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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-03-21 Bd Comm minutes , 5b(1 ) I MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10, 2000 - 5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY AIRPORT TERMINAL MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Mascari, Tom Bender, Mark Anderson STAFF PRESENT: Dennis Mitchell, Ron O'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Mascari called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the January 13, 2000 Commission meeting were approved as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Bender made a motion to approve the bills. Anderson seconded the motion and the bills were approved 3- 0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Dick Blum, from H.R. Green, said there is a FAA advisory circular that deals with GPS approaches. Mascari said he had received a letter from the FAA in Kansas City that said Iowa City is listed for a precision approach for Rtmway 24 and the FAA would try to commission the approach in the next two years. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. ACSG project- O'Neil said that ACSG is working toward the March deadline of having the project completed. There is still one property to purchase. That is the property in the RPZ for Runway 12. b. MEter Plan update- O'Neil said he thought the draft ALP had been forwarded to Kansas City. This will include reserving a 1000' primary surface for Runway 24. Congress is still debating the FY 2000 funding bill. Until the bill is passed, there will be no AlP construction project grants issued. c. North Commercial area- O'Neil said he met with Jerry Seafie, MMS, Melody Rockwell, and Dennis Mitchell to discuss the wetland mitigation problem. Mitchell said he thought the City was creating some additional wetland for another project and some of that could be used to mitigate the wctlands on the Airport. He will schedule a mecting next week with the Corp of Engineers to discuss the project. O'Neil said the funding forthe NCA infrastructure is in the FY 2001 budget. He said MMS has said the plans and specifications for the project are substantially completed. As soon as the wetlands issue is resolved, plans could go forward to go out to bid with the construction project. O'Neil said a meeting of the NCA subcommittee should be scheduled soon. He will contact Steve Atkins to see when the Council members are available. Anderson made a motion to hire Jerry Searle with Snyder Associates to assist in the aviation planning for the NCA platting. Bender seconded the motion and it passed 3 - 0. d. Fuel tank site proposal- Blum, from H.R. Green, said that the first concern of the Commission was the location of the tanks. The 1996 Master Plan designated an area directly north of the current fuel farm as the site for the new fuel farm. After discussion by the Commission, it was decided that the above ground tanks would be better sited directly west of building "F" . Blum said the State Fire Marshall requires the tanks to be a minimum of 40 feet from a building. Blum said he would advise the Commission to install a service road next to the building and install the tanks between the new service road and the taxiway. Them would be room for some type of screening on the west side of the tanks. Mascari wanted to know if the sendee road should be made wide enough to taxi an airplane, in case the Commission wanted to install self-fueling at a later date. Blum said he did not think a plane would be able to taxi through the containment area. O 'Neff said there are some lease issues to resolve. ICFS has the right to use their tanks for the time remaining on their lease. The Commission must decide if they expect ICFS to contribute to the fuel farm as part of their commitment to the Airport as was discussed several months ago. If they do not want to conUibnte financially to the installation, what kind of arrangement will be made to retire the capital investment of the new fuel farm? H.R. Green will develop some budget numbers for the cost of the fuel firm. Anderson said he would recommend asking H.K Green for a proposal to develop plans and specifications for a fuel site to include two 12,000-gallon fuel tanks. Bhm recommended the project be done in two phases, site development and tank installation. O'Neil said the Council will hold their FY 2001 budget hearing on February 29~. The Commission will know after that time if this project is in the budget for 2001. The Council budget must be certified by March 15i, Even if this project stays in the budget, an agreement will need to be negotiated with ICFS to use the tanks. O'Neil said H.R. Green would need to give the Commission a formula for what it would take to repay the cost of the fuel farm. O'Neil suggested a construction schedule for the Fall of 2000 or Spring of 2001. Anderson made a motion to direct H.R. Green to develop a proposal for a new fuel farm, with construction completion on, or no later than, the Spring of 2001. Bender seconded the motion and it passed 3 - 0, with Foster and Heran being absent. e. Southwest T-hangar building- O 'Neff said that there were three issues to discuss. There will be a change order to install openings in the building because it is being built in the flood plain. VJE will design the openings and send the information to Selzer Werderitsch Associates (SWA). A section of concrete was poured without any reinforcement wire. SWA suggested several remedies, including extending the warranty from one year to three years. They would also rebate the Commission the cost of the reinforcement wire. The consensus of the Commission was to have them remove and replace the concrete. O 'Neil said the contractor also made the building three inches too short. The remedy could be to reduce the size of one of the doors by three inches or to have the contractor move the footings three inches. The door would be 41' 9" instead of 42'. The Commission said that as long as the door is not considered a special order door if it needs to be replaced, SWA would not need to move the footings. O 'Neil said he has a fax from the door manufacturer, saying that they can build any size door within ¼" dimensions and it would not be considered a special order. O'Neil said the Commission needs to finalize hangar rents so he can complete the leases for the building. This will be on the agenda at the next meeting. f. Airport Terminal Building renovation - The projects remaining include installing another light switch for the upstairs lights, the lightning rod system, the flooring in the rending room, fixing the door at the top of the stairs on the second floor, and the walkway/deck. Mascari said he would like the contractor to straighten the light in the stairway leading to the second floor. Anderson suggested installing ~orescent light bulbs instead of regular light bulbs. O 'Neil said the Commission should decide when they would like to have an open house for Terminal Renovation project. Mascad said he would discuss that during the Chairperson's report. O'Neil said the Commission should also discuss the pay phone issue. Mascari said he bought a rotary dial pay phone for the old telephone booth. He said it needs to be checked by a technician to make sure it will work with our phone lines. O 'Neil said AT &T has said a separate line for the phone will cost somewhere between $37 and $60 per month. Mascari said he would like to take some of the money the Commission is receiving from the lirsa lease and apply it to the phone line. O'Neil said the budget for the Terminal Building is extremely tight and that if there is any remaining money, it should probably be applied to replacing the boiler. One of the three boilers needs to be replaced. It will cost about $ 3000.00. He thought most of the people would use the free phone in the Flight Planning Room instead of using a pay phone in the phone booth. Masca~ said he would pay the difference between the cost of installing the pay phone and the amount received from the remaining phone booth. He originally thought the phone booth was worth about $ 3000.00, but he is now hoping to get about $ 400.00. Blum suggested hooking up the phone to a recorder that played a brief history of the Iowa City Airport. Mascari said it would be fun to have it as a working phone. O'Neil suggested a couple of ways to finance the phone. O 'Neil said he is still researching what FCC regulations are involved in having a pay phone. Mascari said the phone was a novelty and he did not want to jeopardize other projects to pay for the phone. O'Neil said there is one other project the Commission needed to discuss. The new flooring in the first floor rending room is coming loose. One of the pieces does not match the other three. There are several options. One is to take all the flooring out and replace it. Another option is to replace part of it with carpet. The consensus of the Commission was to repair the existing flooring. Mascad said he would like to see some plants and pictures in the Terminal. O'Neil said he will see what he can find. Nothing was budgeted for that in the construction budget. g. Hangar lease #32 - Mascari said because there may be a conflict of interest, he would not be voting on this issue. Because there was not a quorum without Mascari, Bender suggested the issue be deferred until the next meeting. O'Neil will notify ICFS that they will need to lease the hangar until at least through March. h. LD.O.T. grants 1. Vertical infrastructure- O'Neil listed several projects that would be eligible for funding. These included funding for the new hangar (Bldg. K), the fuel farm, rehab the North T-hangars, and rehab the maintenance hangar (Bldg. D). He said the rehab of the T-hangars and Building D would net the highest priority on the scale developed for the grant. After direction from the Conunission, O 'Neil said he would send applications for all four projects, with Building D being the top priority, the T-hangars second, Building K third, and the fuel farm fourth. Anderson made a motion for a resolution to apply for funding through the Vertical Infrastructure Fund. Bender seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 3 - 0, with Heran and Foster being absent. 2. FY 2001 funding- O'Neil said the State AlP applications are due April 10, 2000. O'Neil said that the most of the airside construction projects have traditionally been ~mded through the FAA. The FAA funding is a 90/10 split and the State was 70/30. There are several projects that the State will now fund on a 90/10 split. O'Neil will compile a list of projects for the Commission to discuss at their next meeting. 3. REIL grant - O'Neil said the Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL) on Runway 35 do not work consistently. This can be funded by the IDOT F & E Contingency Fund. He said if the Commission is interested, he will have some cost estimates available for the next meeting. The Commission said they would like to see how much it would cost to replace the REIL. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: Mascari said he thought the Council was receptive to the capital projects at the budget meeting on January 25m. Mascari said he wanted to run a natural gas line to his hangar. It would be his cost to install and maintain the line and heaters. It would be installed by a certified plumbing contractor. O'Neil said it would need to be clarified who owns the heaters once they are installed. Mascari said the City of Iowa City has it's own website. He said the Iowa City Airport is not mentioned. He would like to see Iowa City Airport mentioned someplace. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: Bender wanted to know what the rules will be for using the second floor room. Mascari said that the lease with ICFS says that if the room could be leased for more than $ 300/month, ICFS would give up the room. Bender wanted to know if the room could be used, as an example, for a one- day class? Mascari said that decision would be up to ICFS. O'Neil said he will put together a preliminary list of rules for use of the second floor room, keeping in mind that it is leased by ICFS until December of 2001. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: O 'Neil said that the Commission should look into leasing space at the Chamber Business Fair to advertise Fly Iowa 2001. O'Neil said the Council is interested in getting meeting minutes sooner than they do. The Commission said they do not want to send draft minutes to the Council. They need to approve their minutes before they are released. The Council's public heating for the FY 2001 budget is scheduled for February 29, 2000. Mascari presented the Commission's budget to the Council on January 25m. O'Neil commented that he thought Mascari did a good job and answered all the Council's questions. O'Neil suggested that the Commission continue to work on a five-year business and CIP plan. A public heating was held forthe City's South Central District plan. There was opposition fxom property owners to the road connecting Highway 1 with South Riverside Drive. The heating was continued until February 15m. The FAA AIP Conference is scheduled for May 3~ and May 4m in Kansas City. Masca~, Bender, Mitchell and Anderson said they would be interested in going. SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2000 at 5:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjoumed at 8:30 p.m. Rick Mascari, Chairperson PRELIMINARY IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT WEDNESDAY, ,JANUARY ~2, 2000- 5 P,M, Subject la Approval CIVIC CENTER- COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Lowell Brandt, T.J, Brantit, Kate Corcoran, Dennis Keitel, Mike Paul MEMBERS ABSENT: None COUNCIL STAFF PRESENT: Melody Rockwell, Sarah Holocek (LISA SINGLE SIDED) OTHERS PRESENT: Martin Gaffey, Mark Buell CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chairperson Brandt called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: All members were present. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON MOTION: Corcoran moved to elect L. Brandt as Chairperson. T. J. Brandt seconded the motion. L. Brandt was elected Chairperson of the Board on a 5-0 vote. T.J. Brandt made a motion to elect Corcoran as Vice Chairperson. Keitel seconded the motion. Corcoran was elected Vice Chairperson of the Board on a 5-0 vote. CONSIDERATION OF THE DECEMBER 8, 1999, BOARD MINUTES: Rockwell noted that the minutes were done by tape only as Tyson was not able to attend the meeting. Also the microphone had not been plugged at the podium during the last meeting so those minutes need a number of revisions. She outlined those changes and said a revised copy incorporating those changes was available for the Board's review. MOTION: T.J. Brandt moved to approve the December 8, 1999, minutes of the Board of Adjustment, as revised. Corcoran seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. SPECIAL EXCEPTION ITEMS EXC99-0025. Public hearing on an application submitted by Hodge Construction for a special exception to permit additional parking for the proposed Hodge Construction office expansion for property located in the Community Commercial (CC-2) zone at 711 S. Gilbert Street. L. Brandt noted that the applicant had requested an indefinite deferral of this application. MOTION: Corcoran moved to defer indefinitely consideration of EXC99-0025, an application submitted by Hodge Construction for a special exception to permit parking on a separate lot for property located in the Community Commercial (CC-2) zone at 711 S. Gilbert Street. Paul seconded the motion. The motion carried on a 5-0 vote. EXC99-0026. Public hearing on an application submitted by Martin Gaffey for a special exception to permit dwelling units to be established above ground floor commercial uses and a special exception to modify the front yard setback requirement along Scott Boulevard for property located in the Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) zone on Lots 176 and 177 on Scott Court. T.J. Brandt recused himself from hearing this exception as he had a vested interest in this project in being a contractor to supply heating and cooling equipment. Iowa City Board ofAdjustment Minutes Janua~ 12,2000 Page 2 Rockwell stated that Gaffey is requesting this exception to allow him to establish apartments on the second floor of two new buildings he is proposing to construct in the CN-1 zone on Scott Court. Because Scott Boulevard is a major arterial street, a 40-foot front yard setback requirement applies along the Scott Boulevard frontage. She said the site plans shows the buildings are located closer than 40 feet to the Scott Boulevard right-of-way. The applicant is therefore also requesting a special exception for a front yard reduction. Rockwell said in 1994, the City Council amended the Neighborhood Commercial (CN-1) zone and set forth guidelines to encourage pedestrian access and neighborhood compatibility. She said the CN-1 zone permits residential uses to be established by special exception above permitted ground floor commercial uses. She said the density requirement, which allows one dwelling unit per 1800 square feet of lot area, would permit up to 12 apartments on Lot 176 and up to 13 on Lot 177. She said only five apartments are proposed on each lot so this proposal is well under the allowed density. Rockwell said the intent section of the CN-1 zone indicates that "neighborhood commercial sites should follow the criteria set forth in such sites in the Comprehensive Plan." She said the Plan encourages the establishment of apartments above businesses in the CN-1 zone and specifies that the design of the neighborhood commercial center should have a pedestrian orientation. She went on to say that the guidelines in this zone are intended to help ensure that this zone develops in a manner that is compatible with adjacent residential properties and encourages pedestrian access to the zone as well as within the zone. Rockwell said it is staff's view that the site plan as submitted does not meet the design provisions intended to encourage pedestrian access. She said the site plan shows no pedestrian connection between the sidewalk along Scott Court and the proposed buildings on the property. She said Mr. Galley has indicated his willingness to meet the design standard to provide masonry materials to define a pedestrian walkway between the street and the buildings, but has not illustrated on the site plan how this would be accomplished. She said staff has suggested alternatives for a pedestrian connection. She noted that one option would be to have one driveway entrance instead of two. She said this would reduce the paved area needed for parking and would allow more space for a pedestrian walk. Rockwell said staff had also noted that if the buildings were set closer to Scott Court, it would allow for a more direct pedestrian access from Scott Court. She said staff also suggested a pedestrian link between the buildings, but it is not shown on the site plan. Rockwell commented that the applicant did revise the site plan to add landscaping areas between the building and the parking area to soften the appearance of the building. She said the building design selected by applicant incorporates windows and doors into the building in a way that adds interest to what could otherwise be a fairly long blank wall of the building. She said Mr. Gaffey has proposed a raised gable to break up the roofline and the use of brick for the exterior building materials. She said these design features meet the spirit of the architectural design provisions of the CN-1 zone. Rockwell noted that the Board is also asked to consider the applicant's request for a front yard modification along Scott Boulevard. She said the site plan shows both of the buildings encroaching into the 40-foot front yard setback area along Scott Boulevard. She noted that in compliance with the 40-foot setback requirement along Scott Boulevard, both the Mid-Town Restaurant and the Amoco gas station, which are located on properties along this frontage, are set back 40 feet or more from the Scott Boulevard right-of-way line. Rockwell said the peculiarity of the property in this case involves the curvature of the Scott Boulevard right-of-way on the east side of the property and the sanitary sewer easement on the west, both of which constrain development on the lots, particularly Lot 176. She said the proposed front yard encroachment is relatively minor both in substance and effect. She said the building on Lot 177 would have only a 3% encroachment and the building on Lot 176 would Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes January 12, 2000 Page 3 project into the front yard approximately 13%. Rockwell noted that the effect of the encroachment could be further minimized by landscaping with trees on the east side of the building. Rockwell said in considering if there is some feasible alternative, staff suggests that the amount of encroachment be minimized by decreasing the green area along the west side of the property by four feet and the sidewalk along the west side of the building by one foot. She said this would enable the location of the parking area and buildings to be shifted five feet to the west. She noted that this would eliminate the need for a front yard modification entirely on Lot 177 and would diminish the encroachment of the building on Lot 176 into the front yard setback area from 13% to 7%. She said staff feels that this reduced level of encroachment is acceptable in this given situation, particularly if landscaping is introduced along the east side of the building. Considering that these will be residential units, staff would encourage the Board to require that the buildings be located as far back as possible from the Scott Boulevard, a heavily traveled street. Rockwell reiterated that it is the intent of the Neighborhood Commercial zone to encourage appropriate residential development. She said both the General Comprehensive Plan and the specific Northeast District Plan specifically encourage having residential uses in the upper portion of buildings. Rockwell said if the applicant is willing to submit a redesigned site plan that will reduce the requested amount of front yard encroachment, improve pedestrian access and provide additional landscaping, staff recommends approval of EXC99-0026, a special exception to permit five second-floor apartments to be established on Lots 176 and 177 on Scott Court. She said staff also recommends approval of a special exception to modify the front yard setback requirement for Lot 176 to allow up to a 10% encroachment of the building footprint within the required front yard along Scott Boulevard. She said the applicant has requested an 18-month period to establish the approved exceptions, and staff concurs with this request. She said this would set the expiration date of the decision at July 12, 2001. Public hearing opened. Martin Gaffey said the site plan has been revised about four times. He said he is willing to work with the staffs requests. He said the 40-foot setback could have been met, but city staff requested a five-foot planting area in front of the building. He said as long as the other changes suggested by staff do not infringe on the handicap requirement issues, he is willing to comply. He said he'd agree to do the landscaping area along Scott Boulevard within reason. Gaffey said that it has been mentioned that this area along Scott Boulevard is a front yard. He said he views it as the back yard. Rockwell clarified that the area of any property that is adjacent to a street frontage is considered a front yard. Keitel asked about the front and rear elevations