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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-08 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 4. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). Hayek: This is the opportunity at each City Council meeting for members of the public to address the City Council on items that are not on the agenda. So if there's something that's not on tonight's agenda, I encourage you to step forward, uh, and uh, please sign in and also verbally give us your name and we'd ask that you keep comments to five minutes or less. Gravitt: My name is Mary Gravitt and I'm here about a quality of life issue. I'm tired of these people when they shovel their snow, they shovel it on the curb so that the... the disabled people can't get out to the street, because there's a special ramps that ADA ramps, those red ramps, and so people, especially the landlords that use the bobcats and create these little hills, so that the people are able to step over `em they can step over `em, but after the sun comes out and people keep stepping on it, stepping... it's ice on the top of that hill. A friend of mine who's wheelchair - bound, she lives (mumbled) so she wanted to go down to the HyVee. She said she was so afraid when she came back, she couldn't get ... hardly get back home! She got stuck in the street because she couldn't slide down to the curb. So then finally somebody helped her, but it's not fair that people should shovel the snow and leave it on the curb where the disabled have to use. And ... and um ... at ... for instance at my house, our whole block was prisoners on the block because the landlord decided to put the snow on the curb. So ... I had a slab of ice at the top of my step. I live in the basement, me and my, uh, my neighbor, we were locked in our apartments. We couldn't get out. Slab of ice on the top step. So I called and called and called and finally he came (mumbled) send somebody out on Wednesday, but in the meantime I had went out in the daytime. If it wasn't for my neighbor's grandson, and my next -door neighbors, helping me up the steps so I could get down the steps, I would have been completely locked out. So, and then too, I thought that was only happening in my neighborhood. The neighborhood First Avenue, Muscatine, and so forth — I came downtown. Right there on the corner of Linn and Washington where that Noodles shop is, I didn't notice it at first because I'm on my feet walking, but a wheelchair could not have gotten across that hump of snow that was on both sides. And when I ... I ... I have totally given up getting off the bus on Linn Street. I get off the bus by the Sheraton Hotel because I know the snow's going to be shoveled. Linn Street's hump of snow right off, right where you get off the bus, and the Mailbox is a chancy place, and not only that, people have the nerve to use that parking lot for a shortcut. You're walking and you look to your right and here comes this car or this motorcycle or whatever it is! And I know that should be illegal! Then you walk further down, in front of that apartment house, they might ify -ify clean it. Then the worst offenders is that law office that takes up half the block. Unless they'd started, just started cleaning, that's ... they never shovel, and I could never understand. I said this is a lawyer! He knows you have to shovel. And you take your chances and you go by, but when you get to the corner with the Noodle shop, the same thing. If it's shoveled, they just started shoveling, and me and my friends who are senior citizens, bad knees, wheelchair bound, we do not This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 2 appreciate the people not shoveling... not keeping that hump, that ramp clean. And furthermore, we don't appreciate landlords, especially mine, he'll pay for the snow removal but he doesn't want to pay for the salt! And I don't think that that is fair and I ... I want something better done for it. And an ... and my last and final complaint is always the length of the agenda. Last time I was here you had 20 items... 19 items, three reports on the agenda, so we were only on four when I had to leave to catch my bus! So I'm saying, shorten the agenda or meet every week! Thank you! Hayek: Thanks, and with respect to snow removal, I would encourage you to, uh, contact the City if there is snow on sidewalks that's not getting removed. We have a process in place for the City to go out and check that out and ... and take the steps to correct it. Gravitt: Thank you. Hayek: Thank you, ma'am. (unable to hear person away from mic) Sure! Sorry! Martha, I was writing your name down as you walked up! (laughter) Norbeck: Some day I'll remember to fill out these little things ahead of time! Hayek: It's easier, isn't it? Norbeck: It is! The Council is going to share with the public tonight that we will prioritize about bowling alley over an untested, non - profit cinema. You don't have public comment in that agenda item. Hayek: Well, we will... Norbeck: Are you going to have public... Hayek: We don't, but we'll ... we'll certainly permit it. So if you can stick around... Norbeck: I will happily stick around! Hayek: We ... we'll get the motion on the floor and then... Norbeck: Okay! Hayek: ... you ... you're certainly welcome... Norbeck: I am happy to do that. Hayek: Thanks, Martha. Norbeck: Move my name down for later! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 3 Hayek: Yeah, just leave it! (laughs) Anyone else, uh, during public comment, community comment? Okay! I'm going to, uh, move on then to Item 5, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 4 ITEM 5b COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOWNTOWN AND RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS PLAN - AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO INCLUDE THE DOWNTOWN AND RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS PLAN. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) And uh, just to explain to the public we are, uh ... uh, likely not to take action on this, uh, this evening. There's been a ... an interest indicated by, uh, some Members of Council to, uh, to have more time to review this ... this item, and specifically the proposed Comp Plan, but what we're going to do is we've just opened the public hearing. Staff wants to, uh, lay out the plan and... and walk us through the presentation so that we have that, uh, for our benefit. If anyone in the audience wishes ... came here tonight intending to weigh in on ... on this, we don't want to discourage you but, uh, we will not close the public hearing. Instead we'll take up a motion to continue it until our meeting two weeks from now. With that, Jeff! Davidson: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and Members of the City Council. I'm Jeff Davidson, the Director of Planning and Community Development. With me is Bob Miklo, Senior Planner. Uh, we are delighted to be here tonight to present the, uh, downtown Riverfront Crossings Plan to be amended as a ... an element of the City's Comprehensive Plan. This is a, uh, has been a work in progress for quite some time and many of you have participated in it, and we really appreciate that. Uh, it's very gratifying to us that this plan is a very, uh, organic thing. It hasn't been a top -down, uh, type of development but rather one that the community's been actively involved in. We've had a number of workshops, public meetings, uh, that were ... have been very, very well attended, and uh, we went through a whole charette process and uh, very, very ... very gratifying process in terms of the development plan and having the community, uh, embrace it. The plan we feel clearly addresses, uh, the principle priorities of the City's Strategic Plan, uh, certainly downtown Riverfront Crossings Development's directly impacted by it. Uh, neighborhood stabilization, which might not be immediately apparent but certainly directing the higher density to the south of downtown we feel is going to have, uh, a... a big impression on helping preserve the stability of the older neighborhoods to the east and the ... and the north of downtown, and then certainly economic development is also addressed, uh, increasing the property tax base, creating jobs, uh, encouraging development consistent with community values. We feel this, uh, plan will do all of those things to the benefit of the community. Um, the ... the final thing that we're excited about is the notion of the public/ private partnerships that will come out of this. Uh, when we discussed the City's Capital Improvement Program yesterday there are a number of projects that the City will undertake to incent private development in the area. Uh, the area will only be successful if the private sector and the City work together, and we look forward to that happening. So, Bob is going to take you through a brief presentation, uh, of the plan now and answer any questions. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 5 Miklo: Just, uh, real quickly to show you the ... the location of...of the area covered by the plan. It includes all of downtown and now what we're calling, um, Riverfront Crossings, which is, uh ... uh, bounded by Burlington Street on the north, Highway 6 on the south, uh, roughly Riverside Drive on the west, and roughly Gilbert Street on the east. The whole area covers about 300 acres. Uh, as Jeff noted, we had a ... a, uh, series of meetings, um, and public visioning processes that we went through, uh, to, uh, to ... to draft this plan. Uh, the plan itself, urn ... urn ... isn't a result of just staff and ... and the consultant, but the public input. The goals of the plan are based on what we heard from the public during those ... those meetings. Um ... some of the key points are ... are that the plan proposes to preserve the best of downtown and build upon that, um, the idea isn't to make Riverfront Crossings, uh, a ... a replacement or a competing district for downtown but a complementary district and that ... that's spelled out in some detail in the plan. Uh, an overriding principle of the plan is to make good use of the river and Ralston Creek as amenities, uh, for both downtown and ... and the larger area. The plan identifies, um, several, uh, development sites and those are shown on ... on, uh, in white on ... on this image. We divided the ... this fairly large area into several small... smaller districts or eight sub - districts, and for each of those we have a, uh, more detailed plan. I'm just going to cover a few highlights of...of the plan, starting, uh, with downtown. The plan notes that there are several historic buildings downtown and that those, uh, create the special character that ...that people appreciate about the downtown. It proposed that those be retained, but it also identifies several in -fill sites or sites that, uh, we feel are appropriate for redevelopment at, uh, higher densities for, uh, some larger buildings. Uh, and it lays out guidelines on ... on how that can be, uh, done without, um, detracting from the positive character of downtown. Uh, a key element of the plan is ... is addressing Burlington Street. And urn ... how Burlington Street can be turned from a barrier between downtown and Riverfront Crossings, uh, to tie the two together. Um, rather than pursuing the median project that was proposed in earlier plans, uh, this plan calls for setting the .... any new buildings a little bit farther back from Burlington Street to increase room for pedestrians and... and landscaping, uh, to, uh, control pedestrians, where ... where they can cross on... on Burlington Street. Moving, uh, south of downtown, um, a key element of the plan is, uh, turning Clinton Street into a promenade or ... or a boulevard that would connect downtown on the north to the new Riverfront park, uh, in ... which is, would be located where the waste water treatment plant is. Uh, this image shows the ... the current conditions in the area and you'll note the, uh, the Post Office and the Courthouse, Clinton Street. The ... the plan, um, puts forward a vision of how this can be trans ... um, transformed into the ... the promenade or the boulevard. Uh, this image shows how Hieronymus Square, the new Music School, and uh, other developments along the street, uh, could tie downtown into, uh, the, uh, the Riverfront park. Another, uh, key element south of Burlington Street would be the reopening of, uh, Capitol Street between Court and... and Burlington Street. This was closed off during urban renewal for the Pentacrest Garden Apartments. The plan proposed that that be reopened, uh, that would improve traffic circulation, connectivity, and open up views of, uh, the Capitol from... from these This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 6 new neighborhoods. Um, it would also create a site, uh, basically the Pentacrest Garden Apartments site, which we feel would be appropriate for high, uh, density student housing close to the campus. And as ... as Jeff noted, taking some pressure off some of our older neighborhoods. Uh, moving a little bit farther south, the, uh, the Central Crossings sub -area of the plan, uh, includes the area around the train depot and Ralston Creek. One of the, um ... uh, key, uh, elements of that plan is, uh, removing buildings that are flood flown ... prone or in the flood plain, and uh, restoring the creek bed in that area. Uh, this is an image of...of how the area looks today. The ... the creek is not much more than a drainage ditch. Um, so to orient you on the plan — this is the old St. Patrick's, uh ... uh, site. Uh, this shows how that area could be transformed, uh, opening up, uh, some of the properties around the creek, uh, creating parkland, and a trail that would connect Riverfront Crossings, downtown, and the College Hill neighborhood to the east. Moving over to the west side of the river, uh, the plan calls for, um, provisions for the redevelopment of riverfront, or ... Riverside Drive and the ... the riverfront. I want to emphasize that the plan does not require any businesses to move, uh, we're not planning on acquiring properties in... in this area, but it does put forward, uh, guidelines and proposes a zoning code that would allow private property owners to redevelop their property, and it provides guidelines on how that could be done to take better advantage of...of the river. Uh, the plan also proposes, uh, ways of developing along the riverfront that would be, um ... uh, less susceptible to flooding. This image shows, um, the riverfront in the vicinity of Benton Street, Riverside Drive is in... in this area. This shows the current conditions, and much of this is ... is in the flood plain. Uh, and the plan puts forward some, uh, guidelines on how the area could be redeveloped, uh, above the flood plain, uh, using, urn ... uh, parking to raise residential buildings out of the flood plain, as well as fill. Um, and it's ... it proposes that, uh, there be open spaces that would connect views of, um, from Riverside Drive to the river, again, um, taking advantage of the riverfront. Perhaps the, uh, the most important element of the plan is the Park District, and that's the area that includes the current, uh, north wastewater treatment plant. Uh, the idea is that that plant will close in 2014, uh, with the improvements to the south wastewater treatment plant, uh, and we are proposing to turn that into a major riverfront park. Uh, we would see this as... as a catalyst to encourage private development of the adjacent properties, uh, many of `em which are currently zoned in ... industrial. So the ... the idea would be our investment in the park would spur private development on the, uh, the adjacent properties. Just, uh ... uh, real quickly. The ... the park being the key element with, uh, Ralston Creek tying the park into the neighborhoods to the east, and um, Clinton Street serving as a promenade, tying the riverfront park to, uh, downtown. A... assuming that the plan is adopted in... in some form, our next step will come ...be to come back to you with a zoning code to impla ... implement the plan, and that would be a form- based, uh, zoning code. It's a ... a little different than what we're used to in terms of a traditional, uh, zoning code in that it relies, uh, more on images and drawings versus text, and it, uh, the emphasis is on controlling the form of properties rather than the land uses. Uh, so here are a couple of images that represent, uh, zoning in a... in a form -based code. Uh, it, uh, it illustrates, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 7 where buildings should be, uh, located in relationship to the street and to each other, uh, provides, uh, locations for parking, um, specifying how they should relate to the, uh, surrounding neighborhoods, um, and then also, uh, can dictate that, uh ... uh, buildings have mixed use, for example. This one would be for a commercial, uh, use on the first floor and apartments above. Um, so it's, um... uh a little bit different than what we're used to in terms of a tech space