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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-18 Bd Comm minutesANIMAL CONTROL ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES - December 2, 1999 Meeting ATTENDING: Ursula Delworth, Jonelle Hankner, Shawn Lockhart, Diana Lundell, Marty Shafer (CHAIR) ABSENT:- STAFF: Denise Cassidy, Susan Cote, Terry Koehn VISITOR: Barbara Shafer Minutes of the August 26, 1999 meeting were approved. OLD BUSINESS 1. SHELTER STATISTICS. The 11 mo. report was passed out. Members can comment at the next meeting after they have had an opportunity to study the report. 2. COMPUTER SOFTWARE. Additional funding will be needed to cover the costs of training on the new computer system. Lundell moved and Lockhart seconded to recommend taking $5,100.00 from the Shelter donation fund to help defray these costs. Passed unanimously. 3.CONTRACT WITH VETS. This report was deferred until Goodman-Herbst can attend the January meeting. 4. UPDATE ON YEAR 2000 GOALS. Numbers 1 and 3 are in process. Reports on numbers 3-6 will be given at the January meeting. NEW BUSINESS 1. VACANCY. The upcoming Coralville seat vacancy has one applicant so far, Barbara Shafer. The City Council will 'decide. Lundell will also check with the City Council to see if Council wants another of its members to replace her when her term ends in January, 2001. 2. SPECIAL ACCOUNTS. The amounts are as follows: 53130-46819 $26,520.00 Animal Shhelter gifts/specified 53131-46819 $30,963.02 Animal Shelter gifts/care 53132-41579 $2,456.77 Spay/Neuter Fund It was discussed whether some funds will need to be transferred to S/N, in order to meet the 2000 goal. A report on these funds (all three accounts) every six months was requested. (Due in May, 2000) 3. CORALVILLE REPORT. All is going well. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS. None NEXT MEETING: Thursday, January 20, 2000 6:30 pm- Coralville City Hall AGENDA OLD BUSINESS 1. Shelter Statistics discussion 2. Contract for vet services 3. Updates on numbers 3-6 of year 2000 goals. NEW BUSINESS 1. Coralville appointment to Board 2. Election of officers 3. Coralville report 4. Citizen comments PRELIMINARY TOWA C_q'Y BOARD OF AD.3USTMENT Subject to Approval WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1999 - 5 P.M. CZrVZC CENTER- COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Bender, T.]. Brandt, Lowell Brandt, Michael Paul MEMBERS ABSENT: Kate Corcoran STAFF PRESENT: Melody Rockwell, .John Yapp, Dennis Mitchell OTHERS PRESENT: Roger Reilly, Larry Lynch, ,]on Bell CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Bender called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: All present, except Corcoran. CONSIDERAT[ON OF THE NOVEMBER 3, 1999, BOARD MINUTES: Motion: Lowell Brandt moved to approve the November 3, 1999, minutes meeting of the Board of Adjustment, as printed. T.,]. Brandt seconded. The motion carded on a vote of 4-0. Rockwell introduced Dennis Keitel, new board member, who will start his term in ,]anuary 2000. SPECIAL EXCEP'I'[ON I'I'EM S: EXC99-0020. Public heating on an application submitted by William and 3udith Terry for special exceptions to reduce the number of required off-street parking spaces and to modify the front yard setback requirement along Ronalds Street for property located in the Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS-8) zone at 628 N. Linn Street. Bender noted that this item had been withdrawn by the applicants. EXC99-0022. Public hearing on an application submitted by Hy-Vee Food Stores, Znc. for a special exception to permit a pharmacy drive-through lane on property located in the Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) zone at 310 N. First Avenue. ,]ohn Yapp stated that the property is located at the intersection of First Avenue and Rochester Avenue. He said it was formerly a Hy-Vee grocery store. He noted that during the past year, the property had been converted to a Drug Town store. He said that representatives of Hy-Vee are proposing a drive-through pharmacy lane where the old drive-through lane for Hy-Vee grocery pickups was located at the west side of the building. He said the proposed plan allows for vehicular traffic to enter and exit at Rochester Avenue or First Avenue. He said the traffic flow through the drive-through lane would be to the north with vehicles stacking along the west side of the building. He noted that traffic could than exit onto Rochester Avenue or turn and exit directly onto First Avenue. He noted that one of staffs concerns when the application was ];owa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 2 first submitted, was the location of the drive-through window was proposed to be near the northwest comer of the store. He said this did not allow for vehicles to drculate on the site back onto First Avenue. Since that time, the applicant has revised the site plan by shiffing the drive-through window slightly south, which allows for better traffic circulation on the site. Yapp said the applicant has also proposed that this be a planted landscape area to help screen the drive-through facility from First Avenue. He said ~he drive-through iacility should not be visible from the residential areas to the south or east. He indicated that staff feels it is in a good location and will have a very low impact on neighboring residential properties. Yapp said in the neighborhood commercial zone, another consideration is to separate the drive- through lane from other vehicular and pedestrian traffic. He noted that there would be room for approximately four vehicles to stack up before pedestrian access would be impacted at the front entrance to the store. Yapp said staff has dealt with drive-through pharmacy issues a number of times over the past few years. He said in observing drive-through pharmacies usage, staff has at no time seen more than three vehicles lined up at a pharmacy. He said throughout the day, it is rare to have more than one vehicle at a pharmacy drive-through location. Yapp said staff recommends that EXC99-0022, a special exception to allow one drive- through lane associated with the pharmacy along the west side of the building located in the Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) zone at 310 North First Avenue be approved, subject to the drive-through fadlib/being generally consistent with the special exception plan submitted December 6, 1999. Public hearing opened. There was none. Public hearing dosed. MOTZON: L. Brandt moved to approve EXC99-0022. a special exception to allow one drive-through lane associated with a pharmacy along the west side of the building located in the CN-1 Zone at 310 N. First Avenue, subject to the drive-through facility being generally consistent with the special exception plan submitted December 6, 1999. TJ. Brandt seconded the motion. L. Brandt said that typically it is helpful if the applicant is present at the meeting and for the record he does hope that staff encourages applicants to be present. Yapp stated that staff advises applicants that they are encouraged to attend the meetings when their exception is being heard; however, it is not required. L. Brandt said he did not see a lot of problems with this request. He said the proposed drive-through land location would have minimal impact in terms of the rest of the neighborhood and in terms of the flow of pedestrian access and vehicular traffic flows. He said he did not see any particular issues associated with this application that would pose a spedtic detriment to public health, safety or general welfare. L. Brandt said he appreciated the fact that the applicant was willing to accommodate staffs request to change design of the drive-through facility, so that vehicles could exit onto First Avenue and not be forced onto Rochester Avenue. He said he believes this is a good move as it will enhance the ingress/egress issue. L. Brandt said he supports this exception. Paul stated that he too would support this issue for the same reasons L. Brandt stated. He said in addition, it seems obvious that this lane was previously a pick-up lane for the Hy-Vee Store Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 3 and was used in a similar fashion. He said the traffic flow seemed to work quite well at that time. Paul noted that the fact that the pharmacy window was moved back to the south enhances the traffic flow configuration in the parking lot. He indicated he supports the exception. T..]. Brandt ~aid he would supl~Ort the exception based on the facts that his colleagues stated. He said he is a resident of the area and welcomes the landscape buffer to sof'cen the concrete look in the parking lot. He said in his opinion, this will enhance the neighborhood. Bender concurred with her colleagues, and said in her opinion, the proposed use represents a decreased use of the same property and probably would not have the traffic that it has had in the past. She said all of the general standards for granting a special exception have been met. She felt that the interests of justice would be served in granting this special exception. The motion was approved 4-0. EXC'99-0023. Public hearing on an application submitted by Hills Bank and Trust Company for a spedal exception to permit three drive-through banking lanes and one ATIvl lane for property located in the Commercial Office (CO-Z) zone at 2619 Muscatine Avenue. Yapp said this is an application for an auto/truck-oriented use. He said specifically, the applicant is requesting three drive-through banking lanes and one drive-through ATN lane for a total of four drive-through lanes. Yapp said currently, the property has four access points with two on Muscatine Avenue and two on Arthur Street. Yapp said the applicant is proposing to close two of the access points; which is very positive in staffs point of view. He said this is pardculady true conceming the accesses onto Muscatine Avenue. He noted that every access point onto a street is a potential point of conflict with traffic turning into and out of a site. He said on a busy arterial street, such as Muscatine Avenue, it is good to reduce potential points of conflict. Yapp said staff felt the two access points would be fairly well separated from traffic patterns. He said, in addition, staff felt it would be beneficial to allow access from Arthur Street even though it is more of a local street in design, because it allows much of the neighborhood traffic to use this finandal institution without having to go onto the arterial street. Yapp said regarding the drive-through lane design itself; the zoning code requires eighteen stacking spaces. The submitted site plan identifies eighteen spaces in this location. The main concern is addressed in that the lanes are designed so that the vehicles would stack back onto the property; they would not be stacking up into the street. Yapp noted that the location of the fadlib/is very good in terms of stacking spaces. Yapp said regarding the amount of traffic, the site can accommodate four drive-through lanes. He said the applicant has submitted information indicating approximately 40-45% of all banking transactions at the other Hills Bank locations are through the drive-through. Yapp said regarding the compatibility of the use with adjacent properties, there are multi-family residential areas to the southeast and to the south is office property. Yapp said staff had recommended to the applicant that a landscaped buffer be added along the south propercy line to sof'cen the impact of the extent of paving and vehicles using the facility. He said the applicant had agreed to this and modified the application as such. Yapp said this is a very positive addition. He said the applicant also added a landscaped island, which helps improve Iowa CRy Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, Z999 · Page 4 the appearance of the site as well. Yapp noted that the applicant would like to have a special exception granted for one year as opposed to the usual six months. He said Hy-Vee does not expect to begin the redevelopment of the site until the second half of next year. Staff did concur that this would be appropriate if the special exception is granted. Yapp noted a minor concern staff has with the vehides exiting the drive-through facility potentially being in conflict with vehicles entedng from Arthur Street. He said the applicant has shifted the access point to the north to help minimize the conflict. Yapp said staff feels that any potential conflict with entering and exiting vehicles can be solved with pavement striping and curbing. He said staff recommends that EXC99-0023, a special exception to allow three drive-through banking lanes and one drive-through ATIvl lane on the south side of a proposed financial institution be approved, subject to the site design generally conforming with the special exception concept plan and staff approval of a landscaping plan at the time of site plan approval. L. Brandt then inquired about the concerns of the pavement striping. Yapp said that this would be addressed during the actual site plan approval process, which requires some oversight of pavement striping. Yapp said he feels that the striping will be adequately addressed at that time. L. Brandt then went on to inquire about the buffedng along the property line between the proposed bank and the existing service station. Yapp said currently, there is paving up to the property line and the proposal is to add some landscaping along the west property line. Public hearing opened. Roger Reilly spoke in favor of the exception. He said Hills Bank was proposing to convert the Callahan funeral home into a full facility bank with three ddve-up lanes and an ATIvl lane. He noted the bank's experience of having fully 40 percent of banking transactions conducted through the ddve-up lanes. He said Hills Bank is trying to improve the site by adding a great deal of landscaping. Public hearing closed. Bender asked attorney Mitchell if the requested one-year time frame should be part of the motion. Mitchell recommended that the one-year time frame be clarified in the motion as otherwise it is automatically assumed that an exception is granted for six months. MOTI:ON. L. Brandt moved to approve for one year EXC99-0023, a special exception to allow three (3) drive-through banking lanes and one CI.) drive-through ATM lane on the south side of a proposed financial institution building for property located in the CO-3. zone at 263.9 Nuscatine Avenue~ subject to the site design generally conforming with the special exception concept plan and staff approval of the landscaping plan at the time of site plan. The Board's derision shall be in effect for one year, instead of the standard six-month period. T.3. Brandt seconded the motion. L. Brandt said he had no significant concerns with the request and felt this was a good choice for the use of the property. He said it is a bit of a mixed neighborhood in terms of land uses with the residential component being primarily apartments or condominiums. He noted that there seems to be reasonable separation of uses in the Arthur Street area. He said he Zowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 5 appreciated the landscaping plan. He said the location of the drive-through lanes proposed well away from the two streets involved, reduces concerns about endangering public health, safety or welfare. L. Brandt said there would be minimal impact in terms of the neighbors' use of the property. He applauded the staff and applicant for working well together to put together a good plan. He indicated that he supports the motion. T.3. Brandt said he would also support the exception. He said his main concern was the traffic circulation pattern and the amount of traffic generated on this corner property. With the applicant willing to close two of the four points of access, the chances of conflict are lessened. Paul said he would support the motion for reasons previously stated. He said he too was concerned with safety issues, especially with Muscatine Avenue. He said the closure of one of the access points on Muscatine Avenue is great idea. He said it appears to be a really nice use of the property. He commended the applicant. Bender concurred and stated that this is a reasonable request in a commercial office zone. She said a banking facility is the type of use that is desired in this zone. She noted that the only reason that it came to Board is because of the drive-up lanes, which are considered auto and truck-oriented uses. She said more and more business is being conducted from vehicles. She said this is the way that sodety is going. She said she found this to be a very reasonable request. She noted that the other properties in the community owned by Hills Bank have nice landscaping and add to the neighborhoods where they are located. Bender indicated she would support the request. The motion was approved 4-0. EXC99-0025. Public hearing on an application submitted by Hodge Construction for a special exception t~ permit additional parking for the Hodge Construction office expansion for property located in the Community Commercial Zone (CC-2) zone at 713. South Gilbert Street. Bender noted that the applicant had submitted a request that this case be deferred to the .January 3.2, 2000, Board meeting. MOI'ZON-. T.3. Brandt moved to defer to 3anuary :Z2, 2000, EXC99-0025, a public hearing on the application submitted by Hedge Construction for a special exception to permit additional parking for the Hedge Construction Office expansion for property located in the Community Commerdal (CC-2) zone at 7:L:L S. Gilbert Street. L. Brandt seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-O. VARZANCE Z'FEN: VAR99-0025. Public hearing on an application submitted by Sign Productions, Znc., on behalf of property owner Chezik Sayers Honda, for a variance to the sign regulations to allow a wide-dad fleestanding sign for property located in the Zntensive Commercial (CZ-3.) zone at 2343 Mormon Trek Boulevard. Rockwell said in August Z998, a representative of the Chezik Sayers Honda dealership initiated discussions with city staff about installing a wide-dad freestanding sign at 2343 Mormon Trek Boulevard property. She said the proposed sign is not permitted in the intensive commercial Iowa Qty Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 6 zone, because it does not conform to the dty's sign regulations in terms of size and mass. She said to remedy this situation, Sign Productions, Inc. is requesting a variance to the sign regulations. Rockwell noted that in the CI-1 zone, certain types, numbers and sizes of signs are permitted; including the type of sign in question, a fleestanding sign. She said in that zone, freestanding signs have certain dimensional requirements, including a limit of 125 square feet per sign face. She said the regulations also require that the sign 'oe positioned on the poles so that the top of the sign is no higher than 25 feet above grade and the bottom does not extend lower than 10 feet above grade. Rockwell said the intent of the regulations is to keep the size and the mass of signage at a reasonable level and to ensure that signs do not block visibility for motorists. She noted that although it was difficult to read the site plan submitted by the applicant, there appear to be no visibility problems that would occur if the sign were located where the present sign is located. She said the proposed Honda sign would have a 25'x10 1/2' surface on either side, which is 100% over and above what is currently allowed. Rockwell said with a variance, tests of hardship and the public interest must be considered. She said the applicant has not shown there would be no reasonable return to the property without the installation of this spedtic requested sign. Rockwell said in the CI-1 zone, the Chezik Sayers Honda business is permitted to have a large number, range and size of signs. She said they may use any and all of the signage options. She said the ordinance does take into consideration that a business needs to advertise on site. Rockwell said in staffs view, the applicant has not demonstrated that the signage permitted under the ordinance is insufficient to allow the Honda dealership to stay in business. Rockwell said in terms of the uniqueness of the applicants burden of compliance, all other businesses in the C1-1 zone have to comply with the same requirements concerning freestanding signs. She said if the proposed-Honda sign is to be permitted, it is staffs view that it should be done through an ordinance change that would apply to all properties in the zone. She said if the Board were to grant a vadance to permit the sign, it would be tantamount to granting a special privilege to a specific property. Rockwell continued that although staff cannot support the variance request, it does support a zoning ordinance amendment to allow wide-clad signs on a provisional basis or through the minor modification process. She said this style of sign could be more attractive than the standard free-standing pole sign and public safety concerns could be addressed if certain criteda such as visibility, the extent of lighting, the height minimum and the area allowed for lettering and logo were taken into consideration. She said staff recognizes that this type of sign is becoming widely used throughout the country. She said an ordinance amendment seems to be the appropriate mechanism to deal with this situation as it would apply equally to all requests for signs of this type. Rockwell said concerning the hardship test on the problem being one of the landowners own making, an