of the building. Gaffey said the side that faces Scott Boulevard is the rear elevation. He said he has been told that it needs to look good from both the back and front views. Gaffey said a connecting sidewalk between the two buildings was mentioned as an issue. Gaffey indicated that on Lot 176 there will be a wheel chair lift on the south side of the building and on Lot 177, the wheel chair lift will be on the north side of the building. He said the pavement leading to the lifts would serve as a pedestrian connection between the buildings. Gaffey noted that a sidewalk leading from Scott Court to the building has also been mentioned as an issue. Gaffey noted that the Mid-Town Restaurant has placed red colored brick leading to the restaurant. He said the Amoco gas station has nothing in place for this. Gaffey said that he has had the site plan designed to meet the parking requirement. He said he does not know how to meet the pedestrian area requirements without making another compliance problem. Gaffey said that he does not want to have a joint driveway. He said his experiences have not been good with this situation as there is a problem of people blocking each other. He said the only thing having one driveway does is to slightly reduce cement costs. Mark Buell commented Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes January 12, 2000 Page 4 that he has done different traffic configurations and the one presented seems to work the best in this situation. Keitel confirmed that the side yard setback either has to be five or more feet or zero feet. Rockwell noted that the developer could select either one of these. In response to a question from Keitel, Rockwell confirmed that in the CN-1 zone, there are reduced parking requirements. She said one parking space is required per 300 square feet for the commercial floor area; this means 13 spaces are required for the proposed commercial use of each building. She said for the apartment portion of the building, the requirement is two parking spaces for each apartment, which means that ten parking spaces are required per lot for the proposed residential use. Gaffey noted that he is building one of the buildings definitely. He said if after the first one is built and leasing does not go as well as he expects, then he may not build the second building. He said that a twelve-month exception would be adequate. L. Brantit then clarified the recommendations that staff had made, which included reducing the amount of front yard encroachment, improving pedestrian access and providing additional landscaping. He said this would involve working with city staff to make these accommodations. Keitel said that there appears to be a separation between the two parking lots where a walkway could be installed. Gaffey noted that it was recommended that the dumpsters needed to be placed as shown on the site plan. Gaffey pointed out other businesses in the area that are not in compliance with these guidelines. Rockwell noted that the dance studio does have a raised four-foot wide walk. She agreed that there is not a pedestrian walk to the dental building, but noted that this situation was one of the reasons that design guidelines for pedestrian access had been added to the provisions of the CN-1 zone. She said the Amoco gas station has a pedestrian connection to Court Street, not to Scott Court, because it was determined that it was not prudent to have pedestrian walkways by the gas tanks. Gaffey said he is willing to make modifications if someone can show him where it will work to make the accommodation. Buell said he could not find a place to put a four-foot wide sidewalk without making another violation. Keitel inquired how Gaffey intended to deal with the grade separation between the building and the grade on Scott Boulevard. Gaffey said he has not addressed this issue yet. He said he needs to look at the footage. He noted that the Amoco property has a retaining wall with 12xl 2 blocks and grass on top of it. He said the Mid-town Restaurant has a wooden terrace in place. He said he is not sure of what he will do, because his property is located inbetween these two different retaining walls. Public hearing closed. MOTION: Keitel moved to approve EXC99-0026, a special exception to permit five second-floor apartments to be established on Lot 176 and 177 on Scott Court and a special exception to modify the front yard setback requirement for Lot 176 with up to a ten percent encroachment of the building footprint, with the north portion of the building extending no more than eight feet into the required front yard along Scott Boulevard, subject to the applicant submitting a revised site plan showing improved pedestrian access and additional landscaping. The Board's decision on this item will not expire for twelve months, or until January 12, 2001. Corcoran seconded the motion. Findinqs of Fact Corcoran stated that she would support the motion as long as the site plan was revised to move the buildings five feet to the west and sufficient landscaping is placed along Scott Boulevard. She noted that Scott Boulevard is likely to be widened in the future so having landscaping that provides a buffer for the residential use is important. She noted that the grade and curvature of Scott Boulevard create a unique situation concerning the front yard setback requirement. She Iowa City Board of Adjustment Minutes January 12, 2000 Page 5 said as it appears the applicant is willing to meet the conditions of approval, she is in favor of the motion. Paul noted that he was inclined to vote in favor of the motion. He said the development would not affect the neighborhood in a negative way. He said he appreciated the changes the applicant was willing to make to the site plan to improve it. He said it would be in the interests of justice to grant the requested exception. Keitel said that he would support the mixed use of the property. He noted that the encroachment bothered him. With the setback modification and the retaining wall it should not be such an issue. He said with the future widening of Scott Boulevard, the location of the retaining wall as well as the conditions of approval needed to be taken into account. He said he supported the motion as stated. L. Brandt said that he supported having a mix of commercial and residential uses. He said with the minimizing of the front yard encroachment, the front yard modification wouldn't be much of an issue. He said he applauded the applicant for his willingness to accommodate the guidelines set out in this zone. He said there appeared to be no negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood related to the proposed exceptions as long as the condition to improve pedestrian access is met. He said it is imperative in the CN-1 zone to encourage pedestrian access both visibly and functionally, as was done with the Amoco gas station pedestrian connection to Court Street. He stated that the proposed development would be a good use of a CN-1 zone. He said it is a mixed-use area and this addition would be an improvement to the area. The motion was aDDroved 4-0-1 with T. J. Brandt abstaininn due to potential conflict of interest. T.J. Brandt rejoined the meeting. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION Rockwell said Dennis Mitchell will present information regarding variances at the next Board meeting. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Keitel moved to adjourn the meeting. Paul seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 6 p.m. Lowell Brandt, Board Chairperson Melody Rockwell, Board Secretary Minutes submitted by Le Ann Dunne-Tyson ppdadm.,,'mm/boa1-12-00.doc IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTNENT MEETING WEDtVESDA Y~ January 2Z 2000 - ~ P, M, Civic Center Council Chamber~ SIGN IN SHEET Name Address ~. -. , ,~-- ~t, G, 7, P, 12, 15, 1G, 17. 19. MINUTES THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2000, 5:30 PM CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Lars Anderson, Richard Carlson, Mike Gunn, Doris Malkmus, Pam Michaud, Linda Shope MEMBERS ABSENT: Frank Gersh, Marc Mills, Michaelanne Widness, Sue Licht STAFF PRESENT: Scott Kugler, Jeff Davidson and Ron Logsden OTHERS PRESENT: Mark McCallum, Ann Freerks, Lorraine Bowans CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA None CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS REVIEW 430 Brown Street - Mark McCallurn submitted a request for the approval of the replacement of windows at the northeast corner of the home located at 430 Brown Street. McCallum stated that the windows were probably added in the 1960's and the new windows would be a better match with the other windows in the home. Most of the windows in the home are the original and are six or eight panes over one pane. The replacement windows are a Marvin window made of all wood and will be painted. The window is a match with the current windows in place. He noted that he did have a problem finding an all-wood window. The window that he chose is about $600 each unit. Malkmus inquired as to the dimensions of the new windows in relation to the windows on the rest of the house. McCallum said them are over thirty windows in the home and they are varied in size. The windows am typical with the others on the ground floor of the home. McCallurn said that the trim boards will be in line with the others on the house. MOTION: Malkmus moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for 430 Brown Street. Shope seconded the motion. The motion carried on a 6-0 vote. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED TRANSIT INTERCHANGE FACILITY DESIGN PLAN Kugler noted that there was a packet of information for each member. He said that the city plans on removing the bus shelters in the island on Washington Street near Clinton Street. It will be replaced with a staffed information center. The building will be attached to the Old Capitol Mall. It is not on the National Register, but is going through the Section 106 review because of its potential impact on the Pentacrest, which is a National Register historic district. Kugler said there is no requirement to provide input in this case, but members may pass on comments. Logsden said that the present island will be removed and a re-bricked island put in place. The current trees will be maintained and new ones added. He also noted that they are trying to match the facility with the mall. Malkmus asked if there would be more room for bicyclists to pass buses. Logsden replied that the amount of room will remain at ten foot parking for buses with twelve foot lanes, The Commission felt the proposal would have no impact on the Pentacrest. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes January 13, 2000 Page 2 DISCUSSION OF DRAFT GOVERNOR/LUCAS ST CONSERVATION DISTRICT GUIDELINES Kugler stated he had provided Malkmus with a copy of the draft apartment in-fill guidelines. This applies to the Central Planning District which runs from the Iowa River on the west to up to First Avenue, and Hwy. 6 on the south end and Dodge Street on the north end. If adopted the proposed guidelines will be implemented at the site plan review stage by the staff design review committee. It is going to the Planning and Zoning Commission within the next couple of months. The staff design review committee will review the plan and look at the design of the building. A total of thirty points is necessary to achieve a building permit. Kugler pointed out to the members that he does believe it is possible to design a building and achieve the thirty points without looking at the architecture in the neighborhood. This could result in a development being built which does not relate to the building next door. It could be a building of good design, but not necessarily contributing to the character of the area it is placed. He suggested that the committee look closely at the guidelines before turning review of this process over to the apartment infill process. Malkmus began by saying that she worked with Freerks and Bowans of' the Governor/Lucas Street District to come up with some guidelines that these individuals favored. A proposal had been presented based on the in-fill guidelines and the work that Michaud and Gersch had previously done. They realized that the guidelines that would be used for single-family dwellings would be different than the language that would be used in the in-fill guidelines. Malkmus drafted a proposal for single-family or duplexes that are new. This would happen if there were a demolition in the neighborhood or if there would be an alteration to an existing building. Malkmus went on to say that there are a few issues that she would like to address. One of them is that she is relying on styles or pictures of styles to convey the shape, size and configurations of the various types of buildings that are predominant as contributing buildings in the neighborhood. Neither Governor Street nor Lucas Street have enough homogeneity in time, place or style to qualify as a historic district. At the same time on Lucas Street there is not even an inventory indicating what houses contribute to the neighborhood. There is a variety of styles on Lucas Street. This means that if she tried to speak about one style it did not work; so she used the different styles outlined to the criteria as to what may or may not be done. Some of the other issues are the setbacks, rooflines and overhangs. She believes there needs to be consistency in terms of style and form. There are substantive issues that the commission needs to address. There is an attempt to control the size of buildings by using the traditional size and scale of the style. She does not know if it is effective or not. The guidelines also try to control what the streetscape will look like. It is not as concerned with the rear of the house. Things like garages and decks would be of lesser concern. Anderson asked if a survey needed to be done to do a conservation district. Kugler said that it could be done without a survey. Malkmus said that there needs to be some refining of the document. She also believes that Lucas Street south of Bowery could not be included as part of the area due to its lack of integrity. There are maybe four or five houses that still have the size, shape and general appearance of an old house, but for the most part it is quite modernized. The boundaries do need to be defined. Anderson suggested that thirty points should be required unless one is in the conservation district. In this case maybe forty-five points could required. Kugler said this would be possible, but seems a bit arbitrary. Gunn said he thought the best way to achieve this would be to move some of the point items to the mandatory category. Kugler thought they could be modified and included as part of the conservation district guidelines. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes January 13, 2000 Page 3 Anderson said that he did not want to get into the business of reviewing large-scale development. As long as the committee is comfortable with the criteria then he said he was comfortable with staff doing the reviews. Malkmus inquired if the committee would be interested in maintaining oversight over staff. She said it does seem that if there has been a long process as in the past it was because a plan had been proposed that was not complete. Anderson said he would like to see staff be the certificate review for large scale developments within conservation districts. Kugler said this is a possibility. He said perhaps an appeal could come to the commission. Michaud asked about the maximum points achievable. Kugler said it could be the seventy to eighty point range. Malkmus said some issues like providing a front porch, using a traditional Iowa City architectural style, window details and rooflines could be moved to the mandatory section. She would like to see that the designs are encouraged so that every item will not have to be argued for during the review process. Gunn commented that he believes that the in-fill guidelines are quite good. For the purposes of this commission it may need to be that some of the optional items need to be made mandatory or some other point system be put into place. He believes the guidelines themselves are very useful and should be part of the conservation and historic districts. If a large building is put into a historic district these issues will have to be addressed. The guidelines is the important issue as opposed to who does the review. The stakes and concerns of the applicant are very great for large developments. Kugler said to get a conservation district in place a report has to be put together. The neighborhood has started this. This needs to include a full copy of the guidelines when going to the council. The guidelines may be difficult to explain, but it should be clear to anyone who owns property in the area who comes in to find out the rules that apply to the property. Kugler said the other difficulty in relying on the in-fill guidelines is that they are not adopted yet. They will be considered about the same time the conservation district will be considered. Malkmus commented that she felt the in-fill language should be part of the conservation district guidelines. She said she believes there will be building pressure in the Lucas Street area. Malkmus said some specific issues like garages, siding and design points need to be discussed by the commission. After that discussion the document could be put together. Gunn said that the sections of roofline and building modulation do a lot towards streetscape. They are important in applying to a large scale development. Freerks from 443 S. Governor Street said that she realizes that it is a difficult process to make the area conservation district; however it is worthwhile. Making some of the items mandatory would be a good way to address these issues. She also noted that the Brad Houser project on Summit Street was a difficult one, but thinks it has been very successful. Bowans from 510 S. Governor Street asked about using the traditional rooflines. Malkmus responded by saying traditional rooflines would mean that they are from historic architectural design used in Iowa City. Gunn inquired about the point that in-fill guidelines are at in terms of completion. Kugler said he is preparing a report for the Planning and Zoning Commission that the Apartment In-Fill Committee needs to review. As soon as everything is ready it will go to the Planning and Zoning Commission; which will be late February or early March. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes January 13, 2000 Page 4 Anderson said he felt that he does not want to duplicate guidelines. Malkmus suggested taking the guideline part of it and make a four-part conservation guideline document. It would include the introduction, the in-fill, new construction and remodeling. This could be the pattern for all of the conservation districts in the future. Anderson suggested modification of some of the wording of the language as it is permissive. The wording does not make items mandatory. Kugler noted that the zoning ordinance clarifies the language. Anderson also suggested making some of the specific areas such as building modulation relate to the general area that could be used in all districts. Gunn said in the additions and building alterations guidelines not everything is covered in the general guidelines. There are items that do need to be included. He said he felt it is broken out fairly clearly. The items that are in the new area are not generally in the guidelines. This does correspond with the Summit Street example. Malkmus proposed to go through the building additions and alteration guidelines that the historic guidelines have used. The historic guidelines would also be used for the conservation district. The guidelines for the new single family and duplex would be the addendum for the conservation district. Both would have the same format. There would be an introduction, new single-family and the in-fill guidelines. Gunn noted that in the draft conservation district guidelines concrete porches are not permitted. He said wood porches can be very expensive and this is stricter than the historic district. These substantive issues need to be addressed by the commission. Malkmus also said that garages need to be addressed for the conservation district. Kugler commented that balconies do need to be addressed as well. He said that in the lower density multi-family zones it was felt that balconies should not be allowed on the sides of buildings. They can be placed on the front and back of a building. They also said that when on the front they cannot encroach into the front yard. If they are designed as porches they could extend into the front yard. Anderson suggested the committee highlight the substantive issues for the commission to address. It was decided that a special meeting would be held on either January 24th or 29th. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF EMMA HARVAT- MARY STACH HOUSE NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION Kugler stated that the state staff has indicated that everything is ready to go. It is on the February 11, 2000, agenda for the state review committee. Before a vote is taken Iowa City must have a public meeting. The mayor, the property owner and Pat Eckhardt have been invited to the meeting. It should be decided at this meeting if the property is eligible for listing. Carlson said that he would be submitting some recommendations for the application. Malkmus commented that in the Emma Harvat nomination comment it should be noted that women received the right to vote in 1920. Kugler said that he would include the recommendations and the items that the committee members indicate need to be addressed. DISCUSSION OF DRAFT PLANNING SESSION REPORT Kugler inquired about the design guideline revisions. It was agreed to keep these in as they would be included in the report since the guidelines are being written. The report will go onto the city council. MOTION: Malkmus moved to accept the report as written. Carlson seconded the motion and it was approved on a 6-0 vote. Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission Minutes January 13, 2000 Page 5 COMMISSION INFORMATION/DISCUSSION Anderson spoke about the letter he wrote relative to the Englert Theater sale. The letter stated that the commission is in favor of imposing use restrictions based upon the historic uses of the property. Kugler noted that the Butler House Trailhead was recommended for funding at $52,500. A total of $80,000 was requested. There is still an opportunity to lobby for this project, and the public comment period is still open. Kugler said that the commission needs to think about the awards program and who will be the speaker. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES MOTION: Michaud moved to approve the minutes from the December 9, 1999, meeting with Malkmus seconding the motion. The motion carried 6-0. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:27 PM. Submitted by Le Ann Dunne-Tyson ppdadm/min/hpcl -13-O0,doc IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY - MEETING ROOM A JANUARY 25, 2000 - 7:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Joan Jehle, Mary Larew, Charles Major, Diane Martin, Janice Simmons-Welburn, Rick Spooner, Mettie Thomopulos, Jan Warren MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Heather Shank, Laz Pittman OTHERS PRESENT: 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Martin called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Commissioners reviewed the minutes. MOTION: Larew moved to approve the minutes from the December 21, 1999 meeting as submitted. Spooner seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 8-0. 3. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Martin stated that the floor was open for nominations for chair and vice- chair of the Commission. Major nominated Warren for chairperson. Simmons-Welburn seconded the nomination. Jehle nominated Thomopulos for vice-chairperson. Simmons-Welburn seconded the nomination. The Commission voted unanimously for Warren as Chairperson and Thomopulos as vice-chairperson. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: There were none. Shank reported that the Commission's recommendation for a change in the definition of sexual orientation in the Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance would be on the Council's next agenda. 5. GUEST SPEAKER - JANELLE RETTIG The guest speaker was unable to attend and had not been rescheduled. Rettig told Shank that she had sent letters to everyone and had said all that she wished to say. Shank said that City staff Dilkes and Harken were working on a memo with an opinion about whether the Commission could have jurisdiction over the University of Iowa (UI). Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 2 Martin asked about the question of possible jurisdiction over other state agencies in Iowa City. Shank said that she did not believe City staff were reviewing that because the University is so different from the state agencies. Shank said that she read one particular case that indicated a state agency would not be within the HRC's jurisdiction. Shank also said she learned that Iowa State University does not permit the Ames Human Rights Commission to perform any investigations regarding the University. In addition, Susan Mask from the Ul's Affirmative Action office said that she would be happy to attend a meeting if the Commission had questions after the opinion from Dilkes was complete. Warren said one reason the HRC wished to have Mask attend a meeting was because employees at the UI do not seem to know where to go when they have a complaint. Warren said that it may be simply a matter of finding out where commissioners should send people if they have questions. Shank said that she always directs UI employees who have a complaint about the UI to Susan Mask. Warren summarized that if a commissioner is questioned about where to go for assistance on an issue with the UI, the commissioner should refer the person to Susan Mask in Affirmative Action at the University (phone: 335-0705). Because the formal opinion from Dilkes was not yet complete, Warren asked that they defer this issue for further discussion until the March meeting. She said that one of the questions she had for Mask was whether Union members have different procedures from non-Union members for filing a complaint. Shank and Simmons-Welburn did not believe that the procedure was different for union members. 6. NEW BUSINESS: Human Rights Curriculum Shank said that she gave a speech to local teachers during their in-service day using materials from Minnesota's human rights curriculum. She said that she was advocating human rights education and discussed how it could be incorporated into the curriculum (such as in social work classes, language arts classes, or science classes). Shank asked teachers what the HRC could do to assist with this effort. The teachers suggested that the Commission write to legislators for more funding for schools. A principal suggested that the request be for more funding for programs rather than funds for human rights curriculum. Otherwise, teachers may be resentful and feel they are being mandated to add one more thing to their curriculum. Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 3 Simmons-Welburn said that she wondered how the Commission could ensure that human rights would be on the agenda if they were to write letters requesting additional funds. Shank commented that she received a phone call from someone who said that most parents did not seem to be aware of any human rights education in the schools. However, Marian Coleman indicated that the schools do a lot. Simmons-Welburn said that she would like to hear specific information about the curriculum. Particularly because the multicultural diversity teams at the high schools are optional. Warren agreed that the HRC should ask about the intentional education on the issue for all students. Shank said that she also asked the teachers what the HRC could do starting now. She was advised to look at the after-school program. Commissioners commented that would only affect a select few. Warren said that we (i.e., schools, teachers, curriculum coordinators, etc.) should be looking at the general curriculum, rather than supplemental/optional education. Commissioners agreed that it would be helpful to also invite the curriculum coordinator to the next meeting. Shank noted that she handed out two books to teachers that explain how to integrate human rights education into the existing curriculum. In addition, she has received permission to send out copies of a book on integrating the human rights curriculum. Because Jehle would not be in attendance at the February meeting, she requested that someone ask the guests whether they have seen the Teaching Tolerance packet. Letter from the Office of the Govemor Commissioners received a letter discussing vacancies on state boards and commissions. Shank noted that there were no vacancies on the Civil Rights Commission; however, she copied the letter in case commissioners knew of people to refer for other appointments. Simon Estes and Edna Griffin induction Warren asked whether the HRC would be giving funds as requested in the letter. Shank said they normally only give contributions once a year or when cosponsoring an event. Shank said that if an individual commissioner wished to attend the banquet, the Human Rights Commission would pay for the ticket. Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 4 Hate mail in email Shank said that she was forwarded a copy of hate mail received in an email by someone at the University. The individual wanted to let people know that this was happening. Shank said that the Southern Poverty Law Center is researching the incident. Attendance Chart Shank said that she included the attendance chart for commissioners' information. 7. OLD BUSINESS: Town Meeting/Forum Warren said that she asked Traevina Potter-Hall to serve on a panel about racial profiling. Potter-Hall said that she would. Potter-Hall, the wife of former HRC member Dereck Hall, was appointed by Governor Viisack to be the director of the Commission on the Status of African-Americans for the State of Iowa. Warren said that she thought Potter-Hall might also be a good speaker for the Human Rights Breakfast. Martin said that a local person usually speaks at the Breakfast and asked commissioners how they felt about having someone who is more active at the state level. Warren said that Potter-Hall just moved within the last six months and knows the community well. Jehle also suggested Paul Rettish and Janusz Bardach. Simmons-Welburn suggested Joe Knight. Shank said that the Breakfast would be held on October 26, 2000. Warren suggested that the Commission decide on a speaker for the Breakfast at the February meeting. Shank said that she would send out a list of possible candidates to commissioners. Warren said that the subcommittee would continue to work on the town meeting/forum at other times. Human Rights Commission Application Martin asked if the revision to the Human Rights application had been completed. The revisions had been made. Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 5 Cultural Diversity Day Martin & Pittman previously volunteered to host the Human Rights table during the first shift. Spooner and Major will work at the Human Rights table during the second shift. People of Color Resolution Warren said that when this was first discussed, the Commission questioned the intention of this other than just passing a resolution. Warren said that it sounds as if the action that would come from the People of Color Resolution is that the laws, city documents, and ordinances would change. The words "people of color" would replace the word "minority." She said if this were adopted, this is what the Commission would request of City Council. Shank said that Dee Vanderhoef suggested that the HRC request that the Council apply this in any new ordinance. Vanderhoef also suggested changing the Human Rights ordinance first. Warren said that she did not really like that approach because a change to the Human Rights ordinance is not as meaningful as a change across the board. Shank said that she meant only to start with the Human Rights ordinance and move on from there. Pittman suggested that they also request this change for City documents that are being revised. Martin said that she did not think it was realistic to make changes to past documents. Thomopulos said that she had not been able to attend the previous two meetings and questioned why the Commission was taking this group's definition or interpretation of this as the authority on what "minority" actually means. Martin said that she did not think the HRC thought of this group as the authority, the commissioners in attendance just seemed to agree with the idea behind the resolution adopted by the Board of Directors of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC- LEO). Simmons-Welburn noted that she had strongly agreed with adopting the resolution in a previous meeting. Thomopulos said that she always thought of the term "minority" as signifying a number. Simmons- Welburn said that the term is still loosely used to imply inferiority. Thomopulos said that she just wanted to get an understanding of how this was derived because there are so many politically correct labels. Thomopulos said that after hearing Simmons-Welburn's explanation, she agrees. Warren asked what types of documents would use the term "minority" most frequently. Shank said housing and employment documents would probably have the most, but federal documents require the term. Shank Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 6 said that she spoke with Charles Yancey, the NBC-LEO president. He plans to speak with someone in the federal government about the resolution. She said that she would need to call him to find out what happened. Major said that he obviously would not want to change any federal documents if it could cause the City to lose federal funds. Commissioners agreed that of course, they would not have any authority to do so. However, Warren asked if Dilkes could offer an opinion on whether making this change to the language in the local Human Rights ordinance or other local ordinances could put the City in jeopardy of losing funds, cause delays, or cause confusion with documents from higher agencies. Shank said that she would check with Dilkes. 8. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS: Simmons-Welburn said there would be a speaker for MLK week on January 28th that she thought commissioners would be interested in. She said she would forward the specifics to Shank via email. Also, the Ul's Diversity Committee would be holding a forum on February 8th. She invited interested commissioners to attend. Martin said that she had intended to bring an article about hate mail in email and how this will become a larger problem. She also wanted everyone to be aware of an issue that came up with the HARRT team. She said if the Commission wishes to send a letter on behalf of everyone on the Commission, they cannot just take a telephone poll of each commissioner because it could be considered a violation of the open meetings law. Instead, one person would need to be appointed to make the decision, or the HRC would need to call a special meeting, or wait for a regular meeting. Shank said that a special meeting must be posted 24 hours prior to the meeting. Martin commented that in order for commissioners to receive the agenda by mail, Shank would need about 4 days. Shank said that the Commission could write a separate letter about the anti-immigration ads. Martin and Warren mentioned the delay and how the issue is no longer timely. Jehle said that she thought it was still worth speaking up about. Simmons-Welburn said that they could ask a commissioner to draft a letter on behalf of the HRC. Warren said that in the past when issues have come up, the Commission's approach has been to focus on the positive rather than criticizing the negative things. If a letter were written about the anti- immigration advertisements, the letter should have the tone of valuing diversity and valuing the contribution of immigrants. Martin said that she Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 7 has a strong personal preference that the letter be careful about freedom of speech. She would not expect the newspapers and radio stations not to run the letters. Warren asked if the HRC really wanted to give this type of free reign to the letter writer when commissioners have concerns about the content. Martin suggested setting a special meeting. Simmons-Welburn suggested that a couple of people work on the letter. Warren said that because the advertisements are no longer running, the timing is not as critical. She suggested that the letter be written and reviewed at the next meeting. Thomopulos said that she did not see what effect the letter would have since it is so long after the fact and they would be using a positive spin. However, she would be fine with the decision to write a letter. Larew said she agreed that it would no longer be pertinent. Warren said that the HRC should only write letters to the editor for issues that they feel strongly about. Thomopulos said that she looked at the Commission as taking a leadership role, and in this case, the letter would be after the fact. Major stated that he wrote a letter to the Icon about the poor taste of newspapers rur~ning the anti-immigration ads and said that he would not mind if the Commission chose to write a letter. He said he noticed that during the Republican debates they decried Chinese human rights abuses but then take a different stand on gay rights in the military. He said that he does not think it is right that some of the Republicans look the other way with the military, and then treat human rights in China as a huge issue. Jehle reported that HARRT was very busy. Shank explained that the Education committee is going to determine a date for when the anti- defamation league representative is going to speak in Iowa City. Marian Coleman indicated that the schools will cosponsor the event and Shank said she assumed the HRC would also want to be involved. Jehle said that the next meeting of the Education committee for anyone th interested would be February 28 at 7 p.m. in 350 Lindquist Center. She also noted that she had minutes from HARRT's emergency meeting on January 13th about the anti-immigration ads. HARRT held a press conference on January 14th. Warren asked if HARRT had responded to the graffiti on campus. Larew said that HARRT met with the vice president of the UI students who is trying to establish a polic for that tunnel. She noted that the tunnel was repainted on January 19~. She said that the vice president's ideas are wonderful. He was discussing having children paint murals stressing diversity in the hope that it would be more difficult to graffiti. Larew added she was told that there is a certain type of epoxy that could be sprayed over the painting so that it could not be destroyed. Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 8 Jehle also said that she would be gone for the February and March meetings. Spooner asked how they distinguish between free speech and a hate crime when something like this happens. Shank said that graffiti on public property is vandalism and is against the law. A hate crime is when an act is directed at a particular person. Graffiti in a tunnel about a particular group is not necessarily directed at one person it is general hate speech. Therefore, it is not a hate crime. Spooner asked if there was a formal process for HARRT in determining and moving forward on a hate act. Jehle and Larew said there is not. Warren said that the HRC does not deal with hate crimes or hate acts. Jehle said Spooner's question would be a good question for HARRT. Jehle said that HARRT stays abreast of what is going on, but if something is being addressed in another way, HARRT will not necessarily have to take action. Larew said that she looks at hate acts that HARRT will take action on as something that is generally offensive to the whole community. Larew said that she had planned to bring an advertisement from the Des Moines Register that was placed by a group of nuns. The ad was in response to the anti-immigration ads and pointed out how different groups had contributed to society. She said that she would like to see the HRC publish a similar type of ad when an issue like this arises. Thomopulos did not have a report. Warren brought along an ad that said, "No one is born hating" advertising an event in Cedar Rapids. Supporters of the ad included schools, churches, individuals, etc. She thought this was something the HRC could think about for the Iowa City community. She said perhaps the Commission could spearhead or partner with others on something like this in the future. 9. STATUS OF CASES: Martin said that she performed a rough estimate of where all of the cases are in the process. Her estimate included approximately five cases in legal and one with a team. Pittman said that she is finishing a lot of investigations, but a lot of transcripts need to be completed. Shank said that they have a new transcriber, but the person is only allowed to work 17 '~ hours per week. Pittman noted they were without a transcriber for a couple of months. Shank said that a new student named Elizabeth Harken is now working with them as well. Shank also noted that the last case on the list was going from a pre-determination settlement to a mediation. Iowa City Human Rights Commission January 25, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 9 Pittman said a conciliation would be held March 23rd. She asked that anyone who had a conflict with that date let her know. 10. ADJOURNMENT: Martin moved to adjourn the meeting. Larew seconded the motion. The motion was carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. HRC012500.doc ~.~."~' IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CIVIC CENTER - IOWA CITY CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS /_ . . FEBRUARY 22, 2000 - 7:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Maureen Howe, Mary Larew, Charles Major, Diane Martin, Janice Simmons-Welburn, Rick Spooner, Mettie Thomopulos, Jan Warren MEMBERS ABSENT: Joan Jehle STAFF PRESENT: Heather Shank, Laz Pittman OTHERS PRESENT: Jim Collings, Faith Wilmot 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Warren called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Commissioners reviewed the minutes. Warren said that on Page 3, second full paragraph, the third sentence should read, "Warren said that we (i.e., schools, teachers, curriculum coordinators, etc.) should be looking at the general curriculum, rather than supplemental/optional education. Warren said she did not mean to indicate that the Human Rights Commission (HRC) should be involved in the selection of textbooks. In addition, on Page 5, the last sentence of the paragraph under "People of Color Resolution" should read, "She said if this were adopted, this is what the Commission would request of City Council." MOTION: Martin moved to approve the minutes from the January 25, 2000 meeting as corrected. Larew seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 8-0. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: The Human Rights Commission recommends to Council that to the extent such terminology is consistent with the intention of any particular ordinance, resolution or document and consistent with any federal, state, or local laws, that the term "minority" not be used and, when appropriate, be replaced with "people of color." Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 2 4. GUEST SPEAKER - MARlAN COLEMAN Coleman, Equity Coordinator for the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD), stated that she is in charge of staff training in a number of areas to ensure compliance with federal and state law. The school district's program for gender-fair/multicultural education encompasses human rights education for the students as well as training for the teachers. She said the Iowa Code defines how the schools are to proceed and how they are to plan their program. A system of checks and balances is in place to ensure compliance, including a committee called the Multicultural/Gender- fair Committee. The committee meets once a month and is made up of two representatives for each school. To meet compliance, the schools coordinate a building team. Members are chosen from each grade level to represent the building team. The team decides on curriculum focus, interpersonal goals, and building goals and conflict resolution. A building plan allows teachers to choose the goals they want to work on as long as the goals are consistent with the benchmarks and standards set for the curriculum. The schools are also encouraged to have all-school functions, such as the English as a Second Language Dinner, Spotlight on Diversity, an MLK event, etc. At the end of the year, school buildings are required to submit a final report with lesson plans, information about all-school functions, and related information. An equity team looks at each school's plan every year. Every five years, the school district is required to submit their plan to the State. The multicultural plan includes a flowchart at the beginning of the plan that shows how the program started and what phase the program is currently in. The school district is continually adding to the program as teachers get training. Coleman said that as particular problems or subjects arise, human rights education may happen spontaneously in the classroom. In addition, teachers receive calendars designating ideas for specific days. When teachers prepare materials for their grade-level, they prepare what they need according to the benchmarks and standards. Coleman said the curriculum review indicators show that the Iowa City schools are right on target. Human Rights for Children, Curriculum for Teaching Human Rights to Children, and Human Rights for All are some of the publications the district uses to set up the teacher's manual. Coleman noted that they talk with students about all of these things at an early age, including the state code, the school's policies, etc., so that children understand why things happen (particularly concerning discipline policies). The school district Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 3 also uses this material to train bus drivers, custodial staff, coordinators and anyone else who may be involved with the students so that everyone is on the same page. Coleman said they deal with a lot of grievances from parents who feel that their children are in a hostile environment or are not being treated fairly. She said the district tries to do mediation close to where the problem is, but will also provide Shank's name, and refer complainants to the State. Last year the Iowa City schools were visited by the Federal Government because of an allegation of racially hostile schools. Coleman said she wrote a manual for principals on how to investigate harassment in the schools and what steps should be taken to document the instances. Coleman noted that a lot of the work they do comes from suggestions by the Multicultural