HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-18 Transcription#2 Page
ITEM NO. 2 OUTSTANDING STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS
Lehman: If Ryan and Joanna would come up please. Now, we know which one of
you is Ryan and which one is Joanna, but if you would state your name
and then read your nomination.
Joanna DeMars: I am Joanna DeMars and I am greatly honored to get this award.
Some strategies and guidelines I use to get my homework done are I set
aside time to do it and I keep up an assignment book to record my work. I
think people can tell I am a self-directed and self-motivated person
because I just do my best at everything and try to be optimistic. I
demonstrate leadership abilities when I baby-sit at my church. I am a
captain for our school crossing guards and I am a first chair clarinetist in
my band. Some of the activities I am in are: religion class at my church,
occupying my little brother, and I do regular chores at home. Sometimes
more than my share. Another way I show leadership is that I show respect
for everyone. Thank you Iowa City, City Council, and everyone in the
sixth grade and teachers at Lemme for selecting me. I am so proud.
Lehman: Some day you should run for City Council.
Ryan Boehm: I am Ryan Boehm and first of all I would like to thank my classmates and
teachers at Lemme for choosing me for this honor. I believe that it is
important for a good citizen to be well rounded. During this year I have
tried to accomplish many things. Among these, to do well in school, to be
active in sports, and to set a good example for my students. I am also a
patrol captain this year at Lemme and am active with my paper route. One
of the things important in all activities is leadership. To me, this means
helping your friends, and above all, being loyal to them. Once again, I
want to thank everyone at Lemme and the City Council for making this
award possible for me.
Lehman: Well, obviously the folks in your schools are proud of both of you and we
are too. And I can tell you your moms and dads and grandparents,
especially grandparents, are really proud. So I want to read the award for
you. This says "For outstanding qualities of leadership within Lemme
Elementary, as well as the community, and for sense of responsibility and
helpfulness to others we recognize these students as outstanding student
citizens. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the Iowa City,
City Council, April 2000."
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ITEM NO. 3. MAYOR'S PROCLAMATIONS
b.) Public Access Television Day
Lehman: Our second proclamation, "Whereas freedom of speech is a human right
that is vital for building community, and whereas public access channels
exist on nearly 2000 cable systems across the United States. And whereas
Public Access Television Inc. PATV has been operating as a non-profit
public access center for 10 years in the Iowa City community and has
trained hundreds of citizens to use video equipment to create thousands of
hours of local programming. Now therefore, I, Emest W. Lehman, mayor
of the City of Iowa City, Iowa do hereby proclaim April 19, 2000 to be
Public Access Television Day in Iowa City. And urge all citizens to
recognize the value of cable access television and the important role it
plays in building a stronger community.
Karr: Here to accept is Renee Paine.
Lehman: (can't hear due to tape) By the way, there was a regional convention. Is
that correct?
Paine: Right.
Lehman: For PATV on Friday over at the Library.
Paine: Yes. And thank you Emie for giving (can't hear, not near the
microphone).
Lehman: You are welcome.
Paine: IfI may just say a few words. Through TV and media access centers
across the US, thousands of community groups and over a million
individuals produce more than 20,000 hours of new local programs per
week. More than all programs produced by NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and
PBS combined. Iowa City Public Access Television certainly has its share
of active producers and providers of local programming. Right now you
can see over 33 different series programs on cable channel 2, spanning the
spectrum from cranky guys with no money looking for love to religious
services to sports talk to Saturday kids programming to senior news to
international readings to local musicians playing their hearts out. Now, if
you have a hankering to make your own program, we have training
workshops every month and we invite everyone to participate in this
democratic process. PATV just celebrated 10 years as the non-profit
access service provider for the City of Iowa City. Thanks for supporting
Access in this community and keep on watching your neighborhood
network channel 2. Thank you.
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c.) Arbor Day
Lehman: Whereas the coming of spring produces a renewal of interest in tree
planting for beauty, shade, conservation and many other purposes
beneficial to all people. And whereas the observation of Arbor Day has
long been characterized by the planting and preservation of trees. And
whereas we hope that the future will see the creation of a better
environment through the use of trees throughout our cities, towns and
countryside. And whereas trees in Iowa City beautify our community,
increase property values, and enhance the economic vitality of business
areas, therefore I, Emest W. Lehman, mayor of the City of Iowa City,
Iowa do hereby proclaim Saturday April 29, 2000 to be Arbor Day in Iowa
City. I urge all citizens to participate in tree planting and preservation
projects throughout the year.
Karr: Here to accept is City Forester Terry Robinson.
Robinson: Madan cautioned me not to say too much so I will keep it very short. I
would just like to point out one very important thing for us. I was in Des
Moines two weeks ago now and Iowa City has now received the Tree City
USA award for the 20th year. Davenport is tied with us for 20 but I don't
let the City Forester tell anybody that from Davenport. And Cedar Rapids
has us beat and we can't catch up unless they slip somehow. But, it is a
pretty big award and it is very important to us. Thank you again.
Lehman: Thank you Terry.
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d.) Hospice
Lehman: Whereas Hospice care is the most humane tradition of health service and
delivery in the Iowa City area, providing 24 hour (can't hear) medical care
and support as well as social, emotional and spiritual services for the
terminally ill and their families. And whereas Hospice care seeks to
alleviate the fears most frequently associated with the diagnosis of a
terminal illness by enabling patients to remain in the comfort of home or
home-like settings, sharing their final days with loved ones in dignity and
peace. And whereas there is a need to recognize the more than thirty
professionals and 200 volunteers in the Iowa City area who dedicate
themselves to providing quality end of life care and support for the
patients and families who need it most. And whereas Hospice offers the
terrainally ill an emotionally supportive cost-effective alternative to
hospital and other more curative base care. And whereas increased public
awareness and understanding of Hospice care will serve to strengthen the
services available to terminally ill patients throughout the community and
help insure that Hospice services are accessible to all citizens. Therefore,
I, Ernest W. Lehman mayor of the City of Iowa City, Iowa do hereby
proclaim April 30, 2000 to be Iowa City Hospice Appreciation Day in
Iowa City and urge and encourage the support and participation of all
citizens in learning more about the Hospice concept of care.
Karr: Here to accept is Maggie Elliott and Mike Lensing.
Mike Lensing: Maggie and I would just, urn, want to thank you all for the support you
have given to Hospice. On April 30 is going to really the first big annual
fundraiser for Hospice, which will be called the Walk for Dignity, which
will start in Willow Creek Park. And everybody is invited to attend. We
hope all of you are willing to attend. And it really begins at a site which
you inspired and the Parks and Recreation departments which is the
Hospice Memorial Site which is right along the trail way system of which
the city gave half the money to help build. And it is a beautiful site with
800 names of Hospice volunteers and so we are hoping you are all there
Sunday afternoon at 1 PM. There is other activities- your own Mr. Atkins
will serve as a celebrity waiter later that evening at some dinners and so
we encourage everybody in the community to take part. This is really a
great organization. It has been around for 17 years.
Champion: Mike, what was the date?
Lensing: April 30, 1 PM, Willow Creek Park. Donation forms are available at
Hospice. Anybody bringing over $50 that day will receive a free T-shirt
and there is no follow-up sort of thing with mailings. So bring all of you
funds that day. And every cent goes to Hospice. Every bit of this event
which is phenomenal for a lot of organizations including the dinner for
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126 has been donated. There has absolutely been no cost. The
community has been phenomenal, so every bit of it goes straight back to
match the $63,000 (can't here). So thanks.
Lehman: Thank you.
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e.) Days of Remembrance of the Holocaust
Lehman: The next proclamation we don't have a recipient for but I feel it is
important enough that it should be read anyway. (Reads proclamation).
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f.) Crisis Center Week
Lehman: Whereas the Crisis Center has provided invaluable services to our
community since 1970 and will conduct Crisis Center Week May 1-May7,
2000 to observe the 30th Anniversary of service to the community. And
whereas Crisis Center services touch the lives of many people of all ages
and backgrounds through short-term counseling, suicide prevention
intervention, and post-intervention information and referral, food bank,
project holiday, transient transportation assistance, and community
education. And whereas the Crisis Center provided more than 67,000
services during 1997 through the efforts of 150 dedicated volunteers from
the community. Whereas it is fitting that we take notice of and express
appreciation for the efforts of the Crisis Center staff and volunteers. Now,
therefore I, Ernest W. Lehman Mayor of the City of Iowa City, Iowa do
hereby proclaim the week of May 1- May 7, 2000 to be Crisis Center
Week and ask all citizens to support the Crisis Center and to encourage
people in need to turn to the Crisis Center for assistance.
Karr: Here to accept is Steve Hirst, vice chair of the board.
Hirst: On behalf of all of us at the Crisis Center I would like to thank you for this
proclamation. We invite the community to take part in Crisis Center week
and focus on the services that the Crisis Center provides and the
volunteers who provide them. We invite everyone to attend our 12th
annual gourmet breakfast which will be held on Sunday May 7 from 8 AM
to 1 PM at St. (can't hear). And please feel free to contact the Crisis
Center for additional information. Our phone numbers are listed in the
white pages and the yellow pages. You can also log on to our web-site at
www.johnsoncountycrisiscenter.org. Thank you again for this
proclamation from all of us at the Crisis Center.
Lehman: Thank you. I think there are probably several council people that are
going to see you at breakfast that day.
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g.) Census 2000
Lehman: Our last proclamation is not on the agenda and this is one of the few times
that I've ever been able to give Madan Kan' a proclamation. This one's
for you. (reads proclamation) Marian. Madan has done a tremendous job.
This is not a easy task. She already knew that we were proud of her.
Thank you Madan.
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ITEM NO 4. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS
PRESENTED OR AMENDED.
Champion: Move adoption.
Lehman: Moved by Champion.
Pfab: Second.
Lehman: Seconded by Pfab. Discussion?
Kanner: Yeah Emie- there were two points I wanted to bring up. Part of the
consent calendar is correspondence and I appreciate the correspondence
we got, especially the past week we got over 100 pages of literature and
letters dealing with issues connected with alcohol, and I'd appreciate any
more that people want to send in. And we will be talking more about that
later. And the other thing is, we have a note in here from our traffic,
acting traffic engineer Jeff Davidson, that there will be a no parking zone
sign put up at Johnson and Washington at the southwest comer and that
has to do with traffic safety. And just to let people know that because of
traffic safety we are going to be lowering the median on Washington there
in the Johnson area outside of New Pioneer Co~op. And that is being done
so that people have better visibility and there will be less accidents there.
So people can look for that to happen in the next couple of months.
Lehman: Other discussion? Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM NO 5. PUBLIC DISCUSSION. (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
[UNTIL 8 PM].
Lehman: This is a time reserved for the public to address the Council on any item
that does not appear on the agenda. We would ask that you sign in, give
your name and address, and limit your comments to 5 minutes or less.
Jay Honohan: I will try not to take your sheet this time Marian. Jay Honohan, I am here
for the Senior Center Commission. I see you have a pretty extensive
meeting so I will try to cut it very short. I would like to invite all of you
to the ribbon cutting ceremony on May 17 when we cut the ribbon for the
remodeling and the new furniture in the Senior Center, to which we would
thank you again for supporting us in getting the funds for that remodeling.
This will also be a day when we are going to celebrate Older American
Days. We will all reach that scene, I have already gotten there, but the rest
of you are coming fast behind me. We have started work and we are
getting pretty close to having our own web page. And when we get that
we will let you know where it is and you can come visit us anytime you
want to on the Internet. I couldn't present anything in front of you without
talking about the skywalk because I bother you about it every time I see
you all. We have now raised $60,000 and we are proceeding with some
ideas about raising more additional funds and reaching the goal of having
a skywalk from the new ramp when it is completed. Thank you.
Kanner: Jay, what time is the ribbon cutting?
Honohan: 1:30. And then we are going to have the award for the Senior Distinction
at 2:00. Thank you.
April Dirks: Hi, I am April Dirks from the Women' s Resource and Action Center
again. Last time I spoke to you I talked about accessibility of the agenda
and I was completely surprised and happy to see that the last agenda there
was full comment sections for everything and seeing some work done
there I appreciate that. But I am here to talk about accessibility of the
community, so you guys are in trouble. But we have- I am an advocate for
anyone, any of the volunteers or any of the people that use the center that
want to access City Council, and so I brought Kathy tonight and she has
some issues with even accessing, because of the construction of both
University and City Construction happening at the same time and there
seems to be some communication issues there- even accessing her job as a
volunteer at the center and other parts of town. So, here is Kathy.
Kathy Huedepohl: As April said, my name is Kathy Huedepohl and I am a volunteer
at the Women's Center. And I just have a lot of concerns about how the
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numerous construction projects are affecting my ability to get around the
downtown area and probably a lot of other people too. Some personal
examples of how this has affected me are I have care providers that come
to my apartment to help me with things- by the way, I live over in the
Press Citizen building right over here that has housing for elde~y and
disabled persons. And so anyway, my care providers have been having
difficulty getting to my apartment. They will try one way to come over
and that will be blocked off so they will go a different way [and] that is
blocked off too. And so I had one provider who was ½ hour late for an
appointment because of the difficulties with construction and another
provider who came late and had to leave early due to construction related
issues.
Lehman: Are these streets that are closed?
Huedepohl: Yes-
Lehman: Are they marked with detour signs so- I mean, I think most detours are
clearly marked.
Huedepohl: Yes, but apparently it is kind of hard to remember, you know, ahead of
time- you turn a comer and oh, there it is! I remember now. And just to
illustrate the difficulties I want to tell you about how much trouble I had
getting to my voltmteer shift the other day. I left at my usual time to go
catch the- one of the Cambus routes at the comer of College and Gilbert
which I discovered as I was walking down the street that the sidewalk
there and also that part of the street is closed off so I couldn't catch the bus
there. So, I went to walk down to Gilbert and Iowa Avenue and had to go
to the other side of the street because of the construction on the building
there and thought that I was going to have difficulty getting to the Iowa
Avenue stop as well, so I stopped and made a couple of phone calls to the
Cambus office and also to WRAC to let them know I was going to be late.
And so then I went- I got on the bus, I was almost going to have to go to
Jefferson Street but I was able to get on at Iowa Avenue and you know, I
noticed the numerous amounts of construction along the way. And then
when I got down to the comer of Madison and Market where I- or
Madison and Jefferson actually I believe it is- where I get off the bus-
started to go down the street towards WRAC and there was construction
by that parking ramp there. So I crossed the street and there was also
construction blocking the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. So I
had to figure out, okay, how am I going to get to WRAC? And I ended up
going diagonally in the middle of the block into a lot of oncoming traffic
not to mention that there is not a stop sign at the bottom of Market Street
and if there- and another thing about that is I was using my crutches that
day but if I had been using my wheelchair which I sometimes do, I
wouldn't have been able to get through there because there are no curb
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cuts in the middle of the block which is where I had to cross. And so, I am
just, you know, asking that maybe some people could be more aware of
planning of the number of construction projects that are going on at the
same time. Them seems to be, you know- any time I am out on my daily
rounds it is like 4 to 6 places I notice and I know that you can't do
anything to discontinue those projects at this point but just to maybe
consider that and to make sure that there is accessible paths for people and
just- I don't know if it is possible for any future projects that you have
planned for the summer if you could delay those until some of this other
construction gets finished or anything else that you could do to make
things a little easier.
Lehman: I think, and Steve correct me ifI am wrong, but I believe that most of our
construction contracts require that we maintain accessibility during
construction. Obviously there is inconveniences. There is inconvenience
for all of us whether we are disabled or not. I do think that, for example,
the Gilbert Street project, the Linn Street project and whatever- we do,
even though it is somewhat less convenient, we do maintain access
through those parts of the street during construction.
Atkins: That is certainly the intent. But, Kathy is not wrong in the sense that on
occasion when things begin to turn over that where you turn lef~ on
Monday you can't turn fight on Tuesday or something such as that. She is
not incorrect about that. Exactly what to do- I did make a note of the bus
routes because those were to be accommodated. Cambus- we will have to
check with them. I am not sure- I just don't have enough familiarity with
them. But Kathy, would you leave your phone number there also so
someone can contact you?
Huedepohl: Sure.
Kanner: Emie, one thing came to my mind- this might not seem connected but I
will try to make the case that we are going to be talking about snow
removal. And with snow removal, a number of people have talked to me
about people with disabilities having problems and so I think we are going
to talk about that hopefully. And I think this issue too might be thrown
into the mix of how to help people with special needs- that maybe we can
look at developing a list where we can call people when there are special
projects happening. Something like that. But, hopefully we will talk
about this more when we talk about that issue.
Lehman: That is on our work session agenda.
Vanderhoef: And we do try to keep the street closings and so forth notices going in the
paper and if you ever have a question you can call City Hall because we
keep the list here too.
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Pfab: Ernie?
Lehman: Yes?
Pfab: I think this brings up the point- and I have spoken on several occasions- I
think the City would be well, should take under consideration, having
some kind of an organization that is responsible to assist people with
disabilities. And I don't know if it should be a commission or board or
something. Just to be- anticipate problems like this. I know we talked-
you said that is covered under a number of other ones but I think some
kind of advisory or (can't hear) person or something like that.
Lehman: Okay.
Huedepohl: Okay, thank you.
Lehman: Thank you Kathy.
Michael Ostrander: My name is Michael Ostrander and I am here with my group from
our Societal Applications of Biology class at the University of Iowa.
Lehman: And your address? We need that.
Ostrander: 100 Rienow.
Lehman: Okay.
Ostrander: Room 721. And we have been doing a group project recently concerning
the deer management policy of the City of Iowa City and our project was
to include science, technology and society. And focus on a regional issue
that was of some societal value that was important to us. And so, as a
culmination of our efforts we have put together a small pamphlet going
over some of the misconceptions that some of the public hold about deer
management in the city. And, we as a group are in support of the City's
position on deer management so as a culmination of our efforts we have
come up with a petition and we had it signed to present to the Council.
Lehman: Very good. You say you have a pamphlet you made up?
Ostrander: Yeah, I've got it in my bag if you-
Lehman: I would like- I would really like to have the Council at least have an
opportunity to read that and we would see to it that it gets forwarded to the
Deer Committee as well.
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Vanderhoef: Who are you other young men?
Jesse Emlet: Jesse Emlet.
Lance Kirby: Lance Kirby.
Lehman: Thank you. Make sure that Madan gets one. Thank you. Make sure
Madan gets that.
Karr: Can we have a motion to accept?
Wilbum: So moved.
O'Donnell: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Wilbum and seconded by O'Donnell to accept correspondence.
All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Motion carries. Other public discussion?
Kristen Gast: Hi, my name is Kxisten Gast. I live at 210 Davenport Street. I believe
Madan has a resolution actually that I have drafted to be passed around.
And I would just like to say that I was extremely pleased when I heard that
the City Council had placed a moratorium on the ordering of certain
apparel because of the distinct possibility that some if not all that was
produced in sweat shop conditions. As an active member of the
University of Iowa's Students Against Sweat Shops, who was sitting in
Jessup Hall when she heard the news, I was extremely excited and
encouraged. And I come tonight to urge you to support a resolution which
is intended to take the City's commitment to human rights to the next
logical level. While I am pleased that the City has acknowledged that
their responsibility to human rights outside of this area, and even outside
of this country, I hope that they will feel that it is in their jurisdiction and
in their best interest to work with the largest institution in this City and to
further promote this cause. The University of Iowa, as you may know
from recent news reports, is currently aligned with the Fair Labor
Association or the FLA. The FLA, many students at the University and
many community members believe, is very weak. It has a weak code of
conduct. [It] does not provide a living wage for workers. It does not allow
workers the right to organize. It has no effective monitoring system
allowing people paid by and selected by corporations to monitor their own
factories. And it has weak provisions for the maintenance of women's
rights even though women make up at least 90% of garment workers
worldwide. Also of interest is the corporate ties to the University of Iowa
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in the form of shoe contracts. Nike and Reebok both have shoe contracts
with the University of Iowa which bring in about- well, more than
$200,000 annually. And this- we are afraid that this will be used to give
them leverage with the University. Because what is in their best interest
financially is the continued use of sweat shop labor. Now, we believe that
the University is in fact committed to promoting human fights and that
they do want to end University complacence in sweat shop labor. But,
they don't seem to realize the problems that are created by this
association- this aligns with companies who have documented history of
sweat shop abuse. That have documented- at least Nike has a documented
history of trying to intimidate schools that they feel are doing too much to
promote human rights. They recently pulled a contract at Brown after
Brown opted to join a monitoring organization with a stronger code of
conduct than that of the FLA. Now, I don't want you to think that we are
asking you to position the City of Iowa in direct opposition to the UI
administration, because that is not at all the case. And I know that that is a
fear that has been expressed by certain community members. Now, if you
believe as many people in the community and on the campus and even
within the Students Against Sweat Shops organization that the University
truly wants to end its association with sweat shop labor, you probably also
believe that they look to build a consensus and they want to work with
students and community members and community leaders such as
yourselves to make sure that their ultimate decision is the morally sound
one. And that is what we are asking you to do by passing this resolution.
We would like to have you attempt to work with the University of Iowa by
expanding the City Council's established records on human fights to
include all members of the Iowa City community. All the people that
work at the University of Iowa, all the people that study at the University
of Iowa, everyone that is otherwise affiliated with the University of Iowa
by attending their sporting events. All these people who reside in this city.
We would like you to voice your opinion on the University administration
urging them to do what is right and not at all place yourself in that
position- we would like to encourage you to work together.
Lehman: Thank you.
Gast: Thank you.
Kanner: Ernie, so, perhaps we could talk about this then at our next work session
and see what the Council's favor is on this.
Lehman: Yeah, I think that obviously we have- we have a resolution here but we
have no information on that. So we could certainly- if we would like to
discuss it at the next work session we could.
Karr: Do we have a motion to accept?
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O'Donnell: So moved.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Lehman: Seconded by Vanderhoefto accept correspondence. All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Motion carries. Other public discussion?