ordinance amendment was recommended to the property owners representative over a year ago. She said the delay in dealing with this issue is clearly the property owners responsibility, and it is staffs view that the time that it takes to go through one process or another should not be a factor in the Board's decision on the variance request. Rockwell said in looking at the intent of the ordinance and the comprehensive plan, staff feels that the proposed sign is not likely to compromise the intent of the CI-1 zone. She said the sign is proposed at a major entranceway to Iowa City and the appearance of signage in this area is cdtical in aesthetic terms. She said it may be that the proposed sign would be more attractive and would create and maintain an attractive entrance into lowa City, but it may not meet the Comprehensive Plan goal to promote unobtrusive signage. Iowa Qty Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 7 Rockwell said in terms of public interest, staff looked at aesthetic qualities and safety concems. She reminded the Board that a variance to the sign regulations to suit one property owner at a time could lead over time to a crowded commercial streetscape with a potential for public safety concerns. She said a variance in this case would not serve the public interest in that it would grant spatial privileges to on~ entity where there are no unique limiting circumstances involved and there has been no demonstration of hardship. She said staff feels that to grant a variance in these circumstances may set an inadvisable precedent in that it could weaken the expectation that other similarly situated commercial enterprises should abide by the sign regulations of the CI-1 zone. She said staff therefore recommends denial of this variance request. L. Brandt then inquired about the reference to the competitors sign that is not within the city limits. Rockwell clarified that there is a portion of property along the north side of Highway 1 that is situated in the county and goes by county regulations. Public hearing opened. Larry Lynch, attorney, spoke on behalf on Chezik Sayers Honda. Lynch said he thought he was hearing that the proposed signage is a good idea, but currently is not allowed. He said apparently, about one year ago, Chezik Sayers hired signage people and there was miscommunication with dty staff. He said in no way was he indicating that there was misrepresentation. He said this type of sign is called clad signage; it is the modern way signage is going and should not be a problem. He said some time ago, the Honda dealership began a $750,000 addition to their building and is in the process of completing it. He said this renovation is being done as part of a contract with American Honda, which will lock into providing a higher level of inventory to C:hezik Sayers and pay for the sign if the proposed wide- clad sign is installed. He said the $11,000 sign provided by American Honda is now sitting at the site, simply waiting to be installed. He said the sign image is an important part of the addition and needs to be placed on the property. Lynch said it was Chezik Sayers understanding was getting a variance would not be a problem. He said the dealership's problem is that part of the agreement with Honda is to make the enlargement and therefore increase inventory. He said Honda wants this logo affixed exactly as indicated in the application. Lynch said that he feels there is extraordinary hardship on the dealership due to the agreement with Honda. He said the signage people were apparently told that it was perhaps not going to be problem even though some text may have to be changed. Lynch reiterated that it would be an extraordinary hardship to the Honda dealership not to have the sign and it does not damage anyone to have this type of very desirable sign. He said that he was shocked to hear that the Hargrave dealership is in the county. He said all of the dealerships have some of the very signage that the Honda dealership is asking for. He asked the Board to consider this a very special situation that developed and is being asked for at a very critical time. ,]on Bell, Director of Operations, Chezik Sayers said Tom Pederson, who had worked for Ch.ezik Sayers for two years, had spoken with Rockwell over a year ago, but only about the Thrifty Rental sign. He said Tom's notes indicated that a text amendment was needed and would be supported by staff, but he didn't realize that that was not the same thing as a variance. He said that Kimalee Frasier, the sign company representative, had indicated to him that getting a Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 8 variance to the sign ordinance would be no problem. He said that the indication that the problem was one of the dealership's own making was not the case, because it has no choice about the sign it can put up. He said the local dealership is investing over $750,000 to upgrade. its image, and part of that upgrade includes the sign that American Honda provided at no cost to the local dealership. He said the upcjrade package includes the sign, and without it, Chezik Sayers will not be guaranteed a higher inventory of cars. Bell noted that if the sign can't happen, then profits will be effected, because they need the vehicles on site to turn and earn. He said the American Honda sales and service agreement affects the way the local dealership can do business. He said they have tight control over the dealerships. Bell noted that the image improvement was part of a national campaign by American Honda. He thought that the appearance of the sign was ok and the visibility would be ok, and the sign should be allowed at this gateway to Iowa City. Rockwell made points of clarification stating that she met over a year ago with Tom Pederson, who represented the Honda dealership. She said they discussed not only the Thrifty sign mentioned by Mr. Bell, but talked very specifically about the Honda sign and the Honda program. She said following a .Joint Staff meeting on Mr. Pederson's queries about the sign, she advised him that staff could not support a variance, but would consider an ordinance amendment. She said there may have been a misunderstanding that a text amendment is an amendment of the Zoning Chapter, and involves consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council. She advised Mr. Pederson at that time that if it was important to Honda's operations to have this type of signage, Honda should get the ordinance amendment process started as soon as possible, because an ordinance amendment takes about three months. She said she had this item on her pending list for several months and contacted Mr. Pederson at least three times to see if Honda planned to proceed with the ordinance amendment. Then, she did not hear from again until this fall just prior to the variance application being submitted. Rockwell said she had had very little direct communication with the sign company representatives. They had dealt directly with ,]ann Ream in the Housing and Inspection Services Department. Rockwell said Ream had indicated that she had advised beth Mr. Pederson and the sign company representatives that it would be very difficult to get a variance, although it was certainly their prerogative to do so. L. Brandt asked if he was hearing correctly that the rules that American Honda is requiring should supercede the rules that Zowa City property owners are required to follow. He said he felt that it was questionable to expect that American Honda's wishes should supercede the rules made by the City Council of Zowa City. Lynch responded that the Beard of Adjustment has the authority to make such an adjustment. He felt the public interest would be forwarded by granting the variance and there is a particular hardship that will occur if the variance is not granted. He said Chezik Sayers through this issue could be easily resolved. L. Brandt stated that this is a variance that is being requested and the standards cited are more stringent than is the case for a special exception. He said for special exceptions, the City Cede provides that if certain standards are generally met, then the Board has the authority to approve them. He said that a variance request is essentially asking to vacate the rules of the city. He said because of the significance of that type of request, then a//of the standards have to be completely met. He said a variance approval is rare, as it must meet much higher tests Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 9 of hardship and public interest. Lynch said he understood that there was a higher burden and the applicant was trying to address these issues. Paul then inquired on the timeline on the image update process for Chezik Sayers. Bell indicated that the process started over two years ago. He said it was bad that Sign Productions didn't check with the city about its ordinance requirements until a~cer it had rGceived FAA clearances. He said he didn't feel that hardships had to be catastrophic to be detrimental to a business. He said they would like to comply with the ordinance, but are being required by their governing corporation to install a certain type of sign. He asked the Board to weigh the situation concerning the projected expenses, the aesthetic appearance of the sign and the fact that they meet all the tests for granting a variance. Bender asked Bell about the estimated completion date of the project. Bell indicated that they hope to hold the grand opening in March or April 2000. Public hearing closed. MOTION: L. Brandt moved to approve VAR99-O002, a variance to the sign regulations to permit a wide-clad freestanding sign that does not comply with the dimensional requirements set forth in the Zoning Chapter for property located in the Zntensive Commerdal (C1-1) zone at 2343 Mormon Trek Boulevard. Paul seconded the motion. L. Brantit said the reasonable retum test does appear to be an issue. He said if the variance is not granted, American Honda could cause problems for the 'local dealership in terms of what the corporation will or will not pay for and there could be a loss of retum. He said this appears to be a real potential problem for the applicant. He said, however, he has a real problem in thinking that this problem does not ultimately result more at the owners hands as opposed to not at the owners hands. He said the process involves Honda making decisions about construction and Chezik Sayer's decision to follow what Honda wants them to do. He said choosing to deal with whoever was contracted to do signage and relying on them to c~nvey whether or not a vadance is easy to obtain was the dealership's choice. He said he there may have been some miscommunication, but in his view, it is still the responsibility of the people making the application to be on top of this. He said none of this would have come to pass if decisions had not been made ahead of time without checking on compliance with the City's zoning ordinance. L. Brandt said a decision to grant a variance is an extremely significant and serious derision. He said a variance is not granted very often because of the high standards that apply and all have to be met. He said if the Board grants a variance, it, in effect, makes a decision that the city rules do not apply in this instance. He said once such a decision is made, the Board is sending a message that there are circumstances in which it is willing to say'that the city rules do not apply to at all equally. He said it means that the Board is willing to vacate the decisions or laws of the elected legislators of the city. L. Brandt said it is an extremely sedous decision and he felt that the problem in this case was largely of the landowners own making. He noted that frankly, even the uniqueness and reasonable retum issues come about only because of how far this project had progressed with Honda America without ensuring that all of the rules and regulations of the city have been met. L. Brandt indicated that he would not suppert the motion. ' Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 10 T.3. Brandt concurred with L. Brandt. He stated that as much as he feels for the dealership, he would have a hard time justifying the timing process for a project of this magnitude. He said the renovation process was started some time ago and has gone into the current stage before addressing signage compliance. He said had this issue been addressed a year ago and gone through the Planning and Zoning Commission' and the City COuncil as it Should have, the Board would not be facing this issue. He indicated he had a hard time disregarding the rules and regulations that the city has put forth to allow for the variance. He said he does not think the Board can override what the city has stated in an ordinance without extenuating circumstances to do so. He said he therefore will not support the variance. Paul then stated he was in concurrence with his colleagues. He said he had a hard time supporting the variance request, especially when considering the history of sign ordinances in Iowa City. He said sign companies and even local businesses should know what it takes to conform to the sign ordinances. He said this situation should have been addressed earlier in the process. Paul said he would vote for denial. Bender stated that it is unfortunate that perhaps the applicant was led to believe that a variance item is easily obtained. She noted that this item was only the second variance that was requested in the 1999 calendar year; however in her five years on the Board, a few variances have been heard with some being granted and others denied. She said she has a very difficult time believing that anyone on city staff would lead anyone to believe that a variance approval is an easy thing to obtain. Bender said all tests of the variance have to be met. She said that she could perhaps agree that the no reasonable return test had been met if the inventory is affected and the applicant incurs additional expenses. Bender said she does not see any part of the requested variance as being unique. She said there may be some hardship issues, but the variance simply does not meet every test. She said it is unfortunate. She suggested that there still may be time to seek a text amendment that would allow for this type of signage. She said, however, since all of the tests for granting a variance are not met, she will not support the motion. VAR99-O002 was denied on a 0-4 vote, OTHER BUSINESS Rockwell asked the Board to take formal action on EXC99-0020 that the applicants had requested be withdrawn from Board consideration. Hotion: L. Brandt moved to formally withdraw from consideration EXC99-0020, spedal exceptions to reduce the number of required off-street parking spaces and to modify the front yard setback requirement along Ronalds Street for property located in the RS-8 zone at 628 N. Linn Street. T.3. Brandt seconded the motion. It was withdrawn on a 4-0 vote. Rockwell commented that she had met with Dennis Keitel for his orientation to the Board of Adjustment, which because it is a quasi-judicial board follows guidelines that are somewhat different from some of the other city commissions and boards. She said that Keitel had asked to have more information regarding the cases cited on the last page of the variance application. Keitel said that he was interested to know what had caused the cases to be appealed and what Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes December 8, 1999 Page 11 their significance would be to the Board in making its decisions conceming variances. Hitchell said he would review the cases and report back to the Board. He said that the Supreme Court probably upheld the Board of Adjustments decisions in these cases. Keitel was also interested in what the other Board members might have to share with him in terms bf their experience on the Board. L. Brandt said that one of the things that he has learned in being on the Board is that it is nice to have legal counsel available at the meetings. He indicated that cases could be taken to court and having legal counsel provides a good preventive measure in that regard. Bender said this is also one of the reasons that the Board takes time to explain the process and listen to issues so that citizens have ample time to be heard. She said this is also the reason why the Board tries to be very articulate when stating its reasons for granting or denying a motion. Hitchell said Boards do get into trouble when it has not done a very good job of articulating the findings of fact. He said he has observed that this Board has done very well in this area. Bender said that at times meetings can get emotional. She said sometimes neighbors are pitted against each other or other emotional issues arise. Bender said another problem is that a board member will sometimes get calls or be stopped on the street to discuss a particular case. She said it is important to cut this behavior off, as exparte contact (communication outside of the Board's public hearing) is not acceptable. L. Brandt said he has to keep reminding himself that a Board member has a quasi-judicial role that is very different from that for members of other boards. He said there are different rules to follow. T. 3. Brandt suggested that the Board members rely on city staff as they do a very good job of interpreting information. He said a lot of the job is using common sense and personal feelings have to be put aside. Paul said he had just finished his first year as a Board member. He said in that year he has not said much, but has tried to learn from others. He indicated the packets of information that are sent out prior to the meetings are useful in reviewing the cases. Keitel said that he was looking forward to serving on the Board. BOARD OF AD3USTHENT INFORMATION Rockwell thanked Bender for her service and her strong leadership role, and the Board members and Hitchell concurred. AD3OURNMENT Hotion: T.3. Brandt moved to adjourn with the second by Paul. The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Board Chairperson Board Secretary Hinutes Submitted By Le Ann Dunne-Tyson ppdadm/min/boa12-8-99.doc IOWA CTTY BOARO OF ADJU~I'HENT MEE77N~ WEDIVESOA Y~ DECEHBER ~ 2999- 5 P. H, Civic Cen~er Courtall Chamber~ SIGN IN SHEET 8. 9. ~0. ~2. ~3. ~8. 20. IOWA GITY BOARD OF APPEALS MONDAY, DEGEMBER 6, 1999, 4:30 PM IOWA GITY MAIN LOBBY GONFERENGE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Anna Buss, Gary Haman, Robert Carlson, Tim Fehr, Wayne Maas, John Roffman, Tom Werderitsch (late) MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Tim Hennes (Sr. Building Inspector), Pat Hansen (Building Inspector), Scott Kugler (Planning Department), Dennis Mitchell (Asst. City Attorney) OTHERS PRESENT: Doris Malkmus, Chris Tones CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Carlson called the meeting to order at 4:45 p.m. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES: Meeting minutes were reviewed from the November 8, 1999, meeting. The adjournment time of 6PM was added to the minutes. Buss motioned to approve with a second by Haman. Motion carried by a 6-0 vote. REQUEST FOR MODIFICATION OF SECTION 509-2, GUARDRAIL HEIGHT, OF THE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE. (328 BROWN STREET) Carlson began by saying that he verified that 36" is the required height for a guardrail under both the Building Code and the Uniform Code for Building Conservation. Tones stated that in 1902 there was a five-hour fire that took multiple parts of the home, including the roof. Also, there is not a clear date as to when the porch was removed; and iron rails were added at some point in time. The owner wants to remodel the porch to closely resemble its original design. Carlson noted that if the original porch was still in place or that if it was being repaired the current guardrail height that differs from the requirement would be acceptable. He then determined that the height from the ground to porch platform is 2'9" (33"), thus requiring the guardrail. Carlson then asked if the grade could be raised by three inches to eliminate the need for guardrails. Tones said that it would not be a good thing to do because it would interfere with the windows that are in place. Kugler then stated that based on the photographs the original guardrail is believed to be about 30" to the top of the column support boxes. Kugler then said tQ be as historically accurate as possible the rail height should be 28" and the box itself would be 30". He indicated that the Historic Preservation Commission felt that a 30" rail would be appropriate to maintain the original proportions. Roffman determined that the window sills are at grade and suggested adding a brick area well in front of the window. Malkmus said she felt by adding the brick she would think there would be more of a safety concern. Iowa City Board of Appeals Minutes December 6, 1999 Page 2 Motion: Carlson made a motion stating that because the existing porch would have been allowed to remain as it was and that the owner is trying to restore the porch to those existing conditions and that the Board has approved a 30" guardrail in the past in the historic district on a similar situation that the Board consider this to be a reasonable modification to the Building Code and allow the new guardrail to be put in with the top of the guardrail to be at 30". Roffman seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote Carlson- yes Buss-yes Maas-yes Roffman-yes Fehr-yes Haman-yes DISCUSSION ON THE ADOPTION OF THE 1999 NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE AND THE DRAFT OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS Hennes began by saying that a draft of the proposed amendments has been completed and included in the individual Board packets. Hennes asked that the Board review the proposed amendments and seek input from electricians prior to the January meeting at which discussion will continue in regard to the 1999 National Electric Code and the proposed amendments. Carlson started with a question about Section 110-26 (a) 3 (c), Access and Entrance to Working Space. The comment is that in all cases entrances in these areas must be large enough for the removal of the largest piece of equipment in that area. He felt that because of the fire enclosures sometimes needed between electrical rooms and the access, it is actually easier to tear out walls than it is to provide a wide enough set of doors. He inquired if there was a specific reason for this amendment. Hansen then clarified that in the period that he has been an inspector where electrical rooms were built after the service has been upgraded there is a requirement to build a wall. In one instance there was a 500 KVA transformer that the room was built around. If there is a single door installed and if there is ever a problem the wall would have to be torn out in order to get it out. That is the reason behind it. He also stated that in the 1999 Code, 24" is the minimum access required into these areas. Carlson then said that some of the switchgear requires doors that are quite large. Getting some of these to match properly on a B labeled entry does not work well. He suggested that the area could be required to be large enough to accommodate removal of the equipment contained in the area. This could be a knockout panel as opposed to doors. Hennes then clarified that Carlson's recommendation is to re-word it to not make it specific to the entrance, but to allow some type of panel to be constructed to maintain the fire resistance. Werderitsch joined the meeting at 4:50 PM. Carlson then inquired about Section 110-26 (f) 1 (a), Dedicated Electrical Space. He asked why the amendment went to ten feet above the equipment over the original six. Hansen explained that until the 1999 Code it had been twenty-five feet or the structural ceiling, whichever was greater or lower depending on the case. The ten-foot reasoning was that a basic piece of conduit is ten feet long. The idea behind that is that contractors will stub up a ten-foot piece of conduit for future use. If it is not kept above that ten foot the first thing that happens is that the Iowa City Board of Appeals Minutes December 6, 1999 Page 3 duct work is put right above it. There may never be access back into those panels. The ten-foot area is designed so that there is access back to those panels if there is ever any remodeling or restructuring of the building. Hansen stated that thls applies to a commercial building situation. Carlson then inquired about the wet bar amendment. Hansen explained that this amendment would be in effect when it is in a residential occupancy. Under the current code if there was a wet bar sink it had to have a GFCI protected outlet. If there was a laundry sink it did not have to be GFCI protected. The proposal is to have all outlets located within 6 feet of a residential sink be G FCI protected. Carlson then inquired as to Section 210-52 (a) (2), Wall Space. Hansen said what was being looked at was railings serving as a guardrail for hallways and walkways. In the past there has been a problem with open railings that are guarding a walkway or stairway. This amendment provides that if it is being used as a guardrail for a hallway or walkway, an outlet would not be required as it would not be usable wall space. Hansen then commented that there have been some recent developments on the sizing of the service where there is an exception (Section 230-79). This applies to single dwelling units within a multi-family dwelling. He noted that he has done some calculations and he believes there needs to be more review before going ahead with the exception. He said what is being proposed is that a small unit of 500 square feet or less with no cooking should have a minimum of a seventy-amp service. He believes that this is very restrictive and by adding the cooking equipment to the room it is still well within the calculated range. There needs to be more review on the size and service for multi-family dwelling units. Maas then went to Section 14-C-23, Permittees. There is a bit of a problem with the master licenses. There are a couple of companies who are operating on master licenses that are held by people who have full-time jobs other than being an electrician for the company. Maas went on to say that they are employees of the company, but hold full-time jobs somewhere else. They are not available for consultation. Hansen said his problem with this issue is that he is doing multiple inspections on a project because the master electrician for the company involved in the work is not available. This does create a problem. Maas suggested language that requires a master electrician to be available on a full-time basis and available for consultation at any time during the normal business hours of the city. Carlson then suggested the language to say any company who employees a duly licensed master electrician on a full-time basis to supervise the work of the electricians performing the work during normal business hours. Mitchell then suggested that he, Hansen, and Hennes meet to determine appropriate language for this issue. Carlson then inquired about exempt work operating less than twenty-five volts and not supplying more than fifty watts of energy (Sec. 14-5L-21-8). Hansen said that there is something else in the works regarding the installation of fire alarms. Hennes then went to Section 210-12, Arc Fault Circuits Required, (c) Dwelling Units. He suggested that the wording be changed to not adopt this section. Maas explained that there is a new breaker on the market that monitors any arcs. Hansen went on to say that the arc fault monitors the electrical sine wave and can determine which sine wave is showing an arc. Iowa City Board of Appeals Minutes December 6, 1999 Page 4 However, the manufacturers have not perfected this item and therefore it is recommended that this item not be adopted until it is perfected. Hennes said at the January meeting there will be further discussion and then hopefully recommendation by the Board for Council's approval. OTHER BUSINESS January's meeting date was set for the 10th at 4:30 PM. Board Vacancy- Hennes explained that Carlson's term expires on December 31, 1999. A new chairperson and vice-chair will have to be elected at the next meeting. Hennes asked the Board for suggestions for new potential members names. The Board thanked Carlson for his years of service. ADJOURNMENT Buss moved to adjourn the meeting. Roffman seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 5:35 PM. Approved of Date bmitted by Le Ann Dunne-Tyson hisbldg/mintooa12-6-99.doc MINUTES 'PREUMINAR IOWA CITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ' THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1999 - 5:30 P.M. CIVIC CANTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS Subject to/ .ppr0val MEMBERS PRESENT: Lars Anderson, Richard Carlson, Frank Gersh, Mike Gunn, Sue Licht, Doris Malkmus, Pare Michaud, Mark Mills, Michaelanne Widness MEMBERS ABSENT: Linda Shope STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler OTHERS PRESENT: Kirby Korman, Chris Tones, John Loomis, Ann Freerks, Lorraine Bowans CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Anderson called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There were no items. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 117 N. LINN ST: Kugler passed around color photographs of the existing south side of the Economy Advertising Building as well as a photograph with a sketch of the ductwork being proposed. He said the ductwork for venting a new stove/grill will occupy a window and will run along the side of the building up to the roof. He said the applicant was proposing to install the ductwork in a manner that would not result in any permanent changes to the window. Kugler suggested to the applicant that any removed window sashes be stored somewhere on the property in the event that they would need to be reinstailed in the future. Kirby Korman, architect from the Gessner Group, said that they would use 16 gage sheet metal for the ductwork. Licht verified with Korman that no holes would be made in the brick; rather clips would be used. Korman said that they have two possible plans for ductwork providing both supply and exhaust. He said that the worst-case scenario with a company whose product uses less air would cause the ductwork to stick out 12 inches if it is tight to the building and be 34 inches wide. The best-case scenario would cause the ductwork to stick out 10 inches from the building and be 12 inches wide. With the first option, the entire window would be removed. With the second option, the bottom three panes would be removed from the window and one pane would be removed from an adjacent window. Anderson asked if Korman was asking the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to approve both scenarios. Korman said that he was, but would let the owners know if the HPC would only approve one or the other. Kugler clarified that the first option would occupy the whole window. Korman said that it basically would because the ductwork would cover any remaining opening. Licht discussed some of her concerns with the other commissioners about not damaging the window opening, the parapet, or the building and noted that the ductwork would not stick out much further than the existing downspout on that wall. In addition, the ductwork would be placed in an alley. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes December 9, 1999 Page 2 MOTION: Licht moved to approve both options for the ductwork with the following conditions for either option chosen: 1. There shall be no permanent alteration of the window opening, but rather the duct work shall be designed to fit within the existing opening; 2. Any window sash removed shall be stored on the premises to allow for its re-use in the future if needed; 3. The duct work shall be kept as close to the building as possible; 4. The duct work shall be painted to a color similar to the brick wall; and 5. The parapet shall remain intact and not be altered as a result of this project. Malkmus seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 9-0. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 328 BROWN ST.: Anderson stated that this was discussed at the November 22nd meeting and was deferred to allow the applicant to clarify his plans, and to allow for the Board of Appeals time to review a request for the reduction in the proposed rail height from the required 36 inches to 28 or 30 inches. Kugler said that he had not received any revised plans; however, since the last meeting he and Licht had reviewed the information submitted by the applicant. Kugler said they prepared a sketch of what they thought the height of the original rail might have been. Licht said that this was done by looking at old photographs. They came up with a logical number for where the top of the box was originally and then what the rail height would need to be. They then attempted to determine the approximate size of the columns. Kugler said the applicant took this information/drawing to the Board of Appeals and the Board did approve a modification of the required rail height to 30 inches. Kugler indicated to the applicant that the HPC would need to see a more detailed description for what was officially being proposed. Chris Tones, the applicant, did not have a new proposal prepared. However, he discussed the plan with the Commission and said that he was happy with the sketch created by Kugler and Licht. Malkmus said that she was concerned about approving a plan without an elevation that included all of the details and materials. She said that there was not enough information for the building inspectors. Licht said that she was comfortable with the plan because she had worked out the numbers. Malkmus asked what they would show the building inspectors. Licht agreed that the Building Department has to enforce this and the sketch needs more information. Tones suggested that Licht add the necessary information to the sketch. Anderson suggested that the HPC approve the plan as is subject to having the final information added to the proposal. Kugler noted that the roof structure above the columns will not change and the skirting below the porch floor will remain the same. In terms of materials, the applicant said he would use painted wood. A whole column would be used in the back of the porch as opposed to a half column. MOTION: Gersh moved to approve the plans for 328 Brown Street, subject to the addition of the supplementary details discussed at the meeting. Mills seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 9-0. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 112 N. DODGE ST.: Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes December 9, 1999 Page 3 Kugler passed around photographs of a porch and noted that this item was deferred at the November 22"d meeting to allow the applicant to revise plans for the proposed screen porch. Anderson asked for a reminder of the specific reason for the deferral. Gersh and Licht said that it was because of the types of columns to be used and what was visible from the street. John Loomis, contractor for the applicant, showed the original drawing and then presented a second drawing with larger posts and a higher rail. Gersh and Michaud said that they liked the design. Loomis presented another version of the second drawing showing a less expensive design that matched the other porch. Licht said that matching the back porch to the front porch would not be necessary because the front porch was not the original and had been altered. Loomis said that he tried the design just to see how it would look. Licht also said that the gable on the front porch was probably added at a later date and was not necessary. Commissioners agreed that a hip roof would look better and that along the bottom of the porch, siding or panels would be acceptable. Anderson asked if the Commission would need to see another set of plans. Loomis said that he would need to submit another set of plans to the Building Department. Gersh suggested that the HPC not make the applicant come back for approval. MOTION: Gersh moved to approve the second set of plans with either of the two designs presented by the applicant. Mills seconded the motion. Malkmus said she was concerned about any rough wood being visible. Loomis said that he wanted to use rough lumber because it was less expensive than clear wood, and he could plane it. Malkmus said she was under the impression that the HPC wanted to avoid rough lumber on historic houses that traditionally used planed wood. She was not concerned whether it was clear wood. Licht suggested that the applicant use fiber cement materials. Gersh commented that fiber cement looks like smooth wood when it is painted. Anderson asked if the Commission wished to amend the motion. MOTION: Malkmus moved to amend the previous motion by approving the second set of plans with the condition that a hip roof be used and the materials for the trim boards and the siding be either smooth wood or smooth-surface fiber cement. Mills seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 9-0. DISCUSSION OF GOVERNOR/LUCAS STREET CONSERVATION DISTRICT: Kugler said that the Commission received revised guidelines from the neighborhood as well as a cover letter. He said a question came up about the neighborhood compatibility/apartment infill guidelines. Kugler said if there is an area that is in a historic district as well as a multifamily zone and the regulations overlap, the regulations would state that the historic district/conservation district ordinance takes precedence. The apartment infill guidelines would only be used as a guide by the HPC in making their decisions. Therefore, guidelines separate from the apartment guidelines should be drafted. Ann Freerks, 443 S. Governor St., and Lorraine Bowans, 510 S. Governor St., were in attendance to discuss the potential conservation district. Both discussed how the trees in the area are being removed and how development is hurting the neighborhood. They provided pictures to support the discussion. Both wanted to see some down zoning in the district and Bowans mentioned how she could not get permission from the City to build a two-story carriage house. Anderson stated that the Commission could not help with that because the resident/owner would still need to adhere to the zoning code, even if in a historic or conservation district. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes December 9, 1999 Page 4 Anderson said that the HPC could review something from the neighborhood and support the application, but could not change the basic regulations. Malkmus said that the HPC would like to develop a way to talk about conservation districts along with each individual neighborhood's characteristics. Malkmus asked which commissioners would like to be on a subcommittee to work with the neighbors to finalize guidelines for the Commission to review. Malkmus, Gunn, and Michaud agreed to work with the neighborhood to draft district guidelines. They will draft model guidelines for all conservation districts, and then create appendices describing each specific conservation district. The appendices would list such things as architectural style and building materials. Freerks said that the neighborhood wanted to have something in place before a house near her is torn down in January and more development occurs. Kugler said that it would be April by the time the City Council would be able to give final consideration to the district. Kugler said that the HPC typically has meetings with the neighborhood before they schedule a public hearing. He said the report and guidelines should be prepared before the public hearing is held. Anderson suggested that the Commission review their progress at the beginning of January and hold a special meeting for the public hearing. The public hearing and/or neighborhood meeting could be scheduled for mid-January. Commissioners agreed that a public hearing should not be held until they had a finished product. Kugler noted they would need to provide a two-week public notice before the public hearing. Freerks said that once the materials are ready, they may want to talk to residents in person about what this would mean for the neighborhood before holding the public hearing. (Licht left the meeting at 6:35.) DISCUSSION OF CLG GRANT CYCLE (December 15 deadline) Kugler said that he inquired with the State about the Montgomery-Butler House grant application and found out that they may consider the house to be part of a Section 106 project even though the project was not specifically for that house. This would then preclude them from using CLG funds. He said that the State is calling this a pre-development application rather than a planning application. Pre-development project grants are only permitted for buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places. Likewise, only buildings which are listed on the National Register are eligible under the HRDP program. Therefore, neither grant program can be used until the property is listed. The State suggested filing a grant application to get the property listed. Anderson asked if they could file the ordinance revision grant application for both programs. Kugler said that he thought they could submit both applications. He said the HRDP application just needs fine-tuning. Malkmus said she would be in favor of writing basically the same proposal for the other grant program. Mills and Anderson said that they would work on the proposal for both grant programs. DISCUSSION OF DRAFT PLANNING SESSION REPORT: The Commission agreed to postpone the discussion until more members were present. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 8, 1999 MEETING: Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes December 9, 1999 Page 5 Malkmus and Carlson said that they thought the motions at the bottom of Page 3 did not reflect the intent of their motions. Carlson said that his intention was to say that they did not know if the building would be eligible for the National Register but for the purposes of the discussion, the Commission could assume it to be eligible. Kugler said the minutes could be changed and that this would not change the work plan. He asked them to write up however they thought the motions should read in the minutes. Widness said that on Page 3, there should be a comma rather than a semicolon after the words "1907 G Street." Malkmus suggested that at the end of that same paragraph, the minutes read, "The Commission considered the data and found the property not to be eligible." Malkmus said that on Page 4, the statement "Kugler said last years HRDP application to hire someone to review the ordinance and prepare amendments for certain items was not funded." should be clarified. The minutes should note that the application received favorable comments but was not funded. MOTION: Widness moved to approve the minutes with the above corrections and with allowance for correcting typographical errors. Malkmus seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 8-0. COMMISSION INFORMATION/DISCUSSION: Commission Time Kugler said that he heard from Kip Pohl who has contacted a national group that is interested in the restoration of historic theatres. The group is interested and plans to send people to Iowa City to look at the Englert Theatre. Pohl is looking for assistance in writing a nomination to get the building listed on the National Register. Anderson suggested that they talk with him about using the same information when they prepare a nomination for local designation. Kugler said that they could talk with him about that because the HPC had mentioned in a letter to him that they urged the group to "demonstrate their commitment by working with the Historic Preservation Commission to list the building on the National Register and have it designated as an Iowa City historic landmark." Kugler asked if anyone on the Commission would volunteer to talk to Pohl. Anderson said he would call Pohl and talk with him about his plans. The HPC could then talk about helping him at the next meeting. Kugler said that perhaps Pohl would be willing to hire someone to prepare the nomination. The HPC could point out that there is no one On the Commission with the time available that has the expertise to get the building listed. The Commission could then provide names of people who may be willing to help out with the nomination. Anderson wondered if Pohl would be willing to hire someone to prepare the nomination if the Commission could pay half. Kugler said that $7,000 is available annually in the budget as matching money for things like this but the City Council would need to approve it. Widness asked if the Commission should wait to see what happens with the local Englert group. Anderson said that the building would be designated either way and that matching half of the cost of hiring someone to prepare a National Register nomination could proceed regardless of who owns the building. Malkmus asked how Pohl would react if the building were sold to the community group; he would have nothing to show for the money invested. Anderson said that the Commission could enter an agreement with him. Malkmus mentioned Marlys Svendsen's work on the downtown survey. Kugler said that it may be cost effective to have Svedsen prepare the nomination since she is already working in the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes December 9, 1999 Page 6 area. Carlson suggested that the Commission wait until the downtown survey is finished. Anderson said that he was concerned about waiting because the public is not aware of what the Commission is doing about this building. Malkmus said that she did not think the nomination would be completed much sooner than the survey. Anderson said that he would call Pohl and ask if he is interested in the Commission's idea and ask specifically what his plans are. Kugler asked Anderson to be sure to stress that professional assistance would be needed in preparing the nomination. In other business, Kugler said that the JCCOG Regional Trails and Bicycling Committee (RTBC) would be reviewing TEA-21 applications on December 14th. The Butler House application would be one that the group would be reviewing for recommendation. Kugler said the group that actually provides the funding considers the RTBC's recommendations. He said that members of the HPC may be interested in attending. Widness said that Mike O'Donnell is concerned about the issue with Hickory Hill Park and Oakland Cemetery. He asked if Oakland Cemetery has any historic significance. Malkmus said that it is recommended as one of the landmarks in Iowa City. However, Malkmus and Anderson noted that the landmark status may not apply to all of the land in the cemetery because only pads of the cemetery would meet National Register criteria. Widness said that she would provide O'Donnell with that information. Malkmus mentioned that the book Small But Ours on the social history of Goosetown is now for sale and encouraged Commission support of the work. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION: Mills moved to adjourn the meeting. Gersh seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. Minutes submitted by Wendy Larive. ppdadm/min/hpc12-9--99.doc PRELIMll IOWA CITY PUBLIC ART ADVISORY COMMITTEE li/"il'{, I THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1999, 3:30 PM Subject to Approval IOWA CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS -. MEMBERS PRESENT: Nancy Purington, Rick Fosse, Deb Galbraith, Emily Vermillion, Sandra Hudson, Terry Trueblood MEMBERS ABSENT: Gary Nagle STAFF PRESENT: Karin Franklin OTHERS PRESENT: Im-Rak Choi-student, Jason Osborn-student, John Kenyon- Iowa City Gazette CALL TO ORDER: Purington called the meeting to order at 3:37 P.M. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None CONSIDERATION OF THF MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 4 MEETING: The following revisions were made: · Hudson suggested that the wording of the resolution which includes "such a program should enhance public spaces, promote Iowa City's reputation as a cultural center, and build Iowa City's image as a vital place to live and work," be added to the fourth page, fifth paragraph. · Page two, fourth paragraph at the bottom the word "clue" should be changed to "key". · Page three, third paragraph from the bottom remove a space. Fosse moved to approve the minutes as amended with a second made by Galbraith. The minutes were approved by unanimous consent. Galbraith inquired as to the status of the financial plan of Arts Iowa City. Purington stated that the board is developing a business plan currently. Franklin then said at the City Council work session on Monday, December 6th a report from the committee on this item and the Gutheinz Fountain had been scheduled. Franklin said it is her understanding that the decision of the Council to allocate an additional $15K from the Public Art fund would not be made until the business plan is submitted. Purington said that Arts Iowa City had been invited to submit a request for the next fiscal year by the end of November with a second request to be submitted in January. Franklin further confirmed that the committee required a business plan to be submitted with the inquired since there is a new council. Franklin indicated that it would not as there is only one more meeting before the end of the year. Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 2 UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENT PROPOSAL Jason Osborn, student in the Urban and Regional Planning Masters Program at The University of Iowa, and his fellow student, Im-Rak Choi, requested of the committee to work with them to outline criteria to determine exactly where in Iowa City public art should be developed. He went on to say that they believe that they need to determine what the public feels about public art and what they want for public art as well as to understand the general impact of public art. They will be looking at ~:he different land usages in Iowa City. The students will produce maps identifying different locations in the areas with descriptive lists. Fosse then stated that so far the selections have been opportunity based where a project has occurred that has allowed for public art. He inquired of Osborn how this would be factored in. Osborn indicated that with the criteria he hopes that a better decision could be made when opportunities present themselves. Galbraith said that the committee has been part of the capital development projects and asked if they would be looking at the history of the past few years. Osborn said that they would be looking at this and what projects are currently in progress. Vermillion then asked if Dr. Tomasini has been contacted. Osborn said that he has had a few conversations with Dr. Tomasini. Vermillion suggested using him as a local resource. Fosse said he would like to see a cross section taken of the community. Purington then requested Committee review of the survey questions that will be used. Osborn said that a questionnaire would be presented to this committee. He went on to say that because of time and resources there will not be a large sampling from the community, but key members will be contacted. Purington said that she wants the committee to approve the questions before these key members are contacted. The committee approved the project. DISCUSSION OF COUNCIL REFERRAL OF GUTHEINZ FOUNTAIN LOCATION Franklin began by saying the Gutheinz Fountain had been downtown and built upon a brick pedestal. There has been discussion about putting in something than is safer that the original fountain. The fountain was removed to make way for "Weatherdance". A new proposal for the Gutheinz would retain the tubes that were the essence of the fountain. Originally it was to be placed in Chauncey Swan and bids were estimated at $87K, however actual bids came in at $112K. The Council said they would not accept this. They were about to re-bid it in December when the issue came up of possibly not relocating the Gutheinz to Chauncey Swan park, but to locate it at the water plant where there had been direction to PAAC to come up with water features at the water plant. One location for a water feature at the plant was to be at the entrance to the water plant with a relatively small fountain and the other piece would be between the building and Dubuque Street, this work would be much larger. The possibility of using the Gutheinz Fountain at the water plant entrance was put forward as a way to save some money. This way there would not be a piece at Chauncey Swan, but the two would be at the water plant. Franklin went on to say that as the Council discussed this there was some debate amongst them. Some members felt that this would be good to save money and others felt the Gutheinz is a very interactive fountain and it would not get that activity at the water plant location. Some also desire to keep it in the downtown area as that was where it was when it was first conceived. Another sentiment was that if this much money is going to be spent, perhaps it should not be spent where a large sum has just been spent on a fountain. In summary, she said there are financial, aesthetic and usage considerations. The Council has referred it PAAC to get the committee's advice on where the Gutheinz should be located. Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 3 Vermillion asked if the Council is willing to spend $112K. Franklin said they were not earlier, but she is not sum of their position at this point. She also indicated that it may not come back in at that price if it the project is bid in the winter. Trueblood also explained that only one contractor submitted a bid. Franklin went on to say that as with any fountain there has to be consideration for the workings of the fountain as well as what is actually seen. Purington asked if there is a bidding season or if bids are sent out as needed. Fosse explained that there are better times of the year to bid projects. When the fountain was bid it wa~; near the end of the construction season. At this time contractors are sometimes more interested in finishing up their contracts rather than bidding new ones. Staff hopes that with a re-bid there will be more who bid and the cost comes in less than the $112K, but it may be that this is the cost for the project. Galbraith stated that she is in favor of putting the Gutheinz Fountain in Chauncey Swan because it is close to downtown. The people who really enjoy it love the fact that their children could play in it. If it is at the water plant it is less accessible. If there was one large fountain at the water plant then maybe funds could be saved by eliminating the smaller one at the entrance of the water plant. Purington said that she thought that the architect had a plan to incorporate a fountain at the entrance and that the committee has been asked to assist in the call and supervise the aesthetic direction. Franklin concurred with Galbraith that if the primary consideration is fiscal then one other way to save money is to do one piece at the water plant. It does not have to require the Gutheinz Fountain be moved to the water plant. She went on to say that past councils wanted to have public art built into the water plant. When the architects did the renderings of the building there was a small fountain at the entrance; however it could just as easily be a sculpture or some other aesthetic piece. Hudson then asked for clarification on the safety issue. Franklin explained that the base of the fountain initially had pipes on top of a brick structure that stepped up. It was the brick structure with water flowing down over the bricks that was a concern. Fosse also said that children like to sit on top of the tubes with their feet hanging as the water comes out. This issue will remain. There is a possibility that they could fall backwards as there isn't anything to grip onto. Trueblood said he agreed that it would be much more visible at Chauncey-Swan. He does not think it will get as much use as it did at the center of the plaza because it simply will not be as adventuresome as it was at the plaza. Purington then asked it there is an obligation to re-install the fountain. Franklin said she did not think there was an obligation, but the Council would have to make the decision as to whether or not to install it. She went on to say that there is some attachment to the fountain in the community. She advised the committee to focus on the question the Council asked. If there is other advice that would be acceptable as a secondary comment. Vermillion made the motion that the Gutheinz Fountain not be moved to the water plant location. It was seconded by Galbraith. Discussion of the motion then took place. Purington stated that she agreed with Vermillion that the fountain should not be located at the water plant as there is an opportunity to create a fountain within the architectural environment that is very different from the original environment that the Gutheinz Fountain was created for in an open public space where the public could Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 4 interact. The intimate water fountain area at the water plant is not conducive for the Gutheinz Fountain. Trueblood said that his vote is dependent on the tone of the question. Is the question one of location or the other or is it would you rather see it at the water plant regardless of where it may end up. Vermillion Commented that she would not want it at either location. She does not find it an appealing piece under any circumstances. Hudson said the question that she looks at is whether she would recommend paying between $87-112K for it if it had not existed. She looks at it a fresh issue and agrees with Vermillion that perhaps it should not be recycled. Maybe it could be de-accessed. Galbraith noted that she has heard public comment that there is attachment to the fountain; however this may not be a major public consensus. Vermillion said that if Iowa City is truly interested in establishing uniqueness then it has to think in a fresh way. She feels that if a piece is going to be placed in Chauncey Swan then it needs to be something significant to Chauncey Swan. Trueblood said that when the idea was first presented to him he had some serious reservations about it. If it is very popular it is fine; however by placing the fountain there the whole character of the park would be changed. Galbraith commented that she agreed with what Vermillion has stated. She went on to say that by being an outsider she is always concerned about what the long-time residents think and feel about issues. Fosse noted that by the committee not supporting it at the water plant the likelihood of it ending up at the park increases. Vote on motion to not move Gutheinz Fountain to the water plant. In Favor-5, Opposed-1 (Trueblood). Vermillion made the motion to advise the Council to not re-install the fountain with the consideration of de-accessioning it based on fiscal, aesthetic and usage/safety reasons. Galbraith seconded. Vermillion went on to say that she would like to ask the Council to consider funding a sculpture that is more suitable to the site Chauncey Swan site. There are options for the city to consider for the piece and she believes the city has to consider that there has been twenty years of outstanding use of the piece. However, it is time for it to be put to rest. Tastes change, times change, environments change so sometimes those hard decisions have to be made. Trueblood commented that in as much as he agrees with what is being said he is going to vote against the motion primarily because the committee needs to pick their battles carefully and this may present a big battle. Purington then asked what Trueblood recommended. He said that if the group feels strongly that it should not be placed in Chauncey Swan then that message needs to be sent to Council. Purington said that this issue had been reviewed several months ago and she was adamantly opposed to spending any more money on it. An architect then made a plan to refurbish the piece which was more appealing. She went on to say that she never felt that the piece was a Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 5 safe one. However, she has grown to be more accepting of it. Some of this is based on public support and history of the piece. Pudngton said her opposition still is primarily on safety issues. She believes it is an accident waiting to happen. Keeping people on board with the process is a pdmary component of the success of a public art program. She does not want to alienate anyone. Hudson said her concern is that this is an advisory group that has a responsibility to state when it senses there is a problem. She does not believe the group should look at it as a political aspect as that is the Council's job. She went on to say that she could not be comfortable in seeing something with a safety hazard to be placed somewhere. It would be irresponsible of her to say because of political backlash to put it in the park. Her best advice to Council is to consider that it has seen its better years. Vermillion stated that she does not believe it is suitable for Chauncey Swan because the way the land lays, the walkways that are in place, the ways the people will move around the fountain, and the relationship of the buildings that border the site. In short, the site was not designed to have this type of piece and this fountain compromises the integrity of the site. A vote was taken on the motion to advise the Council to not re-install the fountain with the consideration of de-accessioning it based on fiscal, aesthetic and usage/safety reasons. In Favor-4, Against-2 (Trueblood; Galbraith). The committee then struck the motion. The committee stated that it is the sense of the committee to not re-install the fountain and that further consideration should be given to de- accessioning it based on fiscal, aesthetic and usage/safety reasons. DISCUSSION OF THE MASTER PLAN Purington began by stating that the committee should have had time to review the plan. Any revisions can be made; however the committee at this time needs to review the substance of the plan. Fosse noted in the first paragraph of "site selection" it said that a piece should be easily identifiable as art. He believes this may be too constraining. This statement should be stricken. Under the "selection process" Vermillion noted where it said "direct invitation". This has the connotation that it is not positive. She suggested the language to read "this may be suitable should the appropriate situation arise." Franklin then said that she had a comment from the City Manager. He said one of the other ways to acquire pieces is to directly purchase a piece of art. Something needs to be included to cover the direct acquisition. Fosse then went to the section on open competition. In the participation section he said that at a previous meeting it was decided to extend calls internationally in some instances could be appropriate. In the accession section Purington thought that timelines should be identified for the obligation to keep a piece. She went on to say that perhaps other policies need to be reviewed to have some consistency. De-accession was then reviewed. Franklin suggested the language for this section to read: After due consideration the PAAC may recommend and the City Council authorize the removal of a Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 6 work from the City of Iowa City's public art collection. It is Iowa City's policy to remove a piece only if one or more of the following situations exist: Hudson mentioned that she felt words like "only" and "always" are very limiting. Fosse then went on to say that he felt the heading should be changed to "De-accession/Relocation". It was then decided to add another section to the plan for the relocation portion. He then suggested a preamble sentence which states "it is the intent of the public art program that artwork be an asset to the community, but not an encumbrance of public property." He believes that there is an underlying concern of some people that once a piece is in place that property is encumbered for good. Fosse then went on to recommend a bullet stating "when the public use of the site is changed or proposed to change in a manner that is no longer compatible with the artwork". Franklin said she would obtain the language from Fosse for inclusion. Fosse questioned the intent of the statement "In all situations the rights of artists will be respected as defined in the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1991." Hudson then said this refers to the artists' moral rights as opposed to copyrights. This means that