Committee. She said teachers do an extraordinary job of implementing the suggestions. Coleman said she keeps a filing cabinet of all lesson plans for the past five years (in the yearly report) so that anyone can find out what was being taught on any given day. She said there is a lot of human rights education that fits into the scheme of things without a lot of fanfare. That is how they like it. She also noted that the school district is currently coordinating training with Grinnell College. For the past four years, Coleman has had to raise funds for training herself because there were no funds. Coleman said she is in every building once a month to check up on compliance with state and federal regulations. She said she has had the opportunity to be part of the teams that go to other school districts because the State likes Iowa City's system of checks and balances. Other districts are amazed that teachers do lesson plans once a month. Major asked if the school district has anything for students who may be discriminated against on the job. Coleman said they have a segment where they talk with students about what their rights are. She said they sent out thousands of flyers with information about harassment and discrimination that provided contact information for the school, the local Iowa City Human Rights office, and the State. They have also offered sexual harassment training for local businesses where students are employed. Thomopulos asked if the district brings in outsiders during in-service time. Coleman said that on MLK day, the school district has several concurrent training sessions and teachers can choose which sessions they are interested in attending. Coleman said that every other Thursday there is time to talk with teachers about issues or have sessions. She said if Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 4 someone wishes to offer training or a discussion, they are welcome to join the Thursday circuit. Coleman also mentioned that there are student representatives on the Equity Committee. Right now the committee is conducting a survey of parents and students in order to develop "report cards" for how the schools are perceived as performing. This helps them to get a baseline on where the hot spots are. Shank asked if Coleman receives more complaints about race than other protected categories. Coleman said this year there have been more complaints based on race. She said part of the districrs challenge is to get people who do not have the opportunity to receive specific training (such as bus drivers, food service workers, etc.) to understand what the policies are. She said there have been a lot of complaints about harassment because parents are hearing the message to let the schools know if they feel their child is being harassed. She said racial comments (derogatory terms) are also a problem. Coleman said they are also struggling with demographics and boundaries because of expectations and the publicity received when the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) scores are published. Pittman asked if each school's plan was available to the general public. Coleman said the General Plan is available. Within the plans, there are lesson plans and people could come to her office to see the plans. Warren said people do not seem to think human rights education is occurring because they are not aware of the work the schools are doing. She asked if Coleman had thought about how to get the word out to parents and other residents about the education going on in the schools. Coleman said schools and teachers are frustrated when they receive no response after having sent out invitations, announcements, and programs to parents; advertised in the newspaper; advertised on radio, etc. The policies are also spelled out in handbooks provided to parents. Warren suggested that perhaps schools could request that the principal talk about some of these things during assemblies where parents are present (such as orientations). Warren said she would feel good just knowing that human rights education is integrated into the curriculum. She said this is the complaint the Commission hears the most because people assume nothing is going on when they are not aware of it. Coleman said she would mention this to the principals and noted it could be a topic at an upcoming brainstorming session. Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 5 Spooner asked if Coleman had a basic philosophy regarding diversity. Coleman said the ICCSD's mission statement speaks strongly about diversity. A member of HARRT in attendance said that she was very impressed with what the school district is doing for human rights education. She asked if there were specific programs dealing with diversity issues that high school students were required to attend. She said students seem to have the perception that there is nothing going on. Coleman said sometimes what students expect is a lot of fanfare; they do not expect the education to be part of the curriculum. There are additional activities that these students could attend (such as Spotlight on Diversity), but probably do not participate in. Simmons-Welburn asked for examples of diversity education in the curriculum. Coleman said at the high school level it would depend on the subject area and what unit the teacher is on. There is a seven-year cycle including what should be covered. She said they have a policy on what the curriculum must include, but would not be able to name specifically what teachers are doing in each building. She said she could refer Simmons- Welburn to specific teacher's lesson plan boxes where this information is clearly shown. Shank said a woman from the Gazette is interested in human rights issues. She had asked Shank if she knew of people who would be interested in writing articles. Shank suggested that Coleman write an article about what the schools are doing. Coleman said she is working Joe Colter who is working with Mary Sue Coleman. The funds from the joint effort currently help the district to feed students who attend Tuesday night tutoring sessions. They are also thinking about awareness activities for parents. The district has found that parents are extremely busy and sometimes will not even show up for conferences; however, people do seem to be buying in to what the schools need to do. Coleman said, "the most important thing is to provide a balanced education, but it is becoming more critical to provide students with an education period." Simmons-Welburn commented that there seems to be assistance for students who are struggling with career decisions or schoolwork but questioned whether there is a program for high-achieving students. She said these students also need support in developing their talents, and could benefit from being exposed to role models in higher education (such as college students enrolled in math and science programs). Simmons- Welburn noted that the current program does have a good focus, but just wanted to suggest a possible expansion of the program. Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 6 Warren asked what percentage of the student body were persons of color and what percentage were teachers. Coleman said more than 18 percent of the student body are persons of color and less than 0.5 percent are part of the teaching population. Warren said that she has seen children being persecuted for perceived sexual orientation and asked what type of education happens in the diversity curriculum surrounding this topic. Coleman said there is information in the family living curriculum for secondary students; however, there is very little education on this topic for elementary students. Coleman is currently working with United Action for Youth on some initiatives. They are struggling with how best to approach the curriculum because of strong political opinions. The curriculum review process will be critical in deciding how to introduce this education in K-6. Coleman said they had not actually thought about this type of education for the elementary students but the idea was brought to their attention. She said the district needs to address the issue with the teachers first and provide training. Coleman said the only way anything will change is if schools are open and honest. If something is going on at a school, the principal should know. She said most schools like to nip problems in the bud right away because they take pride in their schools. If there is a situation with name calling, etc., children should be taught that this behavior will not be tolerated. She said sometimes she provides posters on specific topics in order to help train people on such things as what to listen for on the playground and how to resolve conflict. These posters can be placed in school building hallways. A parent at the HRC meeting asked how the district could get information to people who do not have children in the school system. Coleman noted that it would be harder to reach that audience and they would need to explore this idea. The HARRT member in attendance said this may be something that HARRT could address. Coleman asked the HRC to direct people to her office if they receive related questions from parents or others in the community. 5. NEW BUSINESS: New commissioner Maureen Howe was introduced. She will serve on Team C with Thomopulos and Jehle. Commissioners introduced themselves to Howe. 6. OLD BUSINESS: Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 7 People of Color Resolution MOTION: Martin moved that the Human Rights Commission recommend to City Council that to the extent such terminology is consistent with the intention of any particular ordinance, resolution or document and consistent with any federal, state, or local laws, the term "minority" not be used and, when appropriate, be replaced with "people of color." Spooner seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 8-0. Warren asked Shank if the letter to Rettig regarding the HRC's reaction to Rettig's recommendations had been finished. Shank said that she had a first draft, but the issue of having jurisdiction over the UI would be on the March agenda. Major asked about the status of the change to the Human Rights ordinance. Shank said the definition has been changed and the last sentence has been deleted. A third vote approving the change would be needed. Warren asked about the HRC's participation in Cultural Diversity Day. Major said the Commission had the best location they have ever had for the table and they handed out a lot of brochures. One person asked for a copy of the ordinance and Major directed the person to Shank. Human Rights Breakfast speaker Commissioners discussed an extensive list of potential speakers for the Human Rights Breakfast. The list included: · Traevena Potter-Hall - Director of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African-Americans in Iowa · Dave Leshtz- Iowa Civil Rights Commissioner- Disabilities Educator · Alison Ames Galstad - Director, Coralville Library · Salome Raheim - Director of Social Work - University of Iowa (U I) · Eddie Moore, Jr. - Assistant Dean of Students & Director of Intercultural Life at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa · Janusz Bardach - Author of the book Man is Wolf to Man · Paul Rettish - Director of International Education in the UI College of Education · Joe Knight - Assistant Provost - Attorney · Phil Hubbard · Codeis Moody - State Human Rights Director · Osha Davidsen Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 8 Major said he wished to promote Moody, the State Human Rights Director, for speaker because the Breakfast is the HRC's showcase and she could see how the Commission operates; however, this would break from the tradition of having a local person speak. Warren noted that the Commission really does not know a lot about her and has not heard her speak. Shank suggested that the Commission write a letter and invite her to a meeting. Warren and other commissioners agreed that inviting her for a visit would be a good idea. Simmons-Welburn said that she thought Potter-Hall would be a good candidate for speaker because she is in a position to change the direction of State government yet still has a local connection. She also believed Bardach would be a good speaker for the Breakfast because he would bring a global approach to human rights. She said Bardach's book is the story of how he survived concentration camps and noted that local school kids are reading his book. His wife was honored at the Breakfast last year. Larew said that she would like to see Leshtz as the speaker. Shank said that she called him after she placed his name on the list. Leshtz said that he probably would not accept because he thought there were other people who would be better. Thomopulos said that she would be in favor of Bardach. After narrowing the list of candidates, commissioners agreed that they could first ask Janusz Bardach about his availability. If he is not available, they would contact Potter-Hall. Martin asked about the plans for the town meeting/forum on racial profiling. Simmons-Welburn, Thomopulos, and Warren agreed they would meet to brainstorm and talk about speakers. 7. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS: Warren said Jehle left some clippings for commissioners to peruse. Thomopulos reported that the UI HRC would be holding a forum the next day related to sweatshop labor issues. Larew said HARRT had met that afternoon and are moving forward on plans for the media roundtable. Major said he had been attending the police/citizens academy and has learned a lot about how police operate. Unrelated to this, Major suggested that Larew invite KCJJ to the media roundtable because of their coverage of some issues. He said that he is also disappointed with how the Iowa City Human Rights Commission February 22, 2000 - 7:00 p.m. Page 9 newspapers have been reporting issues of racism in the schools but then do not allow schools the chance to respond. 8. STATUS OF CASES: Shank said that as far as she knew, the conciliation for Team C would still occur on March 23~d. In another case, the lawyer for the complainant said that he would try to have this resolved by March 3rd. Shank told him that was the 90-day deadline. 9. ADJOURNMENT: Larew moved to adjourn the meeting. Spooner seconded the motion. The motion was carried and the meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m. HRC022200.doc PRELIMINAR IOWA CITY PUBLIC ART ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2000, 3:30 PM Subject to Approval CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Nancy Purington, Rick Fosse, Emily Vermillion, Sandra Hudson MEMBERS ABSENT: Terry Trueblood, Gary Nagle STAFF PRESENT: Karin Franklin, Joyce Carroll OTHERS PRESENT: John Kenyon, Iowa City Gazette CALL TO ORDER Purington called the meeting to order at 3:48 P.M. RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL Relocate the Gutheinz fountain to upper City Park in the area of the pool (4-0). PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA Purington noted that there would be a gallery walk taking place downtown on March 3, 2000. Fosse commented that his daughter had a piece displayed at the Iowa State Bank for this event. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 20 MEETING Fosse made the motion to approve the minutes with Hudson seconding the motion. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 27 MEETING Fosse made the motion to approve the minutes with Hudson seconding the motion. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 3 MEETING Purington commented on Page 4. In the discussion of management of commissions Trueblood mentioned that he thought that the issue was one of engineering. He said that if it was explained to the members by the engineers that may not understand it anyway. Purington said that she was rather speechless regarding the statement and had thought about it quite awhile after the meeting. She said that she did not agree and if there are engineering decisions made that are going to dramatically change the design as approved that the committee should be given an opportunity to understand the engineering reasoning. Fosse made the motion to approve the minutes with consideration of the above stated comments. Hudson seconded the motion. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 9 MEETING On Page 1 Purington noted that when she was expressing her concern about watching the directions given to artists, the minutes indicated her stating "artists tend to sometimes wander in producing their work" and went on to clarify that what she meant was that sometimes during the creative process artists change direction in their thinking. Fosse made the motion to approve the minutes with consideration of the above stated comments. Hudson seconded the motion. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote. DISCUSSION OF RELOCATION OF THE GUTHEINZ FOUNTAIN Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 2 Franklin began by reminding the committee that the City Council would like to keep the fountain and had asked this group to make recommendations for its relocation. Franklin went on to remind the members that two options already discussed are Chauncey Swan Park and the water plant. She had also asked Trueblood for additional suggestions and he made the following: · College Green, with Project GREEN perhaps wanting a part in the process · North Market Square · Oak Grove Park · City Park; perhaps by the pool area · Wetherby Park - this would require consideration by the neighborhood associations Vermillion said that she could envision the fountain at City Park. She said she did not feel it was conducive to the architecture of the surrounding area of Chauncey Swan Park. Franklin pointed out that the whole make-up of the area will change in the next two to three years. Vermillion went on to say that this is a very valid reason for not placing the fountain in this area. Fosse concurred with Vermillion on this point. Purington said when she heard the suggestion of City Park she immediately thought of the pool area. Vermillion felt the placement in or near the pool would be acceptable. Hudson brought up the safety issue with the surface of the sculpture pipes being slippery when wet. She said she felt in placing it in this location there would have to be careful consideration because of the safety aspect. Purington agreed with Hudson with regard to the safety issues. Fosse made a suggestion of putting a small ridge on each of the pipes so that it would not be comfortable to sit on. Purington said she would feel more comfortable with something of this nature being done; however she was unclear how the artist would feel. Franklin felt the artist would be flexible. Vermillion suggested an inclined platform that could not be climbed on. Fosse felt that no matter where the fountain is placed it would be climbed on and the higher it is the harder the fall. The committee agreed with this. Vermillion commented that she still had a great amount of difficulty with the cost associated with the relocation. She realized that the council had made the decision to relocate it and incur the expense. Franklin stated that the council does have a concern about the cost, but they do not want to get rid of the fountain. Hudson pointed out that the concern was not only the cost of the relocation that was an issue, but also the opportunity cost of what else the money could be used for. If that much money was going to be spent, the question would be if this fountain would be where the money would be spent. Franklin pointed out that there are some political issues the Council must deal with that compel them to want to relocate the fountain. MOTION: Vermilion made the motion to recommend the fountain be relocated at City Park upper level within the area of the pool. Hudson seconded the motion. Discussion Fosse commented that he liked the idea of the City Park location; although he would favor some of the higher ground in lower City Park. He said he thinks of the fountain as something in a sunny spot. He went on to say if the concerns of safety and expense are to be considered then he would recommend it be placed at the water plant. Vermillion agreed that this could alleviate the concerns. Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 3 Purington noted that she envisioned it inside the pool area. Hudson commented that if it would be placed in the pool area it would have plumbing and supervision already in place. She said she liked the idea of it being an alternative activity for kids. Vermillion agreed that it would serve its purpose in this location. The motion was approved on a 4-0 vote. DISCUSSION OF REVISIONS TO PROCEDURES Franklin reminded the committee that they had reviewed these procedures several times and asked the members to make any final adjustments so that the document could go before the Council. Purington inquired about Page 2 with the section on donated work. She recommended that the word "may" be changed to "must" so that slides would be required to be submitted along with a written description of the work, and a rationale for the gift to the PAAC. The committee members agreed to change "donor conditions" to "donor stipulations" Hudson suggested that mention of a contract including, but not limited to such items such as travel, lighting, etc. be added. Purington commented that she had concerns about the review systems. She said she was pleased with the humeric system that had been used in recent selection processes; however she commented that she would like to see some written guidelines put into place for future use. Vermillion said she felt that this would be helpful for the committee. She also viewed it as a useful tool to defend the selection process. It was agreed that issue would be addressed at a later date. Purington stated that she would like the committee to review any artist contracts before it is presented to the artist. This would help the committee to be informed as well as help to clarify the intent of the committee to the artist. This was added to the procedure process. On Page 5 Fosse clarified that the department that is in charge of maintenance depends on with which department the piece is associated. On Page 6 in regard to the Visual Artists Act of 1991 it was added that the artist could waive their rights. REPORT ON LITERARY WALK Franklin presented the committee with the proposed invitation for the artists to submit proposals for the literary walk. The artists will be given the list of authors to be used for the walk with this invitation. The group discussed the number of authors to be included in each block face. Purington felt ten authors was a stiff parameter. Vermillion felt that this was a fair amount and if a parameter was not given it would not be a fair representation. She did not feel it would fulfill the goals of the literary walk. It was decided that ten authors would be required to be represented in the proposals. A discussion took place regarding the opportunity to include other authors into this project over time. It was decided that no additional authors be added on these streets; others may be able to go to other locations in the future. The committee also discussed the possibility of having Iowa City Public Art Advisory Committee Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 4 sculpture integrated into these other locations at some point. Hudson commented that the current trend is to have interactive pieces. Hudson inquired if the sub-committee had asked for submissions from the public. She felt the public at-large should be included in the process. Franklin said she would present this idea to the sub-committee. Fosse commented on the pavement art parameters. He noted that this should indicate that the walkway will be the primary pedestrian corridor. He also said that the clarification should be made that the surface would be for walking and needed to be made of durable material. COMMITTEE TIME/OTHER BUSINESS Vermillion noted that she had an emergency come up and apologized to the committee for being late for the meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:15 PM. Minutes submitted by Le Ann Dunne-Tyson. ppddir/min/artO3-02-OO.doc MINUTES (Preliminary - not approved) PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION FEBRUARY 8, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Craig Gustaveson (arrived 6:15 p.m.), Bruce Maurer, James Moxley, Matt Pacha, Rex Pruess, AI Stroh MEMBERS ABSENT: Toni Cilek, Barbara Endel, Kathy Wallace STAFF PRESENT: Terry Trueblood GUESTS: Tom Dunbar, Margaret MacDonald FORMAL ACTION TAKEN Moved by Pruess, seconded by Maurer, to approve the January 12, 1999 minutes as written. Unanimous. Moved by Maurer, seconded by Stroh, to recommend Terrell Mill Park as the site for the proposed skate park. Unanimous. SKATE PARK Consultant Tom Dunbar presented the proposed skate park concepts for the three locations selected by the steering committee - Terrell Mill, City Park, Mercer. He stated the steering committee was a good representation of skaters and interested parties, who attended five workshops to develop the design and evaluate sites. The criterion used to select locations was community, expansion, placement, parking, and safety. Dunbar stated some indoor sites were identified, but the time frame did not allow the ability to look at them, with Trueblood noting the budget also as a factor. After the sites were ranked according to a weighted system, the top six sites were Willow Creek Park, Happy Hollow Park, Mercer Park, Oak Grove Park, City Park, and Terrell Mill. Workshop participants narrowed the top six sites to three by eliminating Willow Creek, Happy Hollow, and Oak Grove. They felt Mercer, City Park and Terrell Mill had the best bus/bike route access, parking, and space for expansion, with Terrell Mill eventually chosen as the best site location due to excellent year-round access, size and away from a residential area. City Park was their second choice and Mercer Park their third. Dunbar noted that some individuals indicated the City Council may not want a skate park in Terrell Mill Park due to its "entryway" status. He stated the proposed location is adjacent to the existing shelter, which is a considerable distance from the street. He also noted that landscaping could be developed to obstruct the view, which would not deter from policing and security. Pruess noted Terrell Mill lacked available nearby supervision, restroom facilities and telephones. Trueblood stated at this point on site supervision is not planned, but the Police Department and staff would make periodic inspections. He also stated there is a telephone in the park near Taft Speedway, but likely a phone closer to the skate park would be installed. He stated staff brought up the issue of restrooms and concessions to workshop attendees. They felt it was not an issue, in that they could bring their own food and beverages, and a porta-potty could easily be placed in the park. Dunbar addressed the injury concern, noting the injury rate in skating is lower than organized sports. He noted incidents are lower and severity higher, but the sport today is safer than it has ever been. Pacha asked if fencing was included; Dunbar indicated it was not but could be added. Pacha indicated he did not feel the skate park would be an eyesore in Terrell Mill Park, and felt it would be nice and inviting in a park that is not being heavily utilized. Maurer felt Terrell Mill was the best site, which would give the park an identity and more usage. He felt any concerns with visibility from the street could be eliminated with proper landscaping. Stroh agreed with Maurer, and added the skate park would be like a Parks and Recreation Commission February 8, 2000 Page 2 of 3 piece of art in itself. Pruess felt it was important to have indirect supervision, similar to that given by the half-time program supervisor presently at Mercer/Scanlon. Trueblood noted that if this position becomes full time in the future, part of his/her responsibilities would be skate park management. He also reported that the current program supervisor is resigning to take a full time job. Pruess noted the skate park in Terrell Mill IF'ark could be an enhancement. With plans to extend the trail to the Coralville Reservoir, he could envision the skate park being a regional attraction, a place to stop and observe the skaters, something that the community should take pride in and not be ashamed of. Moxley favored Terrell Mill Park, but asked if the youth would feel cut off from their other friends who frequent City Park. Dunbar stated the youth have stated their skating friends would be with them. Moxley asked what the skate park's dominant color would be; Dunbar indicated gray. He asked if it was possible to use colored concrete. Dunbar stated colored concrete is not used much in the state due expense and maintenance issues. Trueblood reported Endel's first choice was Terreli Mill Park, with Mercer Park being her second. (Gustaveson did not join the meeting until 6:15 p.m., at which time he indicated Terrell Mill Park as his number one site.) With respect to City Park, reasons expressed by various commissioners against this site were it is too congested, could be dangerous with youth running across the train tracks and roadway to get to the concession stands, possible interference with performances at Shakespeare Riverside Theatre, and the large number of family and company picnics. With respect to Mercer Park, the main reason expressed was the skate park's proximity to family residences. Possible funding sources, such as TEA 21, Land and Water Conservation and Recreation Infrastructure were briefly discussed. Dunbar indicated he could assist with filing a TEA 21 application. Margaret MacDonald expressed concerns that if the skate park were located in Terrell Mill Park the youth would not have anyone to demonstrate to, the problem with loud music is being transferred to her neighborhood, lack of available parking, concessions and restrooms, safety, and lack of supervision. She prefen'ed the skate park to be privately owned. Moved by Maurer, seconded by Stroh, to recommend Terrell Mill Park as the site for the proposed skate park. Unanimous. Trueblood stated the City Council would hopefully be discussing the skate park at its work session on Monday, February 14. PRESENTATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON 1/25/00 Pruess reported Maurer, Gustaveson and he met with staff to discuss budget issues, particularly the Natural Areas Manager position and the part-time Program Supervisor position. A strong message was given to the City Council. He indicated the City Council felt the positions were needed, but noted the lack of funds. Maurer felt a full-time Program Supervisor to work with youth-at-risk was a very high priority. With this position being part-time, he felt there will be a merry-go-round of people, with the youth never having a consistent person to work with, noting again that the current person occupying this position has resigned to accept a full time job. COM~MISSION TIME Pruess noted the Willow Creek Trail (Phase I) extends westward and dead ends. The Galway Subdivision is expanding and it would be possible to connect the trail up to a new residential street, Tiperary Street, using neighborhood open space funds. If this is not done, he felt people would be carving out their own path. Trueblood noted access was shown via a walkway to this area, with other possible funding sources being the Willow Creek Trail Phase II project balance and the intra-city bike trails allocation. Parks and Recreation Commission February 8, 2000 Page 3 of 3 DIRECTOR'S REPORT Trueblood reported on the following: Dogs and Leashes Some dog owners have apparently approached the City Council requesting that dogs be allowed to run free in Hickory Hill Park. The City Council has asked for a response from the Animal Control Division. A few years ago a group of citizens submitted a petition to the Commission requesting that Hickory Hill Park be declared a "leash free zone". At that time, the Commission determined this was not a realistic request but left the door open for the group to return with an alternative proposal. Such a proposal was never submitted. Streambank Stabilization Staff is in the beginning stages of working with the Riverfront and Natural Areas Commission and the Soil and Water Conservation Service for a pilot streambank stabilization project in Hickory Hill Park. Recreation Fees A council member has indicated he intends to propose that some of the recreation fees be lowered. Staff will be discussing this with the Council at their February 14 work session. City High Tennis Lights Information was provided relative to the neighborhood's most recent proposal, which would eliminate virtually all public play under the lights. The Commission's involvement may be needed in the future. City Park Log Cabins The cabins are in a state of disrepair. The question has come up as to whether the City should spend a considerable amount in renovating them or simply demolish them. This item will come to the Commission at a future meeting. West Side Drive Pond Information was included in the packet indicating a neighborhood association effort encouraging the City to assume ownership (and maintenance responsibilities) for this pond. It is possible that this issue will come before the Commission at a future date for a recommendation. Budget Update Staff will report to the Commission the final budget outcome at the March meeting. Joint Council/Commission Meeting The City Council has indicated its desire to have a joint meeting with the Commission to discuss future direction, including a parks and recreation master plan (budgeted this year) and the ability/inability to keep up with the department's growth, particularly as it relates to parkland and trails. Staff will keep the Commission apprised. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. PRELIMINA * PI,ANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2000- 7:30 P.M. Subject to .Appreval CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Benjamin Chait, Pam Ehrhardt, Dick Gibson, Marilyn Schintler, Dean Shannon, Lea Supple MEMBERS ABSENT: None - STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Holecek, Scott Kugler, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: John Cutrer, Larry Schnittjer, Gwendelin Guentner, Irene Murphy, John Shaw, Lorraine Huneke-Bowans, Hillary Sale, Cecile Kuenzli, Jeffrey Schabilion, Larry Svoboda, Ann Freerks, Janice Sweet, Craig Syrop, Lucas Van Orden RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of REZ00-0004, a rezoning of a .48-acre site from Planned High Density Multi-Family Residential to Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-prm) zone for property located at the northwest corner of Prentiss and Linn Streets. Recommended approval, by a vote of 6-0, of VAC97-0002, a request to vacate an undeveloped portion of the WooIf Avenue right-of-way from McLean Street south for a distance of 240 feet, subject to delineation and retention of an easement for the future maintenance of public improvements within this right-of-way, the retention of easements for any private utilities that may exist within this right-of-way, and the disposition of the property occurring concurrently with the final consideration of the ordinance to vacate. Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of amendments to the sign regulations to allow masonry signs in the General Industrial (I-1), Heavy Industrial (I-2), Office Research Park (ORP) and Research and Development Park (RDP) zones. Recommended approval, by a vote of 7-0, of the following amendment to be incorporated into subsection 14-6E-1D, Special Exceptions, of the CO-1 zone regulations: 10. Small animal clinics, provided: a. All aspects of the operation of the clinic, including an accessory use, are conducted completely indoors within a single, soundproofed building; and b. The structure housing the clinic is not located within two hundred feet (200') of a residential zone; and c. No odors or noise from the clinic shall be discernible at any lot line. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Supple called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Supple invited those at the meeting to serve on a board or commission. She said it is an educational opportunity for the volunteer and also an opportunity to have input into how the City progresses and grows. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 2 SUB00-0005/REZ00-0006. Public discussion of an application submitted by JPI c/o John Cutrer for a preliminary plat of Jefferson Commons, a 47.89 acre, five-lot subdivision and for a rezoning of 32.36 acres, from Intedm Development Single-Family Residential (ID-RS) to Sensitive Areas Oveday Medium Density Residential (OSA-8) zone to allow for development of 228 multi-family dwelling units for property located north of Foster Road and west of Forest View Mobile Home Park. (45-day limitation period expires March 26, 2000) Miklo said this proposal includes a rezoning, as well as a subdivision and a Sensitive Areas Development Plan. Miklo said the subdivision would include four lots on the Arn property itself: two lots for the multi-family housing development, one with the existing Am family home on it, and one lot with a couple of outbuildings on it. Miklo said the subdivision also includes property for a street that would connect to Foster Road and property within the Forest View Mobile Home Park that would also include property for a road. He said Laura Drive would be extended to the west, curve around the ravine, and then come back to Foster Road to provide secondary access to the entire property. Miklo said at this point, there is not an agreement from the applicants that indicate they do have consent from the adjacent property owners to the south for the street right-of-way, although they have indicated they have been in negotiations with those owners. He said that for this to proceed at any level, there would need to be two ways of getting a public street in and out of this site, so it would require the cooperation of the adjacent property owners to the east and to the south. Miklo said the plan itself calls for 288 dwelling units. He said the original information submitted on the application and showing 228 dwelling units was incorrect. Miklo said some of the information in the staff report therefore needs to be updated. He said Lot 4 would contain 120 units, which would be approximately 8.8 units per acre, and Lot 1 would contain 168 units, which would be approximately 12 units per acre. Miklo said the application would need to be revised to rezone this lot Sensitive Areas Overlay-12 versus the OSA-8 that was proposed, because it does exceed the eight to ten units per acre. Miklo said the Comprehensive Plan designates the area northeast of the ravine as developable at a medium density of eight to sixteen units per acre and the area west of the ravine at a lower density of two to eight units per acre. He said that overall, the two lots being developed for multi-family would be over nine units per acre. Miklo said staff therefore feels this does not comply with the Comprehensive Plan, in terms of the density guidelines. Miklo said there are also several other issues in the Comprehensive Plan that have not been addressed by this rezoning application. He said the plan discusses development in environmentally sensitive areas, and the Sensitive Areas Ordinance has certain requirements regardin0 development in these areas. Miklo said this particular property contains a woodland of over two acres, and most of that woodland would be cleared in order for this development to occur. He said that does not comply with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan or the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Miklo said the property also contains a ravine. He said there would be some grading in the ravine to allow storm water management there. Miklo said the Sensitive Areas Ordinance allows the potential for the City to consider grading in protected slopes and their buffer areas if it can be shown that there is no alternative and there would be no harm to sensitive areas. He said, however, the ordinance does not require that the City approve such grading in those areas. Miklo said at this point, the Public Works Department has not done a thorough analysis of the storm water management plan that calls for grading in the ravine, but staff is concerned that it does not meet either the spirit or the letter of the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 3 Miklo said the Comprehensive Plan contains guidelines for where multi-family development should occur. He said it indicates that apartment buildings should be located near artedal streets, where they have good access to those streets without requiring that traffic from apartment buildings travel through lower density neighborhoods. In this particular case, Miklo said the proposed development would require traffic to go to the south in an area that is designated on the Comprehensive Plan and anticipated to be a lower density neighborhood. He said the area to the east is designated for moderate density, so it is not as much of a concern in terms of traffic. Miklo said staff feels this plan does not comply with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. He said it is clear it does not comply with the 50% retention of woodlands that is called for in an RS-8 zone, and the underlying zone in the western part of this development would be RS-8. Miklo said the plan also calls for grading in the wooded ravine. He said based on its noncompliance with the Comprehensive Plan, staff recommends this application to rezone this property to OSA-8 and OSA-12, with the recent information about some of the property being twelve units per acre, be denied. Bovbjerg asked if all of the sensitive areas and the "no build" and buffer areas are part of the calculation to determine density. Miklo responded that the density calculation is based on the overall area of the land; the sensitive areas are not removed from the density calculation. He said the only thing excluded 'from the calculation is the street. Miklo said the Sensitive Areas Ordinance does not say that if an area is zoned Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS- 8) that you can get eight units per acre; what it does say is that if there are environmentally sensitive areas on the site, you can cluster the buildings away from the sensitive areas to try to increase the density. He said in this case, the current zoning is ID-RS, Interim Development Single-Family Residential, which is one unit per ten acres. Miklo said staff anticipates this area should be rezoned, because it now has water and sewer service, but the proposed density is too high. Bovbjerg said as Laura Drive comes up from Foster, it appears to cross south of the mobile home park, and staff indicated that some of the houses would be lost. Miklo said Laura Drive would function as a collector street for the larger neighborhood. Bovbjerg asked how close it would be to the retained mobile homes. Miklo said it would apparently be 15 feet away, which would not be in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance. Bovbjerg said as it loops around would it become the new street coming down over what is now a lane along the Arn property. Miklo confirmed this. Ehrhardt asked about the buffer between the property and Interstate 80. Miklo stated that the Comprehensive Plan calls for a buffer between any residential development and the interstate highway. He said in other areas of the City, e.g. the Northeast District, the Comprehensive Plan calls for a 300-foot buffer. Miklo said there is not a specific number here, although staff is working on the North District Plan and may come up with a specific number. He said the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recommends when there is a dense, wooded vegetation that approximately 1 O0 feet be retained as a buffer. Miklo said in this case, the closest dwelling units would be 125 feet from interstate right-of-way; however the trees would be removed from that area. He said where a cluster of trees is proposed to be preserved in this development, it is roughly 50 to 60 feet of vegetation. Miklo said the AASHTO would recommend about 100 feet, so staff feels this development is lacking an adequate buffer. Ehrhardt referred to a memo from Larry Schnittjer to the Commission regarding the buffer and discussing some confusion about what staff is requiring for a buffer. Miklo stated that when staff discussed this with the applicants in November, the applicants submitted a concept plan and Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes Mamh 2, 2000 Page 4 asked if staff could potentially support this rezoning. He said staff raised several concerns, one of which was that there should be some sod of buffer. Miklo said the wdtten comments to the applicants were that staff suggested a minimum of 150 feet of wooded buffer retained between the interstate and the residences. Ehrhardt said Schnittjer's memorandum discusses the fad that the applicants would not be able to meet the tree preservation ordinance and so would just replace the trees in accordance with the ordinance. She asked if that would be in compliance with the ordinance. Miklo read from the ordinance that, "If the City determines that the required woodland area cannot be retained due to site constraints or infrastructure requirements, replacement trees will be planted. One tree shall be planted for every 200 square feet of woodland area removed or otherwise required for retention." He said staff reads that to say that the City can grant the option of planting replacement trees, if it is determined that due to site constraints and needs of infrastructure, the requirement cannot be met. Miklo said one reason it is difficult to retain the 50% here is because the applicants are providing 230 more parking spaces than actually required by the ordinance. He stated if this were zoned at a lower density, it is much more likely the applicants could come closer to the 50% or possibly achieve the 50% woodland retention requirement. Miklo said at this point, staff would not recommend that the 50% requirement be waived. Public discussion: John Cutter, In/in.q, Texas, said he represents JPI, the developers of this proposal. He distributed a brochure about his firm, as well as some pictures that are typical of the types of projects JPI builds in its more student-oriented communities. Cutrer said the clubhouse and the actual photographs of the buildings are designed by the same architect JPI proposes to use for this project, so it is a fairly accurate portrayal of what JPI proposes to build in Iowa City. Cutrer said JPI has been in existence for 11 years. He said JPI is consistently in the top three multi- family developers in the nation. Cutrer said JPI builds all kinds of apartments, with a lot of luxury apartments, a student housing division, and some apartment complexes that partially cater to students, partially cater to eldedy, and partially cater to traditional apartment renters. He said JPI has quite a bit of experience, and he thinks they can build a good project here - a project that Iowa City and JPI can both be proud of. Cutrer