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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-18 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED Hayek: And I'm going to include with this, um ... uh... uh, a request ... or a deferral of Item 2f(10) until the September 1St meeting. Uh, we just learned a few minutes before the ... the meeting tonight, uh, that there is a party interested in talking to staff about Item 2f(10), which is a parking meter, um... (female): Parking meter issue. Hayek: ...parking meter issue, and staff wants a chance to meet with the affected, uh, parties and they're fine with deferral of this for a couple of weeks, so... Payne: Move approval of (both talking) Botchway: Second. Hayek: Okay, moved by Payne, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Throgmorton: Yeah, Matt, I'd like to note, uh, that Item 2e(5) involves setting a September 0 public hearing for, uh, rezoning, uh... of 14 -acres in Cole's Community Mobile Home Park. It involves 38 manufactured housing units or space for them. Just observing that we're scheduling that. Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0 and again, Item 2f(10), uh, will be taken up in ... at our next meeting. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 2 ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA) Hayek: This is the opportunity at each City Council meeting for members of the audience to address the Council on items that are not on the agenda. So if there is something that is not on tonight's agenda that you would like to bring to our attention, we invite you to come forward and our standard practice is to ask you to sign in, to verbally give us your name, and to keep your comments to five minutes or less! Gravitt: My name is Mary Gravitt and I'll try to keep my comments as fast as I can. I'm still here about the bus shelters on the outbound Towncrest, because there's no bus shelter. The closest shelter is Old Capitol Mall. So we have no shelter on the outbound. And a bus shelter for Gilbert and Kirkwood Street. People come down from the ... the, uh, Crisis Center, or wherever they comin' from, and they have to sit on the grass, waiting for a bus. There's two buses that go that way. The Lakeside is going straight and the Broadway is makin' the curve, and it's not fair to make the citizens sit out there on the grass. Even if you can't give 'em a bus shelter, you can give 'em a bench! And I want to talk about those curb cuts that are missing on old, uh, Muscatine Road. All the curb cuts are on one side of the street, and so that the side where Kirkwood Community College comes, is ... located rather, has no curb cuts. The bus was moved from its original stop, where it had curb cuts, so that when you get on the new bus stop, you gotta ri... walk a block and a half. So, or ride if you're in your wheelchair. So in other words, you're getting off the bus. You cannot cross the street, and it's at a dangerous spot. The traffic lights are down the street, by MidAmerica. There's a road that comes in. So if you're trying to cross the street, it's worse than First Avenue and Muscatine! So the curb cuts ... I thought the curb cut situation was settled when the Justice Department came here. Now, if you're not gonna, you know, do what they say you ... to do, that's on you! And I'm talkin'...and I want to talk about some criminal behavior on the bus. Now I believe black lives matter because I'm black myself, but you can't have criminal behavior hidin' behind a slogan. I was on the bus on August the P and this woman and this man held the conversation on that bus about their sex life on the Greyhound. I thought it was very inappropriate. I sat there, I didn't say anything because I thought it was up to the bus driver to say anything, but he's hard of hearing anyway — the black guy who was driving that bus. The previous Thursday, one of my friends came, made a special trip to tell me, like I'm their political representative, what happened on the previous Thursday. These boys got on the bus, and then they ... when they're getting to their stop, they want to pass for the Broadway. There's no Broadway bus runnin' in Towncrest! Then they ... one rips out a camera and the other ones proceeded... proceeded to make all this noise and made the driver nervous, and she was very concerned about it. And, uh ... something has to be done. That tape has to be played more. We just can't have that, and um ... then the final thing I want to talk about is ... police ... police must have cameras and every police person must know police procedures, so we can avoid that incident they had in Texas. The policeman end up getting fired because he didn't follow procedures, and then This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 3 the ... we need cameras! We need cameras with the policemen. We need cameras with the car. And we gotta remember, Eric Shaw was not black, but that policeman didn't follow procedures. He's creeping up the steps. If he thought Eric Shaw was armed, he should have called for backup. So, and I'm still concerned about a permanent, full-time maintenance person at the Library, unless you can afford more accidents there. So far my bill has come to over $5,000 for trippin' in the Library. As far as I'm concerned, the Library is the most unsafe building. It serves more people than this building does. When you get a million hits, you got a lot of people in there! And that bathroom on the second floor, I swear one day all those stalls are gonna fall on somebody. (mumbled) some clips at the bottom. Don't just tighten it up at the top! Thank you very much! Hayek: Thank you! Appreciate your comments. Adams: Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is Adel Adams. Uh, American Taxi. I live here in Iowa City for 18 years. And I created this company, and it was, uh, top company here in Iowa City. And last year ... I think I mentioned this before but I'm going to repeat it. (mumbled) my company because I did ... I missed my hearing. They send the letter for the hearing to wrong address. Definitely I will not ... I didn't come to the hearing, cause I didn't receive the letter. So they (mumbled) the company for five days, the busiest days in the winter time. So I went to the City Attorney in her office and I said, uh, this is a wrong decision because one of the driver (mumbled) one of the contractor, he forgot to bring the (mumbled) plastic thing, so (mumbled) five other drivers, and she said to me I can't help you, you can go look for attorney. So after five days the ... I call couple of places and they return my license, but on this five days I lost ... since I have like five contractors, I lost like $20,000. That's why issue my (mumbled) is my problem to the City Council after I followed the other steps, but unfortunately, the City Council also, they didn't treat me fairly, like other people. They come sit here and (mumbled) discuss their matter, so they send me letter with something I didn't (mumbled) and last week, or two weeks ago, I received letter from the City Manager