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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-12-19 Bd Comm minutesIOWA CITY HUMAN PdGHTg COMMISSION IOWA CITY CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS October 24, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Charles Major, Joan Jehle, Mary Larew, Mareen Howe, Jan Warren, Rick Spooner MEMBERS ABSENT: Mettie Thompulos, Diane Martin STAFF MEMBERS: Heather Shank, Laz Pittman 1. CALL TO ORDER: Jan Warren called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: MOTION: Jehle made a motion to accept the minutes with revisions. Spooner seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 6-0. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: 4. NEW BUSINESS: Governor & Lieutenant Governor's Diversity Forum Major stated that when Corlis Moody was here Clara Oelsen questioned her about the Diversity Forum. Clara indicated that it was easy to do a public forum and then forget about it. Clara believes that the Governor needs to do a speech on human rights and other things. Major didn't agree, he thinks they are a good thing to do. Jehle agreed and stated that she believes we need both and that perhaps this Diversity Forum is the just the basic layer. Impediments to Housing for Persons with Disabilities- Public Forum- November 29, 7:00 p.m. Shank explained that each year she is in charge of writing a section on impediments to housing for the Planning Department. She explained that there is a huge waiting list for housing in Iowa City that accommodates persons with disabilities. What is being built is not accessible; people can get their wheelchairs through the front door, but not through the bathroom door. Shank has decided to make a movie that will include part of the panel discussion from the November 29, forum. The panel will include persons with disabilities and people that work with people with disabilities. She would like everyone to come to be the audience in the public forum portion of the movie. Shank said that Angela Williams from the Community Development Department was really working hard on this. She explained that the Department of Housing and Urban Development set forth in that law that if you are going to provide specialized housing, it must be provided for person's with disabilities and people that are elderly. Therefore, people with disabilities are often put housed with the elderly. There are many people in Iowa City with housing for the elderly, but very little for people with disabilities. New construction is being marketed to students, five bedroom accessible apartments. Another problem is that landlords do not want to take section eight vouchers. The City is looking into providing an incentive to developers to build a certain number of apartments for person's with disabilities. Shank said that it would be great if the Commission members could come to the forum to ask all their questions. International Women's Day- Celebrating Women Locally: Connecting With Women Globally: February 22, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. in Public Library, Meeting Rm. A, Panel includes Mettie Thomopulos, Asma Taha, and Yelena Perkhunkova Shank explained that the UNA, United Nations Association Iowa Division, would like the HRC to co- sponsor this event. International Women's month is in March, but the only time a room could be acquired was February 22. Mettie Thomopulos, Asma Taha, and Yelena Perkhunkova are going to be on the panel and Dorothy Paul will be the moderator. 5. OLD BUSINESS HUD - Interim agreement Shank reported that there were many questions about the contract that HUD sent. Things that have previously not been made public would be made public under HUD's rules. The contract suggested with its language that persons charged with a violation were presumed guilty until proven innocent. Shank reported that Eleanor wrote a long letter that presented all of their concerns. Breakfast - Number of tickets sold, volunteers, etc. Shank reported that 204 tickets have been sold. Larew And Howe agreed to come to the breakfast early and take tickets. The HRC discussed who had been chosen for each of the awards. The Isabelle Turner award was given to Dr. Jude West. Sally Murray won for a citizen in a service organization, she is involved in vocational rehab. The business award went to A Great Balancing Act, an accounting business owned by Jean Bott for doing pro bono work for ICARE. Susan Buckley received the Rick Graft award for the advancement of women's right. And Jael S illiman received the international award for her work in women's health. International Day- November 1, 2000 Shank discussed the speech she was going to be giving this year. It is called Prejudice in the World of Harry Potter: Lessons for Us? Annual Reports Warren inquired about receiving an annual report. Larew said she also did not receive one. Pittman stated that she mailed one to all Of the Commissioners, but that she would send another to Warren and Larew. 6. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Howe discussed a Disabled Citizenship bill that the Senate gave final approval to. This would allow disabled immigrants to become citizens without taking the oath of allegiance. Howe also reported that she read Mississippi was voting to take the confederate battle banner off of their flag. She also spoke of a case where Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler was made to move out of the compound to satisfy a verdict. Butler is no longer allowed to use the name Aryan Nations, but will use Aryan National Alliance instead. She also read that the Massachusetts tattoo rule was ruled unconstitutional so now they can allow tattooing in Massachusetts. It had formally been illegal unless performed by a physician. Jehle reported that she along with Major and Howe went to the Iowa Civil Rights conference on September 29th called Civil Rights in the New Millennium. She reported that the Bureau of Refugee Services reported that 24,000 refugees have arrived in Iowa from Bosnia, Laos, Vietnam, and Sudan. In the year 2000 13 different nationalities have come to Iowa and the Bureau discussed the change in diversity and the equal access problems this can create. Jehle discussed the HAART meeting and a free concert open to the public on Saturday November 4th at Hillel Foundation on Market Street at 7:00 p.m. Larew said the Indian couple that the Meskwaki forced to separate because they were of different tribes upset her. She said that it sounded like the tribe was going to evict the woman, who was a member of the tribe, even though the woman's husband had left. Spooner said that when watching the debates, he saw that human rights issues were becoming key topics. He feels the different philosophies of the candidates are very important. He noticed that human rights are getting more attention than in the past. Major reported that he went to the same conference that Jehle had attended. During the last session they discussed local issues. He thought it was interesting to see how representatives from the different areas thought they could see some similarities among the communities. He said that they had some questions on how Iowa City handles certain situations. Major was on the radio Monday and asked a question of district 45 candidates as to whether they supported changing the Iowa Code to add sexual orientation as a protected category. Both candidates answered that they would be for it. He reported that Congress was discussing legal immigrants and health care. A law may be passed that would allow them some access to health care. Warren reported that she attended a hearing in Marshalltown. Last month an English only resolution was passed for the entire county. It happened quickly and without public input. The hearing was to let people say what they think about it. Warren said that everyone that came to the meeting was in favor of getting rid of it. Warren reported that Iowa State will now also have the Right to Domestic Partner Insurance like the University of Iowa. However, Iowa State is trying to pass an action that would allow their Human Resources Committee to ask people that know the couple, questions about the legitimacy of their relationship. Warren was concerned by this because these same things do not apply to legally married people. Warren reported that there was going to be a Latino conference on campus November '4th, by Latinos, for Latinos. Shank reported that they are now advertising for the vacancies on the HC. 7. STATUS OF CASES Shank reported that Warren had a case to read, Eleanor has a few cases. Pittman reported that team B has a hearing scheduled. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Larew made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Howe seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12. IOWA CITY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION D ~ IOWA CITY CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS p~ {Z? 'T"' November 28, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Jan Warren, Joan Jehle, Charles Major, Mary Larew, Maureen Howe, Mettie Thompulos, Diane Martin MEMBERS ABSENT: Rick Spooner STAFF MEMBERS: Heather Shank 1. CALL TO ORDER: Thompulos called the meeting to order at 7:05. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Jehle made a motion to approve the minutes with revisions. Larew seconded the motion. MOTION: The motion was carried by a vote of 6-0. (Warren had not arrived yet.) 3. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: 4. NEW BUSINESS: NEW COMMISSIONERS Four New Commissioners as of January 1,2001 Shank reported that the four new Commissioners would be Lisa Beckmann, Paul Retish, Ernie Cox, and Keri Neblett. DECEMBER MEETNG The Commission is scheduled to have a meeting on December 26th, the day after Christmas. The Commissioners agreed to reschedule the meeting for Wednesday December 20, 2000. JANUARY MEETING January's meeting to be held in the lobby conference room because Council is having a budget meeting in the Council Chambers. 5. OLD BUSINESS: PUBLIC FORUM Housing Impediments and Persons with Disabilities- Public Forum- November 29, 7:00 p.m. (Joint Project with Community Development- Angela Williams and the Cable Department- Jerry Nixon.) Shank discussed the Public Forum that is 'taking place on November 29th. There are going to be numerous panelists discussing the issue of housing in the Iowa City area for persons with disabilities. BREAKFAST Breakfast - 203 people attended- Next year scheduled for October 25,2001. Have to raise the price $2.00. Shank reported that any money that was left over after paying the Iowa Memorial Union for the food would be put in the HR budget, specifically the education budget line. This year only $178.00 will go into the education line. Shank also reported that ticket prices will have to be raised next year. Warren inquired as to whether or not the prices should be raised more than $2.00 since they have not been raised since at least 1994. Shank said that she would look into it. The Commission also discussed the amount of money they receive from the state for cases completed. That money is also put in the education fund. Jehle thanked the selection committee for their effort. Shank indicated that she would try and give them more time next year to decide and, hopefully, not require such a quick turnaround. MISC. Warren pointed out that she should have brought up the fact under new business that there was notice. in the packet of a day long educational conference at Cornell College in West Branch. The conference will feature Dr. Cornel West. The conference will be the 2nd Annual White Privilege conference and will take place April 19, 2001. 6. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Howe reported that under a new law that waives the oath of allegiance in certain cases, a severely disabled woman from India was granted U.S. citizenship on November 21 st.. Larew reported that she was horrified when she read of the acid onslaughts against women in Bangladesh. The acid attacks are related to resentment regarding low dowry payments. Some of the attacks are by angry lovers, resentful husbands and some are even committed by mother-in-laws. Anyone can buy acid in Bangladesh and it is very inexpensive making it relatively easy for people to obtain. The Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association petitioned the Supreme Court in August demanding a law against selling acid. (Police Corruption is the No. 1 problem along with apathetic judges.) Major reported that after the last election there was a meeting by Johnson County Alternatives to the Jail. The group is going to discuss policing policies. Major said that the meetings are very interesting. He stated that he felt that sometimes 2 some misinformation gets put out. Major felt that there was going to be some city representation to clear that up. Jehle said that the next meeting would be her last and that she was sad about that, but that she felt the new members would be a wonderful addition to the Commission. In addition, Jehle thanked Mary for a job well done on the HAART tee shirts 7. STATUS OF CASES Shank reported that team A had a case to read. She reported that another case was in legal. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Thomopulos made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Larew seconded the motion. The motion was carried by a vote of 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:43. MINUTES L IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES THURSDAY, - November 16, 2000 5:00 PM Members Present: Winston Barclay, Linda Dellsperger, rr u ay, Mark Martin, Lisa Parker, Linda Prybil, Jim Swaim Staff Present: Maeve Clark, Susan Craig, Larry Eckholt, Debb Green, Heidi Lauritzen, Kara Logsden, Martha Lubaroff, Liz Nichols, Others: James O'Gorman, Shana Stewart, Candace Smith, Practicum students; Chuck Schmadeke, City of Iowa City Director of Public Works, Lisa Livermore, Gazefie reporter CALL TO ORDER: President Martin called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the special meeting on October 10, 2000 and the regular meeting of October 26, 2000 were approved unanimously after a motion by Parker, Dellsperger. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Buildin.cl Proiect: This item of unfinished business is getting closer to being finished. The bond referendum passed by 67%. The Board was unanimous in their wish to pass a resolution thanking the community for their support of our efforts to meet the demand for quality library service. This resolution, in the form of a motion was made and seconded. Barclay/Dellsperger. Parker suggested a letter be drafted to the City Council thanking them for their support. Craig will take care of that. The Building Committee will review before it is sent. Where do we go from here? In terms of process there are certain steps that need to take place. A series of decisions need to be made by the Library Board. An initial step is whether to pursue an architectural contract with Engberg Anderson which is what Craig recommends. A second step concerns decisions about construction management. Chuck Schmadeke, Director of City of Iowa City Public Works Department artended the meeting to speak to the Board about the issue of construction management. Schmadeke said that the City would like to manage the construction in-house; they have six years of experience with major building projects and offer their services. However, he said, they could not get involved until just prior to the construction because of two large projects they are currently working on. These projects are scheduled for completion in 2002. He suggested that he would speak with the City Engineer and determine if he has someone that could be involved at a minimal level from the start. ICPL Board Minutes November 16, 2000 Craig summarized an e-mail she received from the architects: Planning for construction, and costs related to phasing construction are best addressed up front. They suggest getting someone involved in the beginning of the design phase. The architects might hire an employee who could do that. Is that something someone might be interested in doing just for that part of the project? It could be broken up to have someone work with us during the design phase and then have the construction managed by the City. The City would charge us 2% of the total construction cost. There would need to be some involvement by City staff prior to construction. Schmadeke said that possibly someone in the engineering staff could be identified to be involved in the design phase. How does their cost compare with private management services? It would be much less. One phase could be that the architect contracts with someone for the design phase until a contractor is selected. That contract would then cease and the City would take over the construction management. The Library would then enter into a contract with architect that would include site visits, checking of plans, comparing specs, etc in order to be certain that the project is being built according to the architect's design. There would be a separate contract for furnishings and interior design. Swaim expressed a concern about a construction management company working on a project that may be more complicated since it is a library; and their level of experience in library work. Craig said she sees a construction manager assisting with the phasing of the project and the levels