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Home My WebLink About2013-01-03 Info Packet/ = 1 CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 3, 2013 IP1 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule JANUARY 5 BUDGET WORK SESSION I132 Work Session Agenda IP3 Memo from the City Manager: Agenda for January 5 and 7 Budget Work Session IP4 Memo from Housing Rehabilitation Specialist: Update on Housing Rehabilitation & UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership [Correct size map distributed to Council 1/8/13.] JANUARY 8 WORK SESSION IP5 Pending Work Session Topics MISCELLANEOUS IP6 Ad Hoc Diversity Committee Public Information Gathering Sessions I137 Memo from the City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show I138 Memo from Adm. Asst. to the City Manager: Community Business Attraction and Anti - Piracy Compact IP9 Article from the City Manager: Zipcar's Weekend Crush Solution: Merge with Avis IP10 Article from the City Manager: New Research Confirms Central -City Comebacks IP11 Article from the City Manager: The Death of the American Shopping Mall IP12 Article from the City Manager: Train Travel Makes A Comeback IP13 Copy of materials to Iowa City Community School District ( ICCSD) Supt. Stephen Murley from Edwin Stone: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists; Gregg Shoultz [emails from Sarah Swisher and Edwin Stone distributed to Council 1/8/13.] IP14 Copy of letter to Ellen Sweet from HIS Dir.: "Shadow" impact of Oaknoll expansion DRAFT MINUTES IP15 Planning & Zoning Commission: December 3 -*��• CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 3, 2013 IP1 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule JANUARY 5 BUDGET WORK SESSIO I132 Work Session Agenda I133 Memo from the City Manag . IP4 Memo from Housing Rehab UniverCity Neighborhood Pa Agenda for January 5 and 7 i ation Specialist: Update rt rship JANUARY 8 WORK SE ION IP5 Pending Work Session Topics MISCEL I136 Ad Hoc Diversity Committee Public Inform I137 Memo from the City Clerk: KXIC Radio Sho IP8 Memo from Adm. Asst. to the City Man ei Piracy Compact IP9 Article from the City Manager: Zipcar' Weekend Crusholution: Merge with Avis let Work Session Housing Rehabilitation & Gathering Sessions unity Business Attraction and Anti- IP10 Article from the City Mana/Ne esearch Confirms Ce�tral -City Comebacks IP11 Article from the City Manaath of the American S gipping Mall IP12 Article from the City ManaTravel Makes A Comeback IP13 Copy of materials to Iow a unity School District (ICCSD) upt. Stephen Murley from Edwin Stone: ICCSD ema and parent mailing lists; Gr g Shoultz IP14 Copy of letter to Ellen Sw Dir.: "Shadow" impact of Oakr pll expansion DRAFT MINUTES IP15 Planning & Zoning commission: December 3 r =o3 -13 City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule IN '*z January 3, 2013 CITY of IOWA CITY Subject to change Date Time Meeting Location � i( � � I ? II VIII . hs - „HI r"'rv. i I . a � Saturday, January 5, 2013 8:OOA -5:OOP Work Session Meeting - BUDGET Emma J. Harvat Hall Saturday, January 5, 2013 Noon Special Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Monday, January 7, 2013 1:00- 5:OOPM 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 'i 'f`.' i�'Ii �i E ,I�I (uI_r_ v'S!�._ i� 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 '7x III fi I4ic �, �NI III) �iI� I� `5 IIIYi Fi- 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 CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street lows City. Iowa 52240 -1926 (3 19) 356 -S000 (319) 3S6 -S009 FAX www.icgov.org City Council Work Session Agenda January 8, 2013 5:00 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall - City Hall 410 E. Washington Street • Questions from Council re Agenda Items • Discuss preferred College / Gilbert developer [# 9] • Information Packet Discussion [December 20, 21, 27; January 3] • Council Time ■ Pending Work Session Topics [IP # 5] ■ Meeting Schedule ■ Upcoming Community Events /Council Invitations �._ CITY OF IOWA CITY 1P3 MEMORANDUM Date: January 2, 2013 To: Department Heads From: Tom Markus, City Manager Re: Agenda for January 5 and 7, 2013 Budget Work Session This year I am asking each department head to present their budget to the City Council. This is an opportunity for each department head (not division heads or Commission members) to update Council on activities, changes included in the budget. I envision the presentation to be 60% the actual presentation and 40% a question /answer exchange. I ask that you plan to arrive 15 minutes ahead of time in the event we run early, and plan on leaving shortly thereafter. In that way you have some free time during the day, and presentations stay on target and on time. We will contact you if additional information is requested after your departure. Upon further review in an attempt to be fair to all DHs you will not be permitted to use power point for your operations budget presentation. My power points presentation will include the organization chart for each department and I will make arrangements to display it for each departmental presentation. You may wish to refer to other pages of the budget during your presentation. The budget (with bookmarks) can be found in the special January 2 City Council information packet or at www.ic.gov.org/budge t. January 5, 2013 Budget Work Session 8:00 Budget Overview and Highlights —City Manager Office & Finance 9:30 Break 12:00 Lunch General Government Proqram Budqets: City Clerk City Attorney City Manager Finance Public Safety Program Budgets: ( 1 hour) Police Department Fire Department Housing & Inspection Services Culture & Leisure Program Budgets: (1 hour) Library Parks & Recreation Senior Center Community & Economic Development Program Budgets: (30 minutes) Planning and Community Development Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County Business -Type Funds: 0 hour) Parking Transit Airport January 2, 2013 Page 2 2:30 Break Discussion / Wrap up 5:00 Scheduled conclusion time January 7, 2013 Bucdoet Work Session 1:00 Review of Saturday's work session 1:30 Capital Improvement Projects (2 hours) 3:30 Break 4:00 Public Works Program Budgets: 0 hour) 5:00 Discussion and Wrap up U:BUDGETSCHEDULE.doc r .��= *Aare CITY OF IOWA CITY 1P4 MEMORANDUM Date: December 31, 2012 To: Geoff Fruin, Assistant to the City Manager From: Jeff Vanatter, Housing Rehabilitation Specialist Re: Update on Housing Rehabilitation & UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership The City of Iowa City Housing Rehabilitation program provides guidance and financial assistance to help residents maintain and update their homes. This assistance provides lower income homeowners the opportunity to make repairs to their homes that enable them to stay living in their homes and helps to maintain Iowa City's housing stock. The Housing Rehabilitation Program administers two major programs: 1) the federally- funded housing rehabilitation program, and 2) the General Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (GRIP). In addition to these programs, Community Development and Housing Rehabilitation staff also administer the UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership program. Housing Rehabilitation Staff continues to provide code inspection and lead paint inspection services to all sub - recipients of the City of Iowa City's federal entitlement funding. The federally- funded housing rehabilitation program is funded through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership programs and primarily provides assistance in the forms of low- interest or no- interest loans and /or conditional occupancy loans. The type of loan is dependent on the homeowner's ability to pay. As per council resolution, 13% or $200,000 (whichever is less) of the City's federal entitlement funding is set aside for these programs. The Housing Rehabilitation Office also estimates receiving an additional $20,000 - $45,000 in program income from loan repayments each year to re -use for new projects. For FY13 staff was also successful in obtaining an additional $200,000 in federal entitlement funding to offer a new targeted rehabilitation program. The federally- funded housing rehabilitation assistance is offered through seven specific programs. All programs require equity in the property to cover the amount of the loan, the home must be owner - occupied and located in Iowa City, and the household must be at 80% of area median income or below. The seven offered programs are: 1. Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program - Allows for the rehabilitation of a structure in order to meet housing quality standards of the Iowa City Housing Code and includes repairs to all major interior and exterior systems. Assistance ranges from $3000 - $24,999 per project. 2. Emergency Assistance Program — Provides assistance to help correction of major housing code violations and any other condition which make the structure uninhabitable or unsafe. Assistance ranges from $100 -$6000 per project. 3. Exterior Repair Program — Covers the cost of any exterior repair to the main structure. Assistance ranges from $1000 - $15,000 per project. 4. Residential Accessibility Program — Includes improvements to the home to make it accessible for homeowners with disabilities so that they may live independently in the home. Assistance ranges from $1000 416,000 per project. December 31, 2012 Page 2 5. Manufactured Home Repair Program — Applies to manufactured home repairs to items affecting home safety, such as doors, furnaces, water heaters, plumbing, electrical and steps. Assistance ranges from $500 -$5000 per project. 6. Energy Efficiency Program — Runs September 1St to March 1St each year, subject to funding availability. Eligible costs are limited to costs associated with the purchase of high efficiency heating equipment, the conversion or modification of a heating system, and costs for insulation. Assistance ranges from $300 -$4000 per project. 