artists have the right to feel morally or spiritually bound to their work. This violation cannot be violated by not taking proper care of the piece. Fosse then suggested dropping the last paragraph of this section. All members agreed to make the deletion. Franklin spoke on the maintenance section. As written, maintenance will be paid for with public art funds. The maintenance for Weatherdance is not currently to come out of public art funds, but from parks and recreation funds. She believes this is an issue that will surface periodically as the number of pieces of art increases and the complexity of the maintenance varies. Galbraith then said she felt that PAAC's mission is to beautify and enhance the city; not to be in charge of maintenance. Purington felt that the second paragraph should be bulleted so that it may be defined for the artists. Vermillion said that maintenance guidelines need to be identified when the piece is acquired. Fosse then said he felt the third paragraph of this section may not put the City in a good position for negotiating for cost of services. He went on to say that the paragraph makes the commitment to work with the original artist to do any repairs. Franklin said if a piece is damaged due to perhaps vandalism then the artist should not be burdened to do the repair. However, it would be different if it was something caused by faulty work. Franklin said that the city insurance would cover the work when the piece is completed and the contractor's insurance would cover it during the installation process. Fosse then suggested scratching the second sentence of the paragraph and at the end of the first sentence change the word to "may". It would then read as follows: If a work in the City's possession becomes damaged in any way, the City may contact the artist to see if he/she can make the necessary repairs. Vermillion then suggested that it read "or contact the necessary agencies or conservators to repair the work." It was agreed that this section would need to be re-worked. The committee then discussed the issue of public art funds being used only for acquisition. Galbraith said she felt this committee is set up to work on the acquisition of art, not for maintenance. Trueblood commented that he believes the $100K that this group receives annually should be for acquisition. However, he would not be opposed to that amount being increased at some point for maintenance purposes. He believes that in the future funding may Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes December 2, 1999 Page 7 need to be allocated to maintain these acquisitions. Sometime in the future there may need to be a public art maintenance budget specifically set up. Vermillion left the meeting at 5:15PM and Fosse left the meeting at 5:20PM. Discussion of the Iowa Avenue Literary Walk was deferred to the January meeting. REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR RESPONSES TO PEDESTRIAN MALL SCULPTURE CALL Franklin stated there needs to be a review of the submittals by the PAAC subcommittee on December 29. Hudson and Vermillion will serve on the sub-committee. The selection committee will include Purington and Nagle and will meet on January 5, 2000. The Committee decided that proposals from the semi-finalists should be due on February 28, 2000. Galbraith agreed to review Dr. Tomasini's slides for sidewalk artists. The next regular meeting is scheduled for January 6, 2000. OTHER BUSINESS Galbraith submitted her letter of resignation from the committee due to professional commitments in 2000. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM. ppddir/min/art12-2-99.doc MINUTES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION DECEMBER 8, 1999 MEMBERS PRESENT: Toni Cilek, Barbara Endel, Craig Gustaveson, Matt Pacha, Rex Pruess, AI Stroh, Kathy Wallace, Ross Wiiburn MEMBERS ABSENT: Bruce Maurer STAFF PRESENT: Mike Moran, Terry Robinson, Terry Trueblood GUESTS: James Moxley FORMAL ACTION TAKEN Moved by Gustaveson, seconded by Endel, to approve the November 3, 1999 minutes as written. Unanimous. Moved by Stroh, seconded by Wallace, to accept the proposed slate of candidates, and to elect Matt Pacba as Chair and Rex Pruess as Vice Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission for 2000. Unanimous. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS The commission completed a process to rank the top ten capital improvement projects for the Parks and Recreation Department. The commission's top ten priorities are Miller/Orchard Park Development; Willow Creek Trail-Phase III; Iowa River Trail, West Bank-Benton to Sturgis Ferry; City Park Amusement Ride Enhancement; Waterworks Park Development; Court Hill Trail Development; Rebuild Mercer Park Concession/Restroom Building; City Park Trail Renovation; Tennis Court Relighting; and Peninsula Park Development. PROPOSED FEES AND CHARGES The commission reviewed the Recreation Division's fees and charges proposed for FY2001. Pacha asked if the rental fee for the Shakespeare stage in City Park would be the same as a standard shelter rental; Trueblood indicated the matter needs to be addressed. With respect to the fee for clay, Pacha questioned whether it should be cost plus ten percent instead of cost plus five percent; Moran stated this is the division's direct cost - clay plus shipping. Endel referred to the private swim lesson fee; Moran stated the format was changed from a 40-minute lesson to a 20-minute lesson, and the fees changed accordingly, in order to accommodate more people. Endel asked if the proposed fees would result in maintaining the goal of 40 percent of the division's budget being supported by non-property tax revenue. Trueblood stated the present figures reflect 39.75 percent, and staff will be reviewing the proposed fees to increase the percentage of revenue to 40 percent. Stroh stated the goal could be eliminated in that it is simply a measure of how much tax dollars support recreational facilities and not a measure of efficiency or quality. Gustaveson noted some City Council members have been impressed with the division trying to reach this goal. Endel stated trying to reach this goal may result in making fees unaffordable for lower income families who do not fall under the low- Parks and Recreation Commission December 8, 1999 Page 2 of 3 income guidelines. Stroh reiterated he did not like to see it as a measure of operations. Trueblood stated staff would finalize the document for the commission to act upon at its January meeting. FY2001 OPERATING BUDGET Trueblood presented a preliminary summary report highlighting certain aspects of the operating budget. Staff is continuing to review the budget and will prepare a final summary report for the commission's January meeting. Staff is requesting additional personnel in the amount of 1.88 full-time equivalents. He referred to a memo he had previously submitted to the City Manager, delineating staff priorities as follows: 1. Civic Center Custodian (.63 FTE) to assist with cleaning the newly expanded area of the Civic Center. 2. Recreation Program Supervisor (.50 FTE) to convert existing half-time supervisor into full time to work with teens, youth-at-risk, after-school programs and ScanIon Gymnasium programs. 3. Natural Areas Manager (1.0 FTE) to properly develop and care for the City's large inventory of natural parklands. 4. Recreation Division Custodians (0.5 FTE) to convert two existing 3/4 time custodians to full time status in order to better maintain the Mercer Poo~canlon Gymnasium complex. 5. Parks Division Custodian (.25 FTE) to assist with cleaning the new maintenance facility. With respect to the Natural Areas Manager position, this is the second year for this request. Trueblood reported presently there is approximately 600 acres of natural areas, with lack of staff and expertise to properly maintain and develop these areas. The city continues to acquire parkland, trails and open spaces without an increase in personnel to maintain same. Endel suggested providing additional training to a current staff person in order to obtain the necessary expertise. Trueblood noted that training could help with the lack of expertise, but would not help with regard to the need for more staff. He used the conversion of a general senior maintenance worker to Tuffgrass Specialist as an example. Trueblood stated the city's parkland inventory has increased over 100 percent, with full-time staff being increased by only 22 percent, over the past 10-12 years. An itemization of the FY01 Capital Outlay requests was distributed. Trueblood stated this would be reviewed at the eommission's January meeting. SKATE PARK PLANNING PROGRESS REPORT Trueblood reported four of at least five skate park planning sessions with the consultant have been held. The last meeting was devoted to discussion of a preliminary conceptual plan and potential locations. The consultant had prepared a location criterion analysis and a weighted ranking system. The top three locations, as selected by those in attendance, are City Park, Terrell Mill Park and Mercer Park. The consultant will prepare a conceptual plan for each site. Trueblood asked the commission whether it was against any of these proposed sites. Pacha stated City Park was his least favorite due to it already being congested with various activities and lack of a non-~oodable area; Endel agreed. Gustaveson stated the youth want a central location that is accessible to those who do not drive, but do not want it near a residential area in that it may be too intrusive. After further discussion, the commission supported the completion of conceptual plans for the three sites, with City Park appearing to be their least desirable location at this time. Parks and Recreation Commission December 8, 1999 Page 3 of 3 ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2000 Stroh presented the proposed slate of candidates for officers for 2000, and there were no additions. Moved by Stroh, seconded by Wallace, to accept the proposed slate of candidates, and to elect Matt Pacha as Chair and Rex Pruess as Vice Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission for 2000. Unanimous. RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING MEMBER Staff and the commission recognized Ross Wilbum for his dedicated service to the field of parks and recreation and the citizens of Iowa City. COMMISSION TIME Wilburn stated it was a pleasure working with the commission and staff during his term on the commission. He indicated when he applied for the commission some told him he should apply for a commission that really does something. He noted during his term there have been many accomplishments, and he has enjoyed participating in various park and recreation activities. He also acknowledged Greg Shaffer who took the initiative of attaching a board to the bottom of the City Park tennis courts fence to prevent balls from leaving the court. Endel noted an individual on the Tuesday night women's AA division volleyball team contacted her and stated they did not have a referee two out of eight games; staff will follow up. (NOTE: Staff did follow up; the official in question no longer works for the department.) Pruess noted he read in the newspaper about a project to beautify the various areas along the interstates and highway 218 to make the community more attractive to people passing through. Parkland along these areas includes such parks as Ryersons Woods, the Peninsula Park and Waterworks Park. He would like the city to become involved in this effort; staff will follow up. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Trueblood reported on the following: New Commission Member. James Moxley was introduced; his term begins in January. Park Maintenance Facility. An open house and ribbon curing ceremony at the new park maintenance facility at 2275 S. Napoleon is planned for 12:30-5 p.m., Friday, December I0. Hickory Hill Park A recent letter from the Friends of Hickory Hill Park contained some inaccuracies and staff will prepare a memo for the commission addressing it. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2000 - 7:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Benjamin Chair, Pam Ehrhardt, Dick Gibson, Marilyn Schintler, Dean Shannon, Lea Supple MEMBFRS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: SaFah Holecek, Scott Kugler, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: Tom Gelman, Steve Rohrbach, Lynn Whisler, Dick Parrott, Harry Wolf, Kirsten Frey, Bud Louis, Betty Louis, Larry Lynch, Jon Bell RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Recommended denial, on a vote of 0-7 on an affirmative motion, of REZ99-0015, an application submitted by Mercy Iowa City to rezone approximately 2.5 acres from Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) to Commercial Office (CO-1) for property located on the west side of First Avenue at Tudor Drive. Recommended denial, on a vote of 3-4 on an affirmative motion, with Bovbjerg, Ehrhardt, Schintler, and Supple voting no, of REZ99-0016, an application submitted by H&O, L.C. for a rezoning to amend the Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-8) Conditional Zoning Agreement to allow a driveway access onto Foster Road for property located at 500 Foster Road only until Norwood C. Louis and Betty Louis cease to occupy the existing single-family residence and with the further stipulation that an escrow shall be paid by the applicant to provide for the construction of the alternative driveway, as shown on the approved plan. Recommended approval, on a vote of 7-0, of SUB99-0029, a preliminary plat of Windsor Ridge Part Fifteen, a 40.27-acre, two-lot, residential subdivision with two outlots located on the north side of Court Street at its eastern terminus, subject to the approval of REZ99-0011, prior to City Council consideration of the plat. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Supple called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: Don Ronnfeldt said he received a letter concerning a rezoning at the corner of Scott Boulevard and Rochester Avenue. Kugler said the letter was sent out in an effort to provide notice that the application had been filed, and the letter said the item would be on the agenda for either the January 6 or January 20 meeting, with a phone number to call for final confirmation of the date. He said that item is expected to be on the January 20 Commission agenda. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Supple said the City has vacancies on the following commissions: Public Art Advisory Commission, Airport Commission, Civil Service Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Human Rights Commission, and Telecommunications Commission. She said serving on a commission is an opportunity to have input into the workings of the City. Supple said participation would be appreciated, and the experience is educational. REZONING ITEMS: REZ99-0015. Public discussion of an application submitted by Mercy Iowa City to rezone approximately 2.5 acres from Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) to Commercial Office (CO-1) Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 2 zone for property located on the west side of First Avenue at Tudor Drive. (45-day limitation pedod expires January 8, 2000) Kugler said this application was deferred from the December 16 meeting. He said at that time, the staff report recommended denial of the application due to the proposal's inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan, as well as access concerns along First Avenue. Kugler said the Commission asked for additional information and asked staff to work with the applicant to find a compromise between the two positions. He said staff has had discussions with the applicant toward that end, discussing design features associated with the site plan. Kugler said although the Commission indicated at the informal meeting that it was not ready to deal with design items, but rather needed to deal with the first question of whether the site should be rezoned at all, the applicant had submitted a revised site plan earlier in the day. Kugler showed an overhead diagram of the site plan and stated that it does address most of the ideas staff suggested regarding how the development could fit better with the idea of creating a neighborhood commercial center here. Kugler said the revised plan removes the proposed additional access drive along First Avenue. He said the building has been moved a bit closer to First Avenue, and additional pedestrian enhancements have been added to the plan, making it more clear where the pedestrian circulation is on the site. Kugler said additional landscaping has been provided along the front of the site on First Avenue. He said the only thing recommended by staff, but not really addressed was to have the building moved significantly closer to the street so that parking in front of the building did not dominate the streetscape. Kugler said staff feels that if the Commission gets beyond the first step and is willing to consider the rezoning to CO-1, this is probably a good plan from which to work to develop some of the conditions previously discussed in terms of the ultimate development of this property. Kugler said the staff memo provided in the staff report addresses some of the information regarding additional sites that may be available for this use along with the possibility of amending the CN-1 zone to allow a use like this. He said the CN-1 zone amendment is something staff would not recommend, given that the introduction of regional-type offices and too much office space in the CN-1 zone could result in the preclusion of any neighborhood services being located in these zones. He said this is particularly the case if they are to be zoned ahead of time prior to development of the larger neighborhood. Supple asked if the applicant had agreed to a deferral if the Commission voted to defer. Kugler replied that the applicant is willing to defer to allow the conditions to be developed, if the Commission wishes to do that. Public discussion: Tom Gelman. 714 McLean Street, attorney for Mercy Hospital, said he wanted to discuss what Mercy is trying to accomplish as well as why this plan is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Gelman said Mercy is trying to construct a primary care clinic to provide convenient access for patients. He said this site is a difficult site because of the topography and as a consequence, it has been slow to develop. Gelman said the site is at the apex of two arterial streets, which is an important point in terms of access. He said Mercy believes the clinic can be built in a way that is very compatible with the Northeast Distdct Plan and Comprehensive Plan. Gelman said this would not be a 50-person multiple practice clinic. He said what Mercy plans to build is a relatively small, five to seven doctor, primary care medical office. Gelman said this is the type of office that was absolutely contemplated in the concepts of the Comprehensive Plan. Gelman said since the last meeting, he has reviewed in detail the Northeast District Plan and the Comprehensive Plan. He said it is apparent in those documents that the neighborhood commercial zone is not a singular concept. Gelman said looking at the plan shows that the neighborhood commercial area is a generic term with multiple concepts, which are referred to as a commercial node. He said some of them the commercial areas are smaller and some are Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 3 larger. Gelman said the smaller ones tend to be less accessible, on one arterial rether than two, and provide services to a smaller geogrephical area. He said there are others that are substantially larger and previde services to more distant neighborhoods. He said the larger commercial areas are typically located at the apex of multiple arterial streets. Gelman discussed examples from the plans to refresh the Commission's impression of the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. He said the economic well-being goals and stretegy section includes the goal of encou. raging commercial activity to take place in existing core areas and neighborhood commercial centers and to discourege the proliferetion of new commercial areas. Gelman said another goal is to establish .progrems that encourege businesses to use resources more efficiently. He said the lot in question is an underutilized lot. Gelman said having a two- level building uses resources in a very prudent way. Gelman said another goal is to encourege the creative reuse of existing commercial sites that are vacant or underutilized. In connection with the land use and urban pattern goals, Gelman said the Comprehensive Plan discusses the issue of model neighborhoods and says for future neighborhoods to plan development of model neighborhoods that are compact, pedestrian oriented and a mix of uses. He emphasized that that concept is one for future neighborhoods. He said while it is certainly desireble to try to implement as much of the plan as possible in existing commercial areas, essentially it is a future development concept and trying to impose future development concepts on a site in an existing commercial area doesn't work. Gelman said another element of the Comprehensive Plan talks specifically about this location. He said the Comprehensive Plan says that the northeast portion of the Centrel Planning District is served by a neighborhood commercial distdct located at the corner of First Avenue and Rochester, the southeast portion is served by a community commercial zone located at the intersection of Muscatine and First