it was reasonable to get informal opinions to add to the Commission's knowledge and the context of what they are talking about here. He said if there is a reasonable possibility that the Council will approve vinyl siding, he thought the Commission should approve the fiber cement board. Gunn said he thought the Commission should require wood siding in a number of places without exception, period. He said he thought there were other cases where the Commission should allow a substitute material under certain conditions. He said he did not think there were any Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 15 conditions where the Commission should allow vinyl siding in historic districts given the apparent success, if not tested for 20 years in this climate, of fiber cement board. Malkmus asked if he was talking about siding for new construction. Gunn said he thought the Commission should be deciding where these different materials should be used and their exact guidelines, that they should be presented to the Council in the proper form of ordinance, and they should approve it as a recommendation or there should be a general policy regarding wood, fiber cement and vinyl siding or any other products. Gersh said those policies do not exist. Gunn said they do not have them, in his opinion, in place to do it the best way, and he said he was not comfortable leaving the decision up to whatever the Council decides because he felt the Commission will be hard pressed to alter whatever they come up with. He said that everybody he knows in Iowa City could put vinyl siding on their property tomorrow except Brad Houser, and he did not think the Council will simply let that go by. He said he wished he knew that the Council would not approve vinyl, but he thought they would approve the fiber cement board siding. He said he felt that the Council would look at a 4-4 vote on the issue, look at pictures and a lot of them are going to say, "What are we doing here?" He said he thought at best the Council would approve the fiber cement board, and at worst they would approve the vinyl siding. He said he was concerned where the Commission would be then. Kelly said she would not vote out of fear; she would vote on what she felt was right. She said she absolutely did not believe that fiber cement is a permanent solution, and it is being put on the first infill in a historic district, which will be a precedent. She said that she spoke with the Architect at the State Historical Society who said the fiber cement siding does not have any decent history so far. She said it was invented for Southern climates to prevent rot, which wood is subject to. She said it has not necessarily been tested in a climate like Iowa's that has a lot of stress in expansion and contraction due to weather changes. She said she also knows what happened with Masonite, and the Commission is opening the door to a substitute that they do not know anything about. She said she felt that information needed to be presented to the Council. Holecek said members are getting beyond the actual motion to reconsider and to the merits of the reconsideration. Malkmus said she felt the Commission did want to have this discussion. Kelly said she was explaining why she would not vote to reconsider the item. She said she felt it was a dangerous precedent to set, and that members are voting out of fear of the Council's decision. Gersh said that is relevant because if the fiber board is put up and the weather destroys it, the building is now an existing structure and Houser can put vinyl siding on. Malkmus said she agreed with Widness that the Commission needs to take some responsibility for their decisions and stand behind them, and that the appearance of changing or being subject to reconsideration of every controversial decision will mean that the Commission is involved in endless controversies and arguments instead of being able to proceed with the really important things that are going on. She said she would like to propose that the Commission consider presenting their arguments, facts and findings to the Council, and let them decide. She said the Commission discussed fiber board thoroughly, and gave it a lot of time and attention. She said the vote was 4-4, which says to her that there was no clear cut decision in favor of fiber board, although she personally was in favor of it. She said at this point, the Commission has already made a decision, and she thought it was not an arbitrary one. She proposed that the Commission present the information to Council in a way that allows them to see the merits of the Commission's wood, fiber cement and vinyl siding arguments. She said she was not as convinced as Miklo or other people that Houser will carry the day in Council in terms of being allowed to be given carte blanche. She proposed that the Commission make a strong argument that vinyl siding is inappropriate on new construction in a historic district no matter what. Kelly recommended that the Commission correct Houser's information in the letter because he did not include the second vote of 6-2, because the first vote of 4-4 favors him and the second one does not. Kugler said the information that goes to Council will reflect that. Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 16 Malkmus said the Commission has the option of presenting their case to the Council if they vote not to reconsider, or voting to reconsider the item at the next Commission meeting. Gersh said the Commission should vote soon because if it is turned down they need to discuss how they will present themselves and their arguments before Council. Widness said she agreed with Kelly. She said they are talking about the first infill in what is the oldest, and arguably most important, at least symbolically, historic district in Iowa City. She said to compromise here the first time would send a very bad message. She said that historic districts have an understanding with this Commission and the Commission has one with them, and when the people who live on Summit Street can point to this house and say, "See that, that is what the Commission allowed to be put on the side of that house," the Commission has breached the understanding. She said she will vote not to reconsider. She said there are many strong arguments, and they can certainly point to the unanimous straw poll by the Commission that vinyl siding was a totally inappropriate material for new construction on Summit Street. She said there are many arguments that could be made. Malkmus asked Widness if she had confidence that that would in fact carry weight with the Council understanding that Houser is a long-time Iowa City businessman with a lot of connections. Widness said she noted the risk because it is very difficult to know how the Council is going to vote on some matters, but that she is willing to take the risk because it is too important of an issue. Kelly asked that the Commission go before the Council united; if they vote for wood that is what gets presented to the Council. The motion was defeated by a vote of 2-3, with Malkmus, Widness, and Kelly voting no. Kugler said this item was placed on the agenda to let members know that the appeal has been filed, and the Commission will have to attend the Council meeting when the appeal is heard. He said the Council will be looking for the Commission's position on why it chose to make its decision the way it did. Gersh asked if it would be appropriate for as many Commission members to attend. Kugler said he thought it would be best to have one person speaking, but it would be fine for all other members to be in attendance to make comments. Widness suggested sending the Council a letter. Kugler said typically with a situation like this the Commission would send a letter or memo to the Council. Malkmus asked how far ahead the Council would get that information. Kugler said the information would have to be submitted by Thursday. Malkmus said she was not sure she would be in town on the Council meeting date, but she thought the Commission should have a strong and effective spokesperson for this. Widness said she would go to the meeting, but that the Commission could certainly have something in writing that would effectively state their position ahead of time. Malkmus said she felt that this is a time when the Commission needs to say that arbitrary decisions are not acceptable, and the Commission did spend a lot of time on this issue because it is an important one. Gersh said he calculated that by the end of the last meeting the Commission had spent approximately 60 hours on this issue, and John Shaw volunteered about 10 hours of his time. He said that included going to the site, viewing other houses in Iowa City and Solon that are sided with the fiber board, reading literature about the product, conferring with Shaw and Houser and going to the Commission meetings. Malkmus said she felt it was absolutely essential to have a sense of cohesivehess among Commission members regarding this issue, but she also felt that they should present the same information about the fiber cement board and siding that they were presented with. She said the Commission should be providing information, as well as their decision. She said she sensed that Houser would have been satisfied with putting the substitute siding on, and in her opinion, it is a better product for a historic district than vinyl even if they do not know how it will turn out. She wanted to make sure that the Council understood the reasons why the Commission came to their decision. She asked Gunn if he would be willing to speak if there was the opportunity for Historic Preservation Commission August 27, 1998 Page 17 two people because he was on the review subcommittee that first discussed this issue and because he was involved with all the discussions between Houser and Shaw. Gunn said yes, and noted that the 4-4 vote will not be hidden; it will be discussed. Gersh said after the 4-4 vote, the Commission voted 6-2. Gunn said he was not questioning that, but there are bound to be questions about the discussion of fiber cement siding, and that information should be presented as it was discussed. He said if he was on the Council, he would be looking for every bit of information on this issue that he could find. Malkmus said that she thought the Council should have this information before so they could look it over and look at the neighborhood. Gunn said that whatever the Council decides will be precedent setting. Malkmus said that she felt this Commission is a different group of people than it was five years ago, and that will happen on the Council too. She said that it has already been made clear in the minutes that the Commission does not hold the standards for one district to apply for all districts. She said she did not see this as an overwhelming decision of the part of the Commission or Council because every situation will require a lot of consideration. She said the Commission will be coming up with some well- considered guidelines about what is appropriate in historic districts. Kelly asked who the Commission would be asking for help to create the standards for conservation districts. Malkmus said that could be discussed at the annual planning meeting. Widness said she would draft something to send to the Council regarding the Certificate of Appropriateness for 803 South Summit Street, but she would like all Commission members to take a look at it. Gersh said that he thought the Commission should get a fiber board expert to come in and present information to the Council. Kugler said he made a lot of phone calls, and did not find anyone. He said he spoke with the Architect at the State Historical Society and she referred him to Bob Yapp, the House Doctor, who is using it on a carriage house. Yapp said the material is fairly easy to work with, but they do not know how it will last, and this is their first time using that material. Gersh said he read that the material absorbs water very quickly like cement, and in Iowa there is a problem in the winter of the sidewalks and streets cracking due to ice getting in in water form, and asked if that could happen to this material. Kelly said she did not think the material had been tested long enough in this climate to know how it would react. Kugler said the company has a limited 50-year guarantee on the fiber cement product. He said all the literature talks about how well the product does in a hot, humid environment. It has been around for 20-30 years in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, but not in cold climates, apparently. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: Widness moved to adjourn the meeting. Kelly seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 5-0, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Minutes submitted by Traci Wagner. hpc8-2.doc MINUTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING 2ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1998 Agenda item 3A Members Present: Stephen Greenleaf, Mary McMurray, Mark Martin, Lisa Parker, Singerman, Anne Spencer, Jim Swaim, Chuck Traw Members Absent: Linda Dellsperger Staff Present: Maeve Clark, Susan Craig, Martha Lubaroff, Liz Nichols, Jesse CALL TO ORDER: President Singerman called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the regular meeting of June 25, 1998 were approved with no corrections. McMurray/Martin Singerman thanked Traw for his delightful, dedicated, diligent, delicate, and dutiful service to the Board. On behalf of the Board she stated what a pleasure it had been to serve with Traw. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Board Annual Report. The Board approved this document once minor corrections were made, for inclusion in the City's annual reports of Boards and Commissions. This report will also be included in the library's annual report for FY98. B. President/Vice President duties. Swaim reported that the committee had not met due to scheduling difficulties. A meeting is scheduled for next week and they will have a recommendation by the next meeting. NEW BUSINESS A. FY98 Plan progress report. There were several questions about some of the objectives and strategies from 98 which did not appear in the FY99 plan. Craig pointed out that once a process becomes institutionalized it would no longer appear in subsequent plans. Board members engaged in a discussion with questions and suggestions concerning such matters as Web classes, and customer service workshops. Another question concerned promotion of the reference service that responds to questions from businesses by fax. Clark responded that this is a service difficult to promote to just Iowa City businesses and there is a concern about respecting boundaries of other libraries in the area. Information Service, in general, is one of the most expensive services we offer. Singerman suggested promoting it in the WINDOW. Craig suggested perhaps we could include information in the utility bills that go to businesses. Clark will follow up. ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES JULY 23, 1998 PAGE 2 Agenda item 3A Singerman asked about joint meetings, promotions and projects with the Public Libraries of Johnson County. She felt that the plan did not demonstrate much in the way of combined programming. It was explained that book discussion series are often done with other libraries like Coralville. We have combined resources with other libraries at the 4H County fair and the business fair. Singerman felt that although a booth is a visible attraction, perhaps more programming type activities could be done; especially during this upcoming year. B. FY99 Plan Review: The corrected version of the FY99 plan was distributed at the meeting. Craig moved through the plan pointing out objectives that were added and explaining some that were dropped. Goal III, Objective A2 sounded weak to Singerman. Swaim feels that the library's role as a community center should be promoted especially during this year. Singerman suggested that the strategy of fostering the library as a community center to be put back in for 99. An analysis over a period of time to study the makeup of population that attends the programs we sponsor was suggested, in an effort to be sure that the programs provide a wider range of ages and groups. Singerman asked if trustees agreed that this concept should be retained. Craig will make sure it is done. Trustees agreed to retain a public relations campaign that answered the question of what the library does for you. In Goal V, Singerman asked about the objective calling for studying vacation benefits for hourly staff employed longer than five years. Craig will sheck with Personnel and Legal Departments and work it up as a budget issue. Trustees supported this objective. Goal X. A strategy calling for the development of positive relationships with schools was dropped. We felt that we had nothing new to add to the work we have been doing with schools for several years. The strategy calling for the support of economic vitality was also dropped for similar reasons. The Board asked about participation in some community wide cultural events. Some current examples are the Irving Weber Day committee and the Downtown programming on the plaza. Swaim is not comfortable with dropping the strategy about working with schools. He feels it is important to coordinate with schools on issues like Internet policies. Trustees felt that the support of local economic vitality strategy should stay in also. Craig suggested leaving them in and writing an objective that indicated we would respond or maintain ongoing programs. Craig asked for a motion to approve the FY99 plan with the Board suggested changes. A motion was made by Swaim/McMurray. It was approved unanimously. C. FY00. Singerman asked about Objective III. 3.B.3. which calls for studying a readers advisory service in an expanded facility. A new building plan calls for moving Information up to the second floor. We need staff on the first floor to help with assisting people with books, videos, etc. That function now takes place at the Info Desk and when we physically separate and create a new service point we have to think about training and how people will staff it. Trustees were in favor of some objectives that included the jazz festival and book discussion groups. ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES JULY 23, 1998 PAGE 3 Agenda item 3A Martin asked for clarification about increasing the budget to create and maintain deposit collections. There was a discussion regarding the future, and the best way to put forth information about library services in conjunction with a new building and the additional space available with CenterSpace. Craig asked for a motion to adopt the FY00 plan. Motion was made and seconded. Martin/Greenleaf All in favor. Adopt NOBU budget. Craig wants to increase the amount of furniture from $30,000 to $45,000 making the total budget $165,000. Swaim moved to adopt with amendment. Traw seconded. All in favor. Library Art Advisory Committee Appointments. In response to Linda Dyer's memo, Traw moved to approve Lowenberg and McCray. Martin seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. Contract between Library and Innovative Interfaces. Craig asked for a motion to approve the contract pending final review by the City Attorney's office and some minor changes in the contract the staff and consultant are recommending. Our consultant helped draft the contract. The City Attorney has reviewed it quickly and did not see anything alarming but will go through it again more carefully. We have the funds in CIP budget, replacement funds and an additional $60,000 from the Carver grant. Traw moved that the Board authorizes Craig to sign and negotiate the contract with Innovative Interfaces, Inc. to replace the library's automated system; subject to the City Attorney's approval, for a total expense of approximately $425,000. Greenleaf seconded. All approved. STAFF REPORTS We have a vacancy on the Board that will be filled at the August 25 Council Meeting. Craig asked Trustees to encourage interested persons to get their applications in by August 14. Applications will be accepted up to August 25. Building Committee continues to meet and City Council tentatively has the sales tax on their informal agenda on August 24. Craig will inform the Board of the time. The Kiosk is up and functioning. A report will be forthcoming. Summer Reading Program was very successful with 1700 children signed up. Development Office report was included in the packet. Phone System Request for Proposal is in the mail and out to vendors. A walk through was scheduled and proposals are due by August 14. PATV has moved out and remodeling of the space will begin soon. The memo to Joe Fowler from the Board regarding the Parking passes for the Summer Reading Program was included. ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES JULY 23, 1998 PAGE 4 Agenda item 3A Two management jobs open. Bridget Quinn-Carey, Circulation Coordinator, resigned to move back to the East Coast. Laura Morton, Technical Services Coordinator, left her position. We hope to have the Circulation Coordinator position filled very soon and the Technical Services position filled by early September. Book drops. Craig has an appointment next week to meet with Harry Wolf from Southgate Enterprises to look at commercial property on the west side of town. On the east side of town, we plan on talking to the First Avenue HyVee. Readings from Cedar Rapids Gazette and the Minneapolis Tribune papers about building woes. Craig reported that the Senate and House may pass a bill that says anyone who gets the e-rate discount for telecommunications will have to put filtering on computers. Craig says that there are mixed messages about this and how it will really affect libraries. The situation will be monitored. PRESIDENT'S REPORT None COMMITTEE REPORTS Building Committee. They are developing a strategy to recruit people for meetings to be held in people's homes with hopes to get 40 people to come for the purpose of learning more about the project. This will be the beginning of a campaign committee and no City resources may be used to campaign for an issue. Informational materials may be prepared. A diverse group of people is being asked to participate. The proposed name for the CenterSpace portion is now "Center for Community Events". The Chamber will be putting together a list of criteria drawn from the Chamber's mission that will be used to evaluate sales tax initiatives. The timing still seems to be an issue. Craig developed a list of materials that Trustees may need in terms of the history of the project. She asked for additional suggestions and will put a packet together for anyone who requests materials. ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MEMBERS Swaim reported that the ADA parade in celebration of the anniversary of the passage of the ADA bill is scheduled for Saturday. They need volunteers to help push people in wheelchairs and would welcome people supporting the parade celebrating people with disabilities. Building Committee report was covered elsewhere. DISBURSEMENTS VISA expenditures for June were reviewed. Approve disbursements for June approved. Martin/Spencer. ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES JULY 23, 1998 PAGE 5 Agenda item 3A SET AGENDA ORDER FOR MEETING Due to a conflict in the Meeting Room, the televised meeting will not take place in August but will be rescheduled. ADJOURNMENT: Adjourned after a motion by Traw/Parker at 6:50 pm. M IN UTES IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIllY BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETf~!G ':~Ei!i?:~!~!i~i~," .... MEETING ROOM A THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1998 --:::,:.-,~:.-.:?',.-.:.::::..'::... Mcrnbers Preson t: Agenda item 3A Lir'.da Dellsperger, Stephen Greenleaf, Mary McMurray, Lisa Parker, Jesse Singerman, Anne Spencer, Jim Swaim Staff Prosant: Susan Craig, Larry Eckholt, Debb Green, Martha Lubaroff Others: ~i~i~O ORDEB: Preside'nt Sin,qcrmar~ called the meeting to order at 5:10 pm APP.RO.V. AL OF MINUTES: A correction to the minutes was made to better describe comments from Trustees regarding the Strategic Plan. The minutes were approved as amended. Parker/Swaim UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bylaws review. In followup to last month's discussion regarding the issue of whether or not the vice-president should antomatically become the president, the nominating committee recommended that the current system be retained since it provides flexibility. However they felt it desirable to have advance knowledge of the incoming president. Therefore they recommended bylaws changes that called for moving the election forward by scheduling it earlier in the year to allow for a period of orientation for the new President. Singerman asked for discussion. A motion was made and seconded by Dellsperger/Greenleaf. All were in favor. NEW BUSINESS Review of FY98 Annual Report. Craig pointed out growth in new efforts like world wide web services. Craig believes that we will no longer see extraordinary growth in services delivered fromthis building due to space issues. Trustees commented on thoroughness of report. Approve Open Access. Craig explained that the reason the contract before the Board goes from October to June is because the State committee hadn't yet recommended changes. The former contract for FY98 was extended through September. The new FY99 contract will begin in October. There are changes in the way the money is to be reimbursed. Reimbursements will be based on statistics from the previous year. This means we will be one year behind, but money will come in one lump sum rather than quarterly payments. Transactions will be reimbursed at ~.50/transaction as long as funding holds out. The State does not intend to ask for significant increases for this program for two years because they will be asking for money for Enrich Iowa. Swaim moved approval of the contract. Parker seconded. All in favor. Report on Council's discussion of sales tax which took place at their informal meeting of August 24, 1998. They primarily made changes to their policy statement. They discussed funding for Human Service agencies; talked about safety, public transit as well as operating expenses for the library. The change in ballot language related to community events was made to enable money to be included for ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES AUGUST 27, 1998 PAGE 2 Agenda item 3A jazz fest, arts fest, etc. The current version of the ballot language is still informal. The timing of the discussion was important. The City Manager wanted to have the discussion before Corvalville City Council was scheduled to discuss the issue. Spencer asked about some of the other items inclouded in the 40% portion of the sales tax, like streets, etc. Craig explained that once the building is paid for, there has to be some city use for which the money is designated. Greenleaf explained the theory behind the rebate for sales tax that was proposed at the Council meeting. This rebate would be for low income people. Council will discuss this more. Legal staff will affirm that this is legal and if there is enough interest, it will be included. Craig and Greenleaf believe that we are moving along. STAFF REPORTS A. Innovative Interfaces contract is close to being signed. Remodeling is proceeding downstairs for the ICN Room. PATV moved out the beginning of the month. Wiring and additional work will begin about October 1. We hired Heidi Lauritzen to replace Bridget Quinn-Carey as Circulation Coordinator. We are interviewing currently for the Technical Services Coordinator position. Hopefully we will have someone to announce by next month. De Development Office. Report included. Eckholt received an inquiry from Public Libraries journal who were very interested in our Smart Alec campaign. The bookstore is moving along right on track. The store will stock the same material that the traditional booksales would stock. In response to a question, Eckholt said he will consider adding gift items in the future after the store gets off the ground. Eckholt was asked about hours. They will start with thirteen hours a week, five days a week through December. Eckholt has sent a letter to all the used bookstores in town informing them of the venture. Offerings for three ICN workshops were included in the packet. There was some interest and Lubaroff will register McMurray and Swaim. Information on the Iowa Library Association's meeting this year in Waterloo was included. There was some interest in this meeting and Lubaroff will followup. PRESIDENT'S REPORT Singerman shared a newsletter from a library in Boulder, Colorado. She was enthusiastic about the format and encouraged library staff to share it. ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MEMBERS Swaim reported that increased knowledge of library collections has been helpful to him as he serves on several youth committees. In particular, he serves on the Area Council to prevent Child Abuse and Neglect which is contemplating purchasing materials for parent education. He suggested to them that they check with both Iowa City and Coralville Public Library to see if materials are available or perhaps some that we may want to review for purchase. Green will followup. ICPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES AUGUST 27, 1998 PAGE 3 Agenda item 3A COMMITTEE REPORTS Building Committee: There have been two meetings for which people have opened their homes. There has been good conversation and good interest in actually helping to form a committee to push the project forward. Greenleaf reported on his attendance at a recent meeting. He said that somehow on a larger scale we need to begin thinking of ways to promote the other issues that will benefit from the sales tax. Singerman felt that this is a saleable project to benefit from the sales tax because of all the positive benefits of the tax. From these meetings, a referendum committee will be formed. Greenleaf suggests that we need to talk to people about the benefits of the rebate in order to soften the blow for low income tax payers. The result will be to extend free library services. A minimum of 20% will be generated by people living outside Johnson County. Two more of the home meetings are scheduled and then a joint meeting between ICPL and the Community Activities Center is scheduled before the next Board meeting. Singerman felt that at the meeting she attended there was some concern expressed about the downtown. Swaim suggested that we find a volunteer to go around and videotape towns that have joint facilities and use these to demonstrate such a project. FINANCIAL REPORTS End of year financial reports Receipts compared to FY97. Enterprise Fund is down. General fund is up. One of the reasons the Enterprise Fund is down is that people are not copying as much here. We are trying to find a solution to pay for print. Singerman stated this should be a priority project. Money was left in the operating budget as a result of government bonds that would have been issued if we had done the carpet replacement last year. Money was put into our budget that did not get spent. DISBURSEMENTS Review VISA expenditures. Disbursements for July were approved. Dellsperger/Swaim All in favor. SET AGFNDA ORDER FOR SEPTEMBER MEFTING The regular meeting is scheduled for September 24. We typically have a special budget meeting between September and October. Since the October Board meeting is earlier than usual, Craig suggested scheduling the interim meeting for October 8, at 5:00 pm. This was agreed on by members present. A new Board member was appointed. His name is Winston Barclay. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 after a motion by Spencer/Swaim. Minutes taken and prepared by Martha Lubaroff MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 3, 1998 - 7:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS .pRELIMINARY1 Subject to ,"optoval t · MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Benjamin Chait, Pam Ehrhardt, Dick Gibson, Dean Shannon, Lea Supple MEMBERS ABSENT: Phil Shive STAFF PRESENT: Bob Miklo, Scott Kugler, Sarah Holecek OTHERS PRESENT: Brenda Nelson, Charlotte Bailey, Dan Daly, Ralph Stoffer, Donald Anciaux, Larry Schnittjer, Steve Fortmann, Merlin Lawrence, Eldon Prybil, Steve Rohrbach, Richard Rhodes, Craig Evans, Larry Sovereign, Richard Bontrager, Bob Downer CALLTO ORDER: Chairperson Supple called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Supple asked those present at the meeting to consider serving on a board or commission. She said the City could use the input, and it is an opportunity for citizens to have a voice in what happens in our city. VACATION ITEM: VAC98-0003. Public discussion of an application submitted by John L. Maxwell to vacate a portion of the Johnson Street right-of-way located south of the southeast corner of 521 Church Street. Miklo said this application was withdrawn by the applicant. DEVELOPMENT ITEM: SUB98-0020. Public discussion of an application submitted by Howard Winebrenner for a preliminary and final plat of a resubdivision of Lots 3, 4, 5 and 6 of W. B. Development, an 8.33 acre, 8-lot commercial subdivision located on the south side of Escort Lane. (45-day limitation period expires September 13) Kugler said the applicant requested that this item be deferred to the next meeting as there are some sanitary sewer issues and legal issues that need to be worked out before the plat is ready to be approved. He said the applicant has submitted a waiver of the 45-day limitation period. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 2 Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Shannon moved to defer SUB98-0020, an application submitted by Howard Winebrenner for a preliminary and final plat of a resubdivision of Lots 3, 4, 5 and 6 of W. B. Development, an 8.33 acre, 8-lot commercial subdivision located on the south side of Escort Lane to the September 17, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Bovbjerg seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. REZONING ITEMS: CZ9831. Public discussion of an application submitted to Johnson County by Gerald Milder to rezone 20.4 acres from Rural (A1) to Suburban Residential (RS-10) for property located at 4820 American Legion Road. Miklo said the applicant requested deferral of this item to the September 17, 1998 meeting. Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Ehrhardt moved to defer CZ9831, an application submitted to Johnson County by Gerald Milder to rezone 20.4 acres from Rural (A1) to Suburban Residential (RS-10) for property located at 4820 American Legion Road to the September 17, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. REZ98-0011. Public discussion of an application submitted by Lake Calvin Properties to rezone approximately 61.96 acres located south of Whispering Meadows Drive from Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS-8) to Factory-Built Housing Residential (RFBH). (45-day limitation period waived to September 3) Kugler said this is a request to rezone approximately 62 acres owned by Lake Calvin Properties, which also owns and operates the Saddlebrook Development. He said this property was annexed into the City and rezoned RS-8 in 1994 along with additional property which altogether totaled 422 acres. Kugler said in 1995, the applicant requested that the RS-8 area be rezoned to RFBH. He said the rezoning was recommended for approval by staff, but the Commission recommended denial and the City Council denied the application at that time. Kugler said since the approval of the annexation, development has begun on the Paddock area in Saddlebrook. He stated that the applicant is again requesting to rezone the RS-8 parcel to RFBH to allow factory-built housing. Kugler said there is a covenant in the existing development that restricts the width of the manufactured housing units to double-wide or greater. He said the applicant has had requests for single-wide units and would like to be able to provide those units Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 3 as well as other units in this area. Kugler said the applicants feel they are building a reputation with the Saddlebrook development, and the City may therefore be more favorable toward their request to rezone the additional property. Kugler said this rezoning request should be evaluated in terms of its compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, the availability of infrastructure to serve the development, and the appropriateness of the proposed zoning with the existing and proposed development on surrounding properties. He said in terms of the Comprehensive Plan, the City has adopted the South District Plan as the plan for this area of the City. Kugler said the land use scenario within the South District Plan calls for duplex or small lot single-family residential development on this property. He said it also contains recommendations and policies to foster the creation of pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods containing a mix of housing types, interconnected streets, alleys used as a means of improving the pedestrian environment along the streetscape, and suggests amending the zoning ordinance to allow front porches to be accommodated more easily and allow them within the front setback area. Kugler said when this request to rezone was submitted, staff indicated to the applicant that any request to rezone this property should demonstrate compliance with those policies contained in the South District Plan. He said while the applicant was not willing to submit a planned development overlay rezoning, which would spell out in detail how the property would be developed, staff has been working with the applicant on a set of conditions that could be incorporated into a Conditional Zoning Agreement (CZA) to ensure that those policies are carried through. In terms of infrastructure, Kugler said sanitary sewer service is available to the property via a City line. He said there is an arterial street planned for the area that has not yet been constructed. Kugler said the 1994 CZA attached to the original annexation and rezoning of this property obligates the applicant to pay all costs associated with extending infrastructure for this development, including the cost of the arterial street, except for the oversize costs the City would incur for the street to be wider than a typical local City street. Kugler said secondary access will be a concern if this property is developed before the east-west arterial street is built. He said there are now over 200 units approved on a single means of access, and there is a potential for 81 more homes. Kugler said in order to develop any portion of this property, there will need to be access to the arterial street or there will have to be access from both Whispering Meadows and Heinz Road to allow two ways in and out of the property. Regarding surrounding properties, Kugler stated that there is a large conservation wetland area to the south, and there will be a requirement for the mitigation plan associated with this. He said the City is currently designing and nearing construction of a proposed drainageway and open space corridor to the west, which will provide a good demarcation between this development and any development that might occur to the west. Kugler said there is a factory-built housing development to the east and a subdivision zoned RS-8 to the north. He said if the policies and recommendations in the South District Plan are carried through with the development of this property, it can be developed to be consistent with the surrounding properties. In order to ensure compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, Kugler said staff has suggested a number of conditions. He said there should be an interconnected street pattern not only within the development, but also to adjacent properties. Kugler said staff recommends that the collector streets running through the property be developed as public streets. He said there should be adequate provisions for trails connecting to the regional trail system. Regarding streetscape issues, Kugler said for single and two-stall garages, the garages should be set Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 4 back a minimum of 20 feet from the front face of a residential dwelling. He added that any three-stall garages should be served by an alley or a rear lane. In terms of alleys, Kugler said staff recommends that there be alleys behind the properties that front on the collector street, to the extent possible, to avoid having multiple driveways backing out onto the collector street. He said staff also recommends a mix of housing here with no more than 50% of any one type of manufactured housing unit. Gibson asked what the last condition referred to, if single-wide was different than double-wide in terms of the way the 50% requirement is being considered. Kugler said yes, that is what staff is suggesting, and the applicant has indicated an interest in providing a mix of manufactured housing units. Gibson said the single-wide versus double-wide argument seems to be a considerable perversion of the notion of mixed housing. Kugler said there are other portions of the property that are zoned to allow multi-family development, although they are not part of this application. He pointed them out on the map. Gibson said that was shown in the context of this property being RS-8. Kugler responded that this was something that was not proposed in the past and is being proposed with this application. Gibson asked if that was a piece of the concept that called for manufactured housing. Kugler said the original zoning was RS-8. Gibson said that was compared with the RM-20, and that was the mixture created by the Comprehensive Plan. Kugler said the mix of zoning was created when the land was annexed. He said if the property were coming i'n for annexation now, staff would probably try to get a different mix of residential densities, e.g. perhaps not such a large multi-family area near the Heinz Road RM-20 area. Gibson said at the time this was developed, the mixed concept was represented by RS-8 and some RM-20. He said now this is going to RM-20 and manufactured housing. Gibson asked if the manufactured housing would fit the density of the RS-8 zone. Kugler said he did not have a proposed number of dwelling units. Miklo said it could be up to ten units per acre, by definition. Kugler said the last condition refers to wetland mitigation and consists of carrying over the requirements from the 1994 CZA. Kugler said staff received a concept plan today that appeared to address all of the concerns staff had with the previous plan. He said because the Commission takes two meetings to discuss a rezoning item before a vote, staff would take the opportunity to examine the concept plan more closely, review it with the other City departments, and come back with a final recommendation at the next meeting. Kugler said staff is currently recommending deferral to allow time for review and to put together a draft CZA for the Commission to review at its next meeting. Kugler said this property is subject to the neighborhood open space requirements, but there has not yet been a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission as to where the open space should be or whether fees in lieu of neighborhood open space would be preferable. He said he hoped to have that assessment before the property is subdivided. Kugler said there will need to be a wetland determination done, and there are hydric soils to be investigated before this property is subdivided. Ehrhardt cited the letter from the applicants that indicated that they did not agree with staff's plan for the garages. Kugler said the applicants have indicated they are willing to work with staff on all of the requirements except that they do not like the staff-proposed requirements for the garage setbacks. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 5 Bovbjerg asked about the top tier along the east-west road that was going to be single-wide. She said the Commission has now learned that the covenant is such that there will no single- wides there. Bovbjerg asked if that was a builder's choice or if they were locked into those singles. Miklo said when the original site plan for the manufactured housing park was reviewed, it showed a number of single-wide units. He said the builder later amended that, removing all of the single-wide units, and this was the choice of the developer. Miklo said the City's zoning would not prevent the developer from placing single-wide units in the area already zoned RFBH. Gibson asked what the approximate buildout was on the Paddock. Kugler showed a site plan on the map that covered an area of 222 units. He said the rest has not yet been platted. Gibson said there was quite a bit of development opportunity already platted out there. Kugler responded that there are a number of areas not developed that the developer has approval for. Supple said there are a lot of cul-de-sac streets, something the Commission has been trying to avoid. Kugler said the Paddock is already platted and there are a number of cul-de-sacs there. He showed the area now being dealt with and said staff has encouraged the developer to make street connections wherever possible. He said staff has asked the developer to redesign to reduce the number of lots that would be double-frontage lots backing up onto the arterial street, and the redesign likely resulted in a couple of the cul-de-sac streets. Supple stated from an emergency vehicle standpoint, the cul-de-sacs are less desirable. Kugler agreed, adding that a development with a lot of cuPde-sacs reduces the traffic on the individual cul-de-sac streets, but increases the traffic on the collector streets. Supple asked if an expert report on the wetlands had been received. Kugler replied that there is a mitigation plan already in place for the wetlands, and the developer has been waiting for the City to complete its work on the sewer construction before beginning the work in the wetland area. Public discussion: Brenda Nelson, 535 Southgate, said she works for Landmark Surveying and Engineering and represents the applicant for the Saddlebrook project. She said for more than a year, Saddlebrook has established itself as a high quality neighborhood in that its design is compact, accessible, and pedestrian-oriented with open space, a pond, wetlands, and trails. Nelson said although the project has been very well received, discussions with residents and others have revealed a need to diversify the styles and the pricing provided, as well as the sizes of the homes. She showed an overhead of the variety of home styles that could be provided. Nelson said the applicant sees this development as an opportunity to enhance the existing neighborhood by learning from the Peninsula Project and interjecting a greater mix of housing types, styles, and price points. She said manufactured housing has advanced in quality and style at a great pace in recent years. Nelson said home quality has advanced to a point where it is equal to or greater than a stick-built home. Regarding recent concerns for safety in neighborhoods, Nelson said a managed community offers some degree of control for its residents. She said Saddlebrook, managed with high standards and integrity, maintains a standard of quality and safety for its residents not available Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 6 with non-land leased communities. Nelson said numerous RS-8 lots to the north lie vacant, while the Paddock at Saddlebrook continues to gain new residents at a steady pace and turn away those requiring a greater variety of selections. She said the applicant therefore is asking for this rezoning to adequately respond to the identified affordable housing needs of the citizens of Iowa City and the surrounding communities. Ehrhardt referred to a letter from the nearby neighborhood association requesting deferral of this item to the October 1 meeting and asked Nelson if that would be agreeable to her. Nelson said the developer was planning to defer the item and wanted a chance to make a presentation to the neighborhood association. Ehrhardt asked if the developers had met with the neighborhood association. Nelson said the developers had been working with the neighborhood association for a couple of months and would be attending the September 23 neighborhood meeting. Bovbjerg asked what ranges the developer is looking