Charlie Major:My name is Charlie Major. I live at 7 Blue Stem Court. I just wanted to
ask the City Council to consider making two bowling alleys, Plamore
Bowling Lanes and Colonial Lanes, smoke free. I know this is asking a
lot and I anticipate there will be a lot of discussion about this. I am only
talking about 2 bowling alleys. I am not talking about any bars. I am not
talking about any restaurants. I know we had a meeting- I attended a
meeting last fall about this and I know they discussed doing this in
Maquoketa and I don't think it is a, they found that it is wasn't acceptable
to them. But I think that Iowa City, with its health background, it is the
place to do it for the whole state. I think the whole state would follow us
if we could do this. And I think- I anticipate there will be some problems
with this. I wanted to ask you to consider that. And I don't have the
ordinance with me tonight- I am going to work on it myself and I will
work on it with some of the other no-smoking advocates in town and we
will come up with something. But I think it is something that the City
Council should consider. Thank you.
Lehman: Charlie, there is a group of folks in Johnson County, and I don't know the
name of the- yeah, the coalition-
Champion: I think Fisher the Chairman.
Lehman: Eileen Fisher? Get a hold of her.
Major: I am going to- I tried to make my league no-smoking and I keep losing on
votes. I bring it up every year and I can't do that. But it not just for me
and it not just for my league, it is for the children that are in the bowling
alleys that can't leave. And when there is smoking going on- and I will
contact her. Thank you.
Lehman: You bet. Any other public discussion on an item that does not appear on
the agenda?
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Holly Berkowitz: Holly Berkowitz, Iowa City. Thank you Emie for taking a stand
against the racism on the campus at the Dental School because that is
intolerable. The shortsighted tyrants that stand behind the fear and force-
the negative force- think that that will work to control a lot of people. But
I have news that it does not work. That tyranny has a way of falling flat
on its face because it is ego driven and it doesn't listen to the many people
who it has to listen to- the many diverse voices and the infinite number of
genetic potentials that we need to grow a satisfying habitat or environment
or home or whatever you want to call it. Some of the words have been
scandalized in the cash flow medium. But, say it however you want. Put
whatever emotions you want with the words. Fear does not accomplish
much at all. All it does is paralyze. And I would like to see a campaign of
issues signs popping up in all our yards saying Hate Hatred. Everybody
can do that. They can just put up a clothes hanger in their yard with a
piece of paper or a piece of cardboard out of your recycling and some
paint or an old pencil and just say Stop the Hatred. Okay? It doesn't get
anywhere. It's gone on for centuries and that is because emotions drive
history and not logic. Emotions of the powerful and primitive paralyze
many, many people. But it doesn't really grow anything positive. And we
have a chance to turn the course around and start reaching for the sunlight
and the sun. In fact, I challenge the people who are doing this to come out
in the open. You know, that is the real sign of self confidence in what you
are saying. If you don't believe what you are saying, well stay in the
closet or in the secrecy of your e-mail and try to push your own ego. But
this isn't a matter of ego. Government isn't a matter of pushing your own
ego on lots of people, because (can't hear) population of land of life is
made up of lots of seeds and seedlings- each of a different genetic
makeup. And each wants express itself in a different way. And you
cannot say- we have a term "minority" that says that we exempt these
people- we are trying to lift these people up because they have a history of
being pushed down and oppressed through human history. But you don't
have to continue that. They only way to continue it is to break the cycle.
So, break the cycle. Who is willing to break the cycle? Raise your hand.
Come on! Everybody- raise your hand! Break the cycle! Hate the hatred.
Come on, raise your hand. Come on! Raise your hand so you are willing
to break the cycle. To do that, we have to intervene. You have to stand
up, you have to speak out. You have to challenge the negative with the
positive to continue the cycle of life. If you don't do that the negative is
going to push the life down. The cycles of life down and crush them. But
we don't want to crush the diverse potentials- the genetic potentials
because those are the things that grow the riches that we need to prosper.
Prosperity is made up of two words- the roots are positive and productive.
And if you- if you depend on consuming and taking and negative, thinking
that that is going to make a positive you are wrong.
Lehman: Holly, you are doing well and I appreciate-
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B erkowitz: Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you for speaking with us. Any other public discussion?
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ITEM NO. 6e) PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE
TITLE 14, CHAPTER 5, BUILDING AND HOUSING, ARTICLE H,
SITE PLAN REVIEW, BY ADOPTING CENTRAL PLANNING
DISTRICT MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DESIGN
STANDARDS AND RELATED AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 14,
CHAPTER 6, ZONING, ARTICLE 1, ZONING TITLE, PURPOSE
AND SCOPE.
Lehman: The public hearing is open and I would like to ask Karin Franklin- if you
would briefly just outline what this proposed ordinance would do. And
why we are doing it. I think that is probably pretty important.
Franklin: Okay. This is a set of guidelines for the construction of multi-family
buildings in what is known as the Central Planning District, which is
basically north, east and south of the downtown. These are guidelines to
address the design of buildings, not the density. It has no effect on density
whatsoever. Whatever the underlying zoning is of the place in which the
building is going to be built, that is what will control the density. The
reason that these guidelines have been proposed has been in response to
the construction of buildings in residential areas, particularly near single
family residential areas, where those new buildings have not been
compatible with the existing residential structures of the neighborhoods in
which they have been built. The guidelines contain a number of
mandatory provisions and then there are a number of provisions which
you obtain points in order to get the building permit. And this point
system which addresses issues like setback in the lines of the building, the
windows and the doorways, front porches or not, have a number of points
within a range so that the builder has some flexibility in how the put the
building together but yet they do need to look at the consideration of what
the building looks like. There are members, I hope, here tonight of the
committee. There were a couple of questions that came up from the
Council last night. I think Larry Svoboda and Mike Gunn are here to
represent the committee. The committee was made up of a number of
people- people who build apartment buildings, representatives from
neighborhoods, and also representatives from the Planning and Zoning
Commission. The commission has recommended these guidelines on a
vote of 7-0 and the staff is recommending the guidelines also. (changed
tapes, Side 2)
Wilburn: ... Council received letters of support from the Friends of Historic
Preservation and I think the Longfellow and one other neighborhood
association?
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Franklin: That is correct, yes.
Lehman: Thank you Karin.
Michael Gunn: My name is Michael Gunn. I live at 1011 Sheridan Avenue. I am
a member of the Apartment Infill Committee that drafted the proposed
guidelines. Represented on the Committee were .architects, builders,
historians, the historic preservation commission, and the Planning
Department. The proposed guidelines require that new structures respect
the character of our traditional streetscapes. Requirements like parking
away from the street, common setbacks, reasonable mass and scale, and
the appropriate architectural details will help to preserve the pedestrian
urban spaces that make our traditional city streets so special. On behalf of
the Apartment Infill Committee, I urge you to adopt the proposed
guidelines. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.
Lehman: A big thank you from the Council. You folks went to a lot of work. This
is something that we have talked about at City Council meetings for as
long as I have been on the Council- that is 6 years- and I am sure long
before me. But it something that needed doing a lot of work and I am sure
that the entire Council thanks you for your efforts. I think it important that
the public realizes that most of the time when we get ordinances offered
these aren't things the staff dreamed up or the Council dreamed up. These
are things that citizens of the community set down and helped to work out.
Maybe that is why they are better. But thank you. Any questions for him
from the Council?
Kanner: Yeah, I have some questions.
Lehman: Go ahead.
Kanner: There is a point system of besides mandatory compliance with certain
design standards that builders have to go with there is also a weight eamed
points- you have to get 30 points out of eighty something possible points-
I just want to congratulate you on that idea. I think that is a good way to
go about it and hats off to whoever suggested that in your committee.
Gunn: Thank you- I will convey that at our next meeting, whenever that is.
Kanner: A couple of other questions. Can you explain the idea of alternative
design and environmental benefit that was part of this?
Gunn: I think that- is that near the end of the guidelines?
Kanner: That is.
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Gunn: I didn't bring a copy with me but I think we all realize on the committee
that it is not possible just to set every design guideline in stone and that
alternative design language is a way for the reviewing committee to make
a reasonable judgement about a design that may not fit precisely every part
of the guidelines. We are trying to have a way to be reasonable.
Kanner: And when you say environmental benefit are you talking about natural
areas of environment or the environment of the housing around it?
Gunn: I don't recall any discussion about the natural environment. I think it is
more a reference to the built environment. I mean, we also address
landscaping, but I don't think we- we always discussed it in terms of the
City streets and that environment.
Kanner: Could you give me an example of how something then would be an
environmental benefit? How someone would design a building that would
benefit the general look and feel of the environment?
Gunn: Well, someone may propose some sort of a structure- maybe a walkway or
a bridge or something that may be in a right of way or some sort of
structure- you know, I don't know. It is language that as I recall is just
made to be a little bit flexible. I don't remember discussion of any- yes.
Lehman: We've got help.
Franklin: Okay, often when we collectively come up with some kind of regulatory
mechanism- particularly as it relates to design, because design always has
some subjectivity to it and you want to leave enough leeway because you
might not think of everything when you draft an ordinance. What this
allows is that the staff design review committee, which is the group that
will be reviewing the buildings that are coming in assuming that they are
not in a historic district, but the staff design review committee would have
the opportunity to look at a design maybe they didn't contemplate through
the particulars that are drafted here. And as time changes there may be a
style that becomes more prevalent. And it gives them the opportunity to
look at those alternatives in the context of the neighborhood in which the
building is being built. And go with it if it looks like it is going to be a
good thing without having to go back and change the code. So it is not
really an appeal process but it is another way to provide some flexibility to
insure that compatibility with the neighborhood. But the environment part
of it is the built environment around it. In this district, there are very few
natural features that we are going to have to contend with where you
would be seeing construction of an apartment building. Does that answer
the question?
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Kanner: So, something like you were saying, a walkway or something, would be an
environmental benefit that- in that context?
Franklin: Yeah.
Kanner: Okay. Irvin, did you have a question? I had another question. Maybe for
both of you. You had mentioned that there was some good compromises
that were worked out of all of the people that were there- could you maybe
give one or two examples of some stricter suggestions of design review
that weren't accepted by the committee that were thrown out?
Gunn: Yeah, I think- well I don't know if they were thrown out but- you know,
some members of the committee would have probably liked to see the
mass reduced in certain areas. Even below what zoning allows. That did
not pass. We were looking at structuring the- affecting the zoning. At
times we proposed affecting the density and the mass allowable but that
did not come through. So that was a compromise on the part of more- the
people more interested in stricter historic preservation of traditional
neighborhoods. I think there was also some issues with vehicular access
and garage doors and things like that. There was a strong feeling that
vehicles should not affect the neighborhood. The look of the buildings in
the streetscape, which the traditional neighborhoods in this area were built
prior to automobiles being so predominant. So we try to keep the cars as
hidden as possible but to some extent we had to give into garage doors on
the front under certain conditions and some parking considerations. So,
those are probably two areas that stand out as the most significant
compromises that took place.
Kanner: Thank you.
Vanderhoef: When you are talking about the cars and the garages and the conditions,
did the committee talk in terms of alleys just in general in creating alleys if
they were not there or reopening alleys that had not been vacated?
Gunn: I think that there was some discussion of the guidelines may bring up a
possibility of reopening some alleys or something like that. Or
reconditioning alleys maybe. But as far as putting in new alleys- no. That
was not considered. But there is a definite encouragement to move traffic
behind the buildings and I think the thought was that if there was some
maintenance of that would be involved with that, you know, to be brought
up to the appropriate avenues.
Wilbum: I have a question about process, I am not sure if you or Karin might be
appropriate to ask. If there is a- assuming we adopt these, if there is
something that does need to come up for design review does that go to
design review before it goes to Planning and Zoning so that they have the
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benefit of that input especially in the case where there might be some- the
flexibility that has been, you know, that the design review could comment
before Planning and Zoning. Or how does that-?
Franklin: If this requires that it- if there is a project which requires that it go to
Planning and Zoning, and most projects which the zoning is in place and it
is just an apartment building being built they do not go to the Planning and
Zoning commission.
Wilbum: So it just goes to the design review?
Franklin: They go through a staff site plan review process. Now, it can be appealed
to the Planning and Zoning commission by the neighbors within 21 days if
it is a large- a major site plan.
Wilburn: Okay.
Franklin: And that is determined by the size of the project. So, if there was one that
was going to go to Planning and Zoning it would go through the staff
design review process first before it went to Planning and Zoning.
Wilburn: Okay. Thank you.
Champion: Karin, will this be- I don't want to say retroactive- but if a building is
destroyed will it, even if the foundation is still there and it is- will it apply
to any new reconstruction.
Franklin: Any new building permits for apartments that would be on a multi-family
for three or more or that would result in the expansion of an apartment
building to three or more. If it is not already.
Lehman: This is only multi-family. Three or more units?
Franklin: Yes.
Lehman: That is all this applies to.
Franklin: Yes, and only in that one district of the city.
Lehman: Right. Other questions or comments?
Vanderhoef: I just have one other one because it comes around frequently to us about
costs of things. And I asked last evening and they suggest I ask you. Do
you have any concept of what it might cost a developer to achieve the 30
points to get their building permit? Additional cost?
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Gunn: For the- just the 30 points or the mandatory and the 30 points?
Vanderhoef: Well, either or both.
Gunn: The additional cost of this?
Vanderhoef: The additional cost- total, yeah.
Gunn: We spoke a lot about cost at the- through the year and a half of developing
the guidelines. There were never any specific figures given but certainly
if it is a large building it could run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
On a 4-5 unit or a 4-6 unit building it may be less than $10,000. But those
are- I mean, those are very rough numbers. And they are not numbers
that- they are numbers I came up with just now.
Vanderhoef: So, (can't hear).
Champion: ...may not be valuable at all.
Vanderhoef: Was there any huge concem by the building community in particular, I
presume, and I recognize that costs get handed on in whether it be in rental
or sale, however that looks.
Gunn: Yeah, cost of item by item was discussed. Certainly, the builders had
reservations. They also recognize that in the area being talked about
building good buildings was not- it was a reasonable thing to do
financially. I think that they felt that the added cost would be worth it.
They would get their investments back and that the architectural the value
to be gained was worth the additional expense. That was the view of the
two builders that were on the committee- or maybe three builders, I'm not
exactly, you know, I'm not sure. I know there were two builders certainly
on the committee. Possibly a third.
Vanderhoef: That is nice to hear.
Lehman: Thank you.
Gunn: Thank you.
Berkowitz: I will make it quick.
Lehman: Okay.
Berkowitz: I'm glad to hear that we're concerned about the quality lasting through
time and let me remind us again that concrete cracks through time and
green grows in value through time. And so is it possible at all to work in
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#6e Page 25
an environmentally clause in this statement? In the review? So that a
certain amount of green space is worked into the plan?
Lehman: I am not sure, I would have to ask Karin. I think this- Karin, this is kind
of like an overlay in an existing zone. Is that not correct? That all of the
provisions that apply to the zone still apply to this? This is just a design
review for the compatibility of new building within this existing zone?
Franklin: That is fight.
Lehman: I said that right.
Franklin: Yes.
Lehman: So if there were a requirement for green space in the underlying zone that
same requirement would still be there. If there is not a requirement, this
ordinance would not put it there nor probably could it.
Franklin: That is right.
Lehman: Thank you.
Franklin: The space that is left unbuilt on a lot is prescribed in the zoning ordinance
by the lot coverage. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be green.
Lehman: Right. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak at the public
hearing? Public hearing is closed.
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ITEM NO. 6f.) PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE
14, CHAPTER 6, ZONING, ARTICLE O, SIGN REGULATIONS,
TO ALLOW BANNER SIGNS IN CERTMN COMMERCIAL
ZONES UNDER SOME CONDITIONS.
Lehman: The public heating is open. This is kind of- we did pass an ordinance that
allowed banner signs such as the ones we see downtown being erected by
the Downtown Association, Mercy Hospital, various civic groups have
activities and we actually enable commercial areas to do those as well.
This regulates what they can and cannot do. Would anyone like to speak
to this? The public heating is closed.
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ITEM NO. 6g.) PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE
ZONING DESIGNATION FROM LOW DENSITY MULTI-
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RM-12) TO MEDIUM DENSITY
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-8) FOR PROPERTY
SOUTH OF BURLINGTON STREET ALONG THE 300-600
BLOCKS OF GOVERNOR STREET AND A PORTION OF THE
800-900 BLOCKS OF BOWERY STREET. (REZOO-0007).
Lehman: Before I open the public heating I need to indicate that the Planning and
Zoning Commission did not approve the rezoning to an RS-8 as was
originally applied for and instead did pass by 4-3 vote a designation of
RNC-12 for this item. Now, items G and H are both very similar items
and I suspect many people here will be speaking to both of those items.
Because we are required to have two separate public hearings, if you
would like your comments to apply to both of them please state that at the
beginning of your statements so that we know that you are not speaking to
only the first item but you also- your comments also would apply to the
second. Again, we will ask that comments be limited to five minutes.
And we're going to have to insist on this tonight. If you don't have an
opportunity to say everything you would need to in five minutes you will
be afforded an opportunity to speak after everyone else has spoken. So, if
you would, I will declare the public hearing open. Before the public
hearing starts I would like Karin, if you would please, give us a brief
overview and the audience as to what this zoning entails and then we will
start the public heating.
Franklin: Okay, this zoning is about downzoning Governor Street and Lucas Street
between Burlington Street and Bowery. And it also affects properties on
the north side of Bowery. It is a change that is contemplated from RM-12,
which is a low density multi-family designation to, as the Planning and
Zoning Commission has recommended it to you, a residential
neighborhood conservation zone 12, the same relative density, but with
very important provisions. In the RNC-12 zone those uses which exist in
the RM-12 zone now can continue as conforming uses. That is, if there
are rooming houses and multi-family dwellings on the properties now,
those properties can continue to be used as that, may be rebuilt if they are
destroyed, assuming that they are conforming uses right now. Otherwise,
any new construction in the RNC-12 zone is for single-family and duplex.
Nonconforming uses in RM-12 would continue to be nonconforming in
RNC-12. And if they were destroyed, by 100 percent of their assessed
value, could not be rebuilt except in conformance with the new zone. That
is the technical stuff. Basically, what this is about is whether Gov. Street
and Lucas Street should continue to be a place in which there is an
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opportunity for apartment building development or whether it should be
essentially frozen in time as it is today with the uses that exist there today.
That is the crust of the matter.
Lehman: Thank you Karin. Who would like to be first?
Champion: Mr. Mayor, can we assume that this public hearing- we are going to be
dealing with this, as a Council, is the RNC-12 and not the RS-8?
Dilkes: No, I don't think you can assume that. That is the recommendation of
Planning and Zoning but the application to RS-8 is still-
Champion: Okay, thanks.
Ann Freerks: Hi, my name is Ann Freerks. My home is at 443 S. Governor Street. And
my comments apply to both of the rezoning areas. The purpose of the
proposed zoning change is to preserve the character and historical integrity
of this neighborhood. This is needed to maintain the healthy mix of single
and multifamily use, creating a diverse and rich population. We do not
want to remove the rental component in this area. Our neighborhood
offers housing choices for people in all economic stages of their lives. We
can live side-by-side and we want to preserve and encourage this. We are
the people, owners, occupiers of homes, landlords and tenants, who
believe in the quality of life that the city has to offer and have chosen to be
near the heart of this community. We are asking you to help determine the
future of this area and the people who live there. And hopefully strike a
balance with the best interests of the neighborhood at heart. People who
own homes, people who rent houses or are part of houses, and people who
live in apartments have sought out this neighborhood because it has a
natural beauty with many mature trees, green space, ample lots, with
spaces for gardens, beautiful and historical architecture, its proximity to
the downtown area where many people work to go to school, public
transportation, playgrounds, strong schools, and most importantly its
feeling of community. There are many people who are not in the market
to purchase a home but want to live in the neighborhood. Students want to
have this option as well. This is in great demand- there is a great demand
for these homes. They are a much sought-after altemative to apartments.
These are things that make our neighborhood, as it currently exists, an
asset to the Iowa City community. The main difference between RM-12
and RNC-12 is disallowing additional multifamily construction. In the
RNC-12 zone if new construction does take place it can then be
compatible with the neighborhood- with the neighboring existing
structures in terms of scale and density. Most lots in this area are already
at or over their maximum density. A change in zoning would prevent the
aggregation of lots which would create rows of apartments, making Lucas,
Bowery and Governor look like Johnson and Van Buren. In the current
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RM-12 zoning this would be legal. We are preserving more than the
structures, we are preserving a way of life. The special interactions of a
diverse group of people who call themselves neighbors along these streets.
A vote for change in zoning supports this diversity and is backed by the
Comprehensive Plan. A lot of positive things are happening here. Many
homes that were once run down, rental units, are being reclaimed and
brought back to life by the hard work of people looking for affordable
housing with character. There are also many beautifully kept rental homes
in the area. By preserving the current mix of housing the homes can
fluctuate between owner occupied and rental properties. Once you
remove the structure and put up a multi-unit apartment, these options no
longer exist. Each apartment is put up- that is put up forever changes the
landscape and appeal of the homes around it. Is a simple fact that the
closer you are to an apartment, the less appealing your home becomes for
resale. Those opposed to the zoning have stressed student housing.