7. Targeted Neighborhood Improvement Program — Provides a combination of low and no interest loans and forgivable loans to homeowners to make exterior, emergency and comprehensive repairs to their homes in targeted areas of Iowa City. These areas include the UniverCity program boundaries (Miller Orchard area and College Green /Northside area), the Towncrest area, and the Wetherby /Grant Wood area. CDBG- funded assistance can be offered up to $10,000 per project with 50% of the assistance forgiven over a 5 -year period. HOME - funded assistance can be offered up to $25,000 per project with 50% of the project being forgiven over a 10 -year period. GRIP is offered as a compliment to the federally- funded CDBG /HOME programs without the same level of income targeting. All homes must be owner - occupied and located in Iowa City, must have adequate equity to cover the amount of the loan, and the households must be at 110% or below local area median income to qualify. It is designed to stabilize and revitalize targeted neighborhoods through the broader applicability of our Housing Rehabilitation and Historic Preservation programs. Repairs and improvements can be made to all interior and exterior systems. This program provides assistance in the form of low- interest loans that are repayable over a 20 -year term and is funded by the City through General Obligation bonds. Assistance ranges from $10,000 440,000 per project. Funding has been provided by $200,000 per year in GO bonds since the program inception until FY13, when this same level of funding was provided by City general funds. Staff began providing code inspection and lead paint inspection services to other City departments and to sub - recipients of the City's CDBG or HOME entitlement funds in FY09. In FY13 and into FY14, staff expects to continue providing these code inspections, lead -based paint visual risk assessments, and lead -based paint clearance inspections. In FY12 we expended $165,988 in project costs and administration on 25 CDBG- funded projects, with the average median income for these households being 41%. $112,566 was expended in project costs and administration on 6 HOME - funded projects, with the average median income for these households being 44 %. Under the GRIP program, we expended $200,436.55 in project costs on 14 projects. The average median income for these households was 68 %. In FY13 the Housing Rehabilitation Office has expended and /or committed $115,000 in project costs and administration on 11 CDBG projects. We expect to add another 8 -10 projects with future applications that have yet to be received. $113,500 has been expended and /or committed to 7 HOME - funded projects at this point. It is anticipated that another 2 -3 projects could be added with future applications that have yet to be received. Staff has expended and /or committed $290,000 to 12 GRIP projects for the year and is anticipating adding 4 -6 additional projects by the end of the fiscal year. All of the $200,000 in funding for the Targeted Neighborhood Improvement Program has been expended and /or committed to 13 projects. Additional projects will be added if the actual expenditures come in lower than estimated project costs, as the number of applications exceeds the amount of funding available at this time. December 31, 2012 Page 3 For FY14, we are anticipating receiving a comparable amount of City entitlement funding for the standard CDBG and HOME funded programs (approximately $200,000) and project serving 25- 30 households with these funds. We also expect to receive $200,000 funding from the City to serve another 10 -12 households in the GRIP program. Staff will apply for additional federal entitlement funds through the Housing & Community Development Commission's annual allocation process. We are hoping to secure funding of $300,000- $350,000 to continue the Targeted Neighborhood Improvement Program. We hope to keep all program parameters in place including the targeted locations and the loan terms and project being able to serve 16 -20 households with this level of funding. Staff completed the 1st phase of the UniverCity Neighborhood partnership and is currently working on the 2nd phase. The 1 st phase consisted of 26 homes purchased for a total of $3,688,500. Renovation and improvement projects utilizing local contractors and suppliers totaling $1,455,232 were completed on all the homes with the help of a $1,250,000 State of Iowa I -Jobs grant. 25 of the homes have been sold and the final home has an offer accepted with the closing to happen in January of 2013. Sale prices for homes in the 1st phase ranged from $72,000 to $214,000. The average increase in value from assessment to final appraisal for sold homes was $18,078. The City has purchased the 4 homes for the UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership's 2nd phase for a total of $558,000. The first 2 homes are both substantially complete and purchase offers for them will be accepted in January of 2013. Work on the 3rd home is underway and the 4th home is currently out for bid. All work in the 2nd phase will be completed in the current fiscal year. The 3rd phase of the program is projected to include 12 homes in the FY14 budget. The process of identifying and selecting potential homes is currently underway with approximately 430 letters being mailed to rental property owners in the targeted neighborhoods. Responses from this mailing will be pursued in the first part of 2013. Work to be completed on the 12 homes in the 3rd phase will be similar to work completed in the 1st and 2nd phases, some of which includes: • Updating of kitchens and bathrooms • Updating of electrical and plumbing systems • Installation of high- efficiency heating and air conditioning systems • Interior and exterior painting If you have any questions, please contact me at 319 - 356 -5128, or by e-mail at 'Leff- vanatter(a)-iowa- city.orq . Owner - occupied Housing Rehab Projects (FY12 & FY13) [Atf 0 0.5 1 2 Miles IP5 1 b t �V= �L ON CITY OF IOWA CITY PENDING CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION TOPICS January 2, 2013 Pending Topics to be Scheduled 1. Discuss concept of a community business attraction and anti - piracy compact 2. Continue the discussion on the sale or dispersion of public housing units 3. Discuss potential procedures and /or policies related to requests for habitable private spaces constructed over public right -of -way 4. Presentation on local homeless services 5. Presentation on Gateway project design options (February or March 2013) The City of Iowa City 1 6 ::Pi:J Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2013 Jan. 9, 2013 Jan. 10, 2013 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Pheasant Ridge Center Hy -Vee Waterfront The Spot 2651 Roberts Drive Club Room 1030 Crosspark Ave. 1720 Waterfront Drive TOPICS: ➢ operation of the City's transit system, including but not limited to the downtown interchange; and ➢ operation of the City law enforcement, including but not limited to the Police Citizens Review Board (PCRB) as it relates to minority populations with a view toward promoting just and harmonious interaction between City government and minority segments of the community. --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Persons are encouraged to attend the information gathering sessions and share comments and concerns. Individuals needing special accommodations or having translation questions should contact City Clerk Marian Karr at 356 -5041 at least 48 hours prior to the date and time. If you are unable to attend, comments may be sent to: Ad Hoc Diversity Committee Or e-mail to staff: % City Clerk marian - karr @iowa - city.org City of Iowa City 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 Comments must include full name and address. All correspondence is public. (Anonymous correspondence will not be accepted.) ! CITY OF IOWA CITY ��* � MEMORANDUM 'P' Date: January 3, 2013 To: Mayor and City Council From: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk Re: KXIC Radio Show At your December 18 work session meeting the Council Members agreed to the following schedule: January 9 - Dickens January 16 - Hayek January 23 - Payne January 30 - Dobyns February 6 - Champion Future commitments: March 20 — Dobyns U: rad ioshowappts.doc CITY OF IOWA CITY IP$ MEMORANDUM Date: January 3, 2013 To: Tom Markus, City Manager From: Adam Bentley, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager Re: Community Business Attraction and Anti - Piracy Compact Introduction: City staff has been meeting and working with the cities of Coralville and North Liberty regarding a non - competition agreement known as the Community Business Attraction and Anti - Piracy Compact (the Compact). Attached is a draft copy of the current version of the compact. Background: In an effort to build a stronger economic position within the southern portion of the Corridor and build upon the trust and communication between the cities of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty, the cities have engaged in a discussion regarding a compact that prohibits business piracy, stipulates a formal communication plan for business migration issues, and provides a default position for those wishing to approach business in the area. In late October, the City of Iowa City approached the cities of North Liberty and Coralville with a draft agreement that stipulated the above mentioned issues. Subsequent meetings with city officials fine -tuned the agreement and have gotten staff to a point where public review of the document is appropriate. While staff expects that the agreement will need further discussion amongst the three communities, staff wanted to make council aware of the discussion. The compact is consistent with state law regarding TIF legislation. Discussion of Solutions: The compact outlines the following principles and protocols that are agreed upon in this arrangement: 1. Compact communities agree to refrain from "actively pursuing" businesses to relocate from one compact community to another. 2. Compact communities seek to grow the regional economy knowing that regional growth translates into jurisdictional growth. 3. Compact communities agree to a prescribed communication structure when business migration occurs between compact communities. 4. Compact communities agree that no incentives can be offered until the communities involved have been notified of the businesses intentions to relocate. 5. Compact communities agree that when incentives are used for a business migrating from one compact community to another compact community, the community losing the business must formally consent to the incentives provided by the community receiving the business. 