Avenue, and the south portion of the district is served by a community commercial area south of Highway Six. Gelman read from the plan that no additional neighborhood commercial areas are necessary to serve the planning districts; however, redevelopment may occur in existing zones. He said there was a lot of discussion before about the need to preserve this area for future growth, and that is not consistent with the plan for this area. Gelman said looking at the more recently adopted Northeast Planning District, one sees that there are multiple neighborhood commercial nodes already planned. He said to have this particular commercial zone service yet to be developed preperty to the north is not consistent with either the Comprehensive Plan or the Northeast District Plan. Gelman said the Northeast District Plan also discusses other areas in the district that are planned to function as neighborhood commercial centers.. He read from the Plan that a neighborhood commercial center is supposed to develop at the intersection of Krall Boulevard and Scott Boulevard. He said the commercial area shall be smaller in scale than the commercial area being preposed for the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Rochester Avenue, as it will serve a smaller neighborhood area and will likely draw fewer customers frem outside the neighborhood. Gelman said the converse of that is anticipated in the Plan: some commercial nodes will draw from a larger geographic area. He said that concept is carried out threughout the document. Gelman said the Plan specifically references this area and states that planned commercial nodes will function as a neighborhood center. He said a neighborhood commercial center is preposed at the northeast corner of the neighborhood at the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Rochester Avenue. He said this neighborhood center should be developed in the main street or town square design that encourages compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods and provides needed goods and services, such as small restaurants, retail shops, offices, grocery and convenience stores, and dental and medical clinics. Gelman said those functions are listed before multiple other functions mentioned later that would be possible. He said these are intended uses for these types of commercial nodes. Gelman said the Plan also discusses Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 4 another neighborhood commercial area to be developed in the future in Windsor Ridge south of Court Street and west of Taft Avenue. Gelman said in a specific reference to the First and Rochester area, the Plan states that an opportunity exists to upgrade the center at First and Rochester to include businesses that serve the needs of surrounding neighborhoods. Gelman noted the text in the Plan does not refer to neighborhood, but to surrounding neighborhoods. He said these statements in the Plan are fairly compelling. He said the concept of how a neighborhood commercial node is defined is really the nuts and bolts of this issue. Gelman said the proposed medical office is a small medical office that is a reasonable use in a neighborhood commercial area. He said according to the plans, this is not only a reasonable use, but is an intended use. Gelman discussed a couple of existing CN-1 zones around the community. He said the Mormon Trek area is inconsistent with all of the discussions and all the requirements imposed on this CN-1 zone. Gelman said it serves the immediate area, but also serves a much larger geographic area. He said it is not pedestrian oriented, even though it is a CN-1 zone. Gelman said another neighborhood commercial area is downtown Iowa City and the near north end, neither of which is zoned CN-1, but both of which are as much a neighborhood commercial area as the Mormon Trek CN-1 zone. He said these commercial areas serve the neighborhoods and provide pedestdan access. Gelman noted that one of the most newly created neighborhood commercial areas is the town square in Coralville. He said at the core of that neighborhood commercial area are primary care medical offices. Gelman said the property is not zoned CN-1, but is essentially a neighborhood commercial area. He said it is precisely like the model that he has shown; it is almost an exact picture of that neighborhood. Gelman showed an overhead transparency of a model of a larger commercial neighborhood zone in the Northeast Planning District Plan, which is very similar to what Coralville has created. He said the core of that commercial zone includes office uses, particularly pdmary care medical offices that complement and service the neighborhood and complement the other services in the commercial zone. Gelman said one of the frustrations of this particular site is that while the model is the ideal for future development, this is a square peg/round hole problem with the present site. He said it would be impossible for the site to develop the way the model envisions unless the existing businesses are torn down so there is an opportunity to start all over. Gelman said Mercy will try to do the best it can in the circumstances and has indicated a willingness to make concessions relatively consistent with the model. He noted that Mercy can't recreate the ideal model and cannot put that design on this site or create an unfeasible model. Gelman said this is a wonderful location for a primary care medical office. He said it is compatible with the neighborhood and will provide great benefits to the neighborhood and the neighborhoods surrounding it. Gelman said we should be looking for ways to make it happen, rather than ways to prevent it. He said various options have been explored, and one is the possibility of rezoning the entire area CO-1. Gelman stated that was probably not necessary. He said another option is to change the requirements of the CN-1 zone to permit a medical office of this size, which is not a preferred option. Gelman said another option is to rezone a portion of the area and still maintain its character as a neighborhood commercial node by placing some reasonable restrictions and conditions on the rezoning to facilitate consistency with the neighborhood plan, as was intended. Gelman asked the Commission to vote to defer this item and hoped the Commission would potentially be favorably inclined to rezone this property subject to reasonable and appropriate conditions. Steve Rohrbach. 3437 Hampton Street, said he did not want to belabor the point of the issues that Mercy has worked on with City staff, but the Commission asked Mercy at the last meeting to look specifically at some items on which compromises could be reached. He said the building has been moved thirty-some feet Closer to the street. Rohrbach said the location where building is now proposed has a very good axial relationship with the other buildings on the site and Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 5 enhances the pedestrian flow from Dan's Short Stop and other commercial buildings in this zone to the proposed building. He said there is a very strong logic as to where the building is now proposed to be sited. Rohrbach said Mercy has reduced the number of curb cuts on First Avenue, removing the one at Tudor Drive and working with the existing curb cut next to the commercial building. He said this was a plus, not only because the City wanted a change, but also because it was a concern of many neighbors on. Tudor Ddve in terms of vehicles cutting through on Tudor Drive and parking on that street. Rohrbach said parking in the northeast area of the site has been decreased at staffs recommendation. He said Mercy was not able to eliminate all the parking that staff wanted to have removed, but a few parking spaces have been eliminated. Rohrbach said Mercy has moved the main access drive to the lower parking lot and put it to the back of the site, which is something specifically asked for by staff. Rohrbach said they removed the green islands between their parking lot and the other parking lots to make one large parking lot. He said this was done to improve vehicular circulation and flow and to have one integrated lot serving the whole commercial area. He said staff asked them to incorporate many of the CN-1 type of zoning requirements into the project. He noted that Mercy has agreed to a number of these, and that two more had been added in the latest request: working with a brick paving system on the main entries to the site as well as the connection between Dan's Short Stop and the commercial area and taking the pedestrian walkways and widening them out to make a major pedestrian walkway and court along First Avenue. Rohrbach said they have taken out parking and made a very strong pedestrian link to First Avenue. He said Mercy feels it has done just about everything the City staff asked it to do in the mindset of compromise. Rohrbach said there are a couple of other issues that speak to the viability of the CN-1 zone. He said presently there is only 10% office space in this zone, 4,000 square feet of the existing 42,000 that is there now. He said there is presently 10,000 square feet available in the zone, which is 25% of the space that is available for retail/leasing at this present time. Rohrbach said this project would increase the office floor area percentage to 38%. He said a total of 30% is presently allowed in the CN-1 zone, so the amount of office space being requested here is not out of line with the character of the CN-1 zone. Rohrbach said he feels the proposed development will prove a very contextual use and function for the site. Rohrbach said the CN-1 zone is not a landlocked boundary because one of the sites is being taken away for future development. He said there are properties across the north side of Rochester Avenue that could be rezoned to CN-1 in the future. He said if this ever really takes off, there is other property there that could be rezoned to CN-1 to make it a larger site. Rohrbach said as has been mentioned, the existing area could be redeveloped into more of a cohesive atmosphere. Rohrbach said this is a difficult site; not one that a normal developer will view as a nice, fiat site that would be very economical to build on. Rohrbach said this site has a 20-foot slope across it. He said only 60% of the land that can be bought is developable. He said there is a major stream and detention basin on the site, and the majority of the site is fill. Rohrbach said the site couldn't be built on without deep foundations underneath. He said Mercy is spending an additional sum of money to be able to develop this site. Rohrbach said these are probably some of the reasons the site has sat there as long as it has. Rohrbach asked the Commission to begin to look at this proposal in a positive light. He said there are some things that this project does that make this a more viable CN-I zone. Rohrbach said it brings more activity to this area, which will make the gas station, the convenience store, and the drive-through bank a more solid entity within that zone. He stated that it would bring more people there, who will make the food and personal service facilities thrive and grow. Rohrbach said the medical facilities desired in the zone, as discussed by Gelman, support pharmacies and other medical facilities that are there. He said everyone is concerned about the Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 6 commercial areas on the east side of town being viable in the future. R, ohrbach said we should look at this as a positive thing that will ensure that this CN-1 zone is there in twenty yeare. Lynn Whisler. 500 East Market Street, said she thought this plan had great synergy with the area, with the existing businesses, offices and the neighborhood. She said it doesn't reduce the viability of the CN-1 zone, but enhances it. From a treffic perspective, Whisler said this is a relatively low-density use. Whisler said health care is very ingreined in the fabdc of Iowa City, and Mercy Hospital is part of that. She said the economic impact affects the medical communitV and the entire community in a positive way. Whisler said medical offices are encoureged in the CN-1 zone and that the area could be populated with a different combination of medical professionals, but nonetheless, there is a fairly high likelihood that the zone would evolve into something similar to what is being proposed. Whisler said the Mormon Trek/Walden Square area has been cited as an example. She said she lives very close to that Walden Square area. Whisler said it is very convenient to have that grocery store there. She said the grocery store will only remain economically viable by bringing in people from all over Iowa City and Coralville, which lets it remain a convenient amenity for those living in the area. Whisler said Mercy evaluated several locations and found this to be a good fit for all involved. She said they were encouraged to look at some sites, such as the Sycamore Mall area, but Mercy wishes to maintain a less commercial image and would like to locate at a site like this where there are already some medically-related offices. Whisler asked the Commission to look favorably upon Mercy's request and said she would appreciate a vote to defer. Supple asked Whisler if this clinic was anticipated to have seven doctors. Whisler confirmed this, saying there would probably be no more than five doctors at the clinic at any one time. Supple asked how many other people would be anticipated to work on the one floor. Whisler said there would be approximately 15 other employees. Supple asked how many patients a doctor is expected to see in a day to be financially successful. Whisler estimated the number of patients per doctor per day at 20 to 30. Dick Parrott. 2109 Rochester Avenue, said he lives about 2/3 of a mile from this commercial area and has a dental office located in this area. He said at one point, he had his dental practice in a residential zone and really liked the way that worked, as the atmosphere was very personal for his patients. Parrott said in 1983, he built his office and barely got in under the guidelines of the new master plan, which took away the ability for a practitioner to have the kind of practice that is commercially viable. He said that was a loss for both the practitioner and the patient. Parrott said six years ago, he built his office at this Rochester and First Avenue site under a special exception. He said he really supports this project, because it brings health care into the neighborhood. Parrott said five to seven physicians is not a terribly large number for an area this size. He said the patients he sees that live in this area like the fact that they can walk to his office or bike over. Parrott said he sees 30 to 40 patients per day, as he has three hygienists working with him. Parrott said the east side of Iowa City is in trouble. He said four businesses have come and gone from this area and these were businesses appropriate for this zone. Parrott said stimulation is badly needed in this area, and a project like this would definitely improve the conditions for commercial businesses and services. He asked the Commission to consider this proposal in a positive way; to consider putting this kind of health care clinic closer to a neighborhood. Parrott said, regarding traffic concerns and 120 to 150 people coming into the medical office per day, the old Hy-Vee in this area had to be drawing at least 500 people per day, and that worked fine. He said he did not think this would put a stress on traffic in this area. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 7 Parrott said he was not financially connected to Mercy Hospital in any way. He said he was glad Mercy was aware of the difficulties with the lot and the problems with constructing a foundation. Parrott said he would like to see a favorable vote by the Commission and thought this would be an excellent fit for the area. Harry Wolf. 755 Mormon Trek Boulevard, said he is Vice President of Southgate Development, the developers of the Walden Square neighborhood commercial area. He said he didn't plan to speak specifically about this project, but mainly about the concept of neighborhood commercial zones and the CN-1 zone. Wolf said he has been a watchdog of that zone and has been personally involved in numerous amendments to the zone. Wolf said if indeed staff, the Commission, and/or the City Council feels this is an appropriate use for this particular neighborhood, he would encourage looking at the zone to consider either an amendment to the CN-1 zone to allow this type of development or perhaps this would be a good time to step back and ask whether the CN-1 zone is really a viable zone. He suggested perhaps it is not, but said that numerous amendments have made the zone better and more workable. He noted however, it continues, as the Mercy application indicates, to be difficult at best for development. Wolf said reaching the intent of the Comprehensive Plan could be achieved without having a specific zone. He said there has been some discussion over the years between himself and staff about going to more of a CC-2 "lite" zone to look not necessarily at uses in the zone, but perhaps look at other constraints such as size and design. Wolf said the more appropriate way to approach this is to look at the zone and either amend it or completely rezone CN-1 areas. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Schintler moved to defer REZ99-0015, an application submitted by Mercy Iowa City to fezone approximately 2.5 acres from Neighborhood Commercial {CN-1) to Commercial Office {CO-I) zone for property located on the west side of First Avenue at Tudor Drive, to the January 20, 2000 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Chait seconded the motion. Supple said a yes vote would suggest that the Commission members voting yes feel this rezoning has some possibilities with conditions and that the deferral will give an opportunity to take the time to hammer out the conditions. She said a vote no on deferral means the Commission members do not believe this rezoning has possibilities. Ehrhardt said throughout this process she has kept asking if this parcel of land is more appropriate for CO-1 than CN-1. She said the arguments the Commission has heard from Mercy mostly addresses the restrictions that are placed on businesses in the CN-1 zone. Ehrhardt said she appreciated Wolf's comments that this isn't the process the Commission should go through if it indeed wants to revisit the requirements of CN-1 zones. She said rezoning this site to CO-1 isn't the process the Commission should take to change the CN-1 zone. Ehrhardt said if there is consensus on the Commission that the CN-1 zone should be revisited citywide, then the Commission should step back and not approve this, look very carefully at the CN-1 zone, and then revisit this. She said she has been a strong supporter of the CN-1 zone and does not want to see the strengths of the CN-1 zone diluted by piecemeal changes for the development of each particular parcel. Ehrhardt said she would like to go back and revisit the entire CN-1 zone rather than approve this, and she would be voting no. Schintler said she would vote to defer this. She said Mercy has really tded to fit this in and work with staff. Schintler said there are apparently a lot of constraints on this particular piece of property, and it might not work well as CN-1 zoned property. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 8 Gibson said there have been nicely crafted arguments, but he was not persuaded by most of it as it relates to the CN-1 zone. Gibson stated he does have some level of uncertainty about the viability of CN zones, but at the same time did not think this zone should be thrown out without a pretty careful consideration, which has not been done here. He said it would be a mistake to start down the road of depreciating the value of the zone on a piecemeal basis. Gibson said one of the Commission's tasks is to provide some level of reliability and predictability in terms of zoning in the community. He said the Commission should not take that task casually at all, even in the face of strongly worded arguments that it should be done in one particular instance. Gibson said he also is quite taken by the fact that in the staff report, there were a number of other possible sites identified for this type of use in east Iowa City, although they happen not to be where the doctors apparently want to locate the clinic. He said he was not sure the Commission should focus on that. Gibson said the doctors should be focused on the zoning, just as everyone else is required to do. He said Econofoods is now closing, Best Buy is gone, and there is acre after acre of vacant commercial property in eastern Iowa City. Gibson said to think that the city needs to go in and reduce the value of a CN-1 zone, when there is an opportunity to put this activity in a number of other areas that are appropriately zoned right now, would be a severe mistake for the Commission to make at this time. He said he would vote not to defer for the simple reason that if the Commission wants to seriously entertain this request, there needs to be an agenda item to give serious attention to the viability of the CN-1 zone and whether or not it should be maintained. Bovbjerg said she appreciated Ehrhardt and Gibson's comments. She said they reflect very much what she thinks. Bovbjerg said while this particular proposal is quite compelling, the Commission has very consciously been trying to sort out the rezoning from the proposal, and that is not always easy. She said this rezoning would diminish the area of CN-1 zoning. Bovbjerg said it is putting one big use in a zone that is quite viable to have several uses. She said people drive almost everywhere, but just by looking at the land use and at the rezoning, it did not appear to be fair to the rest of the CN-1 area or to the neighborhood. Bovbjerg said she would like to give CN-1 zone a chance and for that reason would not be voting in favor of deferring. Chait said the Commission holds these meetings twice a month year in and year out. He said issues come before the Commission for which the participants don't have the same perspective as the Commission does in terms of the impact of the issues on the community. Chait said the Thursday nights change and the audience changes, but the Commission is here for the community, for the bigger picture. He said he wished he could explain that as well as the applicants have explained their reason for wanting this particular rezoning to happen. Chait said Commission's perspective is bigger than this one issue; it is about a community. Chait said in sitting through the process and looking at the community members present, it is hard for him not to look at the people in suits a little bit differently than the people who are present every week, but who are not in suits. He said that is not fair when you know these are just other people in the community, and whatever they are wearing, whatever power they hold and whomever they represent does not mean that they are different from anybody else. Chait said he can't quite do that because he has a lot of respect for who they are and what they can do. He said in his mind, however, the priority is about community. Chait said the commissioners who have spoken have talked about this zone in the context of eastern Iowa City and the neighborhood use and not this particular issue. He said there is a bigger opportunity here in terms of who Mercy is and what it wants to do to make a bigger contribution to the City of Iowa City and the east side of Iowa City. He said the needs are bigger than this particular parcel. Chait said he thinks this is a great plan and the architecture and integration of architecture on that site is magnificent and all of that is A+. He said that is the second part of the question, the first part being how well the particular use fits into this site. Chair said that is why we are talking about rezoning, not evaluating a particular use that is proposed to be built. Planning and Zoning Commission Minu~s Janua~ 6,2000 Page 9 Chait said if the applicant were speaking about redeveloping anywhere else, everything that was said can apply to redeveloping an area, whether irs Sycamore Mall or the Towncrest Area. He said he completely agreed with everything the applicants said except in his mind, they are talking about the wrong piece of land. Chait said everything said applies to any commercial site. He said he would like to lay down a challenge for Mercy to up the standard to which it is committed to this community and participate in taking a first step in redeveloping areas on the east side that ,are worn out and need to be redeveloped. Chait said if we continue just to go somewhere new and throw away the old, then we'll end up with worn-out deteriorated areas that don't get redeveloped. He said if we don't allow for the disposable society in terms of the real estate that we have, when areas get worn out, we need to redevelop them. Chait said there are areas on the east side of Iowa City that are worn out and are more appropriate for redevelopment than this particular site is for the purposes for which this application is being made. Chait said this discussion is a slightly different conversation than the work and designs that have been done on the particular site. He said it is where Mercy wants to do what it wants to do that is at issue. He said that is the philosophy being discussed when we talk about what Wolf mentioned in terms of accommodating to the requirements of the CN-1 zone or changing it. Chait said that is not what the Commission is here to decide at this meeting. He said he would vote against deferring this, because we have to force the issue in terms of the available land and the potential that exists. Chait said he would like nothing more than to see the resources of the applicant put to use in an area that is more appropriately zoned. He said in terms of the diagram that was shown of the town center that this area can't be, Sycamore Mall could be that. Chait said Sycamore Mall doesn't have to stay the way it is now, nor does the Towncrest area. He said those areas could be completely redone in ways that aren't obvious to people that look at it, but are obvious to architects and planners and people that have vision in planning and zoning and adaptive reuse. Chait said Victor Dover spoke about the kinds of things he is doing across the country when he discussed the Peninsula. He said the kinds of things Dover presented to the City Council and the Commission are the kinds of things that would be a huge contribution to this city and the east side. He said some of those adaptive reuses could happen there. Chait said when you look at what is being requested, Mercy is doing a great job and is a great participant in the community. He said the Sycamore and Towncrest areas would provide more opportunity in terms of what their goals and objectives are in serving clients, customers, patients, and the City. Shannon said he pretty much felt the same way. He said it is kind of distressing on the east side to pick up the paper every day and find out one more business has failed or one more storefront is left vacant. He said it seems like an ongoing problem for the east side of Iowa City. Shannon said we should look at trying to revitalize the east side, rather than to keep breaking ground on undeveloped properties. He said he would also vote not to defer. Supple said one reason the Commission members wanted to think seriously about this was because they recognize that Mercy would make an excellent neighbor and that the grounds and building would be nice, and this would be an attractive addition to the City. She said however, that it would dilute the CN-1 zone. She said although she believes the CN-1 zone needs some attention, it is necessary to preserve it and its integrity. More importantly on this project, Supple said she is quite concerned about the traffic. She said she was impressed by Parrott's comments regarding the traffic effects of the old Hy-Vee, which is sort of contrary to her argument. However, Supple said she feels that when First Avenue is connected to the arterial street to be built to the north, First Avenue, which is already a burdened street, will become even more burdened. She said to place this kind of a development on that street and cause increased traffic and the kind of turning traffic on First Avenue that would occur would be unacceptable. Supple said she feels First Avenue should be protected as should the CN-1 zone and would therefore be voting no for deferral. Planning and Zoning Commission Minu~s Janua~ 6,2000 Page 10 The motion to defer failed on a vote of 1-6. with Schintler voting yes. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to approve RF799-0015, an application submitted by Mercy Iowa City to rezone approximately 2.5 acres from Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) to Commercial Office (CO-1) for property located on the west side of First Avenue at Tudor Drive. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. The motion was denied on a vote of 0-7. REZ99-0016. Discussion of an application submitted by H&O, LC for a rezoning to a~end the Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-8) Conditional Zoning Agreement to allow a driveway access onto Foster Road for property located at 500 Foster Road. (45-day limitation period expires January 31,2000) Miklo said the agreement entered into at the time this was rezoned was that the current driveway for the Louis home on Foster Road would be closed when either the Louis family moved from the building or Foster Road was rebuilt. He said Foster Road is in the process of being rebuilt so that at the time the curb was poured, this driveway was closed. Miklo said the applicant is now asking that the agreement be amended to allow the driveway to remain open. He said the grade is more severe for the alternative driveway location than was anticipated when the plan was laid out, and that is one of the reasons for this request. Miklo said there would need to be an opening made in a retaining wall to put the ddveway in the location shown on the approved plan, but staff feels that is physically possible. Miklo said keeping one driveway open for a single-family home in and of itself would not have a great impact on Foster Road. However, he said it is Comprehensive Plan policy to minimize curb cuts on major collector streets, such as Foster Road. He noted that Foster Road provides the only vehicular access in and out of the entire Peninsula neighborhood from Dubuque Street west to the Iowa River, with the exception of Taft Speedway, which is in the flood plain and is sometimes under water. Miklo stated that the main point is when Conditional Zoning Agreements are entered into, people make promises and commitments. He said staff has a concern that those Conditional Zoning Agreements be upheld and that people don't commit to something to get the rezoning and then come back later in an attempt to be relieved of those commitments. Miklo said staff therefore is recommending against the requested amendment of the Conditional Zoning Agreement. Public discussion: Kirsten Frey. ~>011 Rochester Avenue, said she is an attorney representing H&O, LC and was speaking on behalf of the applicant. Frey said the explanation of the request for a rezoning has been submitted with the application, and pictures were also attached to the application to assist the Commission. Frey said the principle reason for this request is that as the development has commenced, it turns out there is over seven feet of fall between where this driveway would need to start and where it would end. She said it would be forced to be a relatively steep driveway that would take up a significant portion of the Louis' backyard and be relatively difficult to construct. Frey said because of the way the grading would need to be done, the property would have relatively significant grading done on both sides. Frey said the staff report suggests that should have been considered in the original zoning. Frey reassured the Commission that it was not a premeditated move on her clients' part to agree to something in zoning and then come back a year later and ask to change it. She said at the time this property was developed, plans for the road were not yet solidified. Frey said in connection with the original rezoning request for this property by H&O, LC, the City engineering staff had not indicated to the applicants with certainty what the elevation of the road needed to be. In addition, she said the City was planning on making changes of its own to Foster Road. Frey said this therefore is not a case of the developer being shortsighted and not taking care of business prior to the request for the rezoning. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 11 Frey said the City staff has indicated in the report that the problem is not really that this will create more traffic on Foster Road or the safety issues of the Louises having a private ddveway onto Foster Road. Frey stated she was not certain that what is going to be forced to take place in the absence of this rezoning is a safer alternative. She said given the fact that there would be a seven-foot fall in the driveway, this is an area that will accumulative a great deal of snow and will have relatively limited sight distance, and it may not be a safer alternative. Frey said staff has al~o pointed out there should not be piecemeal amendments to the Conditional Zoning Agreements, which people agree to and then try to amend at a later date. She said each application needs to be and must be considered on its own merits. Frey said it is inappropriate and not wise or prudent to have a policy of refusing to consider an application on its own merits, because it might lead to further destruction of the Conditional Zoning Agreement. She said for an applicant to request a change to a Conditional Zoning Agreement, he must come back before the Commission and convince the Commission that it is better to make the change than to do what was originally anticipated. Frey said it is important to look at the issue and determine what is the best and most prudent course of action under the circumstances, as they are known to exist at the present time. She said in this situation, it is the safer and better alternative to allow this private access drive onto Foster Road to continue. Chait said Frey discussed the design specs on Foster Road not being complete when the Commission reviewed this last year. Chait said the driveway the Conditional Zoning Agreement is requesting would connect to Louis Place, not Foster Road. He said that road was part of the project, and the applicant knew what the connection needed to be. He said that had nothing to do with the City. Frey said the problem is that Louis Place hooks up to Foster Road, so what happens to Foster Road affects what is happening with Louis Place. Chait agreed, but said this is about 100 plus feet north of Foster Road, teeing into Louis Place. He said he was just making the distinction that the uncertainty on Foster Road is once or twice removed from this particular driveway. Frey said her comment was that the City engineering staff did not say what elevation they wanted Louis Place to be at when the rezoning was requested. She agreed that the proposed driveway would be about 150 feet away from Foster Road, but said Louis Place should not come in too steeply to Foster Road either. Gibson said he listened to this issue being debated for a number of meetings at which the access to the Louis home was being discussed. He said it was one of a number of significant issues on which the final decision to approve this development was made. Gibson said it was ultimately agreed to, but had the agreement concerning the driveway closure not been made at that time, it is very possible this development would not have been approved. He said this goes to the issue of the sanctity of the Conditional Zoning Agreements and whether the applicant thinks Conditional Zoning Agreement conditions can be easily changed by later asking the Commission to toss them out, because the conditions don't suit the interests and purposes of the developer. Frey said she did not believe Conditional Zoning Agreements should be tossed out willy nilly, because the developer thinks it would be nicer to have it done a different way. She said if circumstances are different at a later time and a different alternative is in the best interests of the City and more prudent for all those concerned, we should not be so tied to the original Conditional Zoning Agreement that we won't take a look at amending those conditions. Bud Louis. 500 Foster Road, said he did know a year ago that he was to lose his driveway and has lived with that for a year. He said they even discussed how it would be done, with a short read out the back. Louis said when the developer came in so deep with Louis Place, he suddenly realized that in order to comply with the driveway condition, they would somehow have to get over that seven-foot wall. He said since he and his wife are the only ones using that driveway, he thought the Commission might consider allowing them to have the driveway during the time they remain in the house. Louis said he did not want to establish a precedent. He said the curb has already been poured, but he talked to John Potts, the Field Superintendent, who said if the City okays it, he could have the curb removed in a matter of minutes. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 12 Louis said although he knew a year ago that he would lose the driveway, he did not realize how difficult it would be. He said the new driveway would have to be much wider than the width of a car. He said it would have to be three times that wide to have sloping sides. Louis said it would be quite steep. He asked the Commission to consider removing that stipulation from the Conditional Zoning Agreement. Louis said he did not realize it was such a big part of the conditions for rezoning. He said the new ddve would take about half of his backyard. · Gibson stated he did not know that the driveway was necessarily a dealbreaker, but' it was one of a number of things that the Commission insisted on having before the Commission agreed to the rezoning. He said although it wasn't necessarily a dealbreaker, it is difficult to go back later on and decide which thing was important and which was not. Supple said the Commission has a general policy of holding two meetings on rezoning items to give the neighbors an opportunity to come and speak and to give everyone plenty of notice. She said this is an unusual circumstance and is not the kind of rezoning issue that would attract a great deal of attention. Supple said if the Louises preferred, the Commission could vote at this meeting or could defer this for two weeks. She asked Bud Louis if he had a preference. Supple said if the Commission denied this, it could be appealed to the City Council. Louis said this was not time sensitive, but he would like to have an answer. He added that there is a beautiful iron gate to the driveway, and he would like to keep that. Holecek said it is typically the Commission's custom to hold two hearings on any rezoning to maximize potential for public comment. She said given the nature of this particular rezoning request to amend the Conditional Zoning Agreement, it would be appropriate for the Commission to vote on this now. Betty Louis. 500 Foster Road, said she would like to keep the iron gate as well. She said one problem with using Louis Place is the fact that after everyone gets moved into the 32 units, there is going to be an awful lot of congestion with them coming onto that street. Louis said it is so simple the way the driveway is right now, and they are probably the only ones who will be using it. Louis said she would like to keep the driveway open. MOTION: Gibson moved to defer REZ99-0016, an application submitted by H&O, LC for a rezoning to amend the Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-8) Conditional Zoning Agreement to allow a driveway access onto Foster Road for property located at 500 Foster Road. Shannon seconded the motion. Chait said some of the Commission's discussions concerned allowing the driveway to remain open as long as the Louises lived in the house, and then it would automatically be closed. Miklo said the agreement says that whatever came sooner, the improvement of Foster Road or the Louises moving from the home, would trigger the closing of the driveway. Holecek said the Conditional Zoning Agreement is worded to say that the driveway shall be closed at such time as a) the Foster Road improvement project is begun or b) the Louises cease to occupy the residence. Chait said he would not have a problem cutting the Louises some slack and allowing the driveway to stay open for as long as they live there. He said when the Louises do move out, the new driveway should be put in at that point. He said he questioned why the Commission would want to defer the case instead of getting it done now and getting it done right. Louis said his daughter did not want to live in the house. He said it has been discussed that Dean Oakes would tear the house down and build another condOminium on the site when he (Bud) and his wife no longer live there. Holecek said the proposal was to remove the entirety of the condition regarding the driveway and not to tie it to the life estate of the current occupants. Ehrhardt said once the Louises move out, she thought it would be very difficult to come back in at that point and close the driveway. Miklo said the request is to remove the condition totally. He said one approach would be to delay the driveway closing until the last condominium is built and then require its closure. He said another approach would be to have an escrow for the cost of Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 13 putting the new driveway in place, with the only way to get the escrow back being to put the new ddveway in. Miklo agreed that otherwise it would be very difficult for the City to enforce. Miklo said Louis has pointed out the possibility of the current house being torn down and a new condominium being built there. Miklo said one of the issues discussed during the initial rezoning was that the house is a histodc building, and one way of developing the site and retaining the historic building was to allow the higher density and the cluster development. Holecek said it would take ,a rezoning to come back and do that, because it would be changing the OPDH plan. Bovbjerg asked if retaining the historic property is part of the Conditional Zoning Agreement. Holecek said it is not spelled out in the Conditional Zoning Agreement, but this is an OPDH, a planned development. She said changing a planned development requires a rezoning. Bovbjerg asked if the planned development does retain the existing historic structure. Miklo and Holecek confirmed this, saying the existing house is shown on the plan. Bovbjerg said she appreciated not being rigid, but did not feel she needed another two weeks to decide this issue. She said this PDH and the Conditional Zoning Agreement were well spelled out. Bovbjerg said now is when the developer is able to produce a really good, gradual sloping driveway. She said understanding that conditions can change, she felt it could be done most efficiently now and should be done now. Schintler asked if the land was all originally Louis land and if the Louises sold the land to Hodge and Oakes. Holecek said she believed there was a purchase agreement for the property. She said the entire tract originally belonged to the Louises. Holecek said the purchase agreement was probably worded that obtaining the appropriate zoning would be needed to make it a viable purchase agreement. She said the Louises, in an attempt to have the deal come to fruition, agreed to the closure of the driveway as one of the conditions to make the rezoning work. Gibson asked if it would be possible to draft an amendment to let the existing driveway stay as long as the Louises occupy the property. He said he suspected that the developers purchased the house, and there will be a lot of grading going on so that the driveway steepness will cease to be an issue. Gibson asked if it were possible to draft an amendment to permit the existing driveway as long as the Louises remain there or until the house is demolished or converted to some other purpose. He suggested that as long as the house remained in place as a historic property, the driveway would remain. Miklo said staff would recommend not providing any incentive to remove the historic building. Chait suggested drafting the amendment to allow the existing driveway just as long as the Louises remain on the property. Miklo said that was a possibility. Chait said he thought the best plan would be to have the new driveway put in right away to get it done and over with, but he could support cutting the Louises some slack. He said he would support removing the condition and putting in another condition that when the Louises are no longer residing in the house, then the ddveway access to Foster Road has to be closed. Holecek suggested the Commission put a mechanism in the condition such that there is an escrow, because it is unknown how long the period will be before the construction of the alternative driveway. Miklo said given the expense of this particular driveway, an escrow would be a good idea. He said if there were not some fund set aside to do that, the City would have to do it and spend considerable tax dollars to do so. Bovbjerg said whatever the new driveway will become and wherever it enters Louis Place, it cannot be as treacherous as going out onto Foster Road. She said Foster Road is better now, but is still on a steep slope and is curved. Bovbjerg said it is not fair for the drivers or the neighborhood to have another driveway there, because even though there is only one couple using it, it is a driveway and is a potential hazard. She said there is no reason a good, gently- sloped, well-walled ddveway could not be put in right now that would access onto Louis Place. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 14 Supple said she is not in favor of rezoning this to allow the old driveway to be reopened, because Foster Road is, in effect, an artedal street. She said even though it does not meet most arterial street standards, it would carry a lot of traffic once all of the area is developed. Supple said the traffic and arterial streets cannot tolerate excess access. She said personal driveways onto arterial streets are not acceptable to her. Supple said she has stood strongly, consistently, and often alone on this issue, and she would take the same stand on this issue again. She said she would vote no on this rezoning when the time comes to vote, but if others feel it is appropriate to defer and need more time to think about the possibilities, she would be willing to defer this. On the issue of deferring, Ehrhardt said she did not need an additional two weeks and would be voting no, unless there was a consensus of people who wanted to discuss this more. She said she is very sympathetic to the Louises, but the argument that caused that condition to be in the Conditional Zoning Agreement still holds. Ehrhardt said she did not think the circumstances have so drastically changed that the Conditional Zoning Agreement can be changed. She said she would vote no on the rezoning as well. Schintler said she would also vote no. She said Chuck Schmadeke's letter shows a big effort made to take care of the driveway situation along the way. Schintler said she also did not feel the pdvate driveway should come out onto Foster Road, because of the traffic. The motion to defer failed on a vote of 3-4. with Bovbjerg. Chait. Ehrhardt. and Schintler voting no. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to approve REZ99-0016, an application submitted by H&O L.C. for a rezoning to amend the Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-8) Conditional Zoning Agreement to allow a driveway access onto Foster Road for property located at 500 Foster Road. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. Gibson stated that if this rezoning were approved, the whole phrase stating that "the westedy private drive between the Louis household and Foster Road shall be closed at such time as Norwood C. Louis and Betty Louis cease to occupy the existing single-family residence or the Foster Road widening project is commenced, whichever event comes first" would be removed. He said the second event has happened so that if the motion is approved, the whole phrase will be removed and there will be nothing to require the driveway to be vacated. Holecek said that was correct. She said approval would allow the Louises to put their private driveway back with no subsequent conditions about future closure. Holecek said a condition could be added to replace the one in the Conditional Zoning Agreement. AMENDMENT TO THE MAIN MOTION: Chait moved to amend the main motion to reflect that the driveway shall be closed at such time as Norwood C. Louis and Betty Louis cease to occupy the existing single-family residence and with the further stipulation that an escrow shall be paid by the applicant to provide for the construction of the alternative driveway, as shown on the approved plan. Gibson seconded the motion. Supple asked who would decide the amount of the escrow. Miklo said the Public Works Department would work out an estimate of what the cost would be. Gibson said unfortunately the circumstances did not work out as they were intended to. He said it would be difficult to fault the Louises on that point, and he would be more likely to fault the developers, because the other street could probably have been designed in a way that would not have made it so difficult to get this driveway in. Gibson said he was somewhat sympathetic and felt the developer probably would not or could not do anything about this at this point. He said he was not sure the Louises would have accepted this as a condition had they known how it would turn out. Gibson said he was inclined to be somewhat accommodating here, as there are some unusual circumstances involved. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 15 Supple said her understanding is that it would be appropriate for her to vote yes to the amendment, even if she wished to vote no for the motion. She said if the amendment passes, in case the rezoning is approved, it will then have this condition. Supple said she intended to vote no on the main motion. Bovbjerg said she felt that if a person feels strongly, as she does, that this reopening and redoing will be more complicated and more work than necessary, she would have to vote against the amendment. Holecek pointed out that the amendment is merely a more finely tailored approval. Bovbjerg said she was opposed to approving the main motion and felt she could not vote to approve an amendment to a motion that she would be voting against. Supple said she did not think there should be a ddveway there. She said she was concerned that a majority might think it was appropriate, and she therefore believed the amendment is a necessity and should be attached, in the event this rezoning is approved. The amendment to the main motion carried on a vote of 6-1, with Bovbjerg voting no. The main motion. as amended, failed on a vote of 3-4. with Bovbjerg. Ehrhardt, Schintler and Supple voting no. DEVELOPMENT ITEM: SUB99-0029. Discussion of an application submitted by Arlington L.C. for a preliminary plat of Windsor Ridge Part Fifteen, a 40.27-acre, two-lot, residential subdivision with two outlots on the north side of Court Street at its eastern terminus. (45-day limitation period expires January 30, 2000) Kugler said the plat meets the City's requirements for a preliminary plat and is also consistent with the OPDH plan. He said the issues reported on Monday have been resolved, and the plat is ready to be voted on. Kugler said he spoke with Holecek about the neighborhood open space and whether it could be required in a specific location. He said staff feels that in this case, given what is represented in the Comprehensive Plan for this area, the City has the ability to require the open space in the Lindemann Square area with the development of Lot A, which will require a rezoning application. Kugler said there is a requirement for an OPDH rezoning on that property. Holecek said the legal papers for this particular subdivision will include the fact that neighborhood open space will be dedicated in Lot A upon redevelopment of Lot A, and at that time, staff will be better able to locate and assess the neighborhood open space requirements and location. Kugler said staff recommends approval of this plat, subject to Council approval of REZ99-0011, the planned development rezoning for this property reviewed by the Commission a few meetings ago, prior to Council consideration of the plat. He said that rezoning is being considered by the City Council right now, and there will be a public hearing on January 18t~. Kugler said the Council would have three readings of that ordinance before it can be approved, and in association with the last reading of that ordinance, staff would bdng the plat before Council as well. Bovbjerg asked if the concern regarding the curve of the collector street just south of the water collection area has been resolved. Kugler said when the OPDH plan for this property was submitted, it was submitted with the street design for a collector street. He said staff felt it probably would be appropriate as a collector, even though it doesn't serve a large area. Kugler stated that one of the reasons for that was because of the likelihood of on-street parking here associated with some of the multi-family buildings and the benefit of having a 31-foot width in that situation. He said the applicant's latest concept plan shows that Camden Road will not be a through street to Lower West Branch Road. Kugler said the portion of Camden Road south of Ashford Place, where the two streets come together, will be built at 31 feet under the collector Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 16 street standards, and the rest of the street system will be local streets of a 28-foot width and not subject to the tuming radius requirements for collector streets. Kugler said the Northeast District Plan recommends a very interconnected street system, and staff feels an interconnected system of local streets here will adequately move traffic from the neighborhood out to the artedal streets without having a collector street in this location running all the way to Lower West Branch Road. Bovbjerg said the anticipation would then be that the northern quarter or third would flow up to Lower West Branch Road instead of,coming down a collector street. Kugler said traffic would go both ways depending on where traffic is going. But, he said, given the anticipated land uses, the collector street design did not seem necessary. Bovbjerg said it would not be anticipated that this would be a cul-de-sac street. Kugler agreed it would not and that the concept plan shows a connection. Supple asked if the Commission needed to deal with Lindemann Square in this application. Kugler said it did not. He said the need is to deal with the Neighborhood Open Space requirements for this plat in some way. He noted that staff is recommending that those requirements be satisfied when Lot A develops, and at that time, the priority should be on obtaining the land necessary for Lindemann Square, rather than areas along the drainageway, as originally proposed. Kugler said the Commission could make a specific recommendation with regard to that issue or leave it up to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to approve SUB99-0029, a preliminary plat of Windsor Ridge Part Fifteen, a 40.27-acre, two-lot, residential subdivision with two outlots located on the north side of Court Street at its eastern terminus, subject to the approval of REZ99-0011, prior to City Council consideration of the plat. Chait seconded the motion. Ehrhardt asked if the requirement to have the open space be dedicated at the site of the future Lindemann Square were one of the conditions. Kugler stated that it was not specifically listed in the recommendation as a condition, but it is in the staff report as staffs evaluation of how the neighborhood open space should be met. He said it would be incorporated into the legal papers. Miklo added that it is also spelled out in the Comprehensive Plan. Supple said she feels that of this section of the Northeast District Plan, only Lindemann Square is an absolute. She said that is an extremely important part of the Northeast District. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. OTHER: Discussion of a request submitted by Chezik Sayers Honda to amend the sign regulations to allow wide-clad freestanding signs in the C1~1 zone. Chait said his firm is involved with some design work for the applicant. He said he would be excusing himself from discussion of this item. Supple said the Commission would be deciding whether or not to ask staff to research amending the sign regulations. The consensus of the Commission was to ask staff to incorporate this in with the sign regulation amendments they are researching with regard to the ACT property. Supple stated that the next informal meeting was scheduled for January 17, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. She asked Commission members if they would like to reschedule the meeting Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes January 6, 2000 Page 17 or cancel it. Miklo said the agenda for that set of meetings was anticipated to be light. The consensus of the Commission was to cancel the informal meeting scheduled for January 17. (Chait left the meeting at 9:30 p.m.) Public discussion: Larry Lynch. 746 Juniper Drive, said he represents Chezik-Sayers Honda. He said the only reason they are requesting this is that timing is very critical. Lynch said through an error on the part of Chezik-Sayers, they thought this sign had already been approved, when it was technically against the current sign ordinance. Lynch said it is critical for the new building to have this type of sign. He said he realizes staff has other projects and he wanted to bring this to staffs attention as soon as possible. Lynch said the new building is scheduled to be completed in April, and he is asking staff to look at this soon. Miklo said at the Commission's direction, this item would be number four on the pending list and would be looked at some time this winter. Specifically, he expected this to be looked at in February or March. Jon Bell. 2343 Mormon Trek Boulevard, said he is Director of Operations for Chezik-Sayers Honda. He said he sent a representative a year ago to have discussions with Melody Rockwell, and his representative mistakenly thought staff would support a variance for the sign Chezik- Sayers would like to have. Bell said staff recommended against the variance, although it was his impression that staff would support an ordinance change. Bell said Chezik-Sayers is redeveloping its dealership to have a modern appearance. He said this redevelopmerit costing over one million dollars is part of a national program. Bell said part of the program is the sign, and American Honda would grant a concession of the free leasing of the sign for two years, if the appropriate sign is installed. Bell said Chezik-Sayers is located on an entranceway to the City and wants to have an aesthetically pleasing operation. He said the current sign is very old and Chezik-Sayers is requesting that the Commission consider amending the sign ordinance as soon as possible. Bell said this sign is the type of sign that will be better for the area. He said staff appears to agree with this under certain conditions. Bell said he would like to have the sign in place for the dealership's grand opening in April. He said the sign is ready now, and installation would be approximately a 30-day process. COMMISSION INFORMATION: Bovbjerg recommended the book Geography of Nowhere by Kunstler. Ehrhardt said she appreciated Chait's comments about redevelopment in established areas. CONSIDERATION OF THE DECEMBER 16, 1999 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: MOTION: Gibson moved to approve the minutes of the December 16, 1999 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, as amended at the informal meeting. Schintler seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:48 p.m. Dean Shannon, Secretary 'Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - December 14, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Chair J. Watson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Hoffey, P. Farrant, J. Stratton and J. Watson. Staff present: Legal Counsel C. Pugh and PCRB Assistant S. Bauer. Also in attendance was Chief Winkelhake. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Hoffey to adopt the Consent Calendar. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None CAMP DODGE The planned trip to the Police Academy at Camp Dodge was postponed because the class the Board was most interested in was cancelled. The Board will look at the course offerings in the spring and perhaps reschedule at that time. COMMUNITY FORUM The past three PCRB forums were reviewed. Cohen stated she is more interested, at this time, in meeting with City Council regarding PCRB issues. The Board has requested a meeting with City Council after the new council is seated. P. Hoffey stated at least one forum a year should be held. After discussion, the Board decided to consider a forum in the spring. In response to an earlier consideration by the Board to address the Iowa City police officers about the PCRB, Chief Winkelhake offered the Board the opportunity to address the officers during their training sessions commencing the week of January 10. The Chief offered an approximately 30 minute slot on five consecutive Thursdays. Board members discussed this possibility. A committee composed of J. Watson and P. Hoffey was selected to make this presentation if the Board chooses to participate. A decision on whether to participate will be made at the next meeting. POLICE POLICIES, PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES The Board acknowledged their interest in the "Training" newsletter in the recent packet. The Chief informed the Board of "Roll Call" training and offered to pass this along to the Board also. NEW BUSINESS Attendance at the Citizen's Police Academy functions will continue to be a personal decision by Board members. MEETING SCHEDULE · Special Meeting December 28, 1999, 7:00 P.M. (J. Stratton will be absent) · Regular Meeting January 11, 2000, 7:00 P.M. · Special Meeting January 25, 2000, 7:00 P.M. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None BOARD INFORMATION None STAFF INFORMATION S. Bauer - (1) Starting January 18, 2000, the formal City Council meetings will be held the first and third Tuesday of each month; (2) Irvin Pfab briefly visited the PCRB office this week; (3) three mediators have communicated their desire to continue as PCRB mediators. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Farrant to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5 (1)(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22.7(5) police officer investigative reports, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law, rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that government body if they were available for general public examination. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Open session adjourned at 7:50 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Regular meeting resumed at 8:50 P.M. Regarding PCRB Complaint//99-08, the Board will be seeking additional information in order to determine whether the complaint is timely. Bauer was directed to draft a letter to the Chief requesting a copy of the case file and any videotapes regarding PCRB Complaint//99-07 for the Chair's signature. Motion by P. Hoffey and seconded by P. Farrant to return to Item No. 9 on the agenda. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Chair Watson made reference to the City Manager's response to his letter, indicating he will set up a meeting with the Council and PCRB. Watson and Farrant will attempt to meet with the mayor and the city manager prior to the meeting with council. Cohen requested that prepara.tion for these meetings be put on future agendas. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by P. Hoffey and seconded by J. Stratton. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M,