also. (mumbled) negative letters they said (mumbled) this matter. So I'm ready to answer any question if somebody ask me why ... I deserve this compensation. I ... I give, uh (mumbled) like seven papers and I hope everybody has one. Just to read it, if...I didn't deserve it, I will accept any decision, but I hope everybody received this letters. I drop by the other letter the other name of the police because (mumbled) good police. I cooperate with them and they do their job very good in this city, and they deserve even immunity for any job they're doing in this city. (mumbled) they did good job and they keep doing good job in this city. So despite I get (mumbled) sexual assault problem, but I drop that issue and still I'm looking for compensation to raise my company again, now in the bottom (mumbled) my company to be in the top again. If I get this money, I'm going to buy, uh... like (mumbled) want to do like a GPS. I want to make it advance company, but without this compensation I deserve it, I still gonna be on the bottom company. And I made this company (mumbled) in the future when This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 4 they grow up, at least when they go to college, they can have something to (mumbled), not just depend on (mumbled). Thank you. Hayek: Thank you, sir. You ... you've been before us several times and I know that our staff has gotten back to you several times. Um, and you dropped off this information that we're taking a look at now for the first time. I ... I will make sure I ... I will get back to you. I'll look into what has been done to date and ensure that you receive, um, a ... a response to this. Adams: That's why I love this place and I love to come here and it was delicate for (mumbled) and still delicate for two terms for Barack Obama and I ... I need somebody to communicate with me. We have big community, but I want to trust people and I want people to meet me just by, uh, other people (mumbled) That's it. Thank you. Hayek: Anyone else under Community Comment? Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Botchway: So moved. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Payne. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries. Unless there's anyone else under Community Comment, I ... ma'am? Beadleston: Hi, my name's Joy Beadleston and I just wanted to comment on, um, what Mary said about the shelters and the curb cuts. I think it's really important that the City reach out to the citizens of Iowa City that have disabilities, especially, um, those kind of -conveniences. When there's a shelter and curb cuts is really, really helpful to people with disabilities and I think one of the issues is that sometimes we reach out to people in agencies, but a lot of those people don't ride the bus and so ... we really need to look at reaching out and having forums for people that service the bus the most and also people that are affected by those issues the most, and this is Iowa (laughs) We have very fluctuating weather, um, our weather happens to be sometimes extremely cold and something like a shelter is so tremendously helpful when the weather's, um, in a bad way (laughs) so especially cold, freezing cold and icy. A lot of students too, um, when you're coming into campus, there'd be like maybe 25 students just standing out there and some people think, well, they're young and resilient but ... uh, I go to school with a lot of 'ern and um, they get sick just like everybody else from standing out in severe weather. Uh, we could maybe look at some, uh, moving some shelters that aren't being utilized as much and um.. just want to support Mary cause I think she probably deserves many awards (laughs) for her, um, activism and also, um, I wanted to say thank you again, um, the ADA celebration on July 25a` went really This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 5 well, except for the heat was extreme (laughs) and um ... but, uh, HyVee brought us flowers and the caroling cart that's used for people with disabilities, and urn ... and the Bread Garden gave a certificate for our guest speaker Tara to enjoy a lunch. Um, she really, uh, was a gift for us. She didn't charge us and ... and everything, but you did give us a grant. So I want to thank everyone, um ... you know, on the City Council and the people that approve those grants and uh, especially Simon (laughs) Andrew. He was a really great, um, support for that event, and I did get a feedback from a person with disabilities on, um, a Facebook page I have, and said it was the best celebration for the ADA that he'd ever gone to and he'd gone to 'em all, so that was really, um, a rewarding comment (laughs) after a ... we put in, the Committee, a lot of work and a lot of time, and urn ... the people in the community that have disabilities have great value and I think we need to do more to support them (laughs) and our celebration should always be something grand and spectacular, even more so every year cause, uh, it is a really important event. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you! Anyone else? Okay, we will move on to Item 4, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 6 ITEM 4. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS ITEM 4a. REZONING at 705 & 709 S. CLINTON — CONDITIONALLY REZONING 0.41 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 705 and 709 S. CLINTON STREET FROM INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL (CI -1) ZONE TO RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS — CENTRAL CROSSINGS (RFC -CX) ZONE (REZ15-00008) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Any ex parte communications before we turn it over to staff? Okay! Karen! Howard: Um, we have not received a ... a signed Conditional Zoning Agreement at this point and last time we had talked about the need to defer this item indefinitely if that's the case, um, while the applicant decides what they want to do, um, so that if this is reopened again in the future, there's public notice again for that rehearing. So that's what we would recommend at this time, to defer indefinitely. Hayek: So to continue the public hearing and defer first consideration or... Dilkes: You continue it indefinitely, which means we'll have to republish the notice for it and ... and just go through the process again, rather than continuing to keep it on the agenda. Hayek: That's fine! Throgmorton: So you need a motion? No? Hayek: So we need a motion, yeah. Throgmorton: I move to continue indefinitely. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Motion to continue Item 4a indefinitely, sec ... uh, by Throgmorton, seconded by Dickens. 