said the equity partner on this is GE Capital. He said they are a big firm and take a lot of care to underwrite the people they back; he said they would not back JPI if it did not have a good track record in its past projects. Cutrer said JPI also has considerable experience in developing in sensitive environmental areas. He said they have developed projects in Washington State, in Southern California, in Austin, Texas, and in Florida. Cutter said all these areas have very strict environmental regulations. Cutrer said JPI has dealt with them satisfactorily in all cases, and he thought they could do the same here. He said JPI has a reputation of balancing the environmental needs of the site with the social needs of the community they are developing in. Cutmr said JPl's history in Iowa City has occurred over the last three to four years. He said they have researched the city, the University, and the market and have found a tremendous need for additional multi-family residences, especially multi-family that is geared more toward the student population. Cutrer said rents are going up and occupancy is high, both signs that new housing is warranted. He said they have looked all over for the ideal tract; he would love to have a 20-acre tract right next to campus, but that isn't going to happen. Cutrer said JPI has the Arn tract under contract, and they would like to develop it, as they think it is a good site. He said they have met with the City a number of times on this property, starting last summer. Cutrer said JPI has revised the site plan a number of times in accordance with staff's suggestions. He said he takes objection to the comment in staff's report that JPI has seemingly designed this Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 5 without regard for their comments or for the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. To the contrary, Cutrer said he thought JPI had taken a lot of that into account. Cutrer said the site is for all practical purposes landlocked. He said it couldn't be accessed dght now by a public road. Cutrer said one of the reasons JPI is requesting a higher density is that economically they have to have the higher density to make this deal work. He estimated they had to build about a 2,700 linear foot road connecting Laura Drive with Foster Road. Cutrer said in addition, they have to buy land along the existing driveway, Arn Lane, to make the road wide enough to meet City standards. He said all this takes a lot of money, and that, combined with the requirement that a lot of the trees be preserved and the Sensitive Areas Ordinance be adhered to, takes a lot of the value out of this property, unless you can develop at the higher density. Cutrer said that is why JPI is asking for the higher density - they need it because they have to spread their costs over that many units and that many bedrooms to make the deal work, as anybody would. He said he understood in a perfect world this site would be developed with four-plexes, duplexes and townhomes - something of a lesser density. Cutrer said that just cannot be done with the requirement that the road be built and all these trees be preserved. Cutrer said if this were built out with duplexes or four-plexes, there would be the same problem in terms of the loss of the trees. He said there would probably be more paving because there would have to be more streets, with probably just as many cars coming in and out of there. Cutrer said he did not think there would be any net benefit to building it out at a lesser density. Cutrer said there are a couple of reasons the Commission should grant this rezoning. First, he said this project would take a lot of the existing vehicular traffic and parking problems from downtown and move them up to this property. Cutrer said JPI is targeting a student audience, and most of those people live downtown right now. He said moving those cars to this property would avoid the traffic issues and the parking problems the City currently has downtown and would open those parking spaces up for the retail tenants and shoppers downtown. Cutrer said JPI has already talked with Iowa City Transit about extending the free downtown shuttle up to this property or at the very least, getting on the existing route that goes up there. He said his hope is that this would almost be like satellite parking for the University and that the kids would leave their cars up there, take the bus down to campus, and only get in their cars when they had to. Cutrer said that is something the downtown would benefit from. Secondly, Cutrer said this would be a good project because of the tax revenue. He said JPI has spoken to a number of people in this city, and he did not recall what kind of tax revenue is being spun off by the existing use, but it is not a whole lot. Cutrer said this project, because it is an apartment complex that would cost between 20 and 25 million dollars to build would generate quite a bit more tax revenue for the City of Iowa City. He said it would be money that could be spent on infrastructure or schools, whatever the City sees fit to do. Cutrer asked the Commission to reconsider staff's recommendation and approve this zoning. Chait asked if the density could be lowered and the project would still be viable if this land were less expensive to buy. Cutrer said not if you have to develop in strict adherence to the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. He said he has worked the numbers on this a million times. Cutrer said even if the land were free, if 50% of the trees have to be preserved and you have to build the road, you just cannot do it and make the deal work. He said at least he has not found a way, and he has worked on this particular site for the last nine or ten months. Chait said Cutrer stated "in strict adherence to the Sensitive Areas Ordinance." Chait asked if that is what makes this property undevelopable. Cutrer confirmed this. Gibson said Cutrer made reference in his presentation to balancing environmental needs with social needs and asked him to elaborate on that point. Cutrer said in this instance in particular, Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 6 JPl's intent is to build a low density project and to preserve as many of the trees as they possibly can and to plant a lot of trees in place of the trees that are tom down. He said that is JPl's respect for the environmental needs of this site and of the community. Cutter said the social needs would be the need for affordable, quality housing for the student population. He said other instances where JPI has undertaken similar projects include a project in Austin where they bought 60 to 65 acres and set aside 40 to 45 acres as a big green area. Cutter said the reason they were able to do it there is because they did not have the same situation where they have to build a City standard road. He said they were able to get considerably higher rents there because Austin is that kind of market and the project was in a highly desirable neighborhood. He said that is what he was talking about in reference to balancing the environmental needs of the community with its social needs. Gibson asked if Cutter should transfer that Austin experience here, with the inability to create an environment or find an environment such as found in Austin in terms of being able to set aside 75% of the land for green space and not having the need to build streets. Gibson said that is something no one can do anything about; there is a street through this or there isn't. Cutter said it is not a 100% identical situation; he was saying that JPI could take their experiences on their other projects and bring them here. He said he thinks this project does a good job of setting aside a large green area. Cutter said they are leaving the ravine, for the most part, undisturbed and building a low-density project of overall about nine units to the acre. He said that is extremely low for multi-family residential. He said a typical project he would build would be 16 to 18 units per acre. He said they are leaving a lot of green area in there. Gibson said Cutmr also made a statement about transferring the parking and traffic problems from the central campus downtown to this site. He asked Cutter if he really thought students would get in buses and ride downtown, rather than burden the downtown area with cars. Cutter said he thought they absolutely would and thought it would be more convenient for students to take the bus rather than driving down, parking their cars, and walking to campus. Gibson asked if JPI wanted the City to handle that busing requirement for them, as Cutter had not offered to run a shuttle bus. Cutter said he just started talking with Iowa City Transit and has not entered into any kind of arrangement with them nor discussed anything along those lines. Gibson asked if running a shuttle bus back and forth could be an option. Cutter said JPI has entered into arrangements before where they have subsidized City bus service. He said he did not think JPI would necessarily be opposed to that here, but at the same time, this would a transportation need of Iowa City or at least certainly in the interests of Iowa City to provide public transportation for those people who need it or want it. ' Bovbjerg asked what JPl's experience is with the northern part of the United States, as most of its building appears to be in the southern half of the United States. She asked what kind of arrangements and modifications of the plans have been done in consideration of the heavy rains and amount of snow that Iowa gets. Cutrer said JPI completed construction on a project in State College, Pennsylvania several years ago and is currently working on another project there. He said that has a similar climate to Iowa City's in terms of the cold. Cutrer said the buildings could be angled away so they don't take the direct brunt of the wind. He said they could turn the buildings so that the wind and cold coming out of the northwest does not directly hit the living rooms or the majority of the windows. Cutrer said that is one thing they can do. He said the preliminary designs show screening of the stairwells so the cold wind doesn't blow through and run everyone's heating bills up. Cutrer said JPI is certainly conscious of the need to adapt to Iowa's climate. Bovbjerg asked where the outside stairwells are. Cutter referred to the photographs and said the archways/doorways represent the stairwells. Bovbjerg asked if the plan shows angled buildings or shows them straight on. Cutrer said the submitted site plan shows some adaptations JPI took to reflect the north wind blowing in. Bovbjerg asked how many bedrooms Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 7 would be in the different dwelling units. Cutter responded that there would be one, two, three, and four-bedroom units. Schintler asked why JPI is proposing more parking spaces than needed. Cutter said JPl's experience has been that these projects that are oriented toward students require a minimum one to one parking ratio. He said that is based on JPl's experience of developing and owning roughly 21 apartment complexes in college communities. Cutter said a lot of the students are from out of town, and a lot of them have cam. He said the ones who do not have cars are counterbalanced by people visiting the complex. Cutter said JPl's experience is that one parking space per bedroom is ideal for this. Larry Schnittier, 1917 South Gilbert Street, said he submitted a memo earlier in the day to address some of staffs comments at the Monday meeting and to explain the applicant's position on some of the other issues. Schnittjer said the two areas of protected slopes infringement can be eliminated; that is not something that has to be done. He said the thought process in the design was that if the ground would be shaped out here, it would be better to have a nice, gently sloping area than to provide retaining walls just to avoid getting into a protected slope situation. Schnittjer said that by extending the fill a little farther and making a gentle slope out of it makes a more pleasing and more easily maintained facility. He said that is the reason this was illustrated and submitted this way. Regarding the storm water facility, Schnittjer said whatever happens on this piece of property will require storm water management. He said in his judgment, this is the correct location to have that. Schnittjer said it is unlikely there are many trees intolerant of wet situations in that location at this point in time. He added that the dam in that location for the impoundment does not infringe on the protected slopes. Schnittjer said if the impoundment is moved upstream to avoid some of the other issues, then it would create more problems with trees that would be intolerant of wet situations. He said at the outset it was understood that the applicant probably would not be able to meet the tree preservation requirements, and they anticipated replacing trees. Gibson said he was surprised to find out that the tree preservation requirement called for replacement on the ratio of one tree per 200 square feet. He asked if Schnittjer had an estimate for the number of mature trees that might be located on a 200 square foot site in an area like this. Schnittjer replied that the trees existing there are probably less than half that dense in the densest portions of it; he said there would be a tree for every 400 square feet existing out there in some of the more dense areas. He said a complete tree inventory has not been done, but he has walked the site. Gibson said then these are not densely treed areas at all if there is one tree for 400 square feet. Schnittjer said a 200 square foot area is basically 10 feet by 20 feet. He said there are a lot of places out there where you could drive through the trees; it is just that they have a relatively large canopy for each of the trees. Schnittjer said there are not a lot of significant trees of the 18 to 36 inch size, although there are a few. He said most of them are six to ten inches. Gibson asked if this were virgin growth. Schnittjer said it was not - that some of it has been cleared in the past. He said along the interstate there is a lot of wind damage from the storm a couple of years ago. Schnittjer said Miklo may have commented on the 150- foot buffer when the applicant met with him, but he did not recall any comments stating that it had to be a treed buffer. Miklo said it was written in an e-mail to the applicant as a follow-up, and he would provide a copy of that for the next meeting. Gwendelin Guentner, 570 Foster, said she was speaking for the Stonewall Condominiums. She said she was delighted staff is recommending against approval of this project. Guentner said the neighbors have always been very appreciative of this unique area. She said the neighbors are very sensitive to the trees that have already been removed through various construction projects and are hoping that will be reduced in any further development. Guentner said Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 8 regarding the idea that these are not significant trees and that these are not important trees, that the neighbors have noticed a tremendous increase in highway noise from Interstate 80. She said if you start taking down trees and replace them with one tree every 200 feet, she did not know how long you would have to wait until you had a buffer from the noise from Interstate 80. Regarding the plans for Arn Lane, Guentner said that is 150 feet from her back yard. She said with 288 units and a parking ratio of one to one, she could not imagine the traffic that would be on that road going back and forth. Guentner said this is just a residential area, and residents cannot offer what the applicants can in terms of opening up parking downtown and increasing the tax base, but it seems a little excessive to take this pristine area and put such a high density development on it. Irene Mumhv, 1205 Laura Drive, said she is concerned for the ten mobile homes that would be eliminated if Laura Drive were extended. She asked if the developer would assume the responsibility of relocating them in a similar situation, as there is not enough space in Forest View Mobile Home Park to accommodate those homes. Murphy said she is also concerned about the removal of so many trees. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Bovbjerg moved to defer SUB00-0005/REZ00-0006, an application submitted by JPI c/o John Cutrer for a preliminary plat of Jefferson Commons, a 47.89 acre, five-lot subdivision and for a rezoning of 32.36 acres, from Interim Development Single-Family Residential (IDRS) to Sensitive Areas Overlay Medium Density Residential (OSA-8) zone to allow for development of 228 multifamily dwelling units for property located north of Foster Road and west of Forest View Mobile Home Park, to the March 16, 2000 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Schintler seconded the motion. Gibson said he was mystified about what it is about this site that attracts what he considers to be high-density development proposals. He said they seem to have to virtually rape the land by cutting forests and filling ravines to develop up here. Gibson said he would like to see a proposal for this site that would take some of the environmental and social considerations into account, instead of purely economic ones. He said someone apparently has a price on this land that forces the trees to be cut and the ravines to be filled in order to economically develop it. Gibson stated that he did not understand the necessity for that other than for the landowners self interest. He said the Commission keeps hearing that because of the price of the land and the trees and the necessity to build roads, that the land has to be virtually covered with housing and parking lots to make it economically developable. Gibson said the alternative is to just leave the land there and don't develop it. He said there is no obligation on anyone's part, except the obligation the Commission has to allow this to develop according to current zoning, to have it develop any other way. He stated he would like to see a proposal to do that. Gibson said there are community sponsored projects right next to this that won't do this to the land; they take the high ground and avoid excessive grading and taking out the trees. He said he would have difficulty dealing with this in a manner the developer would like to see. Bovbjerg pointed out that deferring this for two weeks is the practice of the Commission and does not indicate inevitable favor or disfavor. She said it means the Commission is open and available to comments from neighbors, civic people, the developer, etc. Bovbjerg said she expressed reservations at the informal meeting. She said one of the biggest concerns is the sensitive nature of the land; regardless of the ordinance, the land is sensitive, and that will always remain regardless of the numbers put on it. She said she also had concerns about Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 9 Foster Road and traffic on the hilly part and the curves as well as an apprehension about the density that would be thrown on Foster Road, Laura Drive, and Dubuque Street. Ehrhardt said this application is an insult to the Sensitive Areas Ordinance and to the City's Comprehensive Plan land use policies and neighborhood design concepts. She said regardless of what it is like in Austin, Texas, here we care about the environment and sensitive areas. Ehrhardt said a lot of people worked very hard to develop these ordinances, and it is the Commission's responsibility to uphold the tenets of these ordinances. She suggested the developer come back with an application after he has read and looked more closely at the ordinances. Supple said she is concerned about this application's failure to meet the Comprehensive Plan and its lack of sensitivity to this very sensitive and fragile land. She said there are four rules to development, and the first one is to respect the land. Supple said she did not consider this plan respectful. The motion to defer carried on a vote of 7-0. SITE PLAN REVIEW ORDINANCE Public discussion of I}rol~osed Multi-Family Residential Desi.cln Standards for Infill Develol3ment within the Central Plannin.cl District and related amendments. Kugler said staff has been working with the Apartment In~ll Committee for some time to develop a set of standards for new apartment buildings within Iowa City's older residential neighborhoods, and the Committee is ready to present those standards and their report to the Commission. He stated that the standards are proposed to be incorporated into the City's site plan review ordinance and implemented at the staff level. Kugler said staff feels the consensus reached by the Committee represents a good compromise that balances the need for good design and neighborhood compatibility with the flexibility that is needed by developers who design buildings within the older neighborhoods. He said staff feels the proposed standards would be consistent with the policies in the Comprehensive Plan and recommends approval of those standards. Kugler said there are a few standards, dealing mainly with front yard setback issues and which items are allowed to project into the front yard, that would not be consistent with specific provisions of the Zoning Chapter. He said the Committee has proposed that where there are conflicts between the requirements of the proposed standards and the Zoning Chapter, that the infill design standards take precedence. Kugler said staff feels this is also appropriate, as the methods for determining the appropriate setbacks and what items can project into the front yard proposed by the standards are more in keeping with the existing neighborhoods than the current ordinance requirements. He said there is some proposed language that could be incorporated into the Zoning Chapter that would make this possible. Kugler said staff recommends both the adoption of the proposed design standards as well as the proposed Zoning Chapter amendments. Public discussion: John Shaw, 437 South Summit Street, said he is a member of the Apartment In-fill Committee, an ad hoc committee appointed by the City Council in 1998 to look at design issues associated with apartment buildings being constructed in the older, traditional neighborhoods. He said the Committee is made up of individuals of varying backgrounds, viewpoints, interests, and concerns. Shaw said it includes developers, apartment owners, neighborhood residents, Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 10 architects, and members of both the Histodc Preservation and Planning and Zoning Commissions. Shaw said for those living in the established neighborhoods, a pdme concern is the demolition of older homes to allow the construction of new apartment buildings. He said it was not until a few years ago that the idea of design guidelines received serious attention when two new buildings were constructed within the College Hill neighborhood. He said both buildings raised a great deal of public concern and were seen as being insensitive to their surrounding environments. Shaw said the City Code contains no design related standards, and many developers have made no serious effort to make their buildings an appropriate addition to these neighborhoods. Shaw said the neighborhoods under discussion are currently zoned for a mix of single-family and multi-family uses, but still retain much of their original architecture. He said people like these areas and choose to live there because of the character and charm offered by the original architecture. Shaw said these areas are essentially unprotected by the City's ordinances in terms of design. He stated that currently, from a design perspective, anything goes. Shaw said the concept of encouraging well-designed apartment buildings that are compatible with the existing context is one that is clearly supported by the Comprehensive Plan. He said when new developments occur at the edge of town, issues such as buffers, transitions, and the compatibility of the proposed architecture are all reviewed with scrutiny to ensure that new developments will complement rather than detract from their surrounding neighborhoods. Shaw said these are assurances for residents of these areas that design issues will be addressed. He said the Committee feels that residents of older Iowa City neighborhoods should be given some of these same assurances. In developing the proposed standards, Shaw said the Committee felt very strongly that to make them work, the standards needed to be quite flexible and provide various options. He said the proposal drafted by the Committee cleady reflects this flexibility. Shaw said the proposal includes two sets of standards. He said there is a category for which mandatory compliance is required for any new apartment building, and the Committee felt these items are essential in designing buildings that fit within an older neighborhood. Shaw said these items deal with maintaining consistent setbacks, locating parking behind or under a building, and incorporating a front entrance, as well as a pedestrian connection to the street/sidewalk. Shaw said the second category of standards is essentially a menu of design ideas from which developers may pick and choose. He said there are fifteen standards, each with associated point values. Shaw said from this menu, a building must earn a total of 30 design points. Shaw said there are 88 points in all. He said this category deals with items such as front porches, methods of reducing the visual mass and scale of a proposed building, architectural details, and building materials. Shaw said the standards and the point system have been field tested against buildings in the City, and the Committee feels relatively confident that the system is fair and will result in improvement to the level of design quality of the new buildings going up in the older neighborhoods. Shaw said, as noted in the report, the Committee decided that a staff level review by the staff Design Review Committee was the best option for implementation of the standards. He said this could be accommodated within the regular building permit and site plan review process and would cause minimal, if any, delay to the builder. Shaw said to ensure that the process is running smoothly, the Committee would like to evaluate how this has been implemented and working for the people who have been using it. He said for that reason, the Committee would like to reconvene after a period of time to talk to the people who have been involved in the process and then recommend necessary adjustments. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes Mamh 2, 2000 Page 11 In summary, Shaw said the Committee feels design standards are necessary for apartment buildings in the older neighborhoods. He said the Committee feels the standards will ensure a minimum level of design quality in new buildings yet afford flexibility for developers and allow the developers to decide how the design standards should apply to their individual sites. Shaw said the Committee proposes a review process that will not result in significant or any delays for the builders and requests the Committee be given the opportunity to evaluate the standards and process after a period of time to ensure it is working as planned. He said the Committee recommends the proposed standards be adopted as drafted. Shaw said the standards have been carefully constructed and considered and he feels they are a faidy good piece of work. Bovbjerg said she appreciated what has been built in to evaluate this and so that this would not delay construction. She asked if the Committee has had any indication from developers or landowners that they look upon this as more regulation, as this is the reaction that design reviews and new zoning frequently comes up against. Shaw said there were three developers on the Committee. He said he feels anytime a new set of standards is adopted there will be that criticism, but this review process includes guidelines that are already laid out and will be available to anyone before they begin their design process. Shaw said they will be able to model what they propose to do using the standards, and the fact that it will go through at the same time the permitting process takes place should be a minimal added burden to the developers. Bovbjerg asked if the draft was distributed to realtors, homebuilders' associations and similar groups. Kugler said he sent a copy to the Homebuilders' Association, the government affairs person with the Chamber of Commerce, and about a dozen people who have been active in building in the older neighborhoods, who were encouraged to pass it along to anyone else who might have an interest in this issue. He said he had not had any response from those individuals or organizations. Lorraine Huneke-Bowans, 510 South Governor, said she lives in a wonderful, well-blended neighborhood where there is some rental property that is well cared for by landlords, but also a few properties that are neglected by landlords. She said this is a neighborhood, and just because these are older homes does not mean they do not have value, not necessarily meaning only value in dollars and cents. Huneke-Bowans said she could tear down her house and make a lot of money on the property. She said however, that the neighbors want their older homes. Huneke-Bowans said she has no problems with rental properties, but there are developers moving into her area who have no respect for the neighborhood, so that these design review standards are needed. She said she wants the rental properties to blend into the neighborhoods. Huneke-Bowans asked the Commission to support these standards. She said the standards are excellent, and it should not be much of a hardship for a developer to meet these thirty points. Hillan/Sale, 1016 East Colle.qe Street, said she lives at the corner of College and Summit, next to the new apartment building in the neighborhood. She said she is in favor of the infill regulations. Sale said she would love to see development, if it is going to occur, happen in a way that fits in better with the community. She said the honest truth is that the neighbors do not want to see the older homes in the neighborhood torn down at all and replaced with apartment buildings. Sale said she wants to see the neighborhood preserved, but if building is going to be done, it should be done in a way that fits in with the neighborhood. She said this proposal is one step in that direction. Sale asked the Commission to take this seriously and adopt it and help work more toward preserving the neighborhoods in the City. Sale said this is a neighborhood of renters and homeowners, and she is happy to have a mix of both. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 12 Cecile Kuenzli, 705 South Summit Street, said she is the author of the letter wdtten Apdl 24, 1996 that eventually led to the creation of the infill committee. She thanked the City for having the courage and vision to undertake the task as well as the in~ll committee for their many hours of work and their attention to detail. Kuenzli said if the City adopts it, it will serve the City well. Kuenzli said she had two questions about what is in the document and one about what is not included. She said page two of the report references the setback of new structures and says it should be the same as that of surrounding structures. Kuenzli said in the areas of the City where infill occurs, the new structure is always large and is surrounded by smaller structures on either side of it. She said it is a principle of perspective that mass is diminished as it recedes. Kuenzli said she wondered if there are large structures on either side of a structure, it would in fact diminish the proportions of the smaller structures even more and emphasize the mass of the new structure. She asked if there were some reason the Committee did not recommend that the larger, new structures be set back a little from the street. Kuenzli said page three states that parking is encouraged behind new structures, but side parking will be allowed, depending on site conditions. She asked what would constitute the site conditions where side parking would be tolerated. Kuenzli said it is clear that this document was written to preserve the quality of the visual appearance of Iowa City, and the fact that new construction would be made to relate to the older construction says that what is already there in the older construction is valued. She said in the older neighborhoods where the new buildings will go in has a lot of architectural heritage at risk. Kuenzli said a lot of the older buildings are being allowed by rental owners to deteriorate. She said there is nothing in the document that would encourage or require rental property owners to maintain their properties. Kuenzli said she wondered how many of these old properties will still be around in 20 years and said there will not be any older structures left to refer to, unless something is done to require the older structures to be preserved. She thought it is a strategy to allow old structures to decay where it is no longer economically feasible to keep them, so it is easy to bulldoze them and build something new. Kuenzli said the whole point of this is to keep the traditional appearance to the City. In response to Kuenzli's questions, Chait said that Housing and Inspection Services requires permitting of rental properties. He said that process requires the owner to maintain them to a certain degree to get a rental permit. Chait said his opinion is that nothing lasts forever, and eventually the oldest property will come down and will be rebuilt. Regarding side parking and the unique site constraints, Chait said the property and how it can be accessed would determine whether parking would be in the back or on the side. He said all property has the right to be developed, and if parking cannot be in the back, it needs to be allowed in some other way. In terms of the ordinance, Chait said there are requirements for modulation and articulation of the design of the building that would address Kuenzli's concern about the scale and mass of a new structure and how it would work in the streetscape. Kuenzli said if the developer chose not to pick from that menu of options and chose something besides the modulations of the facade, you could still end up with that mass looming at you. Chait said it was pretty unlikely the developer would get the points required without complying with the ordinance to some degree. Regarding the value of a house, Ehrhardt said she lives in a house that was built in 1857. She said her house appreciates every year. Ehrhardt said down the street from her house is a house built later than hers that depreciates every year, because it is not cared for. She said that is what Kuenzli is getting at in saying that many of the absent landlords do not care for the houses so that the value depreciates every year. Chait said that can happen, but there are mechanisms in the community to prevent the slum property that is milked for the money. He Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 13 said the owner couldn't rent such a property. Chait said the rental permitting process requires maintenance to a certain degree to make the property rentable and habitable. Ehrhardt said a lot of communities have an ordinance called "demolition by neglect". She said she would like the City to address this issue at some point in the future. Jeff Schabilion, 431 Rundell Street, said the activities of the Planning and Zoning Commission and developers are turned toward new development. He said the City is exercising a desire to have quality residential areas, and investments of millions of dollare to ensure that degree of quality in terms of the Peninsula project, etc., are very much in the forefront. Schabilion said besides that new development, the City already has a tremendously important existing resource in its older residential areas. He said these areas, as some buildings come down and redevelopment is possible, should also be held to an idea of quality development and not allowed to deteriorate. Schabilion said what is being proposed here is very important, because it puts the same realization of value and quality into the older neighborhoods that are being proposed for new neighborhoods. He said it is somewhat ironic that some of the plans for the Peninsula area try to create neighborhoods that he and his neighbors already live in, love, and would like to see preserved. Schabilion said the guidelines are a very important step towards that. Larry Svoboda, 16 Cherrv Lane NE, said he is a member of the infill committee and a developer. He said he basically dislikes government intervention in his business and sometimes feels it is not warranted at all. Svoboda said in this case, he is in favor of this becoming an ordinance. He said he does not feel that private development has taken its responsibility to task and designed nice buildings. Svoboda said he does not necessarily think it is a profit motive, but may be a lack of education or a position of ignorance of not knowing any better. He said because of some of the buildings that have been built in the past, government intervention is a necessity in this situation. Svoboda said the regulations, as put together, leave enough leeway for the developer to have a lot of options to exercise in the design of his building. He said the ordinance falls short in one area. Svoboda stated he thought there were two basic problems in the construction of building apartments in older neighborhoods with one being building facade and the other building bulk. He said he is a proponent of better design and also a proponent of reducing the size of the buildings in certain neighborhoods where there is low density apartment construction by virtue of the zone, such as an RM-12 or RNC-12 neighborhood. Svoboda said apparently there are legal problems with respect to the building bulk, so that part of it is disappointing to him. He said there is more work to be done in that area, through legal staff perhaps, to try to reduce building bulk as well as improve the design of the building. Svoboda said a question was raised as to whether it costs more to do this. He said it would cost a lot more, not a whole lot more, but he thought it was worth it. He said the developer is going to get it back in the value of the building, and the community will benefit by having a better looking building in place. Svoboda said he was in favor of this. Supple asked Svoboda if he could put a percentage on what the increase in costs would be. Svoboda said he did not design many buildings. He said he is constructing one now on North Dubuque where basically the front and half the side of the building has brick on it. Svoboda said the brick is costing $12,000, but he could have sided those same sections for $3,000. He said it is a Cadillac location though, and if you have such a location, you should be prepared to pay the price. Ann Freerks, 443 South Governor Street, said she and her husband are very much in favor of the proposed infill guidelines. She said we need to look ahead at what can be done to maintain Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 14 the types of neighborhoods we have so that when new construction does come in, it is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. Freerks said this is not just about the buildings, but is about the people who live there. She said her neighborhood has about a 50/50 ratio of owner-occupied homes to rental properties. Freerks said it is a great mix. She said everyone she talks to in her neighborhood says there is a reason they live in these neighborhoods, and that is because of the type of environment that exists. Freerks said it is important to pass this and thanked everyone who had put their time into working on these guidelines. MOTION: Gibson moved to defer voting on the proposed multi-family residential design standards for infill development within the Central Planning District and related amendments to the March '16, 2000 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. Gibson said he understood the motivation in terms of trying to speed approval, but did not understand where it says this can be reviewed administratively, even when it is at odds with the current zoning ordinances. He said if that is the case, he wondered why the Commission deals with changing zoning ordinances and reviewing things to see if they comply with zoning ordinances, if this can be put through in such a way that the Review Board can waive the zoning ordinances. He said maybe he did not understand the amendments. Holecek said what it does is when there are certain conflicts between the zoning ordinance and these standards, these standards shall prevail, and compliance with the standards shall be determined by the building official. She said this is not unlike changing the LSNRD process that used to go through the Commission and making it a site plan process, which we have now. Gibson said the ordinance was changed in that case, and Holecek confirmed that. Holecek said the Commission looks at the zoning issues in a larger sense and many times has to defer to the technical expertise of those who are looking at site plans or Sensitive Areas Development Plans. She said that is the level this is envisioning. She said it is not an illegal delegation. Gibson asked Holecek if this point troubled her legally. Holecek said it did not; it is not an illegal delegation. Gibson said on page eleven, the way the term average is used is not really describing an average. He said it is not an average, but is 50% of the difference between the foremost piece and the rearmost piece of that front edge. He suggested a rewording of that to better reflect what the measurement is. Gibson said this is an excellent piece of work that is very badly needed. He said it is gratifying to see citizens turn out in support of something like this. Bovbjerg said page four of the report states that an appeal of a decision would go to the Board of Adjustment. Holecek said the Board of Adjustment is set by State law. She said when a party is aggrieved by a decision of the building official, by law it goes to the Board of Adjustment. Bovbjerg asked if that were a usual procedure. Holecek said with major site plans, property owners' protests can force a review by the Planning and Zoning Commission, but typically the appellate review of a zoning decision by a zoning administrator goes to the Board of Adjustment. Schintler thanked the Infill Committee for this and said it is really a good piece of work. The motion to defer carried on a vote of 7-0. REZONING ITEM: REZ00-0004. Public discussion of an application submitted by Charles McComas and Haywood Belle for a rezoning of a .48-acre site from Planned High Density Multi-Family Residential to Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 15 Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA) zone for pro .perty located at the northwest corner of Prentiss and Linn Streets. (45-day limitation period waived to March 2, 2000) Miklo said a new drawing and site plan have been submitted by the applicant. He said the site plan is essentially the same, but shows the entranceway feature that was discussed. Public discussion: Janice Sweet, 510 Ronalds, said she is the architect for this project. She said she attempted to respond to comments from the Commission by giving the entrance a friendlier appearance with a window above the door and by repeating the line of the gables above the entrance. Sweet said it is shown as dashed on the site plan as to how far the roof extends out from the building, and it is basically about 4 1/2 feet in both cases. She said it is cantilevered out. Gibson said the elevations show what is really an appliqu~ up against the surface of the building. Sweet confirmed this and said it is a sizable one of about two feet, not just one layer of brick. Chait said the columns further out to the street mimic what is around on the courtyard side. Sweet said in front of each entrance out close to the sidewalk, there are two columns that are darkened in, showing the base of the arches out close to the sidewalk. She said where the note says arch at sidewalk basically represents the columns that support the arch. Chait said the first drawing shows the elevation at the entry on the building, and the second drawing shows the arch is further away. Sweet confirmed this. She said the first drawing shows what the building looks like after you have walked through the first arch. She said the second drawing shows the arch at the sidewalk. Sweet said she would like to have a wrought iron arch there for several reasons. She said it reflects the wrought iron infill in the courtyard. Secondly, Sweet said it reflects the architectural style of the building. Also, she said she looked at stucco, but anytime there is stucco below seven feet, it acts like a chalkboard. She said the wrought iron arch would be easier to maintain and not invite the vandalism that stucco at this height would. Sweet said she tried to respond to the Commission's concerns. She said she wanted it to be a friendlier entrance and have a greater sense of entrance. Sweet said she enlarged it and put the window over the door to give it that greater sense of entry. She said the arches at the sidewalk reflect the motif of the courtyard wall as well as give the statement that this is the entry to the building. Supple said she assumed' the rails around the decks are also wrought iron, and Sweet confirmed this. Ehrhardt asked about the word "apartments" on one of the elevations, and Sweet said the name of the building would be wdtten there such as "Linn Street Apartments" or whatever is decided on for the name. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Shannon moved to approve REZ00-0004, a rezoning of a .48-acre site from Planned High Density Multi-Family Residential to Sensitive Areas Overlay (OSA-PRM) zone for property located at the northwest corner of Prentiss and Linn Streets. Chair seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. VACATION ITEM: VAC97-0002. Public discussion of a request to vacate an undeveloped portion of the WooIf Avenue right-of-way from McLean Street south for a distance of 240 feet. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 16 Gibson said he had a conflict with regard to this item and was not certain that he could be completely unbiased. He left the meeting at 9:10 p.m. Kugler said staff recommends approval of this vacation subject to delineation and retention of an easement for the future maintenance of public improvements within this right-of-way, the retention of easements for any private utilities that may exist within this right-of-way, and the. disposition of the property occurring concurrently with the final consideration of the ordinance to vacate. Holecek said the prior to disposition, the City secures easements as necessary to maintain and install any future utilities. Supple asked if it were appropriate for the Commission to vote on this at this point. Kugler said the vote would be subject to these items, and staff would have to ensure they are taken care before City Council gives final approval to the vacation, should it choose to do so. Public discussion: Crai.