Students are not the only ones in need of affordable housing. I personally
find a heartbreaking to see the kids playing in little patches of dirt in front
of some of the larger apartments on South Dodge. This is their yard, their
play area, where they begin to explore the world. As a community, we are
failing in terms of the quality of life we promote here. This is not proper
planning for our future and the children who live here. Apartments with
new dishwashers and microwaves don't offer these kids a yard or place to
run and play. I would hate to see this happen down Lucas, Bowery and
Gov. Street. Let's capitalize on the character of our neighborhood, not the
potential profits from lot sizes. With this zone change you'll be able to
drive or walk down the streets 10 years from now and know you did the
right thing. There will be a positive legacy of tree-lined streets where
people will not be afraid to live, but be happy to stay in the area. The
narrow vision of those opposed to this does not contain these images but
rather rows of apartment complexes, bright lights beaming out at night
into bedroom windows, paved backyards, dumpsters, traffic and parking
nightmares. The bottom line is what is the community vision for this
neighborhood. The removal of houses with more and more apartments, no
matter how attractive they are, does not support the retention of families
and long-term renters in the neighborhood. The scale of the homes in this
neighborhood are part of the character. Currently this neighborhood
welcomes all and we want to preserve that. It is our wish to work together
to maintain the character that makes this neighborhood such a desirable
place to live. And we feel the best way to achieve this is through down
zoning and we urge you to vote in favor of it. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you. Out of respect for all of us here I would appreciate it if you
really wouldn't applaud. We realize that those of you wearing these are in
favor of this and many of us sympathize with you but I would appreciate it
if you would really not applaud. Okay, I don't think it is appropriate.
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Kanner: Ernie, I just had a question for you and perhaps Steve.
Lehman: Yes?
Kanner: Who is providing the pictures? Is that the City providing that or are
people from one group-
Lehman: I can't tell you.
Steven Bloom:My name is Steven Bloom. I live at 412 S. Summit Street. I would like to
speak to both of these issues of down zoning. I've spoken several times at
city council meetings on issues of neighborhood preservation and the
phrase I recall heating repeatedly is something like property owner's
rights. Translated, that means if you own property in town you can do
anything you want with it as long as it conforms to the law and to zoning
requirements. That means you can tear down a 100-yr. old building and
put up a multi-unit apartment building. In many parts of this town, we
have lost some really magnificent examples of Iowa architecture in the last
two years. The apartment building that went up at College and Summit
Street- the apartment building that went up at College and Summit Street
is one example. The house that was lost to fire on Burlington between
Summit and Govemor is another example. The fact is very simple, the
fact is Iowa City brick by brick is being ruined. The historic integrity, the
reason many of us call this place home is fast fading. Iowa City is
becoming a haven for property owner's rights. Landlords who more often
than not, do not have a single consideration for the quality of
neighborhood, the quality of place here. Their goal, you see, is property
owner's rights. Really, to make as much money as they can. They don't
live in the neighborhood, so why should they really care about the
neighborhood? They turn homes into renter's boxes. They charge
rapacious rents. All the while, defending the massacre of Iowa place,
Iowa architecture, Iowa neighborhood, as their right. This really must
stop. The Council must see to it. There is a line in the sand tonight. I
urge the Council to vote for maintaining our community. You can turn it
into a money pit for property owner's rights or you can do the right thing,
which is to maintain our neighborhood the way it should be.
Lehman: Thank you.
Charlie Eastham: My name is Charlie Eastham. I am here on behalf of the Board of
Trustees of the Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship. The Housing
Fellowship sent a letter to Council dated April 11 th and I am simply going
to summarize that letter briefly on behalf on public comment. On the
behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Greater Iowa City Housing
Fellowship, we are writing in support of the application to rezone
properties located in the South Govemor, South Lucas, Bowery Street
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neighborhood, from RM-12 to RNC-12. The Housing Fellowship has
owned a duplex at 527 and 527 ½ S. Governor since 1991and that house is
currently used under an affordable rental housing program. At its meeting
last evening, or I am sorry, earlier this month, the trustees discussed the
rezoning application and passed a motion expressing the Housing
Fellowship's support of this rezoning. It is and always has been the
philosophy of the Housing Fellowship to scatter rental housing units
throughout our community. By acquiring scattered sites, single family
homes and duplexes in well established neighborhoods, the Housing
Fellowship has been able in increase the stock of appropriate affordable
rental housing units for families. We have also contributed to
neighborhood and preservation through extensive rehabilitation of our
rental units and the duplex at 527 S. Governor has been extensively
rehabilitated by the Housing Fellowship. We have found South Governor
and Lucas Streets and the surrounding neighborhoods to be conducive to
family living. The mix of housing types and occupants in this
neighborhood is also desirable for families in need of affordable housing
in close proximity to an excellent elementary school, public transportation,
and other services. The neighborhood also offers families an alternative to
apartment living. We believe that RNC-12 zoning is the best way to
preserve the character of this pleasant and unique neighborhood and urge
the council to support this application.
Lehman: Thank you Charlie.
Dilkes: Sir, do you want your comments to be part of the record for both public
hearings?
Eastham: Thank you Eleanor, I think we have already sent the letter so I assume the
Council has received it.
Rob Phipps: My name is Rob Phipps and my comments pertain to both of these issues.
I currently live at 4226 Westridge Ct, which is about a mile outside of the
city limits. I own 635 S. Governor St. and I am here representing the
Home Builder's Association of Iowa City and to tell you that the Home
Builder' s of Iowa City supports the adoption of the apartment infill
standards as an appropriate tool for maintaining important visual and
functional characteristics of certain neighborhoods. The Home Builder' s
Association of Iowa City also- we support the rezoning of properties along
the 300 and 600 blocks of Govemor Street and a portion of the 800-900
blocks of Bowery Street to RNC-12. We feel that the Governor Street
portion should be used as a buffer and that the Lucas Street portion should
not be rezoned. This preserves a compact neighborhood with a fairly high
density. It is within a comfortable walking distance of the central business
district. It has good access to transportation and offers a mix of affordable
housing options including rental and owner occupied. And these are all
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characteristics that the Council, the P&Z and the staff has identified in the
City Comprehensive Plan as desirable. If the goal of this proposal,
proposed rezoning, is to preserve the current functionally and visual
characteristics of Lucas Street area it is suggested that the City Council
and the Planning and Zoning Commission consider the apartment infill
standards or conservation overlay. These guidelines allow for design
review and could help regulate the neighborhood function. By down
zoning the Governor portion, you can create a buffer between the Johnson
Street apartments and the more traditional single family neighborhoods to
the east. The Iowa City Comprehensive Plan encourages compact
neighborhoods that contain a mix of housing opportunities. This
neighborhood has a good mix of multi-family, rental, and single family
and owner occupied homes and apartment buildings. The neighborhood
has a large percentage of rental properties occupied by students, a
population that is likely to use transit or walk. And that is consistent with
the goals set by the majority of this council and the Planning and Zoning
Commission. So I think other tools should be used to accomplish what we
are trying- you know, to control these neighborhoods. I realize that this is
a very emotional issue and the residents are concerned about the future of
their neighborhood and they don't want increased density. The problem is
that opposition to increased density will occur in every established
neighborhood. If increased density is to occur only where no opposition
exists then it will only be on the urban fringe. So I think that at some
point the Council members have to say enough. And if increased density
is truly a goal for the future of development in the Iowa City area then the
Council needs to deny this zoning. I just one to make one comment that I
feel, if people believe that only low density housing is good housing and
high density isn't, then that is very inconsistent with the national views on
smart (can't hear). So I think we really need to consider this and do the
fight thing for our near downtown area. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Sue Morrison: Hi, my name is Sue Morrison. I am the art teacher at Longfellow
Elementary School. And I live at 1120 Sheridan Ave. When the weather
cooperates, every grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade does
an age appropriate study of the Longfellow neighborhood architecture.
We go out with drawing boards and paper after studying photos or slides.
The students are developing an esthetic appreciation of our historic
neighborhood. I have brought a banner signed by students and staff of
Longfellow school. It says "please preserve our historic architectural
heritage". Your vote affects these children. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
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Kanner: I had a question for you. Did you have anyone from the Home Builder's
Association come and talk to your classes at all?
Morrison: No.
Jennifer Reinhardt: Hi, I am Jennifer Reinhardt. I live at 345 Koser Ave. I would like
my comments to pertain to both issues. I would like to read a letter that I
wrote in support of the down zoning in March. We moved to Iowa City
six years ago, from State College, Pennsylvania. My husband had been
hired by the UIHC and we expected that we'd be here for two years. We
came out here a few months before our move and were so incredibly
disappointed at the lack of housing rental options. We were expecting our
first child and I wanted to be in a neighborhood environment, as I would
be an isolated stay-at-home new mom. During our week long visit I cried
every night. I just could not believe that in a city with so much
community pride and preservationist attitude, there was nothing but dorm
style apartment buildings in town or student rentals. When we found the
house to rent at 517 S. Governor it was wonderful. We found ourselves
embraced by the Longfellow community. Long term neighbors bringing
gifts of welcome and help with the new baby. The Longfellow mother's
group offered support and saved my sanity. My days were made up of
long walks with my new daughter to College Green Park, to the library for
story time, and the New Pioneer Co-op for groceries. We felt safe,
supported, and has made cherished long term friendships with our beloved
neighbors. The Longfellow neighborhood has such wonderful supportive,
nurturing sense of community and it is a haven for families and shows
such marvelous involvement with their garden walks, winter caroling,
mother' s network, Longfellow Elementary, Historic Summit Street and I
am sure many more offerings. My address is no longer Longfellow
neighborhood. When it became apparent three years ago that we were
going to be here a while we started house shopping and just couldn't find
one for sale at the time in Longfellow. I still keep in touch with my
neighbors regularly. We think of them almost as family. I am sending
this to represent an unbiased voice. I no longer live on Governor Street, I
do not own property in that area, but I am indebted to that community for
4 wonderful happy years of walks, and memories of Iowa City with my
new little baby. Greed should not be a motivating factor in the decision to
save such a valuable resource. We need to be careful, look ahead, and
realize that the future of Iowa City is not just in the 18 year old student but
also in the families that want to make a life here. This is scary stuff, big
stuff, stuff we can't undo tomorrow if we don't make an effort to save the
character and integrity of our neighborhood today. I hope you will help to
down zone Govemor and Lucas Street. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
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Pam Ehrhardt: My is Pam Ehrhardt, I live at 1029 E. Court. I would just like to make
comment. I don't know if you are aware that there are 23 people in
support of the downzoning outside on the ground and sitting in chairs out
there. I speak to do not as Planning and Zoning Commission member, but
as a member of the Apartment In~ll Guidelines and also as a member of
the Longfellow neighborhood. My comments today concern both
applications and also how the infill guidelines will relate to this area. I
would first like to make a comment about the guidelines. Edges wants to
make aware that it was a resident of (can't hear) from the neighborhood
who initially wrote you the letter to initiate this infill guidelines. And I am
sure if without that initiation from the neighborhood that this would have
even have taken place. These guidelines will do much for the
compatibility of new apartment buildings to the surrounding structures.
But what the guidelines will not do and were never intended to do was
address the problem of the aggregation of lots and the demolition of
existing housing stock to build larger, more massive structures. The mass
and scale of the new structures- it does not deal with mass and density that
are allowed on these properties. Only a zoning change can address these
problems. I have heard the idea that the infill guidelines will work to
preserve the character of this neighborhood. A character of the street is
much more than whether the entrance is in the front or the rear or whether
the lighting is 15 feet or 25 feet. Or whether the apartment has vinyl
siding or brick siding. What does make up the character of Lucas,
Govemor and Bowery is the existing housing- the historic homes.
Whether those homes are occupied by the people who own those buildings
or those that are occupied by renters who- in converted structures. Once
these structures have been tom down the character of these streets will
quickly change for the worse, regardless of what the in~ll guidelines will
do to improve the outward appearance of these new structures. The
developers who spoke at the Planning and Zoning, that we listened to in
opposition of the down zoning, have made it quite clear that their intention
is to maximize their profits, maximize the density. There is not and- and
there is now not- there is now an incentive- there is not the incentive to
maintain these older homes when there is profits and tearing them down
and buildings more dormitory like apartments. Left with the RM-12, you
will lose this neighborhood. Changing to RNC-12, you will stabilize it
and as Karin says, you will freeze it in time. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Joni Kinsey: Somebody' s glasses are up here. I don't see any more labels, I am just
going to write on this. My name is Joni Kinsey and I am speaking to both
issues in front of you. I am a resident of the Noahside, not of the
Longfellow neighborhood but I would like to speak in support of the
efforts to preserve the neighborhood by the new zones that are proposed
tonight. I am particularly interested in speaking as we just heard from
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Pam Ehrhardt as to whether the new in~ll guidelines will be sufficient to
protect the neighborhood as it currently is. I was a member of the infill
guideline committee and I am also a past president of the Friends of
Historic Preservation. I am still on the board. And I am also the
originator in the mid-1990's of the RNC-12 zone that started on Church
Street and was then later extended down to Bloomington. Part of the
reason that I was on the Committee for the guidelines, the new guidelines
that you heard about tonight, was because the RNC-12 zone does not fully
protect these neighborhoods. The new guidelines do make an attempt to
rectify the problems that new construction causes in old neighborhoods by
the addition of some guidelines that help them conform those new
buildings- conform to older surroundings. But they don't address the issue
of social fabric of what an older structure provides in terms of history, in
terms of legacy, and certainly in terms of the integrity of the built
environment as it has existed for in some cases, over 100 years. So, I
would simply like you to recognize that the new guidelines for design
review in older neighborhoods as the proposal was this evening, are
important and should be passed, but they are not going to solve the
problem as the developers would like you to believe of new construction
in older neighborhoods. The kind of multi-family apartment dwellings
that they would like to put up might eventually be better designed than
most of them are today, but they are not going to protect the
neighborhood. So I encourage you to pass either or both of the two new
zones. Preferably both. Thank you.
Paula Brandt: I am Paula Brandt. I live at 824 N. Gilbert. I am President of Friends of
Historic Preservation and I am speaking for our organization on behalf of
both of these issues. It is a shame that the residents of this neighborhood
have to come to the City Council to ask for help to preserve their
neighborhood. It is a shame that all of the landlords don't share their
values of keeping a balance of diverse residents in the neighborhood, of
the flexibility of living situations that houses provide, and that they don't
enjoy the beauty or potential beauty of turn of the century houses. These
residents and home owners wouldn't need to make this request if some
property owner's weren't intent on maximizing the profit and using every
possible inch of space to max out a property to the detriment of the house-
the house itself- and to the neighbors around it. And if these developers
would stop buying adjoining houses so they could demolish them to build
a large apartment building. Friends of Historic Preservation support the
infill guidelines. Heaven knows, we wish we had had them for this past
three years- especially living on the north side you know what I am talking
about. We prefer to keep as many of our 19th century and early 20th
century houses in the neighborhood where they were born and where they
have given so many years of pleasure to so many people. We urge you to
support the residents of this neighborhood. There is something terribly
wrong when property owners who don't live in the neighborhood, who
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don't even live in Iowa City, have so much power and control over the
future of Iowa City's older neighborhoods and how they look and who is
going to live there. We urge you to support this. Thank you very much.
Diana Velez: My name is Diana Velez and I live at 627 S. Governor and it is a home
that my husband and I have owned for about 13 years. We plan to stay in
this community but we may not be able to stay in that neighborhood if the
changes that we see around us continue. We both attended the last of the
two meetings of the Zoning Commission and they were at some points
quite heated. But the most telling point for me was at the very end of the
last meeting when one of the developers who has put up the- is putting up
the 16 person unit on S. Lucas admitted that well, he had bought this
property and he really could not afford to make it a duplex because of the
realities of the market place (changed tapes) without the support of the
City Council for this downzoning, what we are going to see are more and
more buildings like the one that was shown earlier in the presentation.
And I urge you to take a drive down there and see how this structure
jumps out at you as the future and it is not a good future that we are
looking at. It is a future that if you want to see how it looks you just go
down South Van Buren or parts of Dodge or that other that is developed
that looks like basically inner city housing projects. If people like myself
and my neighbors start moving out of the neighborhood what you are
going to have is a really ugly place. And you're going to have a place that
has, we all know what it looks like, a lot more trash on the streets, people
who do not take responsibility for actually organizing their recycling,
broken glass is everywhere- as Stevie Wonder sang back in the '80s. that
is what our neighborhoods will look like. They will not be neighborhoods.
They will just be units for existence. And that is not what we want for
Iowa City according to the statements of this very City Council. So,
taking into account the fact that it is the realities of the market place and
the people who are speaking against this are people who for the most part
are- I hate the term and they seem to hate the term even more than I do-
absentee landlords. That is who wants things to remain the way they are
and no changes made that will prevent this uncontrolled "development".
Development of a community has to do with people like the art teacher
from Longfellow. Teachers, people who live in the community and have
an investment in the community. In the inner city- I am from New York
City- there is always a discussion now that there has been all this violence
against blacks and Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in New York, there is
always a discussion about the importance of having police men live in the
neighborhoods that they patrol. And I think the same principle applies
here. These people who want to continue to develop "develop" these
areas do not live in our neighborhoods. And we are fighting for our
neighborhoods. We are fighting for quality of life. And we urge you to
please support us. Thank you. And I want my comments to apply to both.
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Lehman: Thank you.
Cecile Kuenzli: I am Cecile Kuenzli. I live at 705 S. Summit. And I am here to
express support for the efforts made by Anne Freerks and Lorraine
Bowans to downzone both Lucas and Governor Streets. Because both of
these areas contain homes, as you have heard, of an architectural period
and style which are reflective similar styles in the Longfellow
neighborhood. The homes in these areas contribute to defining historic
character of the Longfellow neighborhood. And in fact, a survey by Molly
(can't hear) in 1990, recommended Lucas Street for inclusion as in the
historic district. As a 30 year resident of Iowa City, I am dismayed at the
disappearance, the repetitive with which are inner city neighborhoods are
decaying and losing their character. The Lucas and Gov. Street areas
must not be allowed to go the way of Johnson. Both Lucas and Gov. are
within the boundaries of our neighborhood association. As you have
heard and seen, these streets are lined with houses which would be both
attractive and affordable for young families or single professionals or
retired people who don't need thousands of square feet to conduct their
daily lives and for whom the proximity to downtown businesses [and]
neighborhood schools are appealing. Frequently we hear from realtors
that they can't find enough homes to satisfy the demand in the Longfellow
neighborhood. However, the current zoning classification on these streets-
renters or home owners investment there is a precarious one at best. As
you have heard from Karin Franklin and from Pam Ehrhardt, the infill
guidelines will not protect this area alone. The infill guidelines should
have- will be effective if they are used on a groundwork of appropriate
zoning. The two together will preserve our neighborhoods last week, I
spoke with John Shaw, who cannot be here this evening, who was a
member of the community housing form on the target small group
subcommittees. There he worked with people who hire for ACT and NCS
who told him that they have a difficult time convincing people to move to
Iowa City because of a lack of traditional housing in old neighborhoods,
which is where the people they want to bring here want to live. The point
that needs to be made and reiterated, John said, is that old neighborhoods
are an economic asset to the community. And as such, what benefits
them, the neighborhoods, needs to be put before the narrow economic
concerns of individual property owners who do not live in the
neighborhood and sometimes not even in Iowa City. This is, in one sense-
a very real sense, an economic issue. I know that you are all concerned
with economic issues in Iowa City. I went to the newspaper to look up
some of those concerns and I found a quote from Mr. Kanner saying on
November 3rd that this campaign- the previous election- has been about
issues. It is about thinking in new ways. On October 31st the Press
Citizen carded a platform statement by Mrs. Vanderhoef that she is
committed to marketing the city to create new jobs and attract new
businesses. And on November 1st, Mr. O'Donnell said the city should do
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everything it can for merchants to do business in Iowa City. And his
campaign ad in the same issue advocates a common sense approach to city
govemment. It seems to me common sense to believe that if we have
good inner city neighborhoods where people both want to come and live
and can afford to live- the downtown and its merchants stand to benefit.
So, as Mr. Kanner says, think in new ways and vote to down zone this old
neighborhood. To preserve and maintain what Iowa City has lef~ on Lucas
and Governor Streets. You heard from the president of the Home
Builder's Association that you should preserve Lucas by denying
downzoning. If you deny downzoning, you are in effect guaranteeing
change. Already properties- contiguous adjacent properties- are being
bought up. Then it will be simple for them to demolish those properties to
put up the big apartment houses like the one you saw in the pictures. So,
please, think in new ways and save our neighborhood. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Kanner: Mr. Mayor, I would request that if there is still any more speakers to come
that we take a break soon.
Lehman: Okay, folks. We are going to take 5, 6, 7 minutes. Thank you. We will
resume the public heating.
Christine Denburg: Good evening, my name is Ch~stine Denburg and I live at 1011
Woodlawn Avenue. I am here tonight to speak in favor of the infill
guidelines. About 15 years ago our neighborhood, the house that I live in,
the landlord that owned it wanted to tear my house down and build an
apartment complex. And one of the neighbors, Sandy Eskin, had the
commitment to our neighborhood to get our neighborhood put on a
national historical register which stopped my house being tom down and
made into an apartment complex. Three years later, my house is on the
cover of 19th Century Home Architecture of Iowa City. March 20 of this
year my house was in the newspaper on an article about bicyclists taking
tours of historic sites. And I guarantee you that our neighborhood would
not have the character or be anywhere near what it is today if Sandy Eskin
hadn't stopped my house from being tom down. If anybody would like to
see pictures of the really bad condition my house was in I would love to
show them to you. My house had been a tri-plex since the 1960's so for
over 30 years it really had not been cared for and was in a really horrible
shape and was an incredible eye sore. And the homes that are in these
neighborhoods are in much better condition then my house ever was. And
Sandy took a lot of time for 3 years and restored my home. And I
guarantee you it safe now and our neighborhood is safe from ever having
an apartment complexes built. I also was to mention to you that I am a
landlord and I own three houses in the Longfellow neighborhood. I live in
the Longfellow district and I have three houses there. I have owned rental
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properties there for 8 years and there is a huge demand for affordable
houses. Just like some of the people have said. And I have had no
problems whatsoever of renting my houses. I used to live in one of them
and the other 2 are right near Longfellow. And people are really desperate
to rent homes in our area. I have someone right now that is emailing me
from Japan that is interested in finding a house in the Longfellow district
to rent. So, I think it is a real need and some people have talked really
negatively towards landlords and I don't think that they are really thinking
of all landlords because houses like mine don't look like rental properties.