of moves, etc. Schmadeke said that if there were a problem, they would go back to the architect to deal with any unforeseen complications. Craig feels an advantage to working with the City is that she has a trust of Schmadeke and his staff, however, it is more difficult to criticize another city department. Martin's concern is continuity and wonders if there is any wisdom in employing a person as the "tracker" who lives with the project and is on site from the beginning. A down side to such an arrangement is that they would not have a firm or organization to back them up. If the Board is comfortable Craig requested that they approve drafting a contract with Engberg Anderson for design and conceptually we will work with Schmadeke's office for the building phase and the Building committee and architect will locate a person for the design phase. Barclay moved that we authorize Craig to work with Engberg Anderson to bring us a contract for discussion. Swaim seconded the motion. All voted Yes. The building committee will meet, and with input from architects, get information about someone who has construction scheduling expertise, and then work with the City for Construction Management. The Building Committee will bring a report back to the Board. Presently the Building committee consists of Parker, Singerman and Martin. Martin will not re-up when his term expires at the end of June 01. He suggested that we appoint someone now who will continue into the future. Magalh8es agreed to do that and the Martin appointed him to be the fourth member of the committee until Martin leaves. At that time they may decided to appoint another fourth member or return to a 3-member committee. FY02 Budqet Request In the initial budget request, we had delayed a decision about a personnel request for a computer network specialist until we knew the results of the referendum. The City is aware that a request may be added. Parker moved that we amend the budget to include the position. Prybil seconded it. ICPL Board Minutes November 16, 2000 Open for discussion. Dellsperger voiced concern with the overtime. Why is it built in rather than other options like rotating shifts? Would overlapping schedules help to alleviate the QT? Nichols explained that the hours budgeted were for weekend hours not regular hours. The weekend time is when we would be pulling them out of the regular weekend rotation and putting them on an oncall status. The procedures for this are fairly fixed and well defined based upon the contract. We pay everyone who works on Sunday OT and that is in the contract. If we scheduled them to work every third weekend, we would then be scheduling them to significantly more weekend hours than anyone in the library works. They are needed during the week; particularly the head of the systems unit, in order to meet with staff in order to plan projects, with vendors, etc. Swaim expressed discomfort with the Board directing how the Library does scheduling and feels the Board should rely on the expertise of the library staff. Dellsperger replied that this was an informational question based on what other institutions sometimes do. There is a significant amount of OT requested in the budget. Once you put staff on on-call status there is a certain amount of OT included in the on-call status. Martin stated that the Board will be continually supportive of management's attempts to keep the amount of OT to a minimum. Martin asked for any further discussion. There was none and he called for the vote. Passed unanimously. Craig noted one more FY02 budget issue. The City Council has set aside Tuesday, January 23, from 6:30 to 9pm to meet with Boards and Commissions about budget. It is always helpful to have Board members present. NEW BUSINESS Contract discussion. Craig had included information on the issue of temporary workers at the library, in the packet. Dellsperger asked about substitute librarians. They are used on call like substitute teachers. We also use some of our permanent part time staff who can work extra hours when needed. There are two substitute librarians who work regular desk schedules of less than 10 hours per week. Martin read the bargaining resolution aloud. Parker/Swaim moved approval. Is it a bargaining issue that we convert temporary positions? Craig explained that what the union has requested is that the definition of a temporary employee be changed in the contract to read "anyone who works for the City less than 4 months and after 4 months they either are let go or are made a permanent staffmember'. Swaim asked that if we wanted to take a position that was different from the City's larger position how difficult it would be. Craig replied that it is a joint contract and we try to coordinate with the city. Different departments do account for some of the contract language. If it was a concern and if we negotiate a labor contract that is like we have now the Board could direct Craig during a budget process to request replacement certain hourly jobs with permanent jobs. On the pay plan long-term hourly employees would be making $9.00 or $15.00 per hour. Parker affirmed that there are opportunities for hourly staff to move into permanent jobs here and that in fact they receive priority for such permanent jobs. For example, except for Lauritzen, we have not hired anyone in Circulation for a permanent position in 15 years who was not already a library employee. Swaim expressed his sensitivity to the notion of people working with no benefits. A vote was called for. The resolution was adopted unanimously. STAFF REPORTS ICPL Board Minutes November 16, 2000 New Cataloft features: Nichols explained an update to online catalog. One particular feature; keyword search has disappeared and we now have a new type of search capability. It is a phrase search engine that lets you do your limiting up front. The Innovative system will be two years old this spring and we have had many upgrades. It is a very good company to work with. Seventh .qrade sleepover: It was a great success with 27 kids and was supported with a gift from the AM Rotary. Logsden thought that next year might be a lock-in instead of a sleepover. The goals of the night were accomplished by 11 p.m. Kids especially liked the treasure hunt using library's resources and liked being in the library when no one was here. Nichols was pleased that, with the private financial support, we were able to give each young person a young adult book. They were appreciative and enjoyed getting their books. Swaim was supportive of continuing the event as a sleepover and said he would see if he could recruit some of his staff to come in for the overnight portion. DO Report: (Included in the packet) Andrea Springer, consultant will be here and they will be forming committees. Barbara Curtin has begun her position as Campaign Assistant and office space was rearranged. Annual Report went out and response has been good coming on the heels of the vote. Book Gala raised the usual $10,000 gross this year. Software and electronic connections are being set up to offer the ability for automatic withdrawal from checking or savings as a way of gifting to the library. Craig is going to suggest at the December board meeting that the Board issue a challenge to staff and do a matching gift from their gift money. PRESIDENT'S REPORT NODe ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MEMBERS Barclay reported that he has been visiting other library web sites. He said ours is a terrific web site compared to others. He suggested that we hook up with other library web pages and get into chat groups to help train people to access and gather information. Swaim reported on two grants recently awarded to his agency to enhance services. COMMITTEE REPORTS Now that referendum has passed, we need to resume discussion about planning for outreach services. DISBURSEMENTS Visa expenditures for October were reviewed. Disbursements for October were approved unanimously after a motion. Prybil/Dellsperger. SET AGENDA ORDER FOR DECEMBER MEETING Matching grant ICPL Board Minutes November 16, 2000 Begin discussion of outreach ADJOURNMENT: 6:25 p.m. Minutes taken and transcribed by Martha Lubaroff '12-'19-00 MINUTES ~ PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION NOVEMBER 8, 2000 MEMBERS PRESENT: Toni Cilek, Barbara Endel, Craig Gustaveson, Bruce Maurer, James Moxley, Matt Pacha, Rex Pruess, A1 Stroh MEMBERS ABSENT: Carol Casey STAFF PRESENT: Mike Moran, Terry Robinson, Terry Trueblood GUESTS: Marilyn Belman FORMAL ACTION TAKEN Moved by Maurer, seconded bV Stroh, to approve the October 4, 2000 minutes as written. Unanimous. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS/PRIORITIES Trueblood referred to the Capital Improvement Projects/Priorities packet sent to the commission in their packet. The only revisions are in the dollar amounts, which were made at the capital improvement committee meeting this moming. Various projects were highlighted. The Hickory Hill Trail Development project had originally been projected at $150,000, but was increased to $500,000 based on lineal foot costs obtained from John Yapp in the City's Planning and Community Development Department. The consultant, Tom Dunbar, gave a preliminary cost estimate based on the concept plan and an eight-foot wide crushed limestone trail in the approximate amount of $900,000. Trueblood noted he had asked Dunbar to estimate high. In talking with the City Engineer and CIP committee, staff feels the $900,000 figure is high. The Court Hill Trail Development dollar amount is uncertain for the reason that there is a large difference of opinion as to how much the trail should cost. It is becoming a higher priority in the sense that it is coming closer to fruition because the sewer project is going to begin next year and staff wants to complete as much of the trail project as possible at the same time or immediately after. The City Engineer felt the project would cost considerably more than the $350,000 currently projected. He is to do some research to determine a final estimate. With regard to the Iowa River Trail-West Bank, Benton to Sturgis Ferry, the amount was increased due to construction of a bridge over the river and the cost per foot for the trail is much higher due to retaining walls and trails going underneath Benton Street and Highway Six. The City Park Log Cabins project may be added. There is no cost estimate at this time, and it may be added to the CIP projects at a later date. Trueblood noted the passage of the library referendum, funded by G.O. bonds ($18,000,000), would likely have an impact on the city's overall capital improvement program. The past couple of years the City Council has tried to keep the G.O. bond funded projects at approximately $10,000,000 per year. If they follow this rule, it could result in other city CIP projects not receiving funding in the years the library expansion is being paid for. Trueblood clarified various projects, and the commission proceeded to prioritize their top ten CIP projects. The projects and total number of votes received are as follows: Parks and Recreation Conunission November 8, 2000 Page 2 of 2 1. Miller/Orchard Park Development ($200,000) 21 votes 2. Waterworks Park Development ($1,250,000) 17 votes 3. Hickory Hill Trail Development ($500,000) 16 votes 4. Highway 6 Trail/Drainage ($500,000 for trail component) 13 votes 5. Iowa River Trail-West Bank-Benton Street to Sturgis Ferry ($2,000,000) 11 votes 6. Willow Creek Trail-Phase 1II ($1,650,000) 10 votes 7. Court Hill Trail Development ($350,0007) 9 votes 8. Peninsula Park Development ($1,000,000) 8 votes 9. Mercer Park Ballfield Lighting ($275,000) 3 votes 10. Iowa River Trail Bridge-Rocky Shore to Peninsula ($800,000) 3 votes The other projects on the list included the Riverside Festival Stage Seating, Recreation Center Expansion, Leisure Pool Development, Scott Park Development, Soccer Complex Trail Development, Dog Park Development, Mesquakie Park Development, and Cemetery Mausoleum. The annual projects were not included in the prioritization process, since the Commission considers these to be necessary items to be budgeted each year. With regard to the Riverside Festival Stage Seating project, Trueblood stated the goal is to find funding this fiscal year to proceed; if accomplished, it will not be included in the FY02 requests. FY02 OPERATING BUDGET REQUESTS Trueblood highlighted various budget proposals. He noted the requests for additional personnel including a Natural Areas Specialist, a Park maintenance worker and a half-time custodian in Recreation, and reported that approval of these requests is very unlikely due to funding constraints. Fees and charges will be discussed at the December or January commission meeting. COMMISSION TIME Maurer asked if staff had a figure in mind in terms of overall expenses and revenue for the City Park amusement rides. Trueblood noted there were a lot of expenses to bring the equipment up to standards. Staff was hoping it would be a break-even proposition, realizing it probably wasn't going to happen, but the gap was wider than anticipated. A report will be made at next month's commission meeting. DIRECTOR' S REPORT Trueblood reported on the following: December Commission Meeting. There will be holiday treats at next month's meeting. Mercer Park Concession Building. The contract has been awarded to Moore Construction, Iowa City, in the amount of $175,900. Babe Ruth is contributing at least $10,000 towards the project and soliciting companies to provide materials at cost. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 2, 2000 - 7:30 P.M. ~r~ - CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS M!~MBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Benjamin Chait, Pam Ehrhardt. Jerry Hansen, Norm Osland, Marilyn Schintler, Dean Shannon MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: John Yapp, Sarah Holecek OTHERS PRESENT: R.J. Moore, John Beasley, Lyle Seydel, James Denneny, Rick Dvorak RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Recommended by a vote of 7-0 approval of a revision of the Iowa City/Johnson County Fringe Area Agreement to change the map change at the Highway l/Highway 218 interchange to reflect the commercial and residential land uses anticipated and already being used as such. Recommended by a vote of 7-0 that the commercial designation at Herbert Hoover Highway/Interstate 80 interchange remain as originally proposed and not be amended as requested by the Board of Supervisors. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Bovbjerg called the meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Bovbjerg said it is a citizen's chance to help the City and an opportunity to volunteer. She said the following boards need members: Board of Adjustments Board of Appeals Human Rights Commission Parks and Recreation Commission Art Advisory Committee Senior Center Commission Housing and Community Development Commission Solid Waste Advisory Commission DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE FRINGE AREA AGREEMENT BETWEEN IOWA CITY AND JOHNSON COUNTY: Bovbjerg said this was last seen at the August 17, 2000 meeting and it has gone to Council and County and come back to the Commission. Yapp said since everyone in the room was familiar with the issues, he would give a brief staff report and take questions. He said the draft of the Fringe Area Agreement between Iowa City and Johnson County has gone to the Council and the Board of Supervisors and the Board has suggested a few changes and referred it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their consideration. He said the first change involves the Highway l/Highway 218 interchange. The Board wants the map to show the existing areas that are zoned and developed as commercial and to reflect that the existing zoning allows some higher density residential uses; higher density by County standards as opposed to City standards at the western part of this intersection. He said City staff does recommend that the map be changed to reflect this. Holecek said the request is for the map to reflect the zoning that is in place currently. Planning and Zoning Commission " November 2, 2000 Page 2 Bovbjerg said she was going to ask about that because a map she had seen earlier this spring showed it keyed for agricultural but this is agricultural and residential. Yapp said some of it is used for agricultural but zoned for residential. He continued by saying for clarification, the Fringe Area map does not constitute a rezoning of property. It is to show potential future land use. Yapp said the second item up for discussion is the Herbert Hoover Highway/Interstate 80 interchange. He said the issue is the total area to be designated for future commercial development. He said County staff has asked that some additional commercial area or possible commercial area be shifted to show some future commercial uses in two additional quarter-quarter sections on the western quadrants of this interchange. He said the City's position is that commercial development should focus on the interchange itself and not create additional commercial designation on Herbert Hoover Highway leading into Iowa City. He said the two quarter-quarter sections, one on the north side and one on the south side of Herbert Hoover Highway shift the focus from the interchange to begin some commercial designation further down Herbert Hoover Highway. With the loss of the focus away from the interchange, it starts to become