~ Syrop, 719 McLean Street, said he filed for this vacation in 1997, but because of some work that needed to be done by the City, it was postponed until now. He said he wants to plant some trees on the property and redo the garden. Syrop said his house is the only property that would be landlocked by this. He said much of the area is a nice wooded area, and he wants to improve on that in terms of plantings. Syrop said part of his reluctance to improve the area by planting and putting trees there before was not owning it and having it destroyed in ten years by a bulldozer coming through. He said they are seeking vacation of the land so they can improve it. Bovbjerg said the staff report mentions an area where trees cannot be planted, but other things could be, and she asked if that would appear on a plat. Kugler confirmed this and said that is why staff wanted to be able to identify the area cleady, so if the City ever needs to get back there to maintain any of the improvements located in this area, the applicant will know where the City needs to dig and can plant accordingly. Syrop said the sewer is down in the lower portion and even if they plant trees in the north portion of it, there would still be access for the City over the southern portion to the storm system that was put in. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Chait moved to approve VAC97-0002, a request to vacate an undeveloped portion of the WooIf Avenue right-of-way from McLean Street south for a distance of 240 feet, subject to delineation and retention of an easement for the future maintenance of public improvements within this right-of-way, the retention of easements for any private utilities that may exist within this right-of-way, and the disposition of the property occurring concurrently with the final consideration of the ordinance to vacate. Schintler seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. Gibson returned to the meeting at 9:20 p.m. CODEAMENDMENTITEM: Public discussion of an amendment to the sign regulations to allow masonry signs in the General Industrial (I-1), HeavV Industrial (I-2), Office Research Park (ORP) and Research and Development Park (RDP) zones. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 17 Miklo said Rockwell composed a memo to clarify some of the questions that came up at the informal meeting. He said there was a typographical error in a reference to 150 square feet or 50 feet per side; he stated that the 50 feet was supposed to be 75 feet, which is how it appears elsewhere in the ordinance. Miklo said Rockwell also added a reference "to the face oF to clarify where these masonry signs could be attached. He said there is also a clarification of where this could be mounted on the sign so it is not above the masonry wall, but is a minimum of one foot below the top of the masonry wall. Miklo said the ordinance as drafted would allow two wall signs at an entrance, and there was a question whether this would allow one wall sign on one side of an entrance and a monument sign on the other. He said the intent is to have either a monument sign, a freestanding sign, or a wall sign, but there could not be a combination of them at any one particular entrance. Ehrhardt asked if that were clear enough in this language. Miklo said it says elsewhere in the ordinance that there is a choice of one of these signs. He said for the people who deal with the sign ordinance on a regular basis, it should be clear. Chait asked if there were two perpendicular wall signs on either side of a drive could there be signs on either side, resulting in four signs. Miklo said you could have sign faces on each side of two walls, resulting in signage of 37.5 square feet each, as long as the 150 square foot limit was not exceeded. Chait said he had the impression that these walls on which signs were being attached were retaining walls. Miklo said they could be retaining walls. Ehrhardt asked if this would allow for a common sign with multiple businesses listed on it. Miklo said this is allowed as an identification sign, which is limited to being a logo or the name of the company. He said the intent is not to allow multiple businesses listed on the sign. Chait said it would be more like an industrial or corporate park with the name of the park on the sign, unless there was one sign that did not exceed the area, in which case they could put a million names on there, as long as it was within the size limitations. Holecek said an identification sign is defined within the zoning ordinance, which will then limit this, not to a multiple business sign with many slots for each one, but an identification sign. Miklo read from the ordinance that an identification sign is defined as, "a sign displaying the name, address, crest, insignia, or trademark, occupation, or profession of an occupant of a building or the name of any building on the premises." Chait said there could then be more than one business listed on the sign. Holecek it seems nothing would prevent a multiplicity of smaller signs, as long as they fit within the designated space, although she did not think that was the intent of this. She said the way identification sign is defined, any tenant arguably could have a sign if it fits within the limits. Chait said the Commission tends to not make this ordinance specifically for ACT or anyone else, so the Commission has to be comfortable with the way it is written. Supple asked if there is any objection to a wall on the outside of an office park area listing a number of different companies. Chait said he thinks it is classier to see the name of the complex than to have a common sign with everything listed. Gibson said the definition discusses identification sign in the singular and also includes the term sign area, and area of each sign. He said it could be changed to say the area of "the" sign. Gibson suggested leaving the term "sign" singular every place it occurs so that there is least an argument when someone comes in with two or three or four. Chait said he did not think what is on the sign face could be regulated, as long as it fits the sign requirements. Gibson said if the term "sign" is made singular everywhere possible in the ordinance, then it would at least demonstrate the intent of having a singular sign. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 18 Public discussion: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Gibson moved to approve amendments to the sign regulations to allow masonry signs in the General Industrial (I-I), Heavy Industrial (I-2), Office Research Park (ORP) and Research and Development Park (RDP) zones, subject to the condition that the term "signs" be changed to the singular throughout the amendments to the ordinance. Chait seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Public discussion of proposed amendments to the Commercial Office (CO-1) zone to allow the ovemi.clht boardinq of animals within small animal clinics. Kugler said staff was asked to look at amending the CO-1 zone to allow overnight boarding of animals not being treated at a small animal clinic. He said staff is recommending approval of that but with a limit of ten or less at any given time on the number of animals being boarded. Kugler said staff is concerned about limiting the boarding such that the kennel/boarding use does not dominate and therefore would like to see some restriction placed on boarding with a small animal clinic. Public discussion: Lucas Van Orden, 2122 ACT Circle, said he is the applicant and property owner. He said he appreciates staffs concurrence that the Commission approve his request, but is concerned as to how staff came up with the number of ten. Van Orden suggested that some limiting factor be put in, perhaps a limit by percentage of the business or perhaps a limit to a square footage percentage of the building. Van Orden said in 1996 during his original application, Gibson appropriately remarked that if in the original wording for putting small animal clinics in the CO-1 zone there was a guarantee that no noise and no odor would cross the property line to the neighbors, what they did within the confines of the building really does not matter. Van Orden said if he is boarding for the purpose of medical treatment or for the purpose of boarding, how many animals being handled in the facility falls under the jurisdiction of the Iowa City Animal Control, which currently has an ordinance for inspection and approval of a boarding permit. Van Orden said he understands staffs logic that they don't want to put a code amendment in and then suddenly have someone in a CO-1 zone wanting to run a 100-animal boarding facility. He said his is a small animal veterinary clinic and 80 to 90% of his business is from providing veterinary care. Van Orden said he is troubled by the notion of picking an arbitrary number for a limit. Chait asked if there is regulation, in terms of the inspections Van Orden has to go through, as to the density of the boarding. Van Orden said he is restricted by a yearly inspection from the Iowa Department of Agriculture. He said there is a density requirement, with the minimum cage size for a dog being 24x24x28.5 inches deep. Van Orden said for dogs in a run, the requirement is three feet by four feet under State regulations. He said the City of Iowa City has an ordinance empowering the Iowa City Animal Control to physically inspect the space for any animals housed for the purpose of resale or boarding and grooming. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 19 Bovbjerg said Van Orden's concern is that the characteristics of the building be a determining factor, rather than a number of animals being boarded, even though the number is not arbitrary, but seems to be usual and customary according to what prevails around here. Van Orden said, regarding an application for an apartment complex, the ordinance is written in such a fashion as to dictate the size of the building and the number of parking spaces required for that size of building. He suggested using a flexible dynamic here as opposed to a static number. Van Orden said his building is 10,000 square feet. He said of the facilities staff has called, the largest is 2,400 square feet, making his the biggest facility in town. Van Orden said he is not looking to board 100 or even 50 animals, but would not want to see an ordinance with a static number on it. He suggested the most appropriate thing would be to use a percentage of the facility, either of square footage or revenue. Van Orden said he would prefer square footage, because that keeps the City out of a business' books. Chait said he could support basing this on the percentage of the square footage as more logical. He said that has been done in other ordinances. Chait said the requirements for cage sizes would still be in effect. He said the Commission cannot deal with the conditions of boarding. Holecek agreed that the Commission should not be dealing with the conditions of the boarding that are occurring. She said this is attempting to address the negative externalities associated with that use. Gibson said the Commission needs to decide if it wants animals boarded in this zone or not and if it does, it should just forget about the numbers and say it is okay. Ehrhardt said the issue gets back to whether the building becomes a kennel. Gibson said when the odors or noises get beyond the property line, that is when there is a problem and that is when enforcement is needed. Bovbjerg said there is a problem sometimes with making a change and then relying on enforcement. She said that somewhere between absolute control and absolute freedom is where the City should be operating. Van Orden said when he asked for this change in 1996, the prior zoning specifically excluded veterinary clinics from the CO-1 zone. He said with the change in 1996, veterinary clinics were then allowed in the CO-1 zone by special exception, but only allowed boarding for the purpose of medical treatment. Van Orden said it was understood that this was an experiment, and if he wanted boarding, he would have to come back before the Commission at a later date. He said he has been a good corporate neighbor. Van Orden said he understands that a zoning ordinance is not drafted for a specific situation. He said, however, that there are six CO-1 zones in the City, one of which he owns property in and one that Mercy Hospital owns. Van Orden said this doesn't involve a big part of the code, but it is more appropriate to either draft this saying do what you like there as long as noise and odors do not cross the property line or to do a zoning change that permits it, such as a percentage not to exceed 50% of the facility. He said that would prevent someone coming into another CO-1 zone and opening a facility that is 100% boarding. Chait said a percentage of use is reasonable. Gibson asked why the Commission cared if someone came in and did 100% boarding. Bovbjerg said the problem is zone creep. She said a lot of people have small pets now, and having small pet clinics here and there is not something people thought about 20 years ago. Bovbjerg asked if this is a realistic change. Gibson asked what difference it makes if there are ten dogs in this environment or ten dogs in a facility where nothing but boarding happens. He said the Commission is saying one is okay and may go up to 100 dogs, depending on the size of the lot and property, but the other is not okay, and he did not understand why. Bovbjerg said her concerns are the neighbors, the boarded animals, and traffic. Gibson asked Bovbjerg if she were against having ten dogs that were completely boarded. Bovbjerg said it Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 20 would not bother her if ten dogs were boarded here, although she would not want kennel runs all over the place. She said if there are performance standards, neighbor acceptability standards, internal safety and the health of the animals taken care of. Gibson asked why the Commission cares how many animals there are if those things are all taken care of. Van Orden said he did not care if this were deferred. He said he would like to meet his needs, but at the same time would prefer a deferral, if discussion is necessary to have a good amendment. Schintler asked Van Orden what he thought would be a good number. Van Orden said if this stays within the confines of the building and does not affect the neighbors in any way, it isn't anyone's business, so that his immediate answer would be to have no restriction. He said if he had to have a restriction, he would ask to have it be not to exceed half the facility by square footage. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Chait moved to approve the following amendment to be incorporated into subsection 14-6E-1 D, Special Exceptions, of the CO-1 zone regulations: 10. Small animal clinics, provided: a. All aspects of the operation of the clinic, including an accessory use, are conducted completely indoors within a single, soundproofed building; and b. The structure housing the clinic is not located within two hundred feet (200') of a residential zone; and c. No odors or noise from the clinic shall be discernible at any lot line. Gibson seconded the motion. Kugler said item d could simply be deleted, because boarding is not limited in small animal clinics in other zones. He said this is the only zone in which there is anything specifying conditions regarding overnight boarding of animals. Kugler said it would be an accessory use to the small animal clinic, and as long as the kennel did not become the primary use, it would be acceptable under the amendment, as proposed. He said he suspected the inspectors would look at the square footage to determine whether the kennel was the primary use. Gibson asked if it were correct that boarding is an accessory use of the clinic operation. Holecek said that is correct, until it takes over the clinic operation, which would be based on a 50% threshold. Kugler said in the other zones, for instance the C1-1 and CC-2 zones where these small animal clinics are allowed, there is no mention of boarding, and boarding occurs there. He said it is likely considered by the building officials to be an accessory use to a small animal clinic. Bovbjerg said it could depend on how the term accessory is defined. She said if a complaint is made, there would be a question as to whether accessory depends on size or income. Bovbjerg said she is willing to try this to see how it works. Holecek stated that this would not allow for unlimited boarding. She said it would allow boarding with the caveat that boarding would be allowed as long as it remains an accessory use. Holecek said once more than 50% of this use spills over into boarding and that is the primary use, then it becomes a kennel and would no longer fit under the use allowed. She said an accessory use is addressed elsewhere in the Code. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. CONSIDERATION OF THE FEBRUARY 17, 2000 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes March 2, 2000 Page 21 MOTION: Shannon moved to approve the minutes of the February 17, 2000 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, as written. Chait seconded the motion. The motion carded on a vote of 7-0. OTHER: Miklo said the Commission's meeting with the City Council would still be held on Monday, March 6, but the time has been changed to 7:00 p.m. Commission members discussed whether other issues should be brought up at that meeting with the City Council. The consensus was to focus on the Mercy Hospital application and the Bud Louis application. It was also decided that any Commission members who might want to discuss other issues should use one of the other forums, such as speaking at the City Council meeting or sending a letter to City Council members. Ehrhardt asked about the possibility of extending Commission members' terms for less than a five-year appointment. Miklo said he believed the terms of the Commission members were set by the City Code. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:19 p.m. Dean Shannon, Secretary Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte ppdadm/min/p&z03-02-OO.doc Planning and Zoning Commission PLEASE SIGN IN NAME ADDRESS POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - February 22, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Chair J. Watson called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Hoffey, J. Stratton and J. Watson; member absent: P. Farrant. Staff present: Legal Counsel C. Pugh (7:08 p.m.) and PCRB Assistant S. Bauer. Captain T. Widmer was also in attendance. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Hoffey to adopt the Consent Calendar, to include: a. Minutes of 2/8/00 meeting b. ICPD General Order 99-03, Prisoner Transport c. ICPD Use of Force Report, January 2000 Discussion followed. Chair Watson requested that the PCRB minutes reflect the items listed and approved in the Consent Calendar. Motion carried, 4/0, Farrant absent. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None NEW BUSINESS None OLD BUSINESS Plans for Meeting with City Council Chair reported he has not received a response from the Mayor about a meeting time. Further discussion deferred. PUBLIC DISCUSSION Captain Widmer stated that the responsibility for the preparation of the ICPD Use of Force Report rotates, and a new person prepared the recent Report. MEETING SCHEDULE · Special Meeting March 7, 2000 · Regular Meeting March 14, 2000 · Special Meeting March 28, 2000 · Regular Meeting April 11, 2000 · Special Meeting April 25, 2000 L. Cohen will be gone during University spring break, the week of March 13; C. Pugh will be gone March 1-12. BOARD INFORMATION Chair reported he spoke with Chief Winkelhake about attending the meeting on March 14 to talk about data collection on race-based stops. Watson will confirm with the Chief. Watson noted a busy week for the PCRB in the media: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Channel KGAN story, Des Moines Register stories. STAFF INFORMATION None EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P.Hoffey 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, 4/0, Farrant absent.. Open session adjourned at 7:20 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Regular meeting resumed at 9:00 P.M. A meeting will be held on March 7 to address next drafts of PCRB Reports on #99-05, #99-06 and a first draft of #99-07. Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Hoffey to review the Chief's Report on PCRB Complaint #99-07 at level 8-8-7 B. 1 (a), on the record with no additional investigation, in accordance with the Ordinance. Motion carried, 4/0, Farrant absent. The Board agreed that the timeliness decision previously made regarding PCRB Complaint #99-08 still stands. The Chair will communicate this in writing to the Chief, granting an extension for completion of his report to April 6, 2000. PCRB legal counsel was directed to advise the City Attorney also. Regarding PCRB Complaint #00-01, the Board agreed that Part 4 and Part 6 of the narrative attached to the Complaint is timely. Chair Watson will communicate this in writing to the Chief, also requesting relevant case file information regarding this complaint. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by P. Hoffey and seconded by L. Cohen. Motion carried, 4/0, Farrant absent. Meeting adjourned at 9:04 P.M. POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - March 7, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Chair J. Watson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen (7:36 P.M.), P. Farrant, P. Hoffey, J. Stratton and J. Watson. Staff present: PCRB Assistant S. Bauer. Ltd. M. Johnson was also in attendance. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Hoffey to adopt the Consent Calendar, to include: a. Minutes of 2/20/00 meeting b. November Use of Force Report c. December Use of Force Report d. ICPD Memorandum 00-12 - Nov. & Dec. Use of Force Review e. ICPD Training Bulletin 00-01 f. ICPD Training Bulletin 00-13 g. ICPD Training Bulletin 00-14 h. ICPD Training Bulletin 00-17 i. ICPD Training Newsletter j. ICPD February Training Report Motion carried, 4/0, Cohen absent. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None NEW BUSINESS None OLD BUSINESS Motion by P. Hoffey and seconded by P. Farrant to grant an extension for the Chief's Report on PCRB #99-08 to April 6, 2000. Motion carried, 4/0, Cohen absent. Motion by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Farrant that Parts 4 and 6 of the narrative attached to PCRB Complaint/t00-01 are timely and should be investigated. Motion carried, 4/0, Cohen absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None MEETING SCHEDULE · Regular Meeting March 14, 2000 · Special Meeting March 28, 2000 - Chair Watson reported that Chief Winkelhake will attend this meeting to update Board members on the process of data collection on race-based traffic stops. · Regular Meeting April 11, 2000 · Special Meeting April 25, 2000 BOARD INFORMATION Chair Watson reported he spoke briefly and informally with Council Member Irvin Pfab about the PCRB, its role and function. STAFF INFORMATION None EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by P. Hoffey 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, 4/0, Cohen absent. Open session adjourned at 7:12 P.M. (Cohen arrived 7:36 p.m.) REGULAR SESSION Regular meeting resumed at 8:00 P.M. 2 The next meeting will address subsequent drafts of PCRB Reports on #99-05, #99-06 and #99-07. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Hoffey. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present; Meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M. 3