code. We'll also be working, uh, next on a .... a detailed plan for the park itself. Uh, again, the ...the, uh, wastewater plant is going offline in April of 2014 and so we hope to, uh, prepare the ... the plan to start improving that park. We also have a ... another series of studies and detailed traffic studies that we'll need to do, in ... in order to implement some of the traffic improvements, uh, in the plan. This was a... a very brief presentation of some of the highlights of the plan, but if ..if anyone's interested, uh, the full text of the plan is available on our web site, and there's also a ... uh, a video presentation of the plan that takes about, uh, 45 minutes that anyone can... can watch from our... our web site. Be happy to try to answer any questions. Payne: The video, I found trying to read it online, the text is like this little and then if you blow it up on, you know, on your computer then you can't see the pictures and kind of go back and forth, so I found it hard to read it online. So does the video take you through it step -by -step? Miklo: Yeah, the video goes in quite a bit of detail, uh, about the plan. Karr: There's also a hard copy that we haven't ... the cover memo alluded to a hard copy, if you'd like... Payne: So I could pick a hard copy up? You're wonderful! (laughs) Throgmorton: Bob, I wonder if you could explain to us, uh, a little bit more about where this idea of form -based codes come from and what the experience comes from, and what the experience is with form -based codes in other parts of the country? Miklo: Sure. Um, form -based codes are in terms of...of zoning are a relatively recent phenomenon. I would say that they've started to appear about, uh, 20 years ago and a ... a lot of communities in the past 10 years have ... have been adopting them. And, uh, as I said, it's more about the form of development. Uh, the City uses a plan like Riverfront Crossling ... Crossings to, uh, put forward an image of what we want to see as a community and then the code, uh, provides for that in images and drawings, uh, and ... and regulations to ... to implement that ... that image. An example of, uh, form -based code that we've used locally would be the Peninsula neighborhood. That's, uh, relies on a form -based code. Uh, we also have elements of form -based code already in our... in our downtown, uh, zoning, uh, ordinance. Um, there are some communities that have done away with their traditional zoning ordinance and adopted only a form -based code, um, and they've... they've been successful in other ... other areas. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 8 Payne: So ... can I expand on that, Jim? Hayek: Oh, sure! Payne: Just one question that I have then. So let's say you have this concept of what a building is going to look like in a certain location, does that mean that it could be retail, it could be office, or it could be residential? Or is it still zoned one of the three with ... the building concept on top of it? Miklo: All of those! (laughs) Uh, of...often form -based codes are mixed -use codes where, uh, a mixture of uses are allowed, and that's what we envision for ... for Riverfront Crossings. Uh, but there are elements of the code that can in ... in some sub - districts, um, limit it to specific uses. Uh, that's less the emphasis than, um, in a traditional zoning code where, um, codes are pretty strict, saying residential here, commercial here, and they shouldn't be, um, the ... the form -based code's a... a little more flexible in that regard. Champion: But we're not ... deciding what the building's going to look like. We're deciding how we want to locate it (both talking) Miklo: ...no, it's ... yeah, the...some form -based codes have arch ... a lot of architectural, um, guidelines and restrictions. The form -based code we're working on is more general than that. It ... it can ... it can have any amount of detail that you want, but what we're envisioning is, uh, more where the building sits in relationship to the street, how tall they are, uh, how far they are from their neighbors. Throgmorton: Bob, if I could follow up on Michelle's question, uh, for this 300 or so acre district, am I right in understanding that the form -based code would entirely supplant existing zoning within that district? Miklo: That's... that's our goal. Throgmorton: Right. Okay. Hayek: Other questions for Bob or staff? Payne: I just have a comment that, you know, seeing the images and the ideas is exciting. You know, it's just too bad it's going to take so many years to get it, you know, you wish it could happen next year but it's not going to be (several responding) It's going to take a long time! (laughs) Hayek: (mumbled) especially since we're ... we're uh, we're not going to, you know, swallow up the land and ... and ... and redevelop it ourselves, um, but instead partner where appropriate, or lead through zoning and other, uh, investments like the ... like the old waste water plant. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 9 Mims: Maybe some of our developers that didn't get chosen for College and Gilbert will decide to ... go across Burlington Street. I encourage them to look at that, that we're going to be looking to develop that too! Markus: If we get Amtrak located in there... Mims: They'll be... Markus: ...that'll move a lot faster. Hayek: Crossing fingers! Okay, any further questions for Bob? Champion: Thank you. Hayek: Okay, is there anyone, uh, who wishes to address us, uh, before we continue the public hearing on this item? Okay, why don't we entertain a motion. Payne: Move to continue public hearing ... til our January 22nd meeting. Throgmorton: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Throgmorton. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0 and we will take ... we will continue the public hearing on January 22nd Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Champion: So moved. Mims: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Mims. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. (Starts to read Item 5c.) Karr: You want to defer the resolution. Hayek: Do we need to do that? All right. Throgmorton: Move to defer the resolution... Champion: Second. Throgmorton: ... to two weeks from now. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 10 Hayek: Should have caught that! Uh, moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Champion. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. Throgmorton: It's a good thing we have a good City Clerk! Hayek: I know it! I know it! I figured we didn't get to it, uh, if we continued the public hearing. (laughter) But what do I know! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 11 ITEM 5c PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY CAMP CARDINAL BOULEVARD, RYAN COURT, AND PRESTON LANE (Cardinal Pointe South Part Two)- ORDINANCE AMENDING THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE - FAMILY (OPD -8) PLAN FOR 6.53 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT CAMP CARDINAL BOULEVARD, RYAN COURT, AND PRESTON LANE TO CHANGE TOWNHOUSE STYLE UNITS TO ZERO LOT LINE DWELLINGS. (REZ12- 00024) [Discussion only at formal meeting] (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Champion: Move second consideration. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dickens. Uh, discussion? Davidson: Uh, Mr. Mayor? Hayek? (both talking) ... ex parte? Davidson: Oh, excuse me! Hayek: Okay! (several responding) Davidson: When you gave this matter first consideration at your last meeting on, uh, December 18, Councilor Dobyns did ask to see if we had any images of the zero lot -line units. You'll recall this was originally, uh, to be 39 townhomes, uh, the proposal that you've approved first consideration is for 18 zero lot -line duplexes. Uh, we were able to get some images from the builder of single - family units that he has constructed at Mackinaw that will basically be put together, uh, with a common wall to form the duplex units. Uh, here's one, again, that's out at Mackinaw. There's the drawing of, you know, basically what it will look like as a duplex, but that's the single - family unit. Uh, there's another single - family unit, and again, what it would appear as a duplex. And then I guess that was everything. I thought we had three but I guess there was two ... okay! Uh, so those are ... those are essentially what the units will look like as they're proposed. Any questions? Dobyns: Thank you, Jeff. Davidson: Thank you. Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Second consideration passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 12 ITEM 5d JEFFERSON STREET NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT - ORDINANCE DESIGNATING THE JEFFERSON STREET NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT AS A HISTORIC OVERLAY (OHP) ZONE. (REZ12- 00027) [Discussion only at formal meeting] (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move second consideration. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by, uh ... uh, Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? Any ex parte? (several responding) I mean, I received... several notes, uh (several talking) people but I didn't engage in any conversations with anyone. Champion: I didn't either. Payne: Same with me. Champion: You know, as I ... sit here and, of course, I'm going to vote for this, I think of the years I've been on this Council and there aren't a lot of decisions that really affect the real future of Iowa City. We make a lot of laws, but we don't really make a lot of decisions that really affect what it's going to look like 100 years from now, and this is one of those decisions. Um, I think all the historic preservation overlays we've done have been important decisions on what's going to happen to Iowa City over the next 100 years and the decision we're going to make tonight about the development on this corner over here. So I just feel really good about the years I've been on the Council, when we make this kind of a decision, that's just really important! Hayek: (several talking) Yeah, I'm ... I'm proud of the Council on this one, assuming we uh, move forward with second and third the way we did with ... with first. I think this is a really positive move for, uh, for the downtown. Is there anyone in the audience who, uh ... wishes to weigh in? Okay. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Second consideration passes 7 -0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Mims: So moved. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 13 ITEM 5e CONDITIONALLY REZONING 221 AND 225 NORTH LINN STREET - ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING .22 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 221 AND 225 NORTH LINN STREET AND THE ADJACENT .07 ACRE LOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE MIDAMERICAN SUBSTATION FROM NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION RESIDENTIAL (RNS -12) TO CENTRAL BUSINESS SERVICE (CB -2). (REZ12- 00028) [Discussion only at formal meeting] (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Hayek: Council Member Payne's going to recuse herself from, uh, it reads as follows. (reads Item 5e) Champion: Move second consideration. Dobyns: Second! Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by ... Dobyns. Discussion? Any ex parte from the last reading? Anyone from the audience? Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Uh, second consideration passes 6 -0, Payne recusing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 14 ITEM 5f CONDITIONALLY REZONING ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE GROCERY - ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 7.79 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF NORTH DODGE STREET AND PRAIRIE DU CHIEN ROAD FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (RS -8), NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC (P -1) AND HIGHWAY COMMERCIAL (CH- 1) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY- COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (OPD- CC -2). (REZ12- 00026) [Discussion only at formal meeting] (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Dobyns: Move second consideration. Mims: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Ex parte? Mims: (mumbled) talked to the Manager ... at the HyVee the other day, just ... looking (both talking) the HyVee (several talking and laughing) Yeah (laughter) Hayek: Yes, Mary. Gravitt: My name is Mary Gravitt, and I'm not sure if I'm talking on the right thing about HyVee, the one that's going to be on north Dodge. Hayek: You are! Gravitt: And one of the Council Members had pointed out last time about how the First Avenue HyVee is unsafe for people on foot, because there's only one strip that's recognized for pedestrians to come in off Muscatine. It's a yellow line, so you come in facing the traffic, but after that yellow line runs out, you are in competition with the cars, and I don't know if anybody listens to the BBC but me. They were talking about those electric cars ... are silent, so you're walking out, you know, you don't have a car. So you walking out with your groceries and you know something is falling you and you look behind you — it's a car behind you. They won't blow their horn or anything. They're ... I guess to scare you to make you jump in front of `em, but this new HyVee, I want to know if the bus is going to go up to the building just like it goes to Wa1Mart, and I want to know how... what is made for the pedestrians, what's going to make the pedestrians safe, because even the people who drive cars, they become a pedestrian after they shop for their groceries. So, and First ... and First Avenue was poorly planned. So I want to know, like I said, what I want to know is the bus going up to the building. They can make their plans now to take the bus up to the building, and uh, my bus driver told me previously the bus did go up to the old HyVee building on north Dodge, and he said for some reason they stopped it, but now with the price of gasoline going up, and soon I think we'll be in Iran bombing them, cutting off our oil supplies, gasoline (mumbled) could be $10 a gallon, so who knows? But I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 15 want to know if the person on foot and the disabled person is going to be protected over there. It's not my HyVee cause I'm at the First Avenue. It's too late for me. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you. And those plans are on file with the City. I would encourage you to take a look at `em. Gravitt: (unable to hear away from mic) Hayek: Okay. Any further ... any further discussion? Any further input from the ... from the audience? Any discussion on the part of Council? Roll call, please. Second consideration passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 16 ITEM 6. SOUTH HICKORY HILL PARK SAFE ROOM (and restroom) PROJECT APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH HICKORY HILL PARK SAFE ROOM PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Mims: Move, uh, resolution. Dobyns: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. And for the public's information, this, uh, and I should have mentioned this, includes... involves the construction of an ADA- accessible restroom and safe -room facility at the south end of Hickory Hill Park. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 17 ITEM 8. COLOR SCHEME TAXICABS - CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 5, ENTITLED "BUSINESS AND LICENSE REGULATIONS," CHAPTER 2, ENTITLED "TAXICABS" TO REQUIRE A DISTINCTIVE FOR ALL VEHICLES DRIVEN BY A COMPANY. (PASS AND ADOPT) Throgmorton: I move we defer this indefinitely, uh, and then instruct the staff to, uh, investigate the viability of, uh, coming up with some new procedures with regard to independent owner- operators or contractual operators. Champion: Second. Throgmorton: The mo ... the motion is to defer this indefinitely. Hayek: Why don't we just have that be the motion, to defer indefinitely? I think we've already instructed that we'll set up a work session on those other items. Throgmorton: Okay. Dobyns: Second! Hayek: Okay, moved by Throgmorton, uh, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? Anyone from the public on this? Okay, all those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Throgmorton: So moved. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Payne. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 18 ITEM 9. COLLEGE GILBERT DEVELOPER SELECTION - CONSIDER A MOTION RANKING THE PREFERRED DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS FOR THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF COLLEGE STREET AND GILBERT STREET, AND DIRECTING STAFF TO BEGIN NEGOTIATING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE PREFERRED DEVELOPER. Mims: I move that we... Payne: Can I recuse myself first? Hayek: Yes! Mims: Oops, sorry! (laughs) Um, I move that we select The Chauncey as our preferred developer with Chauncey Garden as the alternate. Champion: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Norbeck: Thank you for making a couple minutes for me... Hayek: Absolutely! Norbeck: ...Mayor. Um, Martha Norbeck, 906 S. 7th Avenue. The Council is going to share with the public tonight that they will prioritize a bowling alley and untested non - profit cinema over the New Pioneer Co -op. That equates to $200 per person for the TIF to support luxury condos and a bowling alley. The Co -op has been operating in downtown Iowa City for 42 years. The Co -op projects to do $18 million in the first year at the corner of College and Gilbert. They will employ over 190 people. The Co -op has studied dozens of options in the downtown area. This was the choice that the membership voted for. This is the corner that they felt would meet their needs and get them out of the flood plan ... plain. They are very likely going to have to consider moving out of downtown Iowa City, and Riverfront Crossings will not come soon enough. They need to move soon. They are bursting at the seams! They can't wait for Riverfront Crossings. They need to move now. I'm deeply disappointed. The Council chose not to ask any questions of their financial experts. The Council didn't ask if the city has the firefighting capacity to serve a 20 -story building. There are dozens of other detailed, nuanced questions that they do not ... the Council does not have the expertise to answer, that they could have asked of their City staff, and chose not to! A Council Member casually stated that the sustainable qualities of the three proposals would be the same. This is blatantly untrue! The glass boxes of Chauncey Gardens and The Chauncey will be lucky to achieve 35% energy efficiency. They claim that they'll be able to use geothermal. 404's already evaluated geothermal at this location and deemed it financially unfeasible. 404 would deliver 89% energy This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 19 savings — 89% compared to a lucky 35! 2012 was the warmest year on record in the U.S. and this is how the City chooses to address climate change? Council Members... Members will claim they are responding to public opinion. I've been at every meeting. I've read every letter that's been posted in the packets. I have read every article in the papers. I disagree with your interpretation. People ask for shorter buildings. They ask for sustainability. They ask for a pedestrian- oriented development, and if you subtract out the comments of members of the board of FilmScene, go back and count those letters. They will not ... the public is not going to get what they asked for. The Council chose to decline further advice of their staff. It was said by a Council Member that this building will be here a 100 years. Yes! I agree, and so will its energy use and so will all 20 stories that they propose to place outside the central business district, and how about that bowling alley? Is it going to be functioning and vibrant and thriving in 20 years? Having a pedestrian activity? How bout a 100 years? Bowling's going to be great then! The Council appears to be voting for pictures and polic ... politics. I'm ashamed ... for my city! Thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Gravitt: My name is Mary Gravitt and I've been waiting to get to this part. (mumbled) uh, I agree with the former speaker. That land down there on the corner, which way ever it is, is not suitable for an 18 -story building! It's not room! You have to have room. You have to have some gardens surrounding it, and not only that, they want to put a bowling alley there. We used to have two bowling alleys. One on First Avenue and the other one is still here, hanging on by ... the skin of its teeth! And you talk about a movie theater. Any time you have the University's name connected with movies, that spells boring to the young people (laughter). And, I know ... I oughta know. I'm a professional audience. I go to all these little things, you know, because especially the International Writers. I'm too ashamed not to go, because it's only ... the only audience there are the writers, me, and a ... a couple other people. We know each other. People see boring. So ... the Co -op is the building that should go there. They contribute to the neighborhood, and it's going to be a low -rise building with apartments on top. But you don't want to have ... what happened on Gilbert, what's happening over there on Sycamore Mall, when Von Maur tips out. It's going bankrupt. You don't want to start on a building ... I don't know how the City makes out when a building goes bankrupt. But you can see bankruptcy right there. If you want 18- stories, go down on the corner of Burlington and Washington. You know, you're going to have the Music Building down there anyway. And that's the perfect spot. But ... that is the perfect spot for the Co -op, and the Co -op has to get out of that flood plain, and if you're planning to build the city, you have to build it up. Because Sandy has brothers and sisters out there and this is what I'm afraid of, when that weather hits Iowa City, and it will, cause it's going all around. The people in New York and New Jersey never, especially New York, never believed they'd look like New Orleans. So I am for ... a smaller building. I'm for the Co -op moving in there. It's part of Iowa City. It's an institution. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 20 Orleans. So I am for ... a smaller building. I'm for the Co -op moving in there. It's part of Iowa City. It's an institution. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. (can't hear): Good evening, my name is (can't hear) and I am a (mumbled) of Trinity Church, um, which of course is going to be sitting opposite the purposed building at College and Gilbert. Now ... we have over the last couple of months presented to the City Council, uh, thoughts and opinions and I ... we thank you for listening to us. But I have to say that the decision you appear to be coming to is precisely what we do not want. It does not allow for affordable housing. It does not allow for environmental sustainability. It will, I'm afraid, cast a shadow over our building, making our place of worship, which has been a sanctuary in this city for 150 years (mumbled). It will ruin the quality of the light and the quality of our sanctuary space. Also, it ... um ... does not ... provide for community facil ... enough parking for... our, particularly older parishioners to get to church safely and comfortably, where are they going to park? And finally, it is a building that is out of scale and out of proportion with the rest of the city. A 20 -story tower? There's no building around here big enough, and if you build one and some developer is going to find some other vacant space and, um, build another. I'm afraid that I would have to describe the proposals, both The Chauncey and the Chauncey Gardens, in the same words Prince Charles used (mumbled) the National Gallery in London. It will be a carbuncle on the face of a well -loved friend. Thank you very much for hearing us and best of luck with your deliberations. Hayek: Thank you, sir! Horan: Hi, my name is Howard Horan and I'm here speaking for Trinity Episcopal Church, um, I would ... am sad to hear that you might choose a 20 -story building. I think it, uh, while Iowa City may need a 20 -story building at some point, I understand the economics of building up. We can't build out. Uh, I think it's a sad, uh, change in the character of, uh, downtown. Uh... as a church, you know, we made a specific investment in our LEED, uh, when we redid the church and I imagine there's some heat gain built into our LEED plan, which will now go away. Uh, I think that you folks are responsible for, if we all are committing to this sort of energy, uh, management that we all have to, uh, we all have to balance that quite carefully. Uh, and I'm also concerned about the parking, and I understand that the blue ramp is not, uh, totally used, um, but it certainly will be very full after we put a 20 -story building in, and I understand that that plan shares some of the blue ramp, uh, and I have to ask the Council then what ... what are we going to do to replace the parking that we're going to spend that sits in the blue ramp for this project? I'd really like to see you, uh, pick 404. Thanks! Hayek: Thank you. Coffman: Hello, my name is Diana Coffman and I ... oops (noise on mic) (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 21 Coffman: I can only imagine. Urn ... this is such a big decision, and it's