And you would never know that they are rentals. But what they are really
talking about, I think, is developers. And there is a big difference between
being a landlord and taking care of your home and being part of the
community and wanting to redevelop the area and tear down the houses.
So I would like you to consider this- that these homes aren't really
qualifying for the national historical register now, the are beautiful homes
and as they age I think people will appreciate their beauty more and more
and they will become even more desirable areas for people to live. But if
you put one apartment complex in those streets it is all over. And we will
never be able to get that house back. Thank you.
Kanner: Can I take a look at those pictures?
Denburg: (can't hear) do you want them right now?
Kanner: Yeah.
Lehman: Why don't we get them after the meeting Steve. We are in a public
heating which we probably should be attending to.
Alice Kelly: I am speaking. I have listened to all of these other neighbors express their
thoughts-
Lehman: Could you give us your name first?
Kelly: I am Alice Kelly.
Lehman: Thank you Alice.
Kelly: I live at 441 S. Governor, which was pictured up there a short time ago. I
speak from the fact that I imagine I am one of the oldest residents of this
neighborhood. I went to Longfellow school, lived there until I completed
University, proved to where I am now in 1939 and have lived there ever
since. I also have friends who lived on Johnson Street. Many beautiful
old homes and I watched the development of that into the line of
apartments up and down. I see the encroachment on Dodge Street and
now it is getting fight in my backyard, so to speak. I have lived with
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duplexes and apartments. I was around when they built the old (can't
hear) apartments, Summit apartments, over there. I had a duplex next-
door to me on Summit. We have duplexes in our neighborhood. Some of
them are now made over into one family homes. I am not, as we have all
been saying, we are not against duplexes and that sort of thing. But I do
not like these huge apartments like the one going up on Burlington. I
think there is a place for them, and as I drove through downtown the other
day there seem to be many of them down there and I would be happy if the
stay there and not encroach on our neighborhood. Someone says well if
you don't like this sort of thing going on, move. Well I have been there 60
years. I don't want to go anyplace else. I hope I can stay there a few more
years. And I have- Anne is my neighbor. Mrs. Reinhardt who spoke had
been my neighbor. And it is a very nice fan~ily neighborhood and we
would certainly like to have it stay that way. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you Alice.
Greg Allen: My name is Greg Allen. I have bought and restored many houses in the
last ten years. 28 of these houses I still own. Six of these homes are in
this zone that we are talking about. Five of these homes that I own as a
landlord were in the pictures that they showed. These are houses that I
have restored. I am not a developer. What I do is I buy homes, usually in
the RM-12 zone and I rehab them. I do all of the work I can on them
myself. I have to hire plumbers and electricians. I work with the City and
the rental staff to bring them up to code, to make them safe, jack them up,
straighten the doors, make them fit, whatever it takes. Sand the floors,
refinish them. I spent thousands of dollars on these homes. $20,000 to
$50,000 is about what it takes for, depending on the size of the house, to
rehab one of these. I have to borrow the money to do this. In order to
borrow the money I have to use the property's value to do that. The RNC-
12 is going to make it difficult for me to buy and rehabilitate homes as I
have been doing. A lot of which I keep and maintain. RNC-12 will also
make it harder to maintain the ones that I now have. I have less options,
less ways that I can make them conforming with the City and with the
rental codes. As an owner of properties in this zone I believe that this will
be costly for everyone in this zone if we down zone it to RNC-12. Not
only for the rentals and the landlords but for the tenants and also for the
residents that are there. Some 0fthe larger houses, which can be used as
rooming houses or as larger single families, are going to be very adversely
affected in value by the down zoning to RNC-12. Thank you.
Dilkes: Sir, do you want your comments to apply to both public hearings?
Allen: Yes.
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Deanna Hanson Abromeit: My name is Deanna Hanson Abromeit and I own and live
at a home at 625 S. Governor with my husband. We have lived in Iowa
City for about 10 years. We moved here from Denver Colorado where we
lived in downtown Denver in neighborhoods that were very historic.
Some of the homes were rentals. There were old apartment buildings.
The thing that we appreciated about living in downtown Denver was the
historical integrity of the neighborhoods. When we moved to Iowa City
we lived in family housing for 3 years from the University of Iowa and
when we were ready to decide what we were doing next in our life we
really wanted to settle in Iowa City and raise our family here. We bought
a home in the Longfellow district. Our home was built in 1890 and it was
a duplex when we bought it. It was a horrible condition. When we went
to the city to make it into a single-family home rather than a duplex
everyone we talked to thought we were absolutely crazy to do that. Why
wouldn't you want to keep it as a rental property? What we have found is
that our home is a lovely place. It is very warm. It has a lot of character.
And we have worked very hard to renovate it. We don't hire anybody to
do anything for us, with the exception of our roof because it was too
dangerous to be on it and the furnace, because it was so old that we
couldn't get out of there ourselves. We do everything through love and
hard labor. Our children are 4 and 2 and they are exceptional painters.
So, for us it has become a very huge labor of love. I was just in the
northern suburbs of Denver this weekend and as I was driving from the
Denver International Airport to my brother's home I realized that I wasn't
appreciating the environment that I was in because all of the homes looked
the same. There were no big trees. There was not a neighborhood feel
because everything was suburbia and what I found is what I appreciate
most about Iowa City is that I can walk in my neighborhood and we can
relish in the beauty of our neighborhood because of the historic homes.
That if I walk on- or when I am driving past Iowa Avenue and Dodge and
I look at that huge monstrosity of a eye sore I realize that is not what I
want my community to be. So I am here to speak tonight to urge you to
please down size both of these areas. That it is important that we maintain
the integrity of our neighborhoods and we respect the historic value.
Because, as many people have said, we can never get it back. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Dilkes: I need to remind everybody to state if they want their comments to apply
to both public hearings just so we can make sure the record is clear.
Abromeit: Yes, I would like them to apply to both.
Ruedi Kuenzli: My name is Ruedi Kuenzli and I live at 705 S. Summit Street.
And I speak of a member of the Longfellow Neighborhood Association. I
want to speak for both South Lucas and South Governor. The area under
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discussion is of historic significant attested by two surveys, one in 1990,
the other in 1998. Both done by (can't hear), a well known historian of
architecture. She wrote about South Lucas Street "At Lucas from
Burlington to Bowcry there is a sense of time and place about this narrow
tree lined street that should be preserved". South Lucas is a street with
charm and historic integrity. 90% of the houses have a single family
character, although they are predominately well kept and carefully
maintained rentals. Gary Hughes, Greg Allen, and Jim Brenneman who
own several rental properties in this area, some of them under the acronym
TAS and I am told that is an abbreviation for Tenants are Scum, have
assured us that- these three have assured us that it is not their intent to tear
down these historic houses and to replace them with new apartments.
They assure us that what happened at 534 S. Lucas, the apartment with 16
bedrooms, was a great exception because the existing house there could
not be saved. I believed them. And the change in zoning from RM-12 to
RNC-12 is precisely supporting what they tell us they want to do. Keep
the area pretty much the way it is. They would only oppose this change in
zoning if they wanted in 10 years or so after having fully depreciated these
rentals. Aggregate, combine 2 or more lots, in order to build apartment
houses. The only effect the change in zoning will have is to keep the
density at its current level. I quote from the report, from the staff report,
"because the lots in this area tend to be narrow and deep the possibilities
for increasing the density to multifamily levels under the present RM-12
zoning would be possibly primarily through the aggregation of lots and the
demolition of existing housing stock. Under the RNC- 12 zoning there
would be a disincentive to do so. The RNC-12 zoning would stabilize the
area without creating nonconforming situations or excessive economic
burdens for current property owners." That means the change in zoning
does not effect people who can live in these places. They can go on
exactly as they are. Keeping the area as it is will provide a variety of
rentals to families and students. It will maintain a historic neighborhood
close to downtown and Longfellow Elementary school. It will prevent
Lucas and South Governor from going the way of South Johnson. I did
not hear from any current members of the City Council that they sought
election or reelection in order to assure maximum profit for absentee
landlords at the cost of mining neighborhoods and historic districts. They
are indeed quite the opposite, what the members of the City Council told
us when they met with Longfellow neighborhood was how much they
appreciated the neighborhood. If you vote against RNC-12 you send a
strong signal to developers, absentee landlords, and also to home owners
in other areas close to downtown that this is a (can't hear) time for
developers.
Lehman: Mr. Kuenzli, you need to wrap this up.
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Kuenzli: I thought that the city decided to build high density apartment houses and
homes south of Burlington and that the older neighborhoods close to
downtown would be protected. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Howard Weinberg: My name is Howard Weinberg. I am a tenant at 520 S. Governor
and I have been one for 3 or 4 years now. I have lived in Iowa City since
1967 but I only began to consider myself a member of this community in
1970 when I started working with the Crisis Center, which was a very new
agency at the time. It was a great pleasure to hear your proclamation
today Mr. Mayor. And I just want to make some remarks in support of the
downzoning and I would like those remarks to apply to both matters.
There has been this evening, and before, some sense that there are good
guys and bad guys in this. That there are people who want to preserve the
beautiful and people who are greedy. I am not a member of the
Longfellow association and in fact, I'm not a member of anything and I
don't represent anybody. And I don't have any property interests in this
neighborhood. But I can't really identify myself as a member of the group
of people who have no greed. I have a lot of greed. And I think the
developers have a lot of greedy too. But we are greedy for different
things. I am greedy for the dirt in the alley behind my house and I am
greedy for the wild, volunteer they are not wild, but the volunteer daffodils
that grow there. I am greedy for these enormous hundred year oaks that
stand over the house and shade and shelter it from storms and from the
sun. I am greedy for the sound of Cardinals and lots of others that I
couldn't tell you the name of, but I recognize the sound. I am even greedy
for the Crows in the twilight. And other people I recognize are greedy for
other things. Maybe I contributed to this divisiveness among the sides
when I said before the Planning and Zoning meeting that the kinds of
multi-level- multi-use- high density apartments that have been built in
Iowa City are not homes. I am greedy for homes and I am greedy for
neighbors. I am greedy to know people who care about the place they live
in and I am greedy for architecture that encourages people to care about
not just the structure they live in but the place it sits in and whose sense of
themselves extends out beyond that. The kinds of high density housing
we are talking about, the structure- I wish I could say structure the way
Dianna Velez has said it a little while ago. That kind of structure is not a
place where homes will occur. That is a machine. It is a machine for
extracting money out of the pockets of other people's children. I am
greedy. I think they are too. Why should one person's greed outweigh
another person's greed? I am not sure, but I would like you to consider
this. I think the things I am greedy for can last a very long time. I think
they can be passed down from generation to generation. To your children
and your children's children. I think that structure that is going up today
will be gone in 15 or 20 years. It will be tom down for something else,
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another money making machine. And that money will not stay here. And
it will not go to your children. And it will not go to your children's
children. But what was sold, that mess of pottage that we live in, that
neighborhood. That will be gone, and you won't get back. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Keith Westercamp: I am speaking to both issues this evening. My name is Keith
Westercamp and I live at 3612 Timberline Drive, NE Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
I am a commercial real estate appraiser and I was employed to look at the
impact of values in regard to this issue. A little bit of my background, I do
work for the city and am currently doing some work for the city of Iowa
City and I'm very familiar with this market in that I have done several
commercial properties in this market. And I have also done residential
properties as well.
Kanner: Who were you employed by?
Westercamp: I was employed by Mr. Brenneman and Mr. (can't hear) who is
representing the people. I was asked would this zoning impact the value
of properties that they are involved with? And my answer to that is that it
will have a downward trend on the values of the properties because
properties in this market tend to sell on the units and how many units that
you are able to have there for density. So my research would indicate that
that would be a downward trend on land value as well as properties as they
are improved today. Another issue that I looked at is that by doing this
zoning you could take away for the incentive for some of the investors that
have put a great deal of money into these properties and you may end up
in situations where the investors just really can't afford to put money in
them under the new zoning and you may see possibly deterioration that
would occur to the properties because they would not be able to borrow.
And I think that Mr. Allen has already addressed that issue. Another issue
that I think you should consider it is that it does change your tax base
when you take a property l~om a commercially zoned ranking into a
residential zoning. You from a 100% valuation under the current (can't
hear) to a 54% valuation. So, even for the revenues for the City there is an
issue there that you may want to consider. These people are providing
affordable housing and a mix of housing for people in the area that is close
to the downtown for the tenants to which is an important element if we
were to look at all people. And by keeping that housing close to the
downtown you create housing that is within walking distance vs. the cars
and congestion and so on that Iowa City is experiencing. That
summarizes what I have to say. I was asked to keep it short so that is what
I am doing. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
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Klaus Bielefeldt: My name is Klaus Bielefeldt and I live on 922 Bowery. And my
comments will pertain to both issues. I want to pick up the economic
question that was raised once before and recently again. I do think that
down zoning can indeed have a positive economic impact. Our decision
to move to Bowery Street was based on the historic character of this
neighborhood. On the integrity of this neighborhood. I am involved in
recruiting and as I work at the University and one of the big assets there
for me when I talk to individuals is we have a viable neighborhood. A
neighborhood with a unique face that is different from suburbia. So, while
certainly some individuals may see a decrease in their property values, in
general I do think it is an asset even in economic terms for the city as such
and certainly in terms of heritage. It is something that should be
considered not just in these economic terms. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Lorraine Huneke Bowans: My name is Lorraine Huneke Bowans and I am one of the
co-authors of the application for rezoning. I have attended many, many,
many meetings the last few months and logged in a lot of hours. I am
speaking on both issues by the way. At the March 2nd Planning and
Zoning Commission meeting, Larry Svoboda, who was a developer in
town and also a member of the infill guidelines- this is a copy of the
minutes. Mr. Svoboda said (reads minutes). Since I only have five
minutes, he also spoke more about building costs and things. This is from
the March 2 meetings. In the last few months I have spoken with realtors,
property appraisers and all sorts of people. Very few of them take my
calls now. I sympathize with you as being the most loved and most hated
member in Iowa City. One Cook appraiser, or Casey Cook from Cook
Appraisal spoke with me and gave me something that I can read. It is
quite lengthy, or if I can just hand it to you I would like to do that. But it
talks about what would happen to the property values in various scenarios.
Basically, the only way that the area would lose value should a mix of
large scale apartment buildings come into the area, the people who own
the large scale apartment buildings will not lose their value. It will be the
smaller homes around them. Otherwise, it would either stay the same or
may possibly increase. And as history shows in other areas of town where
the RNC-12 zone has gone into and has been effective in stabilizing the
neighborhoods you have not seen property values plummet by $25,000. I
also have costs from researching hours and hours at the courthouse. The
cost of housing that has gone- this is affordable housing stock. Several of
the developers who talk about they can't afford to keep these homes up
and things and that it is too cost effective, have only recently purchased
into the neighborhood in the last two to three years. They are not long-
term property owners. Some of the properties up on the screen, there was
one in particular. They don't own until May 1 and that property was
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rehabbed by an owner occupied family that moved to Cedar Rapids. So I
would like to present these in an order to be brief. The copy from Casey
Cook, and the copy of courthouse records from the City Assessor's office.
And I would also like to speak as the co-president elect of the District
Parent's Organization. I will be participating on the boundary committee.
Longfellow School is the heart of our neighborhood. This area is two and
three blocks from Longfellow School. It is 12 to 13 blocks from the
Pentacrest. I would like to think the elementary children of our town are
just as important as the college students. I am in support of this to keep
our school. There is talk of closing an eastside school and building a west
side school. I would hate to think that we could lose Longfellow School.
One final comment is I spoke with Anne Rhodes today from the
University of Iowa and she welcomes anyone to call her and get her
comments on this. She could not attend tonight. Of course, the University
has no official position. They stay out of that. But she did say that the
student population has declined slightly since the peak in the early 1980's.
It has stabilized with no anticipated dramatic increase in the near future.
She also stated that as a community member she would like to see the
integrity of the older neighborhoods left in tact. She said it adds to the
appearance of the- the overall appearance of the campus and attracts
people to the University of Iowa. I also spoke with members from the
Student Senate today who, again, with Anne Rhodes say yes we do need
housing downtown but we need affordable housing. There is plenty of
housing downtown. The key point is: it is not affordable. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you. Would you like to leave those copies with the clerk? I will
entertain a motion to accept the correspondence.
Vanderhoef.' Move to accept.
Wilburn: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Wilbum. All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Motion carries.
Michael Burt: My name is Michael Burt. I live at 654 S. Governor. I own a small
business downtown and I am also the director of the salvage barn. This is
all that is left of some of the nice old houses in town. There is so much
going on- I am addressing both by the way. There is so much going on
downtown and around town being torn down, old houses and buildings
that the salvage barn is busting at the seams. So much that we are getting
new space out by the county landfill. It is- city landfill, excuse me. I have
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never talked in public before. Yeah, I think Longfellow is a great
neighborhood and I would just as soon not see it change. Thanks.
Lehman: Thank you.
Jeff Schabilon: My name is Jeff Schabilon and I live at 431 Rundell. And I would
like my comments addressed to both issues. I have watched with great
interest at the city's plans for a major plan of development. An ideal place
to live in Iowa City, if you will, in an area called the Peninsula. And as I
understand those plans, they are to build essentially what we have already
in this area. Affordable housing, traditional architecture, a great place to
live. And those of us that live in the Longfellow neighborhood already
think we already have a great place to live. And I think it would be
overwhelmingly ironic to think that a city that is devoting tremendous
amounts of time and energy to build a great place to live in the north end
of town would oversee the destruction of a great place to live in the south
end. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Gary Hughes: My name is Gary Hughes. I am from Iowa City. I have lived here all of
my life. I not an absentee landlord, I am a local one. This issue is very
emotional and has been very stressful for a lot of us. From both sides. I
apologize to anybody if I said anything that offended them. I have
rehabbed many houses also in Iowa City. Six of them in this area and four
in particular on Lucas Street in the last five to 10 years. I have put a great
deal of money in them and many of the pictures that were shown earlier
are our houses. They are houses that I do own. In particular, one house
was the comer of Dodge and Burlington. Many of you may remember
that about six or seven years ago it was a fraternity that was painted six
colors. Quite an eyesore in the community. We rehabbed that, we started
in the inside and basically gutted it. Redid the hardwood floors. Rewired
it, heating and outside we put siding and a new roof and new windows
throughout. And I think it is an attractive building today. Without
question, much better than it was six years ago. We do rehab houses. As
a last resort we do tear them down. I have done that. And I am the one
that did tear down 534 S. Lucas. I had contractors look at it after I had
purchased it. I initially was going to try and keep it. it was a house that
had been added onto. A duplex added on the back about ten years, fifteen
years ago. Stmcturally it was not sound. It had been vacant for at least 2
years. The people living in that area probably remember the growth of the
brush and the debris in the yard. It was quite an eyesore. So I did buy it
and after consulting with different experts and the City Housing
Department and with the recommendation of some of the housing
inspectors that have been working on that for several years, we did tear it
down. And put up another building. The building is not complete yet.
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The outside is not complete. We tried- I tried to- it is a big building, I can
see that. We have designed the building where it is a combination of brick
with siding and also there will be shutters to match the brick. And I think
when we get done it will be an attractive building. We do plan on planting
trees and doing everything there. It is certainly a lot nicer than the
building fight south of it or north of it I guess I might add, the old yellow
apartment. I guess the bottom line is that over 80% of the houses I am
speaking to both issues but more particularly I guess Lucas Street where I
am concerned. I do own a house on Governor Street. But over 80% of the
houses on Lucas Street from Burlington to Bowcry are owned by people
like me that have gone in and rehabbed them and redone them and
refurbished them with no intention of tearing them down because
financially there is not was anybody could feasibly do that. And over 60%
of these people have protested and don't want the down zoning on Lucas
Street. I disagree with some of the people that have spoken. I respect
your opinion, I hope you respect mine. Btu I think the- if you think there
is a problem I think the in~ll ordinance is going to help solve that problem
and I do support the in~ll but I do not support the zoning change on Lucas
Street. Thank you very much.
Lehman: Thank you Gary.
Ellie Peters: I am Ellie Peters and I own the property at 433 S. Governor. My husband
and I have owned it since 1976. It is a 3 plex and it was at the time that
we purchased and we have kept that and have maintained it ourselves and
have enjoyed having affordable housing that we could offer to tenants.
And I just wanted to say that I support the people that have spoken tonight
in favor of down zoning. My comments would go for both of the articles
under consideration. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Derrick Abromeit: Hi, my name is Derrick Abromeit. I live at 625 S. Govemor. And
I will address both issues. I have been to a couple Planning and Zoning
commission meetings. A few years ago you all did the fight thing and
there was an alley behind my house that everyone thought was vacated.
Apparently it had not been officially vacated and so when the house that
was directly behind ours was tom down- and it did need to be tom down-
they put up a duplex with four bedrooms on each side. And to
accommodate the cars they built a garage that is very large and they used
the alley. And the person that owned that house also owned several other
houses further down. And so, at that point we petitioned to have the alley
the rest of the way closed. And you did the right thing because that is the
same issue. It is about preserving our neighborhood. And so today on the
way home I drove by to see the progress on the new construction that of
course started this whole thing on Lucas Street and it isn't terrible looking.
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It doesn't look like anything else in the neighborhood and it is as big as a
warehouse. It is just huge. It doesn't fit the character of the
neighborhood. It doesn't fit the character of the lot sizes. It just isn't our
neighborhood. You know, property values that are discussed are
discussed with commercial values. Well, you know, we bought our house
almost seven years ago now for $69,000 and it is appraised now at just
under $130,000. That is a fair return on a house that was a duplex that is
now a single family. You know, I am fairly happy with that. I put a lot of
work into it and I think that is you know not in the least bit- the reason for
that is not at all, I mean, it is all the neighborhood. It is our house-
(changed tapes) but it also the place that we live. And I would like that
place to continue. I think we live next door to- our house isn't actually in
the neighborhood to be considered but next door is. And that is the largest
apartment in the area to be discussed. It was an old house like ours. Ours
was built in 1890. It was built somewhere around the turn of the century.