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 regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 7 ITEM 4b. HIGHLANDER DEVELOPMENT RIGHT-OF-WAY VACATION — ORDINANCE VACATING AN UNPAVED STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY KNOWN AS AUDITOR'S PARCEL #2008020 AND TWO UTILITY EASEMENTS WITHIN HIGHLANDER DEVELOPMENT (VAC15-00002) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. Hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Howard: Um, this is, um, an ... an unpaved right-of-way, uh, known as Auditor's parcel #2008020 and it's when the ... within the Highlander, um ... Fourth Addition, Part One subdivision and that was, um, just recently adopted, preliminary plat, and this vacation is merely to move what we, uh, was previously a ... a roadway that we had planned, and ... up to an area where, uh, it will connect with, um ... the replat of those streets. So that's all that that vacation is. So the ... the right-of-way then move ... would move from this pink area up to the area where it would connect with the other streets in the subdivision. Any questions? Hayek: Thanks, Karen! Anyone from the audience? Hughes: Hi, I'm Joe Hughes with Southgate. Uh, I think she explained it very well, uh, we just have worked with staff to, uh, realign the roads so that, uh, traffic patterns, uh, work well in the future. So we thank you for your consideration! Hayek: Thank you! Anyone else from the audience? Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Dobyns: Move first consideration. Payne: Second. (several responding) Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by ... Payne. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 8 ITEM 4c. HARRISON STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY VACATION — ORDINANCE VACATING THE UNPAVED PORTION OF HARRISON STREET LOCATED WEST OF LINN (VAC15-00004) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Howard: This is a location map, uh, for that unpaved right-of-way. Um, this, um, is basically a hillside, um, at the end of Harrison Street, west of Linn Street. Um, you can see that it's basically a wooded area, a wooded hillside. It's quite steep and so we're unable to really put a street through there. This is part of, um, where the new CA Ventures, um, multi -mixed use, uh, development is occurring, um ... there's some photographs of that, and the plan is then to vacate that, convey it to, uh, CA Ventures so that that development could occur in the way that was, uh, anticipated by the Council. Any questions? Throgmorton: I ... I do have one question though. I ... it ... there used to be sort of a park there, didn't there? I ... at least 20 years ago I remember seeing a ... a ... a label or sign or something, identifying it as a park. What do you know about that? What happened to it? Howard: Um ... as far as I know that was a ... a pretty unusable park, it ... on such a steep hill. Um, wasn't well-maintained and wasn't well used, um, and so it just became overgrown and, um, it stopped being designated a park, um, some time ago. So basically it's basically unused right-of-way. Throgmorton: Thanks! Howard: There will be a public access easement that will be, uh, extend through that, and when CA Ventures builds their project, there will be a stair... stairway and some landscaping, um, to allow pedestrians to, uh, walk up that staircase to get, um, through the neighborhood. So that will be a positive, I think, that's not there right now. Hayek: Thanks, Karen! Anyone from the audience? Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move first consideration. Dobyns: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7- 0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 9 ITEM 4d. ROOFTOP SERVICE AREAS — ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14: ZONING TO ZONING TO ADD A DEFINITION FOR "ROOFTOP SERVICE AREAS" AND ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR SUCH USES. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Fruin: Um, this is something that I've worked on... Hayek: (both talking) staff and then there'll be plenty of time for (both talking) We're gonna start with a report from staff and then (person speaking from audience) plenty of time for ... for you, Mr. Olmstead. Fruin: So this is something I've worked on with, uh, Karen Howard and, uh, the Legal Department and ... and really just responding to what we're seeing a ... across the United States, is a ... a big trend in urban areas, and that's the use of rooftop areas, uh, for, um, outdoor seating, public gathering, mostly, uh, restaurant and bar type of uses, and we are getting more requests, uh... um, from, um, businesses and property owners that are looking to incorporate these type of uses, either into new projects or, uh, into redevelopment projects, and um, currently are ... there are some instances where they can be allowed, through our current code, just by complying with building codes, but uh, those opportunities are few and far between. We have seen, uh... uh, the ... the one example that most people will point to is Film Scene. So it can be done, but again, it's very limited to ... which properties, um, that that would apply to. So, um, seeing this trend and knowing that we have a couple businesses out there that would like to investigate this a ... a little bit more thoroughly, we set out to craft what we think would be reasonable regulations for such uses and I think you've seen in the ... in the minutes and the ... and the memos that have gone to Planning and Zoning Commission, we had a pretty, uh, thorough and robust discussions, uh, with the Planning and Zoning Commission. So what's before you tonight, um, is ... is our recommendation. There's actually two items, this one deals with the zoning matters and the next one will deal with the, um, alcohol chapter, um, of...of the City code. Um, Karen Howard has a few slides, uh, that she can present that ... that give you a few of the particulars, um, but ... I won't go into 'em until ... unless you guys have specific questions. Karen, do you want to come forward and... Howard: (mumbled) these are mostly just in case you have questions, there's questions that come up during the public hearing,but mostly, uh, we ... we tried to look at all the zones, commercial zones in the city, that might possibly allow this type of use. So thinking ahead, so we took all the commercial zones. The lowest and city commercial zones, um, maximum 30 occupancy on any kind of rooftop feature and then, uh, reasonable hours, 10:00 to 10:00 basically, for these zones that might be closer to residential areas. Um, for a little bit higher density zones. As This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 10 you can see on the slide here, um, CI -1, CC -2, CH -1, um, these are a cou... a couple of the Central Business zones, and our Research Development Park zones that allow hotels, um, similar occupancy, similar, um, hours of operation. If in partic... those particular higher intensity zones, there's a special exception option so they can exceed those hours and occupancy, and each would be considered on its own merits. Riverfront Crossing zones, um, a little bit different characterizations. Hotels, um, are allowed as a provisional use, so it wouldn't have to go through a special exception pro ... process. There's no limit to the occupancy. Each, um ... it would be self -policed. We feel like with hotels, hours of operation in Riverfront Crossings 10:00 to 10:00, Sunday through Thursday, and