going to have such a lasting and permanent affect on the city that ... I wish I, because I work evenings often I haven't been able to be more active. Um ... I would just ask the Council to consider do you really need to move this quickly? And, do you really need to put so much, ask so much of a, uh, of this corner? It sounds like you're wanting to have, you know, we have this piece of public land that I think of as ... a citizens' public property also. It's all of our land! And by designating it for a very... turning it over essentially to private use, in some cases is logical and appropriate. I think for this particular spot, I think you're, um, I would ask that you step back and consider a ... a grander vision. I think your vision for this, to me, seems, um... cramped and um, it's a possibility to have something exciting and welcoming and stimulating. This could be a gateway or a doorway between the community and downtown to make a statement, and I was ... I was thinking about opportunities, and I ... I know it's so far in the process, but it seems like it's been so fast! Um, that for those of us who have other activities, it's hard to find a place to jump in. But I think of, um ... the kind of public spaces that make a city like Iowa City even more wonderful, um ... Central Park has ... does anyone in New York ever say, gosh, I wish we had more... skyscrapers in Central Park? Do the people who look at Millenial Park in Chicago where they dedicated a, you know, great space but they dedicated it to the public. Um, Fort Worth, Dallas have fabulous gardens and parks that are for the people, but yet are the ... the denser you grow a city, the more the need for green space. That's been proven in study after study, and we're already in a green space deficit downtown. Poor little College Green is worn to a nub. What else is there? I mean there's no green here, and this is a place you could ... we could create a garden that would be a magnet for ... for, uh, people who come to visit. It would be a place of vision and welcoming, to transition, where people could have respite from what seems to be a move toward more and more density. Um ... that's just one vision, one possibility, but it doesn't have to be something that's going to be so intrusive and so different from the rest of the character, um ... and especially I think sends the wrong message. I ... I agree with the gentleman who said this could be a... an invitation to other developers to want to start putting in more and more of the same in this area. It makes sense to some extent in the downtown, and ... and the other side of Burlington where essentially the pedestrian-scape has already been ... is a desert. It's already all apartments. There's what, the Courthouse is historically significant. The old school, but otherwise ... uh, you might as well put the tall ugly stuff over on that side where it's not going to do harm. In this spot, it would do harm. I truly think you would be harming the community, and I see I'm losing you there. I'm sorry for that but um ... you know, I think ... I don't think I'm a lone voice. I'm sorry I haven't heard more of the participants, but to move forward so quickly on this, I think is just missing an opportunity that we may not have again. It's such an important spot! It's such a, you know, it just ... having a big huge ... thing there is just going to... I don't think you can appreciate (laughs) you know, what it's ... what it's going to do, and I think we should wait to see the effect that the Moen Towers has on downtown. I think we should wait and see what some of these other big This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 22 apartment buildings, that thing that's going in across the Co -op, how they're affecting the feel and the character and the sense of place that are being eroded. Um, I would just ask to, you know, we could just say no! There's no reason to go forward with any of this stuff at this point. We've had some ideas. We've had some discussion. Maybe we need more of the same. Just d thought from somebody who loves the city and would just ... once it's done ... once it's up, we can't ... we're not going to be taking it down, so just ... pause, think, and reflect, please. I ... I beg of you. (mumbled) Hayek: Thank you. Would anyone else, uh, from the audience care to address us? Okay. I will, uh, close it down for Council discussion. Motion's still on the floor. We had a ... a pretty robust discussion, uh, two and a half hours ago on this and so people may ... may not care to restate their ... their positions. Uh... Dickens: No, I ... I don't have any problem stating my position. I think we really did spend a lot of time looking at this. We looked at the matrix. We used that matrix to look at all the options that we had here. We have had lots of public input, uh, not just at the Council meetings. We've had people call us, stop in and see us. Uh, I don't have a problem moving ahead, uh, stepping back, sure. You could do that, but I think we ... we've spent a lot of time on this, and I feel very comfortable moving ahead, and uh, making The Chauncey our primary... position and the Chauncey Gardens our second. Mims: I do too. I think, uh, like you say we had a lot of discussion earlier. I think it is important though at the formal meeting, um, that is televised to give people, um, at home who are watching an opportunity to hear, uh, some of our rationale for, uh, how we've reached the decision, um, that we have as a ... a majority of the Council. Um, we had ... at the beginning nine very good proposals that came forward, and we narrowed it down to three, which I ... I think we all agreed were excellent proposals. Certainly some significant differences in those, uh, one of the issues I think that ... that we've discussed, we've debated, that the public has weighed in on is the mass of the building, the size. Um, the number of stories is not fixed yet. That will be part of the negotiations, um, between the preferred developer and the City, um, don't expect it to be significantly less than ... than what it is right now. For me, uh, some of the things I think that were really important were the multiple uses, uh, in that facility. We're looking, you know, long -term in terms of the facility and different options in terms of businesses, activities, etc., uh, bringing new people downtown maybe that aren't here, um, already. Uh ... I actually went through, and Matt may have mentioned this earlier — I'm not sure at the work session, but you know, one of the things I debated is, to myself, as I was looking at this in terms of the developers was as people know, um, we have a lot of buildings downtown and have done a fair amount with the Moen Group, and the idea `should we be doing another project with same developer' or trying to branch out and diversify the ... the people that we're working with, and so that was a concern for me, but when I looked at the proposals, looked at the quality of those, looked at the guarantees that they're This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 23 willing to bring to the table, looked at the experience and the track record that they have in the community, those things to me overweighed the concern of working with the same developer on another major project downtown. Uh, part of the issue, those multiple uses, uh, venues for the under -21 population in the community, I think, is really important. Um, as I said earlier, I hope, and I think we all expect the City staff to, uh, negotiate, um, from the, I guess a position of strength, if you will, um, when it comes to any tax increment financing. We have a very high - quality I think in our opinion, uh, second place developer that we could go to if we have to, um, and we want to be fair to everybody, but I think, you know, we need to get the most that we can, uh, for the taxpayers in terms of anything that we do in that regard. So, uh, we looked at the ... the shadowing. What ... what I found actually quite surprising in looking at those shade studies was that anything that is built out to Gilbert Street, if it's over about four stories has kind of the same effect as anything that is set back from the street and is much, much higher. So, um, the distinction between those projects in terms of the shadow effect on the church, um, there wasn't as much distinction as I had certainly expected there would be. Um, so I feel very comfortable with where we're at with, uh, selecting Chauncey as our preferred developer and Chauncey Garden, um, as the