more difficult to define where commercial designations should start and where it should stop. It is staffs view .. that there is substantial opportunity for commercial development around the interchange without adding the additional quarter-quarter sections on the west side. He said the map shows the quarter-quarter sections already added so if the Commission makes a motion they should keep that in mind. Staff recommends that the map be changed to reflect the commercial and residential land uses in the Highway 1/Highway 218 interchange but that the commercial designation for the Herbert Hoover Highway /Interstate 80 interchange remain as originally proposed which allows an additional 178 acres for future commercial development. He said the next few maps on the overhead reflect some discussion that occurred at the informal meeting. He said the question was how much commercial area is possible at other interchanges within Johnson County, specifically at Tiffin and Oxford. He referred to the map showing the Tiffin area and as the map'notes, most of that area around the Tiffin interchange is available for development. Yapp said at the 1-80 interchange in Oxford, with the exception of the CP2 area, most of the area is built out. Ehrhardt said her understanding when they looked at this in August was that the joint committee of the County and the City; their recommendation after discussing this parcel was not to add parcel to the map. Yapp said yes the original recommendation was to include all of the area around the 1-80/Herbert Hoover Highway interchange designated as commercial, except the two !quarter-quarter sections on the western side. Ehrhardt said they were not aware of dissention in that committee. She asked if the change from that committee's recommendation comes from the County. Yapp said he thought it was safe to say that at least one member of that committee was not happy with the compromise that came out of the committee and asked that some additional area be explored and asked the County staff to took into having some additional commercial area be designated. Ehrhardt asked if that was discussed with the committee already. Yapp said he believed so, but he didn't sit on the committee. Bovbjerg said as she recalled when the joint committee was meeting, squaring off was the original squaring off that was seen in August. Hansen asked if the additional part on the northwest corner of this zoning was an addition to the original map that was drawn. He asked if that was the Donovan addition. Yapp said that was correct. Hansen asked if it has already been amended at one time, .: ,lanning and Zoning Commission · November 2, 2000 Page 3 Yapp said that is what is being proposed. He said existing commercial property (Eyman property) was rezoned a few years ago. He said that has already been zoned commercial by the County. Hansen said that was an amendment to the original concept of this. Yapp said that staff, City Council and Planning and. Zoning Commission recommended against this area at the interchange being zoned commercial at the time. He said now staff acknowledges the existing commercial zoning since it already is zoned commercial, and the Fringe Area map should reflect this. Public discussion: R J Moore, Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator, Johnson County said he and Rick Dvorak are there on behalf of the Board of Supervisors. He said as the Commission is aware from their work session. they presented the County's position. He said the County feels, that in order for them to achieve the goals of their new Land Use Plan that they adopted in December of 1998 and started implementing in January 1999, they need someplace to say is appropriate for commercial or industrial development. He said that gives them an opportunity to say no to requests that come to them that are in inappropriate areas of the County such as the rural agricultural areas. He said when County staff was looking at this map after the City Council approved it, and were discussing it with Board members they felt that the 23.83 acres at the southeast quadrant of the interchange was not usable to the County. He pointed to the area that has a history of being zoned and used commercially and that is why they chose that area as an appropriate area for the County. Regarding Tiffin, County staff recently received notification that the City of Tiffin is annexing everything north of the Interstate so that would not be available for the County anymore. He said he shared a memo with the Commission at the informal meeting that could be read into the minutes. It is as follows: The Johnson County Board of Supervisors has sent back the proposed Iowa City/Johnson County Fringe Area Agreement to the City of Iowa City, It is the Board's desire to have the City take another look at the proposed agreement. The Board has some concerns about the map, in particular the Interstate 80/ Herbert Hoover Highway interchange. He said per the 1998 Johnson County Land Use Plan, the County is working on an Economic Development Plan, based on adopted goals in the 1998 Plan, and the 1996 North Corridor Plan. Staff, along with the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors believes some limited commercial/industrial development is appropriate in the unincorporated areas of the county, The majority of these we believe should be directed to the villages such as Morse and Frytown, where as we cut off rezonings in the rural ag area, protecting agricultural land, we feel we can revitalize those villages with centers where people can live and have mixed uses there to support residential uses. He said if the County is to continue the trend it has set the last two years of aggressively protecting agricultural land by saying no to non-agricultural rezoning in the rural area, it must have identified areas for non-agricultural zoning districts. The North Corridor and villages serve as future residential growth areas, with villages and major intersections also identified for commercial and industrial growth. The County has been encouraging recent developments to have community water and wastewater systems, especially for commercial development. That is why there is concern regarding the way the proposed Fringe Area map is drawn for the 1-80/Herbert Hoover Highway interchange. He said the County feels the 1-80/Herbert Hoover Highway interchange should be redfawn for these reasons: · The current zoning and commercial uses of this area. This area has a long history of being used commercially, and zoned commercial. · This is an area the County is identifying as appropriate for limited commercial development. · It is at a major, paved road intersection capable of handling the additional traffic volume. · It has existing water and wastewater systems (Gateway) that could be made available to surrounding users. · CP2 (Planned Commercial) is the most restrictive commercial zoning district in the county; we have the most control over that zoning district. Planning and Zoning Commission " November 2, 2000 Page 4 · A large portion approximately 77 acres, as identified now at the eastern quadrants of the interchange is not desirable for development, because it is not currently accessible by paved roads. "'- Moore said Karin Franklin mentions in her memo to the commission that the county is unsure of how much land we will need for commercial development. That is true, they are working with what the proposed agreement shows right now. He said the County wants to redraw the lines. He said the County has identified approximately 156 acres available for development, of which 77 acres is east of Utah, and due to poor roads is not desired for development at this time. He said Franklin mentioned about the north side. If anyone tried to develop there they'd have to pave those roads. It can't be done on gravel; the County's new land use plan doesn't allow that. Moore said the County just wants the Commission to consider designating the 77 acres as commercial on the Fringe Area map, which really according to the proposed map, is approximately 66 acres, 16 acres on the north side, which is Donovan's and a quarter section on the south side that can be utilized. The idea is to square the map off with the existing Eyman development on the north side of the road, drop straight south of the road and go back to the east. .. Moore said there appears to be some concern that is echoed in Franklin's memo that it is the intent of the County to have strip development in this area and continually move west towards Iowa City. It is not the County's intent to have strip development. The County does not want to go any further to the west than the western edge of the Gateway development. He said the County believes that the proposed changes represent a sensible and rational approach for new commercial development in this area. More said to continue to do good land use planning for the County they have to identify areas as appropriate for different uses; commercial and industrial uses or uses that they have identified as permitted uses in their zoning ordinance and they feel it is appropriate to do it here. He said County staff is willing to recommend to the Board a swap, not an add; but swap the commercial designated land in the east quadrants of the interchange for the two quarter-quarter sections on the west. He said they don't wish to go any further. He said the Eyman development is built to City standards. He said it has curbed and guttered roads, has shared and community wastewater systems and has a shared well. He said the reason they wish to designate additional commercial there is because any additional users could hook into the existing wastewater system. He said future development could hook into Eyman's wastewater system because he is way under capacity. He said they looked at their aerial photos and it did not show a road to the eastern property. He said it's 40 foot wide and the only thing the County can do on 40 feet is farm access or put 6 residential lots. He said again, that's why they feel that is unusable to the County as commercial property. Chait asked Moore to explain further what he meant by Tiffin annexing north of the* Interstate so it would not be available to the County. In terms of the intersection and the type of development that happens on that intersection would it be radically different between City and County uses. Moore said he would assume that Tiffin intended to use it as commercial. He said he thought the map showed it as CH (Highway Commercial), which could permit truck stops. Chait asked wouldn't it be similar to a commercial highway development. Moore said yes it would provide overall commercial availability to the County but not to unincorporated Johnson County specifically. He said with the City developing commercially, it doesn't allow the County to have places identified as appropriate when they take it in. Chait asked if thars because the County wouldn't have the final say about it. Moore said it's not unincorporated having the final say; irs having something available for requests for commercial development in the County. He said they disagree with the City philosophically whether or not commercial development should occur in the County. They feel some limited commercial development can occur in the County. He said when the City annexes property, then thars not the County and they have people coming to them still asking to develop commercially and if it's not here, then they will go somewhere else, more than likely where the County doesn't want them to be. He said for example they have requests for commercial development down on Sand Road. He said it's a seal coat road, half is 'lanning and Zoning Commission " November 2, 2000 Page 5 paved from Hills and half is seal coat. He said they've had requests north of thero and they don't feel seal coat roads are appropriate roads to be developing on commercially. He said they need to find places where the road infrastructure is capable of handling commercial development. He said they had Eyman put in over $300,000 worth of improvements to Herbert Hoover Highway to handle the traffic movements coming in and of his commercial development. He said thars another reason they feel irs an appropriate area. Chait said Moore talked at the informal meeting about the County's reason for the additional acreage to the west of that intersection, because irs more infrastructure, irs more built out than now, than the area to the east. He said it seems to him that if demand for commercial developable land is such that the infrastructure needs to be built up to accommodate that demand, thars the nature of growth. He said he finds difficulty accepting the County's argument that because the highway from the intersection to the west is already built out that that is the reason to put commercial on that versus making the infrastructure more compatible for commercial on the four quadrants on that intersection. Moore said thars been a policy of the Board of Supervisors, they prefer commercial development on existing hard surface roads. Ehrhardt asked if the next quarter-quarter sections to the west, had come also, why not include another quarter-quarter. She asked why is it stopping there. Moore said any property owner may request commercial zoning. He said Eyman's development crosses right there and all the County did was square it off there. Ehrhardt asked if the logic then is to square it off. Moore said yes to square it off and to swap it for the last in the east part of the interchange that is not usable. He said the west have the infrastructure. He said the drainage goes this way; that there's a creek that Eyman empties his wastewater in going to the east. He said for the County to sewer that would require another system. He said it would be a lot easier to take the sewer system and run it across that road. He said Mr. Eyman said he is willing to allow additional users onto his wastewater system. Ehrhardt asked if there is the infrastructure to allow commercial development to the west of Eyman's. Moore said the growth area lines on the map are based on the watersheds, so going further east you could not go that way without a fairly expensive investment by anyone trying to develop commercially there. He said County staff wouldn't support someone going that way but anyone can request a rezoning. He said they gave Eyman commercial zoning but that was three years ago and a different Board of Supervisors. He said he doesn't think the Board today would approve that, because they've adhered to the Fringe Area Agreement very well. Schintler said she agreed with development on that intersection and setting aside land that is good but she said she was still having problems with the little silver and why the County doesn't want that, She said it seems with the area to the west developed thars when roads could be built in there and that could be used. She said she didn't ever see it as being used for housing. Moore said they saw the area out there as their rural agricultural area and they don't want any more development going that way. He said they don't even want residential even though the Fringe Area Agreement says a 10-acre density; he thinks the new agreement would say RS-10 to develop at a 10- acre limit. Schintler said they wouldn't have access either. Moore said they could access gravel roads for residential; the County only requires 40 foot right of way gravel road for up to six residential lots. Schintler said she didn't think people would want residential that close to commercial. Planning and Zoning Commission November 2, 2000 Page 6 Moore said once you get outside the fringe area, it is what the County has identified as their rural agricultural area where their primary use is agricultural and nothing else. He said they had a request off Rapid Creek recently for residential, which per the Fringe Area Agreement allows 3 acre minimum and even though it would be permitted there at that density, the County turned it down. He said they didn't feel it was appropriate there. He said that land used to be in transition with old Board members but the new Board sees that as rural agricultural and doesn't want to do that right now. He said that's how he sees this area. He said on Herbert Hoover Highway irs a lot different going east from the interchange than west. It has been improved to the west. Going east has no shoulders and very deep ditches so although it's a hard surface read, irs really not appropriate for increasing traffic on at this time. Schintler said that could all change. Moore said it is not in their five-year construction plan and he said they probably don't want to because if they start making improvements they would get requests for development there also. He said he didn't know if the Commission follows the County over the years but when he first came on the Board in 1995 there was a Board of Supervisors, of which one Board member said he'd never seen a zoning he didn't like. Moore said the current Board is very conscientious and we are there on behalf of them and we know the position the County is taking. He said Fringe Area Agreements benefit the City more than the County. Without this all the City can do is approve or deny subdivisions based on City standards. He said without · it the City cannot tell the County they can't zone anything. The City can't tell the County they can review developments like Eyman's. He said thars something the County is giving up in this agreement. He said irs something the County is willing to give and to share as a partner in good planning and all the County is asking for is some consideration of this amendment, He said he's talked to Board members recently and there are at least three of them who are willing to say forget the Fringe Area Agreement. He said thars not meant as a threat but the County is feeling, along with the Board, that the City is being unwilling to negotiate. Chait said that as was discussed at the informal meeting, Moore was speaking of the politics of the issue. which is not the charge of the Commission. Thars the charge of: the City Council. He said he feels very strongly as a commissioner on this Commission that they deal with the technical merit of the issues and not the politics and that is why they simply make a recommendation to the City Council. He asked in the next twenty years, what kind of development does Moore see along Herbert Hoover Highway east of the interchange to West Branch. Moore said agricultural. Chait asked if he did not see West Branch as getting closer to Iowa City and there would be in~ll development. Moore said not in 20 or 30 years. He said he doesn't see the City going across the road either. He said he would like to deal with planning philosophies himself but politics enter into what they do. He said that has been his hardest lesson to learn in ten years of doing this, He said they came to the Commission with what they feel is good planning philosophy for the County and why and that is because they have to have appropriate areas identified. The County zoning ordinance includes commercial uses and they have to have places identified as appropriate for that. He said they do have some as he said in the villages. He said some interchanges have a history of commercial uses in the past and this is one of those interchanges. He said they didn't ask for Highway 6 in the southeast or extend anyway else. He said this was a place where it was already and had a huge investment by a previous developer that they would hope other users would utilize with shared sewer and wastewater systems. He said those are sound planning philosophies but urban planning is a lot different than rural planning. Chair said the Commission is just one venue in the process, which is the bigger dialogue between the City and the County and the City Council. He said this is just one step on the way. He said it is important that the Commission stay clear about their charge. ,ning and Zoning Commission .