And then they added on at some point 7 apartments on the back of it. So I
think there were 12-10 or 12 units on that and that is keeping our property
values down. You know, this is a very large apartment building fight next
to our cozy 1890's house. And, you know, whether it is- whether you call
it a duplex or- I am sorry, whether you call it a condominium or an
apartment building it looks like a warehouse and people won't want to buy
your house if you live next door to it. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Grace Piro: Hi, I am Grace Piro and my husband and I since we have been in Iowa
City, have had some of the nicest most caring treatment. And it is because
of this that I would like to speak tonight. As you can tell (can't hear) at
the tail end of this period and perhaps a few quarts low, but the quality of
life in the area with which we have been acquainted since 1959 when we
purchased our first and only home has remained very dear to us. We go
away for a period and in the winter and come home and I say home- it
used to be New York. This has been home for a long time. We are just
grateful that we wound up here. And you have been good to us through
winning and losing seasons and for the time that came after and I guess
that is why I have this great fondness for all of you. And I find it difficult
because some of our best friends are realtors and I know Gary and there
have been things probably that I am unaware of and I just felt though that I
have to speak from the heart without preparation as to what it means to
live in a neighborhood. As this one gentlemen indicated, we have already
things that many areas would love to have. And the purpose in our choice
in 1959 was affordable housing, one. Closeness to school, two. And
closeness to a community that offered many amenities- downtown. Well,
now it is 40 plus years later and the same needs exist and we have got it
there. We are close to a school, we are close to downtown, and there is
affordable housing. It is our fondest wish at this point in our lives that
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when we no longer live there that there will be another family that comes
to live and enjoy this particular ambience that people seek and is not
always available. I know in my heart that if there were any problems I
could call on Alice, who is my mentor. If she can get up and talk so can I-
who is a neighbor. Or Marylou Russell, Tim Brandt- that is what makes a
neighborhood. To know that people are there for you, not that they are in
your pocket or that you see them every day. But that there is a caring
concern and I think one of the great blessings has been the appearance of
children again in the neighborhood. It has been so wonderful to have
children come on Halloween. I got tired of Whitey eating all of that candy
all the time. Now we have to share it with the children and it is a plus for
us. We don't want to be in (can't hear). It is an interesting neighborhood.
And as we came home this year, and I noticed the bridge which is a gem
by the way- it is absolutely beautiful on Summit Street, I couldn't help
wishing that the same care was given to the setting in which the gem is
located. And the setting is us. I mean, we bask in reflected glory even
though we have some historic homes. I think you have to make provision
for that setting of Summit Street. And one of the gentlemen, I think it was
Mr. Phipps, mentioned a buffer zone. And that was never talked of
before. And I think you've got to think of that if you want to preserve that
which is important not only historically but in light of what a city is-
where your values are. And I would like to be in favor as many of us here
in the down zoning. And I thank you for your time.
Lehman: Thank you.
Piro: I should have gone first because everybody nailed this and it put me in a
difficult spot. I am sorry if I reiterated things that have already been said.
Alfrieta Monagan: Hi, I am Alfrieta Monagan. I am at 806 Clark Street. I have been
involved in the Longfellow Neighborhood Association since its inception
and actually my little girls, who are no longer little, were going around the
neighborhood and caroling before the neighborhood association was even
established. I just wanted to say a few words. I can't be as elegant as the
last speaker I am sure but I thought I just had to speak to the sense of
community that exists in the Longfellow neighborhood association- in the
Longfellow neighborhood. When I moved into the Longfellow
neighborhood in 1976 several of my neighbors came with hot rolls to
welcome me to the neighborhood. And I will never forget one neighbor,
Mrs. Hogsteller who has passed on now, she said "welcome neighbor".
And I had never heard anyone say neighbor like that before. You could
hear the capital N in her voice. You knew that neighbor meant something.
And that is what I found in the Longfellow neighborhood since I have
lived there. It really does mean something to be a neighbor there. People
have been absolutely wonderful to me, to my children. I knew when I sent
my children out to sell Christmas wreaths or Girl Scout cookies or
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whatever that they could stop at any home because I knew everyone. I
knew if they had a problem they could stop and anyone would help them
and to look out for them. There are lots of incidences of that. But I will
just be brief and say that I honestly and sincerely believe that if we don't
have down zoning that we- that our neighborhood as it exists will end. I
do believe that the character of the neighborhood will change and I am
here to support the down zoning because I would like to see it continue as
is. Thanks.
Lehman: Thank you.
Jim Brenneman: My name is Jim Brenneman. I was born and raised in Johnson
County. I live here in Iowa City and I care about this community. I have
been selling real estate in Iowa City for about 13 years. I own about 12
houses in different parts of the city. Almost all of them I have bought and
rehabbed. Much of it with my own hands. The two houses I do own in
this zone- one on Governor Street area and one on the Lucas Street area. I
can recall the one Governor Street area that I bought had graffiti on the
inside of the house. The door was ripped off the hinges- the front door.
You could just- people were coming and going in and out of that place at
will. We hauled out about four truckloads of garbage out of the house
with scoop shovels. And bought it relatively inexpensively, put a lot of
money into it and a lot of labor into it. And I think it, it wasn't in the
photos, but I think it a relatively nice house now. I like older houses. I
like the hardwood floors, I like the architecture. I have absolutely no
intention of tearing down a house in that zoning. I do think, however, that
down zoning will hurt my property values. I have been around the real
estate business to know that. And I just would ask you to take a look at
property values. Take a look at property owners fights. I believe that
there have been over half of the property owners on Lucas Street that have
expressed their opposition to this down zoning. I think that is a significant
statement. And as far as I know there hasn't been a house tom down on
South Governor for 20 years and it seems to me that this solution is a
solution in search of a problem. At least as far as Governor Street goes.
You know, I just don't quite understand the solution when there hasn't
been a house that has been tom down. Thank you.
Henry Madden: I am Henry Madden. I live at 428 S. Summit Street. I just wanted
to re-emphasize a point that was alluded to earlier about the school- about
Longfellow school. About two months ago in the Press Citizen there was
a tabulation of the schools, the attendance and capacity of the schools
today and forecasted what it would be in 2004. And Longfellow school
was forecasted to have a vacancy rate in 2004 even though it is filled now.
If this is not - if the down zoning is not carried out, if we build more
apartment houses dormitory style, which is going to be filled with students
probably you're not going to have children in there and therefore you're
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not going to have children in this community that are going to go to your
school and you're going to have more vacancies in Longfellow school.
The second point I wanted to make is that I just don't understand the
economics and I do understand a little bit about economics having
practiced a lot of it in my career. I do understand the economics of fixing
up houses and property values drop. This is something I don't understand.
If you fix houses, if you justify an area, property values increase. They
don't drop. People have referred to this supposedly knowledgeable people
in real estate- but it is something that doesn't make sense to me.
Lehman: Thank you. I encourage everybody to speak obviously. If you have- I
would like- if someone has something that hasn't been said I would like to
hear, I think we would all like to hear that. Obviously we have some very
strong feelings and we are here to hear that but if- particularly we would
like hear things that haven't been said.
Sarah Walz: Hi, my name is Sarah Walz and I live in a house that I rent at 334 S.
Dodge. I am going to be moving out of there soon because I am buying a
home in another neighborhood. And I think that I can speak to an issue
that some other people have touched on which is young professionals
moving to this town from other places looking for a place to live. I am a
young professional who moved to Iowa City from another place where
there wasn't affordable housing. I moved here from Chapell Hill, Noah
Carolina where it is next to impossible to find a house for under $200,000.
It is also very hard in this town to find a house for just two people to live
in a nice historic neighborhood if you don't have $130,000 or more. So I
am moving out of my neighborhood. I would have loved to buy a house
on Lucas but I look at what is happening. It is fight behind me. What
really prompted me to come here and speak was hearing people talking
about the location being next to downtown and these houses they have
rehabbed. Which I live beside one of them and one of them is behind me.
And how rehabbing houses is this wonderful thing because you are not
tearing houses down. Well, when we moved into the house that we are at
334 S. Dodge two years ago there was a lovely house next door that was
divided into I think it was a duplex. And there were four nice women
living there that were neighborly. They had a lovely garden out back.
Somebody in this room bought that house, tore out the entire backyard, put
in an 8 stall parking garage or parking lot I am sorry. I will guarantee you
that not one of those people that lives in that house walks to class. They
don't walk downtown. At 8 am when I am leaving they are all leaving in
their cars to drive to class. They are all students. And the people who
own these homes are not there at 2 in the morning when I have to call the
police because there is a party going on. The people who own these
properties are not there picking up the beer bottles that are thrown all over
there. They are not there to call the fire department when every other
month they start the dumpster on fire. They are not there to pick up the
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garbage that is lying all over the alley because- I don't know if the
sanitation person doesn't pick up the garbage on time but there is trash all
over. We finally had to put a pile of brush in our backyard to keep people
from parking on our lawn. So, this is- I mean, when I look across the alley
and I see some of the old homes on Lucas it just makes me so sad because
there are beautiful big backyards that if somebody knew that they could
move in, like myself, and could buy one of those homes and could take
care of it and really make it a home, they would do it. And I- you know, I
want to live in a historic neighborhood. I want, you know- I would love to
live in the Longfellow neighborhood. That is a place that people can
really call home and I think you are hearing all of these people stand up
and talk about their neighborhood. These people that are rehabbing these
houses and building these apartments don't live there. They don't live
there. They are not neighbors. And I really think that one of the nicest
things about Iowa City is the neighborhoods and I want to speak to both
issues because I hope that you will go with the downzoning and preserving
something that is really an attractive thing about Iowa City. Thank you.
Alan Meyer: My name is Alan Meyer. I am a Certified Public Accountant in private
practice. I started out in the community as a student. I paid rent. I am a
small landlord. I have lived in two of the buildings that I lease out now.
And in fact, I rented a place down close to Iowa City and walked to work
and saw you many mornings on my way in Emie. My reason for speaking
today is I don't think the rezoning is the next logical step. I think we have
got new rules with this infill and some things that specifically affect that
area that have not been put in place yet. We have talked earlier tonight-
this separate item, that this is going to affect multi-family what has some
impact on these two areas. And I am speaking to both of them. So, I
don't think that the next logical step is to downzone. I think it is to follow
the system that you have in place and let these rules go into effect, just like
we have to be inspected every 2 years and those rules are enforced. I
think the next step is to just be patient. Patience is a virtue and see how
this plays out and then make the next decision. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Dave Jackson: My name is Dave Jackson. I live at 817 Bowery. And my neighborhood
was quiet and comfortable until this whole rezoning thing came up. I live
next to a large multi-unit apartment at 815 Bowery Street. And it has got
the 16 bedrooms and every door faces my house. And I have to say that
both the landlord, Marry Gaffey, and many of the tenants who have been
there longer than I have been in the Longfellow neighborhood, came over
to my house on the first day and welcomed me. They have created a sense
of community there. I have to say quite candidly that I have heard less
noise out of that multi-unit apartment house then I have out of the rest of
the neighborhood. And I know, this is a very unpopular and different
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opinion. But that is a fact. I live next to it and that is what I have
experienced. And it has been a pleasant experience. I just want to make
sure that that different opinion has been expressed. I am not afraid of our
neighborhood changing. I don't know what we are trying to save in the
sense that I have seen good things in the diversity that has come into this
neighborhood and the sense of space. I was trying, since I have worked
with preservation before and in fact have prepared both national- I worked
on state nominations out of Iowa- to find something in my reference books
that sort of encapsulated my feelings because it was very difficult to really
grasp on to why I was feeling what I was feeling and then to put it into
verbiage. And I found one paragraph that sums it up and this is the book
"How Buildings Learn" by Smart Brand. And I looked up zonings and
found a page- and of course this is a different neighborhood that the author
is talking about but it really sort of speaks to what I am feeling here. "I
am lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where zoning has broken
down. The result is mildly scruffy and utterly convenient and neighborly.
From my door it is a short walk not only to my office but to public
storage, auto repair, boat supplies, bike supplies, office supplies, film
supplies, tire service, a car battery manufacturer, a gas station, and 7
restaurants. All in the low rent, low road, malleable part of town". And
that is the word that struck me. The malleable part of town. That is what
our neighborhood is right now with the current zoning. How Buildings
Learn is when we put up a screen on our porch because we want to keep
the bugs out. Then we put windows in. That changes the building. Every
one of those buildings on Lucas Street and many on Govemor have been
changed. And in fact, you know, if you drive behind them rather than the
front side 2000 and 3000 and 4000 square feet of space have been added
onto many of them. Those buildings have been changed and adapted to
the needs and the use of the neighborhood. I am not afraid of that and
apparently the folks that live there now aren't afraid of that either because
that is what they are trying to protect. I can see the 534 S. Lucas
apartment building from my house. It is my opinion that it is more
attractive than the house that was there. That should have been taken
down and had outlived its useful life. That is my opinion. The other
comment I want to make is the rest of this paragraph by this author, Stuart
Brand. "I visit friends in nice homes elsewhere and it feels as if they live
in a desert. Zoned out of a walkable way of life, stuck in a place where
nothing ever changes. Zoning has succeeded in freezing up cities so tight
that new (can't hear) cities form out on the periphery and they become
inevitable. And something was lost with all that comfortable (can't
hear)." We said earlier- I believe when we were talking about the
rezoning issue initially- that this would mean no change. I am not afraid
of the change and I believe that that is partially a good thing here. Thank
you.
Lehman: Thank you.
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Jim Waiters: My name is Jim Waiters. I live at 1033 E. Washington, which is at the
end of this block and I want to speak just briefly in support of the down
zoning on both the questions. I don't know if I can add anything new at
this late hour, I think everybody has said-
Lehman: My only concern is that if we continue the public hearing the moratorium
runs out. And we are not going to stay here all night for the public
hearing. Go ahead Jim.
Walters: I just want to offer a couple of perspectives. As a new person in the
neighborhood, I live on Washington Street which is technically in the
College Green neighborhood, but we are on the north side of the
Longfellow District. So I am in the Longfellow school district and
although my son went to Roosevelt and graduated from West High I am
now a Kindergarten reading volunteer at Longfellow. So I have come to
support my Longfellow neighbors in their efforts to change the zoning. I
want to say that for us it was a great privilege to move in to the eastside
neighborhood that we live in. we consider ourselves extremely lucky to
find the house that we bought a year and a half ago and we are more than
pleased to discover after bought it that we were only the fourth family who
has lived in that house since it was built in 1928. Like the previous
speaker, I live next door to a multi-unit housing. I get along fine with the
people whom I live next door with although in a year and a half I have not
developed more than a passing relationship with any of those people. On
the other hand, on the right immediately east of my house lives Roy who
is a retired quarry worker in Iowa City. He lives there with his son who is
currently an Iowa City policeman. Across the street is Maureen who is an
Iowa City librarian. Around the comer from Maureen is Steve, who is the
senior maintenance- the person who takes care of this building. Across
the street from Steve is Mark who is an antique owner on the Northside
Business District. Next door to Mark is John who is the former retired
County recorder. So you can see that this is an established neighborhood
of people who have strong ties to the community and have jobs and live
here. And I think when people like this, people who have spoken to you
tonight, come before the Council and ask your indulgence in doing the
type of things that would protect and preserve their neighborhood, I think
that it is really important that you give them a very close hearing and that
you do what they ask. Thank you.
Lehman: We are going to take five minutes folks.
Wilbum: We also had some correspondence handed to us.
Lehman: Is that a motion?
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Champion: That is not about this though.
Karr: No, it is not about this.
Lehman: Oh, all right.
Wilbum: That is right. I have to wait until after the hearing and then I can-
Karr: This is about another item. It is not related.
Wilburn: When that item comes up-?
Karr: Then we will adopt all correspondence all at once.
Wilbum: Okay.
Lehman: Okay Joe.
Joe Holland: That you Mr. Mayor. My name is Joe Holland. I am an attorney here in
Iowa City and I represent some of the property owners you have heard
from. I intent to address my comments to both of these applications and
because in reality I think there is only one- there is only one application
filed, there is only one proposal for rezoning and I think an issue I am
going to take up with the City Attorney is I think there is only one protest
to rezoning on this. I think Jim Brenneman said it pretty well. It sounds
to a certain extent like this is a solution in search of a problem. There has
been some question about the uses of property in this neighborhood and I
took the City staffs statistics and put together a handout I would like to
give the Council detailing what the property uses are in this area and what
the percentages are as far as rent vs. owner occupied. Because there has
been some question about the statistics and rather than compiling our own
we used what the City staff had put together. According to my calculation
on the Lucas portion of this rezoning 86% of the properties are rental
properties. That means that some portion of that property is rented even if
the owner lives in part of that property. So, we are not talking about an
area that is dominated by owner occupants or even close. In fact, it is
extremely dominated by rental properties. The structures, as they exist
now, 56% are single family. That means one dwelling unit in that
structure. 44% are multi-family meaning 2 or more dwelling units in that
structure. And the Governor it is not quite as skewed toward the rental-
60% of those units are rental. 36% are what you could truly call owner
occupied with no part of it rented out. The structures, 64% are single
family meaning there is only one dwelling unit in the structure and 32%
are multi-family. I think those statistics are pretty telling in terms of what
this area is. And it is one what I think one of the last speakers called a
malleable area. And it has been that for some time. The question is- is
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there really a problem in this area? How many structures have been
demolished while this area has been zoned RM-12? So far as we know
there have only been two in the last 20 years. One of these was the
property at 534 S. Lucas. I brought along some photos that I would like to
pass around to the Council. These are pictures taken roughly ten years ago
of the property at 534 S. Lucas. These were taken by the City Housing
Department. This will give you an idea of what this property looked like
before it deteriorated for ten more years. The point of bringing these
photographs in is because this property has been a catalyst in large part for
this rezoning application. This is a house that was too far-gone to salvage
as Gary Hughes got up here and told you. He consulted with everybody
he possibly could about whether it could be salvaged and it couldn't.
Every other house that he or the people who have talked to you here
tonight in this neighborhood, in the areas that are being rezoned- they have
improved those houses and are using them for multi-family. There is not a
mad rush to tear down houses in these neighborhoods. RM-12 has been an
appropriate zone to encourage people to live in this area close to
downtown- so to whatever extent it works, they can leave their cars at
home. You can argue whether or not it works, whether the bus route out
to that area works. But if you are looking at what the intent of the zoning
is, is has been an acceptable solution of the RM-12 zone. What are the
economics and realities? Acquiring these properties because of the land
cost and the cost of the structure doesn't justify acquisition and
demolition. The cost per unit is too high to buy these- because you buy
the structure, you buy the land, and it all comes into land cost if you tear it
down and put up something new. There is just not the economic incentive
there to tear these down. That is why it hasn't happened. The economic
incentive hasn't existed. It doesn't exist, and as far as anyone can tell it
won't exist. If there isn't a problem- or if this isn't a problem, what is the
real problem? Part of it is that this is a company town and the University
is the company. The company doesn't build housing for its workers,
which are the students. Those students need to live somewhere. If there is
a problem, what is the right way to deal with it? You have heard people
say tonight that the multi-family residential design centers, the infill
ordinance. I think that is an appropriate way to deal with it. That is what
the homebuilders think. That is what a number of people have said to you
tonight. The zoning ordinance is already so complex I can tell you the
City Staff doesn't understand it. (can't hear) disagreements between the
housing office, the zoning office, lawyers in this town, builders in this
town. Why add another layer onto to this to even further complicate
things? And frankly, I think one of the things it does is when you double
up on this you rezone it, you pass that infill development- it feeds that
perception that Iowa City is a place where if they can't get you one way
they will get you another way. And the multiple layers of regulation
create a perception that Iowa City is hostile to economic activity. And this
is maybe a microcosm here but I still think it sends that same message
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when you use two sores to try to solve what you perceive as one problem.
A lot of people made economic decisions too to invest in this
neighborhood based upon that RNC-12 zoning. That doesn't mean you
can't change it but you need to have some sensitivity to those people who
made those decisions and the investment they have made into those
properties. The staff report, if you read through that, says that some of
these properties could be changed into properties with a bigger use. For
example, 11 could be converted into duplexes even under the RNC-12
zoning- but they would be limited to the number of occupants they could
have in those structures. You can argue about whether it is a good idea to
expand some of these structures. Some of the neighbors think that is okay.
They don't mind having additional people in the neighborhood. Some
want those structures frozen exactly as they are. This is also, I think, an
issue somewhat discriminatory against those people that want to move into
those units. One of the reasons that the bigger units get built is that
students like to live in those. And not just students, people who don't
have the money because when you have more people in a unit, you can
spread that cost across more tenants. And a landlord doesn't get the same
amount of rent for each tenant. As the rent goes up, the landlord gets a
little bit less for each tenant. The tenants can spread that across more
tenants. So this is partly an affordable housing issue and rezoning is
discriminatory against students. It is discriminatory in favor of home
owners. And you need to decide as a Council and as policy for the city if
you want to engage in that form of discrimination. There are a lot of
people who have spoken who support this who don't live in the area.
There are people who live in the area who have. There are people (can't
hear) made investments in the area for rental properties who do. I think
what the Council has to do is balance those interests. The best balance
that I think you can find in this is to pass the infill ordinance and not
rezoning these areas. I think that is the appropriate outcome when you
look at all of the decisions you have to make. I thank you for listening.
Kanner: Excuse me, can you tell what property owners you represent?
Holland: I represent Jim Brenneman, Gary Hughes, and Greg Allen.
Kanner: Thank you.
Holland: I would like to get my photographs back if I could.
Joe Patrick: Hi, my name is Joe Patrick and I live at 1190 E. Court St. and I am
speaking to both issues. I intend to be as brief as possible by simply
saying that I am deeply moved by my neighborhood and by the outpouring
of sentiments that I have heard this evening about the need to preserve that
neighborhood. It occurs to me that the one thing new that I can say in
support of the down zoning is that if the down zoning were not to pass, in
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10 years time this would be a very brief meeting. There would be no
neighbors to speak in support of the neighborhood. There would be, in
essence, no neighborhood. Thank you.
