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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-12-06 Info Packet� = 1 ��•� CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org December 6, 2012 IP1 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule MISCELLANEOUS IP2 Memo from Housing and Inspections Services Dir. and Iowa City Housing Authority Housing Adm.: Dolphin Lake Point Enclave (DLPE) / Housing Authority Rental Assistance programs — Housing Choice Voucher / Section 8 (HCV) and Veterans' Supportive Housing (VASH) IP3 Copy of response to Matt Ohloff: GE Labeling Resolution Work Session Request IP4 Copy of email from City Manager: Bike Lanes / Sharrows IP5 Article from City Manager: It Takes A (Crafty) Village IP6 Copy of response from Supt. Stephen Murley to Edwin Stone: High School Calculator IP7 Notice of Funding Opportunity — Housing Trust Fund Accepting Applications IP8 Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Minutes — November 7 DRAFT MINUTES IP9 Housing And Community Development Commission: November 15 IP10 Human Rights Commission: November 20 IP11 Planning And Zoning Commission: November 8 IP12 Planning And Zoning Commission: November 15 .$ City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule IP1 December 6, 2012 CITY OF IOWA CITY Subject to change Date Time Meeting Location 196'ri 1 wt` i 4Y tit 2T 1 1h '1 i wh'ili i0 iiu E" �. atzh €ate- r, - ria�i In iii L'+he I?x Tuesday, December 4, 2012 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, December 4, 2012 7:OOPM Regular Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Friday, December 7, 2012 12 Noon Work Session - area legislators Emma J. Harvat Hall Friday, December 7, 2012 1:00PM Special Formal /Ex. Session /Evaluation Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, December 18, 2012 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, December 18, 2012 7:0013M Regular Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall TSaturday, January 5, 2013 8:OOA -5:OOP Work Session Meeting - BUDGET Emma J. Harvat Hall Monday, January 7, 2013 1:00- 5:0013M Work Session Meeting - BUDGET- CIP Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, January 8, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, January 8, 2013 7:00 PM Special Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, January 22, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, January 22, 2013 7:00 PM Special Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Monday, January 28, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting - BUDGET Emma J. Harvat Hall r" Tuesday, February 5, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, February 5, 2013 6:00 PM City Conference Board Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, February 5, 2013 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, February 19, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, February 19, 2013 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, March 5, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, March 5, 2013 6:00 PM City Conference Board Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, March 5, 2013 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, March 19, 2013 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, March 19, 2013 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall r �•�,. ®,r CITY OF IOWA CITY 1P2 M E M 0 RA N D U M Date: December 5, 2 SEnc To: Tom Markus JL From: Doug Boothromg an Inspection Services and Steven J. Rackis, Housing Admina City Housi g Authority Re: Dolphin Lake P (DLPE) /Ho sing Authority Rental Assistance programs — Housing Choicection 8 (HCV) and Veterans' Supportive Housing (VASH) The Iowa City Department of Housing and Inspection Services worked with DLPE for over 2 years attempting to rectify property management and housing quality standards issues. In October 2012, the Housing Authority made the determination that DLPE was in breach of the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contracts with the Housing Authority and DLPE was notified on October 22, 2012, that all HAP contracts with DLPE are terminated effective May 31, 2013. The HAP contract is the agreement between the Housing Authority and the owner /landlord for the payment of the housing subsidy on behalf of participating families. All relevant letters to DLPE and Housing Authority participants are attached. What does this mean for DLPE? From December 1, 2012 — May 31, 2013, the housing subsidy payments are suspended; meaning no payment will be made to DLPE. Housing Authority participants are only responsible to pay the portion of rent calculated by the Housing Authority. For example, if the landlord's rent is $600 (Housing Authority pays $200; tenant pays $400) when the HAP is suspended, the $200 is not paid, but the tenant must pay the $400. In accordance with the HAP Contract, DLPE cannot collect the Housing Authority portion of rent from the family. That is, DLPE cannot make the tenant pay the $200. What does this mean for Housing Authority participants residing at DLPE? Housing Authority participants are only responsible to pay the portion of rent calculated by the Housing Authority. All participants were issued moving vouchers with an effective date of December 1, 2012 — May 31, 2013. This means participants have 180 days to secure new suitable, affordable housing and retain their assistance from the Iowa City Housing Authority. Normal Housing Authority procedures are to issue vouchers for 120 days. How many families are affected? On October 1, 2012, 48 assisted households were residing at DLPE. As of December 5, 2012, 9 households have secured new housing, leaving 39 participants still residing at DLPE. Over 400 owners /landlords in Johnson, Iowa and Washington Counties are currently participating in the HCV and VASH programs and 100% of the 1,250 vouchers are utilized. What assistance is being offered to the Housing Authority participants residing at DLPE? Our action provides the highest level of tenant protection allowable under the HAP contract. The Housing Authority has engaged other community agencies and service providers to ensure all Housing Authority participants have access to all services and programs available in Johnson County, Iowa. The University of Iowa College of Law, Clinical Law Programs will take the lead on coordinating the tenant protection and relocation efforts. The other primary agencies involved are: December 5, 2012 Page 2 • Iowa Legal Aid; • Coalition for Racial Justice; • Consultation of Religious Communities; • Local Homeless Coordinating Board; • Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County; • Shelter House; • Shelter House Star Program; • Veterans' Administration; • Grant Wood Elementary Family Resource Center. Actions to Date: November 27, 2012: The Housing Administrator addressed the Greater Iowa City Apartment Owner's Association. One of the topics discuss was owner/landlord participation in the HCV and VASH programs. November 29, 2012: Students from the University of Iowa College of Law, Clinical Law Programs, presented a Renters Rights Workshop that targeted residents at DLPE. The Housing Authority mailed the flier to all participants and the Consultation on Religious Communities provided transportation. 12 Housing Authority participants attended the workshop. December 3, 2012: The University of Iowa College of Law, Clinical Law Programs made a formal request of the Greater Iowa City Apartment Owner's Association for help in identifying apartments that are available now and in the next few months for Housing Authority participants. Ongoing: Determine if there are any sources for loans or grants to assist with security deposits for new apartments. Also determine if organizations can provide assistance with moving household goods and furnishings. January 2013: The Housing Authority will send conduct a follow -up mailing to all participants residing at DLPE Attachments: October 22, 2012, letter sent to DLPE; October 22, 2012, letter sent to Housing Authority participants (1 example provided, the letter was customized for each household); October 30, 2012, letter sent to DLPE .cc Legal i~ THO RITY October 22, 2012 None {319 j 356-5400 FAX. (319) 356°5459 TDD: (319) 3M, 410 E. Was&pgtan Sftet Iowa Cijr • 1vow • 52240.1826 I DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL LLC DBA DOLPHIN LAKE POINT ENCLAVE ` 2401 HWY 6 E IOWA CITYIA 52240 ATTN: Dolphin International LLC dba Dolphin Lake Point Enclave: Dolphin Lake Point Enclave (DLPE) is in breach of your Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contracts for all units located at 2401 Highway 6 East, Iowa City, Iowa The breach occurred for i the following reasons: 1. DLPE has charged tenants late fees related to the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) made by the Housing Authority when the HAP contract clearly states, "The tenant is zaot responsible for paying the portion of the rent to owner covered by the PHA (Iowa City (lousing Authority RCHAJ) housing assistance payment under the HAP contract between the owner and the PHA". SEE: HAP Contract: Tenancy Addendum Part C 5. (d). 2. DLPE has issued tenants 3-day Notices to Pay Rent or Quit for the ICHA portion of the contract rent when the HAP contract clearly states, "The tenant is not responsible for paying the portion of the rent to owner covered by the PHA housing assistance payment under the HAP contract between the owner and the PHA ". SEE: HAP Contract: Tenancy Addendum Part C 5. (d) 3. DLPE did not provide the Account Ledgers and the City of Iowa City informational Disclosure and A.cknowledament forms for the tenants and units being assisted by the ICHA. This request was made by the ICHA on August. 7, 2012, September 2, 2012, and again on September 4, 2012, The HAP contract clearly states, "The owner must provide any information pertinent to the HAP contract that the PHA or HUD may reasonably require ". SEE: HAP Contract Part B 11. (a). 4_ Leases include an early termination fee of 5700 to $900. This is a penalty and an unconscionable lease provision under Section 562A. 7 of the Iowa Code. Leases are not DLPE Abate Lean • 1M&tad O=Or= ?AL consistent with State law. The HAP contract clearly states, "The owner certifies that the lease is consistent -with State and Local Iaw". SEE: HAP Contract Part B 2. (a) (3). Therefore, the Housing Authority is termizzating the Housing Assistance Payment MAP) Contracts for all families residing at 2401 Highway 6 East, Iowa City, Iowa, effective May 31, 2013. This action will automatically terminate the lease-, SEE: HAP Contract: Tenancy Addendum fart C. 9. The termination elate of the lease will be the same as the termination date of the HAP Contract. If the tenant remains in the unit after May 31, 2013, they will be responsible for the entire monthly rent. From December 1, 2012 — May 31, 2013, Housing Assistance Payments are suspended. The Housing Authority is taking this action under the HAP Contract Part B 10. B. (c) & (d). During E this period the Housing Authority will not be making Housing Assistance Payments. The tenant is only responsible to pay the portion of rent calculated by the Housing Authority. In accordance with the HAP Contract: Tenancy Addendum Part C 5. (d), you cannot collect the Housing Authority portion of rent from the family. All families will be advised that if they make additional payments for rent that they are breaching a family obligation to the HCV program and putting their assistance in jeopardy. A copy of the letters sent to all active participants is enclosed. If you have questions concerning the above you may contact me 319- 887 -6065. Since lv, Steven J. Ps using Administrator cc: All Active 14CV Participants Doug Boothroy, Housing & Inspection Services Carmen Shaw, Housing and Urban Development Jan Rutledge, Iowa Legal Aid MIS Abse iA= - laa&oid Oaabr 201: 1 E,.— Phone- (319) 3M -5400 1` F. -.,Y.• (319) -356-5459 TH t3 RiTY 41 D E. Warhipgton ShTet • Ioma G�j . Ivxw - 522404826 October 22, 2012 Dear The Iowa City Housing Authority is terminating all Housing Assistance Payment Contracts with Dolphin Lake Point Enclave effective May 31, 2013. This action is being taken because of multiple breaches of the contract by Dolphin Lake Point Enclave. PLEASE NOTE: You are only responsible to pay the portion of rent calculated by the Housing Authority. Your landlord cannot collect the Housing Authority portion of rent from you. The amount you owe your landlord is S212. Please notify your caseworker immediately if: 1. Your landlord attempts to collect the Housing Authority portion of your contract rent; 2. Your landlord charges you a late fee for not receiving the Housing Authority portion of the contract rent; or, 3. Your landlord attempts to evict you for not receiving the Housing Authority portion of the contract rent. If you make additional payments for rent above 52L2, you are breaching a family obligation. Breaches of family obligations may lead to termination of assistance. Continue to report all changes in income and family composition in writing. Enclosed is paperwork you will need to begin looking for a new home. Please follow the instructions below. (a) Sign and date the two Vouchers where indicated. Return the blue copy to our office, keep the white copy for your records. (b) Complete and sign all documents in the enclosed Tenant Information Packet. DLPE Abate Letter - Tenant October 2012 (c) You and the new landlord will need to complete the enclosed Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA). You must submit this completed form to us prior to the voucher expiration date of May 31, 2013. Please return the signed blue Voucher and the completed and signed Tenant Information Form as soon as possible but not later than November 5, 2012. The completed RFTA form should be submitted as soon as possible for processing when you have found a unit and not later than the expiration date of the voucher. If you decide to remain in your current unit without assistance-, please notify us as soon as possible. A copy of the letter sent to Dolphin Lake Point Enclave is enclosed. If you have questions concerning this process I can be reached at (319) 887 -6063 or robin - butler @iowa - city.org. Sincerely, Robin Butler Housing Program Assistant Enc.. 3 DUE Abate Letter - Tenant October 2012 F ,0n, (319) 356.5400 usin F • (3.19) 35.6.4, • 9 TI DA (319) 356.5414 U -rHH 0 R tT'Y 9 410 E. Wasbingtox Stree • Ira -0 , • l .-f2240-1826 October 30, 2012 DOLPHIN INTERNATIONAL LLC DBA DOLPHIN LAKE POINT ENCLAVE 2401 HWY d E IOWA CITY IA 52240 ATTN: Dolphin International LLC dba Dolphin Lake Point Enclave: This is to amend my letter to you dated October 22, 2012 to clarify that a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Contract will terminate before May 31, 2013 if the tenant vacates the unit prior to that date. The termination date of the HAP Contract and HAP payments will be in accordance with the Iowa City Housing Authority's Administrative Plan, and I will provide you vtfth written confirmation of the termination date of the HAP Contract. When the HAP Contract is terminated, the lease automatically terminates. Under no circumstances will a HAP contract remain in effect after May 31, 2013. If any tenant remains in the unit after May 31, 2013, the tenant will be responsible for the entire monthly rent. Sincerely, Steven J. ckis, Housing Administrator cc: All Active HCV Participants Doug Boothroy, Housing & Inspection Services Carmen Shaw, Housing and Urban Development Jan Rutledge, Iowa Legal Aid From: Marian Karr Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 2:44 PM To: 'mohloff @fwwatch.org' Cc: Council Subject: GE Labeling Resolution Work Session Request Attachments: 20121205143248588. pdf The City Council received your request to support labeling of genetically engineered foods, and requesting the matter be scheduled for the December 18 Council work session. The City Council discussed your request at the December 4 work session and a majority were not interested in scheduling the matter for further discussion. Thank you for your comments. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Marian K. Karr, MMC City Clerk 356 -5041 L Marian Karr From: Marian Karr Sent: Friday, November 30, 201211:00 AM To: matt hayek Cc: Tom Markus; Geoff Fruin Subject: FW: GE Labeling Resolution Work Session Request From: Matt Ohloff [mailto:mohloff @fwwatch.org] Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 10:59 AM To: Council Subject: GE Labeling Resolution Work Session Request Dear Iowa City City Council, I. gave public continent at the City Council meeting this past Tuesday asking the Council to take tip and vote on the resolution Food & Water Watch has submitted regarding support for labeling of genetically engineered foods. I was under the incorrect impression that the City Council would be meeting on Dec. 11. That being said, I would like to request that the City Council bring this resolution tip at the work session meeting on Dec. 18. Please let me know if this can be added to the agenda for that meeting. And please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the issue or on the process for moving this resolution forward. Sincerely, Matt Ohloff Regional Organizer Food & Water Watch 351 E. College St. Iowa City, IA 52240 office: 319 -512 -7825 fax: 319 -512 -7835 cell: 515- 988 -3737 mohloffaftwatch.on www.foodandwaterwatch.org LIKE us on Facebook: htt ps:// www. facebook.com /FoodWaterWatchIowa This correspondence will become a public record. From: Tom Markus Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 9:01 AM To: Marian Karr Subject: FW: Bike Lanes / Sharrows Please forward on to council so they can see how we are following up on this request. From: Geoff Fruin Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 3:48 PM To: Shannon McMahon Cc: Tom Markus Subject: RE: Bike Lanes / Sharrows Great. Thanks for following up on this. I've cc'd Tom as this request came from Susan Mims. Geoff From: Shannon McMahon Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 3:11 PM To: Geoff Fruin Subject: FW: Bike Lanes / Sharrows FYI — Kris A. has set up a meeting this Thursday with Mary Bryant about creating a public service announcement regarding sharrows /bike lanes. Kris asked if I would attend. Jodi is working on a media release on this subject, and is currently awaiting some follow -up info from Sara Greenwood Hektoen From: Kristopher Ackerson Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 12:02 PM To: Mary Bryant Cc: Shannon McMahon Subject: FW: Bike Lanes / Sharrows 1. Sharrows vs bike lanes is one of the topic -see links at the bottom. 2. Another is this new report form to submit concerns /safety issues related to biking and trails - http://www.mpoic.org/resources/``trailReport / 3. Light the night program - http: //www.thinkbicycles.org /light- the - night/ - kja Kristopher Ackerson Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County 319.356.5247 (w). 319.621.5882 (c). APlease consider the environment before printing this e-mail. From: Kristopher Ackerson Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 9:33 AM To: Jodi DeMeulenaere Cc: Jeff Davidson; Shannon McMahon; Sara Greenwood Hektoen Subject: RE: Bike Lanes / Sharrows Hi Jodi, The purpose of Sharrows (Shared Lane Arrows) is five -fold: 1. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in a shared lane with on- street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist's impacting the open door of a parked vehicle, 2. Assist bicyclists with lateral positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane, 3. Alert road users of the lateral location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way, 4. Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and 5. Reduce the incidence of wrong -way bicycling. Figure 9C -9. Shared Lane Marking Bicycle lanes on the other hand designate that portion of the roadway for preferential use by bicyclists. The solid white lines inform all road users of the restricted nature of the bicycle lane. 2 Figure 9C -3. Word, Symbol, and Arrow Pavement Markings for Bicycle Lags A - Bike Symbol Normal white line B - Helmeted Bicyclist Symbol C -word Legends hile lime Logend # opti"al Bicyclists using roadways with Sharrows or Bike Lanes must always follow the rules of the road (e.g., obeying traffic signals, riding in the same direction as traffic, signaling turns, etc.). This video from Colorado Springs helps explain sharrows, as well as this one from Minneapolis. This one from Indianapolis covers both. Let me know how I can help further with the promotional materials. Thanks, Kris Kristopher Ackerson Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County 319.356.5247 (w). 319.621.5882 (c). APlease consider the environment before printing this e -mail. From: Jodi DeMeulenaere Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:10 AM To: Kristopher Ackerson Cc: Jeff Davidson; Shannon McMahon Subject: FW: Bike Lanes / Sharrows 3 Kris: Can you help me out with this by giving me answers to the questions in the first paragraph, or direct me to a site where I could get the information? I haven't been on a bike since the kids were little ... so I don't know how to explain all this. Thanks! - -Jodi From: Geoff Fruin Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:06 AM To: Shannon McMahon; Jodi DeMeulenaere Cc: Adam Bentley; Jeff Davidson Subject: Bike Lanes / Sharrows Shannon and Jodi — Council member Mims suggested that staff pull together an informational campaign on the differences between bike lanes and sharrows. What do those pavement markings mean? How to do they differ? What does that mean in terms of bicycle behavior? Basically, it is a safe bicycling type of campaign. This could be something that makes for a good cable PSA. We could try and partner with local bicycle groups to help get the word out as well. I'm sure the Planning staff would have some good ideas. Could you pull together an informational release to send out? I think the timing would work with the new sharrows added to Gilbert recently. Perhaps we can target a PSA for the spring time when the weather breaks and more people are biking. Thanks- Geoff Fruin Assistant to the City Manager ( City of Iowa City, IA 319.356.5013 Igeoff -fruin @iowa- city.org 4 It Takes a (Crafty) Village I Living Blogs I Martha Stewart Enter a search term L ivi CATEGORIES Beauty Bloggers Books Craft Drinks Entertaining Family Fitness Food Garden Good Things Holidays Home Our Finds Pets Style Test Kitchen Travel Uncategorized Previous Post From the City Manager: IDEAS INSPIRATION FINDS�lix1 , - -� . November 28, 2012 It Takes a (Crafty) Village Posted by Living Editors Page 1 of 6 7 IP5 Next Post Our guest blogger today is Jenny Gordy from Miksten Made. My husband and I have moved across country due to his job more times than I care to recount. Moving often can make it hard to connect to places, but some towns have such a lovely sense of community that reels you right in. The last place in http: // livingblog .marthastewart.com /2012/11 /tree - huggers.html 12/3/2012 It Takes a (Crafty) Village I Living Blogs I Martha Stewart Page 2 of 6 which I left my heart was Brooklyn, and I never thought I'd find a place I felt so at home in ever again. Fast forward a year, and I am living and established in Iowa. FAVORITE SITES 101 Cookbooks A Cup of Jo Beauty Blitz Cool Mom Picks Design Mom Devil & Egg Dinner: A Love Story Handmade Charlotte Inchmark Into the Gloss Momfilter Oh Happy Day Pixiwoo Say Yes to Hoboken Sous Style t? The William Brown Project You Know, For Kids A year ago I only knew two people in Iowa, but now I feel like I'm part of a community. I've come to learn that community is not something that just happens — if s something that is built out of courage, hard work, enthusiasm, and creativity. Rarely have I felt such a sense of community as I did recently at the Tree Huggers event in downtown Iowa City, when the residents of my town came together to create a public art installation. Over 200 volunteers knitted colorful "tree huggers" to cover 135 downtown trees, bringing cheer to an otherwise drab season. The downtown businesses donated the yarn, and Home Ec. Workshop — my favorite yarn shop — helped to organize the event and offered free knitting lessons to the non - knitters eager to participate. http:// Iivingblog .marthastewart.com/2012 /11 /tree - huggers.html 12/3/2012 It Takes a (Crafty) Village I Living Blogs I Martha Stewart Page 3 of 6 Volunteers had one month to design and knit their tree huggers. Although they were all given the same yarn and color palette for an overall cohesive effect, the creativity and individuality of each design was quite evident. On the day of the installation, everyone was giddy with excitement. Materials were distributed, and families, friends and strangers joined together to sew their work around assigned trees. People pitched in and helped each other. I felt honored to be included as passersby stopped to admire, chatting and asking questions. We were not only creating a thing of beauty, but also celebrating our town, each other, nature, and our favorite craft. I marveled at the strength and ingenuity of the creators of this project as I felt a part of something for the first time in quite a while. It was pure joy. 9 COMMENTS Tweet http:// Iivingblog .marthastewart.com/2012 /11 /tree - huggers.html 12/3/2012 From: Stephen Murley < Murley.Stephen @iccsd.k12.ia.us> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2012 6:28 AM To: Edwin Stone Cc: Board; Council; Administrators ESC Subject: Re: High School Calculator Good Morning Ed Thank you for sharing your efforts with us. The District is currently working to implement new attendance zone software that will link with our Power School data and provide accurate demographic data for any new attendance zone configuration. This data will become part of the recommendations that the administrative team annually brings before the Board. Steve On Dec 2, 2012, at 10:19 PM, "Edwin Stone" <stone.edwin@ email. com <mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com>> wrote: Dear Board Members, I am writing to share a tool that I created for evaluating the effects of boundary changes at the high school level. It consists of an excel spreadsheet that allows the user to assign various elementary enrollment areas to any of three high schools and to see the effect of those assignments on the enrollment and FRL numbers for each of the schools. I have also included a text document that explains how to use the tool. I hope that you will find these documents useful. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for making the spreadsheet better. Regards, Q:J NOTICE: All email communications to and from the District's email server are archived in accordance with District policy and procedures. This email communication, including attachments, contains information which may be confidential and /or legally privileged, and may otherwise be exempt from disclosure under applicable law. The information is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient or believe you received this communication in error, please reply to the sender indicating that fact and delete the copy you received. In addition, if you are not the intended recipient or believe you received this communication in error, any unauthorized retention, copying, disclosure, distribution, or other use of the information is strictly prohibited. Thank you. <High School Designer v3.2 FD.xls> <How to Use the High School Designer Spreadsheet FD.docx> Housing Tt fund I o h n s o County Board ofDirectors IP7 Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County 322 East Second Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Email: tachcnbach @htfjc.org Website: www.htfjc.org Office: 319.358.0212 Fax: 319.358.0053 Bob Dvorsky, President State Senator, Ir District NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Steve Long, Co- President -elect Iowa City Planning dam' Community Development Bob Burns, Co- President -elect Burns & Burns, L.C... Ron Mavrias, Secretary HOUSING TRUST FUND ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Private Citi .Zen John Warren, Treasurer Bergan Paulsen The Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County is currently offering $40,000 in funding to --------- - - - - -- support the development and/or rehabilitation of housing for income qualified Jerry Anthony, University of households. Note: Funding will be awarded to applicants who support housing Iowa, Urban & Regional Planning development or activities for low income households (80% or below AMI), but Robert Brooks, University of preference may be given to projects that benefit extremely low income households Iowa Building and Landscape (30% or below AMI). Eligible applicants include businesses, nonprofits, builders, Services developers, and governmental agencies seeking funds for owner- occupied, affordable Crissy Canganelh, Shelter House rental, transitional or emergency housing in Johnson County. Funds must be used by Maryann Dennis, Ex- oficio December 31, 2013. The application deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, December 20, 2012. The Housing Fellowship An application, AMI guidelines, and additional information may be found online at www.htfjjc.org or by calling 319 - 358 -0212. Kirsten Frey, Kennedy, Cruise, Frey and Gelner Steve Gordon, AM Management Ellen Habel, City of Coralville Chris LeFever, US Bank Tracey Mulcahey, City of North Liberty Phil O'Brien, Lepic Kroeger Realtors Scott Schroeder, MidWestOne Bank Rod Sullivan, Johnson County Board of Supervisors Larry Wilson, University Heights Citi -Zen Staff Tracey Achenbach, Executive Director Kelly Wenman, Operations Coordinator Iii MINUTES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COMMITTEE: NOVEMBER 7, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Results of the Justice Center Bond Referendum Including Feedback Regarding the Process and Planning for the Future ......................................................................... ............................... l SetNext Meeting Date ....................................................................................... ..............................9 Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 4:30 p.m. Board of Supervisors' Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Janelle Rettig, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan. Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Members present were: Iowa City City Council Member Connie Champion, Citizen Representative Bob Elliott, County Attorney Janet Lyness, Bar Association Representative James McCarragher, County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, Judge Doug Russell, Citizen Representative Professor Emeritus John Stratton, and Consultation of Religious Communities Representative Dorothy Whiston; absent were: Department of Corrections Supervisor Jerri Allen, MECCA Director Ron Berg (arrived at 5:15 p.m.), Iowa City Public Library Adult Service Coordinator Kara Logsden, and Defender's Managing Attorney Peter Persaud. Staff present: Sheriffs Major Steve Dolezal, Lieutenant Kevin Bell, Executive Assistant Andy Johnson and Deputy Auditor Nancy Tomkovicz. RESULTS OF THE JUSTICE CENTER BOND REFERENDUM INCLUDING FEEDBACK REGARDING THE PROCESS AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Iowa City City Council Member Connie Champion said she feels very positive and the results were beyond her expectations. Based on the demographics of the vote, she suggested the next justice center bond referendum should be on the ballot with the special election to replace Supervisor Stutsman. County Attorney Janet Lyness said the bond referendum cannot be put back on the ballot for six months. Citizen Representative Professor Emeritus John Stratton said with a little more money and a little more advertising, the justice center project might have passed. He said they ought to go back to the public with the proposal or consider another way to finance it. Rettig clarified that neither the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) nor the Board of Supervisors conducted any campaign for the project. Stratton said that was a good point, it was the Vote Yes group who advocated in favor of the justice center. Consultation of Religious Communities Representative Dorothy Whiston said she was very disappointed with the results and did not expect it. She thinks it is a tragedy that will end up costing much more money down the line. They must heed the public's objections and move forward either with this very same plan or with something similar. Stutsman said feedback from those opposed to the referendum revealed that Board of Supervisors needs to have more money into the project. There is also a concern that the Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 2 project would be land locked with no expansion opportunities. Champion clarified that the justice center was designed to accommodate additional growth. Lyness said yes. Rettig said the proposed design is not land locked and this shows it was not communicated to the voting public. The City of Iowa City (Iowa City) said they will vacate the road and the County owns almost the entire lower level of the block. Rettig said as a citizen she is very concerned about disproportionate minority contact at the initial contact point. County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and his deputies do not have a disproportionate minority contact so the County itself is not arresting these individuals. After people enter the criminal justice system and have the first contact, collectively, Johnson County does a good job of getting individuals back on track regardless of race. She said she will hold Iowa City accountable for the majority of this problem, however, this is a problem the entire County should respond to. Rettig added that this is not related to why Johnson County needs a new justice center. Rettig said she does not think the County's investments in Jail Alternatives have been understood. A new justice center will provide needed space and people will be interested in more investments in Jail Alternatives and reducing recidivism rates. Shipping inmates out of the County cuts into inmates' availability for alternative programming, legal consultations, family support, and exercise. Neuzil said voters have clearly spoken; they do not support the proposed plan. He is therefore not interested in giving the voters the same proposal. He thinks the cost largely factored into the loss. Neuzil said he thinks they will need to reduce the size and scope of the project before it goes before the voters again. Sullivan said he thinks 57% represents a fairly strong public approval. He is open to suggestions on how to tweak the proposal to make it better, but he does not want to make any fundamental changes. Rettig said the current Jail was built nickeled and dimed. The population escalated, the Jail is landlocked and does not have ample footings. The proposed design would accommodate population growth 10 to 15 years down the road and at the time they settled on 243 beds because at times, the current Jail housed 200 inmates. She does not think the public understood this and, Rettig said the public is of two minds: they are mad when the County builds a building too small to accommodate years of growth, yet they do not want to pay for a building designed large enough to grow into. She wondered whether there are cost - saving design options which include shelling space for expansion. Harney said he is disappointed with the vote. They have scaled this project back from the original approximately $74 million proposal to $46 million. He said this facility is about much more than the jail itself. This is about the needs of the court systems and the needs of judges, jurors, and jail alternatives as well. Harney reminded the public that the Jail built in 1981 did not even last 15 years before planning began for a new jail. Johnson County's population continues to grow and if they short change this project, they will be right back where they were in 2000, looking for additional space. Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 3 Harney said he is not interested in drastically scaling back the project. It is very costly to go back and build more cells in an existing facility that is not already shelled. In regards to the location of the proposed justice center, Harney said he thinks the proposed downtown location is ideal. It is accessible to the public and to mass transportation. Sullivan said democrats are still in the majority in the Iowa Senate meaning there most likely will not be dramatic cuts to property tax. 'Now he would be willing to reconsider utilizing more of the county's Reserve Fund but he does not want to change the proposal so dramatically that they lose some of the support they had. Harney said he does not support increasing the County's contribution from the Reserve Fund because that would be taking money from the smaller population. He said he does not think that is fair to the taxpayers. Whiston said she thinks there is a lot of confusion about the justice system. She thinks people are not aware that there has been a very conscientious group working hard on the issue of disproportionate minority contact at the County level. She said she does not think the cost of the justice center should be a major concern. Whiston said there should be discussion about the new vision for the south side of downtown Iowa City and concerns over the Jail being part of that. Harney said he received complaints about the number of people being arrested and what they are arrested for. He said he thinks Iowa City has taken a lot of blame for things. A large part of this stems from when the University of Iowa (UI) started their own police department. The UI Department of Public Safety (DPS) is patrolling and making a number of arrests that are being blamed on Iowa City. Champion said the misconception that the Jail is full of young UI students is still widely held and she is working to dispel that. She also thinks people mistakenly believe that a larger jail will promote arrests for marijuana smoking. The young people in Johnson County do not agree with the whole justice system. University of Iowa Student Representative Drew Lakin said he agrees there is a misconception about the Jail population. He thinks it is important to make the distinction between the justice system and the proposed justice center and to expand public education. Rettig said a justice center would have classrooms and meeting room space to support Jail Alternatives including the newly established Drug Court. Pulkrabek said he thought public education was ample. They explained the Jail Alternatives component and how it has reduced the average daily population over the last two fiscal years. They explained the Jail is not full of drunken college kids; those offenders are in at night and gone the next day. They discussed the population growth over nine years. Nobody talks about the large number of people cited and released who Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 4 are not brought to Jail. The proposed justice center was designed to accommodate future population growth and it is not land locked. He said he is not sure what else they can do to reach the voters. Pulkrabek said public education is at the mercy of the Internet and the media, who has done their part. Neuzil repeated the need to reassess the proposal and design something new. Pulkrabek said the CJCC has worked on the proposal for a long time. The committee has been meeting regularly on the first Wednesday of every month and the public has been invited and welcome to attend for discussion. Harney said a major issue is property tax increases to help pay for the project. If there was another way to fund the project it would have a better chance of passing. Noting the breakdown of precinct voting, he said it is interesting that at the Quadrangle Residence Hall and the University of Iowa Main Library precincts voted almost fifty -fifty on the issue. However, voters in the Johnson County Courthouse precinct voted 59% to 41% against the proposal. He said this shows that students did have an impact on the vote in that particular area. Stutsman said she heard concerns over the increase in property taxes as well. There is talk about building more schools also and the tax burden will further. She heard comments the justice center was not an attractive facility; the days of beautiful atriums and open spaces in public buildings are bygone. People want a building to be utilitarian and functional. Sullivan said the most frustrating thing is to hear people say there was not enough public discussion. He said public discussion on this has ensued for 14 straight years and he does not know how much more public discussion they can have. Stutsman asked if they thought the justice center would ever pass with a 60% margin. Rettig said yes. She said people understand that the population has grown and with that space changes. People want the County to invest in Jail Alternatives and to address disproportionate minority contact. She thinks the public does not want the County to nickel and dime the justice center to the point where it cannot expand. They can modify the project using the same infrastructure but with less upfront cost. She said she is prepared to put more cash up front. Stutsman left at 5:14 p.m. Champion said she gets really tired of hearing that there is a disproportionate number of minority contact in Iowa City. This is a nationwide problem, not just an Iowa City problem. The minority populations arrested and jailed are primarily living in the Iowa City area. These are not bad people; they are people that have grown up differently than how others grew up in Iowa. She asked if Rettig could give an example of somebody getting in trouble because they are a minority. Rettig said Sullivan's daughter was pulled over driving while Black. She said most of those people are not filling the Jail. But it is still a problem in the County because Johnson County ranks among the highest in the Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 5 country for juvenile disproportionate minority contact. Pulkrabek clarified that among adults the County is ranked among the lowest in the Country for disproportionate minority contact. Sullivan said they can and should have community conversation on this but he is not clear that this is going to change the numbers. Whiston said time disabled them from making a strong case for the public. Champion said she thinks there is a social - economic impact to the justice system that frequently gets overlooked. Whiston agreed but said that race supersedes even that. Iowa City Resident Sean Curtin spoke as a representative of Vote No New Jail.org. He said there is too much insulation between the CJCC and the public and there is a lack of responsiveness to the people. He said according to UI DPS's arrest records from January 1st to November 7th, approximately 75% of arrests were for being in bars after hours, .possession of drug paraphernalia or open containers. He challenged the proposed project cost. Curtin said 44% of the public voted against the bond referendum, but only a few showed up at this meeting. Curtin proposed changes to the arrests court appearance process. Those arrested on marijuana charges, or other minor charges, do not pose a threat to the community. He agreed that disproportionate minority contact should be addressed. He said he was falsely arrested twice in Johnson County due to the lack of equal protection. If he was a minority, he claimed the police might not have approached him in fear of public backlash. Curtin said the County's criminal justice system would be successful if the Jail occupants were individuals who commit more severe crimes and who pose a threat to the community. Jail Alternatives Coordinator Jessica Peckover said it might be helpful to have an intentional partnership with the people who voted against the bond referendum. Sullivan said in 2000 there were at least five members of the CJCC who voted against the justice center. He said they have a history of including people who disagreed. Whiston said in 2000, when the justice center bond referendum did not pass, they created a yearlong task force whose job it was to figure out why the referendum did not pass. Sullivan asked CJCC members to recommend a reasonable time frame for the next bond referendum. Rettig said the Courthouse is not large enough to support Johnson County's growing population and the current inmate housing situation is inhumane. In addition, she is appalled with juvenile disproportionate minority contact in Johnson County. Neuzil said he would like to see this back on the ballot sooner rather than later. Champion agreed that she would like to see it back on the ballot soon. Lyness said the CJCC is comprised of subcommittees and she suggested they discuss the issues in subcommittee meetings and regroup in one month. Sullivan said the State recently changed the number of opportunities for special elections and there are only a couple of possible dates in 2013. Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 6 Bar Association Representative James McCarragher said they should collect the contact information for those opposed to the justice center and who wish to participate in discussions. The CJCC subcommittee chairs would then be able to notify these individuals when the subcommittees plan to meet. McCarragher said he is concerned about whether they have individuals who are opposed or individuals representing groups who are opposed. He thinks it would be more productive to meet with representatives of groups of people. Sullivan said they will circulate a signup sheet at tonight's meeting and they will also tweet and post the meeting dates and times on Facebook. Amanda Murphy said she is a Johnson County resident and property owner who voted against the bond referendum. She spoke in favor of regular gatherings of law enforcement entities to promote a discussion on the racial and economic disparity issues and begin to formulate a solution. She said she is not in favor of putting people in Jail when there are other places they could go. She believes drug users and/or people caught with a pipe should not be put in Jail. Only violent offenders should be put in Jail. Murphy spoke in favor of expanding the Drug Court. Pulkrabek said during the campaign he pulled a roster of the 64 people Johnson County who were housed out of the County on a particular day. He said four of the 64 people had drug offenses, and in addition to the drug offense, the individuals had either a forcible felony or an aggravated misdemeanor. He said he does not understand the misconception that minor drug offenses are taking up Jail beds because this is simply not the case. Pulkrabek said it is very, very, very rare that second and third marijuana offenders are jailed more than 24 hours, and, if they are found guilty, that they are sentenced to Jail. He asked what more he can do to help people understand that the Jail does not house minor drug offenders; Jail inmates have committed much more serious offenses. Lyness left at 5:45 p.m. Rettig said Murphy is preaching to the choir. Between Pulkrabek and Lyness they may be one of the most liberal combinations in the Country. She said Pulkrabek was criticized when he said people should not be arrested for minor drug offenses. Pulkrabek said he has not changed his position on that. He said he proposed a level of marijuana possession that would be a simple misdemeanor. That idea was not popular among his law enforcement colleagues or across the state. His preference would be to cite and release individuals in possession of small amounts. The truth is that marijuana can be problematic for many people and while he is not in favor of decriminalization, he does advocate for a simple misdemeanor level of possession. Vote No on New Jail.org Representative Martha Hampel spoke against the proposed justice center. She said her main concern with the justice center is the proposed security plan. She accused CJCC members of fear mongering and clever marketing strategies. She said the CJCC received over $35,000 in donations and expenditures. Sullivan corrected Hampel by explaining that the group which supported the public information effort was separate from the CJCC. Hampel said Vote No on New Jail collected under Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 7 $1,500 and campaigned just over a month. Hampel said she thinks it is a conflict of interest for members of the Board of Supervisors to serve on the CJCC. Rettig clarified that the CJCC is a committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors to study the justice center issues and formulate a proposal. The CJCC is an advisory committee to the Board of Supervisors. The campaign committee, "Yes for Justice," spent the money and those in the room who contributed money to "Yes for Justice" have a Constitutional freedom of speech right to do so. Hampel said the CJCC was arrogant in purchasing land around the Courthouse before the bond referendum. Now the cost can't be lowered because the location is a forgone conclusion. Sullivan explained to Hampel that Johnson County has a recent history of purchasing land for a purpose and then choosing to do something else. He said Hampel's argument is incorrect; the County can keep or sell the buildings it owns. Hampel asked if CJCC members are open to building the justice center in a different location. Rettig said she is 100% opposed to a different location because she is against urban sprawl and destroying the historic Courthouse. She said she believes the Jail and the Courthouse should remain together and be tied to the current Courthouse downtown. Hampel said if they insist on building the justice center downtown then they cannot make it less expensive. Sullivan explained that the County already owns the property so they do not have to spend any more money. Rettig said it's being built on property the County has owned for 111 years. Vote No on New Jail Representative Aleksey Gurtovoy challenged the claim that the Jail is overcrowded because of the population growth in Johnson County. He said the Johnson County population grew only about 30% between 1982 and 1998. The current Jail was built in 1981 and since then, he said the arrest and incarceration rates in Johnson County have disproportionately increased. He said he has no explanation for why the CJCC does not have these facts right. He said the CJCC is a group of people that have been sitting together for a long time and have become isolated and have not heard others' opinions. Harney said retired UI Professor John Neff conducted the population study and projected the growth that would occur. He said Neff's projections have been very accurate to this point. Gurtovoy said that does not address the disproportionate population growth in the Jail and he does not understand what caused it. Sullivan said the Reagan Revolution started at the same time the Jail was built. Gurtovoy said that may be the case, but he thinks it is very misleading and unethical to repeat statements of fact that have not been double checked. Rettig said part of the problem is that Gurtovoy is using a population of approximately 90 people when the Jail was built for 46 people. The current conditions are inhumane. The current Jail was built for 46 people when the population was approximately 86,000, and now Johnson County's population is 133,000 and growing. Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 8 Rettig said she cannot debate Gurtovoy's numbers because she does not know how he has arrived at his. calculations. Gurtovoy said part of his point is that the number of current inmates represents the current trend in the U.S. towards incarceration. He said building a new justice center will ignore the local issues. Curtin asked Pulkrabek for more information about the four inmates he spoke of earlier. Pulkrabek said four of them had drug offenses in addition to either a felony or aggravated misdemeanor. Furthermore, one of those four had escaped from captivity. Curtin said this issue is about more than marijuana. The demographics in the holding tank are black, students, homeless, and poor. He discussed his personal arrest record with Pulkrabek. Curtin said was sentenced as an adult for a first - offense marijuana possession and he received a 48 -hour Jail sentence probated by the eight or 12 hours he was in Jail. If the Jail is not occupied with non - violent offenders, then there would be room in the local Jail for the violent offenders. He said there is a diminishing amount of freedom in Johnson County which he attributes to the change in demographics. Curtin said he was falsely arrested for having less than 1 /10th of one gram of marijuana residue in a glove box and those charges were dropped. He was also arrested for OMVWI while sober because he had past charges and the police did not like his attitude. Curtin said the justice center will never pass and time would be better spent addressing sentencing guidelines and other issues within the community. Hampel asked if someone could address the need for security in the Courthouse. Rettig said they have a severe security problem in the Courthouse. She said criminals, abusers, victims, judges, lawyers, and juries all entering through the same door, all using the same elevator and bathrooms. No one has any idea who brings weapons into the Courthouse. A minimal security entrance is imperative. Iowa City Carpenters Union Representative Shane Merrick said 12 years ago the proposed justice center would have cost $20 million. Since then the County has spent half that cost on outsourcing inmates to other counties. He said as a Johnson County taxpayer he would rather pay less money into the project now than more in the future. John Deeth said he is Johnson County employee, an officer of the Democratic Party, and a longtime opponent of the justice center who sympathizes with the arguments presented against the justice center. However, he recently became genuinely convinced of the need for the justice center because the community cannot function with the current Jail and Courthouse. He said Champion's attitude concerning the new and the young people in the community is a big part of why the justice center bond referendum failed. The UI and the Iowa City City Council appear to be deeply committed to a long range plan to crack down on the downtown Iowa City area. Deeth said everybody has done a good job of presenting statistics that the Jail is not full of college students. But voting against the bond referendum was the only way many people felt they had to say that they do not care and want this to stop. He believes Johnson County needs a new justice center and hopes they move forward with a facility Informal Minutes: November 7, 2012/ page 9 similar to what was proposed. He said he thinks the Iowa City Council and UI are committed to their own agendas, not to the community. SET NEXT MEETING DATE Sullivan said the CJCC subcommittees will meet and report back at the next CJCC meeting scheduled for December 5th. They will publicize the CJCC subcommittee meetings which are open to the public. Adjourned at 6:21 p.m. Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor Recorded By Nancy Tomkovicz z MINUTES PRELIMINARY HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION NOVEMBER 15, 2012 — 6:30 PM HELLING CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Andrew Chappell, Michelle Bacon Curry, Cheryll Clamon, Charlie Drum, Jarrod Gatlin, Holly Hart, Jim Jacobson MEMBERS ABSENT: Scott Dragoo, STAFF PRESENT: David Purdy OTHERS PRESENT: John Shaw RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL: None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chappell at 6:30 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 18. 2012 MINUTES: Hart moved to approve the minutes. Bacon Curry seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. STAFF /COMMISSION COMMENT: None. PUBLIC MEETING: • Discuss and Review FY14 CDBG /HOME Funding Process Timeline Purdy said the process follows the same timelines as in previous years. Applications are submitted by the third Friday in January and there are 3 possible meetings -one in February and 2 in March- to discuss and make recommendations. Chappell stated that the second meeting in March is not required but is arranged, if needed. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION November 15, 2012 PAGE 2 of 6 • Review and Approve FY 14 CDBG /HOME Application Materials Chappell asked if anyone had changes they wanted to make to the applications. Purdy said that staff is recommending that public facility projects be at least $50,000. He also said the City Council has been emphasizing the City Strategic Plan and staff is encouraging applicants to review the Plan. He said part of the application is the applicant indicating how the project meets the City Strategic Plan. He said that's not part of how the Commission scores the application, but he believes that City Council will be looking at that. Purdy reminded the Commission they have a lot less money to allocate this year. Chappell asked what the current estimate is. Purdy replied that there will be $587,000 available after all the set asides. Last year the commission had carry-over money from the previous year. He said last year they started with nearly $700,000 more to allocate. Chappell said he is supportive of the changes in the application outline. Chappell asked for a motion. Drum moved to approve the FY14 CDBG /HOME Application Materials. Gatlin seconded. A vote was taken the motion carried 7 -0. • Discuss and Review FY 14 Aid to Agency Funding Process and Timeline Purdy said the applications were due at United Way October 31St. He said Tracy will have them compiled for the Commission the first Monday or Tuesday of December, at the next meeting the Commission will discuss it, and on January 17th the Commission will review and formulate a budget for the $105,000 available. Chappell said he thought they could use both December 20th and January 17th to discuss the 22 applications. He said this is the first year the Commission will be getting the full application. He said he believed that the application is not made solely for the Commission, so he reminded the Commission that they don't have to study everything in the application. Drum asked if they will be some staff comments for each of the applications. Purdy said they could do that. Bacon Curry asked if there was some talk of not making this process so automatic. Chappell said his understanding is that this used to be dealt with by sub - committee of the City Council, and through that process became almost a status quo. He said they have never received any specific guidance from Council to mix things up. He said he doesn't think that everyone has to be funded, especially with the limited funds. Chappell said from his perspective, if Council really wants the Commission to start taking a hard look at whether all of these entities need to be funded, they should give the Commission specific guidance. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION November 15, 2012 PAGE 3 of 6 Hart said she was uncomfortable about receiving guidance from Council. She said she thought this Commission was chosen to provide some sort of insight into what services the City is providing. Chappell said the guidance he is looking for is from a policy level — whether the Council wants the Commission to start over and look at everything, and if so, it would helpful if either the City Manager or the Council could let the Commission know that. Bacon Curry said last year there was a concern about looking at the applications with a less automatic approval and the agencies have had no "heads up" or inkling that might be the case. She asked if agencies are expecting the same funding this year. Purdy said if the Commission wants the applicants to know there might be a different review, staff will tell them as part of the applicant workshop. Bacon Curry said it would be concern for her to pull the carpet out from under them. Drum said it would be helpful to have a history of what the commission has recommended for the two years they have been doing it. Chappell said Commission members can have the binders with all the applications or Tracy will make it downloadable. The applications with no binders took the day with the exception of Chappell and Drum. Jacobson asked if there is first a culling out at United Way or do they just send everything to the Commission. Chappell said there may be some applicants through the United Way that specify that they only want to apply to the City or to the County. Purdy agreed that there were several like that. Chappell said he doesn't think, though, that there is any culling out. Chappell reminded the Commission that they can create an addendum to the application or they can ask that additional questions be added to the application if there are things the Commission may feel are germane to their process. Consider Community Mental Health Center's Request for Project Revision Shaw said he met with member of the Center's Board, people who were helping with the fund - raising effort, and staff. He said initially they decided not to try to raise the extra funds that would have been required for the elevator. He said they have come up with a project that is absolutely focused on accessibility at the building, which was the intent of the original CDBG grant. He said this new project concept takes the south portion of the lower level of the building and makes it accessible off the south parking lot. He said the concrete ramp on site is not compliant with the ADA. He investigated replacing it with a new ramp, but it would have had to extend 36 feet back into the parking lot, when the back retaining wall of the parking lot is 39 feet, 4 inches from the building. He said when he proposed taking the ramp off, staff rebelled, saying they were lots of people who wanted to use it even if it is non - compliant and could not get into the building without the ramp. He said he intends to repair the ramp as necessary and put compliant hand and guard rails on it and repair and maintain the existing concrete stairs as necessary. He HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION November 15, 2012 PAGE 4 of 6 said they will spend as little money as they have to on the ramp repair but what they do is going to have to be a 15 to 20 year fix. Shaw said there would also be a new entry at parking lot level into the south portion of the building and redoing the spaces down there. He said the wood deck and stairs will be removed and new siding will be put on the entire lower level, they will create a covered entry, and establish new windows on the lower level to make the building more pleasing to look and get more light into the play area. He said they will also have some benches out in back. Bacon Curry asked if the back entrance door will be an automatic door in some way. Shaw said they can do that, but whatever they do with it will be ADA compliant. He said they will establish an accessible play therapy area and a waiting area and two counseling rooms and restroom. He said the entirely of the project speaks to accessibility, which was the original intent of the grant they were given. He said everyone still thinks that an elevator was the best solution for this building, but given the cost and age of the building, practicality won out. Shaw said his rough estimate is that this project will be between $140,000 and $160,000. Shaw explained that the CDBG grant was for $100,000. He said that some more donations have come in. He said staff of Community Mental Health says their fund- raising is not over yet. Bacon Curry asked if there was still some intent to do a capital campaign. Shaw replied that it had always been the intent to do a bridge loan even if the capital campaign was not successful. Bacon Curry suggested an automatic panel on the entry door. Shaw said he could do that, but he wasn't sure how it would work with the outer storm door needed for weather protection. He said he would think about that some more. He said he thinks what he is proposing is a reasonable compromise to economic problem they were faced with, and it does provide accessibility to the people who need to use the building. Chappell said he is sold on this proposal and the way Shaw has solved the economic and accessibility problems. He said he thinks this way will impact the entire building more than just an elevator would have. He reminded Shaw that Community Mental Health couldn't come back in a few years and say they had changed their minds about the elevator. Shaw said everyone involved is very clear on that. Jacobson asked if there if anything on the second floor that people with disabilities would need to access and, if so, is there a way to get them upstairs. Shaw said the only people who might have disabilities that would use the second floor are people who work there. The rooms on the lower level would be scheduled rooms so when people who might have disabilities come to the Center, they will be scheduled into one of these lower level rooms. Chappell said he thought the aesthetic improvements on the back of the building are nice. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION November 15, 2012 PAGE 5 of 6 Drum moved to approve the request for the project revision for Community Mental Health. Clamon seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. Zimmermann Smith was not in attendance to give her monitoring reports. FY12 Mayor's Youth — Rental Housing Monitoring Report Chappell reported that they were budgeted at $99,800 and so far have spent $49,800. He said in August 2011 they purchased the first of two lots for the rental homes project. He said the lot is in Stonebridge Estates on 80 White Chapel Drive. He said construction commenced September 1, 2011, and the house was converted on December 15th. He said four residents have moved in as of July 16, 2012. He said the second lot will be purchased in early 2013 with a target completion date of June 15th, 2013. • FY12 Successful Living — Rental Rehab. Monitoring Report. Chappell reported that they have $5,200.00 left in retainage of the $52,000 yet to pay out. He said all the contracted work is completed. He said the paperwork is all they have left to finalize. He showed the Commission photos of the work that has been done and read descriptions of it all. FY12 IV Habitat for Humanity — Owner - occupied Rehab. Monitoring Report Chappell reported that Habitat received $42,000, and this funding was for the accessibility of the ramps they were going to put on existing houses. He said they have been turned down by a number of mobile home court owners who would not give permission to build a ramp to code because they don't want any part of the ramp to be off a sidewalk or a driveway. He said they now have three sets of portable modular metal ramps that cost $7,144.00. He said they put a ramp at 1134 Wylde Green Road for $650.48, one at 1205 Laura Drive for $732.44, and one at 2801 Highway 6, #159. He said they have spent a total of $9,376.92 and have $32,623.00 remaining. He said it appears there will be money coming back because Habitat is not going to spend the remainder of the funding, which will go back into the big pot. Bacon Curry asked if the funds were switched to ramps because they couldn't get the weatherization done on trailer courts. Chappell asked if part of the problem wasn't also asbestos issues. Purdy said that was true. ADJOURNMENT: Bacon Curry moved to adjourn. Drum seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. z O O U H z W 2 d O J W W O z 004 Up 0 N Q r CO C7 y o zMCO v� E w xxZ(L z 0 U) N 0 H z W o0. 0 00 J V W W W W N r O } z N Q Z° Dz Oa V z Q 0 z N (D cn W c N t a Q z n n n w_ Y x 0 z X X X 0 X X X X 0 o X X X x x x X N x X X X x X x p X rn X X X 0 X X x X x X X x x x x 0 o x x x x x 0 MX X x x X X X X MX x o x x x x x X co X X x X X X 1 x CD X X 0 X x X X X IL [}' N � M CO N M IT N W o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N N N N N N N N N W rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn F- J ui J = U J w x W L% J W = ~ w o N Z Q x V R w J ' z D J V N Q Q J z Q U o v U w z _ w 0 a � p w � V Z m X 0 U G G 0 n N (D cn W c N t a Q z n n n w_ Y x 0 z Page 1of13 Minutes Human Rights Commission November 20, 2012 — 6 P.M. Helling Conference Room PRELIMINARY Members Present: Harry Olmstead, Orville Townsend Sr., Connie Goeb, Kim Hanrahan, Diane Finnerty, Shams Ghoneim. Members Excused: Dan Tallon, Jessie Harper, Howard Cowen. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Human Rights Commission meeting of November 20, 2012. Recommendations to Council: None. Call to Order: Chair Olmstead called the meeting to order at 18:00. Consideration of the Minutes of the October 1618, 2012 Meeting: Hanrahan moved to approve minutes, seconded by Townsend. Motion passed. 5 -0. (Finnerty not present) New Business: Youth Awards (May 15, 2013) SB: The Englert is booking up quickly and so they actually contacted me maybe two or three weeks ago, and so that's why the date is being selected this far in advance. So actually from an advertising standpoint I think having a date this early is probably not a bad thing. This is a Wednesday and the ceremony would be at 7 p.m. and more details to come. Old Business: World Human Rights Day Proclamation SB: I submitted this to the city clerk for a review by the mayor, and as it stands now it's too many words for what he would even consider at this point. So what we can do or what the Commission can decide to do is to cut it down to 200 -250 words, that's basically the choice that you have. Then it will be considered, but it's still not necessarily going to be accepted, but even for consideration it has to be cut down. I believe that word number would approximately be about one page. I did not bring copies for everyone just because I thought if anybody wanted to assist on this matter I didn't need nine copies, but probably just those Commissioners who wanted to assist with trying to get this down to one page. Another thing to consider is that it has to be completed by Wednesday the 28"' to be considered for the December 4t'' city council meeting, which would be the only city council meeting that would be near or around the December 10"' date of International Human Rights Day. The council does meet, I believe, on the 18th also of December, and certainly it could be considered for that date too, but if you wanted it before the 10"' then we would be looking at the 28`x' to submit it. Page 2of13 SG: December 28"' is the deadline or November? SB: November 28f. KH: Is it three pages long or how many? SB: Its two pages. KH: Is that standard protocol for submissions? SB: Correct. It surpasses the words allowed. SG: I can help again and if anybody else would like to chip in. SB: I can certainly do it, but the concern on my part is how I would determine what to leave in and what to take out and as staff that would not be my role. So if somebody wanted to go through and mark it up that's fine and then I can go from there. SG: So do you think we can just do it via email and then send it? HO: Can you send copies of that? SB: I certainly can. So who is? HO: Shams and I, anybody else want to work on it? SB: Let me give you these two hard copies. I'll electronically send it tomorrow also. SG: If anybody has suggestions please let us know. SB: I should say the whereas is something that is standard protocol for proclamations. HO: Any other further discussion on that? Okay update on reports and Human Rights Breakfast. Updates/Reports: Human Rights Breakfast SB: I want to thank everyone for all your help. It's always a stressful event until about 8:29. It had a good turnout and great honorees. CG: The article in the Press Citizen was very complimentary I thought. HO: Did you hand out the surveys yet? SB: I have not yet. Basically what's going to happen this year is it's going to be a postcard where the Commission thanks participants for their support of the breakfast, and asking for their continued support. Basically we can't do it without you, and for further information about the Commission or for upcoming events, please visit and I'll give the website. I think just to streamline things try to make the survey more internet based than sending out standard mail. Page 3 of 13 HO: Don't forget to add to reserve your ticket for next year check here. CG: What is the survey? Do we usually have one? SB: It's just how they liked the space that is used and how they felt the sound was, the quality of the program and the food. CG: Did we use to hand it out at the breakfast? SB: No, last year they were sent an actual letter in an envelope and the card was pre - stamped and they could send it back. We had a really good response, but it's just not as easy to do that anymore. SG: One suggestion that just came to me is nametags. Maybe we should have some nametag blanks because at certain times it would be nice to know who is there. SB: Sure that makes sense. This is just kind of to think about, and I don't think we need to get into it until early spring. The next breakfast would actually be the 30th anniversary of the Human Rights Breakfast, and next year is also the 50'h anniversary of when the city started the Commission. We might want to make it a little more spectacular. I'm not sure how to do that. It would be nice to invite back all past honorees, however funding doesn't allow to give complimentary tickets. SG: Maybe a discount, like a special guest rather than the $25, maybe $10 or $12 or whatever. OT: How expensive is it to create a little booklet? SB: I don't think it would be terribly expensive. OT: We know it'd be expensive to give honorary tickets. We could have a little booklet that had all the information about the history of the program, and then have pictures or inserts on all of the past recipients. SB: I'll check with communications, which used to be document services to see how much information they have from before I started with the city because that is something I could get working on early. CG: Stefanie do you send out invitations to past honorees or any particular targeted marketing on past honorees? SB: If I have an address and I mean it depends, but there are a lot of past honorees that do get postcards. I don't know if it's an invitation. I would call it more of a solicitation to attend the Human Rights Breakfast. Past honorees the chances of them returning to the breakfast are usually within I would say a three to four year margin of when they actually were recognized. I do see that, but yes. HO: Any other discussion? SG: No, just the thought and please forgive me if I didn't notice. Do the honorees themselves have nametags? SB: No. Page 4 of 13 SG: I mean I knew some of them, but they should have a nametag, and write honoree even on it. KH: Could we include in that booklet perhaps key accomplishments of the past like four years or ten years? SB: Sure. HO: Okay Immigration Subcommittee, Kim? Immigration Subcommittee KH: Stefanie put together a rough draft and Gloria and I got together and reviewed that. We're meeting again next week and this is on the signage for the city offices to edit that or add additions or deletions. The overriding recommendation would be all signs in Spanish quite frankly, but the draft was maybe three or four pages long that included pictures of some of the key areas. Then at the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee I don't know if you notice it in the back there was the idea information, and that's what I was referring to. SG: So would you say Kim that of course the majority are Spanish speaking, were there other languages spoken from the groups that came? KH: Not on our tour. We just really focused on the Latino population. There were some suggestions for translation services though, and some of the departments that we went into the little sign was either hidden or just not very visible. Folks aren't really aware that that's available perhaps. That's such a huge thing to tackle because there are so many languages. DF: It seems like it's a great project that the city could get also some goodwill about. Like was it documented of you guys walking around the buildings and looking at stuff or? It seems like it'd be a great photo op for the Press Citizen too. SB: I mean Kim did a really good job of introducing folks to the staff. HO: Anything else? KH: Then just on the ID's, the universal ID's. That's one of the things that had come upon the tour because it's already implemented in a number of other cities. There was some more information on that that was in the handout. I'm not sure if we can move on that or how. SB: I can check with the city clerk and I'll put a copy of it in the packet. I can mail it out email sooner, but I will put a copy in the December packet. I'm not sure why it was included in that packet, so I have to check myself because I'm not sure. OT: When you say ID's what are you referring to? KH: Well one universal ID that could be used throughout the county that would be accepted at the library and at the rec center and at some of the other entities that What they asked for then also would be consistent because documents. SG: And that is for undocumented only or? KH: No it would be citywide ID's for anyone to use. Page 5of13 HO: At the Ad Hoc Committee forum they had a three page article about the ID system. SB: I think maybe that was an Ad Hoc because that doesn't sound familiar to me. KH: That might be why it was included SB: Right. OT: _ came in and at the public input _ support of it and gave a talk on ID's. DF: I don't know the timing of it, but if it's relevant I'd propose that we take it up as a Commission for our December meeting and make a vote and support a nod or has that already happened? SB: No. DF: That we could vote in support of the city moving forward on it. HO: That's a good idea. SB: I think that's what Kim is working on. I think she's working on a document that she can bring to the Commission, so if you should get a call from The Gazette or the Press Citizen, any Commissioner would be able to speak about the recommendation versus just the subcommittee. KH: _ up to this point because we really were focusing on just the signage, but it came up through the tours and then this additional information from the Ad Hoc Committee kind of brought it a little closer too. DF: So I guess I'd propose if it's not part of the recommendations that the Immigration Subcommittee is bringing forward in December, that the Commission take up the issue of understanding the issue and then voting on it in December? OT: I had mentioned that there were several cities that had already used it. KH: That's how it came up. There were several folks on the tour that had lived in communities where they had universal ID's so. Do we have enough information to share? SB: I'm going to guess that that was submitted by the person who came to speak to the Ad Hoc Committee, so it wasn't