~vember 2, 2000 ,'age 7 Holecek said she would like to follow up on Chairs comment. She said it is important for the Commission to recall what their charge is; irs land use and land use planning and the philosophies behind that. She gave an example of what had been before the Commission, an application for assisted living development. Someone may bring up the issue of financing. She said that would not be the issue before the Commission, the issue would be land use or location for that particular use. She said you try to keep your discussion to that, acknowledging that at the next level, the politics and policy issues, the scope becomes broader. She said she just wanted to mention how the Commission has natrowed their focus before to those issues and if you agree with the County's land use philosophy; that may be the basis on how you vote. Moore said he thinks it's important to remember that they have to merge two planning philosophies together. He said he thinks the Fringe Area Agreement on the whole does, it's just the area being discussed. Ehrhardt asked Moore if he could estimate how much undeveloped rural land in their land use plan they have for commercial. Moore said undeveloped no, but that they've identified 1900 acres total in the County and that includes the interchanges and villages. Ehrhardt asked if the 1,900 acres was total acres or undeveloped acres. Moore said total. Ehrhardt asked if he knew how much was undeveloped. Moore said he hasn't been able to identify that yet. He said he knew they have a new 48-acre piece at the Oxford interchange that is undeveloped. Ehrhardt asked and yet you feel you need more. Moore said he hadn't been able to get the point across; they don't want more, they just want to square the lines, they're willing to concede some, they just don't think the configuration is a benefit to the County in order to guide people to a better place. Chair asked if they don't want more, just different. Moore said yes. Chair said he doesn't understand how they've gotten this far through the committee process, through the County and City and those who were doing the Fringe Area Agreement, up until the last 60 days and have the difference just come out and not earlier in that process. Moore said it took that long to get to their Board of Supervisors. Chair said after that whole process the Board now wants it different. Moore said that is what the Board sent him and Dvorak to ask the Commission. He said they spent 3 years on their land use plan, it got through their commission with a 5-0 vote to approve it, and it got to the Board of Supervisors and they threw it out, He said he and Dvorak feel the Commission is an important part of the process, He said they believe in the process and that it starts with the Commission. He said they read the minutes and what the Commission and the Council does and the majodty of the time the Council follows the Commission's recommendations. Chair said he thinks Moore has been very clear in presenting the County's agenda and position but he may not agree. Hansen asked if the County Land Use Plan had data that reflects how much ground will be needed for commercial in the future. Planning and Zoning Commission '- November 2, 2000 Page 8 Moore said no. Hansen said his stumbling block on this, is if they're going to change something there has to be a need. He said without a projection of how much land is going to be needed in the future, he wonders why they're taking agricultural land and designating it for commercial. He said they talk a lot about protecting agricultural land and put land use plans in place to do that and yet it seems without a plan for how much commercial is needed, he doesn't see a need to change ag use land into commercial ground. Chair said they're not talking about changing quantity. Moore said all of this here is zoned agricultural right now. He said when the Economic Development Plan is done they will be able to do projections but right now they don't have that. Bovbjerg said the originally zoned commercial area in the Fringe Area Agreement picked up those two areas in the east. She asked if that was based upon Corn Suitability Rating or anything special. She said she was wondering why it had been designated commercial at one point; both areas to the east of Utah Avenue. Moore said City staffs view was because that put the focus on the interchange. Hartsen said in the north quarter-quarter he thought the Corn Suitability Rating was 56 in the last report. He asked if anyone knew what the south quarter-quarter was. Moore said he didn't. Yapp passed out the description of the CP-2, commercial zone, which is the zoning being contemplated here. John Beaslev, 321 East Market Street, said he was there on behalf of Nellie Donovan. He said Nellie's daughter, son-in-law and grandson were there along with Mr. Seydel. He asked if the 23.83 acres in the southeast quadrant of the interchange were zoned and developed commercial how would you envision access to it. He said Chait was talking about technical aspects of land use and one of the first things you do when you are talking about land use is how do you get access. He said he understood that they may be talking 10 or 15 years down the road, but if people in Iowa City want to utilize it, how would you get there. Chair said from the west, accessed from the property to the west. Yapp said he would summarize. He said to access that area some new roads would need to be constructed and this is a long-range plan. He said twenty years ago in the County and in the City thero were several areas that now have commercial development that did not have roads 20 years ago. Chair said if you look at the Eyman first rezoning, how would you get access to the Eyman second rezoning, it connects through the Eyman first rezoning. He said that same process would likely happen to the 23.83-acre parcel in the southeast quadrant of the interchange. Beasley said one thing that is undisputable is that this land to the west of the interchange, by technical aspects, already has access that is suitable for commercial development. He said it already has a key ingredient for commercial development, which is key access off of a hard surface road. He said turning lanes have already been constructed to get into Eyman property. He said he represents Nellie Donovan who is 93 years old, but her family is there this evening. His primary concern is the 15 acres and they would like to see that land included in the commercial designation of the Fringe Agreement. He said he has heard the arguments about the domino effect and where to draw lines. He said they are there to ask the Commission to move the line roughly 1300 feet to the west, part of which is already zoned commercial, He said before he made a presentation before the City Council he read the City's zoning ordinance. He said it reads, "to conserve and protect the value of property throughout the City and to encourage the most appropriate use of land." He said the Donovan's 15 acres is unique because there is commercial highway on southern border, on eastern border is commercial; its being developed ,-,lanning and Zoning Commission " November 2, 2000 Page 9 commercial and on it's northern boundary, it's zoned commercial. He said there is a unique feature to this property, which is a high power tension line that runs from Hills all the way up the western boundary to who knows where in the north. He passed out photographs of the power line. He made a map himself with the blue area showing the 15 acres that they want included in the Fringe Agreement. It showed the power line to the west and the commercial designations. He said if one of the City's mission statements is to designate land for its most appropriate use, the most appropriate use of that land is commercial. He asked that it be included in the plan at this time; to do it right the first time. He said he hasn't heard a reason why that land couldn't be included in commercial designation. He said he knows there are concerns if you designate land as commercial what would go in there. He said if this is designated, it's not just a blanket designation. He said if it came in as a CP2, planned commercial development, that is a narrower designation and there would have to be site plans, etc. He said he has faith that the County would scrutinize any application for standards. Ehrhardt asked when the trapezoid area to the north was being applied for commercial use, was the area south considered at the same time. Beasley said no. Ehrhardt asked why that was. Beasley said because Eyman purchased the land from Donovan and carried the ball on rezoning the land he owned. He said it wasn't an issue at that time that Donovan wanted to bootstrap onto him. Eyman owned the land and applied for commercial and the Donovans didn't follow-up. Chait asked if it could have been that he had an option to buy the land if he got it rezoned. Beasley said he doesn't know the specifics of the transaction. Chait said he couldn't say either way, then. Beasley said he could only say what he's been told. Bovbjerg asked the Corn Suitability Rating on the 15 acres. Beasley said he didn't know. He said he thought 60 percent of the land was used for crops now. He turned the podium over to Mr. Seydel. Lyle Seydel, 445 Garden Street, Iowa City, said he was a realtor in Iowa City and the listing agent for the Donovan property. He said he hoped that based on the information at the informal meeting, the Commission had not made a decision. He said there's three parties involved: City, County and public and there was no public input at informal meeting. He said the roason there was no public input is because the Donovans are farmers and don't follow this and did not realize what was going on. He said the charge of the Planning and Zoning Commission is orderly development of the City and the most valuable use of land. He said this land is in the County and the County should have the big say as to what goes on. He said it's within the two-mile Fringe Area. He showed the highest point on the map on the west side and said it would be sewered by the Iowa River or the City sewer system. He said the line should be at the entrance to the old Arabian Horse land. He said the line was way off. He said the use of this property is surely commercial; it's not agricultural. He said of the 15 acres, there are 7 acres of beans this year. He - said the rest could be made into a very nice pond. He said it's a low area, with a culvert going under the highway. He said Franklin anticipated that this would be a buffer area, probably high density residential. He said nobody wants to live in that area. He said there is an Interstate just to the north of it; Herbert Hoover Highway just to the south of it; a high power tension line to the west. He said it is not a good place to force people to live and that is what the City would be doing. He said in determining what lines to use, why not use the section lines. He said the property to the south is also owned by Nellie Donovan, on the south side of the road. Jim Denneny, 3231 Hastings, said he was the grandson of Nellie Donovan He said he understands that lines have to be drawn, but the family is not going to continually come and request rezoning and rezoning. Planning and Zoning Commission November 2, 2000 Page 10 He said if that were the case, they would ask for more today. He said he would appreciate consideration of this rezoning request as not part of an ongoing request. He said this piece of property is not of use to the farm. He said it's a piece they don't need anymore and they need the revenue from it. Yapp clarified that the Fringe Area map does not constitute a rezoning, that it is a future land use designation. He said the rezoning would be an additional step. Public discussion closed. Hansen asked if the high point of topography are right at the lines they want to include. He said what impact is that going to have on the City sewer system in the future. Holecek said it seems there is a factual contention as to where the actual watershed line is. She said according to Seydel, the line that is supposed to show the watershed line is erroneous. Seydel said he had spent 50 years of his life in planning; 20 in the army and 20 with the City. He said the line is an approximate line. He said if you use the topography maps; the geological maps you would find that that line is off by 300 or 400 feet. Yapp said the long-range growth boundary line is based on the ultimate watershed of the City. It was determined by the City's engineering staff, based on topographical maps. He said it is true that as the City grows closer to that line, they would have a better idea of where that line is exactly. He agreed it is an approximation. Seydel said the high point is the entrance to the Arabian farm. Yapp said it is based on the engineering staffs determination of what area can be sewered, which may not always be the exact high point. He said it shouldn't be taken as an exact line. Bovbjerg said what the Commission is looking at is a change or retention of the aspects of the Fringe Area Agreement. She said there are two areas that have been suggested for change. MOTION: Chait moved to accept the map change at the Highway 1/Highway 218 intersection to reflect the commercial and residential land uses anticipated and already being used as such. Schintler seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Ehrhardt said when she originally voted on this in August, her vote was based on the recommendations of the joint committee and the City's land use policy, which is to focus commercial at intersections. She said now they are being asked to change that. She said she would like to work out a compromise but that she is having trouble finding a credible rationale for adding the two quarter-quarter sections to be designated commercial. She said squaring off does not appeal to her as a rationale. She said five or ten years from now when there are different owners that would come and ask for the property west of the Donovan's be zoned commercial and they have to look back and say there was a reason why it wasn't approved. She said just to say it's next to other commercial is not a sound reason because it could just go on and on. She said as far as swapping, they don't know what the demand in the future will be. Shannon asked if the Commission was going to deal with the Donovan's 16 acres separately. Bovbjerg said that is the property the County was proposing be added to tl~e commercial. Holecek asked Shannon if he was asking if they were go{ng to make separate motions for the north and the south parts. Shannon said it seemed like it was presented as two separate things. Bovbjerg said the change in the map includes both of them, so for the sake of a motion, they would either be keeping the map or changing it to include both of them. Planning and Zoning Commission " November 2, 2000 Page 11 Holecek said an amendment to the motion would be confusing. She said if you entertained