Christine Denburg: My name is Christine Denburg-
Lehman: Christine, before you start is there anyone else who would like to speak?
You can take a second time around after everyone has had an opportunity
to speak first.
Denburg: Sure.
Lehman: No, no I think you are fine. I don't see anybody else who wants to speak
so go ahead.
Denburg: My name is Christine Denburg and I have pictures of my house that I
would like to pass and show you all of my home that ten years ago was an
eyesore. And when the house was put on the national historical register
the landlord told the woman who wanted to buy it that the house was no
longer worth anything because she couldn't tear it down and build an
apartment complex. And now my house, I assure you, is worth far more
than the $80,000 that it was purchased for. And I think a lot of these
landlords when they have spent all of this money and time and effort
rehabbing these homes, I would think that they would want to maintain the
integrity of their houses also. And would be in favor of the infill
ordinance. I would like to pass these- may I do that?
Lehman: You certainly may. Would anyone else like to speak to this issue? Public
heating is closed. We have another public hearing immediately so if there
is something that you didn't say at the last one you can say it on this one.
Karr: Mr. Mayor?
Lehman: Yes?
Karr: Can we go back and accept all correspondence in written form that you
received for that last one?
Lehman: Yes.
Vanderhoef: So moved.
Pfab: So moved.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Pfab to accept written
correspondence. All in favor?
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All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Motion carries.
Champion: I would like to thank everybody for coming tonight.
Lehman: Connie, we have got another public heating coming on this.
Champion: Oh, you are right. Oh my god.
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ITEM NO. 6h.) PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE
ZONING DESIGNATION FROM LOW DENSITY MULTI-
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RM-12) TO NEIGHBORHOOD
CONSERVATION RESIDENTIAL (RNC-12) FOR PROPERTY SOUTH
OF BURLINGTON STREET ALONG THE 300-600 BLOCKS OF LUCAS
STREET AND A PORTION OF THE 700-800 BLOCKS OF BOWERY
STREET. (REZ00-0007).
Lehman: The public heating is open. The public heating is closed.
Karr: Do we accept correspondence?
Lehman: Did we get correspondence on this too?
Karr: It is a separate public hearing.
O'Donnell: So moved.
Wilburn: Second.
Lehman: We've got more. Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Wilburn to accept
correspondence. All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Motion carries. We will- this will be on our agenda at the May
2 meeting for action by the Council.
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ITEM NO. 6i.) AMENDING TITLE 14, CHAPTER 6, ZONING, TO ALLOW
WIDE-BASE FREESTANDING SIGNS IN SOME COMMERCIAL
ZONES UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
Lehman: This is a continuation of a public hearing from March 21. The public
hearing is open. The public hearing is closed.
b.) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration).
Champion: Consider first consideration.
Lehman: Now, we have- are we- we are having first consideration. Now, there is
two things we can- Planning and Zoning Commission recommended-. We
have two issues- well we have one issue here to start with.
Dilkes: You need to move first consideration of either the 25 foot or the 26 foot
ordinance.
Pfab: I move the 25 foot.
Lehman: I am sorry, Karin did you wish to-
Franklin: No, I just wanted-
Dilkes: We have got a motion Cormie if you wish to clarify.
Champion: I wish to move consideration of the 26 foot.
O'Donnell: I second it.
Lehman: We have a motion a second to consider the broad base freestanding signs
with the 26 foot height. Is there a discussion on the part of Council?
Vanderhoef: I would like to ask Karin- it appears on this ordinance that you are
changing all freestanding signs. Not just the wide based signs. Is that
correct?
Franklin: No.
Lehman: No, (can't hear).
Franklin: That is what we recommended- is that if you- what we recommended to
the Planning and Zoning Commission and what we recommend to you is
that if you are going to change the height of wide based freestanding signs
that you change the height of all free standing signs. The Council had
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indicated a inclination that what you wish to do was to allow wide based
freestanding signs and allow them and only them to be 26 feet high. That
is the ordinance that is before you.
Lehman: (can't hear).
Vanderhoef: But not the others? Not the other freestanding signs?
Lehman: This would provide for wide based freestanding signs to be allowed at 26
feet. It would not change the height requirement of the existing sign
ordinance for any freestanding sign. Other discussion? Irvin?
Pfab: I would move- or not move- I would speak in favor of not changing it
because next year somebody will come up with a 27-foot sign. The
ordinance is there. I don't see why that we have to change this for one
company. I am sure they have more than- they have ways to adapt. And
also, what we are working to stay away from is the sign pollution (can't
hear) masses of them are here a long time ago on the Coralville Strip.
Lehman: You understand this does not change the ordinance for any sign other than
a broad based sign?
Pfab: Right, and I think they are the worst offenders.
Lehman: We don't have any because they are illegal right now.
Pfab: Right, and that is just making a great big- it is out of place and out of- it is
an over- proportionally huge because the base is part of the sign.
Lehman: Why would we approve the ordinance ofapproving a wide based sign
then?
Pfab: Well, it is- keep it minimal. I think it is just like the camel's nose under
the tent.
Wilburn: The part that makes it okay for me is in section 3, Title 14, Need of Form
Development Code- that makes this 26 feet okay for me is that there is a
section in there. That section talks about, I think, addresses something
that Irvin brought up actually- that the City Engineer determines that the
location of the sign will not obstruct visibility or otherwise pose a safety
hazard to vehicular traffic including visibility of vehicles entering or
exiting a lot. With that approve- I mean, that in my mind addresses the
main issue which would be a concern would be visibility. If we can pay
attention to that then I am okay with it.
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Lehman: I would agree with you Ross. I also understand that on this particular
project a conforming sign at 25 feet tall could be moved 200 feet west of
this particular sign, extend 10 feet higher in the air than this
nonconforming sign, be far more objectionable but still be legal. So I can
certainly support it.
Kanner: Ernie, I think the point is that they don't want to put it over there because
it is off by itself. And this says- limits where in proportion, some
proportion, sets a limit where it is at. And I think, Ross, it might get to the
point where someone wants to do a sign a little taller. They will come to
us and they will say why can't we have a little taller than that sign over
there and even though it does meet other criteria that are set here in the
law. So I think we ought to keep it at a limit of 25. Staff has
recommended that and I think it makes sense to me.
Lehman: Other comments?
O'Donnell: I am going to support 26 feet. I think it sends the right message. We can
look at each one individually.
Pfab: Is this just for the one sign?
Lehman: No, this creates an ordinance that allows broad-based signs to be allowed
in the City and the height requirement would be 26 feet.
Pfab: I thought that when Mike just spoke that this was just an exception.
O'Donnell: No, what I am saying Irvin is that if one comes in 30 feet tall we tell them
no. I mean, that is our discretion.
Vanderhoef: We are setting the standard right now for broad-based signs. So, we have
never had broad-based signs. So this is the standard for broad-based signs.
It is different than free standing signs and the base of them creates a
different appearance than a single poled or a double poled sign. And
perhaps this is appropriate.
Pfab: And I agree it is different but I say it is a lot more massive than what we
have allowed previously. The square footage is just humongous.
Lehman: Other discussion? Roll call. Motion carries 6-2, Kanner and Pfab voting
"no". 5-2, I am sorry. It is getting late.
Vanderhoef: How do you add?
Lehman: I don't. You did say 26 feet didn't you?
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Vanderhoef: Yes we did.
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ITEM NO 6j.) AN ORDINANCE VACATING AN UNDEVELOPED PORTION
OF WOOLF AVENUE FROM MCLEAN STREET SOUTH FOR A
DISTANCE OF 240 FEET. (VAC97-0002).
Lehman: This is a public hearing. The public heating is open. I would like a
motion to continue to May 2.
O'Donnell: So moved.
Wilburn: Second.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Wilburn to continue to May 2. Item
K, consider an ordinance changing the zoning designation-
Champion: Do we have to vote?
Karr: Did we vote?
Lehman: All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Motion carries.
Dilkes: Ernie, you are going to have to do a motion to defer first consideration on
j.
Vanderhoef: Move deferral of the first consideration.
O'Donnell: Second.
Lehman: Move deferral by Vanderhoef. Seconded by O'Donnell. All in favor?
All: Aye.
Lehman: Opposed? Both have been deferred to May 2. Are we ready for k?
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ITEM NO 6k.) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE ZONING
DESIGNATION FROM PLANNED HIGH DENSITY MULTI-
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (PRM) TO SENSITIVE AREAS
OVERLAY (OSA-PRM) FOR .48 ACRES LOCATED AT THE
NORTHWEST CORNER OF PRENTISS AND LINN STREETS.
(REZ00-0004) (FIRST CONSIDERATION).
Pfab: So moved.
Champion: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Pfab and seconded by Champion. Discussion? This is a parcel
that because of the steep bank to the rear of the property, needs to comply
with some regulations in the Sensitive Overlay Zone and that is why they
are requesting the rezoning. It makes no change in density. Discussion?
Roll call.
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ITEM NO 6n.) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY CHANGING
THE ZONING DESIGNATION FROM MEDIUM DENSITY
SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-8) FOR .82 ACRES OF
PROPERTY LOCATED ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF BENTON
COURT, NORTH OF BENTON STREET (OAKNOLL). (REZ00-
0001) (SECOND CONSIDERATION).
Lehman: Item n is relative to Oaknoll and I am on their board so I will have to
excuse myself. Mike? (changed tapes)
(Lehman leaves.)
Champion: Move second consideration.
Wilbum: Second.
O'Donnell: Moved by Conhie, seconded by Wilburn. Discussion? Roll call. Okay, if
our illustrious mayor would return.
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ITEM NO. 6q.) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING A FINAL PLAT OF
WINDSOR RIDGE, PART FIFTEEN, A 40.27-ACRE, TWO-LOT
RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION WITH TWO OUTLOTS LOCATED
ON THE NORTH SIDE OF COURT STREET AT ITS EASTERN
TERMINUS. (SUBOO-0004).
Pfab: So moved.
Champion: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Pfab, seconded by Champion. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: (can't hear)
O'Donnell: (can't hear)
Lehman: We got the paperwork (can't hear). Roll call.
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ITEM NO 6r.) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN
EXTRATERRITORIAL PRELIMINARY PLAT OF WOODLAND
RIDGE, PART THREE, A 22.32 ACRE, 7-LOT RESIDENTIAL
SUBDIVISION WITH ONE OUTLOT LOCATED AT THE EAST
TERMINUS OF MEADOWVIEW DRIVE. (SUBOO-0007).
Vanderhoef: Move adoption.
O'Donnell: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by O'Donnell. Discussion?
Kanner: Yeah, just a moment please.
Karr: Who seconded that? I am sorry.
Champion: O 'Donnell.
Lehman: O'Donnell.
Kanner: Kafin? Can I ask you a question about this? There was some concern
about-
Franklin: Are we on r?
Kanner: Yes. About the Woodland Ridge. This is outside in Johnson County?
Franklin: Uh-huh.
Kanner: We are dealing with it because of the fringe agreement correct?
Franklin: Right.
Kanner: There was some concem about ravines in environmentally sensitive areas
and I was wondering if you could talk to that and just elaborate just a bit
on what those concerns were?
Franklin: My recollection is that as we look at the road pattern here it was to look at
it in terms of how it related to the ravines as the road pattern is going
along the ridge line. The sensitive areas ordinance does not apply here
because it is in the county. So-
Kanner: Would it apply if it were in our area?
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Franklin: In our growth area? Only indirectly in that if there is a development that
is proposed within the growth area the fringe agreement strongly suggests
that that area be annexed before it is actually developed. It also provides
certain incentives for that to happen by requiring that there be a dual
system of sewer and water installed which makes it very costly to do it
without it being in the city. So, it is possible to develop in the growth area
in the fringe without it being in the city but it is strongly discouraged and
there are disincentives built in such that one would not economically
chose to do that. So, therefore it would be annexed and then it would be
developed under our rules.
Lehman: Karin, the sensitive areas ordinance cannot be applied except within the
city thought, is that not correct?
Franklin: That is fight. And this one is not within the city. It is not in our growth
area. It is not intended to be.
Kanner: What happens if we say no to this?
Franklin: You need to have a good reason that is within- I mean, basically if the plat
follows our standards and the standards that we apply to county
subdivisions which does not include the sensitive areas ordinance, you
need to have some other compelling reason to deny it because the zoning
is in place.
Lehman: Well, I think if they meet all of the regulations that we set forth in our
fringe area agreement, we do have an agreement with the county and we
have worked with them and we expect them to agree with our provisions
and vice versa. So, if they are in compliance with what we are asking for
we are probably inappropriate to deny it. Is that not right?
Franklin: Yes.
Lehman: Thank you. Other discussion? Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM NO 7. PUBLIC HEARING FOR IOWA CITY'S 2001-2006
CONSOLIDATED PLAN (CITY STEPS).
Lehman: The public hearing is open. This includes the allocation of CDBG monies,
home monies. Does anyone wish to speak this?
Amy Correia: My name is Amy Correia and I live at 1729 F. Street in Iowa City. I have
lived in Iowa City for 15 years. I have two daughters ages 6 and 8 who
attend Grantwood Elementary School. I have a long history of working
with low income individuals and families in Iowa City beginning with
volunteering at the Crisis Center and Food Bank when I was in college. I
volunteered with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. I have been staff
at the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson cotmty working at both
Broadway and Pheasant Ridge neighborhoods and worked with young
moms at United Action for Youth. So I come to you today with this
experience- this professional experience behind me. But I also come here
as a concemed citizen about what happens in our community. I was
deeply disturbed and distressed today when I opened the paper and read
that the City Council might deny the Housing Community and
Development Commissions recommendation for Successful Living to buy
the house on Church Street for transitional housing. What most disturbed
me was the statement I read that a congregation of services becomes
detrimental to the neighborhood. Successful Living plans to serve seven
women at this house. We are talking about 7 women- women who have
been our friends in grade school, who are daughters and sisters, and aunts
and cousins, and friends. Who have had- who have brought them to this
place because they have had difficult lives. They have been beaten and
hurt, betrayed. They have been homeless and hungry. They have abused
substances. They have had trouble with the law. But they are also women
who have loved and laughed and cried. Who have fears and hopes and
dreams for a better life. Their lives are in your hands. How can we say
that providing support and nurturing to these 7 women is detrimental to
this neighborhood or this community? Without this program these women
may be homeless or precariously housed. They may return to abusive
boyfriends or husbands. They may to tum to drugs and alcohol as a way
of easing the pain. They won't be able to get a job, hold down a job,
attend job training or education to stabilize their lives. You say it is not
the what but the where. But if you deny this application you are setting a
precedent that other neighborhoods will be able to point to to push these
kinds of services and these people in our community away. So I am
asking you as a Council to open your hearts to these seven women tonight.
Give them the chance to succeed. You must use your moral and civic
authority to lead our community in such a way that is right and just. Last
week I participated in the Walk the Walk Rally. I saw at least three City
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Councilors there and the Mayor spoke. There were probably more. We
walked the walk last week and the speakers called us to action. This is our
chance as a community, your chance as the City Council, the elected
leaders of this community, to show us that we are an accepting
community. One that cares for its members and will name (can't hear) in
fear when we see it. I implore you to accept the decision of the Housing
Commission and fund Successful Living's request to by the house on
Church Street. And I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak.
Lehman: I need to apologize, before we started the hearing I was going to ask
Eleanor to- there are certain criteria that the Council can and can not use in
considering the Successful Living application and I would appreciate it
Eleanor if you would explain those to the Mayor and the Council.
Dilkes: I have had some concern about the dialogue that has been going on with
Successful Living, and particularly Council's indication last night that it
might believe it to be appropriate for funding but not in this location. So I
have some concern about the focus on location for three principle reasons.
Number one- the Church Street location is zoned appropriately for this
use. This proposed use. Number two- location is not one of the identified
criteria that you have adopted for the allocation. And number three- I will
just term it generally, the focus on who will live in the house. I will
elaborate a little bit but I- this leads me to the conclusion that I think you
are treading a little bit on thin ice legally to deny funding because of the
location. Clearly, if you believe that another project is more worthy for
another reason and one of the reasons identified in the ranking sheet that
you have adopted and consistent with the City Step's goals then that is
certainly an appropriate basis on which to reallocate the funding. The
City, quite clearly, could not block a group home for persons with
disabilities in a particular neighborhood or because of concerns of the
neighbors about persons with disabilities. So the issue becomes are we
dealing with a disability issue here? And you need to remember when we
talk about that that alcoholism and substance abuse and mental illness are
all disabilities under both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the
Federal Fair Housing and State Fair Housing Acts. If those conditions
substantially limit a major life activity like working or caring for oneself-
it appears that Successful Living may or does provide services to people
with these identified disabilities. And I point to the following- Successful
Living has received a certificate from the Division of Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities of the State Dept. of Human Services that it is
a "community supervised apartment living arrangement". Which means
by definition that it provides assistance to those with mental illness,
mental retardation or developmental disabilities. Successful Living's
application and bylaws emphasize its mental health services and its
alcohol and drug abuse counseling services. There has been some focus in
the comments that Council has received on who is to live in this house-
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including a focus that is- that people with substance abuse issues will live
in the house. Or people who are undergoing substance abuse counseling.
That gives me some pause on the issue of disability. I think the clincher
here though is that, and what gives me the most concern, is that it is
properly zoned. This is a location where this use is allowable. Moreover,
there will be a reduction in density from the prior use as I understand it.
And then finally, as I mentioned before, the criteria that you yourselves
have adopted that are supposed to guide the Commission and it is my
contention should guide you in making these allocations, does not include
location.
Wilburn: Eleanor, because of the criteria that are established and that location is not
one of those five six areas that are discussed, that would apply to any
CDBG home application would it not? For example, if-
Dilkes: Yes.
Wilbum: For example I believe MECCA has a request for a transitional living
program. In the past when there was Systems Unlimited or others-
Dilkes: I can see that it is possible that location would as a sub- be a side issue if
there was for instance a part of town where services that you wanted to
provide were in abundance. For example, and so that it wouldn't be an
identified need. Let me say also I have talked to Karin Franklin about this.
This does not mean that there is not a land use issue that has been
identified by this neighborhood and that perhaps you would determine
needs to be dealt with. But I have some concern as I have outlined about
doing it in this (can't hear).
Lehman: I have a question relative to Successful Living and I don't know quite who
could answer this. But I have heard- I hear all kinds of things. My
understanding is that Successful Living has a property at South Dodge St.
that currently- if you would just step to the microphone. There is a facility
at South Dodge Street fight now that serves how many people?
Theresa Kopatich: There is a facility on Dodge St. fight now that serves 9 people. It
is not owned by Successful Living. It is owned by a for profit agency.
Successful Living simply monitors that house at this time.
Lehman: And this has nothing to do with the Dodge Street operation? I mean, the
Dodge Street facility will continue as it is and this will be an additional
operation. Is that correct?
Kopatich: The Dodge Street- the women that are in the Dodge Street house now and
are being served by Successful Living, if the Church Street house project
would go through, would have the opportunity to move into that home.
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The Dodge Street house has the option to continue the way it is. The
owners could sell the house. I mean, there is a lot of variety of what could
happen to the Dodge Street property. But the Dodge Street property,
again, is owned by D&K Properties a for profit agency. And this project
is Successful Living, a non profit agency, requesting the funding for the
Church Street house.
Lehman: The Church Street house would- I guess, would it be fair to assume that if
we approve this that we will be serving an additional 8 people who are
currently not being served?
Kopatich: No, I just said that some of the women that are at the Dodge Street house
will have the opportunity to move into the Church Street house.
Lehman: So you would assume then that some of them would move from the
Dodge-. I am just trying to figure out in my own mind if we are allocating
$200,000 for eight people that is- I mean, I have no problem with that.
But if we are allocating $200,000 and we are only going to be serving 4
more people than we are serving now, that is another story as well.
Kopatich: Okay, again, what I will explain is that the Dodge Street house is in- three
years ago, about three years ago, that was an agreement that was made
with the city to provide low income housing. It is a for profit, the Dodge
Street house regardless of this project, could discontinue at any time. If
the owners so chose to do that. The Successful Living, if it opens up the
Church Street house and has the women come into that house, yes maybe
those first women in that house would be duplicated but you are talking
about a house that will be there for years and years and will serve- if the
turnover of this program is say a year, and you are serving seven women a
year and so you are talking about a lot of other women that you will serve.
Lehman: Let me ask you this. Are we- is Successful Living paying for the folks
who are staying at South Dodge now? On Dodge Street?
Kopatich: Paying what?
Lehman: Rent.
Kopatich: No. They pay their own rent.
Lehman: And will they pay their own rent on the Church Street as well?
Kopatich: Yes (can't hear)
Vanderhoef: Theresa? On the Dodge Street house, if those women move will you
move in four more people into that? As I understand it you have CDBG
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monies that were paid to you to help purchase that house with the D&K.
And I understand the split between these two. But if those women move
out of the Dodge Street house, then would it be your intent to pay back the
unused portion of that loan that was given to you to make that purchase in
the first place?
Kopatich: Yes. That- the money that is in the Dodge Street house is not a grant it is
a loan. And it is being paid back by reduced rent. If that house would sell
or change the money would have to be repaid back to the city that would
be left (can't hear).
Vanderhoef: Right. So my question to you is if the women move out of the Dodge
Street house into the Church Street house, will you be putting four more
women into the Dodge Street house? Or will you be returning the $90,000
that is still outstanding on that loan that was for those 4 low-income
housing units?
Kopatich: At this point D&K properties has an interest in selling the house. If they
do that they will return the money to the city.
Vanderhoef: But if they don't what is your intention for those four spaces?
Kopatich: If they don't the program will continue as it is. It will continue-
Vanderhoef: If it continues then you are saying you will have four at Dodge Street and
you will have 7 at Church Street?
Kopatich: Right. Absolutely.