at for this project. Nelson said the developer had limited things in the first phase as far as how the lots and utilities are laid out and as far as the prices of the housing. She said the developer wants to correct that and would like to provide more diversity and options for people. Nelson said the developers want to provide more affordable homes as well as homes at the higher end of the scale. Supple asked how many lots would be in the new project. Nelson said there would be approximately 280 lots. She said that would vary somewhat depending on what people are purchasing. Gibson asked Nelson to be more specific about how the current development is limited. He asked what the restrictions are, other than the single-wide prohibition, that limit the developers' ability to respond to the market. Nelson said the way the property is laid out with the lease lots, utilities and the stub-ins limits the ability to expand the lots and make them larger. Gibson asked what ranges in square footage can be provided in the existing lots. Nelson said the minimum is 1,200 square feet, and 2,000 square feet can be accommodated. Gibson said that was a good range and asked if that were not adequate. Nelson said some owners may want a family room addition or to have larger decks or garages, and those things cannot be accommodated well in the Paddock. Ehrhardt asked Nelson why the developer did not want to have a planned development overlay. Nelson replied that with the previous development, they used the CZA, and the developers are very comfortable with that. She said the OPDH overlay is an unknown to the developers and could potentially cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Nelson said this development is about quality, affordable housing, and a lot of money spent on an OPDH could result in less affordable homes. She said she felt a CZA would be adequate for this. Supple asked what the least expensive house in the Paddock would cost. Nelson replied that right now the least expensive is in the $50,000 range. She thought it would probably go down into the $40,000 range. Supple asked if the financing would be similar to that for real property. Ralph Stoffer said the interest rate would be 1% higher, and there would be 15-year loan terms. Supple asked about the down payment. Stoffer remarked that the standard bank loan would require 20% without insurance. Gibson asked about the size of the average lot in the existing paddock. Nelson said they were generally 50 to 52 feet wide with an average depth of about 105 feet. Gibson asked if there was an option for someone who wants a wider lot to split an intermediate lot to get one and one half Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 7 lots. Nelson said there would be a problem with that because utilities are installed and stubbed in. Gibson asked what utilities are already installed, if it were water and sewer. Nelson confirmed this, saying they run along the backs of the units with some running along the curbs. Gibson said that it is really not a prohibitive investment to split a lot if that is what people want to buy, in that there is no loss to the developer. He said this would give the opportunity to provide a larger lot with a larger home in the existing development. Nelson said it would be more difficult, and she was not sure whether people would pay for that added expense. She said it also goes to the issue of affordability; if they have to raise prices, these units will not be affordable. Gibson said the developers are arguing that they need a whole new development so that they can provide larger lots to build larger homes on, which are going to cost more. Gibson said he just wanted to know what the options really are here. Nelson said there has been a great demand for the homes with variety and selection, and she was not sure if the current area would be able to provide that and meet those needs. Gibson asked what the buildout of the platted, sold lots is at this point. Nelson said that right now there are 50 homes, with eight under construction, out of 222 lots. Gibson said that was less than a 25% buildout on the existing development. Nelson agreed, but said the reason the developers are asking for this now is that they need a master plan. She said they need to know what is going to happen with this RS-8 parcel, because they are currently planning the next phases of the development. Nelson said they want to have a master plan so they can be efficient and can connect the existing Paddock with the future one. She said some of the Paddock parcels might be planned differently if they know what will happen to the RS-8 parcel. Gibson said that suggests that the investment in utilities has not yet been made on a number of these lots. Nelson said that was true for some lots. Bovbjerg asked if the area called the Paddock was currently the one under covenant. Nelson said that was correct. Bovbjerg asked whether the area south of that was currently platted. Nelson said it was not platted, but was in the concept stage. Bovbjerg said if the developer would necessarily be going onto the south portion before going to the west portion if it were rezoned. Nelson said the developers would probably be going to the west first and providing interconnectivity. Bovbjerg asked if the covenant on the Paddock for size of houses also covered the south portion. Nelson said it did not. Bovbjerg asked if that area could have singles, doubles, or triples. Nelson confirmed this, but said there would only be about 90 lots there at the maximum and the more realistic figure would be 70 lots. Charlotte Bailey, 1956 Broadway, A8, said she was a member of the Wetherby Friends and Neighbors Steering Committee. She requested that the Planning and Zoning Commission defer the consideration of this item as well as ANN98-0003/REZ98-0013 to its October 1, 1998 meeting. Bailey said members of her group as well as the Grant Wood and Pepperwood Neighborhood Associations are all interested in attending the meeting. set for September 23 to meet with representatives of both applicants and staff from the Iowa City Planning Department. Bailey said Wetherby Friends and Neighbors would review the details of that September 23 meeting at its September 24 meeting and prepare comments for the Commission. She said she met with representatives of the three neighborhood groups earlier in the day to review the South District Plan. Bailey said the plan accurately states that, "The City's decisions regarding annexations, rezonings, and subdivisions can have a great bearing on the quality of the physical design and on the long term quality of life in the neighborhoods to be built in the South District. Implementation of the South District Plan will occur as development proposals are approved and the neighborhood planning concepts are incorporated into these developments." Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 8 Bailey said it was helpful to examine the South District Plan, and she believed the neighborhood meetings would be a good opportunity to meet with developers to see how things will fit together. She said neighborhood representatives have an intense concern with the impact that the two applications could have on the South District, and she hoped the Commission would recognize the importance of the September neighborhood meetings and grant the request to delay a vote on these applications until the October I meeting. Dan Daly, 17 Regal Lane, said he is the president of the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association. He thanked the Commission for its attention to all the complex details involved in looking after the best interests of Iowa City and its future growth. He said he did not think that Grant Wood Neighborhood residents were well enough apprised of the potential impacts of new development choices in that area to voice an informed opinion. Daly said he hoped the September 23 meeting would provide that information. Daly said he had received some feedback that people in his neighborhood were proud to be providing the greater Iowa City area with affordable housing alternatives. He said he had also heard comments that neighbors do not want to shoulder the burden of being the provider of affordable housing. Daly said some of the concepts in the South District Plan are very good, and they need to be considered as critical decisions are made. Daly stated that he was very pleased that environmental concerns are being addressed and that wetlands and hydric soils are being protected and treated, as they should be. Daly said he was glad to hear there may be some recreational opportunities for the neighborhoods in the future as well as the existence of new trails that will connect with existing trails. He said he had confidence that the Commission was doing a fine job, but asked for an opportunity for the neighbors to better inform themselves regarding the options and implications of this by deferring the two items proposed for southeast Iowa City until the October 1, 1998 meeting. Ralph Stoffer, 535 Southgate, said he is the engineer for the project. He presented a request to defer the item for two weeks. He said the developers will probably ask for a further deferral but for tonight, he was only authorized to ask for two weeks. Supple asked Stoffer if he believed the developers would have any objection to deferring until October 1. Stoffer said he believed the developer would be amenable to that. Kugler said the Commission has a 45-day limitation that it has to meet to act on this rezoning unless it receives a request to defer. He said the application is already beyond the 45-day period, and the applicant has now submitted a request to defer. Kugler said the Commission cannot defer beyond the September 17, 1998 date without an additional waiver. He added that if no action is taken on the application, it goes on to the City Council with a recommendation for approval, as per the ordinance. Supple asked what the Commission's options were for this application. Kugler said it could be deferred to September 17 or could be approved or denied. Holecek said as September 17 nears, if the neighborhood groups have not had an opportunity to meet with the applicant, staff can determine if the item will be deferred on September 17 and request that a waiver be submitted at that time. She said if there will not be any more information at the September 17 hearing, it would not be productive to hold another meeting on this item until October 1. Ehrhardt asked Stoffer if the applicant were involved in the South District Plan meetings. Stoffer said the applicant was not involved, but Stoffer said he artended the meetings on his own behalf. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 9 Donald Anciaux, 2119 Russell Drive, said he understood that the Commission could deny the request immediately or defer it. Supple said denial was not really an option because the policy of the Commission is to have two public discussions to hear a rezoning, and this item had only been on the agenda once. Anciaux asked if, at the September 17, 1998 meeting, the public could request a deferral again. Supple said the Commission could not consider a request from the neighbors to defer this item. However, she said the Commission is very interested in the neighborhood groups meeting with the developer and will be encouraging the developer to request the deferral. Gibson added that the Commission could vote no at the next meeting. Anciaux asked if at the next meeting there was a possibility that this would be approved or denied if the developer does not want to defer again. Supple confirmed this. Nelson said the developer has been in contact with the neighborhood association and will be very happy to meet with them. She encouraged people to come out and said she would like to show the neighbors what the project is all about at the September 23 meeting. Nelson said she had every intention of deferring until October 1, but at this time only had authorization to defer for two weeks. She said the reason the developers have deferred for two weeks is that they don't want to be ignored and want to be on the agenda for the September 17 meeting in order to answer questions or provide any information the Commission might need. Dan Daly said he wanted to give the Saddlebrook developers credit as well as the City for encouraging a good neighbor policy which resulted in Mr. Yates contacting representatives of the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association on a couple of occasions for an opportunity to explain the project. He said he hoped this type of informal communication between developers and neighborhood representatives would continue. Daly said the September 23, 1998 meeting would be held at Grant Wood Elementary School at 7:00 p.m. in the commons area. He said representatives of Saddlebrook and Streb and Streb have been invited, as well as City staff. Daly said there were three items on the agenda, and he expected the development issues to be discussed beginning at about 7:35 p.m. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to defer REZ98-0011, an application submitted by Lake Calvin Properties to rezone approximately 61.96 acres located south of Whispering Meadows Drive from Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS-8) to Factory-Built Housing Residential (RFBH) to the September 17, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. Bovbjerg told the neighbors that the Commission needs to hear from the people who are proposing the project as well as the people who will live next to it. She said the Commission needs information on everything from soil types and water retention to how this type of development would fit into the neighborhood. Bovbjerg said the neighbors' input is essential and that is why the Commission has open meetings. She said the neighbors' continuing involvement is absolutely necessary for the Commission to make the best possible plan and thanked the neighbors for attending the meeting. Ehrhardt said the Commission's policy of hearing rezonings over two meetings facilitates getting information from a greater number of people. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 10 Gibson asked staff to look in the files for documentation of the City's understanding of the buildout intentions of the developer at the time the Paddock was finally subdivided. Miklo asked Gibson if he wanted to see the plan for the original Paddock. Gibson said he wanted to see the plan for the entire annexation, including the zoning put on it and the proposals that were to go into place at the time the Paddock rezoning was requested and approved. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. ANNEXATION/REZONING ITEMS: ANN98-0002/REZ98-0004. Public discussion of an application submitted by Silvercrest, to annex approximately 19.81 acres and rezone 21.53 acres located at the southeast corner of Scott Boulevard and American Legion Road from Low Density Single-Family Residential (RS- 5), County A1, Rural and CH, Highway Commercial, to Planned Development Housing Overlay (OPDH-12). (45-day limitation period expires September 13) Miklo said about 1.72 acres of this property is currently in the City and is zoned RS-5, Low Density Single-Family Residential. He said the request is to rezone to a planned development (OPDH-12). Miklo said approximately 20 acres of the property is outside the City in Johnson County and is zoned a combination of Highway Commercial and RS, Residential Suburban. He said the request is to annex that property into the City and to develop the overall site for an eider housing complex. Miklo showed an overhead map demonstrating what is being proposed in terms of the housing mix, placement of buildings, and vehicle circulation. He said the plan proposes one 68-unit assisted living facility, a 120-unit independent living building, a 68-unit rehabilitation facility, and a 9,000 square foot medical office building. Miklo said staff recently received revised plans and has not had an opportunity to review them. He said there may be some technical requirements that have not been met that would have to be resolved before the Commission votes on this at its next meeting. Miklo said the Comprehensive Plan indicates that if property is within the growth area and it is in the best interests of the City to control the development of that property and a need identified in the City will be fulfilled without imposing an undue burden on the City, it should be considered for annexation. In this case, Miklo said this property is well within the growth area, and it would be in the City's interests to control it, because it has access to Scott Boulevard, a street that was built by the City. In terms of fulfilling a need, he stated that the City's housing study indicates the need for additional eider housing, and this proposal would address that need. Miklo said there may be a possible financial burden for this project, depending on which route is chosen for sanitary sewer service to the property, and the City Council will have to decide whether that burden is a reasonable tradeoff for the benefit that is being provided. In terms of zoning, Miklo said the Comprehensive Plan indicates that intersections of major streets, are appropriate for medium density residential development. However, he said the Plan indicates that apartment houses should be smaller and in scale with more of a single-family residential character evident in the adjacent neighborhoods. Miklo said an exception is appropriate in this case, because it is eider housing and because of the unique design of the complex with different housing types and some commercial uses. He said the OPDH Planning & Zoning Commission September 3.1998 Page 11 regulations do allow for consideration of commercial uses such as the medical office building. He said staff feels this is a good mix in this particular location. Miklo said although the medical and rehabilitation facilities may draw in more traffic than might have been expected for residential development in this area, the adjacent arterial streets have sufficient capacity for additional traffic. He said staff feels the concerns about street access are met. In terms of sanitary sewer service, Miklo said there are three potential routes to provide service to this area. He said all three require the consent of a property owner other than the current property owner of the potential development, the applicant, or the City. Miklo said one of the routes would entail the construction of a new trunk sewer south to the railroad tracks, which would incur an expense to the City of approximately $300,000. He added that a tap-on fee would be put in place, and the City would be reimbursed for the initial costs as adjacent properties are developed. Miklo said Public Works feels this is the most advantageous route, because it would serve a larger area. He said the other two routes are through nearby subdivisions located west of Scott Boulevard, either Village Green or Village Green South. Miklo said one of those routes would be at a much lower cost for the City, and one route would be at the sole expense of the developer. Miklo said in terms of neighborhood open space, because this is on the edge of a neighborhood that will probably be much larger to the east as property is annexed into the City, fees in lieu of open space would probably be appropriate so that open space could be purchased more in the center of the neighborhood. He stated that the Parks and Recreation Commission has not yet completed its review of this, but the Commission should have a report before the next meeting as to whether they agree with staff's position. In terms of the design of the development, Miklo said although these are fairly large buildings, there are several design features that have been used to break up their mass so that staff feels they are appropriate in this generally residential area. He said the buildings would be of masonary construction, and the larger buildings have balconies and setbacks so that the overall scale of them appears smaller than a building would without that architectural articulation. Miklo said parking on the property has been divided into smaller pods throughout the site so that there is not one large, massive paved area. He said the medical facility will screen the largest parking area from Scott Boulevard. Miklo said there are two access points to Scott Boulevard, a service drive and a private street that provides access to the various parking lots. He added that a secondary means of access would be provided on American Legion Road. Miklo said this plan complies with the Comprehensive Plan in terms of being an appropriate location for this type of development and an appropriate location for annexation. He said staff is recommending approval, provided the technical details on the latest version of the plan can be worked out and subject to agreements for providing sanitary sewer service to the site and the plan substantially complying with the elevation drawings and the plan that is currently before the Commission. Bovbjerg asked if the rehabilitation facility and medical office building would only be used by residents in this area. Miklo said they would both serve the general public. Bovbjerg asked if the unassisted and assisted living units would be rental units or would be owned by the residents, and Miklo said the developer would be able to answer that question. Ehrhardt asked what would happen if the OPDH-12 were approved and then the property were sold. Miklo said if the Planning & Zomng Commission September 3.1998 Page 12 property were sold, the new property owner would have the obligation to follow this plan unless he or she came back and rezoned it for something else, because this is a rezoning for a planned development. Public discussion: Larry Schnittjer, 1917 South Gilbert Street, said he worked on the design concepts for the site plan of this project and was available to answer any questions that might come up. Steve Fortmann, 1225 Esther Court, said he represented the Iowa City Church of Christ, which is located to the east of this property. He said this particular plot of land is the highest elevation in that area and everything to the south and the east slopes away from that property. Fortmann said he had particular concerns about the plans for the drainage from this area, considering the number of buildings and paving that will be on the site. He said the fence line along the east side of the property is an immediate dropoff right into the church's property. Fortmann said this plan shows a number of housing units on the east end of that property, and he asked that the Commission pay particular attention to that so that drainage not be allowed to go directly to the church's property. Fortmann said he also had concerns about the storm water storage facility proposed in this plan. He said he understood this would be an open pond. Fortmann said the church has a number of activities with children and would like to hear if the developer has any specific plans to ensure this is a safe, as well as an aesthetically pleasing area. Schnittjer responded that the storm water storage facility would be a wet bottom pond, and depending on the final design, may be aerated or may have a fountain in it to keep it fresh. He asked Fortmann if the church owned what is shown as the Cole property. Fortmann did not believe so. Schnittjer said then that there was actually no direct connection between the church's property and the pond. He added that the developer intends to have this nicely landscaped and did not really want to have a fence there. Schnittjer said there would be a retaining wall system that would allow excavation to a lower level so that it will be the same level as the area across the fence. He said that as this project commences, he may approach the church about leveling the entire area on the east side and getting rid of the steep bank. Fortmann said he would like to look at the issue of a safety fence, but would be open to listening to anything that is proposed. Schnittjer said the pond is designed to be an amenity for the project as well as provide storm water storage as required by the City. He said when Scott Boulevard was constructed, the storm sewer system designed for that facility was wholly inadequate for anything other than the street itself, so that storm water management is required to slow down the discharge from this project to the drainage system. Schnittjer said the overflow from this pond would go through an outlet structure and then go into the storm water system on Scott Boulevard. He said with the exception of a triangle of area, everything would drain to the pond so that the overflow would not go to the southeast unless there were some other arrangement made with the Prybils, the property owners, for an outlet system through that property. Merlin Lawrence, 11506 Nicholas, Omaha, Nebraska 68154, said the assisted living and independent living units will be rental properties and will not be for sale. He said the units will have 30-day leases. Bovbjerg asked if there were an age restriction for the units and what that restriction would be. Lawrence replied that it would be for persons 55 years of age and older. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 13 Bovbjerg asked if someone renting an independent living unit would have priority for renting an assisted living unit, should the need come up. Lawrence said presently, the plan for 30-day leases would make 30 days the extent of the renter's commitment to the facility. He said he was not aware of any other type of plan to work out long-term agreements. Gibson asked if the rehabilitation facility was for inpatients, outpatients, or both. Lawrence said he assumed it would be a combination of both. Gibson said he was interested in how this site may serve as an attraction to the surrounding community and said if the facility were outpatient, there would obviously be more off-site traffic for the facility. Lawrence said he was assuming people staying there would need rehabilitation over a period of time before returning to their homes. Gibson said that' would mostly be inpatient use then. Lawrence said he would like to get more information about the intentions for the use of that facility before answering Gibson's question. Supple said the limitation period expires on September 13, 1998, and the Commission would have another hearing on this because it is a rezoning. Lawrence said he would be willing to sign a waiver to defer to the September 17, 1998 meeting. Eldon Prybil, 4890 Highway 6 SE, said this appeared to be a good project that should be an asset to Iowa City. He said he did have some concerns relating to the storm water retention area. Prybil said he knew the water heads toward Scott Boulevard and asked where it went from that point on. Schnittjer replied that the storm sewer discharge from the facility would discharge into the Scott Boulevard storm sewer system, which goes south through the Modern Manor Mobile Home Court Part I, comes back out and eventually empties into an area to the south. Prybil said that is of great concern to him. He said he has lived in Iowa City his entire life and wants to work with the City and not against it. Prybil said the problem is that water comes back onto his property. He said that water is not in the watershed that mother nature put there. Prybil said you can move dirt all you want, but you have to stay in the watershed. He said the Iowa Code governing drainage under Chapter 465 in the 1962 Code requires this. Prybil said he does not want any more water on his farmland, and since the law provides that he has to be the one to give permission for any more water to come across his farmland and he has not given permission, he proposed that the developers and staff meet with him to come up with a plan so the project can continue. Prybil said he did not want to take any more water on the open surface, but he did believe there were some things that could be worked out. He said his farm was already taking some water now, but he did not want it to take on any additional water. Supple asked if the land for the project was currently farmed. Prybil said it is farmed and is also in a different watershed than his land. Supple said she had always believed that the American Legion Road was pretty much the watershed there. Prybil said he could provide her with a Johnson County Soils Survey Map to determine what it was originally. Gibson said it would be appropriate for Prybil to work with staff on this issue; it is not really something the Commission is equipped to deal with. Prybil said he did not want to delay the project, but he had to look out for himself. Gibson said it would not delay the project. Supple asked Schnittjer if he could meet with Prybil to ensure that his needs were met. Schnittjer said he would meet with Prybil to understand his concerns and make sure the developer is in compliance with the law. Schnittjer added that from his understanding of the Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 14 stormwater management ordinance, the stormwater runoff that occurs after the facilities are in place is less than what it would be naturally. Prybil said that a lot of concrete and roofs make a difference. Schnittjer said the developer has to accommodate for the concrete and roofs and the calculations are based on the farm ground that is there now and what it would be like if it were all paved, or partially paved. He said the calculations go by the per acre release rate. He said the water has to be held in the storm water basin and released slowly. Prybil said his concern is in changing from one watershed to another watershed. He said he wants to talk to someone about doing this properly and would wait for someone to contact him. Supple said it would be appropriate for the developer, a church representative, Prybil and someone from staff to get together to resolve these issues. Steve Rohrbach, 3437 Hampton Street, said he thought this was a pretty good project. He asked if there were ever any discussion about the main access for this project coming off of American Legion Road. Miklo said staff did not look at a main access from American Legion Road, but did look at different access points because of the topography. He said the applicant was concerned about having the main access off of American Legion Road, and that is why that access is more of a secondary access. Rohrbach said Scott Boulevard has an immense amount of semi-truck traffic. He said it is dangerous where the main access comes onto Scott Boulevard; it is on a severe incline. He said there are many days in the winter when residents would not even be able to get out of their driveways, because of the amount of traffic that is backed up on the road. Rohrbach said the developer would be better off if the main access to this came off of American Legion Road. He said the grade is ample enough to get access off of American Legion Road and it would solve a lot of future traffic problems. He asked staff to reconsider that access, because he believed the proposed access could be a very dangerous environment. Schnittjer said the access issue was examined for a long time. He said the amount of grading that has to be done for these structures results in the only way of getting to American Legion Road is on a service drive with a 10% slope. Schnittjer said with the immense amount of grading that has to be done to accommodate these structures, there is no way he can put a primary access onto American Legion Road. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Chait moved to defer ANN98-0002/REZ98-0004, an application submitted by Silvercrest, to annex approximately 19.81 acres and rezone 21.53 acres located at the southeast corner of Scott Boulevard and American Legion Road from Low Density Single-Family Residential (RS-5), County A1, Rural and CH, Highway Commercial, to Planned Development Housing Overlay (OPDH-12) to the September 17, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. Ehrhardt said she did believe that the Commission should look at the storm water discharge so that there would be no harm to neighboring property owners. Gibson said he agreed with her but added that the Commission was not capable of dealing with the argument about the storm water management. He said the issue should be taken up with staff, and staff should then provide the Commission with impartial advice about what the solutions could be. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 15 The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. Gibson said this process is not working very well time-wise; there is no way the Commission could hear this item twice before the limitation period expired. He asked if the limitation was set by State ordinance. Miklo said in most cases after an application is submitted to staff, it is on the Commission's agenda within two weeks. He stated in this case, there were some changes to the plan so that it was not on the last agenda; therefore the 45-day clock was already counting down. Miklo said the clock starts as soon as staff has the application. Bovbjerg said as long as the Commission has the legal ability to defer these projects to get a workable plan, the time frame is not a problem. ANN98-0003/REZ98-0013. Public discussion of an application submitted by Streb & Streb, do AI Streb, to annex and rezone 187.41 acres located at the southwest corner of Highway 6 and Sioux Avenue from Suburban Residential (County RS) to Intensive Commercial (C1-1, 34.72 acres), Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-20, 21.90 acres), and Factory Built Housing Residential (RFBH, 127.49 acres). (45-day limitation period expires September 27) Kugler said this is a request to annex and rezone property at the southwest corner of Highway 6 and Sioux Avenue. He said the total property is 187.41 acres and the proposal, in terms of zoning, is for just under 35 acres up along Highway 6 to be rezoned to C1-1, Intensive Commercial, 21.9 acres to be rezoned RM-20, Medium Density Multi-Family Residential, and the balance of the property equaling 127.49 acres to be rezoned to RFBH, Factory Built Housing Residential. Kugler said according to the Sensitive Areas Inventory, the property contains potential wetland areas. He said there will therefore need to be a wetland determination, and the Zoning Chapter requires a Sensitive Areas Overlay rezoning if it is determined that those areas do qualify as jurisdictional wetlands. Kugler said there are also hydric soils and a stream corridor on the property, and staff feels that before this zoning proceeds, there should at least be a Sensitive Areas Development Plan that identifies those areas, establishes their buffers and conservation easements if appropriate, and generally indicates a plan for storm water management and how it will or will not impact the wetland areas. Regarding the annexation, Kugler said the Comprehensive Plan states that annexations should be viewed favorably when three conditions are met: 1) the area must fall within the adopted long-range planning boundary, 2) the development in the area proposed for annexation must fill an identified need without imposing an undue financial burden on the City, and 3) control of the development is in the City's best interests. He said staff feels that conditions one and three would certainly be met with this proposed development. However, Kugler said it is not clear whether this application would satisfy the second condition. He said there is vacant property in all three of these zoning classifications within this general vicinity. Kugler said although arguments can be made about the general need for affordable housing and available commercial property, it is difficult to argue that those needs are present in this planning district and in this vicinity. In terms of infrastructure, Kugler stated that sanitary sewer service is available to this property. He stated that there is a planned arterial street that would run southwest to northeast through the property. Kugler said the street has not been programmed in the City's Capital Improvements Program (CIP). He said the Comprehensive Plan has a policy that public Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 16 investment in the City's infrastructure should be targeted toward properties that are already within the City and should promote compact and contiguous development. Kugler said because this property is outside the City, it would not fit within that guideline. He added that the City should generally not annex property that cannot be serviced by the City within a reasonable amount of time, and since this arterial has not been programmed, it could be some time before the arterial would be built by the City. Kugler said if this property is annexed at this time, the costs associated with providing the infrastructure would need to be borne by the developers unless they are willing to wait for the City to program that project in its capital improvements program. Kugler said the rezoning application is being reviewed in terms of its compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and the South District Plan, its impact on adjacent properties, and the ability of existing infrastructure to support this development. Regarding the C1-1 zoning, Kugler said the Comprehensive Plan calls for focusing commercial development in defined commercial centers and discourages linear strip commercial development. He said the proposed intensive commercial zoning here is in conflict with these policies. Kugler said the layout of the zoning along Highway 6 suggests a sprawling, strip-type commercial development and not a defined center. He added that staff feels that commercial office zoning or a neighborhood commercial zone here, which is more defined and more integrated into the proposed residential uses, could be considered, but staff feels what is proposed is not in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. Kugler said the applicant argues that the C1-1 zoning would be a transition between the industrial park to the north of Highway 6 and the residential uses planned to the south. Kugler said staff feels the C1-1 zone is not an appropriate zone to create this buffer, as it is a quasi- industrial zone that allows areas of outdoor storage and light manufacturing. In terms of the proposed RM-20 zoning, Kugler said the South District Plan calls for generally single-family development in this area, although it provides some recommendations for incorporating multi-family uses and townhouse developments on a small scale within single- family neighborhoods in appropriate locations. He said the South District Plan specifically states that large concentrations of apartments should be discouraged, and staff feels the proposed RM-20 zoning would be in conflict with that policy. Kugler said staff feels that if there is a neighborhood commercial or office commercial development, there could certainly be some multi-family zoning integrated with that and perhaps surrounding that, but on a smaller scale. It could also be placed in some other locations where collector streets intersect or arterial streets are proposed. Kugler said the existing RM-20 zoning to the northwest of this property at the corner of Heinz Road and Highway 6 was established prior to the adoption of the South District Plan, and staff feels it is generally not in conformance with that plan and would not recommend extending that RM-20 zoning to make an even larger parcel of multi-family residential zoning in this area. Regarding the proposed RFBH zoning, Kugler said as a single-family housing type, the manufactured housing park could be considered to be in compliance with the land use recommendations of the South District Plan, which would suggest predominately single-family development. He said staff feels this use would probably be more appropriate within the areas identified on the plan for duplex or small-lot single-family development, rather than the standard single-family development, which is suggested for this area. Kugler said regardless of its location within the South District, the neighborhood planning policies of the South District Plan Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 17 should be adhered to. He said the policies encourage connectivity within and between residential developments, a pedestrian orientation, a mix of housing types, and other recommendations aimed at creating pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods. Kugler said staff has a number of concerns with the concept plan submitted for the manufactured housing park. He stated that there is very little connectivity within the proposed development. Although some of that is due to the environmental features on the property, Kugler said staff feels that aspect could be improved. He said there are few provisions for connections to adjacent properties as well. Kugler said staff feels the concepts in the South District Plan should be applied to this development, and that is not carried through in the concept plan. He said staff made recommendations to encourage the developer to incorporate some of those concepts into the plan, but the developer chose to go forward with this design. Kugler said staff feels there are enough concerns with this application that warrant a recommendation of denial of the proposal. Public discussion: Larry Schnittjer, 1917 South Gilbert Street, said he represents MMS Consultants. He distributed a letter to Commission members that he asked them to read before the next meeting. Schnittjer said he began working on the design for this property just over one year ago. He said he met with City staff to determine what kind of trafficways and other things would be considered here. Schnittjer said it became obvious that the intersections of Highway 6, Scott Boulevard, 420th Street, Heinz, Saddlebrook and other things out here would be major considerations. He said he believed the developer has come up with a plan that addresses all of those issues. Schnittjer said he presented this to staff as a pre-preliminary concept plan, and the response was negative. He said there are certain things about the plan that the developers feel strongly about and wanted to bring before the Commission. Schnittjer said the developer does not feel that single-family housing is appropriate in this area. He said much of the ground is composed of hydric soils, which does not work well for single-family housing. Schnittjer said the developer also did not want to create a subdivision too far out from existing neighborhoods, as Southpoint is, only to have it remain half full. Schnittjer said regarding the appropriateness of the zoning here, that 15 years ago Iowa City enacted a new mobile home court ordinance. He said since that time, there have been no new mobile home courts in Iowa City. He added that Saddlebrook is not truly a mobile home court. He said the developers would like to meet with the Commission formally or informally to have a dialogue about this project. Ehrhardt asked if the developer would be at the neighborhood meeting. Schnittjer said he would attend the meeting, but he did not know if the Strebs would attend. Ehrhardt asked if the Strebs were involved in the South District planning process. Schnittjer said he did not know. But he said he did not attend those meetings. Gibson asked Schnittjer to clarify his comments about mobile homes versus manufactured housing. Schnittjer said Modern Manor, Sunrise Village, and Bob Wolfe's new project south of the Airport are mobile home courts. He said the Saddlebrook project was quite a bit different in the housing type and in the process of handling the project. Schnittjer said there are two ways Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 18 of handling these things, 'one being a mobile home court and one being the nearly condominium-type project that Saddlebrook has. Gibson asked if this project is being characterized as a mobile home court. Schnittjer confirmed this. Schnittjer said he anticipated putting together a sensitive areas overlay plan for this project, but he needed to know what direction to go in. He said the developer does not want single-family housing out there, but he does not have to have that much RM-20 or some other things. Schnittjer said he needed some politically approvable and developable alternatives. Kugler said regarding the sensitive areas development plan, staff is not asking for a detailed development plan similar to an OPDH at this time that would lay out exactly where everything will be. He said staff believes it to be important at the time of rezoning to have the wetlands and buffers identified so they can be addressed through a CZA if this rezoning is approved. Kugler said once the plan passed the stage of rezoning and into a subdivision, it is much more difficult to address those issues. He said staff is basically looking for an identification of what is out there, as required by the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Schnittjer said if the developers are not able to achieve some understanding of what the zoning for this property will be, this piece of property will continue to be farmed. He asked if all that expense was needed to farm the property. Schnittjer said he needed an idea of where this project is going in order to justify spending more money on it. Schnittjer said there are people looking for commercial property and other types of property more often than the Commission is led to believe. He said people have called him to find out where they can get commercial property in town, but there really are not many commercial lots available in Iowa City. Chait asked about the connectivity of a mobile home park. He asked if there were a different standard for this type of community than there would be for an RS-8 property or for Saddlebrook. Kugler said staff is suggesting that there should not be a different standard, since there is a plan in place that was developed in conjunction with neighborhood and public input. He said policies were created so that regardless of the type of housing, the City should be trying to achieve these concepts. Chait said the concept of a mobile home park is different than that of manufactured housing and asked if there were a different standard, conceptually. Kugler said there are standards in the zoning ordinance for the development of these parks, but he was not familiar with any restriction on connections to adjacent properties. He said there are provisions for different infrastructure standards with regard to lot sizes, street widths, sidewalk setbacks, etc. Chait said he would like more information in that regard; he said his vision of a mobile home park was that of a controlled environment. Gibson asked if there were only two entrances into all of this housing. Kugler confirmed this, adding that there is also a stubbed street that actually goes into a piece of property that is right at the City's growth boundary. Gibson said there is no assurance that street would ever actually go anywhere, and Kugler agreed. Gibson said at some point in the Saddlebrook discussions, it was asserted that there really has to be a controlled housing environment. He asked if the developer is asserting, with only two entrances, that there has to be a controlled environment. Kugler said discussions never got that far, and he did not know if the developer was rejecting the notion of a higher level of connectivity at this point. He said after staff suggested changes to the plan that might be more acceptable and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the developer returned with the application and the same plan. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 19 In regard to the access points, Schnittjer said in a normal mobile home court, the access should be controlled. He said in this situation, because Snyder Creek divides the property, he has provided for two major access points, but still has not made a determination as to whether the crossover should go over the creek or not. Schnittjer said he really did not want the crossover, because of the extra grading that would require in the vicinity of the creek. He said he would rather keep the areas separate and perhaps have pedestrian traffic between them, but not vehicular traffic. Schnittjer said the only reason for having it is to have connectivity to the clubhouse building in the south portion. He said in the normal operation of a mobile home court, the residents and management do not want a lot of outside influence and traffic. Bovbjerg asked about the clubhouse, and Schnittjer pointed it out on the map. Bovbjerg also asked if storm shelters would be provided on the site. Schnittjer said it has not yet been determined where storm shelters would be sited, but that determination is high on the priority of design concepts and the shelters would be disbursed throughout the development. Ehrhardt asked if Kugler could respond to Schnittjer's comment about the inappropriateness of single-family homes on hydric soils without the information about the sensitive areas. Kugler said there are some hydric soils shown on the sensitive areas inventory for the area, and the Sensitive Areas Ordinance says those areas need to be investigated to determine whether they are wetlands. He said development on hydric soils is generally more difficult whether it is for single-family homes or manufactured homes. Kugler said he could provide more details on that aspect for the next meeting. He added that no development on hydric soils is optimal, and there are restrictions regardless of the type of development. Chait said the way this parcel seems to turn its back on the property to the south and the east appears offensive to him, even with the idea of mobile home parks being somewhat self- contained. He said even with the potential street to the south, this is inconsistent with the land use connectivities that the Commission wants to see. Chait said having a street on that border is less offensive than seeing the backs of all of those trailers. Miklo said one of the reasons staff recommended a different concept plan was because of the lay of the land and getting a lower density as one transitions to the areas that will probably be in the County for some time. He said staff's recommendation was to have streets connecting to areas with different densities. Gibson said this plan places the burden on adjacent property owners to screen this site if they are interested in doing so. He suggested that this development pull back from the property line so that there is an opportunity to create screening right on that site instead of placing the burden on neighboring property owners. Schnittjer said there is an extra depth on the lots adjacent to the property to the south, plus a 15-foot buffer strip between the property line and the back of the mobile home court spaces. He said the scale on the map was too small to demonstrate that space. Chait said the Commission has had feedback about not letting the applicant know what the issues and concerns are, and he wanted to let the applicant know his concerns now instead of waiting for two weeks to express them. He said if the Commission can be up front about its role, this would serve the concerns of both the developer and staff in terms of finding common ground. Charlotte Bailey said she believed the neighborhood meeting planned for September 23 would certainly help the process of the City staff, which is looking at the South District Plan that has already been put in place. She said it should also help the developer to work out problems and answer questions. She said she would specifically like to hear the alternate proposals and other options and how they were considered before the application was submitted. Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 20 Richard Rhodes, 2014 Rochester Avenue, said regarding environmental and conservation consequences, this plan as currently designed is wholly inadequate, because it only looks at this property and not the adjacent properties. He said this property is part of the Snyder Creek Bottoms. Rhodes showed the boundary of the entire Snyder Creek Watershed on a map. He said the area of particular concern is about five square miles and drains down into and through the development proposal the Commission was discussing. Rhodes said one-half mile south, an additional 13 square miles drains into the Snyder Creek Bottoms. Rhodes said there is a very fiat area that is very poorly drained to the west and to the south of this development proposal. He said the area covers several square miles and is farmed on occasion when it is not too wet. He said it is indeed a wetland complex. Rhodes said some spots are high enough to farm some years, but most spots are too low to farm all of the time. Rhodes said there has been some channelization of the creek to try to drain it, as well as some 36-inch tile, but neither has been adequate. He said it is a variable environment. Rhodes said the City has seen fit with Sycamore Farms, Lake Calvin Properties, and the Saddlebrook development to go to considerable trouble to protect that. Rhodes showed the areas of hydric soils on the map. He said hydric soils are essentially soils that were formed under wetlands. Rhodes showed an aerial photograph of the southern end of the project and showed where the trailer court would be situated. He then showed the probable wetland and said it is part of the larger Snyder Creek Bottoms and well worth the effort to protect. Rhodes said there needs to be a buffer around these wetland areas to protect them, and the buffer should be equivalent to that required for Saddlebrook, as a condition of the rezoning of this property. He overlaid a concept plan of the buffer onto the aerial photograph. Rhodes said the top of the buffer should be at the top of the break in slope from the fiat area on top. He said the best way to do this would be to zone that area RR-1, as was done with Sycamore Farms and Saddlebrook, and to put a strong conservation easement on it. Rhodes said furthermore, there must be plans regarding what to do with the stormwater that is dumped down onto this area from the developed area. He said there should be, at least in concept, the siting of storm water detention facilities that will pretreat the water that is discharged down into this wetland complex. Rhodes said there are a couple of other environmental features that have not been mentioned. He said there are likely prairie remnants on this property, including an area of timber, although these prairie remnants may be practically unrecognizable because of degrading activities. Rhodes said those aspects need to be investigated. Rhodes added that there is a clause in the Sensitive Areas Ordinance to protect areas of forest vegetation, and there is the area of timber that, if it has not been cultivated, is also quite likely to be a severely degraded prairie remnant, which would be recoverable. Rhodes asked the Commission to think about requiring an RR-1 zoning and a conservation easement, even without having a wetlands determination. He said these were wetlands in pre-settlement times, and perhaps the City should go ahead and restore them. Rhodes said the developer would then not have to go through the expense of a determination if the ground were just set aside. Bovbjerg asked about the creek going up from the center to the upper right on the map. Rhodes replied that it is an unnamed northern branch of Snyder Creek. He said he could almost guarantee that it has been channeled because it is so straight. Bovbjerg asked where water from this area flows. Rhodes said it flows through an industrial park into this tract, and then into Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 21 the Snyder Creek Bottoms. He said that is why it is important to have good storm water retention and pre-treatment of the discharge flows down into this area. Dan Daly said he has developed an appreciation for the value and importance of wetlands. He said his neighborhood has developed a small, 1 l-acre wetlands park that is coming around very well, even as degraded as it was. Daly said he has found out that 95% of the wetlands that this state had before it was settled by Europeans are gone and maybe lost forever. He said when there is an opportunity to grab some of it back, it should not be passed up. Daly used a map of the City from the telephone book and folded it so that one-quarter of it was showing. He said he believed that about 60% or more of the City's manufactured housing and mobile home courts are in that one-quarter of the City and maybe even in one-eighth of the City. Daly said if the City wants a diverse mix of housing, some of the other parts of the map should have this kind of housing. Daly said there is a lot of commercial development between the railroad tracks and the highway, which are sort of unnatural boundaries. He said north of Highway 6 from Scott Boulevard down to Mall Road is commercial on the north side and with the exception of one mini-mart, it is all residential on the south from Broadway to Scott Boulevard. Daly said he did not want to see commercial development come to the south side of the highway. He said for decades the highway has served as a buffer between the residential neighborhoods and commercial and factory development. Daly said there are vacant buildings near the highway, such as Randalls and Sears, that are screaming with potential for a commercial outlet to come in and develop them. He said setting up new commercial areas elsewhere invites those areas to remain empty. Craig Evans, 4300 Sioux Avenue, said he is a lifelong resident of Iowa City. He agreed with Daly that a large portion of the mobile home community is on the southeast side of Iowa City but said the figure is about 50%. Evans said there are nine mobile home courts in Iowa City, with two on the outskirting boundaries, one on the southwest side, and one on the far southeast side. Evans said he has witnessed all of the changes to the City, both good and bad. He said Coralville has literally exploded since the 1993 flood and has done wonderful things to the town with the architecture and the streets. Evans said he would like to see the southeast side of Iowa City regain its strength and its beauty instead of slowly going into a death spiral, as it is now. His said he has heard staff's comments about mixed housing with single-family and multi-family being integrated together. Evans said that when 50-60% of the mobile home courts are on the southeast side of Iowa City, and now Saddlebrook wants to expand and this application is submitted, it becomes a compounding and compacting of things and not a mix. Evans said he also heard the comments that people are searching for commercial lots. He said there are lots readily available on Highway 1 West over the bridge. Evans asked the Commission to take into consideration whether this property really needs to be annexed. He said there is space available on the west side for something like this. Evans said Iowa City already has Procter and Gamble, UTA, and ACT on the east side. He said he realizes there is a need for industrial uses and affordable housing, but the burden should not all be placed on the southeast side. Evans said there is now gang activity on the southeast side, which was unheard of in the past. He said the southeast side already has Lakeside. He said in Iowa City in various Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 22 places are Greater Iowa City Housing, Village Green, Pheasant Ridge, Cedarwood, four elderly living facilities, as well as all of the private units that operate rental properties. Evans said the City itself has approximately 900 to 1,000 subsidized living units and owns 104 units, and the City also does rental assistance. Evans said several years ago, HUD did a survey of 100 rental properties in Iowa City, rating them from lowest to highest rent. He said the cutoff is at 40%, meaning that even/thing down in rent from the 40th property looked at by HUD was considered affordable housing in this area. Evans said that 40% of just the private rental properties are considered affordable housing. He said he did not believe we needed any more. Evans asked the Commission to consider balancing things out. Larry Sovereign, 4256 Sioux Avenue SE, said the Commission may not be aware that there is a creek that runs under Sioux Avenue. He said the creek has a buffer and on a hard, rainy day, anyone who farms there will lose about ten rows of his crop. Sovereign said that has always been a wetland. Sovereign said under his and his neighbors' property, there is a ten-inch tile. He said there are several of them that drain the whole mile of Section 30. Sovereign said they come meandering down through the fields and it goes under the road and dumps into Snyder Creek. He said he assumed that if a mobile court is allowed there, there would have to be some steel structure pipes because it is just like a hydrant. Sovereign said when one of them breaks, water just gushes out of it until it can be repaired. Sovereign said he would rather see single-family dwellings like Saddlebrook as opposed to mobile homes side by side. He said this project would involve altering Sioux Avenue. Sovereign said he believed that any time you have a mobile home court, it must be on a paved road. He asked if that means Scott Boulevard will be paved and have access into it that way or will they just move Scott Boulevard so that the paved pad goes into the mobile home court and there is gravel back the other way. Sovereign said there are about five mobile home courts out there in that area already, and that seems like enough. Richard Bontrager, 4303 Sioux Avenue, said he was concerned about the traffic in that area. He said Highway 6 is only a two-lane road at that point and with all the truck traffic in the area, it is a mess now getting out there. Bontrager said he thought something like this should require Highway 6 to be four-lane out through there. Bontrager asked what was permitted in a C1-1 zone. Kugler said the C1-1 zone is intensive commercial and would allow businesses like contractors' yards, light manufacturing with a square footage restriction, small engine repair, and restaurants, but the amount of retail is restricted to no more than 50% of a business. Bontrager said he did not think he wanted those types of businesses in that area. He asked why the area could not be all housing. Bontrager said the C1-1 zone would open the area to a lot of things that no one would want next door. Bob Downer, 122 South Linn Street, said he is the attorney for Streb & Streb, the developers of the proposed subdivision. He said there have been a lot of concerns, many of them legitimate, raised by concerned citizens. Downer said for whatever reason, it seems there has not been adequate dialogue between the developer and staff with respect to this application. He said that to address the concerns and to have an opportunity to attend the neighborhood meeting, the Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 23 developers were requesting a deferral of this item to the October 1, 1998 meeting. Downer said the developer feels that many of staff's concerns are not well-rounded and concurs with Chait's sentiments with regard to the concept of a mobile home court. Downer said the developer also disagrees with the characterization of the commercial area as a strip, saying it is divided into numerous defined areas. He said in the next weeks, the applicant would like to meet with neighborhood representatives and also have further discussions with staff to see if the concerns can be addressed. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Chait moved to defer ANN98-0003/REZ98-0013, an application submitted by Streb & Streb, c/o AI Streb, to annex and rezone 187.41 acres located at the southwest corner of Highway 6 and Sioux Avenue from Suburban Residential (County RS) to Intensive Commercial (C1-1, 34.72 acres), Medium Density Multi-Family Residential (RM- 20, 21.90 acres), and Factory Built Housing Residential (RFBH, 127.49 acres) to the October 1, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Shannon seconded the motion. Gibson said that he was concerned with the idea that in order to understand this proposal in terms of even the proposed zoning, one also has to understand the underlying road pattern, almost the layout of the development, yet those things are not being asked to be approved; the developer is asking only for the rezoning and the annexation. He said he would have a great deal of trouble separating those things and considering them separately, because if the Commission does the annexation and rezoning, it will have to start all over for the platting if the developer chooses to do so. Gibson said a higher level of control is needed so that this disjointedness doesn't happen. Gibson said he was troubled by the apparent unwillingness of the developer to make an investment in planning this properly. He said this is a very complex matter with some proposed zoning that is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as well as a very complex wetlands situation. Gibson said for the developer to say he will only spend so much money planning this and after that will quit is very troubling to him, considering the complexity of the issue and the amount of money to be made on this should it go through. He said everyone should be willing to spend the time necessary to get this properly planned before it is brought to the City and zoned and subdivided. Chait said he agreed with Gibson that this is a very complicated piece of property. He said this is an important piece, and he cannot imagine it being done in the next couple of weeks when it has already been worked on for a year. Chait said he had a great deal of respect for staff and their willingness to work with applicants. He said there are major concerns here in terms of how this works with the infrastructure, particularly the street system. Ehrhardt said she agreed with Gibson regarding his concern about the reluctance to decide on zoning for property with sensitive areas before doing more detailed planning. She said she also had a problem with the concentration of one housing type in this area. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. CONSIDERATION OF THE AUGUST 20, 1998 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: Planning & Zoning Commission September 3, 1998 Page 24 MOTION: Ehrhardt moved to approve the minutes of the August 20, 1998 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, as written. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT: MOTION: Gibson moved to approve the Commission's annual report, as written. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m. Pam Ehrhardt, Secretary Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte ppdadminVnin\p&z0903,doc IOWA CITY PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION MEETING THURSDA Y, SEPTEMBER 3, 1998 - 7:30 P.M. Civic Center Council Chambers SIGN IN SHEET Name Address Phone 16. 1;'. 18. 19. 20. POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - September 8, 1998 Lobby Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Chair P. Hoffey called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE CONSENT CALENDAR Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Farrant, P. Hoffey, M. Raymond, and J. Watson. Staff present: Legal Counsel D. Russell and Administrative Assistant S. Bauer. Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Farrant to adopt the Consent Calendar as amended: to include (c) 9/8/98 letter from Chief Winkelhake, and (d) 9/4/98 memorandum from Captain Widmer. After discussion, Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None POLICY REVIEW Presentation by Professor David Baldus, University of Iowa, College of Law COMMUNITY FORUM COMPLAINT FORM Handouts regarding "Legal and Methodological Issues Concerning Police Stops of Automobiles and Pedestrians and Police Use of Force" were distributed. Further discussion regarding the October 27 community forum was deferred until the Council has made its decision about the Board's recommendation for by-law amendment. P. Farrant distributed another draft of the PCRB complaint form and a PCRB brochure. Farrant suggested that Board members give the form some test-runs. Further discussion was deferred to the next meeting. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES & GUIDELINES Final draft will be considered for approval at the next meeting. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None 2 EXECUTIVE SESSION MEETING SCHEDULE BOARD INFORMATION STAFF INFORMATION Motion by M. Raymond and seconded by L. Cohen to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 8:47 P.M. (Raymond left meeting at 8:50 P.M.) Regular meeting resumed at 9:03 P.M. Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Farrant to acknowledge receipt of information requested from Chief Winkelhake regarding PCRB Complaint #98-12, which will be considered at the next meeting. Motion carried, 4/0, Raymond absent. Special Meeting September 15, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Special Meeting September 22, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Special Meeting September 29, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Special Meeting October 6, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Regular Meeting October 13, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. None D. Russell: reported on his research regarding refusal to sign a traffic citation, stating The Code, in Section 805.3, seems to require a person to sign a citation before they are released from informal custody. More information will be provided after checking with the County Attorney. S. Bauer: the disorderly house ordinance (or party ordinance) has been pulled and is being restructured to clarify the need of such an ordinance. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by P. Farrant and seconded by J. Watson. Motion carried, 4/0, Raymond absent. Meeting adjourned at 9:12 P.M. POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - September 15, 1998 Lobby Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Chair P. Hoffey called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE CONSENT CALENDAR Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Farrant, P. Hoffey, M. Raymond, and J. Watson. Staff present: Legal Counsel D. Russell and Administrative Assistant S. Bauer. Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Farrant to adopt the Consent Calendar. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL The PCRB requests an extension of 45 days to file their public report on Complaint #98-12 because the Board is requesting further information from the Chief of Police. COMMUNITY FORUM A draft copy of the Rules Committee meeting was distributed. After discussion, the Board requested that the language of the by-law amendment be revised as follows: Place of Meetings. Meetings, both regular and special, shall be held in an accessible City facility, except that community forums held for public input only may be in other appropriate meeting places in Iowa City. · Draft copies of the notice were reviewed and recommended changes were noted. COMPLAINT FORM Draft brochures and draft complaint forms were distributed. After discussion, Motion was made by M. Raymond and seconded by J. Watson to adopt the new 2 PCRB complaint form. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Further discussion on the brochure was deferred. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES & GUIDELINES Motion by J. Watson and seconded by L. Cohen to approve the PCRB Standard Operating Procedures and Guidelines as presented in draft 9/15/98. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by J. Watson and seconded by L. Cohen to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11 ) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 P.M. Regular meeting resumed at 8:55 P.M. Motion by J. Watson and seconded by P. Hoffey directing the Chair to send a letter to the Chief requesting information regarding PCRB Complaint #98-12. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Motion by M. Raymond and seconded by P. Farrant requesting the City Council grant to the PCRB a 45-day extension on Complaint #98-12. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. The Board acknowledged receipt of 9/14/98 correspondence from Sarah Holecek regarding PCRB Complaints #98-11, #98-14 and #98-16. MEETING SCHEDULE Special Meeting September 22, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Special Meeting September 29, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. . Special Meeting October 6, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. · Regular Meeting October 13, 1998 - 7:00 P.M. (Election of new officers) BOARD INFORMATION P. Hoffey: Contact by Councilmember K. Kubby regarding three matters: 1. Because of the importance of the board in its first year of establishment, she feels that in addition to the annual report being sent to the City Council, that the board could do an oral presentation. 2. Questioned why the next forum is not going to be cablecast. She feels there would be many people in the community who would like to see this, and the number of these persons might outweigh the number of persons who would not appear if it were cablecast. 3. Could public forums be held at other locations, i.e. neighborhood centers. Discussion followed, to include: 1. It is possible that a portion of the annual report could be presented to the City Council. 2. in an effort to reach a variety of people, including those people who do not wish to be on TV, the board feels obligated to have a variety of venues and formats in reaching citizens. 3. Discussion has already occurred regarding other sites, to include neighborhood centers and schools. P. Hoffey: Will contact Dottie Ray radio show regarding the October 27 community forum. STAFF INFORMATION D. Russell: · Contacted by Councilmember D. Norton regarding the by-law amendment. 4 Contacted by S. Holecek regarding her 9/14/98 correspondence. In followup to research regarding arrests when persons refuse to sign citations, County Attorney Patrick White was contacted, who stated: 1. There are no uniform guidelines for this issue. What law enforcement agencies have done instead is base their decisions on the factors that are reflected in Code Section 805.1. 2. The practice of local police agencies in Johnson County is to arrest a person who refuses to sign a citation. Their primary concern is properly identifying the person cited. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by M. Raymond and seconded by P. Farrant. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 9:18 P.M. RULES COMMITTEE MEETING September 11, 1998 Committee Members Present: Staffmembers present: Karr Lehman, Norton Police Citizens Review Board by-law change. The Rules Committee reviewed the suggested change to Article V, Section 3, as follows: Place of Meetings. All meetings shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public, After discussion, the Rules Committee unanimously recommended that the language be amended as follows: Place of Meetings. Meetings, both regular and special, shall be held in an accessible City facility. Community forums, held for public input only, may be in other appropriate meeting places in Iowa City. RULES COMMITTEE MEETING  September 9, 1998 Committee ,lers Present: Lehman, Norton \ Staffmembers present: Karr Police Citizens Review~oard by-law change. The Rules Committee rev~wed the suggested change to 3, as follows: Place of Meetings. AIl~'~eetings accessible to the public."~\ Place of Meetings. Meetings, an accessible City facility. only, may be in other a V, Section shall be held a place reasonably recommended that the ular and special, shall be held in forums, held for public input ;eting places in Iowa City. MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION TUESDAY, AUGUST 18,1998 MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT Joanne Hora, Terd Miller, Allan Monsanto, Deborah Schoenfelder, M. Kathryn Wallace Bebe Ballantyne, Wilma Conner, and Kenneth Mobily, Philip Zell STAFF PRESENT Linda Kopping, Julie Seal and Susan Rogusky and Allison Gevock GUESTS PRESENT Richard Thomas and Joyce Thomas CALL TO ORDER Wallace called the meeting to order at 3:20. MINUTES Motion: To approve July minutes as distributed. The motion carded on a vote of 5- 0. Hora/Monsanto. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None. VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORToHora An update from the planning committee was given. Commissioners discussed the layout of the Volunteer Recognition newspaper advertisement. POLICY AND BY-LAW COMMITTEE REPORT - Schoenfelder Senior Center Beliefs, as identified in the operational handbook, were reviewed by the Commission. Commissioners discussed and revised the beliefs to state: · Older people are a valuable community resource. · Each person has intrinsic worth · There is potential for personal growth throughout the life span · Socialization and lifelong learning are important factors in maintaining mental, emotional and physical health · Volunteering fills the human need to have a focus in one's life, to contribute to one's community, to continue to use self-affirming skills and abilities · Risk is a part of life; a supportive environment promotes dsk taking. SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT - Wallace Commissioners reviewed the proposed 1998 Annual Report. After correcting the number of volunteers in FY98, the report was approved Motion: To approve the Annual Report and send it to the City Council and Board of Supervisors. Motion approved on a vote of 5-0. Hora/Monsanto. MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION TUESDAY, AUGUST 18,1998 2 SENIOR CENTER UPDATE Operations - Kopping H. R. Green informed Quint Company, in wdting, that further delay of the completion of the HVAC project would result in the following: 1. H. R. Green would assume the role of general contractor and complete the work. 2. Outstanding balances would be adjusted to reflect the reassignment of work. 3. The bonding company would be notified of Quint Company's poor performance on this project. Shortly after receiving the letter, Quint Company initiated steps to complete the project. Quint Company has been given until 8/28/98 to complete the job. If they are not done at that time, H. R. Green has been instructed to initiate the actions outlined in the letter. The Washington Street entrance doors, frame and ceiling tile are scheduled to be replaced. The new door and frame will be made of anodized aluminum and feature a large centrally placed door. The Engineering Department has coordinated this project and the contract was awarded to McComas-Lacina. McComas-Lacina will also be installing the center railings on both Linn Street entrances. This project is running behind schedule. The Engineering Department, which is also coordinating this project, will follow-up on the delay. Estimates are being obtained for replacing the rust damaged doors located at the north ramp and loading dock entrances. The Installation of door timers and ADA compliant hardware is almost complete. A timer for the inside entrance of the north ramp and additional work on the stairwell doors are pending. Programs - Seal Events occurring in September were reviewed. Volunteers- Rogusky An update of volunteer programs and opportunities were given. COUNCIL OF ELDERS - Thomas The Council of Elders elected the following officers: Jackie Hess and Joyce Thomas, Co-Chairs for 1998-99 Dorothy Rogers, Secretary for 1998-99 Ruth Bell, Corresponding Secretary for 1998-99 John Cameron, Treasurer for 1998-99 MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION TUESDAY, AUGUST 18,1998 3 COMMISSION VISITS City Council - Miller No report available Board of Supervisors - Monsanto A report of the board of Supervisors meeting was give~. Motion: To adjourn. Motion was carded on a vote of 5-0. MilledMonsanto. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50. RULES COMMITTEE MEETING September 21, 1998 Committee Members Present: Lehman, Norton Staff Members Present: Karr Police Citizens Review Board By-law change. The Rules Committee reviewed the change to Article V, Section 3, as suggested by the PCRB at their September 15 meeting as follows: Meetings both regular and special, shall be held in an accessible City facility, except that community forums held for public input only may be in other appropriate meeting places in Iowa City. After discussion, the Rules Committee unanimously recommended that the language be amended as follows: Place of Meetings, Meetings, both regular and special, shall be held in an accessible City facility. Meetings which are forums solely for community input may be in other appropriate meeting places in Iowa City.