6. Compact communities agree that this compact does not constitute a general agreement concerning the use of economic development incentives as stipulated by state law, nor is it intended to satisfy specific agreements between compact communities in relation to specific business migration occurrences. This compact describes an agreed upon set of principles and protocols established between participating communities. Recommendation: Future action will be required to ratify the compact but no action is presently required. COMMUNITY BUSINESS ATTRACTION AND ANTI - PIRACY COMPACT This agreement is made this day of , 2013 by and between the City of Iowa City, the City of Coralville, and the City of North Liberty (hereinafter "Participants" or "Participating Communities "). PURPOSE The communities of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty join in the prospect of encouraging economic development within their own jurisdictions and throughout the region. Working together, these communities seek to highlight the region's strengths and focus on maintaining an attractive environment for business growth and expansion. The participants seek to expand business opportunities within their own boundaries, but do not wish to do so at the expense of those participating in this compact. Inevitably, for various reasons, businesses may seek to migrate from one jurisdiction to another. In such cases, this compact outlines protocols that seek to enhance communication and promote equity between participants in this agreement. Without an expressed, self- initiated interest in relocation, participants agree that actively pursuing or "pirating" businesses to migrate from one participating community to another should be prohibited and practices of performing such actions restricted. The purpose of this compact is to: 1. Establish and facilitate interactions between participants to promote economic development in the region; 2. Establish a point of contact within each jurisdiction for representation of economic development matters; 3. Express commitment from participants that they will not actively pursue the relocation of a business that has not indicated an interest in moving from one participating community to another; and 4. Establish protocols that balance the interests of the business' home community and other participating communities held in this compact. Protocols /Principles In the interest of promoting economic well -being and growth of our communities, we, the undersigned, agree to the following protocols and principles (the "Compact "): Principle 1: Business Attraction and Retention The regional economy will grow stronger and more attractive for business growth if communities work together on economic development rather than against one another. The participants in this compact seek to grow the regional economy knowing that regional growth will translate into jurisdictional growth. The participants in this compact are committed to attracting new business, the retention or expansion of existing business, and the promotion of their communities as good places for business. While business migration will occur, the participants are dedicated to refraining from activities and encouragement of business migration from one compact community to another. Principle 2: Active Pursuit /Pirating of Businesses Participants agree that where a business has not taken the initiative to express an interest in moving from one compact community to another, participants will not actively pursue that business to encourage it to relocate. "Actively pursue" means to initiate contact with the business directly, with the intent of luring the business through cold calls, visits, mail solicitations, marketing, or through a third party. This does not preclude compact communities from marketing themselves as a good place to do business or generally promoting the benefits of starting, expanding, or locating a business in their home community. Protocol 1: Business Considering Relocation The following protocol applies to all businesses. In the event such a business residing in a different compact community ( "the home community ") contacts the mayor, city manager, staff person, or person(s) in charge of economic development at another community ( "the contacted community "), either directly or through a representative, to discuss possible relocation, we agree to the following protocol: a. The contacted community will advise the business that it wants to assist the business so that it is successful. b. The contacted community will ask the business whether it has advised the home community that it is considering relocation, and if not, whether it objects to the contacted community advising the home community of the inquiry. c. If the home community has not been advised and the business does not object, the contacted community will promptly notify the point of contact from the home community in writing of the inquiry. d. Participants will not propose or offer incentives to the business in support of its relocation until either the business verifies in writing that it has notified the home community of the possible relocation or the contacted community has given that notice. e. The contacted community will advise the business, if asked, that the contacted community shall condition the awarding of incentives and assistance on the receipt of consent from the community in which the business is currently located. f. Participants will discuss possible relocations or expansions with local government representatives designated to manage economic development matters of the affected home community, if asked by those officials. Protocol 2: Business Considering Consolidation In the event a business with operations in one or more compact communities contacts a participating community to indicate that it is considering consolidating its operations in the contacted community, that community shall treat the situation as it would a potential relocation and adhere to Protocol 1. Protocol 3: Business Relocation to a Non - Compact Community In the event that participating communities learn of a business considering relocation or consolidating operations from a compact community to a non - compact community, it will be the responsibility of those participating communities to inform compact members of such. Addition of Participants The participants strongly encourage other communities within the region to join this agreement. Upon request the participants will consider the addition of other participating communities. Term The compact shall remain in effect until terminated in accordance with subparagraph (a) of the General Provisions below. Non - Substitution (updated as of 9/25/12) This agreement shall not constitute a "written agreement concerning the general use of economic incentives to attract commercial or industrial development" for purposes of Iowa Code section 403.19(9)(a)(1). General Provisions a. Termination: This compact may be terminated it its entirety by the mutual written agreement of all participating communities. In the event a participating community wishes to terminate its participation, it shall provide a notice of intent to terminate to participating communities. Such termination shall be effective as of the date stated on such a notice. In the event only one participating community remains the agreement shall terminate. b. Amendment or Modification: This compact may be amended or modified by the participating communities, provided that any such modification or amendment shall only be effective upon written agreement of all participating communities. c. Capacity to Execute: The undersigned hereby certifies that all actions necessary to execute this compact were taken, and the person executing this compact is authorized to do so and has the power to bind the jurisdiction to the terms and conditions herein. d. No Third -party Beneficiaries: This agreement is not intended to benefit any person or entity not a party to this agreement and shall not be construed to do so. e. No Agency Relationship: Nothing herein creates an agency relationship between the participants and nothing herein authorizes one participant to act as an agent of another participant or participants. Signatures Thomas Markus, City of Iowa City Kelly Hayworth, City of Coralville Ryan Heiar, City of North Liberty FROM THE CITY MANAGER IP9 Zipcar's weekend crush solution: Merge with Avis By Aaron Smith @CNNMoney January 2, 2013: 12:29 PM ET Zipcar Zipcar's stock price started strong with its 2011 1PO, but has since plunged. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) It might be easier to get a Zipcar rental on weekends now that the popular urban car - sharing service is being acquired by traditional car rental company Avis Budget Group. The companies said Wednesday that Avis (CAR, Fortune 500) has agreed to buy Zipcar (ZIP) for about $500 million, or $12.25 per share in cash, which is nearly 50% above Monday's closing price. Zipcar's stock surged Wednesday to match Avis' valuation. But the stock is still about 50% below about its initial public offering price of $18. The company made its market debut on April 14, 2011, and surged 70% that first day to a market cap of $1 billion. But then the stock price peaked and made a precipitous slide of more than 50% until Wednesday's rally. Related: Zipear IPO hits $1 billion Avis said it plans to use its fleet of rental cars to beef up Zipcar for its weekend demand, "which is currently constrained by fleet availability." As a "car sharing" company, Zipcar operates under a slightly different model, appealing to customers who would rather rent a car by the hour, instead of by the day, though it offers services for both. Most rental car companies, including Avis, offer rentals on a daily or weekly basis. Related: VCs to score big on Zipear sale The deal positions Avis to better compete with rental companies that offer car- sharing memberships, such as Hertz (HTZ, Fortune 500), which has Hertz On Demand, and Enterprise Rent -A -Car, which has WeCar. The deal requires final approval from Zipcar shareholders. Avis and Zipcar expect the deal to be completed in the spring. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) is the financial adviser for Avis. Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) is the financial adviser to Zipcar. ■ First Published: January 2, 2013: 7:08 AM ET New research confirms central -city comebacks Kaid Benfield, Better! Cities & Towns We can now add even smaller cities with populations under 250,000 to the convincing body of evidence showing that the decades -long trend of urban decline in America has been reversed. In most American cities, the opposite is now true: central cities are growing, and growing faster than their suburbs. This is immensely hopeful news for those of us who care about sustainability. Nothing has been worse for our environment or, I would argue, our social fabric than the unbridled suburban growth that sprawled across our landscape in the second half of the 20th century, sucking investment and life out of our cities. Although it has become trendy to focus on the so- called "shrinking cities" in the nation's Rust Belt, the truth is that virtually all American cities were shrinking until quite recently. Even Washington, DC, whose downtown is now considered to be booming, lost 20 percent of its population between 1950 and 2000. I believe it is just a matter of time before even the Rust Belt cities begin to grow again (some already are), which is why I have urged caution regarding the disturbing trend on the part of some city leaders and advocates to basically give up on these communities' most disinvested neighborhoods. Boston's Dudley Street, Cincinnati's Over -the- ine, and St. Louis's Old! North, until recently the most severely invested and abandoned districts in each of those cities, now er dramatic evidence that comebacks can occur. We should all glad that their historic fabric — much of it, at least — was not allowing those neighborhoods to recover when the this year, I wrote about an analysis of 2011 census data on the 73 US cities with populations greater than 250,000, showing that 52 of them are now growing faster than their regional averages. Indeed, primary cities in large metropolitan areas with populations of more than one million grew by 1.1 percent last year, compared with 0.9 percent in surrounding suburbs. Cities switching from declines to gains included even Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, both older industrial cities thought to be in decline. I presented a lot of discussion in that article about why I think the reversal of fortune for cities is likely to stay; I won't repeat it here. Newly released analysis of Census data from Smart Growth America reveals that smaller cities are growing, too — and most are growing faster than their suburbs. The organization calculated population change between 2010 and 2011 in 171 of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas of 150,000 or more people. Overall, 22 percent of the U.S. population — more than 69 million people — live in these small metro areas. Of these, 39 percent, or 27 million people, live in the census - defined cities of the small metro areas. Between 2010 and 2011, 86 percent of small metro areas saw an increase in the number of people living in the city. Both cities and suburbs in these areas gained population, but the overall rate of suburban growth was somewhat less than that of the cities. A little more than half— 55 percent — of the individual cities grew faster than their suburbs. This is a stark reversal: in our 1999 book Once There Were Greenfields, we reported that, between 1988 and 1996, central cities together had suffered a net outmigration of over two million people in each year, while suburbs experienced a collective net gain of between two and three million people each year. According to Smart Growth America, the top ten small metros where cities added population at a greater rate than their suburbs were these: • Clarksville, TN -KY • Lexington- Fayette, KY • Fort Smith, AR -OK • Lynchburg, VA • Athens -Clarke County, GA • Lincoln, NE • Davenport- Moline -Rock Island, IA -IL • Greensboro -High Point, NC • Bloomington, IN • Durham- Chapel Hill, NC The report may be downloaded here. SGA's statement issued with the new analysis says that the results are surprising, but I believe they should only be surprising to people unaware of demographic trends over the last decade. For me, these new data only confirm and strengthen the findings of closely related research. Cities are back. Note: I am a board member and founder of Smart Growth America, but I was uninvolved in this research and only became aware of it when it was released. Related posts: • Central cities now growing faster than suburbs, confirming trends for walkable lifestyles, shorter commutes (June 29, 2012) • How the evolving housing market will help sustainable communities (April 4, 2012) • Rust Belt cities: to avoid more shrinkage, protect & strengthen the core (January 4, 2012) • Geography of housing recovery favors cities and walkable neighborhoods (October 26, 2011) • Personal income stars: older cities in the East & Midwest are rebounding (February 1, 2011) • Housing market strengthens for smart growth: dramatic new data from the DC area (April 26, 2010) • Major real estate report: shift to urban living is "fundamental," outer suburbs may "lack staying power" (November 10, 2009) • They are stardust. They are golden. But are they right about "shrinking cities "? (July 2, 2009) • Sprawl's share of new US housing starts has declined dramatically, says EPA (March 3, 2009) Kaid Benfield is director ofsustainable communities at The Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC. This blog also appeared on NRDC Switchboard where Kaid writes (almost) daily about community, development, and the environment. FROM THE CITY MANAGER IP11 The Death of the American Shopping Mall • JEFF JORDAN DEC 26, 2012 • 24 COMMENTS Blinch /Reuters America has too many malls. I've recently blogged that many traditional brick - and -mortar retailers are being threatened with "economic destruction" by their advantaged online competition. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, anchorwoman Nicole Lapin asked about the implications of this dynamic on retail real estate. I said I hadn't studied it, but I thought the ramifications would be very big and very negative (I believe the phrase "apocalyptic" was used). I've since had the opportunity to spend some time looking at this issue, and I believe we're seeing clear signs that the e- commerce revolution is seriously impacting commercial real estate. Online retailers are relentlessly gaining share in many retail categories, and offline players are fighting for progressively smaller pieces of the retail pie. A number of physical retailers have already succumbed to online competition including Circuit City, Borders, CompUSA, Tower Records and Blockbuster, and many others are showing signs of serious economic distress. These mall and shopping center stalwarts are closing stores by the thousands, and there are few large physical chains opening stores to take their place. Yet the quantity of commercial real estate targeting retail continues to grow, albeit slowly. Rapidly declining demand for real estate amid growing supply is a recipe for financial disaster. I don't think we're overbuilt, I think we're under - demolished. There are very few thriving physical retailers these days outside of the daily consumables markets. I did a quick analysis on the high -level health of the National Retail Federations list of the Top 100 retailers in 2012, focusing on merchandise retailers that would likely be located in malls (removing grocery, drug, restaurant and online retailers). I looked at three measures of retailer health: total sales growth, comp store sales growth and number of stores. The analysis doesn't paint a very pretty picture regarding the health of the leading physical retailers in the United States. Total sales growth is mixed and is negative for 20 percent of the sample. Comp store sales growth — arguably the key measure of retailer health —is also mixed and a quarter of the sample is negative. And note that many of these sales results include the retailers' online segments, so the picture for their physical stores is even worse. Lastly, store counts are simply stagnant —about as many top retailers shrank their store count as expanded it, and precious few are expanding aggressively. The largest retailers in the U.S. do not look very healthy. And if they're struggling, it's likely that their more marginal physical competitors are struggling even more. I went back to the Top 100 retailers in 2007 to see how that crop had fared five years later and found that four of these top retailers had already gone away through Chapter 11. Interestingly, the picture of these four doesn't look that different than the 2012 list. This declining retailer health is directly impacting malls and shopping centers in the form of very high vacancy rates and sluggish rents — exactly what you'd expect to see where supply exceeds demand. Both factors deteriorated quickly during the economic crisis of 2008 -09, but they've shown virtually no improvement since in spite of improved economic conditions. The recession was the catalyst, but competition from online retailers can only be the continued driver. The mall business isn't very healthy either. U.S. Sales Stores 2007 Year/Year Year /Year Rank Retailer bil Change Number Change 29 Circuit City 12.4 `� 1,152 68 CompUSA 4.7 2% 225 75 Borders 4.1 1% 1,230 1.7% 99 Mervyn's 3.0 0 172 This declining retailer health is directly impacting malls and shopping centers in the form of very high vacancy rates and sluggish rents — exactly what you'd expect to see where supply exceeds demand. Both factors deteriorated quickly during the economic crisis of 2008 -09, but they've shown virtually no improvement since in spite of improved economic conditions. The recession was the catalyst, but competition from online retailers can only be the continued driver. The mall business isn't very healthy either. Regional Mall Trends ion — S42 -- Vacancy rates 9 . Rents 40 8 38 7 36 6 34 30 4 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 11 '12 Source: Reis Inc. nreionline Neighborhood and Community Center Trends 12% 11 10 9 8 7 S20 19 18 17 6 51 6 1la.11 t !_I 111.l1!_L!_Li_! l- l_I1.111_!_1.i11J !l 1.1.1.1 -1_I_l 11.a_l.l.i.l.1. /1 14 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 11 '12 Source: Reis Inc. nreionline These trends are hitting the market capitalizations of most of the largest owners of retail real estate. Simon, General Growth, DDR and Kimco between them own over 600 MILLION square feet of U.S. retail real estate, according to nreionline. Simons stock has performed strongly, but the other three stocks have created virtually no value over the past decade. Source: Yahoo! Finance Most real estate professionals understand that profound changes are afoot. Don Wood, CEO of Federal Realty Investment Trust, says "there is too much retail supply in this country." The Wall Street Journal reports: Green Street Advisor, an analysis firm that tracks REITs, has forecast that 10 percent of the roughly 1,000 large malls in the U.S. will fail within the next 10 years and be converted into something with far less retail. That's a conservative estimate; many mall CEOs predict the attrition rate will be higher. And Daniel Hurwitz, president and CEO of DDR, observes, "I don't think we're overbuilt, I think we're under - demolished." I agree with the above perspectives, although I believe they likely understate the eventual impact on malls. A report from Co -Star observes that there are more than 200 malls with over 250,000 square feet that have vacancy rates of 35 percent or higher, a "clear marker for shopping center distress." These malls are becoming ghost towns. They are not viable now and will only get less so as online continues to steal retail sales from brick - and - mortar stores. Continued bankruptcies among historic mall anchors will increase the pressure on these marginal malls, as will store closures from retailers working to optimize their business. Hundreds of malls will soon need to be repurposed or demolished. Strong malls will stay Stock Performance of the Largest Owners of Retail Real Estate 160 --- -- - - -- 140 0 t 120 c ° 100 "Simon Property f rou p Q `6 80 (General Growth r 60 "4"'DDR Y40 "**�Kimco u C r 20 0 Off' O� Off` Oy 00 01 00 Oq ,ti0 'tip ,�'L ,ti0 ,�O ,LO ,LO .10 ,ti0 ,LO ,ti0 .y0 ,y0 ry0 Source: Yahoo! Finance Most real estate professionals understand