a concept of changing the original recommendation, you would vote no on this motion. This motion is saying no change. Schintler said she does favor setting aside this area for development but she doesn't agree with the swap. She said she feels that the parcels of land in the eastern quadrants of the interchange can be used. She. is not in favor of adding the two quarter-quarters. She said she's afraid if they do that, it will be continual. Hartsen said he hadn't heard anything that convinced him that a change needs to be made right now. He said it started out as one Eyman piece and then a second Eyman piece and now that they have a water and waste system, you could add more. He said the Commission's efforts should be focused on the intersection and not moving up Herbert Hoover Highway. Without any projections of what the County needs for future commercial land use he can't see any reason to do it right now. Chait said the arguments made are compelling for developing this area commercial. He said the Commission voted against the first Eyman and voted against the second Eyman rezoning primarily because they wanted to keep the area as it was, which was agricultural. He said the County chose to start developing this area by approving those. He said the arguments he is hearing about how development happens; the second Eyman zoning makes sense because it is an extension of the first. He said if someone showed him how the 16 acres would be developed, he would be much more willing to consider that rezoning if he could see what it was going to be. He said one of the things the Commission has not done is rezone land without knowing what irs going to be and how irs going to be developed and without having some control over the end product. He said he likes where the County is going with their village concept and developing the intersections of the Interstate and thinks thars a good plan. He said the distinction between what the County is proposing now and what he is in favor of is concentrating the commercial development at the intersection of Herbert Hoover Highway and Interstate 80.' He said Utah Avenue just happens to run right through the middle of that. He said where he differs philosophically from the County planners, is if additional land is going to happen for commercial development in the County, that is going to be appropriate on the interchange, regardless of what roads are already there, rather than down on Sand Road nowhere near the Interstate. He said the issue is fairly general. It is a land use plan; it's part of the comprehensive plan. He said he still likes to think of it as a color blob map, which is more general and philosophical than specific. Herbert Hoover Highway is called local road and to start to rezone land and expand commercial into that local area is the philosophy that he is against. He said if they are going to have that kind of development he would much rather see it at the intersection of Scott. He said to set a context of what the Commission believes in philosophically, he is voting against changing anything right now. He said it is possible for the County to get what they want, but not without coming in with a rezoning and a specific plan and specific use. He said it is important to him to not allow commercial development to start coming west on Herbert Hoover Highway. He said the Donovans indicated that they need the money from selling the land. He said the Commission does not address that kind of issue at all. Bovbjerg said the Fringe Area Agreement before with the Commercial designation around the interchange compactly would be the best way to show land use in that area at this time. She said whether new ideas or circumstances would change that is for the future. She said she prefers the original squared off designation. She said the Fringe Area Agreement has a good clause for amendment for resolving disagreements on these kinds of things. MOTION: Chait moved that the commercial designation at Herbert Hoover Highway/Interstate 80 interchange remain as originally proposed and not be amended as recommended by the Board of Supervisors. Schintler seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. Bovbjerg asked when this would go to the City Council. Yapp said it would go on the November 21, 2000 City Council agenda. Chait asked if a future rezoning were applied for in this area, would the County consider that. Rick Dvorak, County Plannin.cl and Zoninq Administrator, said their policy from the County Attorney has been very emphatic and they do not want to do what past Boards of Supervisors have done. He said if Planning and Zoning Commission November 2, 2000 Page 12 they have a Fringe Area Agreement in place, they want to honor that. He said there is a provision that he put in that would allow the City and County to try to agree to disagree. Holecek said sometimes there are rezoning applications that come in and aren't consistent with the City's particular comprehensive plan but they are a good land use plan, so they have passed rezonings along with an amendment to the comprehensive plan, which would not be unlike what they are talking about here. If a request for a rezoning were to come in, the City could consider, and the County could also consider an amendment to the Fringe Area Agreement and support the rezoning. Chair said given a specific development plan, the Commission could consider that and there would be a mechanism to consider something that concrete. Holecek said the Commission is bound by law to consider rezoning application once someone makes the application. Dvorak said they did include that language in the Fringe Area Agreement. He said they currently do have an individual that does want to buy this land as of today. He said he wants to put a business out there. .. Dvorak told him not to even make an application at this time until this is resolved with the County and the City. Beasley said if an application comes in for the 15 acres and it's not designated as CP2 on the Fringe Agreement and the City would like it to be rezoned, then there's a requirement that there is a committee involving the City to work through the process. Chait said based on what he and the Commission know now, they don't want to change anything. He said the question was if things changed, the City and County could go back and change things. Beasley said yes that is possible. CONSIDERATION OF THE OCTOBER 5, 2000 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: MOTION: Osland moved to approve the minutes of the October ~i, 2000 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as written. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 7-0. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:24 p.m. Dean Shannon, Secretary Minutes submitted by Diane Crossett ppdadm/minlp&zl 1-2-OQdoc MINUTES NOVEMBER 16, 2000 - 7:30 P.M. CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Pam Ehrhardt, Jerry Hansen, Marilyn Schintler, Dean Shannon MEMBERS ABSENT: Benjamin Chait, Norm Osland STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Holecek, Karen Howard, Bob Miklo OTHERS PRESENT: Olin Lloyd CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Bovbjerg called the meeting to order at 7:36 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was nolne. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Bovbjerg said there are several vacancies on City Boards and Commissions and a list is available on the bulletin board in the Civic Center lobby. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN/REZONING ITEMS: Discussion of setting a Public Hearing for December 7, 2000 on an amendment to the ComprehenSive Plan, South District Plan, to change the land use plan for the area south of Napoleon Park and west of South Gilbert Street from multi-family residential and public open space to public/institutional (approximately 21 acres) and commercial (approximately 2 acres) and to depict the general location of an east-west arterial street, which will connect Gilbert Street to the west side of the Iowa River. Howard said the first item on the agenda is related to the second item. The application is in two parts. The first part is to amend several specific items in the South District Plan and the second item is to request a rezone of Olin Lloyd's 2-acre property south of the Iowa City Public Works complex. In the first part, staff acknowledges there are a number of issues that need to be revisited in regard to the South District Plan. However, she said this item relates to the properties directly south of Napoleon Lane and west of Gilbert Street. She referred to the map. She said the rezoning request to commercial is inconsistent with the current South District Plan. The South District Plan currently shows the area being discussed as multi-family and townhouses. She said a number of things have changed since the South District Plan was adopted. She said Iowa City purchased about 21 acres from Lloyd to develop the public works facility. The second change is that during the planning for the South Central District, there was a study done to determine the best place for building an arterial across the Iowa River. From that study, it was determined that the place just south of Lloyd's property was the best place to cross the river. She said that while there are plans to build this arterial, it will be 10 or 15 years before it gets built. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes November lIP, 2000 Page 2 Howard said that leaves 2 acres that are developable but probably no longer suitable for residential. She said it may be more suitable for commercial development given that a major arterial will be built south of the property and will intersect with Gilbert Street, creating a major intersection. Staff recommends making changes to the South District Plan to reflect these changes. She said the second part of the application is a request to rezone Lloyd's 2-acre parcel to Community Commercial, CC-2. She said if the plan is amended to reflect commercial in that area, the Commission needs to consider whars happening around that 2 acres. She said one concern with rezoning the 2 acres to commercial is how it interfaces with the residential development that may happen across the-street. Another consideration is that when the arterial street is built this would become a major entryway into Iowa City. Staff recommends coming to an agreement with Lloyd on a Conditional Zoning Agreement with some design guidelines for when that property is developed, to ensure that it would be compatible with future residential development in the area and provide for an attractive entrance into Iowa City. Howard said in summary, staff recommends that the South District Plan be amended as follows: 1) Change the designation of the 21-acre City-owned property south of Napoleon Lane from "Apartments" and "Townhouses" to "Institutional/Public;" 2) Change the designation of Olin Lloyd's two-acre parcel located directly south of the Public Works Complex from "Townhouses" to "General Commercial;" and 3) Change the South District Land Use Scenario to reflect the correct alignment of the South Central arterial. Staff also recommends that REZ00-00021, a request to rezone 2 acres of property located along South Gilbert Street approximately 900 feet south of Napoleon Lane from Interim Development Multifamily Residential (ID-RM) to Community Commercial (CC-2) be approved, subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement that would ensure that any plans for development of the parcel would be compatible with future residential development in the area and the entranceway to Iowa City. At a minimum this agreement should address landscaping and screening requirements, building placement and location of parking, and the location and number of street access points. Ehrhardt asked the City's intent for the property west of Lloyd's two acres. Howard said right now irs listed as a possible expansion area for the Public Works Facility. Ehrhardt asked if there were plans to sell that off as future commercial. Miklo said not at this time. Ehrhardt asked if it would just be left wild. Miklo said they could check with Public Works, that he assumed it would be left as an open field. Ehrhardt asked if you take away open space designated in the South District Plan, does the City find another place that can be used as additional open space. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes November li~, 2000 Page 3 Miklo said the reason that area west of the Public Works Facility was designated as open space was because of the low ground and there was no suitable use for that area. He said the designation was not based on a need for open space to serve the neighborhood population, therefore staff was not proposing additional open space to compensate for this area. Schintler asked if a partial street would be built until the planned arterial is built. Miklo said the only access would be to Gilbert Street until the arterial is built. Hartsen asked why staff thinks the 2-acre parcel is unsuitable for residential now, when there is residential across the street. Howard said the 2-acre parcel is adjacent to the Public Works facility, which has truck and auto uses, and on the south side it will be adjacent to the major arterial. She said the residential across Gilbert Street would have buffering and a 40-foot setback. Miklo .said the property across the street is much larger to allow for buffering. Hartsen said a Conditional Zoning Agreement begins to address his concerns, but he is very hesitant because if it were a developer asking for this, the Commission would want solid plans of what is going to happen on that piece of property. He said they've discussed that it may be a Handi-Mart, and yet in the proposed conditions it says clearly defined pedestrian routes between businesses and uses within the development, and that doesn't sound like a Handi-Mart on this corner. He asked if staff knew what was going to be there. Miklo said no. He said staff didn't say there was going to be a Handi-Mart. They said the South District Plan called for a convenience retail on the edge of the neighborhood, and this might be a location for that. He said the idea that it might be a convenience store was just speculation. Hartsen said he wonders what is really going to be there. Miklo said that is why they have a zoning ordinance that allows a series of uses and gives criteria for where properties should be zoned for those uses. He said they don't always know what's going in when properties are zoned. He said the Comprehensive Plan calls for a comprehensive land use plan for various areas of the City and then puts zoning in place before development occurs so people have an idea of what might happen in the future without knowing what the exact business will be. Hansen asked if they would be treating this differently if this were a developer asking for this change. Miklo said he didn't know if the Commission would be treating it differently, but staff has certainly come before the Commission and recommended approval of commercial developments without knowing the exact business, when they have felt that the location warranted such a use. Hansen said he wasn't objecting to what is proposed here if irs a convenience store, but he objects to the approach. He said there is a lot of uncertainty of what this is going to be. He said they have changed this plan a lot, and he is wondering how far they should take it before they revisit the South District Plan. Bovbjerg asked Hansen if it would help if legal gave background on how the Commission has looked at changes with Conditional Zoning Agreements and what protection that gives for the uncertainty he has. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes November 11~, 2000 Page 4 Hansen said he wants to make sure they are playing on a level playing field where everyone plays by the same rules. He doesn't want the City playing by one set of rules and developers playing by another. Holecek said what the City has done with Conditional Zoning Agreements, such as commercial zoning at Scott 6 Industrial Park, was to include screening requirements like masonry facades and screening of outside mechanical equipment. She said they did not require site plans. She said depending on the size of the parcel, site plans may be required. Miklo said a building of 10,000 square feet requires a major site plan, and under that requires a minor site plan. Holecek said it is not unusual for the City to zone commercial property without having an actual plan. She said the way it is done is through conditional requirements that build in site design standards so when something does go in there those requirements have to be met. The Conditional Zoning Agreement is a covenant running with the land so any transfer sale of title also follows that. She said anyone who develops it at any time needs to comply with the Conditional Zoning Agreement, Miklo said there are two types of rezonings that the Commission deals with. Most are reactlye, in response to property owners who want to build and need rezoning to accomplish that. The other type is proactive, based on comprehensive planning, which includes zoning different parcels for different uses. He said an example of that is Windsor Ridge, where the City zoned an area for neighborhood commercial and medium-density residential based on the criteria of the comprehensive plan. This was done long before the developer had specific plans for the area. Bovbjerg said this item can be deferred for two more meetings if necessary. She said parcels coming in with the zoning or changing with conditions on them is the way the City can make sure that irs compatible with surroundings. She said the conditions should be looked over very carefully before the next meeting. She said the South District Plan has changed a lot, and now it's the Commission's task to say in general is this a good way to use the land which is now next to Public Works. Hansen asked who owns the ground south of the two acres. Howard said the City owns the right of way and a small parcel south of the 2 acres, and south of that is the sand extraction site. Hansen asked if any of that was buildable land. Miklo said some of it may be but it would be very difficult to build on. He said it was the consensus of the citizens that participated in the South District Plan that because of the lakes there, that maybe some recreational use could be made of those. Hansen said it could be a very valuable corner because of the major arterial. He said he was very uncomfortable with this. Ehrhardt asked if the sidewalk would continue on. Howard said yes. Ehrhardt asked if screening requirements would be for both sides of the Public Works Facility. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes November 1 ~, 2000 Page 5 Howard said yes, if that's how the Commission wanted the Conditional Zoning Agreement to read. Shannon asked about the Public Works Facility sketch, and said it looked like they would be housing the majority of their equipment and vehicles indoors. Public discussion: Olin LIovd, 560th Street SE, Iowa Citv, said as he understands, a lot of different things would fit in the CC-2 zoning. He said not just Handi-Marts but tea houses, bars and restaurants. He asked Miklo what else. Miklo said it is a retail zone that allows retail uses, offices, or a gas station if approved by the Board of Adjustment. He said the Commission may want to look at the CC-2 uses in the zoning ordinance before the next meeting. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Hansen moved to set a Public Hearing for December 7, 2000 on an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, South District Plan, to change the land use plan for the area south of Napoleon Park and west of South Gilbert Street from multi-family residential and public open space to public/institutional {approximately 21 acres) and commercial (approximately 2 acres) and to depict the general location of an east-west arterial street, which will connect Gilbert Street to the west side of the Iowa River. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 5-0. Hansen asked how the Public Hearing would be advertised. Miklo said they have sent a mailing to anyone who participated in the South District planning process and to those who showed interest after that was adopted, and in the Press-Citizen as an item pending before the Commission. The Commission's agenda is also on the cable channel and the City websites. Hansen asked if they could do a mailing to three of the neighborhood associations that would be very interested in what happens in the South District Plan -- South Point, Wetherby and Pepperwood. He said it has been three years since the South District Plan, and everyone that lives there should know that their plan is being amended. Miklo said they would work with Marcia Klingaman, the Neighborhood Services Coordinator, to see if they could get a mailing out. Ehrhardt suggested involving Project Green for input on the Conditional Zoning Agreement. She said one thing they have encouraged is low-maintenance landscaping because in the entryways trees are planted and then not taken care of, so they die and no one replaces them, Bovbjerg asked Ehrhardt to contact them about the Public Hearing. MOTION: Shannon moved to defer the application submitted by the City of Iowa City to rezone 2 acres of property located west of South Gilbert Street south of Napoleon Lane (Olin Lloyd parcel) from Interim Development Multi-family Residential (ID-RM) to Community Commercial (CC-2). Schintler seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes November 116, 2000 Page 6 Shannon said he thinks it might be a very good use for this land. He said maybe commercial is the best use for this land. He said he wants to see the Commission be flexible with the Comprehensive Plans and allow for change. Schintler said since it is only two acres, it will narrow down the possible uses. CONSIDERATION OF THE NOVEMBER 2, 2000 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES: Miklo distributed new copy of the minutes with editorial changes. MOTION: Ehrhardt moved to defer approval of the minutes of the November 2, 2000 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as written. Hansen seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Dean Shannon, Secretary Minutes submitted by Diane Crossett ppdadrNmiNp&zl 1-16-00.doc DECEMBER 7, 2000 7:30 P.M. ! ~;~.;CE.t ~8 ,~: - 0 CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBERS ! MEMBERS PRESENT: Ann Bovbjerg, Pam Ehrhardt, Jerry Hansen, Marilyn Schintler, Dean Shannon, Benjamin Chait MEMBERS ABSENT: Norm Osland STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Holecek, Karen Howard, Bob Miklo, Scott Kugler OTHERS PRESENT: Terry Stamper, Irvin Pfab, Larry Schnittjer, Charles Greaves, Michael Sondergard RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: Recommended approval, by a vote of 6-0, an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, South District Plan, to change the land use plan for the area south of Napoleon Park and west of South Gilbert Street from multi-family residential and public open space to public/institutional (approximately 21 acres) and commercial (approximately 2 acres) and to depict the general location of an east-west arterial street, which will connect Gilbert Street to the west side of the Iowa River. Recommended approval, by a vote of 6-0, an application submitted by the City of Iowa City to rezone 2 acres of property located west of South Gilbert Street south of Napoleon Lane from Interim Development Multi-family Residential (ID-RM) to Community Commercial (CC-2) subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement which addresses landscaping, building placement, parking, and location and number of street access points. Recommended approval, by a vote of 6-0, an application from Thomas Wegman for a preliminary plat of Prairie View Estates, Part Four a 30.86 acre, 21 lot residential subdivision, located north of 1-80, east of Prairie Du Chien Road, subject to the improvements for Syril Street being completed prior to building permits being issued for any lots in Part Four, and subject to the approval of a grading plan by Public Works and preliminary approval of the proposed well and water distribution systems and on-site waste water treatment systems by the Johnson County Department of Health prior to Council consideration to the plat. Recommended approval, by a vote of 6-0, an application submitted by Frantz Construction for a final plat of Hollywood Manor Part 7, a 5.32 acre, 20-lot residential subdivision located west of Sycamore Street, south of Burns Avenue, subject to legal papers and construction plans being approved prior to City Council consideration. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Bovbjerg called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Bovbjerg said there are several vacancies on City Boards and Commissions and a list is available on the bulletin board in the Civic Center lobby. ZONING/DEVELOPMENT ITEMS: REZ00-00022/SUB00-00026. Discussion of a revised Sensitive Areas Development Plan and preliminary plat for the Peninsula Neighborhood, an 82.1 acre, 210-1ot residential development containing approximately 386 dwelling units on property located at the west end of Foster Road. Kugler said this is an application for a revised Sensitive Areas Development Plan and preliminary plat for the Peninsula Neighborhood. Along with the development plan is a request to adopt the Peninsula Neighborhood Code to establish zoning variations for this planned development. He said the plan the Commission is looking at is a refinement of the plan submitted by Dover Kohl in July 1998. The Dover Kohl plan was adopted earlier this year as a preliminary sensitive areas development Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 2 plan for this property. At that time, approval was granted for up to 400 dwelling units on this site. He said with the adoption of the concept plan by the City Council and the preliminary plan earlier this year, the City has indicated acceptance of the idea of creating a traditional neighborhood on this property and the design elements that define this type of development and has established the density as approximately 5 units per acre or less. The design elements include higher densities and smaller building lots, a diverse mix of housing types, reduced building setbacks creating a more defined street corridor, slightly narrower streets, the use of alleys for vehicular access to most properties, and an overall emphasis on creating a pedestrian oriented development on this property. Kugler said the City currently owns the Peninsula property and is working in coordination with the developer to refine a plan for the creation of a traditional neighborhood on the property. With the general acceptance of this concept by the Commission and the City Council, the City and the developer entered into an agreement that outlines the process by which the property will be transferred to the developer and development will occur. The City has initiated this application, with the neighborhood plan and code being compiled by the developer and when final plats are approved for each stage, the property will be transferred to the developer at that time. The proposed development plan illustrates a total of 210 building lots and that number may change as the design is being refined. He said this would be on the agenda for the December 21, 2000 meeting and staff hopes to have everything in place to be voted on at that time. One of the lots is reserved for a public or community building as indicated on the Dover Kohl plan. That site sets at the southeast end of Emma Harvat Square, which would be the town square. The rest of the lots are residential while allowing some commercial activities like home offices. Building types have been designated for all of the lots and lot sizes have been determined. He said per the developer's agreement up to 400 dwelling units will be allowed. The Peninsula Neighborhood Code sets forth standards for the placement and scale of buildings on lots within the neighborhood. It establishes the variations that would be granted through this planned development to the requirements of the underlying RS-5 zone that will allow this development to occur. The code establishes standards that regulate placement of buildings on the lot, placement of parking on the lot, and build-to lines that require buildings be built up to the street to create the kind of environment that is intended here and for building type. Kugler showed on the overhead some of the details of the standards. He said there is also a regulating plan that determines the build-to lines and type of buildings allowed on what lots. As final plats are approved the regulating plan will be brought in with more detail. The variations that are proposed to the zoning are included in the plan the Commission has. In addition, there will be a set of covenants or deed restrictions that will establish architectural guidelines and landscaping standards to help ensure attractive streetscapes and maintain private open space on most of the lots. The design and layout of the proposed neighborhood is generally consistent with the Dover Kohl plan. One exception is at the northwest end of the site. The Dover Kohl plan showed this street as a single- loaded street with visual access to the wooded ravine that lies between this area and the Iowa River. The current plan shows this as a double-loaded street with an additional 6 building lots to be located on the northwest side of the road. There is a conservation easement on those lots that would restrict development to the top of that ridge. Staff feels this is a minor change since there will be plenty of areas where there is access to public space whether it be physical access in some areas or visual access. The second change is the inclusion of "bungalow" lots. They are small lots, which would be occupied by one small single family house, normally a one bedroom dwelling of 700 or 800 square feet. This is new to the Dover Kohl plan and would need some zoning variations to make that happen. These would be located along a pedestrian street rather than a typical vehicular street. Kugler said as far as zoning code variations; a series of code variations were adopted along with the Dover Kohl plan earlier this year. At that time staff tried to identify as many variations as they thought would be needed. Additional variations will be needed and a cleaner list will be available for the December 21, 2000 meeting. They deal with height limitations, building coverage on some lots, frontage on some lots, lot width and elimination of rear, front and side yards in lieu of building envelopes that establish a buildable area. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 3 There may be a few lots for which off-street parking requirements cannot be met. Some of those situations are being remedied by design modification for instance the 16-foot wide units may be replaced with 18-foot units to allow two off-street parking spaces so that requirement can be met. The other situation is the bungalow lots and a few of the affordable housing lots, which are being reserved in the neighborhood. Staff feels it may be appropriate to look at a code amendment for either of these since the bungalow lots may require only one parking space. He said at this point every zoning code provision can be amended through the planned development process except for parking and in this situation an amendment to the parking code may be appropriate also. He said there are a couple of areas where development will encroach into protected slope buffers. The sensitive areas ordinance does allow for that as long as engineers can ensure that the stability of the slope won't be impacted. Staff is waiting for more information from the developer on that issue. There are ten percent of the units in the development that are being set aside for affordable housing available to the Housing Authority and other organizations and those are noted on the plan. Regarding preliminary plat issues, staff has been discussing alley and street standards with the developer to determine whether the connection to the north needs to be a street connection or if an alley connection is sufficient. Storm water management is being handled through a series of basins on the upper part of the peninsula as well as a series of basins on the lower part and Public Works will be looking at those plans to ensure all requirements are being met. Kugler said for this development a total of 1.81 acres of open space is required to be dedicated to the public. Approximately 11,247 square feet of open space is provided in Emma Harvat Square. In addition, there will be some dedicated space along the trail entry, to the lower peninsula park. Staff recommends deferral pending resolution of a number of technical deficiencies contained on the plat. Upon resolution of these items, staff recommends approval of the plan. Kugler noted the City received a letter on December 7, 2000 from an attorney representing the Elks Club expressing concerns and protesting the development. Schintler asked at what point the fire department is involved in looking at the plan. Kugler said the fire department is involved and the City has had recent discussions with them. Schintler expressed concern about the traffic calming areas and whether those would be a hindrance to the fire department. Kugler said that is being looked at and before the Commission is allowed to vote those issues will be taken care of. Shannon asked if it was correct that garbage pickup would be from the alleys. Kugler said the developer is interested in having the garbage picked up from the alley. Shannon said the City had done away with alley garbage pickup in other parts of Iowa City because the City didn't plow snow from the alleys. He wondered how that would affect the rest of the City if alley pick up were done here. Kugler said the peninsula plan all along has been a demonstration project in which the City would be trying some new things and retrying some old things. He said they are working with Public Works to make sure they can get their trucks in there and they hope to have a commitment from them. The alleys are being designed with a pavement thickness that will withstand the weight of the trucks. He said he doubted whether this would be applied city wide unless other alleys were improved to handle the trucks. Miklo said the snow removal might be done by the Home Qwner's Association instead of the City. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 4 Ehrhardt had a concern with The Peninsula Neighborhood Code and it's mention of a architectural review board. The code states that the City would establish and empower this board but appointed by the developer. Holecek said she had concerns with the code also and legal staff will be working on that in the next two weeks. She said this document is not in a codifiable form. She said code states that the architectural review board would not become part of the City zoning ordinance, so there are some glitches to be worked out. Ehrhardt said she did not like changing the definition of accessory units. She could see changing the code for this particular development. She said she is for the live/work units but is uncomfortable with calling them accessory units. Miklo said it is in the bigger code amendment which will be discussed with the code consultant to do just that, so accessory units for owner occupied dwellings could be permitted without a restriction that they be elderly or handicapped. He said it is a code amendment that the City has been considering for some time and that is why he thinks it makes sense here. Ehrhardt said she questions where code says business of a live/work unit could be 50% of the ground floor. She said that seems restrictive if you have residence upstairs and can only have half of the ground floor for business. Kugler said that is a means to control the scale of office and commercial uses. He said he's not sure where that came from; that it may be a question for the developer. Bovbjerg asked about the letter protesting the neighborhood peninsula, which is dated December 7, 2000. She asked how long the City has been working on this project. Kugler said since July 1998. He said earlier this year before the preliminary development was approved and density was established, neighboring property owners were notified. Bovbjerg said there were already two golf holes that were changed because of this. Kugler said that was part of the agreement that was reached when the City realigned Foster Road. Bovbjerg said that was because this development was going to be built. Kugler said the City could have built the road with the old alignment but it would have been an unsafe situation because it was going between two golf holes. He said the City reached an agreement with the Elks Club to build the road over taking out two of their holes and in exchange they were granted land to build two new holes. Bovbjerg said given that history, why were they getting this letter. Holecek said she thought Bovbjerg was trying to make a point on timing. She said there has been a long history between the City and Elks with regards to the planning of this area and the intent of how this area was to be developed, including the construction of Foster Road, etc. There was a rezoning approved for this property such that density rights and development rights already have been vested for this property. Now the City is revising the sensitive areas plan to deal with technicalities of where grading will take place and where buildings will be located. She said she is not sure if they are protesting the way environment concerns are being addressed which would be an appropriate point of a protest at this point. She said if it's related to density, it is probably too late. Bovbjerg said she feels it's a protest against the whole plan. Holecek said it appears to be. Chait said it would be accurate to say that the history between the City and the Elks Club has been adversarial. Holecek said they had reached resolution short of litigation. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 5 Kugler said this is a rezoning application and as an adjacent property owner they have the right to file a protest whether the City Council or the Commission agrees with it is another question. He said it does not affect the Commission's vote because a simple majority approves or a lack of majority denies a rezoning request. He said it comes into play at the City Council level where, if a formal protest is submitted by an adjacent property owner and that property encompasses twenty percent of the surrounding area then a super majority vote would be needed by the City Council. Chair said for perspective, he feels this letter is not out of the blue. Bovbjerg said since they surround the development they certainly meet the 20 percent. Holecek said no it was not certain that was the case. She said they will be able calculate that. She said it is not relevant to requiring a super majority of the Commission but of course public concerns are always the concern of the Commission. Kugler said they have indicated they wish to file a formal protest. Before it goes to the City Council, the City will do calculations to see if the twenty percent threshold has been met. Public discussion: Terry Stamper, 1712 Lewis Place, Iowa City, said what Kugler outlined as items that need to be finished by the December 21, 2000 meeting are a matter of the plan catching up to the compromises that have been made. He said the code has been gone over in great detail and there are some discrepancies in the language that need to be cleaned up. He said it does not mean there are a lot of issues out there. He said he had meetings with the Elks Club early on. They were interested in building a new clubhouse and Stamper offered to let them do that as part of the town square and they seemed excited about it at the time but never followed up. He said he talked to the directors of the Elks Club and no one seemed unhappy with the project at that time; they all seemed quite happy with it and said that new residents in the area might lead to increased membership. Bovbjerg said she had concerns with affordable housing being clumped together but those concerns were satisfied at the informal meeting. She asked about certain building types requiring porches. Stamper said you want to have predictability of outcome. He said for the project to turn out really well, you have to think in terms of every house and what's next to it, what's across from it and what you see at the end of the block when you drive down the street. He said you prescribe architecture and prescribe outcome and that's where the code comes in. Bovbjerg said the buildings are being designed for the whole place. She said there is some leeway for each type, but whoever builds it will have to adhere to some standards as far as size and shape. Stareper said yes they would have to adhere to the code. Bovbjerg said in some ways controlled communities control behavior. She said she's concerned how controlled that is for instance can you hang clothes out in the backyard. Stareper said those documents have not been written yet. This code deals with the basic layout of the place. He said there would be a Home Owner's Association Code that deals with those issues. He said the most fundamental idea here is for community. He said by design you can encourage behaviors, which in turn have the chance of creating community. Bovbjerg said she was pleased with the landscaping that allowed for variation of cover and personal expression while still blending with other people. Ehrhardt asked about the increase of buildable area on the lots and therefore decreasing the backyard. Stamper said in traditional neighborhood development you get less backyard in exchange for better streets and open spaces. He said the emphasis is on the public realm while still recognizing the need for Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 6 private space. He said it's hard to get both. Stamper said when you have small spaces and smaller backyards, they become true gardens. Irvin Pfab, 505 East Jefferson Street #1, Iowa City, said he was looking at the compliance with the Dover Kohl plan and concerned with access to public land. He asked what changed on Walker Drive. He asked if moving houses back from Walker Drive denies access to public ground. Kugler pointed out on overhead slight variations between original plan and present plan. Pfab asked how much public land was taken away. He asked how large the open space is in Phase 3. He asked how you would get to open space. Kugler showed existing and potential trails. Pfab asked what if someone wanted to tramp through the woods, where would they do that. Kugler showed various locations. Stareper said there is about 150 acres available to the public. Bovbjerg said she would still like to see a trail from lots 9, 10 and 11. She assumes there will be very careful engineering by the City due to allowing buildings on slopes. She said she also wants it to be easy to access public spaces rather than tromp through someone's lot. Stamper said they did not encroach on more land; they just pulled the whole road back. He said there is lots of access to open space. He said you would only have to go a block or two from anywhere to get to open space. Stareper said any part that is in the conservation easement, cannot be built upon even if it is part of someone's property. He said there are some open places where you wouldn't want a lot of traffic that would disturb the natural environment. He said they did not cover the place with trails; the trails are in the obvious places. Shannon said there is lots of open space in the development but some of the wooded area is not for walking through because of tree density. He said he hopes they preserve that. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Ehrhardt moved to defer REZ00-000221SUB00-00026, revised Sensitive Areas Development Plan and preliminary plat for the Peninsula Neighborhood, an 82.1 acres, 210-1ot residential development containing approximately 386 dwelling units on property located at the west end of Foster Road. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN/REZQNING ITEMS: Public Hearing on an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, South District Plan, to change the land use plan for the area south of Napoleon Park and west of South Gilbert Street from multi-family residential and public open space to public/institutional (approximately 21 acres) and commercial (approximately 2 acres) and to depict the general location of an east-west arterial street, which will connect Gilbert Street to the west side of the Iowa River. Howard reiterated the staff recommendation. Staff recommends the South District Plan be amended to reflect a change in the 21 acres from apartments and townhouses to institutional/public to reflect the Iowa City Public Works complex and to change the 2-acres Olin Lloyd parcel directly south of Public Works to general commercial and to change the South District Land Use Scenario to reflect the general alignment of the South Central Arterial. Ehrhardt asked about conditional zoning options that were discussed. Howard said that would be part of next item. Public discussion open: Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000. Page 7 Pfab asked about location of future arterial. Miklo and Howard showed location and route. Pfab asked if intent was to go from residential to commercial on Olin Lloyd property. Howard said yes because of Public Works facility and some other changes to the South District Plan, they feel that parcel is better suited for commercial. Pfab asked if a beltway was planned around that area to relieve traffic from Highway 6. Miklo said no the plan is not for a beltway, it's for an arterial street. Bovbjerg asked for clarification of the route of the arterial on the overhead, Howard said this arterial route was discussed and decided on during planning for the South Central District. Bovbjerg said the map is confusing in that it looks as if arterial continues on but in fact it stops at Gilbert and driver would have option of going north or south. Howard said that is correct and if South District Plan is amended the South District Map will reflect that. Hansen asked about road east of Lloyd property. Howard said in original plan there was some concept of a street heading into the residential area to the east. She said the alignment is offset because they do not want a cut-through into that neighborhood. Pfab asked about the angle of the arterial not being 90 degrees. Howard said when the street is planned; those types of things would be taken into consideration. Miklo said the map is purposefully vague to show it's a concept plan. Pfab asked what the point is of making the changes now. Larry Schnittier, 1917 South Gilbert, Iowa City, said when they worked on the drawings for the Public Works facility they left plenty of frontage on Gilbert Street to allow for some movement of the intersection. There is ground available to make the intersection ninety degrees if that is desirable. Pfab asked what the concern is of changing the Lloyd property when it's in such a vague state right now. Schnittjer said it was his understanding that those were the conditions made with the City by Lloyd that he was to retain two acres and get some sort of zoning on it. Holecek said there is of course no contract that says the City will agree to any specific zoning on this property. It says the City may make an application on behalf of Mr. Lloyd but it does not guarantee any type of zoning to Mr. Lloyd. She said we are not talking about that as a quid pro quo in any sort of agreement with Mr. Lloyd. It goes properly through the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council as a rezoning. Holecek said Lloyd retained two acres when the City purchased the remainder of that parcel. At that time it was anticipated that he would make an application for a rezoning. The City could not in that agreement guarantee that he would get a rezoning that was desirable to him but he was of course free to make an application. Pfab said he thought he understood the City would make the application. Holecek said it is made by the City on Lloyd's behalf. Public discussion closed. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 8 MOTION: Shannon moved to approve an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, South District Plan, to change the land use plan for the area south of Napoleon Park and west of South Gilbert Street from multi-family residential and public open space to public/institutional (approximately 21 acres) and commercial (approximately 2 acres) and to depict the general location of an east-west arterial street, which will connect Gilbert Street to the west side of the Iowa River. Chait seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. REZ00-0021, an application submitted by the City of Iowa City to rezone 2 acres of property located west of South Gilbert Street south of Napoleon Lane (Olin Lloyd parcel) from Interim Development Multi-family Residential (ID-RM) to Community Commercial (CC-2). Howard said staff recommends that REZ00-0021 be approved subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement to ensure that any plans for development of the parcel would be compatible with future residential development in the area and as an entranceway to Iowa City. At a minimum, this agreement should address landscaping and screening requirements, building placement and location of parking, and the location and number of street access points. Bovbjerg said the Commission had been given a list of thinking points for a Conditional Zoning Agreement which they were to decide whether to add to or subtract from. Hansen said he is not in agreement with rezoning to CC-2. Holecek suggested that public input might guide the Commission on what issues should be addressed in CZA. Hansen asked what Hills Bank is zoned. Miklo said CC-2. Public discussion open: Pfab asked what the advantage of rezoning now, unless it's an obligation to Olin Lloyd. Miklo said there is a provision in the Comprehensive Plan that says the City should zone in advance of development and identify areas appropriate for commercial so people buying into that area have an expectation and know what will be across the street or down the block. Holecek said there is no obligation to any particular zone or rezoning. Chait said if this were rezoned, Lloyd could do something here. Holecek said the previous zoning was ID-RM, which is usually a holding pattern for those particular parcels that don't have the appropriate infrastructure, typically sanitary, sewer and water main. With the development of the Public Works facility, that infrastructure is available to the site now. Chair said Pfab was wondering why do this now, but as soon as it's zoned Lloyd can do something with this if he chooses to. Bovbjerg said with a property being zoned ID-RM, it sounds as if it's a zoning change, when actually the ID-RM is a holding zone. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Chait moved to approve REZ00-00021, an application submitted by the City of Iowa City to rezone 2 acres of property located west of South Gilbert Street south of Napoleon Lane (Olin Lloyd parcel) from Interim Development Multi-family Residential (ID-RM) to Community Commercial (CC-2) Conditional Rezoning Agreement which addresses landscaping and screening requirements, building placement and location of parking, and the location and number of street access points. Ehrhardt seconded the motion. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 9 Hansen said his concerns would probably be for the future. He said what they're told is this shouldn't be residential because of the Public Works and truck traffic from that. He said by zoning CC-2 you add more trucks and higher intensity commercial across from residential. He said he wonders why not a CN-1 zone, which is more for neighborhoods and not as intrusive. Ehrhardt asked if Hansen would be more comfortable waiting on this until the South District Plan is reviewed. Hansen said he would like to see the South District Plan revisited before more amendments are made to it. He said he would rather see this as a CN-1 but that requires three acres. He said he wonders why the less intensive zoning requires more area. Miklo said a CN-1 zone is intended to be mixed in a residential neighborhood. With the arterial street, Gilbert Street being improved someday, they feel this is a demarcation between what will be the neighborhood to the east and the west which has the Public Works facility. He said this is not going to be terribly accessible to the neighborhood. He said another reason for a CN zone is for an area where residential surrounds it so there is a market for goods and services that may be found there. He said this parcel is not going to be heavily populated. The residential is all going to be east of here rather than on all sides. He said for those reasons they feel a CC-2 is more appropriate. Hansen said and yet they want a CN-1 to fit into a neighborhood and yet give it a 3-acre requirement. Miklo said that might be something to look at when reviewing codes. He said even if a CN-1 required only one acre, they would question whether it was the best zoning for this parcel given the intersection of two future arterials. Shannon said he supports the CC-2 zoning here because if you look to the north you have that huge City public works yard and no matter how pretty the picture is that's never going to be a nice neighbor. He said now is the time to do it because if there is going to be residential across the street, those people have the right to know what will be there. Ehrhardt asked if staff could see across the street as possibly being commercial rather than townhouses and apartments. Miklo said no. Howard said it would always be true that this part of the neighborhood will be fairly isolated because of the sand dune. She said there are some development constraints in this area. Chair said Hansen is making the distinction that this cannot be CN-1 because it's not 3 acres and staff has said that even if requirement were one acre they would want it to be CC-2. He said based on that he supports the rezoning. Hansen asked if he supports the rezoning without a specific plan. Chait said there would be a Conditional Zoning Agreement. Hansen asked if he were comfortable that would address whatever happened in the future. Chait said those conditions have to be met even if there's no specific plan. Schintler said she supports the rezoning with the conditions. Ehrhardt asked if the "screen exterior mechanical equipment" on the CZA suggestions implies that it will be on both sides. Howard said that change could be made. Ehrhardt asked if the property to the west were sold by the City for commercial; should they put something in for buffering on that side. Miklo said he believed Public Works wants to hold that property for future needs of the City. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 10 Ehrhardt said she had talked to Project Green about the landscaping and their concern about maintenance, but this property would be maintained by the owner. Holecek asked to clarify with Howard the first bullet under landscaping on CZA suggestions whether 10- foot wide planted landscaped area along South Gilbert Street was intended to be on private property or part of the right of way. Howard said it was intended to be on private property. A friendly amendment to the motion was made to include "screen exterior mechanical equipment from all street frontages" on the CZA. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. DEVELOPMENT ITEMS: SUB96-0006, an application from Thomas Wegman for a preliminary plat of Prairie View Estates, Part Four a 30.86 acre, 21 lot residential subdivision, located north of 1-80, east of Prairie Du Chien Road. Kugler said this is a preliminary plat; that the application was filed in 1996. It has been delayed because of the County's delay in improvements to Prairie Du Chien Road and some secondary access provisions that needed to be worked out between the applicant and the County. He said the plat indicates 21 new building lots. The development pattern and size of these lots is generally consistent with the lots created in the first three phases. Access to Part IV will be provided by the extension of Sussex Lane and Kyle Drive. At the end of Kyle Drive there would be a temporary turn- around until such time as that road were extended on to the adjacent property. The roadways would be built to a standard to match the existing roads in the subdivision, which do exceed the standards of a typical rural subdivision. He said providing a secondary access has been a concern. Secondary access provides better circulation for the residents; provides an ingress for emergency vehicles and reduces the impact on existing neighborhoods by distributing traffic to more than one street. Without the secondary access, all traffic would be forced to pass through Kyle Drive. Kugler said in the staff report he had raised some concerns about the storm water management and wastewater treatment. He exchanged emails with the Johnson County Department of Public Health and found out they felt that the outlet from the aquifer was adequate. He said because of the special nature of the septic systems that will be needed, he would recommend approval be subject to approval by the Johnson County Board of Health. He said they are recommending that Syril Street be constructed before homes are built in Phase IV. He said that would allow the process of approval to be completed over the winter and in the spring they could construct Syril Street. Staff recommends approval, subject to the improvements for Syril Street being completed prior to building permits being issued for any lots in Part Four, and subject to the approval of a grading plan by Public Works and preliminary approval of the proposed well and water distribution systems and on-site waste water treatment systems by the Johnson County Department of Health prior to Council consideration to the plat. Kugler said a letter was received from Brett Mohr, a resident of the subdivision, about Syril Street. His concern is whether providing secondary access with Syril Street is worth the risks that would be created at that intersection. Schintler asked if that street had been looked at for safety. Kugler said the design and layout of that street were determined with the platting of Phase I. He said it was supposed to have been constructed at an earlier point as a condition of approval of one of the earlier phases to allow emergency vehicle access to the subdivision. He said that either never happened or it happened and it's not passable now. He said the configuration occurred with Part I; it's not part of this plat. He said they feel it is necessary to provide that second means of access before allowing additional building lots. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 11 Chait asked if that was a violation of something. Holecek said she did not know that it was embodied in any City/Developer agreements. It may be a violation of an agreement between the County and the Developer. Chair verified that it was part of this request. Holecek said yes and it is being tied to building permits. She said the reason they can require the installation of a street that was platted with a different parcel is because it's determined to be a necessary structure to support this development according to the Fringe Area Agreement. Kugler said it had been recommended by staff, for years, that the roadway be installed. Bovbjerg said that Brett Mohr expressed a concern for safety of children along Syril Street. She asked if Syril Street had requirements for necessary sidewalks. Kugler said there are no sidewalks in the subdivision. He said it is a County plat not built to City standards. Bovbjerg said the safety concern then is more traffic when children are catching the bus. Kugler said he was not sure where the bus pickup was. Shannon asked if this area would be affected by the Fringe Area Agreement in place in 1996 or the current one. Kugler said it's an area already zoned RS so it is okay for development according to the Fringe Area Agreement. Bovbjerg asked if the standards go back to whenever the original plat was laid out. Kugler said the streets here still exceed the city/rural standards in place. Chait said the standards are met for Syril Street. He said if it had been done when it was supposed to be done, it wouldn't be an issue because people moving in there would have known it was going to be there. Bovbjerg said it would not be an issue if this had been built in the beginning. Public discussion: Charles Greaves, 1263 Devon Drive NE, Iowa City, asked if any of the runoff from the new development into the old development had been looked at because in the construction of the new development, most of the sites sit uphill from current residences. He asked if anyone has looked into how development of Phase Four would impact the noise buffering of the existing forest that is located between Phase Three and Interstate 80. He said it looks like Phase Four will remove a significant amount of that lorested area. He said traffic can be heard now but at a tolerable level but development will impact the noise level in the neighborhood. Kugler said the County doesn't have a Sensitive Areas Ordinance or anything that would require the protection of those trees. He said he hopes that grading and leveling of those trees would be held to a minimum but there is no ordinance to prevent clear cutting of those trees. He said storm water basins are not required by the County. He said he's not familiar with the water flow there. He said Public Works looks at that with the grading plan. Chair asked if this was a final plat. Kugler said it is a preliminary plat for Phase Four. Chair asked if when Phase One was approved, no one knew the extent of this subdivision. Kugler said he would have to find the original plat to see how extensively it was drawn out. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 12 Chait said that when someone moves into a subdivision they usually have an idea of the entire project and future phases. Holecek said dumping water on a neighbor's property is actionable by civil process. She said there are statutes of protection and remedies for damage done. Greaves said it would be prudent to look at layout of Phase Four to prevent damage being done. He said there is a natural flow of the land that allows for runoff. Holecek said grading would change the contour. Greaves asked if there are any assurances set up by the city or County to prevent those changes from adversely affecting his property prior to damage being done. Holecek said the level of the City's review does not go to the engineer who is actually doing the project. Chair told Greaves that the County has first authority on this property and that is whom he should talk to. Kugler noted that the grading plan and plat do show drainage easements and storm water management areas, but they do not have to be built according to the County standards. Schnittjer said there is a grading and erosion prevention plan on file with the City. It may need some refinements. He said there has been some question of planning since Phase One to this date. He said the general configuration of the streets has been the same and the configuration of the lots has been the same except for removing 2 lots on this plat. Schnittjer said Syril Street is a fiasco that he can't remember everything on. It was planned in Phase One, then they were told not to build it in Phase Two and hopefully it will now be resolved. He said the amount of grading for rural subdivisions is significantly less than in city subdivisions because they have to leave as much undisturbed land as possible for septic systems. He said there would be trees removed but not all of them. He said they would only grade what they have to, to build the streets. Shannon asked Schnittjer's thoughts on the extension of Devon Drive as an alternative to construction of Syril Street mentioned in Mohr's letter and whether that was a viable thing. He asked if that was something that would happen soon or ever. Schnittjer said they had considered that at one time but somebody bought the land north of Devon Drive so that nothing could happen. Holecek said there is nothing that either governing body would do to ensure that happening and if the landowner doesn't wish to develop, they couldn't be forced to. Schnittjer said because of the topography, it wouldn't be the best option for secondary access but it would be a possibility, but if they don't want to develop, they can't be forced to. Michael Sonder.claard, 1304 Devon Drive NE, said he wanted to echo Greaves' concerns. He said this spring they had a rain situation that ended up flooding the well in his front yard on the downhill side of Phase Four. He asked what assurances there were that there is an adequate water supply for an expanded subdivision given the fact that their water supply is drawn from the same aquifer as the new Iowa City water plant. He asked if the DNR looks at this and assures them the water supply is adequate. Kugler said there would be some DNR involvement looking at the wells. Sondergaard asked if the plan was to drill new wells. Kugler said they do show a few wells. Sondergaard asked if there would be no recourse for the homeowners out there if they had a water shortage. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 13 Kugler said that would be a question for the Depadment of Health or the Board of Supervisors. He illustrated where the three wells are. Sondergaard asked if the Commission had heard anything officially from the Home Owners Association. Holecek and Kugler said they didn't think so. Sondergaard said it was his understanding that the Home Owners Association had expressed their concerns. Bovbjerg asked if the Commission would review complaints before a final plat approval. Holecek said yes but she suggested that the City's level of review on County subdivisions may explain why they aren't receiving a large number of comments. People may choose to direct those comments to the County level. She said if a final plat comes in and does not deviate substantially from a preliminary plat, generally the final plat approval is ministerial. Holecek said it does need approval from City and County governing bodies but the process in each is parallel. Kugler said the County usually doesn't approve a plat until it is approved by the City. Public discussion closed. MOTION: Ehrhardt moved to approve SUB96-0006, an application from Thomas Wegman for a preliminary plat of Prairie View Estates, Part Four a 30.86 acre, 21 lot residential subdivision, located north of 1-80, east of Prairie Du Chien Road, subject to the improvements for Syril Street being completed prior to building permits being issued for any lots in Part Four, and subject to the approval of a grading plan by Public Works and preliminary approval of the proposed well and water distribution systems and on-site waste water treatment systems by the Johnson County Department of Health prior to Council consideration to the plat. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. SUB00-0024, an application submitted by Frantz Construction for a final plat of Hollywood Manor Part 7, a 5.32 acre, 20-lot residential subdivision located west of Sycamore Street, south of Burns Avenue. Miklo said the preliminary plat was approved earlier. The plat before the Commission is consistent with that and City requirements. He said staff is recommending approval, subject to legal papers and construction plans being approved prior to City Council consideration. Public discussion open: There was none. Public discussion closed. MOTION; Schintler moved to approve SUB00-0024, an application submitted by Frantz Construction for a final plat of Hollywood Manor Part 7, a 5.32 acre, 20-lot residential subdivision located west of Sycamore Street, south of Burns Avenue, subject to legal papers and construction plans being approved prior to City Council consideration. Hansen seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. MOTION: Hansen moved to approve the minutes of the November 2, 2000 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as written. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. Hansen moved to approve the minutes of the November 16, 2000 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as written. Shannon seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-__90. OTHER: Holecek introduced Mitch Behr as a new Assistant City Attorney. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes December 7, 2000 Page 14 Shannon asked to discuss the recent discussion between the City and County about the Fringe Area Agreement. Bovbjerg said the Fringe Area Agreement went from the Commission to the City Council. Council heard from the County and heard the Commission's chronology. The Council also voted to keep the land use plan at Herbert Hoover Highway and 1-80 the same as the Commission had voted. Chair asked what Shannon wanted to discuss. Shannon said he felt the County Planner was pushing the case perhaps too strongly. Chair said it seemed the Council didn't like the threats any better than the Commission. He said whether we have a Fringe Area Agreement or not, he doesn't know. Bovbjerg said they are governed by the old Fringe Area Agreement. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Dean Shannon, Secretary Minutes submitted by Diane Crossett ppdadrWmin/p&zl 2-7-00 ,dOc