then 10:00 to midnight ... on Friday and Saturday nights. Um ... if there's a situation where a ... a hotel would want to have a larger rooftop area, they could go for a special exception and then that particular location would be looked at, as far as proximity to residential and other sensitive uses. For commercial recreational uses such as, uh, like Film Scene theaters, bowling alleys, that sort of thing ... and for eating establishments, which are in ... in Iowa City are distinguished from bars by the fact that they close at midnight. Um, you can see the occupancy, um, you could allow by right for smaller venues, um, but have the opportunity to get a special exception if they want to go larger or stay open later. Uh... then in the CB - 10 zones, um, similar to Riverfront Crossings, um, but a little bit more lenient again, um, maximum occ... occupancy 50 for the commercial recrea ... recreational uses, urn ... and they would be allowed a special exception opportunity if they wanted to exceed that occupancy. No limit on the hours downtown, um... excet... except if you're near a residential. Uh, drinking establishments, most all the drinking establishments downtown are non -conforming with the 500 -foot spacing rule, and so in those, uh, instances a special exception would be needed, and there's really particular standards that have to be met. It couldn't be a ... a horizontal expansion of a bar. It can only be vertical. Um, so there's some special, uh, criteria for that to occur. Once again, if it's close to a residential zone, there's limits on hours, uh, of operation and a limit on the size, so that it wouldn't disturb nearby residential areas. Uh, with regard ... there were some questions about accessibility. Um, we ... we have gone above and beyond what, uh, typically, uh, might be required for ADA accessibility and safety. Um, there are some, uh, provisions in the ADA rules where you could have a rooftop venue that wouldn't require an elevator, but just to make sure that these ... all these spaces are available for everybody, um, we are requiring an elevator in all cases and accessible restrooms. Um, with regard to safety on the roof, there are particular... criteria about separation (mumbled) the roof, making sure that it meets building code, and me ... meets safety requirement... additional safety requirements to create a buffer along the roof edge so people aren't leaning over and that sort of thing. So we've tried to look at all these kind of safety and accessibility issues carefully. Uh, other ...other things — food service must be provided while it's open and if...if they're serving alcohol, they have to have a management plan, and um, they have to show how they're going to mitigate any kind of noise issues on the roof, whether it's using amplified sound or whether they're just, uh, a large venue, with the sensitivity to the fact that there's sometimes offices uses and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 11 residential uses and hotel guests that are up on those upper levels. So, um, just so they have a noise plan in place. As far as the amplified sound goes, there was quite a bit of discussion, as Geoff said, about the amplified sound and so those areas we would allow by temporary use permit, in south downtown district, in ... in the CB -10 zone. Hotels would not have to get a temporary use permit, however. So with any ... with that, any questions about those particulars? Throgmorton: Yeah, Karen, I'd like to ask one question having to do with ... well, part of the proposed regulation imposes special restrictions on these, uh, rooftop service areas located in the RFC, Riverfront Crossings, and CB -10 districts, uh, and within a hundred feet of residential areas. So, I ... I don't understand what a residential area means for mixed use kind of buildings. So ... so the Riverfront Crossings' going to be full of mixed use kind of buildings. So what ... what's a residential use in this context? Howard: So it's separation from residential zones. So, um, similar to downtown, where you have a mix of uses and a lot of people living downtown, we anticipate that in Riverfront Crossings people will be moving to a mixed use area that has businesses and residential. There are more limits on ... because we anticipate that ... that Riverfront Crossings will be a little bit more residential in character than the downtown, so that's why a little bit more strict use, uh... uh, hours of operation in Riverfront Crossings, just as a nod toward the fact that there are more people living there. So that's the dif...distinction between, you know, the direct downtown and Riverfront Crossings. So there is some thought to, urn ... balancing those ... those uses in that area, but it's not like being out in a single-family neighborhood where you would expect to have that quiet ... quiet atmosphere. Throgmorton: Maybe ... maybe I didn't ask my question clearly enough. I know what it would mean to be located within a hundred feet of an RS -5 ... district or any house that's located in an RS -5 district or RS -8 or whatever. I don't know what it would mean to be located within a hundred feet of a mixed use development that has some residential stuff in it, and ... and I don't know how the, uh, the... the... this limitation would play out. Howard: Are you talking about the limitation for the ... the, within a hundred feet of a residential zone then? There aren't any residential zones within a hundred feet of (both talking) Throgmorton: No, the language I saw was 'within 100 feet of a residential area.' Howard: So this is the regulation. If located within 100 feet of a residential zone. You can only have a small zone, so it would be anything that's zoned RM, multi -family, or RS, single family residential. Those zones, if...if, uh, there's a commercial zone that's next to a residential zone in other words, there's more strict rules about your hours of operation and the occupancy. So the (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 12 Throgmorton: But the Riverfront Crossings District ... I ... I know I'm the one that's confused here, but the Riverfront Crossings District will not contain any RM, RS kind of zone. Howard: But there are ... there are areas, um, where Riverfront Crossings' zoning butts up against, and in that particular case, um, let me scroll back here. So Riverfront Crossings, except for the Riverfront Crossings Gilbert District. That's the only sub -district of Riverfront Crossings that's next to a single-family neighborhood. So in that particular case, we ... we categorized that particular sub -district of Riv... of Riverfront Crossings in with the ... the lower density commercial zone so there was more sensitivity in that particular area of Riverfront Crossings. Throgmorton: I ... I guess I'll have to go back and re -read the ordinance, uh... um, because I ... I thought for sure I saw the language 'within 100 feet of a residential area,' not within 100 feet of a residential zone. Howard: It could be that you were reading maybe the memo that was stated more gem ... more general terms (both talking) rather than the actual code language. Markus: We'll look at it, you know... Throgmorton: Okay! Markus: ...between now and the next meeting (both talking) Throgmorton: Okay, thanks! Hayek: Thanks, Karen! So if there are people from the audience who would like to weigh in, now would be the time! Olmstead: Good evening (clears throat) My name's Harry Olmstead and (coughing) and I am very impressed with the work that the staff has done in assembling this ordinance. The only concern I have is in the ordinance... where it talks about elevator service, I would like them to look at wheelchair lifts, because that can be much more less expensive for a, uh, building owner than putting in elevator, and we have several of those as examples — the Englert Theater has a chair lift to get on stage, um ... the, uh, Old Brick has a chair lift which goes up quite a ways to get to the second floor. But we do (mumbled) we could look at that as part of this ordinance. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you. Is that worth looking at? Fruin: Yeah, we ... there ... there's certain instances where the ADA will require an elevator, but in those discretionary instances, we can look at, you know, where we're saying you need to do, you know, do this by local regulation, we can look at whether a chair lift would be an acceptable, um, alternative to an elevator. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 13 Hayek: Okay. Markus: And, Eleanor, that's not a significant alteration of the ordinance that would require rehearing. Dilkes: I think if we're gonna allow, um ... the lift to be a potential alternative we should add it, but I don't think it's significant. We can ... yeah. Hayek: Fix it later. Gravitt: My name's Mary Gravitt and I get nervous when I hear sidewalk cafes, because I remember what happened to the sidewalk cafe by the Vetro and seeing all those mothers having to push their baby coaches by because it took over half the sidewalk, and when you go from Dubuque Street down to Clinton, those benches stickin' out narrows the sidewalk down. A disabled person has a hard time getting by these so-called sidewalk cafes. Some people may think we're in Paris, but in Paris they were prepared for. We're not prepared for all this stuff, and as for ... I can see why the Council Person is confused about the Riverfront Crossing, cause it's like 1984. It changes! First here, then it's there, then it's everywhere! But you gotta be ... you have to take into consideration you're bragging on the radio this is a walkable city. You have to have room to walk, pedestrians belong on the sidewalk, unless you gonna brick up the street like the ped mall. So when you say these things, people can eat on the roof. I don't know where that bird flu came from when they fly past'em. They don't mind being up there. I don't mind'em being up there, but I do mind the sidewalk being taken up from pedestrians, where they gotta walk single file, when they're supposed to be on the sidewalk. Thank you! Hayek: Thank you for the comments. Welsh: My name is Bob Welsh (clears throat) live at 84 Penfro; have, uh, been a resident of this community since 1965! Uh... I want to join, uh, Harry in congratulating the City, in terms of, uh, being proactive at this point and making sure that the rooftop is accessible. Uh... where I differ with, uh, Harry and he knows this is in terms of giving an alternative in relation to a chair lift. Uh, when I first talked with Harry, I was thinking he was talking about little thing where you sit down and, you know, go up. He said, oh no, I'm talking about something that a wheelchair could go in. And as I pointed out to Harry and as I would point out to you, there are some of us, and I'm getting to that stage, where, uh, walkers, canes, um ... on those chair lifts, th... that's not safe ... for a number of people. Uh, so I hope you will stick with the recommendation of your staff, which says 'elevator,' and not make an exception there, and uh, I read exchanges of emails between Linn Sandler who I greatly respect in terms of accessibility, uh, standards and Doug Boothroy, and uh, again, I just want to say thank you for, uh, developing this to the staff and to you as a Council, and uh, listen to Harry most of the time (laughter) but maybe not on this one. (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 14 Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else? Burchard: Good evening. Um, my name is John Burchard. I represent the property at 111 and 113 E. College Streets, formerly known as The Fieldhouse Bar. Um, we have been, uh, in the process for quite some time in doing development and bringing life back to that property, um, and part of our proposal has been from the get -go, um, to have a rooftop patio structure, that not only would include an elevator from the very beginning, um, that would take us all the way up, um, but also would have restrooms. Would also have a kitchen, um, and the like. The reason for me being here today was just to have some consideration, um, and some thought process as you guys make this determination from the developer's side. As you guys can imagine, uh, to bring in infrastructure, to redo a building that's a hundred -plus years old, to bring in an elevator and things of the like, is a pretty daunting task. Um, and it comes with a lot of costs, um, and a lot of time with planning and procedures. Where we're having some concerns with in ... in just seeing some of the clarifications here is the understanding of the amount of people that can be on it, um, and ... if there is ways to understand, is there ways we can increase that, is ... is there, uh, you know, if we bring in additional structural engineers how that can be looked upon, um, how that will be seen. That also being said, part of our structure is an indoor/outdoor structure. So when you're looking at 6,000 square feet on the roof, uh, 4,000 of it is to be enclosed inside, but have the ability to open up, um, for the other 2,000, which would be the garden area. Um, I ask how will that be considered in this, um, if that were to open in that way, or if the ceiling, per se, was more glass and retractable, um, if we open and close, how does that nature ... how does that fall into the grand scheme of things. Um, along with that, um, I've read quite a bit about the TV usage and the sound. Um, truly get that. I think that's an important thing that we need to tackle, but just some more clarification. Part of I heard is, you know, if it's in a stairwell we need to close that off, um, in a corridor, um, going back to my scenario, if they're in an enclosed section of the rooftop, um, that it opens up to the front garden area, um, and sound were to get out, a Hawkeye game or things of the like, how would that be viewed, um, can that be taken into consideration. Um ... a few last points, uh, you know we talked about the residential piece, the zoning, the uses. Um, I think I understand that. Um, my concern would be, again, to fall back into this investment, um, what if there was a