Vanderhoef: But you are leaving open the opportunity of selling this Dodge Street
which then to me appears that we are making a switch over here of another
$200,000 for a home on Church Street that is only going to house three
more- potentially three more beds. The four that moved over and then you
will have three more opportunities. So, for me, that is a very expensive
move for three additional spaces of $200,000.
Kopatich: Well, I guess- I think what we have to keep in mind too is that D&K
properties again is a separate entity from Successful Living. That
agreement was made with the city approximately three years ago.
Whether this programs goes through or not, again, D&K would have the
fight to sell the property. And I think you are unfairly judging this
Successful Living project with D&K. I don't think that is right. I think
that you are assuming a lot of things. The house hasn't sold, things
haven't changed, we don't know what is going to happen there. We are
placing all of the assumptions on this particular piece and I am not sure
how fair that is. The city has been paid for- from D&K properties. If
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D&K properties discontinues the house then the city would get their
money back that is still owed. And furthermore, what if D&K properties
sold the house to an agency that wanted to continue with low-income. I
think there is a lot of things there that are left open to be making these
assumptions. I just think it is unfair.
Lehman: I think I am understanding this finally. If we serve- you will either
continue serving or the property, D&K property, will continue serving 7
people or if it is sold the balance of whatever is owing which was CDBG
money in the first place will be paid back to the city?
Kopatich: Correct.
Lehman: Okay.
Vanderhoef: They are serving four, not seven.
Lehman: Okay, my point is that if you number is fight that it is $90,000 the house is
sold. CDBG gets back $90,000- this isn't a $200,000 allocation. It is
$110,000.
Kopatich: There you go.
Lehman: Because they are paying back the ninety.
Kopatich: There you go.
Lehman: If they don't pay back the ninety they are going to continue to serve the 7
people.
Vanderhoef: Right.
Lehman: That is what we are looking for. I am clear on that.
Vanderhoef: But the $200,000 is for the one that is in front of us- for the Church Street.
Lehman: I know, but the total-
Kopatich: And then you need to look at that separately and keep D&K out of it. if
you are going to put D&K into it then you need to look at the fact that if
D&K sells that property it goes back to the commission and you are fight-
the project goes from $200,000 to $190,000 or whatever is left on that.
You need to keep them separate. That is- D&K again is a for profit when
you entered that agreement or when the city entered that with us. Again,
those payments have been made and that is something that they have the
right to sell the house at any time, regardless of this proposal or not. I
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don't see how you can be combining the two of them. The other thing we
do look at is Successful Living is a non profit agency that- when the
criteria of City Steps in transitional housing and that need is a very high
need. I think we have to keep in mind that as a non profit that will be in
the community hopefully longer than a set term amount of years that was
set with D&K. And also realizing that when Successful Living- the
money that is going to Successful Living isn't a grant, it is a loan also.
That is to be paid back if the house ever closes or the occupancy changes
on that. And so I think that is another thing that is important to remember
about this issue. I also think it is important to remember the fact that this
house on Church Street was housing 14 persons. We are going down to 8.
This project was unanimously voted #2 by the Housing Commission- the
Housing Development Commission. And was unanimously voted for
100% funding. I think those are all really important and I think that
somewhere the focus is kind of lost or turned because you are comparing
D&K with this non profit and you are comparing what was going to
happen to Successful Living with what has been happening with a for
profit agency in the community. And I don't think that is fair.
Lehman: Irvin?
Pfab: I guess I am a little confused. When you talk about D&K I heard you say
they and we and I am not sure what-
Kopatich: D&K properties is- was started by myself and my husband. So, that is
where the D&K is. I am the person who also started Successful Living.
Pfab: Who controls that corporation D&K?
Kopatich: D&K is-
Pfab: No, no. I am sorry. You told me that. But-
Kopatich: Successful Living has a board of directors. It is a non profit agency with a
board of directors.
Pfab: But is there an ownership and if so who owns shares? Is it a- how is it
created? I am confused.
Kopatich: It is a (can't hear) non-profit organization with a board of directors. So,
like all non profit organizations the board of directors controls Successful
Living.
Pfab: Is it known who is on the board?
Kopatich: Is it known?
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Pfab: Yeah.
Kopatich: Certainly it is known. One of the board members is here tonight. Bill
Meyer.
Pfab: Okay, I just- I'd never heard-.
Kopatich: It is not my family and myself on the board. It is people in the
community. There is 8 board members that are involved that are
responsible for overseeing Successful Living.
Kanner: Theresa, I have a question for you. We don't know what D&K might do
with the house but we perhaps could know what Successful Living will
do. Does Successful Living have a contract with the D&K house that
goes- is it a written contract and does it go for a certain amount of time?
Will you have the resources to do the new proposed house for Successful
Living plus continue with D&K?
Kopatich: Successful Living has a- they don't have a written contract with D&K.
they have an open contract with them. It is negotiable for whether they
want to continue working with- if Successful Living wants to work with
D&K or not. It is an open contract.
Kanner: What do you see in the future? Do you see Successful Living continuing
at both places?
Kopatich: What I see is Successful Living- the whole reason that Successful Living
is interested in this is because of the fact that for the very reason that they
want this as a part of the community. Something that can be on a
continuing basis because at this point with D&K owning that Dodge Street
house, they could sell it or discontinue the servicing of that at any time.
So, what I see is that Successful Living would like to purchase this house
for the women and then look at trying to get a property for the men- be
that taking over the D&K at Dubuque or just another house. I don't know
but I see that it (can't hear) make these as permanent entities in the
community so that they stay there and go on and on.
Kanner: So will they stay at the Dodge Street one with both?
Kopatich: With Successful Living?
Kanner: Yeah. If they get the Church Street?
Kopatich: Again, if Successful Living gets the Church Street project they would go
to the Church Street project and not stay in the Dodge Street house.
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Mainly, another reason for this is because in the past couple of years
Successful Living has been involved in the management of a variety of
different types of homes, the Church Street house has a large common
area, a large kitchen area- areas that help to enhance skill building for the
residents that they serve, where the Dodge St. house lacks that. The
Dodge Street house doesn't have a common area. When you are trying to
facilitate a group meeting we have got nine women standing in a tiny, tiny
kitchen that doesn't- you can't go there and cook a community meal if you
wanted. It is a little bit harder to do some of the things that we have found
that have been more successful by the space that is provided in a house
like Church Street. So, to answer your question, Successful Living would
take the Church Street house and not provide its counseling services to the
Dodge Street house. That doesn't mean somebody else wouldn't or
something else would happen with it. It just means that Successful Living
wouldn't.
Vanderhoef: I have another question. If I remember correctly, the purchase price is
around $300,000.
Kopatich: For the Church Street house?
Vanderhoef: Yes.
Kopatich: $315,000.
Vanderhoef: Three hundred and what?
Kopatich: 15,000.
Vanderhoef: Okay, and could you tell me what the appraisal value is at that house?
Kopatich: I don't know that. There is a couple of realtors here, maybe somebody can
help me with that. I don't know what the appraisal value is. Anybody? I
am not sure about that.
Kanner: I think we ought to ask staff in general do they look at that for all of these
purchases?
Dilkes: I think generally we do not give loans on homes in which we don't have
enough security. So I know we have a mechanism for that. If you need
some additional detail on that I am sure Steve can address that.
Kanner: So we usually-
Dilkes: We don't give people $100,000 loans on $50,000 houses.
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Nasby: With CDBG or home dollars Eleanor is correct. They have to appraise for
at least the value of what CDBG has in them.
Vanderhoef: What CDBG has in them?
Nasby: CDBG has in them but if we are in a second name position them has to be
enough equity in the property to cover all the (can't hear).
Vanderhoef: So in that case- in this particular case we would be second?
Nasby: We would probably be second- in second position. Depending on the
other funding.
Vanderhoef: We would have the second lien on it? Okay, so you are saying that the
appraisal value is at least $315,0007
Nasby: If she gets an appraisal after the fact and it doesn't appraise that we
wouldn't put that much into it. No.
Vanderhoef: Okay, thank you.
Nasby: But if it does appraise for it they will be okay.
Lehman: IfI hear you say this correctly, our second position would be covered?
Nasby: Yes. That is what we do with all of our loans.
Vanderhoef: It has to be. So, if-
Dilkes: If there is $115,000 first mortgage and we have a second mortgage of
$200,000 it would have to appraise for $315,000.
Vanderhoef: And if it doesn't we would have to decrease our-
Nasby: Either that or we would have to be in first position so we were covered
and then the second one would be unsecured.
Vanderhoef: Okay, thank you.
Lehman: Other discussion?
Mark McCallum: My name is Mark McCallum, 430 Brown St. Tonight I came to
talk about Successful Living's possible impact on our neighborhood and
you know, it is kind of interesting how things play out and now I feel like
that is something that you can't consider. And one frustration I have had
with this whole process when speaking with my neighbors is you almost
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have to be a city planner and studied the bureaucracies of zoning and
different things. And I have been- and no one in my neighborhood
understands what I have been telling them. This is a zoning issue and that
they are using a family care facility zoning classification to get zoning for
this. And my biggest issue with this is that the CDBG funding process,
and they did follow it to the T and everything, does not take into account
neighborhood impact. And if there was any changes I could get it is to
change this from a- right now it is a- (can't hear) special exception zoning
so that neighbors can have some sort of impact into these types of
facilities that go into our neighborhood. It just boggles my mind that you
can have 3 or 4 different transitional houses in one neighborhood and be
considering a second one within a block of another one. And so I will talk
though since it sounds like we can and people are starting to talk it- the
cost effectiveness. One, I was just at a meeting March 26 and I believe
one of the City Councilors was there and could contim this but I thought I
heard Theresa Kopatich say that the Dodge Street property would be sold.
And so I want her to answer to that. Two, I have written you an email
regarding the cost effectiveness of this property. Good thing I covered my
bases. When you look at a property like this, I have friends that are in
property management, the value of that property is between $210,000 and
$240,000. I have friends that are in the property management business say
boarding houses, that could be, you have 8 bedrooms and generally (can't
hear) they say $250 to $300 a month rent. Which would be about $2400 a
month. You take that times 100 times and you get a maximum value of
about $240,000. If that house goes back on the market, it will not sell at
$315,000. It will drop. And the only thing that is driving this price is the
government money. I had a lot of empathy for all of the Longfellow
people tonight because they were talking about saving their neighborhood.
And our goal is the same except that the culprit is not big developers. It is
the city. It is the City government funds bringing this into our
neighborhoods and not being sensitive to the neighborhood needs. And
there have been problems with the transient housing in our neighborhood
and no one has been paying attention. That is all I wanted to say. Thank
you.
Pfab: Could I ask Eleanor if it is not the city that is driving (can't hear) it is
coming from where?
Dilkes: I am sorry, I can't hear you.
Pfab: In other words, the reason that we can't vote no, let's say just as a
hypothetical here, it is not because of city rules it is because of what?
ADA rules?
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Dilkes: Well, I don't want to repeat the whole thing that I said before but the fact
that it is properly zoned I think is problematic for denying the funding
based on a location. That is along with everything else I said.
Pfab: But it is not the City?
Dilkes: The city does zone property. The city- we are the zoning authority. Yes.
Pfab: All right. So- I am just basically asking for clarification not an opinion on
it in the sense that for or against it. I was thinking that you were saying
that there is a higher rule than the city zoning- that is saying that-
Dilkes: What I was also saying is that I think there are since there are Fair
Housing Act implications here.
Pfab: (can't hear) Housing Act. That is what I was after.
Dilkes: Which is state, federal and local.
Pfab: So I think when this gentleman made that comment that it was the city
driving it, it is not. It is the Fair Housing on high so to speak. Is that
correct?
Dilkes: I am not going to let you lead me into that conclusion.
Pfab; No, no- I am asking-
Dilkes: All I can do is say what I said and I think there are a number of
considerations here and if that gentleman wants to draw that conclusion he
is certainly free to do so.
Barbara Vanderwoude: Good evening, I am Barbara Vanderwoude and I live at 509
Brown St. and I will make my comments brief given this late hour. As I
understand it, the Council does have- I should start by saying I ask the
Council to deny the request for funds for Successful Living. I am a
Northside neighbor and as I understand it the Council- while the (can't
hear) did not have an evaluation specific to location, I understood that the
Council had within its powers the authority to evaluate the impact on the
community and on the neighborhood. And I would hope that that is
different than specifically banning one particular project in a particular
neighborhood but looking at the impact on a community. How much
harm vs. how much good it might do. I would- I am a bit confused by all
of this and I have read and talked and listened and studied this issue more
than I care to admit. But, when I read the Successful Living's original
application that went to the Commission it had certain facts. When I
listened to Theresa Kopatich talk to over 100 Northside neighbors I heard
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different facts that weren't included in the application. For example, that
is where we first heard to relax. That this would just be for women. Well,
people did relax when they heard that this might just only be a house for
women. But there is no guarantee that that will always be the case. Nor
are the funds contingent on this. At that meeting Mark was just referring
to and Councilor Pfab attended, Theresa Kopatich told our neighbors that
the women that were living in her Dodge Street facility would be moving
to the Church Street house and that they would indeed be selling that
facility. If my math is correct, that would be moving 7 women to a new
house and having an 8th person as a monitor and in effect serve no more of
the need that they are addressing our commtmity. In their application,
Successful Living's grant application, they quoted the Maxfield research
that identified a significant need for this low-income housing. 0-50%
income level. Successful Living further went on to say they were the only
agency serving this particular need- transient individuals in that income
level. Putting that application together with what she said to the
neighbors, they would like $200,000 of federal funds to serve no
additional people. To move them from a privately owned house to a non
for profit public entity on Church St. but not make a dent on meeting the
needs in our community. And I don't think that is a good use of tax
dollars. I won't speak to the map or the location of all this but certainly if
Successful Living were to purchase this house 100% of Successful
Living's business would be operating within several blocks of one another
and all in the Northside neighborhood. Thank you.
Bill Myers: My name is Bill Myers. I am on the Board of Successful Living and I also
am a pastor at North Minster Presbyterian Church. And it is in both of
those capacities that I speak tonight. You have already addressed the Fair
Housing issue. I don't need to remind you this month is Fair Housing
Month by proclamation of the mayor. So, enough said. I also wanted to
speak to the issue of transitional housing vs. transformational housing. As
a pastor of a local congregation, on average about once a month I receive
phone calls from the Crisis Center for people in need of transitional
housing i.e. a night to stay. Emergency housing is full, DVIP is full,
something to that effect. Can we find a way to house them? Just to let
you know the scope of the problem in our community- we are a church of
45 members and if we are getting that kind of call every month I am sure
the other larger churches with greater resources are having those same
phone calls made. So it is a significant problem in terms of transitional
housing. From my experience on the board and working with the clients
of Successful Living, that is not transitional housing. They are in what I
would term and maybe some other folks have too, transformational
housing- i.e. they are having the opportunity to deal with a number of
disabilities as has been mentioned. They are being supported with low
income housing while they are working and perhaps saving money to
move into self-supporting housing. In many instances that I am aware of
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they are using this opportunity at Successful Living to improve their life
skills and their life situations. That is not the same need that is being met
by other agencies. So, I would encourage you to support Successful
Living in their efforts. Would that I could, I would expand it to a number
of other communities because I think the need is great. We have heard
over and again about the need for low-income housing. The folks being
served by Successful Living are especially vulnerable to the fact that there
is very little low-income housing. I thank you for your consideration and
would be happy to speak to this issue at any other time as well.
Lehman: Thank you.
MaryAnn Dennis: My name is MaryAnn Dennis. I am the director of Greater Iowa
City Housing Fellowship. Although this evening I am appearing as a
representative of the Johnson County Local Homeless Coordinating
Board. A motion was passed this afternoon by the board to ask you to
approve the recommendations of the Housing and Community
Development Commission. The Local Homeless Coordinating Board is
the organization recognized statewide as the designated body to initiate,
address, and coordinate policy at the local level with the goal to eliminate
homelessness in Johnson County. Members of the Local Homeless
Coordinating Board include between 30 and 40 local service agencies
addressing the need for housing the homeless. Some of the agencies
include Greater Iowa City Housing Fellowship, the VA Hospital, the
Crisis Center, HAACAP, the Iowa City Public Housing Authority, the Red
Cross, Goodwill and that is just to mention a few. The Local Homeless
Coordinating Board commends the Housing and Community
Development Commission for their careful review and thoughtful
recommendations. It is no easy job to determine which projects are the
best fit for our community and for the expenditure of the federal funds that
Iowa City receives. This includes the proposal by Successful Living to
acquire the Church St. property to be used in Successful Living's
transitional housing program. The property is ideal for the proposed use.
It has long been an ideal property for group living as evident by Hillcrest.
Successful Living has a good track record and addresses a need clearly
stated in the City Steps plan. Thank you for your consideration and please
support the Commission's recommendation.
Clarence Haverkamp: Hi, I am Clarence Haverkamp and I live at 619 North Linn Street.
When I bought my house on Noah Linn Street 14 years ago and I called
the city about Hillcrest on Church Street I (changed tapes)
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(Tape 00-49 side 2)
Clarence Haverkamp: decided to sell that a like group would have to purchase a house
revert to a single family house or a duplex. I was na'fve enough to think that with
the City ordinance in place and saying that a like group would have to buy the
house that that would also include the supervision of the people. I knew that
Hillcrest housed about 14 people in that house and I knew they were supervised
24 hours a day. I felt relatively safe in purchasing the house knowing that I had
someplace to go if I needed help. When I was at a neighborhood meeting where
Successful Living was at I asked if they were, who supervised the house during
the day. I was told that a supervisor or person living in comes in at 5. I don't
know if they stay all night that was all we were told. I also would like to sort of
know and I can't find who supervises Successful Living. I know that when you
get government grants you have to have a supervision of some sort. I have called
. the city offices. I have tried to get a hold of who supervised that facility and my
calls have gone unanswered. I guess my point is do we still feel safe do we still
get the same thing is the ordinance being followed if Successful Living gets the
house ?
Gary Gansemir: Good evening or good moming whichever it is. My name is Gary
Gansemir I 'm the executive director, chief executive officer of Hillcrest Family
Services which currently owns the house and I just want to share a few facts
regarding this situation. First of all I know very little specifically regarding
Successful Living I can not speak from personal experience in fact I met Teresa
for the first time this evening. But I do know, as just completed six terms on the
state mental health and developmental disabilities which approves accreditation
for all programs involving supported living such as Successful Living, that they
have received full three year accreditation after thorough review by the
department of Human Services so I do know that the State of Iowa feels they have
a quality program. There was a question a few minutes ago regarding the
appraisal and the house. Last year Hillcrest had to terminate our program there on
July 1st. We had hopes that the house would be worth quite a bit of money. We
had an independent appraisal done of that using MRS Appraisals here in Iowa
City and we received an appraisal based on its current use of any where between
$319,000 and $350,000. I have also been informed that if we could have the
zoning changed and it could become an RM-44 which is right along side our
property line right next to us that the house would be worth considerably more, in
excess $400,000 and I can guarantee you that we definitely could use that money.
So from July 6 when we got that appraisal until we listed the house in late in the
year we were attempting to find whether there was interest in purchasing the
house. I received I was looking at and I had hoped I would be asking you for
approval to change the zoning but when I found that wasn't possible I was at one
point talking to see whether the neighborhood association would be willing to
support us. And October 8 1 did speak to Steve Vanderwoude who my
understanding is president or officer in the Northend neighborhood association.
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He told me his concern regarding that being tumed into a rooming house and I do
understand that's a rooming house just a couple doors down from us and I
understood his concern but at the same time though he told me that he and a group
of investors from the northend where interested in buying the house and making it
a bed and breakfast. At that point I still wasn't interested in selling I was still
pursuing other options. On October 27 1 received a call from Barb Vanderwoude
again expressing concern or expressing an interest in purchasing the house for a
bed and breakfast I said at that time I still was not interested in that. On
November 2 1 received a call this time from Steve Vanderwoude again saying he
wished to purchase that house and turn it into a bed and breakfast he said he
wished to offer me $220,000 for that house. I have an appraisal in hand that says
it worth $320,000 to $350,000. I said no our board would not considered that and
the quote that I received on that phone call was from Mr. Vanderwoude, it appears
there's no bargains on Church St. So I think there are other issues here other than
just whether Successful Living is suitable candidate for providing these services
and the impact regarding on the Neighborhood. Thank you.
Theresa Klingenberg: Hi, my name is Theresa Klingenberg I'm a resident of Iowa City. I
live at 320 West Benton St. I also work for the Youth Homes division of Four
Oaks and we are neighbors in the northside neighborhood. We own a house on
Johnson St. and we've been there for over 10 years. There we provide
independent living services for homeless and transitional youth. And we've
enjoyed the neighborhood very much. We feel we're good neighbors and we feel
our neighbors are good neighbors. We also support the Successful Living program
to move in to the Church St. house and receive the funding you have available.
Successful Living in my experience and I work for closely with them to provide
needs for homeless young adults and yotmg adults in transition, is a very affective
program and valuable to our community it serves a needy and disenfranchised
population of Iowa City residents and I think its important for us to recognize that
the people who live in those houses are residents of Iowa City and Successful
Living does that very well. Stereotypes about the homeless population are
incorrect yet these individuals are stigmatized and feared. When I moved to Iowa
City and got a job working with homeless youth I had stereotypes and I'm a social
worker but I had stereotypes and I've never meant anyone who fits my
stereotypes. I've meant all kinds of people but none of them were what I feared
and none of them were what fit into my category of homeless people. The former
Hillcrest house is an ideal location for the delivery of transitional housing
services. I myself wished I had the funding for the youth that I serve but I'm very
happy that Successful Living has applied and really hope they get to use that
house for those services. The Iowa City community should be very proud to have
such fine services and we all should recognize Successful Living services are.
These services allow adults in need of assistance the opportunity to succeed and
become contributing members of our community. I for one am concerned about
social problems in Iowa City and I think many other residents of Iowa City would
like our social problems to disappear but that doesn't happen for wishing it so.
