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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-21 Info Packet CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org July 21,2005 IP1 Tentative Future Council Meetings and Work Session Agendas IP2 Letter from the City Manager to Scott Kading: Linn Street Block Party IP3 Memorandum from the Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development: June 7, 2005 petition from the Longfellow Neighborhood Association concerning traffic on East Court Street between Summit Street and Muscatine Avenue. IP4 Memorandum from the Human Services Coordinator to the Director of Finance and Director of Parking & Transit: Free Bus Ticket Program IP5 Police Department Use of Force Report June 2005 IP6 Iowa City Police Department Monthly Liquor License (OFF PREMISE SALES) Report March 2005 IP7 Email from Jill S. Philmlee to the Senior Housing Inspector: 428 S. Governor Street IP8 Research Brief on America's Cities [submitted by Council Member Vanderhoef] I PRELIMINARY/DRAFT MINUTES IP9 Telecommunications Commission: June 27, 2005 IP10 Planning and Zoning Commission: June 27, 2005 IPll Parks and Recreation Commission: July 13, 2005 ~~=~.,, City Council Meeting Schedule and ~ Work Session Agendas Ju~y20, 200~ (~ITY OF IOW^ (~ITY www.icgov.org I TENTATIVE FUTURE MEETINGS AND AGENDAS · MONDAY, AUGUST 1 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, AUGUST 2 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, AUGUST 15 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 Emma J. HarvatHall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 Emma J. Harvat Hall Labor Day - City Offices Closed · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 Emma J. Harva! Hall TBD Special Council Work Session Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, OCTOBER 3 Emma J. Harvat Hall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 Emma J. HarvatHall 6:30p Council Work Session · TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting · WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 North Liberty TBA Joint Meeting IP2 C~TY OF IOWA C~TY www.icgov.org JL~ly 14, 2005 OFFICV, OF THE Mr. Scott Kading CITY' MANAGER Iowa City Yacht Club 13 S. Linn Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Stephen J. Atkins City Manager steve-atkins~iowa-city.org Dear Scott: Dale E. Helling Assistant City Manager dale-helling~iowa-city,org understand representatives of the City staff have reviewed a request for a street and alley closure with the installation/set-up of a beer Garden on Linn Street between Iowa Avenue and WashinGton Street. I further understand it is scheduled for the first week of' school and will be accompanied by live entertainment. I am making the assumption you would be providing the beverages that would be served in the beer Garden area. It is my judgment that the construction/installation of a beer Garden on a pubic thoroughfare is not in the City's best interest, and therefore I would recommend the City Council not §rant permission. There are sufficient numbers of. bars and restaurants in the downtown area where people can secure alcoholic beverages that the use of the public thoroughfare for the sale of alcohol is not necessary. Furthermore, two residential uses are so close by that the live music accompanied by alcohol consumption through sales will likely generate resident complaints. Sincerely, Stephen J. Atkins City Manager cc: City Council Police Department City Attorney City Clerk mgr/ltrs/kaeding.doc 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Phone: (319) 356-5010 Fax: (319) 356-5009 Date: July 19, 2005 To: City Council From: Jeff Davidson, Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development Re: June 7, 2005 petition from the Longfellow Neighborhood Association concerning traffic on East Court Street between Summit Street and Muscatine Avenue This memorandum will serve to summarize the decision making at your July 18, 2005 work session concerning traffic on East Court Street between Summit Street and Muscatine Avenue. You received a petition from residents expressing concerns regarding "increasingly heavy, fast, and careless traffic" on this portion of East Court Street. They asked you to consider six specific alternatives for slowing down traffic and quieting the street. It was agreed by a majority that the following alternatives would be pursued. · An ordinance amendment will be prepared to embargo large trucks on East Court Street between Summit Street and Muscatine Avenue. · The Police Department will conduct periodic speed enforcement on this portion of Court Street. We will attempt to target enforcement during the times of day when the highest percentage of vehicles are traveling in excess of 35 mph on Court Street. Please let me know if this is not your understanding of what was agreed to; otherwise, staff will proceed as indicated. cc: City Manager Police Chief Director of Planning and Community Development Director of Public Works Neighborhood Services Coordinator JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner City Engineer ppdadm/mem/eastcourt.doc r r Date: July 15, 2005 ·, ~.,~ To: Kevin O'Malley, Director of Finance Joe Fowler, Director of Parking & Transit From: Linda'~eerson, Human Services Coordinator Peggy Sw~r~Human Services Intern Re: Free Bus Ticket Program For the fourth quarter of FY05 (April, May, and June 2005) the City of Iowa City dispensed 3,315 tickets to human service agencies through its Free Bus Ticket Program. The totals, by agency, were: 4th Year To April May June Quarter Date Crisis Center 325 325 325 975 3900 Department of Human Services 220 220 220 660 2640 Department of Veteran Affairs 20 20 20 60 240 Domestic Violence Intervention Program 130 130 130 390 1560 (DVIP) Shelter House 115 115 115 345 1380 Work Force Center 125 125 125 375 1500 Neighborhood Centers: Broadway 40 40 40 120 480 Pheasant Ridge 40 40 40 120 480 Vocational Rehabilitation Services 70 70 70 210 840 The Nest of Johnson County 20 20 20 60 240 TOTAL 1105 1105 1105 3315 13260 Thank you for supporting the Free Bus Ticket Program. Your continued assistance in this endeavor is very much appreciated. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Linda at x5242. cc: Jeff Davidson Steve Atkins jccoghs~nern\bustix04.doc IOWA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT USE OF FORCE REPORT June 2005 OFFICER DATE INC # INCIDENT FORCE USED 03,41 060105 05 -26726 Welfare Check Officers used control techniques to handcuff a subject that had assaulted emergency medical personnel and attempted to assault officers. 25 060105 05-26836 Intoxicated Subject Suspect had been arrested and placed in handcuffs. Suspect refused to sit in a squad car to be transported. Officers used control techniques to escort the suspect into a seated position in a squad car. 05 060205 05-26902 Building search Officer drew sidearm while checking a residence after observing suspicious activity. No subjects were located in the residence 58,51,05 060305 05-27110 Loud Party Suspect attempted to flee from Officers after being stopped. Officers attempted to arrest the suspect. Suspect resisted arrest efforts. Officers used control techniques to place handcuffs on the suspect and escort them into a squad car. 09 060305 05-27132 Injured Deer Officer used sidearm to dispatch an injured deer. 05 061005 05-28429 Armed Subject Officer ordered subjects to stop fighting. Subjects then attempted to assault the Officer. Officer exposed subjects to a chemical agent. Officer was then assaulted. A suspect that was being detained fled the area. Officer caught up to the suspect and were able to direct them to the ground where they were placed in handcuffs. 81/42 061205 05-28787 Assist Other Agency Officers assisted DPS with a subject in a vehicle with a gun. Officers drew sidearms until the suspect's weapon was secured. Suspect was then taken into custody without incident. 58 061205 05-28804 Armed Subject Officer drew sidearm and ordered a suspect to drop a shotgtm that had been used in an assault. Suspect dropped the shotgun and was taken into custody without incident. 58 061405 05-29058 911 Hang Up Suspect was placed under arrest for mis-use of 911. Suspect resisted arrest efforts. Officer used control techniques to place the suspect in handcuffs 84 061605 05-29362 Suspicious Person Officer located suspect tampering with a motor vehicle. Upon approach the suspect attempted to hide under the vehicle. Suspect refused to comply with Officer's instruction to come out from underneath the vehicle. Officers used hands on techniques to attempt to get the suspect from under the vehicle. Suspect then came out on their on accord and was placed under arrest without further incident. 25,58,19 062305 05-30596 Assault Officers instructed assault suspect to go to the ground. Suspect refused. Officers used hands on techniques to direct the subject to the ground and place them in handcuffs. 12,95,38 062405 05-30658 Intoxicated Subject Suspect had been placed under arrest. Suspect then attempted to damage a squad car and assault Officers. Officers used control techniques to prevent the suspect from assaulting others and move them in and out of a squad car. Suspect was taken to the hospital to be examined but resisted medical efforts. Officers assisted medical personnel by using control techniques to secure the suspect for a medical evaluation. 05,18 062705 05-31152 Medical Assist Subject threatened to assault emergency medical personnel. Officers directed the subject to the ground and placed them in handcuffs. Subject was then treated by medical personnel. 51 062705 05-31157 Alarm Officer drew sidearm to check a building that was found unsecured. No subjects were located in the building. 36 062905 05-31451 Intoxicated Subject Subject had been taken into custody on a court committal and placed in handcuffs. Subject attempted to pull hands from behind back and refused to remain seated in a squad car. Officer used control techniques to prevent subject from moving their hands and keep the subject in the squad car to be transported. Iowa City Police Department Monthly liquor license (OFF PREMISE SALES) ReportIR6 March 2005 Year 2005 Monthly Total I I Year to Date Totals Arrest/Visit Business Name A I I ~ YTD AAJAXXX LIQUOR STORE 2 0 ALDI INC. 1 = ~ ~ 0 0 BIG KAMART-HOLLYWOOD BLVD. 1 ~ 0 0 CUB FOODS 0 0 DAN'S SHORT STOP CORP ~ 0 0 DELIMART-E. BENTON 1 0 0 DELIMART-MORMON TREK 0 0 DELIMART-HWY 1 0 0 DELIMART-LWR MUSCATINE ~ 0 0 DRUGTOWN ~ 0 0 EL PASO MEXICAN STORE -- 0 0 FAREWAY STORES Commerce 1 0 0 FAREWAY STORES Westwinds 1 0 0 GASBY'S- S. GILBERT 2 ~ 0 0 GASBY'S EAST-2303 MUSCAT. ~ 0 0 GOOSETOWN 1 ~ ~ 0 0 HANDIMART-DUBUQUE ST. ~ 0 0 -IANDIMART-N. DODGE ~ ~ 0 0 HANDIMART-WILLOWCREEK ~ 0 0 HARTIG DRUG-MORMON TREK 1 ~ 0 0 HAWKEYE CON ST-COMMERCE 1 ~ 0 0 HAWKEY CON ST-KIRKWOOD 1 0 0 HY-VEE-N. DODGE 1 ; 0 0 HY-VEE-S. 1ST AVE ~ 0 0 HY-VEE GAS 1 0 0 HY-VEE-WATERFRONT ~ ~ 0 0 JOHN'S GROCERYINC 1 ; ~ ~ 0 0 KLM & GO-GILBERT/BURLI. 