that profound changes are afoot. Don Wood, CEO of Federal Realty Investment Trust, says "there is too much retail supply in this country." The Wall Street Journal reports: Green Street Advisor, an analysis firm that tracks REITs, has forecast that 10 percent of the roughly 1,000 large malls in the U.S. will fail within the next 10 years and be converted into something with far less retail. That's a conservative estimate; many mall CEOs predict the attrition rate will be higher. And Daniel Hurwitz, president and CEO of DDR, observes, "I don't think we're overbuilt, I think we're under - demolished." I agree with the above perspectives, although I believe they likely understate the eventual impact on malls. A report from Co -Star observes that there are more than 200 malls with over 250,000 square feet that have vacancy rates of 35 percent or higher, a "clear marker for shopping center distress." These malls are becoming ghost towns. They are not viable now and will only get less so as online continues to steal retail sales from brick - and - mortar stores. Continued bankruptcies among historic mall anchors will increase the pressure on these marginal malls, as will store closures from retailers working to optimize their business. Hundreds of malls will soon need to be repurposed or demolished. Strong malls will stay strong for a while, as retailers are willing to pay for traffic and customers from failed malls seek offline alternatives, but even they stand in the path of the shift of retail spending from offline to online. This in turn creates further opportunity for online commerce. If I were thinking of starting a new retail brand right now, I would unquestionably start it online. And many very talented entrepreneurs are doing just this. I personally shop at Bonobos for pants, J.Hilburn for sweaters, Ledbury for shirts and Warby Parker for eyeglasses. All of these brands design and source their own goods. They historically would have started in the mall but they now are starting online, a trend that will undoubtedly continue. There clearly will be fewer new offline retailers to take the space vacated by the disappearing brick- and - mortar chains, further pressuring malls. And in an ironic turn, many of these online brands are experimenting with offline stores —but typically with some important twists. Bonobos and Warby Parker have built showrooms in their New York offices where consumers can come in and try on samples. But if the consumer wants to purchase items, then the companies fulfill the product from their warehouses —they don't stock inventory in their "stores." Bonobos has expanded this concept into a few additional locations, but not mall locations. Instead, they are selecting lower cost, non -mall locations and using emails to their online customers to drive folks to these locations. They do this because a consumer's purchasing typically expands after a visit to their physical store, and the costs are not high given the lack of inventory and lower rents and staffing costs. If this trend expands, it will provide further challenges to malls. In researching this post, I came across a fascinating (and slightly morbid) website called deadmalls.com, a site that chronicles the tales of hundreds of already or soon -to -be dead malls. Co- founder Brian Florence writes: I started deadmalls.com with my friend Peter Blackbird in 2000 when we both realized that Pete had mountains of data about dead and dying malls stuck up in his head. Why keep this information to yourself? And, realizing the burgeoning power of the Internet and its ability to draw in more information, the site was created to harness stories of woe and merriment from others. It's been a great success. Unfortunately for mall owners, the content on deadmalls.com is about to expand substantially. There just are too many malls in America, and this will only get worse. IP12 FROM THE CITY MANAGER Train travel makes a comeback Despite some political and economic hurdles, more communities are reviving intercity rail links or making plans for new ones. By Bruce Kennedy Dec 17, 2012 12 28P Train travel in the U.S. has long been derided as outdated, inefficient, expensive and a sad relic of America's past rail glories. But given high gas prices, worsening traffic conditions, airline industry cuts and government pledges to renew the nation's infrastructure, it appears passenger train service is quietly making a comeback across the country. Here are some recent examples: • For the first time in decades, starting next summer, passenger rail service will be running again between Boston and Cape Cod. Boston.com says the two -hour trip from Beantown to Hyannis will cost about $30 for a round -trip ticket. • Earlier this month, Amtrak revived its Richmond -to- Norfolk passenger service in Virginia for the first time since 1977 -- also with an eye on beach -bound travelers. WTVR -TV says the state invested $100 million in the rail line, and will pay an additional $1 million in annual costs. . The Arizona Department of Transportation is currently looking at the feasibility of a passenger rail link between Phoenix and Tucson. • Plans are in the works for luxury train service from Southern California to Las Vegas starting late next year. Promoters of the X Train say their service will bring hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and employment opportunities to the region. • Amtrak plans to launch Chicago -to -Omaha passenger service by the end of 2015. An Iowa Department of Transportation official tells KPTM -TV the service would not only have Wi -Fi, cafe cars and ADA- accessible bathrooms, but would also help the state save on highway repairs. • Amtrak meanwhile, just announced plans to improve passenger service in its important Northeast Corridor by adding to its existing fleet of high -speed Acela trains. "Moving directly to new high -speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher speeds, and maximize customer comfort all while improving equipment reliability and reducing operating costs," Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman said in a press statement. • Amtrak set a national ridership record of 31.2 million passengers in fiscal 2012 -- including a new record 11.4 million travelers on its Northeast Corridor services. Amtrak says it currently carries "three passengers for every one airline passenger between New York and Washington, and carries more passengers between New York and Boston than all the airlines combined." Not all the news is positive for passenger rail travel. Governors in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin rejected federal grants last year for high -speed rail service in their states -- part of an Obama Administration plan to upgrade and improve America's tattered rail corridors. And a planned rail link between Northern and Southern California is running into financial and political obstacles. But earlier this month, an administration official said that, despite the current fiscal crisis, it remains committed to passenger train travel. "We're not giving up on high -speed rail," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, according to the Washington Post, during testimony before a congressional committee. "The president will include funding in his budget. I think we'll get there with public money, but in the absence of that we'll get there with private money." Marian Karr From: Edwin Stone <stone.edwin @gmail.com> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2012 11:40 AM To: Stephen Murley Cc: Board; Council Subject: Fwd: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists Hi Steve, The question I posed last week (see below) seems pretty straightforward to me. I remain very interested in your answer. Regards, Ed Begin forwarded message: From: Edwin Stone <stone.edwin(ftmail.com> Date: December 28, 2012 8:50:37 AM CST To: Stephen Murley < Murley .SteahenC&-iccsd.k12.ia.us> Cc: Board < Board _iccsd.k12.ia.us >, council _iowa- citv.orq Subject: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists Hi Steve, 01 -U IP73 iL I am writing to ask you whether you think it is appropriate, ethical, and legal for a secondary school principal to use his or her ICCSD email account and the email addresses of hundreds of families with children attending his or her school to express personal political opinions? Regards, Ed Marian Karr From: Edwin Stone <stone.edwin @g mail. com> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 9:35 AM To: Stephen Murley Cc: Board; Council Subject: Re: Gregg Shoultz Hi Steve, Have you or a member of your administrative team sent any communication to the people under your supervision about the use of ICCSD email accounts and confidential email lists for distributing personal political opinions? Regards, Ed On Dec 26, 2012, at 9:40 AM, Stephen Murley wrote: Good Morning Dr. Stone, Thank you for forwarding the message and for your thoughts regarding the content. I did not receive this email prior to your forward. I will work with our administrative team to address the content and process. Steve ,Stephen T. 91durfey Superintendent of Schools Iowa City Community School District 1725 North Dodge Street Iowa City, IA 52245 -9589 Phone: 319-688-1000 Fax: 319-688-1009 Web: http: / /www.iowacityschools.org Community Engagement: http : / /www.engageiowacityschools.org <image003.jpg> From: Edwin Stone fmailto :stone.edwinCabg_mail.com] Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 4:35 PM To: Stephen Murley Cc: Board; council0d)iowa- city.orcl Subject: Gregg Shoultz Hi Steve, I am writing to ask you whether you think it is appropriate, ethical, and legal for Gregg Shoultz to use his ICCSD email account and the email addresses of the hundreds of families with children at Northwest Junior High to advance his personal political agenda (see below)? If the board wished to send out a factual message about the diversity policy currently under consideration to Marian Karr From: Edwin Stone <stone.edwin @gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2012 10:40 AM To: Stephen Murley Cc: Board; Council Subject: Re: Gregg Shoultz Thanks, Steve. It would be good if you could deal with this quickly and visibly so that some stability and predictability can be brought to the manner in which the Diversity Policy and the RPS are presented to the public by district personnel. Regards, Ed On Dec 26, 2012, at 9:40 AM, Stephen Murley wrote: Good Morning Dr. Stone, Thank you for forwarding the message and for your thoughts regarding the content. I did not receive this email prior to your forward. I will work with our administrative team to address the content and process. Steve Stephen T. Af 57 Superintendent of Schools Iowa City Community School District 1725 North Dodge Street Iowa City, IA 52245 -9589 Phone: 319-688-1000 Fax: 319-688-1009 Web: htti): / /www.iowaciiyschools.org