residential zone in the future that would be potentially behind my development or other areas. Um, knowing the costs that we would incur to get ourselves to this point, um, is there a consideration for grandfathering the policy, um, for its potential of that being taken away from us after we make such a significant impact, um, to the downtown area. Um ... lastly, I think the temp use of permits, I truly get. Um, but ... from my situation and my stance, to put that investment in, um, I think we really would like to understand some more clarification on what we can do to get access to that, um, more perimeters that surround that, um, and versus just kind of hoping and praying that after I do this development that will be granted to us, as long as we do, um, everything correct. Our goal has been very This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 15 simple from day one. Um, we believe that that building is one of the greatest assets in the ped mall. It's been dark for way too long. Um, we want to bring retail. We want to bring commercial. We want to bring office. That's our plan for those first two main floors. Mortenken Construction is our tenant. They are doing the two largest developments in this area, and we want nothing more than to continue to maintain them, um, give them a better place that they want to work and be in, um, have access to an elevator and watch them continue to grow a town like this. So I ask upon you this evening to take consideration from ... from our side as we incur these costs and we look at these things, um, and recognize I know right now from being in the hospitality space and ... and running places like the Chop House and others that only having access to 30 people after this development literally puts my development on the rooftop dead. Um, just mathematically the numbers won't work. So, um, again, I have that opportunity as a business owner, um, an entrepreneur to make that decision on to go for it, if I want to move forward or not, but what I'd really like to see is ... is there the ability, is there thresholds if done right, if structurally there, um, if everyone's signed off on what we're trying to create, um, is there thresholds for us to be able to increase that, um, and how that would look. So, all I wanted tonight is nothing more to have this into your consideration as you guys think. I truly appreciate your time. I look forward to bringing a great development to this area. Thank you so much. Hayek: Thanks for your comments, and we ... we'll, uh, I would characterize some of your comments as more advocacy and we appreciate that input, and as to the many valid questions you raise, I encourage you to get with City staff and go through this thing carefully because some of the issues, uh... uh, I would say most if not all the issues, um, staff can answer for you. Burchard: (away from mic, unable to hear clearly) Bird: Good evening, I'm Nancy Bird. Um, I'm the Executive Director of the Iowa City Downtown District and thank you very much for taking public comment tonight on this issue. Um, I think on behalf of the Iowa City Downtown District, we appreciate Council's consideration of this and, um, advocate for its passing. Um, you know, one of the things that we've been working hard on is understanding the costs associated with the renovation of these historic and older properties and how we can best, um, service businesses, residents, as well as those that are really wanting to advocate for accessibility, and uh, see if we can't help put the puzzle together and help them a ... achieve and realize those goals. Um, and I appreciate Harry's comments tonight. We've been working with the, uh, community around ADA issues and our goals are really the same, is to help preserve and ... and help bring some of these buildings back to full utilization. Um, you know, maintain the ... the or ... the historic asset that they really are and to make sure that everyone can enjoy them. So, I guess the ... the one thing that I really want to say tonight is that I really appreciate the flexibility on behalf of staff to look at how we can achieve these things, like rooftops which are, you know, completely add to the vibrancy of downtown Iowa City. It's a very exciting time for our district. Um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 16 there's a lot of momentum and when the City, um, encourages and demonstrates flexibility like this on some of these regulatory matters, that can really hinder a process, um, you know it can be a show -stopper and so when we have staff support and Council support for figuring out how do we make it work, uh, you know, it really goes a long way. So thank you very much. I hope you consider both of our, um, our property owners' comments because they ... they really do know the nuts and bolts and I think what they're putting forward is really strong. So thank you very much. Hayek: Thank you, Nancy. Anyone else? Okay, I'll close the public hearing at this time. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Payne: Move first consideration. Botchway: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Throgmorton: So there'll be some more thought given to the particular questions and ... and concerns raised, right? Markus: Yeah. I think that, uh, in just a brief conversation with Geoff, I think we have flexibility already built into this and we'll sit down with John and have that discussion so that he understands that. I think the issue that Harry brought up, we'll take a look at that and maybe we will, uh, put some discretionary language in there to use that kind of lift situation, um ... I ... I tend to think that the elevator is a much more accommodating way to deal with the issue, but there may be some circumstances where a lift makes some sense. I was thinking about, uh, the movie theater area and the elevator goes up to the top floor and then I think it's stairway up to the rooftop in that particular location. You know, that might be a place where a lift is more appropriate, so we'll work on that. I think you can consider the first consideration and I think in, you know, the conversation we had with Eleanor, it sounds like these are not major changes to the ordinance, and I think John's issues that he brought up, uh, for The Fieldhouse can be accommodated. Hayek: Um, I'm ... I'm totally supportive of this. I'm glad to see it occur. Uh, I think it adds a ... a new, uh, dynamic to ... to downtown. I was at Film Scene, uh, on the rooftop just the other day and your perspective changes. Obviously you're... you're several stories up and you see the sides of buildings or backsides of buildings that you've never seen before and ... uh, as ... it was just ... it was a great, uh... uh, thing and ... and I hope we can play it out, uh, in more places downtown. You know my sense of this, this is pretty regulatory and, uh, I recognize that. Uh, it went through heavy-duty vetting at the Planning and Zoning stage and went through a couple of rounds, and um, things were added and, uh, it comes to us on a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 