1 0 0 KLM & GO-MORMON TREK ~ 0 0 KUM& GO- S. RIVERSIDE ~ ~ 0 0 KLM & GO-W. BURLINGTON 0 0 L&M MIGHTY SHOP INC 0 0 LIQUOUR HOUSE 1 ~ ~ 0 0 MINI MART -- 0 0 NEW PIONEER COOP ~ ~ ~ 0 0 NORTH DODGE ESPRESS 1 ~ 0 0 ON THE GO CONV. STORE INC ~ 0 0 OSCO DRUG 0 0 Parth MINI MART- 2153 ACT CR 1 ~ 0 0 PETRO-N-PROVISIONS 0 0 SUBURBAN AMOCO ~ 0 0 SUBURBAN AMOCO-KEOKUK 1 ~ 0 0 T&M MINI MART I ~ 0 0 TOBACCO OUTLET PLUS-S. RIV. ~ 0 0 TOTAL 20 ~ 0 0 Column A is the number of times a license holder is visited specifically checking for underage sales. Solumn B is the number of people charged with possession under the legal age. Note, this is not the total number of chargess. Marian Karr From: Philmlee, Jill S. [JPhilmlee@dykema.com] Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 4:13 PM To: doug-boothroy@iowa-city.org; tim-hennes@iowa-city.org Cc: cou ncil@iowa-city.org Subject: FW: 428 S. Governor Street ..... Original Message ..... From: Philmlee, 3ill S. Sent: Monday, 3uly 18, 2005 4:07 PM To: 'norm-cate@iowa-cib/.org' Subject: 428 S. Governor Street Mr.. Cares: My daughter, Lindsey Robinson, and two of her friends, executed and delivered to Debra Kendall a Iowa Residential Lease Form, dated March 9, 2005. The lease is to commence on August 1,2005 and terminate on July 30, 2006. I have seen this house. It is inhabitable. Ms. Kendall agreed to have the house renovated. According to my daughter, work on the house started yesterday. For instance, the front and back porches are not safe (missing boards and are not property attached), there is a big hole in the kitchen ceiling/bathroom floor; plumbing does not seem to work, the 2nd floor and basement bathrooms are not useable; there is a gas leak (smell gas) ....... this is just a few of the items I noticed. In addition, the building permit is not displayed. The house has been unoccupied for several months - there is a concern of a possible rodent problem (rats, mice, cockroaches, etc.) Kindly advise me if the house is livable, since my daughter and her friends need a place to live by August 1, 2005. I have suggested they give notice to Ms. Kendall, they refuse to live in the house and terminate the lease. Thank you. Jill S. Philmlee Jill S. Philmlee Legal Specialist Dykema Gossett Rooks Pitts 4200 Commerce Court, Suite 300 Lisle, Illinois 60532 Direct: 630/577-2817 E-Fax: 866/264-5880 Fax: 630/245-0140 General Phone: 630/245-0400 e-mail: jphilmlee@dykema.com 7/18/2005 Page 2 of 2 To comply with U.S. Treasury regulations, we advise you that any discussion of Federal tax issues in this communication was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person (i) for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, or (ii) to promote, market or recommend to another party any matter addressed herein. This Internet message may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure. It is intended for use only by the person to whom it is addressed. If you have received this in error, please (1) do not forward or use this information in any way; and (2) contact me immediately. Neither this information block, the typed name of the sender, nor anything else in this message is intended to constitute an electronic signature unless a specific statement to the contrary is included in this message. DYKEMA GOSSETT PLLC 7/18/2005 MINUTES DRAFqi~ IOWA CITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2005 - 5:30 P.M. CITY CABLE TV OFFICE, 10 S. LiNN ST.-TOWER PLACE PARKING FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Hagen, Brett Castillo, Bebe Ballantyne, Saul Mekies, 'James Ehrmann MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Drew Shaffer, Mike Brau, Bob Hardy, Sue Dulek OTHERS PRESENT: Kevin Hoyland, Josh Goding, Kara Logsden, Michael McBride, Liz Preciado, Jon Koebrick, Lee Grassley, RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL None at this time. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Koebrick introduced Lee Grassley who will be Mediacom's government relations staff for the area. Shaffer reported that the City Council will vote on the third and final reading of the ordinance and the franchise resolution will be July 5. Castillo said that the main issues for some of the Council members is the length of the franchise. One member believes that because technology is changing quickly that the length of the franchise should be shorter. Another member expressed a belief that there wasn't enough "quality for consumers." Shaffer said that he and Don Williams, the City's consultant, met with some of the Councilors prior to the vote. The quality of some of the access channels was mentioned by a Councilor at those meetings. McBride reported that he recently attended a conference of college television stations. Of the 60 division one schools that attended about half were cablecasting on a commercial cable system. Goding reported that PATV would be closed from July 9- 17 during which time they will be hosting a United Action for Youth video camp. Hoyland reported that the school channel has been cablecasting many of the events associated with the end of the school year such as graduations and music concerts. A bid is out for new microphones for the Board Room. Logsden reported that Matt Butler has been hired as the new audio-visual specialist. A multi-channel modulator has been installed. This will enable programs originatied at the library to be cablecast live on any of the access channels. Shaffer referred to the letters from Mediacom in the meeting packet regarding a planned August rate increase in the basic tier and a change in the channel line-up. Shaffer said the rate increase filing has been forwarded to the City's consultant for review. Shaffer also referred to two letters to legislators in Washington DC sent under Mayor Lehman's signature regarding proposed legislation detrimental to the City's interest. Legislation has been proposed that would restrict a municipality's ability to regulate cable TV providers and restrict a municipality from offering broadband service. Shaffer said that the City Channel will be producing a tape providing information regarding cable TV in Iowa City and answer some of the most common questions he hears from the public. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Hagen moved and Ehrmann seconded a motion to approve the corrected May 27, 2005 minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS Mekies said that this was Castillo's last meeting and that Castillo had been a very diligent and hard working Commission members. The City was fortunate to have Castillo on the Commission, particularly during the franchise extension. Hagen said that he had learned a lot from Castillo and that he had done a wonderful job on the Commission. Shaffer said that it had been great to work with Castillo and seconded Mekies's sentiments. SHORT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS None. MEDIACOM REPORT Koebrick introduced Lee Grassely who will be Mediacom's government relations staff for the area. Koebrick said that Castillo and Smith both were quite willing and easy to work with during the franchise extension. Iowa City, through its Commission and staff is more engaged in cable matters and many cities across the state could learn from Iowa City. REFRANCHISING UPDATE Shaffer reported that the City Council has conducted 2 of 3 reading of the ordinance. The third and final reading and the passing of the franchise resolution will be July 5. At the last City Council meeting Castillo made a superb presentation on the franchise agreement. Castillo said that the main issues for some of the Council members is the length of the franchise. One member believes that because technology is changing quickly that the length of the franchise should be shorter. Another member expressed a belief that there wasn't enough "quality for consumers." Shaffer said that he and Don Williams, the City's consultant, met with some of the Councilors prior to the vote. The quality of some of the access channels was mentioned by a Councilor at those meetings. CONSUMER ISSUES Shaffer reported receiving 10 complaints. All that could be resolved have been. There were 2 complaints with billing problems, 1 about poor reception, 2 about high rates, 1 requesting CSPAN be placed back on the basic tier, 1 about a subscriber being asked their social security number when requesting information about their service, 1 requesting information be provided to residents on the City's legal authority, how rates are determined etc., 1 about a disconnection taking seven days and having to pay for those seven days, and 1 about being charged for a cable modem when they had their own. Mekies asked about increasing the size of the print on subscriber bills that provide Shaffer's phone number and address. Shaffer said that this had been brought up during refranchising discussions and it was agreed to that at such a point in time that it became possible to do so that an increase in print size would be made. Mediacom uses an outside billing company and to make the change would require changing Mediacom's bills across the United States and involve rewriting the billing software. Mekies said that there might be things the Commission could do to help inform the public that the City can assist with problems. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA REPORT Mike McBride distributed a quarterly programming report. 142 new programs were produced during the last quarter. 22 of those were provided by the athletic department and 60 were co-produced with KSUI/WSUI radio. All 11 of the commencement ceremonies were taped. The number of programs produced has increased significantly. The installation of an automated digital playback system allowed 60-70 hours of staff time to be focused on productions rather than operating playback machines. McBride reported that he recently attended a conference of college television stations. Of the 60 division one schools that attended about half were cablecasting on a commercial cable system. PATVREPORT Goding reported that the Open Chaimel program will be held Wed., June 29 from 8-9 p.m. The PATV Board will meet on June 21st at 7 p.m. The next Bike-In Theater event will be held Wed., July 6 at 9 pm. PATV will be closed from July 9-17 during which time they will be hosting a United Action for Youth video camp. The next producer's forum will be held August 25 from 7-9 p.m. Hagen said that he recently toured PATV's facilities and found it quite informative and impressive. Hagen recommended other Commissioners tour PATV. SENIOR CENTER REPORT No representative was present IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORT Hoyland reported that the school channel has been cablecasting many of the events associated with the end of the school year such as graduations and music concerts. A bid is out for new microphones for the Board Room. The Central Administration Building, which houses the Board Room, may be sold. When a decision is made on a possible sale there will be a better idea on how to proceed with equipment improvements. Superintendent Plugge and Mr. Boldick have been forwarded a copy of the memo written by Hardy regarding costs of equipment upgrades. LEGAL REPORT Dulak reported that interviews for an assistant city attorney will be held soon. When a new attorney is hired staffing assignments will be made and the Commission will have a permanent attorney. LIBRARY REPORT Logsden distributed the library channel program schedule. There are three summer reading programs at the library that are being cablecast. 120 adults, 110 teens, and 800 children are participating in the program. A storytelling workshop will be held July 19. Intemet instruction workshops are being taped and will be cablecast on the library channel. Matt Butler has been hired as the new audio-visual specialist. A multi-channel modulator has been installed. This will enable programs originating at the library to be cablecast live on any of the access channels. Policy regarding taping and replaying of public meetings held in the library meeting rooms is being reviewed. Hagen said he recently toured the library's facilities. KIRKWOODREPORT No representative was present. Mekies asked if Kirkwood has any interests in the work of the Commission. Shaffer said that Kirkwood has not had any representatives attend the Commission meetings since the school district obtained their own channel. MEDIA UNIT Hardy reported that the Community Television Service will be taping a series of lectures regarding sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. A program on sexual assault is being produced sponsored by the Rape Victim Advocacy Program. The program will also be cablecast on University of Iowa's inter- dorm system. The organizers of the Jazz Festival will be working with the CTS to produce a program on the impact of the Jazz Festival on the community. The Media Unit will be cablecasting the Community Development Block Grants award program. The Farmer's Market concerts are being cablecast. The number of productions this summer are up compared to past years. CABLE TV ADMINISTRATOR REPORT Shaffer referred to the letters from Mediacom in the meeting packet regarding a planned August rate increase in the basic tier and a change in the channel line-up. Shaffer said the rate increase filing has been forwarded to the City's consultant for review. A letter has been sent to Mediacom requesting additional information. Shaffer also referred to two letters to legislators in Washington DC sent under Mayor Lehman's signature regarding proposed legislation detrimental to the City's interest. Legislation has been proposed that would restrict a municipality's ability to franchise cable TV providers and restrict a municipality from offering broadband service. Also included in the packet is a white paper from the National Cable Television Association regarding de-regulation of the video marketplace. Castillo noted that Verizon has been arguing that franchising requirements will slow their implementation of video delivery technology and has been working to pass legislation to eliminate local franchising. Thus far Verizon has deployed only in areas with selected demographics favoring rich urban neighborhoods. Shaffer said that the survey of rates in Iowa included in the packet has been forwarded to City Council. Shaffer thanked Castillo for the letter we wrote which was published in the Press Citizen. Shaffer