really an endorsement by the Ad Hoc Committee, but more an opportunity for the public to submit documentation or articles. So that's what I'm guessing, that's why that was in that particular packet. I can certainly follow up with the city clerk, and I can still electronically mail you that information that Connie is looking at tomorrow. I mean I have that so it's not a problem. DF: I might have some other stuff too from Sanctuary City Committee. KH: Could you send it out to all of us then? SB: Yes. DF: Do I need to propose it for the December agenda or? Page 6of13 OT: One of the things that I mentioned to the guy when he brought it up at the meeting, you know me I'm always looking at the big picture. Right off the bat I could see some positives, but I was wondering about what are the negatives that could have a negative impact on individuals if you DF: That would be a good question to ask the cities that are doing CG: Would this kind of ID be one that would be used you know somebody would have one ID that they could take to different places like _ where normally you would have to take like a utility bill or something. So if you had to get this card you probably would bring in a utility bill or some proof of residence or something of that nature. You're thinking about proposing not just city wide but county wide? KH: No city wide. It'd be great if it could be county wide. CG: Well if the city would consider it maybe then the county would too. DF: My proposal isn't that we vote on it tonight, but that we put in on the agenda for December. I think these questions may or may not be addressed in the materials. I think these are good questions, but put it on our December agenda. HO: I think one of the things that I think about will be cost. Who is going to bear the cost, be it the city _ cost for the ID's or personal CG: This note says that Enrichment, California, which is in Northern California. The program is administered by a third party vendor at no cost to the city, but I would think that that would be right for. I mean ... yeah that would just seem to be... OT: I think basically you know I'm not sure but my first thought was that would be ideal, it would be excellent for undocumented individuals because that's one of the big hurdles they have. If it comes down that it's going to improve the situation then we can start looking for ways to make it accessible to them. KH: I actually think that it's convenient for people who speak all languages because documented or undocumented because struggling with understanding our system to begin with. This way it just eliminates some of the barriers to at least getting that ID card. SG: What about people that come for say a fellowship at the University. They are here for like one or two years and they leave. Would that also be available for them? HO: I would think so. If they have residency here in the city I would think that would be the only stipulation. OT: They would have a University ID wouldn't they? SG: I don't know. DF: So does anybody have any opposition to doing it in December? SG: No that sounds good. Page 7of13 HO: Any further discussion? Okay Ad Hoc Diversity Committee, Orville. Ad Hoc Diversity Committee OT: We had a public input meeting Thursday. It was very well attending, you know cross section of individual, non - speaking English and had interpreters there for the Latinos. I was disappointed that there weren't that many individuals for the African American community there, but there were a couple. I think we kind of missed out on that segment so we had our Ad Hoc meeting yesterday. We're thinking that in order to be more user friendly we're going to try and get out into the community places like the schools and we're looking at our options. We requested some kind of ruling on the legality of kids in the schools because I know I'd be really upset if I found out that somebody had met with my kid you know a situation like that without my permission. So we got to check and see where we go with that, but we are definitely going to be getting out into the community, and trying to get the information and the feedback that we need. Another thing we talked about, well yesterday in our meeting the representatives from the Police Citizen's Review Board were there, we met with them and it was a very good meeting, very productive. We just kind of laid it out on the tables things like public distrust from certain communities. The fact that we really need to work at doing a better job of educating our community about the law and the police force. We talked about the review process and one thing that really kept coming up was the fact that all appearance that the police department is policing itself because if you make a complaint the police chief basically that's the first round. You meet with the individual and then the officer and then he gives his recommendation to the Police Review Board. Then they can do whatever they feel they need to do to get what they need. One of the things that we came up with was in order to counter or eliminate that appearance of self you know patrolling is that, well let me back up. One of the problems that we run into is with the union police when it comes down to the individual who makes a complaint, the Police Review Board can meet with that individual. But when it comes to _ officer, only persons have the right of the authority to request that that person participate is the police chief or the person's superior. So supervising an officer or... DF: Is our force unionized here? OT: Yes, or the city manager. Those are the only two people that have the authority to require that the police officer participate. So the suggestion was made that maybe the city manager could sit in on that session, and that kind of starts that _ that appearance of the police force totally you know investigating itself. Another thing we came up with is maybe the process could be changed so that a member of the Citizen Review Board would sit in on the meeting with the police chief and the complainant. Again that's kind of getting in there you know. SG: Would they accept do you think? OT: Well you know this is, we have to make recommendations to the city council, so these were just some things that we were kind of throwing out there. It's like we, I personally thought it was a very good meeting. Everybody just kind of laid it on the table to kind of get a picture of what we're dealing with. Of course not everybody agreed on what we're dealing with, but we discussed it anyway. DF: Was Kathy P_ there, the legal counsel? Page 8of13 OT: -Yes I think her name was Kathy. It was a young lady and then the guy who chairs it. That's kind of where we are there. So in the future we will be trying to set up meetings so that we can get out into the community and see if we can get some individuals from the community be engaged and share the concerns that they have. KH: There was also the suggestion of focus groups. SG: To do what? KH: To get some information to the Ad Hoc Committee, so like the schools having small focus groups and the neighborhood center having small focus groups so that it was less intimidating. Also listening posts came up which I thought was kind of a neat idea. I know a few of the county supervisors have listening posts. I thought it would be nice if we It's a way to get out into the community and help them understand the work that we do. HO: Stefanie you also appeared before the Ad Hoc Committee. Do you want to say anything about that? SB: I was invited to speak. They wanted to know about the process as far as the Human Rights Commission, and then what the process is if there would be a complaint filed against the city. So that's basically what I spoke on. I think that the reason I was asked to go there so that they had a better understanding of how our office, you know I think at one time they thought maybe there was more of a relationship there. But generally speaking if somebody wants to file a complaint against a city department .... I try to be careful in my wording here so I'm going to slow down, but because I want people to understand and realize that they have the ability to come to the Human Rights Office here in Iowa City. What we would tell somebody is that we can help intake this, but to avoid the appearance of impropriety, we would transfer the complaint out, but we certainly are available to get people that information and to answer questions that someone may have and things of that nature. SG: So say party A had a complaint against party B, which is a department within the city. They can come to the Human Rights Office, but wouldn't that be a conflict of interest at some point? SB: Well we would just intake the complaint. We would not investigate the complaint. We would transfer it out. Generally it would be the State, but it depends because sometimes it depends, but generally speaking it would be the State. I don't think it's a conflict because all we're doing is either giving somebody something or we take the complaint and then we transfer it. OT: I was surprised that they seemed to have so much difficulty comprehending what you were saying when you said that if someone comes to you and they have an issue with a landlord or a job discrimination, then your department will deal with it. But if someone came to you and wanted to file a complaint against the city that you know you wouldn't deal with that. You would basically pass that on because of the impropriety. That seemed very simple to me, but it just kept coming UP. CG: Stefanie I'm not sure what your tenure has been here, but have you can you estimate have you, how many you might have had like that? SB: That's not something I could answer whether a complaint has been filed or not. That's not something I would, that's part of the ordinance. Whether a complaint has been filed against a business, educational facility, that's not something that I can disclose. Lots of times we receive Page 9of13 calls like for example: my employer is doing this, have you had other complaints? That's not something that I can disclose. KH: I was surprised to find that there's really no tracking system for any officer complaint that would have more than one complaint. Is that true? OT: I don't know. I would hope that that's not true. KH: I think that the last I had heard that that was the case and currently their system doesn't track officer complaints because they have to put a number with that complaint right, and so they don't have any way of tracking how many complaints one particular officer may have had. Is that so? SB: You mean the PCRB? KH: Yes. SB: It's possible, I don't oversee the PCRB. OT: The PCRB may not have that information, the police department has it. DF: That's the point you put it in the PCRB statements right. So it's not just a personnel matter, it's a... SG: If it's a police matter isn't that confidential? OT: But I think basically my understanding of it is when the police chief, that's his investigation with the individual and the officer. Then he passes it on to the PCRB, and then they can request what they want, and I think if they wanted to know how many complaints were against that individual, they could request that information from the chief. I would say most likely the board would have the authority. DF: Would you recommend it as a system change? Would they have it automatically? That seems like its relevant information. OT: I would say it should, you know, but obviously I agree that anytime there is a complaint against an officer one of the first things that should be looked at is what is that individual's history. I can't guarantee that they're doing it. I know the information has got to be available, but whether or not it's being utilized, I don't know. KH: Then I wonder what consequences there are for repeat offenders if any. SG: The issue is because it's almost like a university issue; you know we're sort of in the middle of something similar. What constitutes confidential information, which is personnel versus the right of the individual that is issuing the complaint? OT: The biggest thing about confidentiality in this situation is that it's a personnel matter. You know so it's kind of, I would say that's a delicate area because I would think that yeah we really need to know how many complaints this person has had against him, but at the same time that gets into the personnel arena so you don't know what your rights would be to get it. Page 10 of 13 DF: It could be depending on who gets to know it, like is it the PCRB gets it and the public doesn't. The PCRB serves an investigatory role. They would be granted it seems like extension. OT: A good question though, and in the next meeting I'll ask that question to the city attorney. You know is that something that could be included automatically where there is a complaint, is that the information that we looked at in terms of complaints that the person had. SG: Here's another question. Say the board recommended a specific recommendation against a specific officer. Does the police department, does it have the choice whether to do it or not, to follow that recommendation or not? What's the final outcome? Okay they did the investigation and found officer A there was just cause okay. So they go back to the chief and tell him or her that, and then what? OT: I would think that what happens is once the Police Review Board comes to its conclusion and makes recommendations to the chief, and then the chief would probably follow that, except you know if the officer doesn't agree. He or she can always appeal or if the chief chooses not to do it he doesn't have to. The Review Board is just an advisory board. SB: The annual report, which should be available online, would give an overview of the process and that may answer some of these questions also. HO: Any further discussion? Building Communities OT: We met this morning and where we are is we're trying to branch out to the community and identify individuals that want to work with us. We want to form a group to actually look at issues in the black community, and basically set some programming in place. One of the things that we hope to do is get parent citizens involved. So that's kind of where we are, so we are in the process of identifying individuals and we're planning to have a function in January where we'll invite everybody and give our spiel and see how many people we can get to buy in on it. Then once we get that established and then what we hope to be able to do is sit down with the group and kind of discuss what we want to do. You know what issues we want to deal with and get a commitment from the group. We've been talking about various things in our committee about what we think needs to be done, but we decided that we would hold off until we actually get the group formed because we don't want to set a direction that we're going to take, and then go on with the people on board. It would be much more productive if we waited and let the people who are going to be involved decide what the group is going to do as a whole. HO: Any further discussion? University of Iowa Center for Human Rights HO: I can speak to that. As you all know the University Center for Human Rights is a target by the Provost Office to be closed next year. Several things have occurred. The executive board has met and formulated a sub - committee to save the Center for Human Rights, and I'll pass out the fact sheet that we put together. There has also been a student organization that is recognized by the University to save the Center for Human Rights. I want to point out that on December 5d, at 3:00; it's a Wednesday at the Pentacrest they are going to have a protest to save the center. They also ask that you sign the petition online and the address is on the sheet. They are also sending an Page 11 of 13 email to Sally Mason. They brought up the email that we sent. They were very pleased with that and they want to see more letters to the editor. The Provost Office is taking a lot of heat on this I understand from several areas, and the Provost has asked to meet with the executive board and we are trying to set up a date for that. SB: You were talking about the Provost Office and how they've been viewed. HO: They want to meet with the executive board and we're working on setting up a date for that. As of right now the School of Education has agreed to accept the Certification Program in Human Rights that has been offered. The School of Law is going to take over the Camille Internship Program. Burns Weston who is affiliated with the School of Law has got them to agree to keep up the website that has a large hit on it daily, and they're going to keep that up. So this is just moving right along and there are more ideas that are being generated and planned. They are talking about having a 24 week movie night, a movie on human rights each week for the next 24 weeks till the target date of the center closing to get people more aware of human rights on the campus. So there are a lot of things being generated. Any questions? DF: I think the email address they are using at the bottom is incorrect. HO: This is what was sent to me. DF: Do you know who did it? What they've got is Provost Butler's hawk ID, but not his email address. It should be Patrick- butler(&uiowa.edu. HO: Okay thank you. Any other concerns or questions? I understand the Library Board is looking at the One Community, One Book as a possibility to be picked up at the library, but right now we're not calling it quits and rolling over just because Provost says that we have to. OT: I thought that the award that was given to the center was very tasteful and very timely. HO: The students are also talking about the possibility of a sit -in. I'm not sure exactly where. They're talked about Sally Mason's office. They talked about the Provost Office so. Reports of Commission SG: Nothing CG: No KH: Just one thing. I was really sad, I was watching a city council meeting and sad to hear that the Grant Wood skating program is no longer in existence because they couldn't control what was happening out on the playground. So this was every Friday or Saturday night they had open gym and open skating at Grantwood Elementary. It was a community, I think it was or something. It's been going on now for over a year and it just finally on the decided to close it down because of the unruly behavior of the students outside of the gym and the many calls to the police. OT: No DF: Nothing HO: I don't have anything at this time. Page 12 of 13 Reports of Staff SB: The status of complaints should be the last page in the packet. I want to mention that our own Harry Olmstead was recently recognized, and I hope I have this correct, by the Iowa Chapter of the National Rehabilitation Association. SB: Do you want to talk about getting the award? HO: I was given the Craig Woods Award. Craig Woods was a vocational rehab counselor who is blind I understand and did a lot of active work in the community. So they named an award after him and they recognized someone with a disability that has been active in the community. It hasn't been awarded for four years, that's what they told me, so I was quite honored to receive it this year. SB: So the Iowa Chapter of the National Rehabilitation Association. Then I want to mention that there were vacancies on the Commission and those have been filled. One is by our own Harry Olmstead, who was actually filling an unexpired term. So now he gets to come back and serve again. Then the other is Joe Coulter, who I believe is a professor at the University. The third appointment Katie Anthony who is the program director for the Iowa City Association of Realtors. I worked with her before for fair housing conferences and stuff. I think that's all. SG: When do they start? SB: Technically January 1, 2013. HO: Who is the second person, the woman? SB: Katie Anthony. HO: Our next regular meeting is scheduled for December 18, 2012. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 18:49. Next Regular Meeting — December 18, 2012 at 18:00. Page 13 of 13 Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2012 (Meeting Date) KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting /No Quorum R = Resigned - = Not a Member TERM 10/1 11/2 12/1 NAME EXP. 1/17 2/21 3/20 4/17 5/15 6/19 7/17 8/21 9/18 6 0 8 Dr. Howard 1/1/13 X X O/E X O/E X O/E X O/E X O/E Cowen Constance 1/1/13 X O/E X X O/E O/E X X X X X Goeb Harry 1/1/13 X X X X X X X X X X X Olmstead (8 -1 -2010) David B. 1/1/14 X O/E O/E O/E R R R R R R R R Brown Diane 1/1/14 O/E X X X X X O/E X O/E O/E X Finnerty Orville 1/1/14 X X X X X X X X X X X Townsend, Sr. Henri Harper 1/1/15 O/E X O/E R R R R R R R R R Kim 1/1/15 X X X X X X X O/E X X X Hanrahan Shams 1/1/15 O/E X X X X X X X X O/E X Ghoneim Jessie 1/1/15 - - - - - O/E X X O/E X O/E Harper (Appointed 6-5-12) Dan Tallon 1/1/14 - - - - - - - X X X O/E (Appointed 7- 31 -12) KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting /No Quorum R = Resigned - = Not a Member IP11 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION PRELIMINARY NOVEMBER 8, 2012 — 7:00 PM — FORMAL EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Carolyn Stewart Dyer, Charlie Eastham, Anne Freerks, Phoebe Martin, Paula Swygard, John Thomas, Tim Weitzel MEMBERS ABSENT: None. STAFF PRESENT: Robert Miklo, Karen Howard, Sarah Greenwood Hektoen OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Miller, Mary Gilbert, Edie Thomason, Jim Buddenbaum, Sue Ford, Ed Wasserman RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend approval of REZ12- 00025, an application submitted by Jeff Miller Construction, Inc. for rezoning from a Low Density Single Family (RS -5) zone to Low Density Multifamily (RM -12) zone with the following conditions: a detailed landscaping plan shall be submitted for design review, illustrating a minimum 20 foot landscape buffer between any developed portion of the property and Hickory Hill Park; the landscaping plan should include a variety of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees that effectively screen view of the development from the park; in order to ensure safe vehicular access to the development, development of the property should be consistent with the proposed site and concept plan with regard to the location of the building, parking, and driveway access to 18t Avenue. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ITEM REZONING/ ITEM Set a public hearing for November 15 to amend the Comprehensive Plan to adopt the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings Plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan. Freerks opened public hearing. Freerks closed public hearing Eastham moved to set the public hearing for November 15th. Dyer seconded. Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 2 of 12 A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. REZONING ITEM REZ12- 00025: Discussion of an application submitted by Jeff Miller Construction, Inc for a rezoning from Low Density Single Family (RS -5) zone to Low Density Multifamily (RM -12) zone for approximately 1.02 -acres of property located on 1 st Avenue, north of Rochester Avenue. (45 day limitation: Nov 10, 2012) Howard said at the last meeting both the Commission and the public had some questions about various issues. She said in regard to storm water drainage, when the property is developed it will have to go through a major site plan review and at that time the City will review the proposed development to ensure that it meets all City codes and requirements, including meeting requirements for stormwater management. Howard handed out copies of the site plan standards to the Commission. She said the storm water drainage will be reviewed by numerous departments of the City including the Building Department and the Public Works Department. Howard said with regard to traffic safety, staff still believes that this proposed rezoning will not significantly impact traffic speed and congestion. She said staff forwarded the concerns expressed by the public at the last PU meeting to the Police Department. Those that spoke at the last meeting were invited to a meeting with the City transportation staff. As a result of these complaints, the police department indicated they would direct officers to utilize the speed trailers and provide extra patrol for speed control in this area to help address speeding issues along this section of 1 st Avenue. Howard indicated that there were also concerns expressed at the last meeting about tree preservation, landscaping and the building setbacks. She said the proposed building footprint is about 10,500 square feet. She said the building coverage as proposed would be about 24 percent of the lot. She said the maximum building coverage allowed in the RM -12 zone is 50 percent. She said the proposed underground parking will help minimize the area of the lot covered by pavement and building. She said they are also including some extra parking for residents and guests since there is no street parking along 1 st Avenue. Howard said her rough estimate of what would be covered by proposed driveway and parking comes to 3800 square feet, which makes the building and parking coverage on the lot about 32 percent. She said the zoning code also requires street trees to be planted at the time of development at one per 30 feet of linear frontage for small trees or one tree for every 40 linear feet if they plant large trees. She said there is also a residential tree requirement for multifamily development of one tree for every 550 square feet of lot coverage, so approximately 20 trees would be required for this site based on the size of the footprint shown on the concept plan. She said the zoning code encourages the preservation of existing trees by giving extra credit for saving existing healthy trees. She noted, however, that the trees that are on the property currently would not rise to the level of meeting the sensitive areas ordinance for preservation. Freerks asked if credit is given whether or not the City Forester finds them to be of a certain quality. Howard answered that the residential tree requirement is intended to ensure that a certain minimum number of quality trees are planted or preserved on multi - family residential properties to enhance the quality of life of the residents. For that reason, trees proposed for preservation are inspected to ensure they are trees that are of a quality that will both survive during construction and thrive for many years. If existing trees appear to be healthy and of good quality, the City will allow the trees to count for one or more of the trees required. Thomas asked if the property to the south complied with all standards in respect to the Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 3 of 12 treatment along the north property line. Howard said that the development was approved according to City standards and according to the standards in the sensitive areas ordinance. She noted that the property was difficult to develop because of the amount of sloping wooded land on the south side of the property. As a consequence, a sensitive areas rezoning was required and certain modifications to the underlying zoning requirements were granted by the Commission and the City Council in order to better preserve the wooded slopes on the site. She said it went through a number of design iterations in the process of trying to preserve the most sensitive steep and critical slopes on the south side of the property. She said the building was allowed to exceed the height limit and was shifted to the north, and any trees that were there were in that location were taken down in order to build the building. Freerks asked if there were trees on the south that were preserved. Howard said there were. Thomas asked if the shift of the proposed building complied with these standards. Howard replied that it complied with the sensitive areas ordinance because the concern was preserving the wooded slope to the south. She said with that shift to the north part of the property, it sits very close to the property line. Howard noted that the width of the current property proposed for rezoning appears sufficient to achieve an approximate 20 foot setback on both the north and south sides of the building. Freerks opened public hearing. Jeff Miller said he had consulted with MMS Engineers in regards to the plat and the elevations and the trees. He said they should be able to keep the trees toward the front of the property but it was likely that at least two trees would have to be taken down. He said he didn't consider any of the trees on the site of quality, but they were going to try and keep any healthy trees they could that won't be damaged by the development. He said they want to stay as far from the retaining wall on the adjoining property to the south as they can. He said he had talked to his engineer with regard to the drainage and it's difficult to know what you'll find until you start to dig. He said whatever it is they find, they will have to deal with it and find a system that will let it drain well and function properly even in a wet year. He said he would follow the engineer's suggestions. Eastham asked staff if there is room between the proposed building and the building to the south to replace any trees. Howard said the applicant is allowed to design their site with landscaping in a way that fits their building and their site. She said they are required to provide a certain number of trees on the site, but there is not a requirement to screen one residential building from another. Mary Gilbert of 918 Bluffwood Drive said she believed that the development would not meet the planning principle for preservation of natural features as mentioned in the City Code and the comprehensive plan. She asked the Commission to reject the application for rezoning because the development would not be consistent with the environmentally sensitive nature of the property under review and the difficulties inherent in developing a multifamily structure of this size; would have deleterious effects on Hickory Hill Park; and disturb the surrounding neighborhood by increased traffic due to insufficient on -site parking. Gilbert read from the City website about the neighborhood planning principles of providing green, open space areas as buffers between urban development and sensitive features and incorporating and maintaining a green, open space buffer between Hickory Hill Park and urban development to preserve the natural integrity of the park, and treating environmentally sensitive Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 4 of 12 areas as amenities." She said it also suggested on the website that ... "further concentrations of apartments are to be avoided and that apartments and townhouses be compatible with neighborhood architecture in terms of design and scale." Gilbert questioned whether approval of the rezoning would stray from the ideals expressed in the plan. Gilbert said the northern boundary abuts the southern boundary of Hickory Hill Park, therefore any development of the lot in question will have some effect on the park. She said the ways a multifamily building will affect the park are unknown. She said because of the special character of the site under review it's never been developed and is possibly part of a prairie remnant that lies a few hundred feet to the north. She asked what degree a critical slope has to be. Howard said that slopes exceeding 18 percent are considered to be critical. Gilbert said if some of the slope is 18 percent or greater the property will be have to be reviewed for sensitive land and features according to the City Code. She said to squeeze a building of this size and conform to the setback, earth will have to be moved, and there are a number of restrictions about this in the Code. She mentioned some other restrictions from the Code. Gilbert said another serious concern is parking in the neighborhood. She said because the developer must provide additional parking spaces for guests, it will mean moving more earth and using additional concrete, which means more run -off. She said if no additional parking is provided, guests will have to either park in the Hickory Hill parking lot or along Stuart Court and Bluffwood Circle, both of which have no outlet, which means more traffic as every car entering would have to drive to the end of the street to turn around. Jeff Miller said their hope is that they will have 42 parking spots as the concept plan develops, and he thinks that is ample for the 16, 2- bedroom units proposed. Edie Thomason of Stuart Court said one of her concerns is that the proposed building will have 16 two- bedrooms and that makes potentially 48 people with maximum occupancy of three people. She said that would make a lot of additional population in that one acre of property. She said there could be children in that building, and with the slope there is no place for them to play except the sidewalk and the street. She said she is concerned that the storm water will drain into the park, as after a rain it stays wet for several days, and with additional drainage from the subject site there will be erosion and mud and will render the park less usable. She said there is already a zoning ordinance in place for low density and she thinks that should remain. She said she thinks that 16 units are too much for one acre. Jim Buddenbaum of 557 North 1St Avenue said he bought his property because from his view on an upper story, he couldn't see anything manmade. He said he thinks staff is seriously underestimating the impact of the water that runs through the subject property. He said rain from the Regina parking lot comes through his property and perpetually keeps the property wet. He wanted to know how many parking spots would be inside. He said his real concern is the site plan and a building that will virtually sit in his living room. He would like to see the building moved as far away as possible from the retaining wall on his property. He said he knows most of his comments are personal and emotional, but he feels strongly that this is a project that should not happen here. He is very much opposed to it. Freerks asked Howard to talk about the path this item will take and at what point the City checks in again on it. Howard said the only action before the Commission right now is a request to rezone the property from RS -5 to RM -12. She said when the applicant is actually ready to build a building, he will need to bring in detailed construction drawings and a site plan that meets all the Building Code and site plan requirements. She said the site plan review process is a way for the City to check to make sure that the proposed development meets all the zoning Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 5 of 12 requirements, including the sensitive areas ordinance. She said if the applicant's engineer finds that there are a significant number of critical slopes on the property and they are disturbing more than 35 percent of them, then the item would have to again come before the Commission for review. Otherwise, the site plan would be reviewed administratively by City staff. Sue Ford of 616 North 1St Avenue directly across from the subject property said she doesn't like the idea of draining all that water into Hickory Hill Park. She agreed with Thomason that after a not particularly heavy rain, some of the trails become very muddy and there's already a lot of erosion along many of the trails and many of the bridges are washed out in their footings. Howard said the water will have to drain to the City storm sewer. Ford said she has questions about what kind of housing this will be and the neighbors and the Commission should be concerned because no one really knows what is proposed. She wanted to know what kind of information the Commission uses to grant a rezoning and what triggers the change of zoning. Freerks said one thing the Commission does is look at whether the rezoning will be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Greenwood Hektoen said the Commission's purview is to consider applications for rezoning according to the Comprehensive Plan, which sets forth the goals and vision for how a neighborhood develops. Freerks said the Commission does not ask who is going to live where and is not allowed to discuss that. She clarified that the zoning really has to do with the number of units that can be built. She said that certain conditions can make it impossible to build the number of units proposed, so there can be many variables. Howard said the RM -12 zone is the low density multifamily zone, which would grant the right to build whatever is allowed under that zoning designation. She noted that all the properties across the street are also zoned RM -12 and contain duplexes because the zone also allows single family, duplex, townhouse and multifamily. Ed Wasserman of 555 N. 1 St Avenue showed photos of the property from his home. He said all the trees on the north side of the lot provide a lot of cover and block the view to the north. He explained that only two of all the trees are on his property. He said the way the proposed building is sited, the developer could take every tree except those two. He said removing the trees means removing a lot of earth by the retaining wall, and that will exacerbate the existing drainage problem. He complained that the way the plan is now, a very large building could be put nine feet from that property line. He said the top floor of the proposed building will be about level with the first floor of his building. He also mentioned that dirt will have to be removed almost up to the track at Regina in order to get this proposed building set in the hillside, which will let the storm water run directly into the proposed building. Gilbert asked if anyone has recently found any of the pins of the park. Freerks explained that would happen when it is developed, and is a legality that has to be dealt with. Gilbert asked who is responsible for paying for a surveyor to tell the neighbors what the elevations are. Howard said when the applicant submits a plan for their building they will have to submit a site plan and their engineer will have the topographic lines marked on it and will indicate any areas that have sensitive slopes. Gilbert asked if the Commission is legally able to rezone without taking into account the slopes. Freerks said they are. Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 6 of 12 Howard explained that the applicant will have to meet all the City ordinances including the zoning ordinance and the site plan review ordinance. Freerks said that the rezoning itself doesn't mean that everything gets a green light because there are a number of requirements that have to be dealt with before a site plan is approved. Gilbert said what if the developer pays out all this money and then the property is found to be unbuildable. Howard said that is the risk the developer has chosen to take. Gilbert asked if the requirements that were put forth on the City's website will come into play. Howard said the zoning requirements and building code requirements come into play when the applicant brings in building and site plans and has to show how they've met all the City requirements. Freerks explained that if it's, for instance, a 20% slope, that doesn't mean it can't be built upon, but rather that certain requirements must be met. Howard provided an example by explaining why the building on the adjoining lot was zoned OPD /RM -12. She explained that the amount of the slopes that were proposed for disturbance exceeded a certain threshold, so it had to go through the planned development rezoning process. Similarly, she said if it is found that the subject property exceeds a threshold of 35 percent of critical slopes being disturbed, they will have to go through another rezoning process before the Commission. She said if they are not disturbing more than that threshold of critical slope they can go through an administrative review process where the City staff would look at it to make sure that the building is sited so the drainage is properly designed to accommodate the slopes of the property. Gilbert said the fact that the subject property abuts onto the park, which is City property, it seems that there are two different factions with different agendas. Freerks said at some point development does happen adjacent to public lands, and it's not uncommon during a rezoning for people to come forward to express that they thought, or their realtor had told them, that a subject property would stay a green space. She said that unless the City purchases a property, the owners have certain rights to develop a property. Freerks closed public hearing. Weitzel moved to approve REZ12- 00025, an application submitted by Jeff Miller Construction, Inc. for rezoning from a Low Density Single Family (RS -5) zone to Low Density Multifamily (RM -12) zone with the following conditions: a detailed landscaping plan shall be submitted for design review, illustrating a minimum 20 foot landscape buffer between any developed portion of the property and Hickory Hill Park; the landscaping plan should include a variety of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees that effectively screen view of the development from the park; in order to ensure safe vehicular access to the development, development of the property should be consistent with the proposed site and concept plan with regard to the location of the building, parking, and driveway access to 1st Avenue. Thomas seconded the motion. Freerks invited discussion. Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 7 of 12 Eastham said in the staff recommendations from the previous packet, staff recommends a conditional zoning agreement requiring detailed landscaping plans. He asked if they could consider amending the motion that was before the Commission to add a condition about a setback on the south side of the property. Weitzel and Freeks said if Eastham wanted to specify an additional condition, it should be added to the motion. Freerks asked if they are saying that they want the access to be butted against the north portion of the property as a sketch shows. Howard stated that she believes there is enough lot area to also have a 20 foot setback on both the north and south side of the building, but without exact building plans it could not be determined for certain at this point. Eastham asked what the motion is in terms of the building's location on the south side. Howard replied that their recommendation is that generally the building and the driveway be sited so the driveway is at the north end of the property so it has the best sight distance for drivers entering and exiting the property. Eastham reiterated his question. Howard said that judging from the concept plan, there could be approximately 20 feet from the proposed building to the south boundary of the site. Eastham asked if they know how far the proposed building will have to be set back from the south property line in order to preserve the existing large trees. Howard said she couldn't answer that question because typically you would have to set the building far enough back to save their root systems. She noted, however, that when a detailed site plan is submitted, the applicant will have to identify which trees will come down and which will be preserved. At this time, however, it is not known. Weitzel said he thought they were getting into areas that should be reserved for site plan review and due to lack of details about the building design the Commission could not determine those at this time. He asked if they shouldn't be focusing on the rezoning instead. Eastham agreed, and said at this time he was trying to determine if there were additional conditions they should add to the motion. Thomas said he would like to see the detailed landscaping plan include a review by Friends of Hickory Hill Park Board. Greenwood Hektoen said she thought it would be difficult to establish what criteria they would be able to review it on and what sort of powers they would have. She said it would be unusual to have a third party approve, let alone review, the plans. Thomas said the Board has some expertise in the selection of plant material that would go into that screening. Greenwood Hektoen said she would caution against it because this is private property and is not part of the park. Eastham asked if it is possible for the public and the Hickory Hill Park Board to give input regarding the final site plan. Greenwood Hektoen said she would recommend against doing that. Howard said the question is whether this rezoning would pose a problem or externality such that it would warrant imposing an additional requirement on this applicant. Greenwood Hektoen added that the conditions that would be included in a Conditional Zoning Agreement need to be tied to a public need being generated by this rezoning, and the rezoning applies to the density, Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 8 of 12 not the building. Howard said right now the property has the rights to be developed for single family development or Regina could use it to put their driveway next to the park where they have an easement and there would be no scrutiny of those actions. She said in the staff memo she had said that preserving the trees on the site is a good idea and the applicant should take that into account, but the question is whether the lack of trees and landscaping that was preserved on the adjacent property is something that this property owner should have to remedy when they build. Eastham said he generally agrees with Howard's viewpoints. He added that he thinks Thomas has an interesting suggestion, but he has a problem with asking a third party to review the landscaping on any property without a formalized way of doing that. Thomas said he would not add that as an amendment to the motion. He said he assumed the Parks Department will be part of the review process. Howard said site plans are reviewed by City staff, but are public documents that can be viewed by anyone. She noted that the City is always open to good advice, but allowing a third party review powers is problematic. Eastham said his concern about this rezoning request has to do with the reasonable considerations asked by the people living just to the south that existing trees be preserved if possible to preserve the views they now have. He said one of the factors that may make that more difficult is that the plan to also have a buffer between the parking lot of the proposed building and the park. He said he would like to see more consideration given to preserving the views of the building to the south of the subject property rather than providing a buffer to the park. Eastham said he doesn't think that a 20 foot buffer there is going to accomplish much, and he doesn't think the size of the proposed surface parking area is really necessary for the intended use right now. He said he is only making suggestions, not asking that they be included as an amendment to the motion. Thomas asked what the required setback is against Hickory Hill Park. Howard replied that the minimum setback for a parking area is 10 feet and screening must be provided for the parking area. He said he is sympathetic to Eastham's comments. He said he thinks that the park itself is a buffer, which isn't saying that this isn't a balancing act. He said the question is the use of those setbacks. He said the distance from the northern property line of the subject property to the southern trail in the park is about 175 feet so it's some distance away. Dyer said there are lots of other buildings visible from inside the park. Weitzel said it is difficult for him to articulate specific standards for the park if it's not part of a design plan that's already in place and part of the Comprehensive Plan because otherwise you start asking if this is a natural park or not. He said Central Park was supposed to be completely natural, and lots of rock was moved to make it. He said it would be hard to articulate the definition of natural in a Conditional Zoning Agreement. Freerks said she thinks there is value to small pockets of trees like those along the southern boundary of the subject property and these are a benefit to both the tenants of the proposed building and the adjacent building, so she finds some value in trying to maintain that buffer. She said it takes a long time to grow trees like these and from the beginning of this project she would like to see as many of those trees maintained as possible, and she thinks the applicant agrees with that. She said she's not sure they can tie that to the rezoning but what the Commission can do is outline ideas and concepts, as they have been talking about here, with the hopes that City staff and the developer will take them into consideration. She said regardless of what the City Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 9 of 12 Forester says about the trees, she thinks they are worth keeping. Weitzel said many of the questions that have come up regard the City standards and if they will be met. He said they will be met because it is City staff's job to make sure that everything from the Building Code to the Site Plan Standards are all met. He said that what the Commission does is determine if a property owner's constitutional right is being upheld and if they are allowing someone to do what they want to do within the standards. He said what the Commission has looked at is the Comprehensive Plan and that's all they can look at. Thomas said he is concerned with the standards as they exist now in that the property to the south is placed in such a way that it's dependent on what happens on the adjacent property to create screening. Weitzel said they had that choice when they built that property. Thomas said that the City standards allowed it and if the City standards allowed that, there is a flaw. Weitzel countered that the Commission had to meet other standards like the wooded slopes to the south of that property. Thomas said the project itself could have been adjusted. He said he's just really concerned that the project was developed in such a manner that it's dependent on screening on the adjacent property in order to maintain its integrity. Swygard said she understands what Thomas is saying but she doesn't think the rezoning of the subject property needs to be responsible for the trees. Thomas said what he is concerned about is that perhaps there is a problem with the City's zoning looking ahead so that they don't find themselves in this position again. Weitzel mentioned that on this application the developer has said that he is committed to trying to do what he can to save the trees. Freerks said she thinks the idea with the previous building to the south was try to maintain and keep as many of the trees on the critical slopes to the south as possible, so the building was shifted to the north. She said there was a great value placed on that by the community. She said over the years, hundreds of buildings in town have been placed very close to other buildings. Weitzel said he sees some evergreens in a photo that he thinks will meet most of the S -3 standards for screening. Eastham said in regard to the observations made about surface water running over the subject site in his view they have established that there is no probability of surface water from this site causing property damage to the south, since that property is uphill from the applicant's property. He said it's been very clearly shown by staff that it won't happened because of the topography. He said that surface water from the subject property will have to be routed into the City storm water drainage system, which will empty into Ralston Creek. He said that he thinks any problems in developing this site caused by surface water on the site is a difficulty the developer will have to address. Eastham also remarked on the traffic on 1st Avenue saying that in his view the traffic coming from the proposed development will not materially affect existing traffic or congestion or speeds on 1 St Avenue. He did say, however, that he believes those concerns are Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 10 of 12 legitimate. He stated that he would be happy if the Commission would note to the City Council that the issues of congestion and traffic speed along 1St Avenue have been raised in conjunction with this application and ask the Council to consider dealing with those as separate issues. Martin said any type of housing on the subject property will still have the same issues to deal with. She said the builder is going to have to build what works. She said she doesn't know if there is any difference in the RS -5 and the RM -12 zoning for this property because the developer can only do what the land allows. She said she's not opposed to development, but she would like to see it imitating what it's near and acting as another buffer between the park, although she'd like fewer stories on the building. She said she doesn't think, though, that the zoning really dictates that because you could build a gigantic single family dwelling or multiple houses. Freerks said potentially there could be four or five single family homes on the property if you could fit them in. She said although they don't always get the maximum, it could be built on quite aggressively even without this rezoning. Martin said clearly Regina doesn't want the land, so the original motion makes sense. Freerks said she thinks this is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as there is multi - family zoning along 1 st Avenue in this area. She stated that traffic and congestion are an issue but this potential 16 -plex will not have much of a negative impact in terms of the number of cars. She said she thinks it would be much worse if Regina had a driveway there. She said she will vote in favor of this rezoning, but she would like to see the developer work to try to maintain as many as possible of the trees to the south and to make it a building that will be an asset and can blend into the community. She said good things could happen on the subject property, and she reminded those in attendance that the people who live there will be their neighbors, and hopefully they will be as welcomed as people welcomed them. Dyer said the traffic coming from this development will not likely be the traffic that is speeding because they'll have to slow down to enter the property. Freerks said these things are always difficult and it's always a difficult decision about the few green spaces remaining in neighborhoods because they are so precious. She said, however, the property owner has a right to develop it. The motion carried by a vote of 7 -0. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: October 18. 2012 Dyer moved to approve the minutes of October 18, 2012. Eastham seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. OTHER: Howard informed the Commission about what may be on the agenda for its next meeting, since there would not be an informal meeting. Planning and Zoning Commission November 8, 2012 - Formal Page 11 of 12 ADJOURNMENT: Eastham moved to adjourn. Weitzel seconded. The meeting was adjourned on a 7 -0 vote. z U) �o 20 c9 0 z W W ZVN� 0 z N Q Np ad z � z~ O LL za z a J CL z H W W O LL z E N O O O N =3 �a O a 0o 4 x x X U (M x X X x c N E N� N E 0 m to O fN O E co xxxx a Q Q? °' ; XXOX Xooz xooz Q a T-oXxx 0 Y Y xxxx oXXx Xxx� as wxw O O i x w O -XXX 1 XXX LU co co xx XLUX0 ;xxx ;xxxx ti Qxxx ; xxxo ;XXX xxxx �o ti X X X i x x X X Mxxxo; pxx i xxxx xxx axxoX xxxx ; XXX N Mxxx� i XXX N CXxxx xxx M W W M N F� LO LO M co ;xxxx xxx N N oXxxx i xxx N w - X X X X w X x x V- >-az=wa= a 004 m= �wC�(OMNI�tntf�M �x00000000 �Q�CNa�NJ x ce w Z Q Q w w -UJCL Q>- QOCOQ2w he � ZGWLL U= �V�maC�F- W? 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Max Mons, Nialle Sylvan, Jean Walker, Christine Denberg, Pam Michaud, Mike Wright, Nancy Carlson, Alicia Trimble, Jesse Allen, Jon McPheron, Pete Hosch, Mike Pugh, Nancy Adams - Cogan, Tam Bryk, Patricia Knox, Leslie Hollis, Jiyun Park RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend approval of REZ12- 00024/SUB12- 00010, a preliminary Planned Development Overlay Plat plan and plat of Cardinal Point South Part III, noting that they now have all the items requested in the staff report. The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend Jefferson Street National Register Historic (OHP). approval of REZ12- 00027, to designate the District as an Historic District Overlay Zone The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend approval of REZ12- 00028, an application to rezone .22 acres of land located at 221 and 225 North Linn Street and approximately 3200 square feet of property located on the west side of Linn Street, a Mid - American sub- station, from Neighborhood Stabilization Residential (RNS -12) to Central Business District (CB -2) subject to the conditions outlined in the staff report of November 15th, 2012. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. REZONING ITEMS REZ12- 00024/SUB12- 00010: Discussion of an application submitted by Southgate Development Services for a rezoning to amend the Planned Development Overlay Medium Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 2 of 23 Density Single Family (OPD -8) Plan to change townhouse style units to zero lot line dwellings and a preliminary plat for Cardinal Pointe South Part Three, a 32 -lot, 6.53 acre residential subdivision located at Camp Cardinal Boulevard, Ryan Court and Preston Lane. (45 day limitation: November 26, 2012) Miklo said the original plan for this property included a number of townhouses in the center of the development, which is the area the applicant is proposing to change from townhouses to zero lot lines. He said the zero lot lines that were approved on the perimeter of the development would change slightly in that they would get bigger and there would be one or two fewer of them. He said the proposed plan would also subdivide the property into individual lots whereas in the previous plan all of the townhouses were on one common lot. He said staff received a revised plan showing driveway configuration so that requirement is now satisfied. Miklo said that this application complies with the planned development provisions. He said the applicant has indicated that there is more of a market for single level units or zero lot line models versus the townhouse units that are in the northern part of the development. Miklo said even with these changes, the overall plan would consist of a variety of housing types. He said staff is recommending approval. Eastham said the Comprehensive Plan clearly calls for neighborhoods to be developed with mixed housing types and a mix of income ranges. He wants to know what how staff defines this particular subdivision. Miklo said because of the existing typography it's set off by itself as a neighborhood. He said it's got a healthy mix both in the existing and proposed plan of townhouse, single family dwellings, a commercial lot, a future park and the proposed zero lot lines. He said he thinks it's more mixed than most neighborhoods. Freerks opened public hearing. Glenn Siders of Southgate Development Service, the applicant, said they have no problems with the staff's recommendations for approval. He pointed out on a map where the 12 townhouse units they have constructed are located. He said they have not sold nearly as well as condominiums as they had anticipated. He said they had been approached by several people about rezoning this parcel to zero lot development and it's been very well received. He said it will reduce the number of living units for the development, but they think it's appropriate. He is asking for a favorable decision by the Commission this evening. Freerks closed public hearing. Weitzel moved to recommend approval of REZ12- 00024/SUB12- 00010, a preliminary Planned Development Overlay Plat plan and plat of Cardinal Point South Part III, noting that they now have all the items requested in the staff report. Martin seconded. Eastham said he is supporting this application although what the neighborhood is like and the mix of housing types is an issue that is troublesome to him in terms of reducing the number of townhome units. He said because there are already a number of townhouses platted and the developer intends to carry forward with those, it's not unreasonable to change the mix in this Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 3 of 23 case. He said he would like to note that he has never thought that a home being renter or owner occupied makes any difference to a neighborhood. Freerks said she is not concerned about this change, and obviously there is a demand for this type of home on one level. She said she thinks it is quite a diverse area with a variety of housing types, so she will support the application. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. REZ12- 00027: Discussion of an application submitted by the City of Iowa City for a rezoning to designate the Jefferson Street National Register Historic District as Preservation Overlay (OHP) zone. Miklo explained that the Jefferson Street National Register Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. He said the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission now proposes that it also be designated as a Local Historic District. He said designation as overlay zone would require Historic Preservation Commission approval of any significant changes to the exteriors of buildings within the district. He said the historic district designation also makes properties eligible for special exceptions under the Zoning Code where the Board of Adjustment may waive or modify certain requirements to help support continued use of historic buildings. He said the Commission's role in reviewing this is to consider whether or not it complies with the Comprehensive Plan. He said the ordinance specifically asks if the Commission considers whether plans for renewal or other public improvements would be counter to the proposal or whether the proposal is supported by the policies of the Comprehensive Plan. Miklo said the Historic Preservation Plan, which is an element of the Comprehensive Plan, encourages the designation of this area as a local historic district. He said the Central District Plan indicates this area is appropriate for a mixture of institutional uses, including university buildings, religious institutions, and a mix of residential and commercial uses. He said the mixed use zoning designation that applies to much of this area was established in the early 1990's specifically to help preserve this area and make a variety of uses available for the buildings to allow adaptive reuse or continued residential use. He said the City's Strategic Plan contains the goal of stabilizing neighborhoods around the city core, and this area is included in the Northside Neighborhood as well as the College Hill Neighborhood. Miklo showed pictures of some of the buildings in this city, some of which are the most historic in the district including the Park House Hotel. He said there are several religious institutions within the district, single family buildings, and several buildings built as single family homes that have been converted to multiple units, duplexes, rooming houses, guest houses or commercial units. He said there are several university buildings, including the old isolation hospital that was built to house tuberculosis patients. Staff finds that this proposal complies with the Comprehensive Plan and recommends approval. Freerks asked how the niversity property works with this and the overlay. Miklo explained that the niversity is exempt from local zoning so even though they are included in the National Register District they are also included in the proposed local historic district. He said it's up to the niversity whether they comply or not. Eastham said he thought either 114 or 120 Gilbert Street was damaged by fire a few years ago, and he want to know if they are rebuilding it. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 4 of 23 Miklo replied that it was actually 420 Jefferson Street that was severely damaged by fire. He said a previous owner restored that building, and he thinks it has changed hands a couple of times since then. Freerks opened public hearing. Ginalie Swaim of 1024 Woodlawn and Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission said that Miklo explained how this district fits the criteria of that Commission in terms of its historic significance and in terms of the comprehensive planning. She said that all the things that characterize that neighborhood starting back in 1839 when it was on the original town plat are more or less the same characteristics today. She said there are still religious institutions, housing for students and non - students, five guest houses, and the restoration of Stuit Hall. She said it borders the downtown and the campus and the residential neighborhoods on the north. She said there are an astonishing 38 primary historic resources on that stretch and all but one of them is considered contributing in that the style and character are still evident and still give a sense of time and place. She said there are 22 key structures, which is a really high density of history. She said the shade trees that were planted 70 years ago survived the 2006 tornado and are still standing. Swaim reminded those in attendance about the uproar when the Red Avocado and some other businesses lost their anchor and houses on Washington Street. She said she thought what they learned from that is that the public really cherishes small, local businesses in older building that are close to downtown and have a certain ambiance. She said those houses were not protected because they were not in a district so there was no way to avoid the demolition. She said with that cautionary tale in mind, if Jefferson Street becomes a local historic district, it's the only one zoned for mixed use, both residential and commercial. She said she thinks this offers a clear economic strategy because it's a place where small, local businesses can take root and serve that large group of Iowa Citians and visitors who want to visit places like this. Swaim said this is the kind of area we like to visit when we go to Portland, or Milwaukee or Dubuque, and we know that we like older neighborhoods that have commercial aspects, and there is the potential to have one right here in Iowa City. She said anything they do to save that street will have a spillover effect on the historic districts to the north of that because that will stabilize those neighborhoods as well, which is incredibly important. She urged the Commission to take advantage of this history and use it for the future and consider this overlay. Freerk asked about the mixed use and if there are living quarters above the mixed use. Miklo said some of the buildings have commercial on the first floor and apartments above, and that's allowed in this zone. The Reverend W. Max Mons of St. Paul's Lutheran Chapel at 404 E. Jefferson Street said this issue came up a few years ago, and it did not make it out of the Historic Preservation Commission. He said one of the main objections was the economic impact it could have on the business owners and on the churches should they need to make significant improvements on their buildings. He said his churches' economic situation hasn't improved any since then. He said they serve the students at the university, and they are very much against this proposal for fear that if they fall into this district, making significant changes to their brick structure may cost them such that they won't have funds to provide their ministry. He said they are not at all in favor of this proposal. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 5 of 23 Nialle Sylvan of the Haunted Bookshop at 203 North Linn Street who lives at 1722 Morningside Drive said with all due respect to the Rev. Mons' concerns and an understanding of the importance of changing ministries to keep up with changing times, she as a local business owner thinks that the economic change that has taken place is that Iowa City has made a substantial remark on the subject of having a place where small businesses can begin in small locations and perhaps have residential space upstairs for owners just starting out. She said that sounds like that is consistent with the use permitted under this zoning designation. She thinks there are a number of business who would be interested in participating in a development like that. She said it certainly wouldn't be her desire to affect small ministries in any way but the opportunity for small businesses, especially in a town that has the potential of becoming as beautiful a campus town that can be found in the country and businesses with significant, unique character that would differentiate us from other economic zones in Eastern Iowa is not something to be ignored. Jean Walker of 335 Lucon Drive and representative for the Melrose Neighborhood Association said she has come to appreciate the different architecture and the history of Iowa City. She reminded the Commission that once these beautiful buildings on Jefferson Street are gone, they are gone forever, so the city needs to retain what is the history of Iowa City and the beautiful buildings that represent what has transpired in the past. She said she knows that the regulations that are imposed through the local designation are not that onerous. She said what she has observed is the Historic Preservation Commission works closely with applicants to try to accommodate what they want to do unless it is egregious to the building. She said the Red Avocado and its neighbors were wonderful buildings and the people really cared about them. She said she hopes that the buildings and history of Iowa City can be preserved. Christine Denberg of 1011 Woodlawn said she is a landlord for several properties that are in the Longfellow Conservation District, and she owned the properties before it became a preservation district. She said she has found the housing inspectors to be incredibly helpful and supportive and she hasn't found it to be any problem to be part of preservation district, which has actually increased the value of her properties in a way that properties outside her district have not experienced. She said when her own house was hit by the tornado in 2006 she had incredible support from the Historic Preservation Commission. She said she was able to get a grant from the State, and because they were part of preservation district the historic preservation people acted as an advocate for her for her insurance policy claim. She said because of the historic preservation briefs that explained about old houses when the house is alligatored, the insurance company paid to have three sides of the house painted in a more expensive and correct manner, something she could not have afforded to do herself. She said the Commission also directed her to an incredible craftsman who was able to rebuild her chimneys. She said she can understand the concerns of the neighbors and businesses if they were brought into a historic district. She said that should any natural disaster happen in the proposed district, this designation would protect everyone in the district. She urged the Commission to approve the proposal so that if there is a problem in that neighborhood, they will have the resources and the help they will need. Pam Michaud of 109 S. Johnson St. said she hears the concerns of the churches and businesses. She explained that because her house was on the edge of an historic district, it had no buffer zone. She said the same fate as hers, where a four story building has been planted 18 feet from one of her walls, awaits the Jefferson Street Historic District. She said it's charming to say in 2000 that we love restoring old house, but when you sell them in 2012 the loyalties are different, and now the orientation of the five buildings in the block where the Red Avocado formerly sat has changed to one of profit. She said the three buildings that were torn down behind her supported five families plus the wait staff, and now the Bradley Building has also Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 6 of 23 been sold. She said that is 10 businesses that have been lost. She said Jefferson Street is a beautiful oasis and buffer zone between downtown and the Market Street area and she thinks it should be preserved. She said all the mature trees have been taken down in the synagogue lot and she knows the same would happen on Jefferson Street if there was a mixed use development. She said one of the goals of the Northside Neighborhood Association is to keep the character of a grown up neighborhood, and she thinks that the Linn Street zoning proposal that will be discussed later tonight has done a good job of doing that. She encouraged the Commission to designate Jefferson Street an historic district. Mike Wright of 225 N. Lucas St. and coordinator of the Northside Neighborhood Association said as staff pointed out, the Comprehensive Plan is used as a guiding document. He said he believes that designating this neighborhood a city historic district would be in keeping with the Comprehensive Plans in terms of the Historic Preservation Plan and the Central District Plan. He said it seems clear to him that preservation was intended as part of those documents, and City Council has passed a Strategic Plan which clearly calls for neighborhood preservation and stabilization. He said on Jefferson Street there are a couple blocks intact of examples of what 19th Century Iowa City looked like. He said he thinks the community appreciates the beauty of that neighborhood, and he thinks some of these buildings are examples of public art. He stated that over the last 15 to 20 years there have been a number of studies demonstrating that historic preservation pays in terms of increased property values and boosts economic development, and if you look at some of the neighborhoods that have been preserved in Iowa City over the past 20 years you can see that clearly. He said given what's been lost in the Northside Neighborhood, it's incumbent to do what is possible in terms of City policy and preserving our future to protect this area. He urged the Commission to support this historic designation. Nancy Carlson of 1002 E. Jefferson Street said she read a report and was amazed at the amount of history contained in the subject four blocks for all of Iowa City. She said she also read parts of the Zoning Code pertaining to what has to be in place in order for a district to be considered historic, and for an area to meet those conditions is an honor. She said the tendency is sometimes to look upon this designation as a burden rather than as an honor. Alicia Trimble of 2232 California Street and President of Friends of Historic Preservation said until recently she was Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. She said this issue has been on been on their radar for a long time She said she did her homework and has come to the conclusion that this meets the criteria that the Planning and Zoning Department is supposed to follow in seeing if this meets the criteria of the Comprehensive Plan. She said she feels that when this proposal failed to even make it out of the lower levels of this process before, it was not done for the right reasons. She said this district has all the components of a historic district and would have more contributing properties than any other district in Iowa City. She mentioned what happened on Washington Street and how that has affected people. She said when one group is unhappy with this proposal for their own reasons, they are forgetting about their neighbors and that we are a community and we all need to make this city better. She says she feels that this district will do just that. Freerks closed public hearing. Thomas moved to recommend approval of REZ12- 00027, to designate the Jefferson Street National Register Historic District as an Historic District Overlay Zone (OHP). Swygard seconded. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 7 of 23 Eastham asked Weitzel if historic preservation designation generally doesn't increase the cost of repairs of buildings in those districts, and if it does increase costs, are those costs offset by increased value. Weitzel replied that certain things do cost more if you have an historic property, but you would probably want to do things that way if you want to preserve the value of a building or maintain it long term. He said he couldn't say that all costs that are increased are offset by equal amounts of property value increase, but anecdotally that looks if that would be true. He said there are some procedures on historic property that take more time or a higher skill level, and that's part of the economic development benefit of the historic district. He said you have a higher skill level and higher level of retained skills in the building, but he said he can't say that is always offset directly. Eastham said his concern is with the St. Paul's Lutheran Chapel whose minister spoke earlier in the evening. He said it's his understanding that generally religious institutions don't have a way of increasing their revenue in terms of increased value of their property. He asked Greenwood Hektoen if there is any protection that a religious institution could get federally from city legislation when trying to change their physical structure. Greenwood Hektoen said she would have to research that. Eastham asked if the designation for the St. Paul's Lutheran Church property could be changed to a non - contributing property and would that make any difference in the ability of the church to make repairs. Miklo answered that the status of whether a building is considered contributing, non - contributing or non - historic is based on federal guidelines and the Secretary of Interior standards for evaluating historic districts, and that has been accepted by the Parks Service so he doesn't see that change as a possibility. He said in terms of this church, it is brick and the maintenance needed for that would be tuck pointing, which would not result in greater expense. He said the window replacement, however, may be an issue on a building like this, and the Commission does approve alternatives when necessary. He said the goal of preservation is to preserve what's there, so sometimes it's less expensive because you are retaining rather than replacing materials. Eastham asked what would happen with a casualty loss. Miklo said what they found during the 2006 tornado was that the mayor sent a letter to all the insurance companies regarding the historic districts, and almost all of them paid the difference in cost. He said because they were a city with historic districts, the State legislature allocated funds to fill the gap of anything that wasn't covered by insurance. Weitzel said someone could do a bad job of repointing cheaper. He said you might spend more if you follow the Secretary of the Interior's standards, but the building will last longer. He said he was on the Commission when this proposal failed the last time, and some of the members wanted to wait until there was support to keep all the wooden structures in the district. He said some of the wooden structures were not included in the district because there was landowner opposition at the time. He said he thinks waiting was the right thing to do and he is supporting this rezoning. Eastham asked Weitzel if he remembered in the previous consideration if the religious institutions had a particular set of issues. Weitzel said the same people are having the same issues, and it's perceived cost and restriction on what someone can do with their property. Eastham asked if there was any way to remove those buildings from the district. Miklo replied that an historic district has to have contiguous boundaries, and if you moved that particular Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 8 of 23 boundary you would have an inconsistent boundary and it would not be consistent with the National Register District. Swygard said she is fully in support of this designation. She said she thinks it is important to preserve the remaining small areas of Iowa City that stand out as historical areas. Thomas said he will support it as well. He said he heard some eloquent testimony about the importance of the designation. He said he feels the community supports the desire to preserve buildings, and if there are particular property owners in need of financial assistance that the community would be there for them. Freerks said she thinks this designation is fully supported by the Comprehensive Plan, by the Historic Preservation Plan, by the Strategic Plan that the City Council has outlined. She said there is always fear involved in this, and people find out later on after being part of these districts — she lives in a conservation district — that the fear isn't necessary. She said she thinks that in the end it's a benefit, not only for the people who own or use those buildings, but for the community as well. She said she thinks this area has had some lucky breaks to stay together as it has, but as time goes on, those breaks will be harder to come by. She said she would like to see the historical character maintained in this area. She said she appreciates the fact that there is mixed use here, and she thinks it works really well in the community, and she is definitely in favor of it. She said she thinks it's a special part of the community and wants to see it maintained. Dyer said she will support it, and she said maybe the designation would encourage the university to reclaim Seashore Hall, which also has some wonderful characteristics in the old part. Eastham said he is in support of historic designation for all the buildings in the area except the churches. He said he sees the drawback as being if the churches will have a particular burden in meeting their legitimate needs for maintaining the buildings as well as restoring them. He said he has said although he has heard reassuring comments from Weitzel, he's not sure all the people in these churches and congregations would share his reassurance. Miklo said there are already three churches in the areas that are local landmarks. He said as far as he is aware there have not been issues with the regulations that have created undue burdens on those buildings. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. REZ12- 00028: Discussion of an application submitted by Northside Commons, LLC for a rezoning from Neighborhood Stabilization Residential (RNS -12) zone to Central Business Service CB -2) zone for approximately .22 -acres of property located on 221 and 225 North Linn Street and the adjacent MidAmerican substation, which is approximately .07 acres. (45 day limitation: December 8, 2012. Howard explained that the applicant has requested rezoning for the two properties on Linn Street and in order to maintain a consistent zoning boundary the City believes that the substation should also be included in the rezoning. She showed photographs of the Northside Marketplace to orient the Commission. She said last year there was a request for rezoning that included the property around the corner on Bloomington Street, but this property is not included in this rezoning request. She said at the previous hearing for this rezoning, people expressed Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 9 of 23 concerns about the commercial area extending around the corner and taking in more of the residential properties. She said those concerns among others caused the City Council to deny the application for rezoning last year. Howard showed photographs of the subject properties and the substation. She said the applicant has developed a new concept to address the concerns expressed by the neighborhood with regard to scale of the building and how it's oriented. She showed a concept plan for a proposed building on the site that was submitted by the applicant. She said they propose a storefront building similar in scale to the historic Market Street area with two floors of one and two- bedroom apartments. She also noted that the third floor is more transparent with more windows and steps back to reduce the apparent height and scale of the building to keep it in scale with the neighborhood. She said staff believes the requested rezoning is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, which designates these properties as appropriate for "urban commercial" use. She also noted that the storefront design is similar to the rest of the Northside Marketplace and would provide a commercial connection between the existing commercial along Linn Street to the commercial on Bloomington Street, which includes Pagliai's Pizza and the other commercial businesses along that stretch. She said staff believes it's a stronger application this time because it just includes the properties on Linn Street, and it's consistent with the architecture in the neighborhood. She noted, however, that the proposed building is in the conceptual design stage and the site has not been engineered, so if the rezoning is approved there is no guarantee that this exact building will be possible. She said the applicant would still have to show that they meet all the zoning requirements, and it is a fairly constrained site. She noted there are some title issues regarding the applicant getting access to a gravel drive at the rear of the site in order to make the underground parking work and staff is unclear if those have been resolved. She also noted that there are a number of conditions that staff is recommending that are similar to the conditions proposed for the last rezoning request, which she would articulate as part of the recommendation. She said in response to the Comprehensive Plan and the concerns of the neighborhood regarding scale of the building and size and configuration of the residential units, the applicant has submitted proposed plans to reduce the scale and size of the building and also to reduce the number of bedrooms in the units and has a new building design. She said in staffs opinion, extending the CB -2 zoning to the west side of Linn Sreet would be consistent with the intent, goals and objectives of the Northside Marketplace. She noted that the last time with the previous request for rezoning there was also a Comprehensive Plan amendment request, and Council did approve a Comprehensive Plan amendment for these two properties along Linn Street, changing the plan designation from residential to Urban Commercial, so this rezoning would also be consistent with that Comprehensive Plan change. Howard said for all the reasons stated, staff recommends REZ12- 00028, an application to rezone .22 acres of land located at 221 and 225 North Linn Street an approximately 3200 square feet of property located on the west side of Linn Street from RNS -12 to CB -2 be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. That no more than two bedrooms are allowed per dwelling unit. 2. The final design of the building shall be generally consistent with the concept submitted by the applicant and shall be reviewed and approved by the Design Review Committee. 3. The commercial storefront shall be designed in a manner that is consistent with the submitted elevation drawing 4. If a third floor is built, that it be designed in a manner consistent with the submitted elevation drawings showing a more transparent third floor. 5. If a garage opening along Bloomington Street is requested the adjacent curb cut for Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 10 of 23 the private gravel drive shall be closed and the curb restored and parkway planted. 6. That the streetscape along Linn Street shall be installed in a manner consistent with the recently installed commercial streetscape of the Northside Marketplace. This streetscape plan shall be reviewed and approved by the Design Review Committee at the same time the building is reviewed. 7. The public alley from Linn Street to the driveway access for the building shall be improved according to the standards specified by the City Engineer. Freerks asked if staff would want to maintain the brick alley in need of repair as brick or change it to a paved surface. Miklo said the City Engineer has not yet determined the best way to repair it. Weitzel asked if the substation would ever change use. Howard said she is not aware of any change there. She said if that ever went away, the zoning change would allow another building consistent with the Northside Marketplace. Miklo said their experience is that it's very difficult to locate and relocate substations, so it's probably there for the foreseeable future. Eastham asked if there are any similar roof gardens in terms of size and plantings in the city. Howard said a new building could be constructed to handle the weight of a green roof. Eastham asked if because they included a roof garden on the concept plan, would the Design Review Committee require a roof garden if they built a third floor. Howard said rezoning this property will not guarantee that every aspect of the concept will be built, since these are not construction drawings. She said that it wouldn't necessarily be because the applicant doesn't want to build this design, but there could be circumstances on such a constrained site, where, for instance, they couldn't achieve the amount of parking, so they would have to reduce the number of units or number of floors. Thomas asked what the distance would be from the building to the west. Howard said there is not yet a site plan. She said, however, that the applicant might be able to answer the question. Freerks opened public hearing. Jesse Allen of 3704 Lower West Branch Road identified himself as the applicant and said when this proposal was brought before City Council the last time, he was getting comments from neighbors and passers -by, so he pulled the proposal. He said the new zoning amendments came up this spring and the new density bonus for one - bedroom units opened his eyes to this project and how it was a good way to put a project together. He said unlike last year, when they were gearing the building toward rentals, this time they are focusing on people who will buy the units and become permanent residents of the Northside. He said he saw a strong need for ownership on the north side. He said from talking with residents, they saw a desire for this kind of proposed building. He said they put a limit of two bedroom units on the third floor and they are using the second floor as one bedrooms or efficiencies to be affordable for workers in the neighborhood or downtown. He said the commercial aspects of the building are very different this time, with 2400 square feet that can potentially be divided into two leasable spaces. He said what Regenia Baily said at a City Council meeting really hit home with him; that this area really needs places where small, commercial businesses can move into and grow. He said regarding the setback, there is a private parcel between the two subject houses that is ten feet wide and that last had an owner in 1902. He said he is setting up a quit claim deed with the property owner to the west, which gives each owner a five foot easement to use. Allen said regarding the setback, on the first floor of the proposed building it would be twelve feet from the property to the west and on the upper floor would increase the setback by five to six feet. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 11 of 23 Eastham asked if the applicant intended to have residents recycle their kitchen waste into the garden area on the roof. Allen said there is a room for recycling elsewhere. Martin asked Allen if he intended the building to be LEED certified. Allen responded that it will definitely be at some level, but they haven't decided what level to take it to. He said they have committed buyers for one, possibly two, of the two- bedroom units. Mike Wright of 225 North Lucas St. said he appreciates the applicant's willingness to work with the neighborhood. He said the north side is not anti - development even though in recent years they have opposed redevelopment and usually loss of neighborhood character favoring short- term rental units. He said that he was cautiously optimistic about the proposed project. However, he said if this building should turn into short- rentals, that would be a deal breaker for the Northside Neighborhood Association. Jon McPheron of 220 East Bloomington said he has a concern with the on- street parking in the area, that on the north side of Bloomington Street the cars are rarely moved. He said many people who park are from the dorms. He suggested having metered parking on Bloomington Street, which would provide parking for customers as well as getting some of those cars to move. He also suggested making the intersection of Linn and Jefferson Streets a four way stop. Nialle Sylvan of 1722 Morningside Drive said she likes development when it works for a community goal and fits into the development around it and yet adds something to it. She said these concept plans blend well into the neighborhood. She also suggests putting in some metered parking. She said she thinks this building would add a lot to the neighborhood. She said she wanted to thank Jesse Allen for being available to answer questions she had. And she was very happy about getting the alley fixed. Sarah Greenwood Hektoen stated that the Commission's job is not to rezone based on whether the units will be owner occupied or rental units. Pam Michaud of 109 S. Johnson Street said that this is a sensible size of building for this location, LEED certification gets her support, she likes the idea of the rooftop garden, but she doesn't know how glass walls will work toward the LEED certification, as they are poor insulators. She said the glass gives the effect that the rooftop is floating and she thinks there needs to be more connection between that floor and the rest of the building. Freerks closed public hearing. Eastham moved to recommend approval of REZ12- 00028, an application to rezone .22 acres of land located at 221 and 225 North Linn Street and approximately 3200 square feet of property located on the west side of Linn Street, a Mid - American sub - station, from Neighborhood Stabilization Residential (RNS -12) to Central Business District (CB -2) subject to the conditions outlined in the staff report of November 15th, 2012. Weitzel seconded. Weitzel said this building plan addresses many of the concerns the Commission was hearing at Council level. He said he has no problem with the floating ceiling, and he likes the green roof. He thinks the content of this rezoning is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, so he's in favor of it. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 12 of 23 Martin said there is clearly a need for smaller commercial space on the Northside, and this building does seem to complete that corner of the neighborhood. She said she is in favor of it. Eastham said he sees this application as consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as it has been amended, and he personally likes the third floor that is different from those below it. He said he is attracted to the idea of a green roof. Freerks said she is surprised that no one in Iowa City has done a green roof before. She said this is a much more comfortable fit for that space and it's interesting and should be an asset. She said the rooftop garden can fill the void for entertaining space and be a way to be outside. She said with parking as a premium, those rooftop gardens never make the cut, so this is one way to look at the future, and she hopes it meets success and makes it through to the final plan. She said she also likes the idea of the one bedroom units as well and hopes to see some. Swygard said she will support the rezoning of these properties but in doing so she is cautious about in the future that other properties maintain the neighborhood stabilization of the adjoining properties and properties to the north of that. Freerks said the Commission had talked about this before and decided that this not march further down Bloomington Street, but instead is completing the Northside Marketplace. Dyer said she was in favor of the previous version of the plan, and she appreciates the efforts that have gone into making it more compatible with the Council's idea of appropriate building. She said the composition of apartment sizes is good, and she hopes it sets a precedent for other things in the area. Thomas said some of his questions concerning the plan have to do with the Central District Plan which has a housing goal of achieving a healthy balance of rental and owner occupied housing in the district's older neighborhoods to promote long -term investment, affordable housing opportunity and the preservation of historic homes and neighborhoods. He said that long -term residency is really at the core of neighborhood stabilization. He said according to the U.S. Census there are 1644 housing units in the North Side and 84% of them are rentals. He said it is the intention of this project to provide more long -term housing, and that is outside the Comprehensive Plan zoning, however, it is background to any proposal. He said it's especially important because two existing houses are going to be torn down. He likes the idea of the rooftop garden, and said that the City still doesn't require usable open space in any of their residential zones, and it's interesting hearing the positive response about this feature. He said there's the question of whether the property will encourage development that will maintain the character and economic vitality of the Northside Marketplace. He added to that concern that the Northside Marketplace is the only urban pedestrian- oriented neighborhood commercial district in Iowa City and he would argue that it is not part of the Central Business District despite its CB -2 zoning. He said it has more of a neighborhood commercial feel to it. He said it's where the grown -ups go, and there's something distinctive about the Northside Marketplace. He said as the first major development proposal in this area, this proposal must establish a high standard. He said he feels that it's a place where the adults can live as well as go to. He asked if the proposed plan meets the Central District's objective of being compatible with the existing character of the commercial area and surrounding neighborhood. He said the question last year was that it would wrap around Bloomington Street and it's a critical issue to protect the stability of that street. He said with the current proposal the main orientation is toward Linn Street, which is right, and the design emphasizes that one to two story character that's the predominant scale of the buildings in the area. He said what's at stake here is a way of life, as represented by the Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 13 of 23 Central District. He said these are really the only neighborhoods in Iowa City which have a sense of city life as opposed to suburban life. He said they are walkable communities within distance of schools and mixed use employment centers, so unless these neighborhoods are opened up to a more diverse demographic, people will look elsewhere. He thinks this a move in the right direction and is beginning to express that vision and ideal. Eastham said the Commission heard some question about parking and stop signs and the Commission really has no control over those issues. He said if people want to continue with those concerns when this gets before the City Council, the Council can generally look at parking issues and signage. Freerks said the Council hopefully reads the Commission's minutes most times, but it's a good idea to bring it up again if any of the public present at this meeting attends the Council meeting. The motion carried by a vote of 7 -0. Freerks called for a four minute recess Freerks called the meeting to order. Comprehensive Plan Rezoning CPA12- 00005 /REZ12- 00026/SUB12- 00012/VAC12- 00004: Discussion of an application submitted by Hy -Vee Stores, Inc. for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, a rezoning from Medium Density Single- family Residential (RS -8), Neighborhood Public (P -1) and Highway Commercial (CI -1) to Planned Development Overlay /Community Commercial (OPD /CC -2) zone and a preliminary plat of Roberts Dairy Addition for approximately 8.21 acres of property located on North Dodge Street, east of Prairie du Chien Road and an application for a vacation of the public right -of -way for a portion of St. Clementss Alley. (45 day limitation: December 23, 2012) Greenwood Hektoen stated that she needs to recuse herself because her superviser, the City Attorney lives in that area, and there would be a conflict of interest to have her office represent the City on this case. She said that outside counsel would be provided. Miklo showed the Commission views of the neighborhood and explained what each building and zone was. He pointed out land owned by the City on the site which contains a radio tower and vacant land where once a water storage tank stood. He said there were previous proposals which weren't approved to expand the dairy in the RS -8 zone. He said the RS -8 was in place as a buffer between the dairy and the adjacent neighborhood, which is also zoned RS -8. He said there is also a proposal to vacate St. Clements Street, which if approved, would relocate the street to connect back to Prairie du Chien. He said the proposal is being put forward to allow this property to redevelop with a Hy -Vee and a convenience store. He said the Comprehensive Plan for this area stresses that this area could be commercial, but notes that it should be done in a way that is compatible with the neighborhood. He said staff believes there are ways to make that happen, but the applicant has applied for a potential amendment to the Comprehensive Plan if they don't reach agreement on that accord. Miklo said the initial concept plan raised concerns that the convenience store was situated in a way that would be intrusive on the residential neighborhood west of Prairie du Chien Road, so staff asked the applicant to redesign the vehicular access to the store. He said the revised plan has the convenience store pointed more toward the interior of the site and Dodge Street and is Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 14 of 23 less intrusive on the residential to the west. He said staff still has concerns about the amount of buffer and its design between the convenience store and drive - through and the neighborhood to the west. He said on this plan there is substantial buffer in some places but in others the driveway comes within twelve or fifteen feet of the right of way, so staff would like to explore a greater setback and a different design of the buffer. Miklo said for this project to occur, the City would need to sell the water tank site to the applicant. He said they are exploring the possibility of removing the radio tower from this site. He said if staff can't reach an agreement with the applicant about removing the tower at their expense, the City would leave it there and negotiate with Hy -Vee for some evergreen screening. Miklo showed the proposed grocery and convenience store designs, the site and some neighborhood home photographs. He said staff's goal is to preserve as much vegetation as possible in the northwest corner of the property as a buffer to the neighborhoods to the north. He said in other cases where there were drive - throughs or fairly intensive commercial directly across from residential, as part of the Conditional Zoning Agreement the City is requiring landscaping and masonry fencing to provide an instant buffer. He said staff has discussed with Hy -Vee that it doesn't have to be a solid masonry wall for the 300 foot length of the property but that in key locations that should occur and could be complemented with landscaping elsewhere. He staff is recommending approval of this application with several conditions outlined in the staff report 1. A thirty -five foot buffer on the Prairie de Chien side of the subject property, perhaps slightly less depending on the quality of the materials and plantings between the public sidewalk and the development. 2. That here be no signs or lit signs within that buffer or on the residential sides of the building. 3. That there be a design review of the structures through the Design Review Committee. 4. Preservation of as much of the existing buffer as possible and supplemented in a particular area to buffer the neighborhood. 