17 unanimous vote from P&Z, and, you know, by the time it reaches the Council ... not entirely but ... but by and large these are such, uh... um .... de ... detail, uh, detailed, uh, ordinances that it ... it's not exactly an up or down vote, but in some sense it...it is by the time it gets to us, especially after all of that vetting, um, and ... and my sense is, you know, what we should do is get this on the books. We ... we talked about this at the work session, that like any ordinance that has a lot of complexity to it, you know, time will show us where things need to be tweaked, um, and uh, I have no doubt that that will be the case with this, um, but the way I look at it is ... the ... even ... even after the second round of...of Planning and Zoning scrutiny and the ... the additional provisions that were added in, this still seems to have broad support within the business sector. Um, and it may need additional work in the future, but I think we should support this and then work toward... responsible changes in the future as they arise. (several responding) Okay. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Pass ... first consideration passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 18 ITEM 5. AMENDING FY2016 BUDGET — AMENDING THE FY2016 OPERATING BUDGET a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) Payne: Move ... move the resolution. Botchway: Second. (unable to hear person from audience) Hayek: Moved by (both talking) Throgmorton: No, did (several talking) Gravitt: Well I want to ask a question. Hayek: On the ... on the budget? Gravitt: Yes! Hayek: Okay. Why don't I, uh, kind of un -ring the bell and if you would like to come up and give us your comments on the, uh, amendment to the operating budget, please do so. Gravitt: Yes. I hope that when you amending this operation budget that you factor in a full-time maintenance person at the Iowa City Public Library. Like I said, they get a million hits, but that's the most unsafe building in this whole of Iowa City because nobody walks the building. If you got a million hits you got maybe ... you gotta have more, about a half a million people comin' in there daily, and I mean that's a busy building, and please factor in some ... some union cement contractors, cause that patchwork downtown, this is the downtown and it's shifty and ... it's a shame! I look down at the sidewalk, all of these patches. The curb's still not fixed, and you, and Mayor, you said you went up on the building and looked down. Did you notice those two dumpsters on the sidewalk, uh, by the old Library? I've been complaining about that for two years. How come he can't push those dumpsters up the alley and do something about that goat grass that's growin' in front of it? I see they did spray some Roundup on the weeds that's growin' outside the building, but if you gonna have a ... a beautiful downtown, then you have to have cooperation, unless he's too rich and you can't make him put those dumpsters in the alley where they belong, and get some contract, some real contractors, to fix the sidewalk. None of that patch stuff. We're not makin' quilts. I enjoy looking at the city myself. I'm not rich. I don't go and eat on anybody's roof, but I'm not interested in that. But I'm interested in getting some contract workers, somebody that has a stake in something around here. Don't try to save This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 19 money! Cause the snow is only gonna dig up those patches. So....so that's all I want to say. Hayek: Thank you. Anyone else? Public hearing ... is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDERATION A RESOLUTION Payne: Move the resolution. Botchway: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 20 ITEM 6. BICYCLE REGULATIONS — ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 9, ENTITLED "MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC," CHAPTER 1, ENTITLED "DEFINITIONS, ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF TRAFFIC PROVISIONS," AND CHAPTER 8, ENTITLED "BICYCLES," TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF "BICYCLE;" PERMIT THE RIDING OF TWO BICYCLES ABREAST EACH OTHER; REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT BICYCLES RIDE TO THE FAR RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD; AND AUTHORIZE THE IMPOUNDMENT OF INOPERABLE BICYCLES (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Hayek: This is second consideration but we have a request for expedited action. Mims: Sorry about that! Find my card here. I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally passed be suspended, that the second consideration and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time. Botchway: Second. Hayek: Motion to collapse from Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Throgmorton: So who asked for the, uh, collapse it? Mims: Staff did. Throgmorton: And ... and what's the rationale? Oh, I didn't ... I guess I missed that! So what ... what's the rationale? Markus: I think in this particular case, this was a, um, citizen issue that was raised with us to make us more bike -friendly. There didn't seem to be any major concerns as to the support of this particular ordinance so staff made the recommendation that we expedite, get it passed. It's consistent with, I think, making the town even more bike -able. So, that was the reasoning. Throgmorton: Yeah, I'm fully supportive of the ordinance. I was just wondering why ... why the idea, why we suggested collapsing it. Just wondered. Markus: Didn't seem like it was any reason to wait on it. Hayek: Uh, anyone from the audience? Further Council discussion? Roll call, please. Mims: I move the ordinance be finally adopted at this time. Botchway: Second. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 21 Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Roll call, please. Passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 22 ITEM 9. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION Hayek: Why don't we start down with you! Dobyns: Um, I just want to thank the Kingdom Center in the south part of the city. It's a, uh, faith congregation whose, uh, ministry is toward, uh, minorities in the area. Uh, my wife and I attended services there a couple of Sundays ago. Uh, Pastor Allen and Lady Allen and, uh, their staff and fellow congregation were extremely cordial and welcoming, and we appreciated the, uh, time that we spent there. Payne: I just want to remind everybody that it is that time of the year where there's more bicyclists and pedestrians on our sidewalks and streets, and to just watch out for them when you're driving your car! Dickens: And this weekend, Pathways is having their "Men Who Cook." It's a, uh... 20 celebrity cooks will be serving up some great, uh, different types of dishes. There's a live auction, the silent auction, and a raffle. So, it's at the Clarion. Starts at 6:00 on Saturday and hope you can make it! Mims: I would just piggyback on Michelle's and I've been doing this every time I've been on KXIC lately, reminding