noted the letter in the meeting packet from Grande Communications, one of the overbuilders receiving an information packet from the City, and said their polite rejection is typical of the responses received. Mekies asked if Mediacom explained their rationalefor the changes in the channel line-up. Shaffer said the City couldn't require that information. Castillo said that part of the change might be related to a new broadcaster in the area which met the "must-carry" requirement. Mediacom recently announced a national carriage agreement with ESPN- HD, which may have required ESPN be located on a lower channel number. EDUCATION CHANNEL Shaffer said it looks like the school board is starting to look at the possibilities and what is needed to make improvements on the channel. Shaffer said he made a point to view the school board meetings. The Commission may wish to explore approaches to assist the schools in identifying their needs and possible funding mechanisms. TELECOMMUNICATINS COMMISSION PUBLICITY Shaffer said that the City Channel will be producing a tape providing information regarding cable TV in Iowa City and answer some of the most common questions he hears from the public. Mekies suggested trying to get on the local radio talk shows. ACCESS CHANNEL VISITS Mekies agreed to attend the July PATV board meeting and Hagen agreed to attend the August meeting. ADJOURNMENT Hagen moved and Castillo seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. Adjournment was at 6:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Drew Shaffer Cable TV Administrator TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 12 MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD 01/01/03 to CURRENT Meeting Date Kimberly Saul Meikes Brett Castillo Terry Smith Jim Pusack Thrower 6/2/03 x x x x x 7/28/03 x x x x x 8/25/03 x x x x o/c 9/22/03 x x x x o/c 10/27/03 x x x x o/c 11/24/03 x x o/c x x 12/15/03 o/c o/c x x x 1/2/04 x o/c x x x 1/26/04 x x x x x 2/23/04 x o/c x o/c x 3/22/04 x x x x x 4/26/04 x x x x O/C 5/24/04 x x O/C x x 6/28/04 x x x o/c x 7/26/04 o/c x x x x 8/26/04 did not meet did not meet did not meet did not meet did not meet 9/27/04 X X X X X 10/25/04 X X 11/04 Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet Did not meet X X X X X 12/20/04 1/24/05 X X X X X 2/28/05 X X X X Gary Hagen 3/8/05 X X X X 3/25/05 X 0 X X 4/25/05 x o/c X X X 5/23/05 X o x vacancy James X x Bebe × Ehrmann Balantyne 6/27/05 X x X X X (X) = Present (0) = Absent (O/C) = AbsentJCalled (Excused) MINUTES DRAF~ PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2005 EMMA J. HAP, VAT HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Brooks, Ann Freerks, Elizabeth Koppes, Wally Plahutnik, Terry Smith MEMBERS ABSENT: Don Anciaux, Dean Shannon STAFF PRESENT: Mitch Behr, Karen Howard, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: Mark McCallum, Susan Futrell, Rebecca Needes, Marc Moen, Jerry Anthony, Jim Throgmorton, Stephen Tret, John Balmer, Larry Svoboda, Mike McLaughlin, Patti Santangelo, Anna Buss, Greg Rocko, Dennis Nowotny, Garry Klein CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Brooks called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING: Brooks said that for the first approximately 30 minutes of the meeting, there would be general comments on items that people did not have a chance to discuss at the previous hearing. He referred to the two handouts for those in attendance. Brooks said that the letter-sized sheets each contain an amendment number relating to the numbering on the legal-sized packet of information. He said that where there is no amendment number, it indicates an area where the Commission did not ask staff to make any revisions in that section. Brooks said the list of proposed amendments was based on input the Commission received from a series of three public open houses that began on March 3rd. He said the Commission has also held a public hearing, and there have also been a number of opportunities at which he and Howard spoke before various community groups. Brooks said a form was also available on the Planning Department's web page for people to submit their comments in writing. Brooks said staff and the Commission have culled through all of that information and arrived at the issues and areas of concern that are addressed in the legal-sized packet. He said the meeting would last until 10:00, if necessary, and if there are still people who wish to comment, the public hearing will probably be extended into another meeting. Howard distributed comments and e-mails that had been received since the Commission's informal meeting the previous Monday. Brooks said that until this is voted on by City Council, the public is welcome to comment on any areas of concern. Public hearing: Mark McCallum, 811 East Colle.qe Street, said that he is a landlord for a property in the College Green Historic District and is also a member of the Historic Preservation Commission. He said that he sent a proposal last week to Howard regarding what he considers a downzoning move by the City in reducing the number of unrelated occupants in multi-family structures, except for the RM-44 zone. McCallum said he bought his property because it was a very under-utilized property. He said it is a 1920s building with a lot of efficiencies and one-bedrooms. McCallum said that it is a double lot with 33 parking spaces. He said that he is limited to 13 units. McCallum said he did an analysis of his property. He said that under the current zoning, if he wanted to gut his property and redevelop it into 13 five-bedroom units, he could do that, as long as he met the parking requirements. McCallum said it has bothered him that there is no distinction in the zoning code between an efficiency unit and a five-bedroom unit. He said that in the new zoning proposal, there is still no distinction between an efficiency or one-bedroom unit and a four-bedroom unit. McCallum said that when a developer does redevelop a property, he will redevelop it to his maximum use. He said that when one is building four- and five-bedroom units, it is only developing for a certain market niche, which is the college student mix. McCallum said he thought that should be changed so Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 2 there are mixed uses in building and mixed densities in sizes so that there is a more balanced rental market out there that would attract elderly, disabled, and urban professionals. McCallum said he also did an analysis of handicapped-accessible units on College Street. He said there are over 300 rental permits right now on College Street. McCallum said there should be special incentives to develop smaller, handicapped-accessible units within the zoning code, because there is only one handicapped accessible one-bedroom unit of the 300 units on College Street. McCallum said he has proposed an incremental zoning model that reduces the land required by 100 square feet for each reduction in bedrooms. He said he is open to other ideas. McCallum said he would like to see some distinction in the zoning code, City-wide, of how we're developing properties. He said that one way would be to express an occupancy load per acre of land in each of the zones and then let the rental market decide the mix of what would occur on the properties. McCallum said he would like to see the inequity n the current zoning code addressed. He said that this is an opportunity to use the zoning code to encourage more diversity in the housing stock, which will create more diversity for different types of people to move closer into town in a more balanced approach. Susan Futrell, 311 Fairchild Street, said that she and her husband own a single-family home in the Gilbert-Linn near northside neighborhood and also a rental property in the Longfellow Neighborhood. She said that she generally supports the overall goals and the revisions of the code. Futrell complimented the City staff and the Commission on the vision of trying to manage the growth in the community. Futrell said that she strongly supports Chapter 2, Section 5 that reduces the maximum occupancy in a number of zones. She said it is a way to address particularly older neighborhoods that can accommodate mixed residential types of uses very well. Futrell said that when the occupancy levels go above what the areas in the neighborhoods were intended to support, all kinds of things suffer. She said she strongly supports the effort overall to reduce maximum occupancy in the areas where it is appropriate. Rebecca Needes, $341 Rohret Road, said that she is the legislative affairs person and Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce. She said the Chamber has not yet taken an official position, although it plans to do so later this month, but she wanted to raise some concerns that the Chamber has. Needes said the Chamber has a local government affairs committee that looks at issues that come up in Iowa City and the surrounding communities. She said the Chamber goes through a diligent process, involving a task force, a committee, and the Board of Directors, before it takes a position on an issue. Needes said that the Chamber looked at the proposed rewrite in relationship to the commercial sections and the impact the rewrite would have on its members. She said the Chamber also looked at the implications of residential changes with respect to affordable housing. With respect to the commercial development, Needes said the Chamber is hesitant to see changes made that will impact a developer's ability to use the property for its best or highest use of the site, including the five-foot build to the line, parking relegated to the rear of the building, and architectural requirements. Regarding residential affordability, Needes said that the Chamber had some concerns about the increased costs of housing with the limit of zero-lot lines and duplexes to the corner lots in the RS-8 zone. She said that also, the architectural standards that would be mandated, such as width of trim, relationship of the fa~;ade to the placement of the garage, and widths of the eaves, the Chamber feels are best left to the homebuilders and developers. Needes said that the Chamber feels that the market can drive these changes. Needes said the Chamber is hesitant to see changes that may slow growth or move it to other areas outside of Iowa City. She said that, in general, the Chamber feels that the proposed zoning rewrite has become more proscriptive in its tone. Needes stated that mandating provisions really should be left in the hands of the developer and the market. Needes asked if the Commission has had the opportunity to meet with various groups. She said that there are several groups in town who have concerns. Brooks responded that the Commission had a Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 3 number of meetings and presentations to different groups and also held the three open houses. He said it has been a learning process for the Commission. Freerks added that everyone had to have that ability to have conversations with the Commission, not just particular groups who might be interested in one monetary reason or one reason over another. She said that is why the Commission has so many ways for people to comment. Freerks said that she did not believe that relegating parking to the back is a change in the code. Howard said that a lot of those standards are already in the code but are in a different place than they are in the draft. Plahutnik stated that reading through the code is onerous, and Needes did it from the viewpoint of how this would affect Chamber of Commerce members. Plahutnik said the Commission's starting point on the Code is not how the Commission can best benefit a particular developer or group of developers or any group of citizens right now, but it is how well it can be shaped to the Comprehensive Plan. He said the Commission is looking 20 years or more ahead to get something that is in the best long-term interest of the community. Needes said she agrees with that but is concerned with the perception that roadblocks are thrown up and things are made more challenging. She said she truly believes in planned growth, but one has to remember that growth drives the economy and drives the community. Needes said that even though the Chamber of Commerce represents its members, which are primarily businesses, the Chamber also looks at the greater good of the community. She said that the Chamber has pure motives other than just profit or the benefit of some of the developer/members but what it sees as the vision for the community. Marc Moen, 226 Clinton Street, stated that he owns historical property and also developed property in the Central Business District