5. That a bus pull off on Dodge Street be constructed. Miklo said they have not come to complete agreement with the applicant on the buffer situation, so staff recommends these conditions unless there is an alternative that's acceptable to the Commission and City Council. Dyer asked if the amount of parking that's proposed is required. Miklo said the proposed amount of parking does exceed the City's requirements considerably. He said that in regard to staff's concern about increasing the buffer, roughly 10 to fifteen spaces could be removed, which would still far exceed the City's parking requirements. Eastham asked what the northeast side of the grocery store looks like as presently proposed.. Miklo said driving south on Dodge Street you would see masonry or brick and then it steps back for the loading dock area. He said they just received these plans, so staff has not had the opportunity to see if it meets the standards. Miklo also showed Eastham what you would see if you were in the middle of the parking lot looking back at the building. Thomas asked if there is shrub screening on Dodge Street. Miklo said there is a requirement that there be S -2 level screening. Freerks asked if it was true that the current plan does not meet the minimum standards in some ways. Miklo said this is a concept plan and doesn't show all the details that are required. Eastham asked what the allowed height of the two proposed free - standing signs on Dodge Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 15 of 23 Street would be. Miklo replied that they are allowed to be 25 feet tall. Swygard asked about lighting standards and how that might impact the neighborhood. Miklo said the City has greater control if a commercial development is within so many feet of a residential zone, and he believes that would apply to most of the parking lot. He said the lights are limited in height, and there is a foot candle requirement that applies. Eastham asked if the staff considered a site plan that had the building more towards the northern part of the parcel and where the front of the building is toward Dodge Street and there is landscaped parking between Dodge Street and the building. Miklo replied that when the original concept plan was submitted staff had concerns about where the convenience store was placed in relationship to the neighborhood. He said they did look at how this site might be laid out differently for a better relationship with the neighborhood, and they couldn't come up with a much better design in terms of the grocery store itself. He said there's a provision in the Comprehensive Plan that encourages buildings to be close to the street. Eastham said he's not keen on that idea in this case. He said what he's thinking about is what does this site look like from Dodge Street, which is a major access to the city. Martin asked if the current Hy -Vee is part of this plan. Miklo said it is staffs understanding that Hy -Vee leases that property and it is not included in this application. Eastham asked if the staff is interested in doing something temporary about the appearance of the existing store. Miklo said because that is under separate ownership, the City doesn't have the ability to address that under this zoning. Freerks opened public hearing. Pete Hosch with Hy -Vee corporate offices stated that they have been a member of this neighborhood for well over 20 years but it has come to a point where they can't offer the services they want to within the existing facility. He said they want to reinvest in the area and have worked with Roberts Dairy for over a year working out environmental issues on the site and are now at the point where they are happy with the layout of the site. He said they feel that it meets the intent of the Comprehensive Plan to pull retail closer to the street. He said the design elements of the proposed building are very similar to what was approved for the Hy -Vee Waterfront location. He said they respected staffs concerns about the convenience store and reoriented that facility, which actually created staff's concerns with the setback of 35 feet. He said they feel confident that they can establish a buffer there that meets standards using large evergreens, shrubbery and native grasses. He said they feel that it's not appropriate to have a masonry fence in that area, and they prefer vegetation. He said they would prefer to utilize additional landscaping to screen the utility tower rather than moving it. He said they are generally in support of the conditions. He said they intend to preserve the vegetation on the currently zoned residential property as long as it meets the design requirements in respect the installation of the City street. He said they support installing the bus stop and they fully intend to meet the S -2 buffer requirement along the Dodge Street facade. Weitzel asked if there is anything else on the site, other than the communications tower, that the applicant would be willing to re -use. Hosch replied that due to environmental issues, there is nothing else they can use. He said it all has to be removed. Freerks said she has concerns about the hedge as they go through the drive - through for the convenience store. She said it's something they have had to really look at closely in instances in Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 16 of 23 the community with residential areas adjacent. She said vegetation probably won't be enough to screen adequately at that point on the site. Hosch said it's a coffee drive - through, so it's probably a less intensive use, but they do understand Freerks' concerns and they could perhaps look at some more dense vegetation or a masonry element at that one site. Freerks suggested a deeper buffer. Hosch reiterated that the orientation of the facility was at the request of staff. Freerks said she thinks the orientation is much better this way but that she thinks the applicant will find that something that blends into the community there will be embraced better than something that becomes problematic for certain people in the neighborhood and Hy -Vee will remain as a positive part of the community there. Hosch stated that Miklo had mentioned that they do far exceed the 35 feet for the preponderance of that frontage and it's really only the corner of the convenience store facility that was due to the reorientation of the facility. Freerks reiterated that it is a concern because that's where cars will stop and there will be activity. She said she does think that something needs to be done there. Hosch said he does believe that the vegetation standards are quite adequate in this location, but that they are happy to discuss this item, but it was in an effort to meet the request of staff. Freerks said a little removal of parking will go a long ways to make a difference. Hosch said is less about parking more about what happens when you move the facility further to the east. Freerks said compatibility is an important part of the Comprehensive Plan and this is something they need to be careful about. Eastham said this is a store appropriately placed on a major entrance to the city and asked what they have done to change the canopy or the fuel area from a design perspective that will make that an attractive area for people driving on Dodge Street. Hosch said they have lowered their foot candle well below what typical city standards are. He said the canopy is standard. Eastham asked if it will look like every other canopy in town. Hosch said it would, but with a much lower light level. Weitzel said looking at the design of the canopy is going to be important as it will stand above any of the screening and there have been a number of changes at this corner already over the years. Freerks said there were a number of large trees that were removed from the property across the street. She said there a number of things that make the Commission more sensitive in terms of what goes on and how it evolves in the area. Hosch said he believes it's a vast improvement over what exists there today. Weitzel said this is an opportunity for change. Hosch said the change in orientation of the convenience store provides less frontage of that canopy along Dodge Street. Mike Pugh said he represents Hy -Vee. He said the far west corner of that convenience store just touches the 35 foot buffer. He said they have a visibility triangle requirement at the corner of Dodge and Prairie du Chien but much of the overall frontage on Prairie du Chien exceeds a 35 foot buffer requirement. He said they are encroaching on that buffer in only two areas that were pointed out on the map. He spoke to the fact that the 300 foot masonry wall condition that's in the staff report would be very expensive, over $100,000. He suggested that the landscape S -3 screening would be preferred, and that would requires an area with six foot high buffer with a berm. He said Hy -Vee is proposing this as part of the conditional zoning agreement. He said if they had to move the driveway back behind the 35 foot line, it does pose challenges. He said Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 17 of 23 they want to work out some solution that is reasonable and appropriate. He showed elevations of the convenience store and said there would be a street frontage orientation that would front onto Prairie du Chien with windows. He said one of the conditions is that the building goes through design review, and the applicant doesn't think that is a necessary step. He said this is not something the Design Review Committee would review under the City Code, and they think a better alternative would be that as part of the Conditional Zoning Agreement there is a requirement that the elevations look in a certain fashion. He said this building will look very much like the one on Waterfront Drive, so the proposed building has already in a sense gone through design review. Miklo said at the time they wrote the staff report, they did not have elevation drawings, and that would be an alternative staff would be comfortable endorsing if there's a plan that the Commission sees and ties to the zoning. Freerks said she wouldn't necessarily oppose that but is not doing it tonight based on the material they have before them. Weitzel said the Commission can do what they need to do with a Conditional Zoning Agreement as long as there's a public need for it. Pugh said he understands that. Weitzel said he's not unhappy with the plan of the building, but he's thinking about how it fits into the neighborhood. Pugh said he thinks the upgrading of the street will be of real benefit for the residents who live immediately north of this site. Eastham asked what the Comprehensive Plan amendment that the applicant is proposing. Pugh said that the Comprehensive Plan says something to the effect that commercial buildings should have a main street feel that's compatible with the residential neighborhood. He said he doesn't know the submitted amendment is, but his feeling is that if they can get an elevation that accomplishes that main street, they probably won't be needing an amendment. Miklo said when staff received the original plan, the main concern regarding the Comprehensive Plan was regarding the compatibility of having the convenience store directly across the street from residential and having access to Prairie de Chien. He said the discussion was unless they were able to work out those issues, they would have to amend the Comprehensive Plan and talk about that stipulation regarding compatibility with the neighborhood. He said as noted in the staff report, moving that curb cut goes a long ways toward doing that, but they do think that a better job could be done buffering with either distance or materials. Thomas said his concern is less with the setback and more to do with the drive - through function. He said if that were taken away, he would be pretty happy with the plan he is seeing. Miklo replied that there is an application for the Board of Adjustment to consider that drive - through facility. Thomas said the entire aspect of the drive - through is auto oriented, and Prairie du Chien is a residential street. He said he researched other city zoning codes on this issue and found them to have as much as a 200 foot setback for any drive - through function. He said the drive - through is right up against Prairie du Chien and he really doesn't see that working. He said if they took away the drive - through, then he doesn't think the masonry wall is necessary. He said he would promote a pedestrian oriented coffee service at the convenience store. Dyer said the Waterfront Hy -Vee is in basically an industrial neighborhood and there is no residential near that, so design review should consider the context of the building as abstractly Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 18 of 23 what it looks like. Pugh said it would very much like the store on Waterfront. Freerks mentioned that in the staff recommendation it's really more of a 15 foot masonry wall than a 300 feet wall. Miklo said in initial conference with the applicant, they asked if a berm would be a possibility rather than a wall. He said staff agreed to consider alternatives to a wall, but then the plans came back with no berm. He said they are mainly talking about a wall placed near the drive - through. He said if the drive - through isn't set back, then the masonry wall is something staff would strongly recommend, but if the drive - through is eliminated that wall probably wouldn't be necessary. Freerks said she doesn't feel confident redesigning the applicant's site, but there are certain elements that are key that cause the Commission much concern and she thinks the drive - through is the main one. Pugh replied that moving the store further to the east creates some real challenges to the site so they would prefer to look at it in the context of the orientation of the store now and this revised plan and the screening. Freerks said that piles of dirt are cheap and berms would be fine when done appropriately. Pugh said there are some natural elements in the plan to make it look nicer. Weitzel reminded him that the goal of screening is also to reduce noise and lights. Nancy Adams -Cogan of 1117 St. Clementss Alley said she speaks for herself and her husband. She said the Hy -Vee store is a very good land use choice for that area. She said the rezoning of Tract #2 from RS -8 to CC -2 would shrink the area of the neighborhood and remove some of the buffer between what will be rezoned CC -2 and the rest of the residential area located north of the CC -2 zone. She said some of the Tract #2 is green space with established, large trees, and they believe it should remain that way. She said the lots on the east side of St. Clementss where there used to be two duplexes should remain RS -8, adding to the buffer zone and could be used to create a sound barrier between the neighborhood and the commercial area. She said they can currently hear Hy -Vee's recycling program and they won't welcome that sound in a closer location. She said they are concerned that property values tend to decline when next to commercial areas. She said traffic on Prairie du Chien has increased to the extent that it's difficult to access Prairie de Chien from St. Mathias Street, particularly during peak hours. She said the new store will create even more traffic and she would like consideration of a traffic light on Prairie du Chien and St. Mathias. She said emergency access to St. Clementss could be slowed because they are losing their straight shot out to Dodge Street because of the parking lot and they would welcome that access with this project. Eastham asked if people on St. Clementss could come through the Hy -Vee parking lot. Miklo responded that it's on City right of way but the dairy owns either side of it. Eastham asked if there is a plan to close St. Clements access to the Hy -Vee parking lot. Pugh said part of the application is to vacate that alley from St. Mathias to Dodge Street and in exchange for that, create a city street to connect to Prairie du Chien Road.. Eastham asked if cars can drive on the new street and get into the Hy -Vee lot. Pugh replied that they could. Eastham asked if the people on St. Clements could do the same thing. Pugh affirmed they could. Freerks asked where the recycling will be. Hosch said they have an outside vendor provide that service, and if people in the neighborhood don't want it, that won't be a problem — it would be a service that would go away. Freerks said it Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 19 of 23 would have to be part of the plan if they wanted to keep it. Tam Bryk of 351 Magowan Avenue said she's aware of all the trees that were taken down in that area. She said she says improvement is a relative term and she thinks the applicant needs to be sensitive to the neighborhood and what they think is improvement. She suggested that perhaps the engineers could be a little bit inconvenienced to change the design of the convenience store and drive through. She said this neighborhood was beleaguered when all those trees were felled and she thinks the plan needs to be given a bit more thought. Patricia Knox of 2607 Friendship Street said she lives behind and quite a distance from the Hy- Vee on 1St Avenue. She said Hy -Vee put in a huge berm to cut down on the noise and planted evergreens, and it still doesn't prevent her from hearing the noise of the compressors on their roof and at night in the summer they can't sleep with the windows open. She said she wants the Commission to be aware about the noise and find out where those compressors will be placed. Freerks closed public hearing. Freerks said they have some time on this, and there are a number of questions the Commission has that suggests they defer a vote. Eastham moved to defer this item to the next meeting on December 6th, 2012. Thomas seconded. Eastham reiterated that he is particularly interested in the appearance of the store itself from Dodge Street from both its southern and eastern aspect, as well as the appearance of the parking area. He mentioned an aisle in the lot that may be noncompliant. Miklo explained that staff has not yet reviewed this plan. Dyer asked to see the back elevation of the store. Miklo said there is the loading dock back and then the back that would be exposed to an open area. Dyer asked if the store would sit at an angle on Dodge Street. Miklo said that was correct. Dyer asked if that would be visible driving into town on Dodge Street. Miklo said it would. Weitzel said he doesn't have any problem with the design of the store right now, but he would be interested in looking at if the canopy meets all sign standards and what about emission of noise from the cars and the effects on the neighbors. Freerks said she doesn't have any problem with the way the building is sited on Dodge Street but she would like to give staff some time to look over the drafts and see that everything meets standards. She said she has concerns with the recycling and where it would be placed, and noise from the drive - through, if it's necessary. She said if it's something that can go away she thinks there could be simpler solutions and if it stays, she said they need to look at berms and some masonry because the headlights will be too much for the houses across the street. She said this is something important that they've always put a lot of thought into when there are drive - throughs that are adjacent to the area it would affect. She said she'd like a better idea of the alley configuration and buffer screening and the trees that will really need to be removed to Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 20 of 23 put the road in. She said the trees are important parts of the neighborhood buffering and are part of a reason why that area was not rezoned and dairy did not expand in that direction in the past. Martin said she agrees that there are questions that need some more consideration but overall this is an arterial going toward Northgate, and there is a lot of activity over there. She said this makes a lot of sense, but there are definitely things that need to be considered, but for the most part, she's very much in favor of this, especially having a coffee shop right there. Swgard said she agrees that it's an arterial street and is heavily trafficked and this is where they put this kind of development but they need to be very sensitive to the established neighborhood, especially with that drive - through and having it so close to the neighbors to the south, the noise during whatever hours of operation would be, and the headlights. Thomas agreed. Freerks said that this is important to the community but it's about finding a way to not have it not be obtrusive to the surrounding area and making it compatible. Eastham said he is fine with the land use but these design elements concern him. A vote was taken and the motion passed 7 -0. Comprehensive Plan Item A public hearing to amend the Comprehensive Plan to adopt the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings Plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan. Howard said the goals are similar to the sub -area plan that was adopted, but they added a couple things. She said one of the main goals is to maintain Downtown Iowa City as the focal point of the region, and making sure that development and redevelopment in Riverfront Crossings is connected to and complements Downtown. She said the plan also adds a component regarding the west side of the river. There was extensive discussion about how to address issues and what the character will be on the west side of the river. Thirdly, she noted there were many people from the arts community who got involved in the planning effort, and it became a goal of the plan to incorporate art throughout downtown and Riverfront Crossings. She said as a consequence of this planning effort an ad hoc arts group has formed that has been active in thinking about how art and living and working space for artists and a community art center could be incorporated into the plan for Riverfront Crossings. She noted that several people from that group were in attendance at the meeting. Howard noted that there are many details in the plan that the Commission should look over, but she would just note some of the highlights. She said that most of the property in the district is privately owned, so the goal of the plan is to facilitate and create a vision for private development and redevelopment over time. She said the public part of the plan is rethinking our relationship to the Iowa River and to Ralston Creek and how we create community and public space in those areas and how that can be a catalyst for redevelopment in this district. She said the plan also addresses how important a multi -modal transportation network is to creating a sustainable urban neighborhood. The plan addresses goals for improvements to the street infrastructure to better accommodate bicycles and pedestrian, goals for restoring the street grid, Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 21 of 23 the creation of public green space, and how to incorporate arts into the new neighborhood. Howard said there had been a lot of discussion about how to stabilize the neighborhoods north and east of downtown, and one way to do that is to figure out where student housing should be located, and Riverfront Crossings has been identified as an area for high density student housing if it's properly located away from low density neighborhoods. She noted that the bicycle community has asked for a few changes to the bicycle section of the plan, and staff is fully in support of what they are suggesting. She said there's a lot in the plan about green space, extending the Iowa River Corridor Trail, rethinking the Iowa River and how to make it more resilient to future flooding, restoring Ralston Street, and thinking about public art and how it can be incorporated. She said there are a number of ideas in the plan such as an art incubator program, how to incorporate public art throughout the entire district and specifically the idea of a community art center in the old Wastewater Administration Building. Freerks opened public hearing. Leslie Hollis of 2030 Sweetbriar said she is part of an ad hoc group that is very excited that the arts are being considered in this development. She said she currently has a business on Maiden Lane, and she knows that Maiden Lane was considered to have a lower density live -work spaces. She said that meditations are held in her building so they are hoping that the train can be replaced with light rail. She said the ad hoc group has looked at the Wastewater Administration Building called the Control House that they hope would be preserved and possibly turned into an art center when the new park is developed. She said they hope they could have conversations with the City as the waste water treatment plant is decommissioned to save some of the large containment structures in the back that could be used for garden space or water containment. Patricia Knox said she is also part of the ad -hoc group called AHA! (A Home for the Arts). She said they have been focusing on the control house for an art center, which is smaller than what they had been envisioning with all the things they'd like to include, but it's a good place to start. Tam Bryk said she is part of AHA! and they have met with all kinds of groups about Riverfront Crossings and the potential for an arts center in town. She said there is a significant number of artists in town who do not have a studio. She said there is a need for community space where artists who work alone can come together, and her group thinks that Riverfront Crossings is prime for this kind of space. Jiyun Park of 20 Rocky Shore Drive is a member of AHA! and is here as a supporter of the arts and the community. She thinks the Control House would be a great location to serve both the arts and the community. She said she also thinks that incorporating Riverfront Crossings as part of the Comprehensive Plan would be a great idea. Freerks said maybe the school district could get involved to some degree in the arts projects that AHA! is envisioning. She said she feels that the arts are slightly endangered in some areas of the community and to have a way that the two could work together in the future would be great. Park said that's a brilliant idea. Freerks closed the public hearing. Eastham said this is a major plan and he would like more time to review and consider it. Planning and Zoning Commission November 15, 2012 - Formal Page 22 of 23 Eastham moved to defer amending the Comprehensive Plan to adopt the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings Plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan to the Commission meeting of December 6th, 2012. Thomas seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. OTHER: ADJOURNMENT: Eastham moved to adjourn. Thomas seconded. The meeting was adjourned on a 7 -0 vote. u� Vo� XXXixXXX � m C) O N C C �xXX O O O i XXXX w w IOU wxxX «+ O N ca c w N. O Z N N= O xxxo °XXxiXXXX aQaz N o � OG ii a W2 XOOZ X002 c 0 Y Y Y 0XxxiXx0X OC) Z ex i XXXX �0XO �oXXXiXXXX ; XX o O W W o X X X i X X X 0 'COXxx ;xxxo "lo xlxlilxlolx o Z Vo� XXXixXXX � m C) O N C C O O O U p� U tm w w IOU wxxX «+ O N ca c w N. 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