second. Champion: I agree with everything you've said, Susan. I love this possibility of this building. I think the mix use is ... is exciting and it will ... it will add a lot of vibrancy and it brings in some new things, and I ... I'm just really excited about it and I know we've worked a lot with the Moen Group, and um, I think when I first said this was my favorite thing, one of my family said, well, you're going to be criticized for that, and I said well I've never made a decision based on some ... whether someone's going to criticize me or not, and I do love this building. I look forward to it going up and it's ... I think people will actually love it once it goes up. I mean, I already love it and it's not even up! Hayek: I think, um ... we talked about this earlier, uh, this evening at the ... at the work session. I ... it's, we can't stress enough of the importance of looking at something like this, um, in the aggregate, and uh, taking into consideration the multitude of factors that we and staff, uh, came up with in terms of what we wanted to see on this site, what our outcomes, or you know, intended outcomes are. Um, and... and what the impact is on the community, on that area, uh, etc., and ... and um, we came up with... with... with a set of guiding principles. Um, not only in terms of the RFP that went out, but in terms ... but also, um, our review of the information that came in and the deliberations we went through as individuals and then as a group, and they include the mix of use, and ... the mixes of use, and ... and the integration with the surrounding area and the ... and the financial considerations of which there are many, um, and the background of...of the applicants and the overall aesthetics, and a ... a multitude of factors. Um, uh ... and also including the ... the uses. Um, but ... but it ... it's important for us to remember and I think this process has ... has shown us to carry this out that this should not come down to a single user, and I don't think it should come down to, um, a... any one particular This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 24 criterion or factor, um, that's why we ... we created a, you know, a ... a set of criteria that we were going to gauge these by and I think ... I think did. Um, but ... but to ... to come down because one user was or was not, uh, part of an application or one feature was or was not, um, part ... part of an application, um, I... I think would ... would come up short of what our responsibility is, which is to, um, arrive at, uh, and pursue a ... a project that meets as many of the goals that we have, um, for that area and that, um, accomplishes the most, um, and I think that' [s the process that we followed and I think that's what led us to the conclusions of...of five out of the six, uh, Council Members who ... um, and ... and what I would describe as a pretty remarkable level of consensus. Um ... uh, on this issue. Um, it was a ... it was a deliberative process. I think it was an open process. We were blessed with incredible input from the community, from the applicants, and ... and from ... from staff, and the people that the City relies on. We, uh, we're blessed to have, uh, nine solid applications and uh, that's what made this process difficult and I certainly hope that those who came up short at least at this stage, uh, and ... and you know, as we mentioned, uh, this ... this ain't over yet, and ... and so we could be going to a second or third alternate, but those who don't ultimately end up with this project, uh, hope they stay engaged because, um, we saw a lot of talent and a lot of interest and a lot of good ideas, uh, through... through this process. Um, but as was mentioned before, you know ... things are not set in stone yet. There ... there are issues that are still in play. The ... the economic incentives, still an issue to be negotiated. The height of the building, as we've discussed with ...with the, uh, probable preferred developer, uh, the height of the building still has a ... has, is somewhat in play. Um ... the issues of sustainability, uh, in terms of design, uh, and ... and construction. Uh, still... still somewhat on the table, and so we're ... what this, what we were doing at this stage is narrowing it down to one for purposes of further negotiation and we will be having staff engage with the developer, and I'm sure they will be coming back to us at future junctures as we zero in on, um, something that's acceptable, uh, to ... to the developer and to the City, and if we can't get there, we go to plan B. Um, but I think this was a good process, uh, and ... and a fair and an open one, and I think people took this very seriously, and... and you know even going back to the sub - committee of staff and Council that it ... that and Rick and ... and Susan and staff were part of that, and I thank you for that service. So, those are my comments. Dobyns: Well our Student Government Representative didn't get a chance to speak now, but he, uh, did talk about the fact that, uh, University of Iowa Student Government has talked about this and they also agreed with the majority, uh, regarding our consideration of The Chauncey. This is, and I struggled with this, uh, over the three months since Susan Mims and I started with City staff, and the fact that recognizing that the Co -op is active throughout the day. It creates a sense of community that goes for many more hours than possibly, um, the current space in The Chauncey is being utilized. That is with the bowling alley with a cafe and with a theater. So this weighed heavily, but the fact that this also is an opportunity for students, um and you can argue if students are going to participate in this, but nonetheless I had a chance to talk with a lot of colleagues at the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 25 University who, um, weren't the people by the way who came in here and spoke. These are people that I solicited, um, input from, and um, and they agreed with their other colleagues, that they thought the FilmScene could be a very active endeavor within the community, and especially creating opportunity for, uh, students to do other things and um, you know, than go to the bars, which I think is important, um, in the central downtown district. We have the Northside. We have the Riverfront Crossing. Those are areas where, um, options like Zero ... um, 404 would be very helpful. I hope they come back, as the Mayor said, and um, you know, give us the same sort of plans. Um, I think that's fantastic. Remember, I watched that come through the top nine all the way through to number three, and that was very much because the sustainability, um, issues with that project. Um, and that's where it was ... where it was, but at the end of the day, um, we took a look at approximately 20 different separate items and um, during the work session we didn't exactly go through the numbers, but all of us didn't work on that on our own. We just came to a general consensus that, um, The Chauncey would be our number one pick. Throgmorton: Well, there might have been a general consensus, Rick, but I ... I do not support this. I think it's a mistake. Uh, so let me explain why. But ... but first of all let me say I'm very pleased that the, uh, project generated a lot of interest. I thank all of the development teams for committing their time and energy to it. I recognize what's involved in that, and I thank all the people who came and spoke to us or who wrote us in letters or emails or whatever. Uh, there are features that I like in each of the proposals. I want to go through each of `em and then explain... that'll explain why I come to the judgment I do. I've ... my preferred alternative is 404. The best features of this proposal are its relatively modest height and mass, which I think are very consistent with the transitional zone in which that building will be ...would have been located. It's strong, very strong and unqualified support for sustainability, especially with regard to energy use and, Martha, you hit the nail right on the head, uh, with regard to that. It's linkages to important community groups, uh... it, uh, its emphasis on modest income workforce housing and so on. I also like its relatively modest TIF request and quick payback time. That matters. I was trying to balance those ... the financial aspects of this against all the other sort of features that are associated with each of the projects, and that's difficult to do, I assure you. Its least appealing feature in my view is