of Iowa City. He said he is concerned about the parking issue in the Central Business District. Moen said that amendment number 36, as he understood it, would make the parking standards under the proposed code even more restrictive than under the existing code. He said it would actually totally prohibit ground level or grade level parking in the Central Business District entirely. Moen said he believed staff's recommendation was to allow some ground level structure parking. Howard said that structure parking refers to it being within the walls of the building. Moen said that a zoning code, which will probably be around for decades, should allow the Board of Adjustment some latitude, particularly for innovative or imaginative projects. He said he is concerned that if the code says there can absolutely not be any parking at grade in the Central Business District, there is no recourse for that. Moen said he has two or three sites downtown to be developed, and his goal is to attract retail downtown. He said that for apartments, the parking could all go underground. He added, however, that to attract retail downtown, some kind of give on the parking issue is critical. Moen said that there is no way he could have attracted a grocery store to Plaza Towers if he had not been able to offer parking. He said that under the proposed code, he does not believe that is something the Board of Adjustment could even consider, because it is parking at grade and is not in a structure and because it allows entry into the parking lot directly off the street and not from an alley. Moen said he is thinking about a project involving everything on the corner of Burlington and Clinton Streets down to West Bank. He said that except for the corner lots, those are extremely deep lots, and the back portion of the lots is not conducive to retail space. Moen said if he is allowed to put parking in the rear so that the whole streetscape is retail, the parking would not be seen, and the question is whether the parking has to be part of the structure. He said he did not have a big problem with that because he would build over that on the second level and above. Moen said, however, that the Board of Adjustment should have some latitude on those things, especially if one wants to encourage retail downtown. Moen said the other concern he has about staff's recommendation is that drivers would have access only from the alley. He said he has had architects and structural engineers look at the site in terms of how to get access realistically for the rear parking, if it is allowed at all, if one has to drive through an alley. Moen said there are garbage trucks using the alley and deliveries to bars and restaurants, and the whole alley is lined with dumpsters. He said that could lock drivers into the alley for half an hour or more. He said that when the entire area is developed, if he tells retailers that there is no parking and no chance of any parking, retailers would not want to locate there. Moen said the Board of Adjustment should have some latitude to have the ability to grant that parking. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 4 Jerry Anthony, 713 Eastman Drive, said he is an architect and urban planner and a five-year resident of Iowa City. He thanked the Commission members and City staff for the tremendous work that has gone into the draft proposal, the opportunities created to engage members of the community in the venture, and the diligence shown in responding to questions and concerns around the proposed zoning ordinance. Anthony said he wanted to draw attention to three general issues. He said the first issue is why the City needs a new zoning ordinance. Anthony said it is needed for the following reasons. He said that in a progressive City such as Iowa City, the citizens of the city, through a deliberative, collaborative, and comprehensive process, come up with a vision of what the community should be. Anthony said the vision is contained in the Comprehensive Plan. He said that once a community has put together a Comprehensive Plan, to implement its vision it uses instruments such as the zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations, and building by-laws, to reach that desired goal. Anthony said the zoning ordinance is a very important tool to help reach that vision. Anthony stated that the Comprehensive Plan was put together in 1997 and 1998. He said the zoning ordinance, the important tool to implement this plan, was adopted in the 1980s or earlier. Anthony said that if the City does not adopt a new ordinance, the City would be trying to implement a vision for the future with instruments from the distant past. Anthony said that he has spent some time reviewing this ordinance and looked for broad general issues, particularly two that he feels are very important for the future of the community: proposals involving architecture and proposals involving affordable housing. He said that ever since the City was incorporated, developers and builders have provided neighborhoods and houses of different sizes, shapes and architectural styles until about the 1980s and 1990s. Anthony said that in the past two or three decades, developers have chosen to build cookie cutter neighborhoods with block upon block of houses indistinguishable from each other. He said that developers respond to these charges by saying that this is what the market wants and so that is what they provide. Anthony said that Iowa City has a hot real estate market, and such markets are sellers' markets; buyers will buy whatever the builders provide. He said that since in recent times builders have chosen to provide row upon row of garages with houses attached, he firmly suppods the design guidelines proposed in the new zoning code and hopes the Commission will adopt them. Regarding affordable housing, Anthony stated that Johnson County residents have the greatest difficulty in finding affordable housing of the 99 counties in Iowa. He said that communities that do not have affordable housing and don't care about it embark on the slippery slope to economic decline and soon become unattractive, stagnant places. Anthony said that the average single schoolteacher in the Iowa City School District, or single police officer or firefighter or nurse, cannot afford to buy a home or perhaps even rent a home at a reasonable price in Iowa City. He asked if the City wishes to continue to be a community that has no place for its police officers, schoolteachers, and firefighters. Anthony said that zoning can allow or disallow development of more lower priced housing and even regulate where new lower priced housing can be built. He said that many provisions in the new zoning code are steps in the right direction, for example, allowing mixed developments. Anthony said, however, that the Commission has ignored one of the best methods to increase production of affordable housing: inclusionary zoning, a method that requires developers and builders to produce a certain share of lower priced units in their developments and a method that is time-tested and proven in exemplary communities such as Portland, Oregon and Montgomery County, Maryland. He asked that the Commission look into inclusionary zoning in the days ahead and, as it does, developers who have opposed the proposed ordinance, citing concerns about affordability, would step forward to support inclusionary zoning, for it would address their concerns about affordability. Anthony stated that concerns about housing affordability have been raised by many citizens in the past few months, and Commission staff has recommended a few changes to the proposed ordinance in response to these concerns, particularly items six and seven in the amendments. He said he hoped the Commission would accept staff's recommendations and adopt those changes. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 5 Jim Thro.qmorton, 814 Ronalds, said that he is an Iowa City resident, former member of the City Council, and a member of the Board of Directors for A Thousand Friends of Iowa, a statewide organization that promotes responsible development in cities throughout the State. He said he has not read the entire document, but he does support the general thrust of what City is trying to do and what could come out of the proposed revision to the zoning code. Throgmorton said he wanted to express his very strong support for the general thrust of the revisions and said that he is in full agreement with the details of what Anthony just said. Throgmorton said he strongly supports Moen's effort to revive retail in the downtown and admires the work Moen has done. He said, however, that there are three large parking structures within a block of Moen's development and asked if something could be worked out there. Throgmorton encouraged Commission members to look at a book by Donald Schupp, a professor at UCLA, called The High Cost o£ Free Parking. He said that it really provides a lot of wonderful detail and advice about how to incorporate wise parking policies into a development plan. Regarding Needes' comments that developers and builders want to put land to its highest and best use, Throgmorton said it is an interesting idea, and it is certainly right for developers and builders to make reasonable profits out of their land. He said, however, that we live in a democracy, and there are good reasons not to put land to its highest and best use at certain times. Throgmorton said that if that were the case, the entire north side would be apartment buildings. He said it is not simply a matter of what the market wants; it is a matter of what the citizens of Iowa City want in interaction with the market. Throgmorton said that Needes stated it was important not to slow growth or push it outside of Iowa City. He said that pushing it outside of Iowa City is an issue because city limits have a big effect. Throgmorton said that driving up to North Liberty, one sees a lot of cookie cutter development that he does not think very highly of, although people are building it and it has proven successful. He said the real question for Iowa City is a question of quality: what kind of development and where and when. Throgmorton said it is not a matter of opposing growth or development; it is a matter of trying to do what is wise and best for the people of the city. Stephen Tret, 501 East College, said that he is the Director of the Community Mental Health Center for MidEastern Iowa, which owns property on the corner of College and Van Buren. He said he appreciated all the work that the Commission has done and will probably be communicating with some of the Commission members individually_. John Balmer, 10 Princeton Court, said that he was raised in Iowa City on Brown Street. He said he likes Iowa City, including the diversity of the neighborhoods. He said that the zoning code is a massive document, and the Commission has a formidable task in front of it. Balmer said that the Commission will be influenced greatly by staff, which has its own point of view on this. Balmer cautioned the Commission to be careful. He said there has been very good development in the community with a nice mix, including the Longfellow Area, the near North Side, Walnut Ridge, and Windsor Ridge. Balmer said this has been very well thought out, and obviously, times change. He said he did not think we could revert to the days of detached garages and alleys. Balmer said the most recent example of this is the Peninsula Project, which the jury is still out on. Balmer urged the Commission to be cautionary and ask questions as it proceeds in its deliberations. He said he did not feel the City needs the changes, and he agreed with the person who said they are becoming restrictive. Balmer said he would like to see less governmental regulations. He said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Balmer asked the Commission to look at what is proposed versus what we have now and said that what we have now works pretty well. Larry Svoboda, 16 Chen Lane, said that he is a property owner of primarily multi-family housing in Iowa City. He said he believed, in reading through the proposed code, that there had been a change in the requirement for parking in the PRM district from two spaces for a four-bedroom to three spaces. Svoboda said if that is the case, it would be counterproductive to a PRM zone. Svoboda said the PRM zone is a high-density zone that is normally very close in to the central part of the City. He said the whole concept when it was put together was a reduction in parking to make the zone Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 6 possible. Svoboda said that most of the lots in the PRM zone are very small to start with so that