people of that, that it's this time of year and as Jay typically says, and for all the, uh, Illinois registered cars that are going the wrong way on our one-way streets as well (laughs) He's the one that picks on the Illinois residents! (laughs) Uh, but just a reminder, we do ... the University students are moving back in this week. Uh, it's going to be, like you said, lot more pedestrians, bicyclists, and also just a lot of cars this week as ... as they move back in, so ... be safe out there! Throgmorton: So several days ago former Councilman named Steven Kanner died, uh, I don't know exactly how, but he ... but he died, and there's gonna be a, uh, sort of a memorial celebration for Steven at 5:00 P.M. Sunday, August 23`d, in Happy Hollow Park, and I don't know, I think Steven sat in this chair. I don't know, he was down at this end somewhere, but uh... anyhow, uh, some people thought he was not a terribly good City Council person, but he was a ... a very good individual and ... and he passionately cared about ... about, uh... the issues that he supported. So I wish Steven the best and ... and uh, invite people to come to that celebration. Botchway: Oh, wait a minute! Hayek: Okay! Botchway: Sorry, uh, Soul Festival is not this weekend but next weekend. I saw it on your thing so I thought you were going to mention it, so ... so make sure you come out! Hayek: Uh, several items. First, uh... uh, the grand opening of Alexander Elementary is later this week on Thursday, uh, 4:00. I'll be speaking at that, but um ... uh, thanks This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 23 to City staff, uh, and of course the School District for putting together a great project and all the infrastructure that surrounds that. That's a very important, uh, development for ... for the City, and for the School District, and I think it's important that we as a Council, and as a community, keep an eye on this facility's plan. Uh, this is an example of something we are getting out of that, uh, process, um, and there are a number of other things that we need, uh, to have happen in the future with respect to new facilities and the renovation of existing facilities, um, so we need to ... we need to watch that and ... and support that. Um, secondly, uh, in addition to former Council Member, uh, Steven Kanner, uh, Heather Shank passed, uh... uh, couple weeks ago and uh, she was, uh, former Human Rights Coordinator for the City of Iowa City, and I got to know her a little bit on the front end of my, uh, time with the City and uh, she was a ... a beautiful person and uh, an incredible, uh, aura about her and she will be missed! Um, and ... and lastly I just wanted to point out that our ... our City Manager Tom Markus, uh... uh, was uh, in Indonesia for a couple weeks, uh, through an exchange program, uh, through the ... or under the auspices of the ... of the State Department (both talking) Markus: State Department and ICMA. Hayek: International City Managers Association, um, and this was sort of part two of, uh, of an exchange, uh, over the course of the summer, the first part was the ... uh, Tom and his wife Debbie hosted some Fellows, um ... uh, from Indonesia and... Markus: Brunei. Hayek: Brunei, uh, for a period of time here in Iowa City and we got to know them a little bit, and then part two was Tom going over there, but, uh, I think it ... I think it speaks to the worldliness of...of, uh, the community and ... and our engagement, uh, as a city and uh, through, uh, one of our leaders, uh, with the rest of the world and um ... uh, I think it was an incredible experience, but it was an honor for the City and ... I know you had a good time, but it was also, uh, a challenge to go over and be away from this place for two weeks. Markus: Right! There was actually 23 hours of actual travel time in the, uh, planes, plus you know stopovers and layovers. In route we went through Seoul, Korea and on the way back it was Hong Kong. I did a travel log, I blogged, just about every day, and I'll make sure you get the contact information on that so you can kind of follow some of the experiences. Apparently with the Fellows they had these challenges to see what Fellows would do what in, uh, Indonesia and the other countries in southeast Asia, and there's this fruit called dorian and if, uh, you go on-line and check out what dorian is sometime. It has a fairly pungent smell to it, but I managed to get some down and so (laughter) I passed the test with the Indonesians and they were pretty happy about that. Indonesia's a country of 250 million people. It's the fourth largest country in the world, and most of us don't have that kind of in our mindset that it's that large of a country. It's 17,000 islands, 6,000 which are inhabited. Uh, this is their 70'' anniversary after This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 24 declaring independence, uh, following the, uh, defeat of the Japanese, uh, who had kind of ousted the Dutch that ran Indonesia for a while. You remember Sicarno was the President at the time. So, I know more about southeast Asia, and in particular Indonesia, than I ever thought I would, but ... I can tell you how much I liked it. Uh, Debbie and I'll go back and uh, we'll spend a significant amount of time once I get to that point, retirement, and then I managed to get back just in time for another granddaughter to be born here, uh, in Michigan, so ... it was a great trip! I really had a good time. Hayek: Well it speaks to your commitment to your profession and ... and uh, it's a ... it's a guild and I appreciate that you contribute to it and take it seriously, and Fruin didn't run the City into the ground while you were gone (laughter) (both talking) Markus: You know (both talking) Hayek: It used to be you'd leave town and we'd get some sort of natural disaster (laughter) Markus: And you know what, even ... even (both talking) Hayek: ...or a tire fire! (laughter) Markus: Even when we had a natural disaster, he handled it perfectly. You know, I have no worries about leaving things in ... in Geoff s capable hands! He does a great job, so... Payne: Hey, Matt, can I mention one more thing? Hayek: Uh huh. Payne: Didn't the ani ... Animal Shelter open this week? Markus: Yes! They actually moved in and we'll have a ... we'll schedule a grand opening. I managed to get over there this week, uh, and start to take a little bit.....look at it, and it's, you know, they still have some finishing touches, like this room does, but uh, they'll get there and I think it'll really serve the purpose that we hoped it would. Payne: But if somebody wants to adopt a pet or foster a pet, they can go to the new location. Markus: Yeah, plug that, so we're operating in the new location, so feel free to get down there and I'm sure the staff would be more than happy to show you around, but there will be a grand opening at some point, tours, so... Hayek: Geoff? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015. Page 25 Fruin: Nothing! Hayek: City Attorney? City Clerk? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2015.