We need programs like this that are effective. We need these kinds of
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interventions. Interventive programs like successful living need community
support not reactions of fear and discrimination and that's what I hear that's what
I read in the newspaper. I don't think that what's Iowa City, I as a resident
anyway of Iowa City, don't want to be part of discrimination and fear of my
neighbors including homeless neighbors. I'm pleased to welcome Successful
Living to again be our neighbors in the northside neighborhood and hope that you
will approve the funding. Thank you.
Jay Honohan: I'm Jay Honohan again I'm here for the Senior Center Commission I
understand that were fighting an uphill battle because we didn't get a
recommendation and I suspect the war is over on the CBD. But if Eleanor is right
and if your looking for another agency to give funds to I'm your man. Thank you.
O'Donnell: Very good.
Kanner: If Eleanor's right about what ?
Jay Honohan: Eleanor said that one of the criteria would be that you might want to fund a
different agency and so were here will take the money.
Lehman: Other public discussion.
Jayne Moraski: My name is Jayne Moraski. I'm the chairperson of the Housing and
Community Development Commission and I don't have to much to add I think a
lot of it has already been addressed. I just want to sort of touch on some things
first. Someone mentioned that you should consider impact that this particular
application has on the community and I think I'd like to say that as a commission
that's what we tried to do and remind you that this project and support services
that go with it were the highest ranked projects on all of those that were
considered. I would like to think that we took careful time to do that and we
considered the merit of the information in the application and did not consider
anything that had anything to do with the separate entity of D&K and urge you to
do the same. I think that' s pretty much all I have to say about it if you do have any
questions for us there are several members of the Housing and Community
Development Commission here we'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank
you.
Vanderhoef; Jayne can you tell us a little bit about your outreach for finding folks for
economic development projects?
Jayne Moraski: Sure that was something that we addressed last year. I'm not exactly sure
maybe Steve can help me with it a little bit but we did try and get things through
the Chamber of Commerce bulletins, press releases, I think he's telling me here.
Vanderhoef: I want it out for the community is why I really want it.
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Jayne Moraski: And for cable tv and we do encourage we have encourage in the past to
apply for economic development portion of the CDBG funds and we haven't had
many applications so we hope that people will apply for things that fit within City
Steps economic development needs. And I think we only had two this year, one
this year I mean.
Vanderhoef: What crosses my mind is so often when we speak about CDBG monies in
our community somehow or another there seems to be a community thought that
it means low income kinds of projects or for low income people it has to be tied
somehow or another to that. I recognize that's not true however this keeps getting
perpetuated in the community and it crosses my mind that perhaps we don't get
the applications because of this perception. That's just one possibility.
Jayne Moraski: I think that that actually is true I mean in terms of what you have said as
priority and what City Steps set as a priority the CDBG funds that we allocate the
criteria is that it helps low to moderate income persons even the economic
development projects.
Vanderhoef: But it's directed towards creating jobs.
Jayne Moraski: For low to moderate income persons, yes that's right.
Vanderhoef: But I guess what I'm trying to say is that everybody moves up with jobs and
creating jobs is exactly what Successful Living is trying to get people out into the
community into the jobs and so forth. This is not new I speak of it every year I
want to push forward with economic development of projects in our community
because I think job creation is important to our community. I would like the
commission and I know its not on your criteria now and I will be bringing it back
at a later time to be looking at this but the possibility of having a revolving loan
fund of dollars so that its sort of like what you do with housing dollars that you
have revolving funds going there so that when there is a need that is identified
you don't have to wait for the funding cycle. It's something I'm interested in and I
think it could be I know its high on our City Steps allocation and things that we
have identified we want to do in our community so I'll be asking for that at a later
time or if funds become available during the mid cycle here. Thank you.
Jayne Moraski: I think Steve may add some things to that. Thank you.
Nasby: Dee and I had a rather lengthy conversation this aftemoon about it and what she's
referring to we have affordable housing funding pool that can address out of cycle
application and what Dee was talking about was doing the same thing for
economic development projects.
Vanderhoef: And that we might get more interest in it if it were available year round.
Lehman: Other discussion.
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Tim Lehman: My name is Tim Lehman, no relation to Ernie. I'm a realtor in Iowa City
and I did not represent the seller in this transaction but I did represent the buyer
Successful Living. Over a period of about 7 days I showed this property to 5
different potential buyers 5 different clients several of which I showed it to 2
times. Only Successful Living made an offer. I want to address you talked about
the asked about the appraisal and things that people did. In any real estate
purchase all the property must appraise or the buyer has the right to go back and
renegotiate the price and that could be done if this property did not appraise. You
talked a little bit about the Dodge St. property and the Church St. property if
you've been through both properties you could see the difference in the value of
the properties. The Church St. property the rooms are huge there's more
bathrooms there's so much more to offer there for the people. There's really no
comparison. Even before you City Attomey brought up the fact about the fair
housing I as a realtor in town my hands are tied sometimes if one of the
neighborhoods where there are the Systems homes. As a realtor I can't even bring
that factor up. If I knew there was going to be a Systems home built in some of
these neighborhoods I can not bring that up to potential buyers. I can't I'd have
my license taken away from me if I brought that up and used that as a factor in
selling houses. I look at this as being kinda of a form of discrimination here by
not allowing Successful Living here in this neighborhood. Successful Living and
Teresa have been looking for a house like this for a long time and this one seem to
fit everything that they needed the zoning was proper and it was zoned properly
and I think that Successful Living is performing a service to our community and
thus like to encourage you to support it. Thanks. Do we need to sign in here ?
Lehman: Yes you should, is there other comment from the public ? Public hearing is
closed.
Karr: Can we accept correspondence.
Vanderhoef: So moved.
Wilbum: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Wilbum to accept correspondence all in
favor. All ayes.
Dilkes: Ernie, I believe there was, the Housing Commission has set up a meeting in case
there, you going to
Lehman: What I'm going to suggest if there is some feeling on the part of Council that
the recommendation of the commission is not acceptable I think it would be
appropriate for us to indicate that. We're not taking a formal vote of any kind but
I think that if there going to be difficulty they would like to know there going to
be on Monday night and they can address issues that we may have problems with.
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Champion: Well I do have some problems and I guess I'll speak out and I don't know
where to begin but I don't think anybody who knows me could accuse me of not
being supportive of human services. I support them with my votes I support them
with my pocketbook. I truly think Successful Living is a wonderful organization I
think all the housing projects are great Hillcrest, HACAP, all those things I
support them totally. But when I look at the maps I see ghettos of Human Services
and I dislike that as much as I hate ghettos of really wealthy people and ghettos of
really poor people and any kind of seclusion that you get when you take a group
of people and you kind of isolate them. I don't like that either and I do have
problems because I'm wondering if when we get our ghettos of human services in
only as I can see when I look at the map in two neighborhoods are we being
detrimental to that neighborhood ? Are we being detrimental to the human
services that we are trying to provide that we're spending our money to provide 7
I have problems with that and I don't know if that's legal or not but I do have
problems with that and its not anything to do with that I don't think Successful
Living should have that wonderful house it's a wonderful house. I can see why
you would want it and if we had more even distribution of what we are doing in
the community I would support it totally but I do have problems with it and I
don't know if I'm even allowed to say that but I've said it.
Lehman: I don't think your allowed to say it either but you said it go ahead Irvin.
Pfab: Let me ask you this, would you be less uncomfortable if you knew that at some
point in the not to distant future Emergency Housing would leave the area ?
Champion: Well, probably just because when I knew Hillcrest was going to leave I
thought that might have been an opportunity for the neighborhood to maybe draw
back a little bit on all the human services that are being provided there. So yeah I
probably would be but I just have problems I mean I'd like to seen if they were
buying the house on Dodge St. if you were buying my house on Summit St. I
would support it totally. If you were buying the house next door to me, it's not for
sale but it might be since I have to pay my income taxes my house may be for
sale. I mean I really would like us to think about this as a community. Are we
doing our human services justice by congregating them ? I guess I have problems
with that.
Lehman: Connie I'm sure there are other folks that may share some of the same feelings
you have however I believe we told this commission they have certain perimeters
certain rules that have been given to them by the Council. They followed the rules
that they were given they made there evaluation based on the rules. One of their
rules was not, in fact on of the commission members who I talked to indicated
that they would have liked to have perhaps gotten a report from staff relative to
land use this was before I heard you Eleanor. But that was not a criteria that we
asked them to use and did not use it and if I'm understanding you correctly
Eleanor that perhaps might be a, if that's an issue its an issue for another time. If
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this is not an issue because of the matter that this has been arrived at which is
basically they followed the rules that were given to them by the Council they
made a recommendation to the Council none of those criteria involved zoning or
location of anything else.
Dilkes: And also even if they had asked for information from staff about land use what
staff would have told them is that this is an appropriate land use in that location.
Lehman: Yeah and if we wish to change it now that can be done but not at this point.
Wilbum: I will speak in favor of funding for the program I'm not trying to be insensitive
to the concerns that have been raised there legitimate concerns. I guess I'm
looking at the map because I was wanting to see this map which compared some
other organizations, MECCA, Systems Unlimited, some others, Youth Homes, in
group home type locations that they have throughout the City. I guess I look at the
map and I see it in different I see it in more that two neighborhoods. A reason that
I wanted to see that map I mean its been brought up that persons who are
homeless have different some of them have different mental illness whether it be
mental retardation, developmental disability, substance use, chemical addiction. I
bring that up I think those other environments are relevant because I mean I've
seen figures about homeless that roughly one-third of the homeless have mental
health issues and some of the other issues that have been brought up in fact I used
to live I used to work for Systems Unlimited I worked at a group home lived in a
group home in what they call there consola program which essentially three
young men who had different developmental disability or mild retardation. We
lived on South Governor matter of fact and had one of these individuals not lived
in a Systems house I'm positive he would have been homeless he would have
been among the homeless population either downtown undemeath a bridge in fact
there was a couple times when he did have some trouble when he did have some
trouble with the law and law enforcement was called. He paid the consequence
and was still living in the house in fact my role as staff person was trying to work
with some of our neighbors to try and address some of the concerns that they had.
Otherwise the committee has already pointed out that this meets several of the
high priority needs in terms of transitional living and even with mental health
issues aside its already been brought up to that someone that's been in a domestic
violence situation at the domestic violence shelter might be someone moving
currently or in the future might have this as an opportunity to transition away
from that crisis situation to a more permanent independent living situation. And
even in cases like that that someone may be moving from one program to the
other we don't look and say well were not going to fund you because someone
has moved from domestic violence shelter into this transitional living type
program so I'll shut up I'm supportive of the program.
Champion: I support the program.
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Pfab: Yeah I would go on record here as supporting the program. There are some issues
that are uncomfortable for some people but I think the best thing we can do is help
eliminate over a period of time those people the people that have those needs and
by addressing those needs we will help them in a sense disappear. Melt into our
society and they'll be just like you and I.
Lehman: Do we have four people who will not support this recommendation ? Are there
four people who will let's make it easy are there four people that will ?
Kanner: Support the whole package ?
Lehman: Yes as its presented. That's a pretty good indication that's what your looking
for. I think there are some questions that perhaps that before we do next years
allocations that it might be well for us to sit down if Council as a group has
concerns to visit with a group. I really want to thank you folks for your work
that's gotta be the toughest job that we give any board or commission in this city.
You have so many good requests and just not being able to fund some wonderful
projects has to be terribly difficult so you certainly have our thanks and we
applaud your efforts.
Pfab: I would like to say the same thing.
Lehman: He seconded it.
Pfab: No I'm not going to second it, I believe basically the same thing.
O'Donnell: There' s not one person up here that doesn't support the program and we all
did we all do. D&K Realty or partners that keeps being referred to in the third
party is that you ?
(Can't hear)
O'Donnell: Okay that was my question.
Franklin: Having said all the things that you have said about Successful Living and all of
that aside. I think these locational issues that have come up with this is something
that the Council needs to address on a much broader scope in the context of the
fair housing act and in the context of where the responsibility lies for the location
of some of these facilities.
Lehman: I agree. Thank you Karin.
Nasby: One more quick, you postponed the joint meeting with the commission till after
the public heating to May 1, do you still want to have that joint meeting with
them at the work session ? Would you like to postpone that and talk about these
other issues with them at that point in time ?
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Lehman: I guess I would defer to the Council but If we're going to look at a guidelines
that we've given the committee I would personally as soon that we take a little
more time and meet later in the year. We may not change a thing but if we do
have some concerns it would be an opportunity to hash those around but I don't
think it would be necessary to meet with them until later in the year.
Vanderhoef: No rush.
Nasby: Okay, so May 1st we'll cancel that.
Vanderhoef: Take a rest.
Nasby: Thank you.
Pfab: That's what I was going to say, that's another day.
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ITEM NO. 8 - RESOLUTION APPROVING A PURCHASE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND GREG AND BETH VAN
DUSSELDORP FOR .77 ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED ADJACENT
TO 4387 KOUNTRY LANE SE AND TO DISPOSE OF SAID PROPERTY
IN ACCORDANCE THERWITH
a) Public heating
Lehman: This is a public heating the public hearing is open. Is there anyone who would
like to speak to this issue ? The public hearing is closed do I hear a motion?
b) Resolution approving
Vanderhoef: So moved
Pfab: Second
Lehman: Discussion? I'd like to explain this to the public but they all left. This is
actually, this is an exchange of some property that we need and some property they need
and its relative to the regional storm water project and I think its mutually beneficial. Roll
Call. All ayes. Motion carries.
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ITEM NO. 9 - RESOLUTION APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM
OF CONTACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION
OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SECOND FLOOR PROJECT,
ESTABLISHING THE AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY
EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR
RECEIPT OF BIDS
a) Public hearing
Lehman: Estimated construction cost is $566,000. The public heating is open. The public
hearing is closed.
b) Resolution approving
Do we have a motion for a resolution. I think we are sending it out to bid.
Atkins: You're sending it out to bid.
Dilkes: You're just approving plans and specs.
Pfab: So moved
O'Donnell: Second
Lehman: Seconded by O'Donnell, discussion ?
Kanner: Yes Ernie I'm going to be voting no I feel that our capital debt is going up and
this is something that perhaps can be looked at a later time and maybe save the
money on this one for now.
Lehman: Other discussion. Roll call. Motion carries 6/1 Kanner voting no.
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ITEM NO. 10 - RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND
THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONSULTANT AGREEMENT WITH
STANLEY CONSULTANTS INC. FOR PROPERTY ACQUISITION AND
RELOCATION SERVICES FOR THE NEAR SOUTHSIDE
TRANSPORTATION CENTER.
Vanderhoef/Move adoption.
Wilbum: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Wilbum, discussion ? This is a not to
exceed contract of $71,000 80% of which will be funded by federal transit
administration funds.
Pfab: I have one question. Is this for a one particular piece of property and no other?
Lehman: I think its for the entire portion covered by the project.
Pfab: No but I mean it is a place that will not be changed ?
Lehman: This is for that eastem half of that block.
Pfab: So its that precise spot.
Lehman: That is the spot, is that not correct. ?
Dilkes: Yes, that's been decided previously but yes.
Kanner: I'm going to vote no on this I feel there are some good things in this project but
still its basically a parking ramp and I don't feel we have a need for that fight
now.
Lehman: Other discussion ? Roll Call. The motion carried, 5/2, Kanner and Pfab voting
no.
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ITEM NO. 12 - RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING
THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A
CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE MORMON TREK
BOULEVARD IMPROVEMENTS - ABBEY LANE TO HIGHWAY 1
PROJECT.
Champion: So moved
O'Donnell: Second
Lehman: We received looks like five bids the estimate was $2,880,000 the low bid from
Metro Pavers of $2,384,289. Public Works recommend we accept Champion
moved and O'Donnell seconded discussion ?
Kanner: Again I'm going to be voting no in that I feel that the answer is not widening our
streets from 2 to 4 lanes which this project will do but to increase public
transportation and cut back on the parking ramps.
Lehman: Don't you think this is a safety issue ? You got so many cars they can't get in
and out of streets and you don't consider that a safety issue and buses buses run
the same streets ?
Kanner: If we had more buses we'd have probably less cars that would be going on this
street.
Lehman; You'd still have to widen the street is you had that many buses.
Lehman: Other discussion ? Roll call. The motion carries, 6/1, Kanner voting no.
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ITEM NO 13 - RESOLUTION APPROVING, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING
THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST AN
AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND
PLANGRAPHICS, INC. OF FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY TO PROVIDE
SERVICES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM.
Pfab: Move adoption
Vanderhoef. Second
Lehman: Moved by Pfab, seconded by Vanderhoef, discussion, the cost of this is $60,709
I believe this is part in our budget we have set aside I think about half a million
dollars a year for this GIS system this is kind of the first step in putting this
together, the consultant.
Kanner: Could Rick just for the public just explain briefly what this is ?
Lehman: I don't know can you do that Rick ?
Fosse: What this will do is this company will come in and examine what we do at the
City what are business practices are and develop a plan for implementing a
geographic information system that's going to meet our needs system wide.
Enterprise system they call it.
Pfab: How did you choose this company ?
Fosse: We solicited proposals from a number of rims. Review them. Interviewed two
firms and we feel this firm has the most to offer there most capable of providing a
plan essentially what this is going to produce is a road map on how to implement
this system and along with that will come cost estimates for each step along the
way and we think they'll give us the best product.
Pfab: Can I ask you how many firms responded to your requests ?
Fosse: We had three firms respond, we interviewed two.
Kanner: Rick can you give an example or two of how this will help the staff and or the
public?
Fosse: It's going to provide easier information to the spatial or easier access to the spatial
based information like sewer locations, building permits those types of things we
see applications for virtually every department within the city eventually.
Pfab: Is it my understanding that we will probably get a lot of use out of this when we go
into stormwater management ?
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Fosse: That's fight that will be one of the initial applications as complying with Phase 2
EPA Stormwater regs.
Lehman: Thank you sir. Other discussion ? Roll call, all ayes. Motion carries.
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ITEM NO. 14 - RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND
THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST AMENDMENT NUMBER 2 TO THE
AGREEMENT DATED FEBRUARU 11, 1997 BETWEEN MMS
CONSULTANTS, INC. AND THE CITY OF IOWA CITY TO PROVIDE
CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE SOUTH SYCAMORE REGIONAL
STORMWATER PROJECT.
Pfab: Move adoption
Vanderhoef: Second
Lehman: Design cost estimated at $68,000. Moved by Pfab, seconded by Vanderhoef.
Discussion ?
Vanderhoef: Rick would you just like to tell us about the changes here? I had some
questions I had them answered but I think its interesting to see that our
Engineering Department is taking care of us.
Knocke: With this amendment it will provide for the services to do the realignment for
the noah corridor of the south sycamore stormwater project. This applies for the
new acquisition plats, amending old acquisition plats and also the new design
phases of it and also it goes into adding in some storm sewer for the sycamore
South Sycamore Street area into the project.
Vanderhoef: Which I think is great that we're getting all this stuff added in since we had
to redesign the project. Thank you.
Lehman: Other discussion. Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM NO. 15 - RESOLUTION AMENDING THE BUDGETED POSITIONS IN THE WATER DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT AND
THE AFSCME PAY PLAN.
Pfab: So moved.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Lehman: This is moving one worker from a grade 13 to 14 in AFSCME annual cost is
$1300. Moved by Pfab, seconded by Vanderhoef, discussion.
Champion: I was just thinking the best part about the end of this meeting is that, the worst
part about it is that its going to be re-broadcast.
O'Donnell: I don't know what that is but I seconded it.
Lehman: If we don't move along the end of this meeting will be tomorrow. Roll call.
Motion carries.
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ITEM NO. 19 - CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION
Kanner: I have three things, three quick things.
Lehman: You're doing it tomorrow cause its already tomorrow, go.
Kanner: First I want to wish people a Happy Easter on Sunday coming and a Happy
Passover which is coming up tomorrow its my favorite holiday it celebrates
freedom and liberation commands you to relax as in the fashion of the Romans
and to drink four cups of wine.
Champion: Yes I second that.
Kanner: It can't be too bad of holiday and there's good food to boot so I'm looking
forward to it. And the third thing I want to make an announcement May 1 ~t is the
traditional May Day it's a workers day in 1886 Intemational Workers day began
when 180,000 US workers strike for an 8 hour day and there's a number of
organizations that are celebrating one will be the American Federation of
Teachers local 716 which will be having a speak out and entertainment down in
the ped mall at about 12 noon on May 1st. And then the Labor party will be having
a labor day picnic out at City park out at City Park which everyone's invited to at
4pm. Thank you.
Wilbum: I wanted to acknowledge two different groups at Horace Mann elementary
school. One of them is a first grade class there going to making a donation to the
animal shelter they've been selling dog biscuits and things to raise funds to help
out down there. They're going to donate some shoe boxes for the kitty's to scratch
on and things like that. But also there's a group the English as a second language
students they won an award from the Iowa Peace Institute they got 2nd place in
this award for a project related to ways for new students at Horace Mann
Elementary ways to incorporate them into their community out there and this is
part of an outgrowth of a speaking engagement I had with them so
congratulations.
Vanderhoef: My turn. Real fast. Spring is sprung and lots of neighborhoods are out there
bit of cleaning up in their neighborhood. So just reminding the Tyn' Cae
neighborhood they have an opportunity in Kiwanis Park on April 29th from 4 to 6
pm and they also are getting ready for a garage sale call Judy Pfohl at 351-1684.
And the Westside Drive Neighborhood Association which is a newly formed
association group they are doing an earth day little creek and pond clean up on
April 22nd from 9 to 1 and if you can volunteer your help for either of these you
may call Kay Mescher at 354-4410. That's it. I was quick.
Lehman: Yes and when is the cookies and coffee in the a~emoon ? Mike anything?
Counie, Irvin, Steve, Eleanor, Marian. Do we have a motion. Moved by
O'Donnell, seconded by Vanderhoef, to adjourn. All ayes.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City council meeting
of April 18, 2000.