increasing the parking in effect puts the PRM zone back to an RM-44. Mike McLau.qhlin, 614 Pine Rid.qe Road, said he owns and operates rental property in the near downtown area, primarily houses and condominiums in the RM-12 and RM-20 zones. He said that he objects to the proposed non-related occupancy limits in section five. McLaughlin said he looked at the status of the complaints brought primarily through the Housing & Inspection Services (HIS) and got a printout of that. He said there was a nuisance ordinance passed two to three years ago to get control over disorderly house, noise, parking, trash, and general disruption of neighborhoods. McLaughlin said he received a 30-page document of disorderly house complaints going back to September of 2003 to the present. He said that he understood that the attempt to reduce the non- related occupancy in the 12 and 20 zones is a reaction to complaints of this nature. McLaughlin said that in reviewing the document, it shows that the complaints are pretty well spread across all zones. McLaughlin said his general overall impression from HIS staff and the department head is that he felt things were improving, which is an incongruity from what staff is saying in this proposal. He said, given that, the new non-related occupancy proposal is a fairly drastic change, and there are several other options to use. McLaughlin said the proposal would limit the 12s and 20s to one less non-related occupant. McLaughlin said he had two concerns with that. He said first that since not all zones are affected, he believes it is unfair, particularly in those areas. McLaughlin said that real estate is still driven by location. He said that landlords and developers in the downtown area will continue to operate as is, whereas any new opportunities in 12 and 20 zones will be greatly limited by this proposal. Secondly, McLaughlin said this new proposal uses a one-size fits all look at this. He said there are different neighborhoods throughout the City that have different percentages of owner-occupied housing as opposed to rentals. McLaughlin said it would be fairer to look at the pockets of neighborhoods and designate where the Commission wants to preserve those, as opposed to going across the board with everything. McLaughlin said in the areas that are a high percentage of rental, if there is a prospective property that was likely to be converted to rental, it would have done so by now as it came up for sale. He said therefore what is left is probably not desirable as an investment, and this legislation will have little effect on salvaging those minority properties but will create a great deal of non-conforming property. McLaughlin said he is also concerned about the larger developers near downtown continuing to go as is and said the playing field will be tilted significantly. He also said that as there is more and more high- density development downtown, there will problems with downtown, as there are currently, such as alley congestion, not enough parking, more bars, etc. McLaughlin said he would like to see some kind of balance, perhaps using a neighborhood by neighborhood approach as opposed to across the board. Patty Santan.qelo, 3035 Stanford Avenue, said she supports inclusionary zoning. She said that without that, the Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship would not be in the Peninsula. Brooks said he would like the Commission to begin going through the revisions that staff was asked to make. .Amendment 1. Brooks said that amendment number one refers to language to keep existing conforming duplexes in the RS-8 zone conforming. Howard said this is very similar to provisions in the RNC-12 and RNC-20 zones where properties were rezoned. She said it allows properties that were existing when the zoning code was changed to continue to have conforming rights, as long as the density is not increased above what they already had. Howard said this will allow interior lots in the RS-8 zone to remain conforming and to be rebuilt in the event of a fire. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 7 Gre,q Rocko asked what the minimum lot width is in an RS-8 zone today. Howard said that the minimum width is 45 feet. Rocko asked what paragraph C6 in the previous section refers to. Brooks said that it is taken from the full code. Freerks said that this seems like a fair thing to do in looking at the changes that will be made. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment one into the 'proposed draft. Freerks seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Brooks said this vote is not a vote to approve, but simply to direct staff to incorporate the language into the proposed draft. He added that the absence of amendments two and three in the packet show that the Commission decided not to ask staff to prepare any revisions. Amendment 4. Brooks said this refers to dimensional requirements in the single-family residential zones of RS-8 and RS- 12. He said this would change the minimum lot width for detached single-family dwellings from 55 feet to 45 feet. Brooks said that the legal-sized sheet for this amendment says that the minimum lot width may be reduced to 45 feet and the minimum frontage may be reduced to 30 feet if garages or off-street parking areas are located and designed such that they meet the provisions of paragraph C6 of the previous section. Brooks said that paragraph C6 contains garage, driveway, and parking lot location standards. He read, "On lots less than 60 feet in width, garages and off-street parking areas must be located so they do not dominate the streetscape. Alley or private rear lane access will be required unless garages are located flush with or recessed behind the front facade of the dwelling in a manner that allows the residential portion of the dwelling to predominate along the street. The length of any street-facing garage wall that is visible from the street may not exceed 50% of the length of the street-facing building fa~;ade as measured along the same street frontage. On corner lots only one street-facing garage wall must meet this standard." Howard said amendment four is an amendment to the bonus density provisions in the code. She said the developer gets a bonus in the allowed density if he does certain things, and this request opens up RS-8 and RS-12 to additional bonuses to the developer if he can find creative ways to place the garage so that it does not dominate the streetscape. Howard said it therefore adds flexibility to the density. Anna Buss, 525 West Benton, said that in regard to RS-8 areas that the Commission wants to change so that duplexes cannot be built on interior lots, this will create a lot of really small houses. She added that detached garages are not really practical in Iowa. Buss said she owns a number of these small lots, and they are currently RS-8 lots. She said it is her impression that if one hooks enough of them together, one can still do a planned overlay development. Miklo confirmed this. Buss said she could then basically bulldoze down her whole block and rebuild it all to a more dense area. She said that she would rather visually see nice duplexes on interior lots than a lot of dinky small houses. Buss said there are a lot of neighborhoods that have some really small lots and small houses on those lots. She said that some of them are not very well kept. Buss said she would rather see them incorporated as a duplex and would like to have the Commission reconsider its option on some of these interior lots, especially on a street like Benton Street, where there is already a traffic problem. She said she does not see the benefit of limiting zero-lot lines and duplexes to only the corner lots. Gre.q Rocko said he now sees that C6 is the alley provision. He said that taking away the interior lots won't allow for the conversion of duplexes to be built as condominiums, which gives a narrow lot to begin with. Rocko said that the Commission is trying to correct a problem that doesn't exist. He said he cannot recall any incidents of people being run down in their neighborhoods by speeding cars backing out of their driveways. Rocko said it is not government's business to design houses for people and to tell people how they should live and how their houses should look. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 8 Howard said this amendment is about having a bonus to allow front-loaded garages off the street, if the developer can find creative ways to place the garage so it doesn't take up the majority of the frontage of a narrow lot. .MOTION: Freerks moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment four into the proposed draft. Smith seconded the motion. Smith said he thought that most of the comments actually refer to proposed amendment two, rather than amendment four. Freerks said this amendment gives people more options and opportunity without using the planned development, although that can still be done. Plahutnik stated that these bonuses don't necessarily need to apply. He said if someone wants to build anything that is conforming on his lot, he may. Plahutnik said if the builder wants to reduce the width of the lot and have a higher density, that is where these issues come into play. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 10. Brooks said this amendment involves a request to remove section 14-2a-c6-3 on page 18, which states that parking is not permitted in the front building setback with a few listed exceptions. Howard said this is a change to the current code. She said it was pointed out at the first public hearing that, even though the code has not been enforced this way, the language would prevent people from parking more than one car in front of their garages if their houses were built to the front setback line. Howard said this amendment states that one can park up to three cars in front of required parking spaces that are in a garage or outside the front setback. Brooks said this is clearing up a loophole more than anything, as these are non-required spaces. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment ten into the proposed draft. Koppes seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 12. Brooks said this amendment relates to historic preservation exceptions and a request to change the word "necessary" within the Board of Adjustment approval criteria. He said the requester feels this word may be interpreted so strictly that it would make it difficult for most properties to meet the standard. Brooks said staff and the Commission supported this and elected to change the wording to read "will help" instead of "is necessary" throughout the historic preservation exceptions. Mark McCallum said that this is exactly what he was looking for and said that it looks great. MOTION: Koppes moved t° direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twelve into the ~3roposed draft. Freerks seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 13. Brooks said this was a request with regard to maintenance easements required for zero-lot line dwellings. He said it was suggested that such easements be recorded with the subdivision rather than with the deed to the property, and after staff and legal counsel reviewed this, they agreed that this was workable. Behr stated that the revised language is just as enforceable, but there are some circumstances when the easement would not be put on the deed but would be put on the land. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment thirteen into the proposed draft. Plahutnik seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27,2005 Page 9 Amendment 22. Brooks said this addresses a request to eliminate the provision in the code that restricts buildings to two and one-half stories in the residential office zone. He said there was general support for this, so that it would allow buildings to exceed the two and one-half story height. Brooks said the Commission is still holding with the requirement that where this abuts a single-family residential zone, there has to be a stepping down of the building height so that it isn't an abrupt elevation change. MOTION: Plahutnik moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twenty-two into the proposed draft. Freerks seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 21. Brooks said that this amendment would change the name of the residential office zone, RO, to a mixed- use zone. Howard said that it was brought up that sometimes the residential office zone is misconstrued just because of the name, and people think it is restricted to residential and office uses. She said that is not the case, as this is a truly mixed zone, allowing multi-family, single-family, retail, and offices. Howard said a better name would be the mixed-use zone, MU, and the zoning map would be amended to indicate the change as well. Dennis Nowotny, 511 Washinqton Street, stated that his wife suggested this name change. He said he does not like the idea of going from commercial down to residential. Nowotny said that any prospective buyer will look at the zoning, and if it is zoned residential, it just doesn't look good. Nowotny said he likes the idea of something that would be other than residential/office. He said that mixed use sounds pretty good and sounds progressive. Nowotny said there is a quirk in that R/O goes down to three and then back up to five or whatever it is downtown. He said that maybe it could be evened out in some way. Nowotny said he also liked the idea of getting rid of the two and one-half story thing for close to downtown. MOTION: Freerks moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twenty-one into the proposed draft. Smith seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 23. Brooks said this relates to a community service shelter and the request to change it back to a special exception in the C1-1 zone. He said this would basically put it back the way it was. He said that in the C1-1 zone, the CC-2 zone, and the CB-10 zone, a community shelter would be moved back to a special exception, rather than a provisional use. Garry Klein, 628 2"d Avenue, said that it would be helpful to define the main difference between a special exception and a provisional use. Brooks said that a special exception has to go before the Board of Adjustment for its review and approval. He said that a provisional use can be approved administratively by staff. Howard said that provisional just means that there are additional provisions that need to be met, based on whatever type of use it is. She said that special exceptions tend to be uses that would fit into a zone but need some extra scrutiny, because they are a little different than the other types of uses that are allowed. Howard said a public hearing is then held before the Board of Adjustment. Brooks said the Commission felt that although there is a need for these types of facilities in the communities, making it a provisional use took away the public's right to voice concerns and have input into the process. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 10 Howard stated that staff drafted language to help the Board of Adjustment review these types of uses. She said there are general standards that the Board uses to review any special exception, and staff drafted specific standards for shelters to give the Board of Adjustment some guidance in reviewing these. Brooks said the language would require the appl'icant to submit a site plan and a shelter management plan to address issues such as loitering, noise, glare from lights, late-night operations, odors, outdoor storage, and litter. He stated that the management plan must include a litter control plan, a loitering control plan, a plan for on-site security, and a resolution procedure to resolve nuisance issues as they occur. Brooks said the Commission is trying to give the Board of Adjustment some measurements to base its evaluation of the request against. Freerks said that where shelters are provisional, the plan would still be required to be approved by staff. .MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twenty-three into the proposed draft. Koppes seconded the motion. Koppes said that with the number of written comments received by the Commission, it is a good move to put this back into the proposed draft. Freerks said that it allows for a public process. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 27. Brooks said this is a request to establish standards in commercial zones for large commercial retailers to keep such developments compatible with the character of the community, to reduce large parking lots, and to provide better pedestrian amenities. He said the Commission has proposed the same standards, with the addition of a definition, requested by a City Council member when this issue was being discussed as it related to the sale or rezoning of property near the Airport. Howard said these standards would apply to all commercial retail uses over 50,000 square feet. Brooks stated that this is the first step toward gaining some control over big box developments. Garry Klein said he has a feeling the more he studies this issue that no matter what is done in terms of beautification, it's like putting lipstick on Frankenstein. He said there are some other standards that could be applied. Klein said he submitted them to Howard for distribution to the Commission. Klein said he brought a big box comparison matrix put together by staff in Madison, Wisconsin in 2004. He said that what is useful about it is the consideration of thresholds and caps for big box development. Klein asked, in a community where we value letting people do what they want to, why would the City want to think about this. He stated that the answer is that these are long-term decisions. Klein said what these ordinances really say is that the City wants to encourage commercial diversity in the community. He said that a lot of communities are getting on board with that idea and ask where their process should interact with the dealings of a normal public land transaction. Klein said that in Dane County, Wisconsin in 2004, it varied from 20,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet where they felt it might be a place to interject a process. He said that Madison just recently put a cap of 100,000 square feet on its development, but it varies by community. Klein said the question really is what is best for a community not only today but into the future. He said he believes in smart development, and it makes sense to think about how you divvy up your land. Klein said the proposed draft in particular does a pretty good job of summarizing the different things to think about as the Commission considers what is best for our community. He said that there is a clear need to address this very important issue in the near future. MOTION: Freerks moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twenty-seven into the proposed draft. Plahutnik seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 29. Brooks said this is an amendment would allow stealth cell tower facilities in the neighborhood commercial zones. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27,2005 Page 11 Howard said there was a joint committee from the City and various surrounding towns to coordinate efforts to allow more cell towers and find out what the cell tower providers needed. She said the amendments in the draft were to move in that direction. Howard said that Mr. Lynch suggested that the City open up these kind of changes to the neighborhood commercial zones, because he had looked at areas in the City with neighborhood commercial zoning as areas that perhaps needed more coverage. Howard said this language was suggested by John Yapp, who was on the committee, as language that would help yet still keep limits to make certain the towers are really camouflaged, because those areas are close to residential zones. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment twenty-nine into the proposed draft. Koppes seconded the motion. Freerks said that it is good that there is also a provision about removing the towers at a certain point if they are no longer in use. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 32. Brooks said this change concerns animal-related commercial uses. He said the request is to add language to allow overnight sleeping facilities for staff in a veterinary establishment. Brooks said that under accessory uses, overnight sleeping accommodations have been included. He said these would not be permanent residences but would be a room or space within the veterinary clinic. Brooks said the Commission felt this was reasonable as long as permanent residency within the area was not allowed. Howard said this is not something that is currently disallowed. She stated that this language would just add it to the examples of accessory uses so that it is clear that it is not disallowed. MOTION: Freerks moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in amendment thirty-two into the proposed draft. Plahutnik seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 36. Brooks said this was a request related to maximum parking in the CB-10 zone. He said a concern was expressed about the new approval criteria for private, off-street parking in the CB-10 zone. Brooks said the Commission would like to see some allowance for parking at grade, either within a parking structure or in surface parking lots. Howard said that the Board of Adjustment did not have a lot of guidance, and right now, private off-street parking is not allowed in the CB-10 zone, except by special exception. She said the original language placed in the code was an attempt to give the Board some guidance on when it should be allowed. Howard said that parking downtown is primarily parking for retail, and short-term parking is primarily provided by the City through the short-term parking garages. She said it is a means to control parking downtown and preserve land for building uses downtown and also to protect the City's capital investment in its parking structures. Howard said this language was put in place, but the amendment does provide some opportunity for some structure parking on the ground floor, similar to how it is done in the CB-5 zone. Miklo said the other reason the City regulates the location and supply of parking downtown is for traffic control reasons - to encourage it to be a pedestrian environment by having strict controls as to where the parking is. Howard said that regarding one of the issues that Moen brought up earlier about parking being allowed from an alley versus from the street, the amendment on the second page would allow the Board of Adjustment to approve parking that has access directly to a street but gives some guidance as to when that should be allowed. Mark Moen said he appreciates the effort to allow parking access from the street. Moen said that under paragraph 4-a, the last couple of sentences say that only proposals for long-term parking will be considered, and short-term parking demand should be satisfied through the public parking Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 12 system. He stated that Plaza Towers would not have been allowed with this language. Moen said his group's goal for downtown is to try to attract as much business, as much traffic, as much retail space as possible. Moen said that retail business owners have informed him that a limited number of parking spaces is needed for convenience. Freerks asked how those few shod-term parking spots would be managed, if they were allowed. Moen said there are electronic systems and surveillance systems available. He said that if required, the grocery store at Plaza Towers will be staffed during all hours of operation. Moen said that at Brewery Square there is an electronically controlled, gated lot that requires a token to exit. Moen said he is concerned that the special exception is limited to long-term parking. He said that the spots are needed for short-term parking. Moen said that parking depends on the type of business one wants to attract. He said that he is not asking that short-term parking be allowed as a matter of course but just wants to ask that the Commission make room for it so that the Board of Adjustment can look at it. Moen said one of the reasons that the retail mix is important is that it drives what goes on upstairs. He said that if this was allowed, it would drive more traffic downtown, which would also protect the City's investment in its ramps. Moen said that a handful of parking spots would make the difference to many tenants as to whether or not they would consider locating in those buildings. Moen said one other thing he would like the Commission to consider is in paragraph 4-e-2 on the second page of amendment 36, where it states that garage openings along the primary street frontage are not permitted if other access is possible. He said that depending on how the word possible is defined, someone on the Board could construe it as meaning that if it is literally possible, you can't do it. Moen suggested the use of the word "feasible" or "practical." Brooks said that Moen is dealing with a fairly substantial piece of property so that he could accommodate some short-term parking in the development if it were allowed. Brooks said that the small stores downtown don't have the ability to accommodate parking within their property. Moen said that on Washington Street, someone can pull