its exterior design. From the get -go I thought it needed some good architectural work, a little more architectural work. Sorry, I'm tired. I couldn't speak that quite so clearly. Chauncey Gardens is my second choice. By far its best feature is the extent to which it has incorporated publicly accessible green space into the building's design. This is a really admirable feature. Every time I've looked at that project I thought somebody really knows what they're doing there. I like ... I like the idea. And I really like the way they've tried to connect the building well with its surrounding context, mainly by making it possible for people to get up onto the second floor on foot, regardless of which aspect of our community, uh .... uh, the individuals come from. From an architectural point of view, uh, my sense is that it is easily the most attractive of the three proposals. So, I want to praise the, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 26 architectural firm, uh, for its work — Neumann Munson. The worst features are its height and mass, which are considerably out of scale when compared to nearby buildings, and the size of its TIF request. So, uh, what I like most about the third proposal, The Chauncey, is its incorporation of FilmScene, and its effort to bring other new activities into the downtown area, just as, uh, my colleagues have said. Its least appealing features, in my view, are that it is designed primarily for upper income users. Its overall design is too reflective of one person's aesthetic judgment. Much as I admire, uh, Marc Moen and do admire, as I've said publicly many times, various buildings he's put up and what he's done for downtown, I think there is such a thing as too much, and it's the mass of the building, the height and mass of the building are so out of proportion with the building's context. When I looked at the scale model of those buildings, uh, during our public hearing several weeks ago, I ... I was kinda floored by the difference in the scale and mass of that building, relative to the nearby structures, including this one. And, its TIF request is the largest, so I think about that also. I also think we should have given more consideration to the merits of rezoning the land to CB -10, which apparently we're going to do at some point, uh, in the ... in the near future. Sell the land to a willing buyer and let the market build a project, without TIF support. Now I'm not saying I'm an advocate for that. I'm saying we should have given it more serious consideration, because it's a matter of balancing the finances against what the ... what the ultimate project would, uh, turn out to be. In the end however, a clear majority of my colleagues have chosen to go with The Chauncey and I certainly respect the will of the majority. I congratulate the winning project team and I'll do everything I can to make sure the project succeeds for the better of the city, but I think the decision is a mistake. Hayek: Thanks, Jim. Any further discussion? Okay, the motion's on the table, uh, all those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Item carries 5 -1, Throgmorton in the negative and Payne recusing. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Mims: So moved. Dickens: Second. Dobyns: second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 27 ITEM 13. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Hayek: Start down with you, Jim. Throgmorton: Yeah, I'd like to bring up two things, Matt, uh, as I mentioned during (clears throat) excuse me, during the work session I wanted to say a little bit about the urban chicken's policy. Um, I ... when we voted on that, was that two weeks ago? Kind of lose track of these things, but when we voted on it, I intended to vote no on the policy because I object to the veto provision built into it, as you all know, cause I said that, uh, over and over again, but I became a little bit confused and ended up voting yes and I, you know, my fault, my bad, I was tired, confused, whatever, but I ... I intended to vote no and I ended up voting yes. So I had to ... I tried to find out what's required in order to reconsider a vote and you know do the vote over again basically, a do -over as my kids always used to say, and uh, thanks to Sue Dulek who works with, uh, with Eleanor, uh, I learned how to do it, and thought about asking you all to do it, but I think it'd be self - indulgent and, you know, so I decided not to go that route. Mims: Thank you! Throgmorton: Uh, yeah, right (laughter) Champion: You didn't want to go through the chickens again! (laughter) Throgmorton: Yeah, yeah, I mean, like Rick said, uh, a couple weeks ago, I don't know, the chickens have crossed the road or let's let the chickens cross the road or whatever (laughter) So, but anyhow, I intended to vote no. I just wanted it on the record. The second thing I'd like to say is ... oh, last night was such a pain to watch, meaning Alabama beat Notre Dame, my alma mater, but I want to give due credit to Alabama. They played a superb game. They were clearly the superior team last night, uh, it was real... pleasure to watch them play so well, and Notre Dame will be better next year. (laughter) Champion: Well I did notice you voted yes and I thought it was really strange (laughter) I thought well that's odd! Throgmorton: I was confused! Champion: That's all! I have nothing else to say. Mims: Nothing. Dickens: I just want to invite everybody downtown for the ice - skating which starts Friday, late Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and from 12 to 5:00, I believe, on Sunday on Iowa Avenue. Uh, the Downtown District is setting up a ice skating area with, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 28 uh, I believe skates are going to be provided. Everything is free. So just come down and show off your stuff! Payne: I don't have anything tonight. Hayek: Uh, couple things. Number one, uh, in addition to this weekend and... and the ice skating there's the one -book, two -book festival, um, which'll be great for families and children, um, great literature event that I think showcases much of the best of... of this community. Um, that's the first thing, and the second thing was, I wanted to, um, recognize some students at West High who, uh, are part of what's called West High Bros which was featured this morning, uh, the Today Show, national television, they had a three or four minute spot, that was just fantastic, and essentially involved a student who was then joined by some other students who started using social media to compliment, um, fellow students and ... and, uh, that moved onto complimenting teachers. Uh, for jobs well done, just sort of random acts of kindness and encouragement, um, and as happens with lots of good ideas, uh, this went viral and uh, has gotten a lot of support, enough so that it was picked up by national news and they had a feature on it this morning, so kudos to West High and ... and to the students who got this started. Dobyns: And I wanted to second that. There were so many things. We all remember junior high and high school. There are so many things that can bring you down, and uh, you know, a shout out to Jeremiah Anthony and John Ely who were the two student leaders at West High who brought this Twitter account forward, that just brought a lot of people up. I think that's great. (several talking) Hayek: That's great. Throgmorton: Jeremiah's the son of my, uh, friend and former colleague, Jerry Anthony, who served on the, the uh, Scattered Site Housing Task Force with you, Matt. Uh, Jerry is in India right now, so this morning I saw an email from him saying, "I couldn't see it on TV. I couldn't download an image, but it's so great to hear about this," and then he said his son really didn't even tell him about it for at least a year after they initiated that thing, at, uh, at West High. (several talking) Dobyns: ...10:00 that somebody you know would say do you know where your children are. Well he knows where his child was (laughter) Hayek: Yeah, that was just wonderful, so... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013. Page 29 ITEM 14. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF. a) City Manager. Hayek: City Manager? Markus: It generated I think 3,000 tweets which when you think about that, you know, 3,000 messages of, you know, positive messages to follow students is really quite an accomplishment. Other than that I don't have anything. Champion: I didn't get one! (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 8, 2013.