Community Engagement: http : / /www.engageiowaciiyschools.org <image003.jpg> From: Edwin Stone [mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 4:35 PM To: Stephen Murley Cc: Board; council @ iowa- city.org Subject: Gregg Shoultz Hi Steve, I am writing to ask you whether you think it is appropriate, ethical, and legal for Gregg Shoultz to use his ICCSD email account and the email addresses of the hundreds of families with children at Northwest Junior High to advance his personal political agenda (see below)? If the board wished to send out a factual message about the diversity policy currently under consideration to families with students in the district, they could craft the language themselves and ask your office to send it out. It does not seem helpful or balanced to have a secondary principal send out a message with inflammatory phrases like "surfaced last week ", "even more muddy" "current 8th graders in our district will be assigned to a school that they are not currently planning to attend ", "extremely over - crowded before any new facility could be constructed ", and "accept the consequences later ". All citizens in our community are entitled to their opinions, but I do not think that school officials should be allowed to use their positions of influence and the confidential email lists that they have access to to amplify their voices -- especially if their voices are raised in opposition to equal treatment of all students in the district. I would appreciate it if you would communicate with Mr. Shoultz and all employees of the district and let them know that it is improper to use school email accounts, email address lists, and other public resources to express personal opinions in this manner. Regards, Ed From: Shoultz.Gregg @iccsd.kl2.ia.us Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:22:26 -0600 Subject: NW eNewsletter To: Dear Parents, I have a few items of interest to send home for the winter break: Board Happenings— Equity Policy I attended a meeting of the ICCSD school board last night and learned a little more about a new equity policy that surfaced last week. I have attached the policy to this email for parents to review. In looking at the elementary part of the policy it seems like an honest attempt to reign in some obvious disparities. It reminded me of what the ICCSD administration was able to do when Borlaug Elementary was brought on -line this year. Prior to Borlaug opening, Roosevelt was a high poverty school (over 50 %) while Horn and Weber were relatively low poverty schools. With Borlaug now online, all three schools are in the 30 -33% free and reduced lunch range for their student populations. The policy gives the superintendent five years to bring the elementary schools in compliance. This is enough time to plan new buildings and additions which could go a long way in equalizing some disparity. I'm less certain what the policy would mean for Northwest and the two high schools. In addition to equalizing the free and reduced lunch population between and among the schools, the policy also has strict language regarding building utilization. There are times when the policy calls for the junior highs to fall under the same category as the elementary schools, and other times the policy refers to secondary schools. NW, South East and North Central are typically considered secondary schools. Under my reading of the proposed policy, there would have to some shifting of students in the short term from either SE or NC in order for NW to be utilized at 90 to 95% of capacity. I think it would be helpful to understand how the policy will be enacted prior to it becoming the "law of the land." The high school level seems even more muddy. According the policy, the superintendent would have only one year to come into compliance with either the building utilization provision or the equity provision. This would most likely mean that current 8th graders in our district will be assigned to a high school that they are not currently planning to attend. Mostly likely this will mean more 8th graders from NW or NC assigned to City High next year. It is also less clear how any other secondary school could be built with this policy. The utilization requirements will mean that both West and City will have to be extremely over - crowded before any new facility could be constructed. When passing a new board policy, the normal practice is to present the policy at an open meeting three times. There is a possibility, however, that board will waive the second reading in order to pass this policy on January 15. 1 hope this is not the case as this is an important policy proposition and it deserves thoughtful consideration. The impact of this policy is likely to be dramatic, so it is important for our community to know and understand the policy now, in order to accept the consequences later. I hope the discussion of this policy will be a healthy one. Our community should be able to seriously discuss the impact of poverty on our schools. 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. Tf' 13 Marian Karr From: Sarah Swisher <Sarah.Swisher @iccsd.k12.ia.us> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 7:33 PM To: Edwin Stone; Board Cc: Council; Stephen Murley Subject: RE: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists "What is the quality of your intent? Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent. My intent will be evident in the results." Thurgood Marshall, Brown vs. BOE 1954 From: Edwin Stone [stone.edwin @gmail.com] Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 7:31 PM To: Board Cc: council @iowa- city.org; Stephen Murley Subject: Fwd: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists Dear Board Members, On the 19th of December, Gregg Shoultz of Northwest Junior High used his ICCSD email address to send an email to hundreds of families with children at Northwest giving his personal opinions about the equity policy currently under consideration by the board. I asked Mr. Murley on four different occasions (Dec 22, Dec 28, Dec 31 and Jan 3) whether he thought it was appropriate, ethical and legal for a secondary principal to use his or her ICCSD email address and confidential address lists to express personal political opinions. Mr. Murley has chosen to not reply to any of these queries. Today, Mr. Schultz, Ms. Fry and Dr. Arganbright sent a jointly signed letter on West High letterhead to a bit more than half of the families in the district who have children in secondary school. The letter is ostensibly informational. It tells the reader that the board is "anxious for feedback" and provides the board's email address. You have all no doubt received numerous emails today from recipients of this letter who are now worried that their child will be reassigned to a different school next year. Are the east side secondary principals supposed to get together now and hurriedly craft a letter /email to "their parents" with "their summary" of what the equity policy may mean to the children of our community? West vs East, us vs them, pitchforks and burning pine knots, right? WRONG! I believe that the majority of the community and the majority of the current school board members want to use our community's educational tax dollars to benefit every child in our district equally. From my perspective the board is on a solid course toward this outcome and I believe that this outcome will be good for everyone in the district for many years to come. So, how do we stop all of this "us vs. them" stuff? How do we stop the fear mongering? 1) Continue to conduct televised public board meetings with published written minutes and invite all members of the community to get their information about board activities first hand, or from the newspaper, or from some private citizen who is using his or her own resources to convey his or her own opinion (the cornerstone of our democracy). 2) Ask Mr. Murley to send a letter to all district principals telling them that it is inappropriate to use district email accounts, district letterheads, and district mailing lists to express any political opinions and that this prohibition includes communications designed to "alert" families to topics currently under consideration by the board and /or suggestions that the recipients contact the board to voice their opinions. 3) Pass the equity policy on January 15th and banish significant educational disparity from the ICCSD forever. Regards, Ed Begin forwarded message: From: Edwin Stone < stone. edwin @gmail. com <mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com>> Date: December 31, 2012 11:39:37 AM CST To: Stephen Murley < Murley. Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us<mailto:Murley .Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us>> Cc: Board < Board @iccsd.kl2.ia.us<mailto:Board@ iccsd.kl2.ia.us >>, council@ iowa- city.org <mailto:council @iowa- city.org> Subject: Fwd: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists Hi Steve, The question I posed last week (see below) seems pretty straightforward to me. I remain very interested in your answer. Regards, Ed Begin forwarded message: From: Edwin Stone < stone. edwin @gmail. com <mailto:stone.edwin @gmail.com>> Date: December 28, 2012 8:50:37 AM CST To: Stephen Murley < Murley. Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us <mailto:Murley .Stephen @iccsd.kl2.ia.us>> Cc: Board < Board@ iccsd. kl2. ia. us <mailto:Board @iccsd.kl2.ia.us >>, council @iowa- city.org<mailto:council @iowa- city.org> Subject: ICCSD email accounts and parent mailing lists Hi Steve, I am writing to ask you whether you think it is appropriate, ethical, and legal for a secondary school principal to use his or her ICCSD email account and the email addresses of hundreds of families with children attending his or her school to express personal political opinions? Regards, Ed CITY OF IOWA CITY December 28, 2012 Ellen Sweet 1219 Oakcrest Street Iowa City, IA 52246 Department of Housing and Inspection Services 410 Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 M IP14 Dear Ms. Sweet, I'm Douglas Boothroy, Director of Housing and Inspection Services, and have been asked to respond to your comments provided at the City Council meeting of December 18, 2012 regarding the "shadow" impact of the Oaknoll expansion on your property. In your comments to Council, you indicated being displeased with the City's review and approval process for the Oaknoll expansion as it relates to the proposed. building's "shadow" impact on adjacent properties. You stated "...they really, really didn't want much input from us, nor did they give us any valuable information for what was going to happen." The City's review and approval process is designed to encourage public participation. Oaknoll held an informal neighborhood meeting to discuss their expansion project and, according to their architect, Mark Siebold, the "shadow" impact was described at that meeting. The City mailed notification letters to all residents within 300ft of the project inviting comment and participation in the review process. The Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council held numerous public meetings for the purpose of public input on the project. According to City Planner, Bob Miklo, the "shadow" impact of the Oaknoll project was never raised by neighbors as an issue. If, at any time throughout the review and approval process, a neighbor had raised the "shadow' impact as an issue, staff, the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council would have given the matter serious consideration. You also indicated that your property may be approximately half shielded by the Oaknoll expansion and that you don't have any information concerning the "shadow" impact on your property. I have contacted Mark Siebold, architect for Oaknoll, asking for a "shadow" impact analysis for your property. He indicated that he would get me that information and, as soon as I receive it, I will share it with you. In addition he stated that the proposed building will be about the same height as your trees located along your south property line. The Oaknoll project has been approved by the City and Oaknoll has the legal right to proceed with the project as approved. The "shadow" impact was not raised as an issue during the review and approval process; therefore, it was not given consideration. It is too late for any reconsideration of the design of the Oaknoll project to address this issue. I will be forwarding to you the "shadow" impact information for your property when I receive it from Oaknoll. If you have any questions concerning the approved site plan or building plans, please contact me at 319 - 356 -5121 or Julie Tallman at 319- 356 -5132. Dire4or, Housing and�In;spection Services City '4f f Iowa City I Cc: Tom Markus, City 1 Matt Hayek, Mayor IP15 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION PRELIMINARY DECEMBER 3, 2012 — 5:15 PM — INFORMAL 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: None RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:15 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REZONING REZ12- 00026/SUB12- 00012/VAC12- 00004: Discussion of an application submitted by Hy -Vee Stores, Inc. for 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. Clement Street. (45 day limitation: December 23, 2012) Miklo said the Commissioners have received a new plan where the applicant tried to address several of the concerns that were raised by public, staff or the Commission at the last meeting. He said based on the new plan, staff no longer feels that a Comprehensive Plan Amendment is necessary because this plan is compatible with the neighborhood. He said the Commission is dealing with the rezoning, the vacation of St. Clement Street, and the relocation of St. Clement Street as part of this application. He said there are also two applications before the Board of Adjustment, one to allow the drive - through pharmacy and the other to allow the drive - through coffee sales. He said there are still a few changes that need to be made to be Code compliant. Miklo said one of the big concerns that came up was the noise from the operations and how that might affect the neighborhood. He said there will need to be a parapet wall on one side, and to put one around the rooftop condensers would be another way of directing the noise away from the neighborhood. He said there was also concern about the appearance of the development Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 2 of 8 viewed from Dodge Street. He said the applicant has added a berm and a considerable amount of evergreen screening north of the loading decks, which will sufficiently screen those. He said the applicant has identified the arbor vitae close to the residents of St. Clement Street and possibly a couple other trees they can preserve with the construction of the new St. Clement Street. He said they indicated they will try to save more of them but that may not be possible. He said wherever they would be taking out evergreens, they would be replacing them with arbor vitae. He said they have also added evergreens in another area where the neighbors were concerned. He said the original application proposed that all the property owned by Hy -Vee is being zoned Community Commercial (CC -2). Miklo said the City's zoning boundaries usually go to the middle of a right -of -way so in this case the actual zoning boundary will be in the middle of the proposed new St. Clement Street. He said the City would need a legal document agreeing that any current or future owner will maintain the trees in that right -of -way. Miklo said that staff is recommending that a Conditional Zoning Agreement be tied to this concept plan, so if they ever wanted to change something significant on this site, it would have to come back and go through Planning and Zoning and City Council. Miklo said City Code requires that any parking lot larger than 300 feet has to be broken down into smaller components of about 200 feet. He said at some point the applicant will have to add more landscape or tree islands to make that division across the parking lot. He said that will need to be part of the site plan. Miklo said another detail that isn't up to Code that will be addressed by the site plan is S2 screening will have to be placed along the new St. Clement Street. Miklo said staff is requesting that the part of the screen at the corner of Dodge and Prairie du Chien Road be moved back against the drive - through and a long drive way at the entry of the development will be more effective in shielding residential from the development. He said another detail to work out is the pedestrian access to the convenience store through an opening in the wall. He said there would be a better way for pedestrian access so they don't have to cross the drive - through, so that will have to be worked out. Miklo showed the Commission photos and site plans of the proposed development. He said wherever the drive - through lane comes closer than 35 feet from Prairie du Chien, the applicant is proposing a solid five foot, decorative brick wall, supplemented by landscaping, which should shield any headlights. Miklo showed the Commission elevations of the new plan. He said they will be able to save at least the arbor vitae closest to Prairie du Chien. He pointed out some other trees that will also be saved. Eastham said he still is interested in how this development would look to the passer -by. Freerks said there had been talk of display windows. Miklo assured Eastham that he would have more and better pictures at the meeting Thursday showing what is planned. Miklo said that the six conditions now required for the Conditional Zoning are the same as the ones at the last meeting except for #1, which now calls for a solid masonry wall that would be required wherever the buffer is less than 35 feet, otherwise the landscaping would suffice in that area. He said within the buffer there would be no signage except for a monument sign. He said there would be no lit signage on the sides that face the residences. He said along Dodge Street they are permitted the signs that are otherwise permitted in the CC -2 Zone. He said that staff suggests that only two free standing (pole)signs be permitted. Eastham asked what the maximum height for the signs is. Miklo responded that it's 35 feet. He said staff is recommending that design review be required for final plan. He said the applicant's attorney said they'd rather have the Commission approve their plan at the upcoming meeting. Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 3 of 8 He said with a development of this size, it would be better if it went to the Design Review Committee. Miklo explained that staff has not gone over this plan to see if it complies with big box store regulations. Eastham asked if those issues would be finalized before this goes to Council. Miklo replied that site plan review and big box standards are administrated at the time the applicant gets a building permit. He explained that the Commission is approving this plan unless there are things required in the code above and beyond what this plan shows. Thomas asked if Iowa City has any regulatory control over noise. Miklo responded that they do have a noise ordinance, but he's not sure how it would apply to this situation. Thomas was concerned at the last meeting at hearing that the 1 st Avenue Hy -Vee was generating quite a bit of noise. He said the idea of having a parapet up by the source of the sound could be a very effective way of dealing with that. Dyer stated that she thought the noise issue at 1 St Avenue was the condensers on the roof and at Dodge Street it was recycling. Thomas said if the recycling is an issue it can just go away but the refrigeration is harder because that equipment is on the north side of the roof. Miklo said the Commission could make that a condition of the rezoning. Thomas said he had done some research and found that building a wall around the sound source proved to be an effective deterrent. He said part of the issue is context in that if there is a baseline decibel level in a single family neighborhood. Weitzel responded that the stores are all below the noise level otherwise 1 St Avenue would be getting cited for it now. Eastham asked if the parapet wall could be added later. Thomas explained that you would have to make sure that the roof could support those loads. Thomas said the other question he had was the realignment of the alley and whether any alignment further from the northern property line was looked at. He said it feels a little pinched to him, and there's a fair amount of landscaped area along the north edge of the parking lot. Miklo said that ten feet of landscaping is required on the private property. He said there was an area on the northern edge where it might be possible to reduce the landscaping but he doesn't know if that would pick up enough to save the existing arborvitae hedge. Thomas said because there are existing trees there, that's part of the issue. Weitzel asked how far you have to get away from the tree roots to save them. Thomas said it all depends, and sometimes you don't know. He said he feels there's a little better balance between the landscape on lot side and the curb side on the north side of the alley. Miklo said he thinks they are talking about a matter of five or ten feet, and he doesn't know if that's enough to save those trees. Freerks asked if staff could look into that and have some ideas or answers by Thursday's meeting. Thomas said he would like to save those trees. Weitzel asked if the parking lot is more than what is needed. Miklo said it is. Howard said it's more than the requirement, but she doesn't know how much they need. Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 4 of 8 Thomas said that because it's in a neighborhood, there's a good possibility that some of them don't drive to do their grocery shopping. Dyer said there are already many people on Dodge Street who walk to the Hy -Vee. Weitzel asked if they will put in bike rakes. Miklo said that is a requirement. Eastham said they put in that many parking spaces to meet one or two day a year holiday demand. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ITEM Discussion of an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to adopt the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings Plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan. Freerks said in reviewing this plan, she noticed that usable open space in conjunction with student housing is something that comes around over and over as an important point, and in this plan it's in a list on a lower priority level. She said maybe that should be emphasized in some way, as it seems like a solution to a lot of problems. Eastham, Thomas and Weitzel all agreed that Freerks had made a good point. Weitzel said it might be good to allow for taller or denser building in order to get more open space. Howard said one of the things they are planning to do with the Code is to have an open space requirement. Freerks said emphasizing that a little more may make it easier to support because the Commission has talked about it many times before, and it's always been shot down. She said she thinks it should be an important point. She said right now the University is renting more space on the north side. Dyer said there is also The Lodge. Weitzel reminded the Commission that the dorm the University is building now is not that big compared to the need. Freerks said that 93 to 95 percent of the freshman class lives in University housing. Miklo said on page 49 in the closing paragraph they could add that incorporating open space is important and include an illustration on how it could be done. Freerks said she thinks it could be emphasized as its own point just a little more, because she thinks it does quite a few things for the community. Eastham agreed. Thomas said in his view the same thing seems to occur inside the student housing in that there is very little common space, so between the lack of interior common space and the lack of usable open space outdoors, there's no place to put your basic needs together. Freerks said that's why the balconies are so heavily used. Dyer said they use the bars too Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 5 of 8 Eastham asked if they have the ability to determine how much the interior of a building could be require to be recreational space. Miklo explained staff is exploring a zoning amendment to allow private dormitories with higher densities. To achieve the greater density the project would be required to provide amenities such as common areas for recreation space. Howard said that the national companies that build private dormitories have all the special amenities that a regular dormitory would have. She said no one around here is doing this so they have to set the bar higher. Eastham asked if the City is planning for there to be workforce housing in the Riverfront Crossings area and Downtown area. He said in a plan like this that contemplates 2400 residential units they emphasize a particular market that may not provide enough long -term planning emphasis on other markets that are also appropriate for this district. He asked if the staff had considered other potential markets when they were drafting the plan. Freerks asked if by other markets Eastham meant lower costs ones. Eastham said it's referred to as workforce housing. He said it's generally housing priced for lower than $50,000. Thomas said his concern is that he sees very little housing in the general University Impact Zone that is anything but student housing. He said the plan lays out a nice array of options but the market generates student housing. Miklo replied that the idea of the market analysis and what staff was hearing from the public was that they wanted to see something other than student housing as the city grows in the close in areas, so the market analysis was based on how you encourage that, and that's why there is a market for this price range if you provide some amenities. He said in terms of affordable housing in this part of the city, it's only going to happen if it's subsidized. Eastham says it calls for subsidies in the plan. Miklo responded that subsidy is on a case by case basis where the developer applies for tax credits or some other mechanism. Weitzel said you could encourage more use of CDBG but there's only so much of an allotment available. Howard said that unless it's really high -end housing, students can outbid everyone because they can pool their monies, so staff asked the consultant to do an analysis on how much of a market would there be if there were a level playing field. Dyer said from her reading of the plan there doesn't seem to be room for assistant professors or people who work at the hospital. Thomas said he thinks a developer will always try to get the highest return on student housing, and the market is such that it's always going to be more lucrative for a developer to build student housing. Miklo said one of the ways the Plan attempts to address that is to propose fairly high densities north of the railroad tracks and those will probably continue to be student areas, but as they move closer to the river the goal is to provide alternative housing and keep the students closer to campus. Howard said revamping the residential density formulas was intended to hit the fact that they basically created a market for 4 and 5- bedroom apartments that were density bonuses for students. She said they have already seen people coming in wanting to build one - bedroom apartments, which are going to be more affordable to someone in that range. She said that indicates that there is a market for workforce housing where people want to live and work close to downtown. She said it will take time to change. She said the City can do things with its regulations and zoning that control the building size, the types of units, the types of density that's allowed. She said the plan on its own won't do anything other than state the goal that is in the regulations. Howard said that Marc Moen got his TIF on his new building by committing to Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 6 of 8 doing two out of three units on every floor in the workforce housing range. The Commission agreed that the use of TIFS is misunderstood. Miklo said the other side of this is that the City has identified some areas close to downtown that could be for higher density student housing and at some point, the market could be saturated. Thomas said one would think so, but there is so much sub - standard student housing out there that it's not a matter of enrollment, but rather of the newest and the best. He said a very large number of students are moving out of the sub - standard housing and will gravitate toward all the new housing. Freerks said the sub - standard housing will eventually have to be brought up to standards. Thomas said property owners are just sitting on their property and are building their land- holdings while constructing new units, which is not driven by enrollment but by newer and better. Weitzel said as new housing is built and people are sitting on their housing, eventually it is going to become more affordable to rehab, and the City has the same kind of programs in progress currently. Thomas said he would like to be more optimistic, but that 84 percent of the units on the norhside are rental. Weitzel said the number of single family housing where single families are living is phenomenal compared to ten years ago. Thomas said it may be better, but it's still 84 percent. Weitzel said from ten years ago when it looked like there was no hope at all, it's now getting better. Freerks said they have to see a number of these private dormitories being built close to campus and taking hold. Swygard said as more commercial development goes into that area and sidewalks are put in, it's walkable and people who live at the Lodge can get to commercial areas. Martin asked if the wetland will in any way make a difference in times of higher and lower water and have an effect farther upstream. Miklo responded that it probably wouldn't be a significant effect. He said the goal would be improving water quality but the Iowa River watershed is so large that it's probably not going to have any effect. He said it might have some benefit for Ralston Creek. Weitzel asked if there is anything more they can do with green roofs or has that just not been proven technology yet. Freerks said there was a lot talk about it at the end of the last meeting and people seemed excited, and she noticed some green roofs added on one of the plans for Gilbert and College Streets. She asked Miklo if they have people asking about it. Miklo said staff is exploring it with a few developers. Howard said you do get credit for your open space when you build. She said you don't want to force people to have a non -urban building in an urban by creating open space. Eastham asked if a green space on top of a building would count toward opens pace. Howard said that would be one of the ideas for helping people think outside the box. Dyer asked if there is any thought toward building in some sustainability standards. She said this is 2012 and looking forward, and she didn't see anything about using permeable pavement. Freerks said there's been a problem with that technology. Dyer said but just in general. She said there's going to be a lot of concrete in this development. Planning and Zoning Commission December 3, 2012 - Informal Page 7 of 8 Howard said the Riverfront Crossings subarea plan that was adopted has all the information about storm water best management practices. She said there's also information about green streets, but she thinks there is some limit with our clay soil to how much green street infrastructure can be built in most of the districts. Miklo said he thought the sustainability of this plan would be that they are building up in parts of the city that already have infrastructure versus building out. Thomas asked if there was a reason there were no trees shown on Burlington Street on the graphics. Howard said it has been a struggle for years to figure out how to deal with the restricted right -of -way on Burlington Street. Miklo said they can talk to the City Forester and see what the possibilities are for trees that could be planted. OTHER None. ADJOURNMENT: Weitzel moved to adjourn. Eastham seconded. The meeting was adjourned on a 7 -0 vote. 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