up or double park, but that opportunity is not available on Burlington Street. He said that if there is no short-term parking on site at all, it is a huge deterrent to attracting retailers, although it is not a deterrent to attracting bars and restaurants. Smith asked Howard if the intent was to include shod-term parking in the provision changes. Howard said that this was drafted with the input of parking management and transportation management staff. She said the idea is that the City gets more revenue from the short-term parking as there is more turnover. Howard said the concept is that the short-term parking was intended to help retailers downtown so that it can be consolidated and be used for all the small retailers downtown. Howard said the Board of Adjustment has had requests for long-term parking for residential. She said the City has been somewhat reluctant, if there is enough demand for the short-term parking, to dedicate the spaces to long-term parking. Howard said that if the last two sentences in paragraph 4a were eliminated, it would allow the Board of Adjustment to consider it on a case by case basis. She said that keeping those two sentences would eliminate the Board's ability to provide private, off-street short-term parking. Smith said that he would support the ability to allow latitude to the Board of Adjustment. He said he would encourage changing the text to remove the second to last sentence and changing the last sentence to read, "Short term parking demand is preferred to be satisfied through the public parking system." Howard said that currently in the code, private off-street parking is allowed by special exception, so that is not changing. She said the difference between the current code and the proposed code is that staff is trying to add some standards to assist in the Board of Adjustment's analysis. The consensus of the Commission was to alter the language under 4-a as recommended by Smith and to change the word "possible" in item 4-e-2 to the word "feasible" throughout the paragraph and to add the word "feasible" in the fourth sentence in that section to read, "If there is no other feasible alternative,..." Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 13 MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in Amendment thirty-six, as revised, into the proposed draft. Freerks seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5- Amendment 37. Brooks said this amendment relates to requiring a mitigation plan for wetlands and renaming the section and reordering the provisions sequentially. Howard said staff has made two different proposals. Brooks said one proposal changes the wording to wetland protection, and the alternative proposal includes a definition of the word "mitigation." Howard said that the first proposal changes all the wording. She said it is not a substantive change. Howard referred to a memo from Julie Tallman, which says that changing all of the wording would create some confusion - that the wetlands specialists understand the word "mitigation," and those are the people using the ordinance. Howard said that mitigation is understood to be a process and does not always mean compensatory mitigation but is a range of things. MOTION: Koppes moved to direct staff to leave the language in Amendment thirty-seven as originally proposed and to add the definition of the word "mitigation" and to then incorporate the language and definition into the proposed draft. Freerks seconded the motion. Freerks said that including the definition makes good sense and keeps the ties to the federal regulations and the way that people use the terminology. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 43. Brooks said this amendment relates to archaeological sites and the request that language be clarified to spell out the operational procedure at the State so that there is no confusion or mistake made when determining protections for archaeological sites. He said this request was made by a registered, professional archaeologist. Howard said that archaeological sites need to be reviewed by both the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer. She added that the State Archaeologist determines whether there is a site, and the State Historic Preservation Officer determines whether it is significant. Howard said that if the City forwards the site plan to both parties at the same time, that will cover what is needed. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to include the language in Amendment forty-three in the proposed draft. Plahutnik seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 44. Brooks said this amendment relates to neighborhood open space requirements. Behr said this amendment is a response to some requests to clarify the conditions to be met with respect to the property and the timing of the actual dedication of the land. He said that this is not an actual change in practice; it is just codifying it and making it part of the code. Behr said this would also codify the practice that when fees are paid in lieu of dedicating land, those fees, within the five-year period, have to be spent in the district in which the subdivision is located. He said that the time period was not reduced from five years, because staff felt it would be difficult considering the fact that there is a five-year CIP turnaround. Behr said that the current code allows five years, but if there is not 50% build-out, the period is extended anyway. MOTION: Koppes moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in Amendment forty-four into the proposed draft. Piahutnik seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 45. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27, 2005 Page 14 Brooks said this amendment relates to regulations of non-conforming residential occupancy. Howard said this was a request by Mr. McLaughlin. She said McLaughlin was working on a couple of projects for which he had already received building permits but was uncertain whether he would be able to finish them enough to receive a rental permit before this was passed. Howard said that HIS reviewed building permits and things that were ongoing to try to catch most of those, and this should catch any that were already issued a building permit and had already made some progress. Howard said this would grant McLaughlin rights to whatever is on the rental permit or what was granted with the building permit from that time forward. She said it runs with the land and is therefore a substantial right to continue with the occupancy granted with the existing rental permit or a building permit. Howard said this does not concern the use itself but only refers to the number of unrelated people who can live in a building. She said this refers to the number of occupants within each unit, not to the number of units. Miklo said that what this amendment does is allow someone who recently invested money to finish the project and get the rental permit. Koppes said she would like to know, if the building burns down, if there could still be the same number of occupants. Howard said she would check with HIS and get an opinion regarding that occupancy and said that some language could be added if necessary. Mike McLau.qhlin said that he applied for four building permits, and the buildings are framed and roofed and should be completed by September 1. He said that once each building is completed, he has to apply for a change of use for each of the individual properties. McLaughlin said they formerly were three single- family residential properties, and the fourth was a duplex. He said he will basically end up with four duplexes and is going from one use to a different use when the projects are completed. McLaughlin said that after the projects are complete, he will have to go through the process of having a new permit issued under the new usage. McLaughlin said he is asking that any building permit that is granted prior to passage of this proposal be allowed to continue not only along with those building codes but also the current housing codes that are intermingled. Freerks said that is the intent of the language in the amendment. McLaughlin asked why the date for receiving a building permit under this amendment is not extended beyond March 1. Howard stated that staff only wanted to address properties of people who had already been issued the permits and did not want a huge rush on this after the ordinance was already released and everyone knew about it. McLaughlin asked what would happen to someone who applies for a permit in the month of July. Howard said that person would already have notice that this is changing. McLaughlin said that if this is worded that the permit must be applied for by a certain date, someone might be deterred from starting a project, because he would not be certain he could finish it before the passage of this amendment. He asked if this would act as a moratorium. Howard said that the Building Department is part of the staff that has been reviewing and suggesting these changes. She said that the Building Department has fully advised anyone coming in for a building permit since the draft has been issued that if they are applying for a building permit to increase the number of bedrooms with the intention of exceeding what would be allowed in the proposal, then they are doing that at their own risk. McLaughlin asked if this is not therefore enforcing a proposal that has not yet been passed. Howard said it is not enforcing but is just giving fair notice that the zoning code could change. Behr said that whenever someone buys property or gets a building permit, he is subject to the laws changing before he receives an occupancy permit. He said that this amendment would provide a measure of relief to that. Howard added that right now occupancy is not grandfathered in at all so that this will provide some certainty. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in Amendment forty-five into the proposed draft. Koppes seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Amendment 48. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes June 27,2005 Page15 Brooks said that this amendment relates to performance guarantees. He said the request was to remove this section, and staff concurred that removing this section was acceptable and proposed a change to 14- 51-5C to reference Title 18 of the City Code, Site Plan Review, which includes many of the performance guarantees. Howard said this is placed in the zoning code for ease of use. She said it is the exact plan from the site plan ordinance, which would remain in place. Howard said this would function as a cross-reference. MOTION: Smith moved to direct staff to incorporate the language in Amendment forty-eight into the proposed draft. Koppes seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. MOTION: Smith moved to accept the correspondence received by the Commission. Freerks seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Miklo said there were a couple of requests for additional changes. Brooks asked Commission members if there was a need to hold an additional public hearing. Patti Santan.qelo stated that the Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship plans to meet with some builders. She said they had some questions, but their meeting is not until later. Santangelo said they may want to come back with some things then. Koppes suggested having one more public hearing after the changes are incorporated. She said that at that point, the draft could be forwarded on to the City Council with the new information. Brooks suggested talking about the next steps at the Commission's next work session. He said he would like to keep things moving but did not want to stifle public input. The consensus of the Commission was to put thi~ on the agenda of the next informal meeting to discuss any other revisions or requests that have come in and whether the Commission wants to pursue those and also discuss the timeline for wrapping this up. Public hearing closed. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:09. Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte s:lpcdl~nuteslp&TJ2005/O6-27-O5.doc Iowa City Planning & Zoning Commission Attendance Record 2005 FORMAL MEETING Term Name Expires 1/6 1/20 2/3 2/17 3/3 3/17 4/7 4/21 5/5 6/16 6/27 7/6 D. Anciaux 05/06 X X X X X O/E X X X X O/E B. Brooks 05/10 X X X X X X X X X O/E X B. Chait 05/06 × O X X O ........................ A. Freerks 05/08 X X X X X X X X X X X J. Hansen 05/05 X X X X X X O/E O ............ E. Koppes 05/07 O/E X X X X X X X X X X W Plahutnik 05/10 ............................ X X X D. Shannon 05/08 X X X O/E O/E X X X O/E X O/E T. Smith 05/06 ................................ × X X INFORMAL MEETING Term Name Expires 1/3 2/14 2/28 3/14 4/4 4/18 5/2 6/13 D. Anciaux 05/06 CW X X O/E X X X X B. Brooks 05/10 CW X X X X X X X B. Chait 05/06 CW X O .................... A. Freerks 05/08 CW X X X O/E X O/E X J. Hansen 05/05 CW X X O/E X O ........ E. Koppes 05/07 CW X X X O/E X X X W Plahutnik 05/10 CW .................... O/E X D. Shannon 05/08 CW O/E O/E X X X X X T. Smith 05/06 ............................ X Key: X - Present O = Absent O/E = AbsentfExcused N/M- No Meeting MiNUTES DRAFT PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION July 13, 2005 MEMBERS PRESENT: Craig Gustaveson, Judith Klink, Margaret Loomer, Ryan O'Leary, Matt Pacha, Jerry Raaz, Phil Reisetter, John Westefeld MEMBERS ABSENT: Sara Walz STAFF PRESENT: Terry Trueblood, Mike Moran, Terry Robinson GUESTS PRESENT: Bruce Titus, Bridget Titus FORMAL ACTION TAKEN Moved by Westefeld~ seconded by Raaz to approve the June 8, 2005 minutes as written. Unanimous. Moved by Pacha~ seconded by O'Learv to approve the placement of the Angel of Hope Statue in City Park located north of the main parking lot~ that the size (including the base} not exceed 6'9"~ and that the text of the inscription be approved as submitted~ however~ commission would like the dates of the event moved to the back side of the statue. Passed 6-1 (Klink voting no) with I abstention (Reisetter) Moved by Reisetter~ seconded by Loomer to accept the name Harlocke Hill Park~ as suggested by the Weeber-Harlocke Neighborhood Association~ for the parcel located adjacent to Harlocke Street about one block south of Benton Street. Unanimous. PUBLIC DISCUSSION No public discussion. CONSIDER A MOTION TO APPROVE PLACEMENT OF THE "ANGEL OF HOPE" STATUE IN CITY PARK: Trueblood distributed a memo from Eleanor Dilkes, City Attorney, to the Commission. It is Dilkes' findings that it would not be unconstitutional to place this statue in City Park, however, she urged the Parks and Recreation Commission to develop a policy that governs the placement of permanent structures in a park. Trueblood stated that he would look at the policy the city has regarding the placement of banners as a possible model for this policy. The Commission has already endorsed the concept of placing of this statue in a park subject to legal opinion, location, size and inscription. Titus submitted the inscription as follows: "For all who are grieving the loss of a child this Angel of Hope is dedicated on December 6, 2005. Annual candle light vigil December 6, 7:00 p.m." Dilkes approves of the proposed inscription. Titus and Trueblood met and toured possible locations for the statue. It was determined by both Parks and Recreation Commission July 13, 2005 Page 2 of 6 of them that City Park is the best location for this statue. Titus announced that in meeting with the group, they have decided that they prefer the area near the amusement rides due to the ample parking available for the annual ceremony, that it is easily accessible and is well utilized by children. Moved by Pacha, seconded by O'Leary to approve the placement of the Angel of Hope Statue in City Park located north of the main parking lob that the size (includine the base) not exceed 6'9"~ and with the inscription as submitted by Titus. Klink stated that while she is sympathetic to the families who have lost children and knows how traumatic this experience is for them, as she herself has been close to three families who have lost a child, she still opposes the idea of placing this statue in a city park for the following reasons: 1) She does see it as a conflict of church and state as she feels it is a religious symbol and that the majority of people would initially see it as such; and 2) she does not personally find it an aesthetically appealing work of an. Raaz stated that he is in agreement with the City Attorney -- that the Commission needs to develop a policy regarding these types of requests in the future. Westefeld stated that he too had some concerns about the church and state issue, however, after reading the memo from the City Attorney his concerns have been mitigated. In regards to the statue being aesthetically pleasing, this is a personal preference. O'Leary stated that he appreciates the convictions of this group. Loomer asked Titus the significance of the dates as part of the inscription and asked if it was necessary to include those in the text. Titus answered that the date is significant as this is the date of the candlelight vigil held annually on National Children's Day. O'Leary asked if it was possible to inscribe the dates on another pan of the statue. A friendly amendment to the original motion was accepted to add the words... "however~ commission would like the dates moved to the back side of the statue." Passed 6-1 (Klink voting no) with 1 abstention (Reisetter) The Commission requested that Mr. Titus and staff work together to coordinate moving and placement of the statue, and with regard to the inscription. CONSIDER A MOTION TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEBER-HARLOCKE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION TO NAME THEIR NEW PARK "HAP, LOCKE HILL PARK" Marcia Klingaman, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, polled the neighborhood to the extent possible to get suggestions for naming the park. Harlocke Hill Park is their recommendation and is now brought to Commission for approval. This will then go to City Council for adoption. Klink shared photos of the park that were taken on May 22. Parks and Recreation Commission July 13, 2005 Page 3 of 6 Moved by Reisetter~ seconded by Loomer to accept the name Harlocke Hill Park~ as sugeested by the Weeber-Harlocke Neighborhood Association, for the parcel locatea adiacent to Harlocke Street about one block south of Benton Street. Unanimous. COMMISSION TIME: Pacha discussed his concems regarding the delay in completion of the Boys Baseball concession building. He suggested that we give them a deadline to finish the project and if not complete by that date that the City will take over the project. Besides the fact that it is taking too long, he is concerned that is presents a safety hazard. He also mentioned that he has concerns regarding the Boys Baseball program and would like some of the Commission members and staff to meet with the Boys Baseball Board and discuss these concerns. Both Gustaveson and Westefeld mentioned past experiences with this organization. Some discussion ensued between Commission members and it is general consensus that these issues are longstanding and need to be addressed. O'Leary stated that the Iowa City Optimist Club donated $10,000 to the Iowa City Girls Softball organization on Thursday, July 7. Iowa City Boys Baseball will also be receiving a $10,000 donation on Thursday, July 14 at 6:15 p.m. O'Leary stated that he is also frustrated with some of the concerns he has heard regarding this organization and also supports the idea of meeting with their board. O'Leary also mentioned that as Iowa City is losing a golf course, he would like Commission to look at other cities that have a municipal golf course and keep this idea in mind for the future. Trueblood mentioned that Iowa City is the largest city in Iowa without a municipal golf course. Loomer asked Trueblood if Iowa City has jurisdiction over Plum Grove. Trueblood said that we do not. No further discussion, other than her comment that she is disappointed in its appearance. Raaz agrees with Pacha that there is a need to meet with Iowa City Boys Baseball Board regarding concerns. Klink mentioned that she had a chance to review the program for the upcoming Iowa Parks and Recreation Association's Fall Workshop. In doing so she noticed that many of the programs being offered, particularly those relating to natural areas and the environment, are regarding ideas that Iowa City has already implemented. Reisetter mentioned that he had the opportunity to play Bocce ball recently so has a better understanding of the sport. CHAIRS REPORT Gustaveson announced that in his position as Director of the Friday Night Concert Series, that he made a request that the Weatherdance Fountain be shut off during these events. He stated that he has received very positive feedback on this as it allows the public to get closer to the performers, allows a better view of the bands and allows for more interaction with them. Parks and Recreation Commission July 13, 2005 Page 4 of 6 DIRECTORS REPORT Benton Hill Park Dedication: Trueblood distributed a handout regarding the Benton Hill Park Dedication scheduled for Saturday, August 6, 4-7 p.m. They have received a number of food and refreshment donations to date. Trueblood announced that he might not be able to attend this event, as it might be necessary for him to be out of the state. He also mentioned that the signage/public art might not be installed in time for the dedication. Family Playground Nights: Joyce Carroll and Marcia Klingaman have developed "Family Playground" events held at four parks in Iowa City to date. On June 23rd they held their first event at Fairmeadows Park. An estimated 110 children and parents attended. Similar events were held at Kiwanis Park (130 attendees), and North Market Square (55 attendees). Future events will be held at Oak Grove Park and Wetherby Park. This program is funded through the Recreation Playground budget and donations. Disc Golf: Trueblood had forwarded an email to Commission Members from Jeff Harper. Since then Trueblood and Harper and another gentleman went on a tour of the South Sycamore Greenway. It was determined that this area will not work. They did like the area of city-owned land north of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. It was later determined, however, that this area will not work. They have also toured City Park and the Penninsula Parkland. Harper felt that Peninsula Parkland held most promise and that there is some promise in City Park, but due to the high traffic City Park might not be the most feasible choice. Trueblood asked Commission for their thoughts about these possible locations. Commission all agreed that City Park is too busy. Other areas were discussed between members, including property near the landfill. General consensus is that they would like to see a specific proposal from Harper before making a recommendation. Bocce Ball: The Director has discussed possible locations with Bruce Walker and Ron Grasse. They looked at City Park and initially liked the area inside the train tracks, but due to the liability this area will not work. They are also looking at Mercer Park and other areas of City Park. The group has received $170.00 in donations to date. Their hope is to build two courts side by side, with their preferred location near shelter #5 in City Park. Walnut Ridge/Cardinal Ridge: Staff met with the President of the Walnut Ridge Homeowners Association who indicated he would discuss the trail proposal with his board. If they agree the City can then acquire land from Cardinal Ridge and gain permission from the University to construct a connector trail to the Clear Creek Trail. Dog Park: It was mentioned at the last meeting that City Council has agreed to loan DogPAC money for the dog park. Trueblood noted that this now needs to go through the City bidding process. Parks and Recreation Commission July '13, 2005 Page 5 of 6 Parks & Recreation Master Plan: Trueblood announced that this item is at the top of his priority list to pursue and will be working on a request for proposal in upcoming weeks. Willow Creek Sculpture: The sculpture originally intended to be placed on the Peninsula Parkland will now be 'placed in Willow Creek Park due to ~he fact that the new bridge is taking so long to complete. O'Leary mentioned that the money donated to the Girls Softball and Boys Baseball organizations comes from the Optimist Club sale of pine trees in the fall/winter. Commission members encouraged Trueblood to write a thank you letter to the Optimist club on behalf of the Commission. Moved by Reisetter, seconded by Raaz to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Unanimous. Parks and Recreation Commission July 13, 2005 Page 6 of 6 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2005 TE1UVI NAME EXPIRES 1/12 2/16 3/9 4/13 5/11 6/8 7/13 8/10 9/14 10/12 11/19 12/14 Craig Gustaveson 1/1/07 NM X X X X X X Judith Klink 1/1/07 NM X X X X O/E X Margaret Loomer 1/1/08 NM X X X X X X Ryan O'Leary 1/1/06 NM X X O/E X O/E X Matt Pacha 1/1/05 NM X X O/E X O/E X Jerry Raaz 1/1/08 ...... X X X X X Phil Reisetter 1/1/09 NM X X O/E X X X Sarah Walz 1/1/07 NM X X X X X O/E John Westefeld 1/1/06 NM X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O'= Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum .... Not a Member