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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-05 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER Throgmorton: Before we proceed, I'd like to welcome everybody to our meeting. It's great to see you on this cold winter evening. I also want to note that Pauline Taylor can't be physically present with us because she hurt herself in an accident. Pauline, was it about 10 days ago? Taylor: Yeah, about two weeks. Throgmorton: Yeah, and she'll be fine but, uh, right at the moment she can't be here with us, but ... she'll be he ... she'll be here at, uh, one of our ... future meetings, uh, just a few weeks from now. Taylor: Hopefully! Throgmorton: So ... hopefully, that's right! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 2 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — January 18 Throgmorton: It reads ... and the question is do I have the correct glasses on to do this properly. And I ... I want to warn you, I'm going to make a whole bunch of mistakes tonight, and luckily though we have a really skilled City Clerk and City Attorney here, uh, with us to make sure I recover from whatever those mistakes might be. Okay. (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Human Rights Commissioner Orville Townsend. (applause) Throgmorton: (mumbled, away from mic) (laughter) Townsend: (mumbled) Martin Luther King Jr. was an ordinary person that achieved extraordinary outcomes. Civil rights, freedom, equality. Here in Iowa City over the years, we've been working to parallel that. I think we've been doing a good job. This past year we've had multiple organizations come together to work to make life better, to give equality ... and I would hope that we will continue to work together to make Dr. King's dream a reality. (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 3 ITEM 4. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA) Throgmorton: This is for items not on the agenda. Uh... uh, please come forth if you have particular questions or topics you want to introduce to us, as long as they're not on the agenda. Please don't take more than five minutes. So would anybody care to speak? It looks like Joy! Beadleston: Good evening! Um, I do want to say I'm so happy and welcome to all the new, um, City Council Members and the ones that ... are coming back (laughs) for another term. So, um, it's really great to see new faces and I'm hoping that we have wonderful leadership and action (laughs) this, uh, term. So, um, I did want to thank you. I saw on the agenda that we are going to have a resolution to support the, um, Muslim community and um, to stand together. Um, I've ... this is something that's really close to my heart because my background is, um ... has, I have a lot of members of my family that are Muslim, Christian, Catholic (laughs) but um, they started the first mosque in America and have a great, great, um, reputation for volunteering, um, in our family from when we're young and to old age, so ... it's really important to me cause at times when there is hate, um, for rhetoric out there that, uh, it really damages Muslim businesses, uh, Arab businesses, and hate spreads because a lot of people don't even know, um, who a Muslim is. You know (laughs) we're everywhere in the world. Um, and the same with religion — no one should be hateful towards any religion, I believe, either and so this is a really huge leader ... ship stand (laughs) in the community to be doing this, so I want to thank you for taking action, um, on this and also I saw where the Board of Supervisors, I believe, also stood up and, um ... had a proclamation, so that's outstanding and I want to thank you cause I do speak out a lot, sometimes it doesn't ... it's not always pretty and it's not easy (laughs) but um, I felt it's really important. I also want to, uh, request that we do keep the agenda for the transportation on the top of the list and um ... also, um ... there ... the other thing (laughs) I wanted to talk about was, uh, the um ... (mumbled) one more thing, let me see. Sorry! I lost my track. Uh, when you meet ... I, we talked or you talked in the meeting about meeting with, um, Harreld, for lunch and I hope you can bring up accessibility issues on the University of Iowa campus. The Women's Resource Center is opening this month and they don't have, um, access completely for people with disabilities, and it really is a hindrance for a lot of people that want to participate at the Women's Resource Center, so I hope you bring that up and also other accessibility issues on campus and transportation issues also with a cover, you know, for the students by the Old Capitol. Um, it should have a protection and the property seating in that area for students and the community, um, so I hope when you do talk with Harreld that you bring those issues up cause they're very important, especially for a campus that had women leaders, um, they ... they, I don't know if everybody knows that, the history of the University, but they were one of the first universities to allow women, so we should ever ... never have anything that hinders a woman from getting her education and prospering in the community. So ... um, the one other thing I'll bring up is, uh, the issue with the snow. Um ... it also hinders people with disabilities and we need to make sure the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 4 curb cuts are clean, and I ask the community to also, you know, cause I know money's an issue with the City (laughs) sometimes that they also ... if they have a snowblower that they get out there and help their elderly community members and people with disabilities because maybe they don't have the access to a snowblower and, you know, we don't want to see anybody have to call an ambulance because they're eld... elderly and trying to snovel... shovel snow, excuse me (laughs) Okay, thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, Joy. Uh, Tom, I don't know ... you and I should try to take note of that, uh, the topic that Joy (both talking) Good! Markus: ...got ya! Throgmorton: Brandon! Ross: Hi, I'm Brandon Ross. Um ... first of all, again, welcome to all the new Councilors and welcome back to those who have been here, and uh... I would just like to say that, uh, in the spirit of...of Martin Luther King, uh, that I hope that this Council will, uh, support all issues that have to do with the working classes and um, I believe that Dr. King stood up for those who worked for their income and uh, not merely by manipulating capital, um, not (mumbled) real estate people, uh, or upper corporate people or otherwise very wealthy people. The majority of our city is really working class, um, and those who have ... those people, uh, most of the people will say that they're middle class, uh (laughs) usually month-to-month. They're really struggling. Um, I would say that, uh... that a big concern, uh, to put on the calendar, I hope, is affordable housing. Um, I have a friend, uh, who is paying $1,200 a month for a one -bedroom apartment. Uh, at this point he needed to have a certain kind of lease and there are a lot of apartments that are $1,200 a month for a single bedroom. If you make $10 an hour, which is considered within the working class, uh, realm right now, and even good for some people, you're making, uh, $1,600 roughly a month. $1,200 out of that is quite a bit. Uh, you know, let's not forget taxes are taken out of that, as well. That leaves you with maybe $300, $250, whatever ... $350. What do you pay for ... for your food? $10 a day (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) $300. Uh, how many Councilors actually... actually make it through with paying $10 a day for food nowadays? Food's going up. Uh, and I think that also when you have affordable housing, I think you should have affordable housing, as well as I think you should have rent control in this city, uh, which is something that other cities have done successfully. And when you ... when you take away the stress of...of rent, uh, on people who give everything... everything, every month of the year and still have credit card debt. When you make rent more in accordance with, uh, a livable situation where people can afford, then more money is actually circulating, there's more currency down low and so what happens is these people who are otherwise spending their money on rent will spend that money in other areas. Small businesses in town, and small business owners are paying massive rent. I see a business owner here who pays rent. Uh, at least one of you. Uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 5 and ... it ... debilitates the economy and so I say ... that, uh, with ... with Dr. King in mind, I think that if he stood for something ... a lot of people say that Dr. King really stood for racial equality, but if you listen ... you listen to him in his last speeches, you're hearing a man who is really standing up for the working person. How can you have that when Iowa City, for instance, in the past 15 years. Let's not kid ourselves. Has been building... housing for the wealthy. Let's build for everybody! Thank you so much! Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? Reverend Doyle! Landry: Good evening. For the record, Doyle Landry, Positive Vision Ministries. I ... have heard ... uh, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s name more than I can stomach for this, uh, 5t' of July, uh, 5t` of January. A year ago ... the January 6`h City Council meeting, the then City Council set forth that you were going to be honest about race. Six months later, the meeting that took place in a small conference room, we're at the six (mumbled) and I speak specifically to the four Council, um, Members who make up a majority. I asked for six month update because again, what we do very well in Iowa City is we talk. Talk is cheap. It's safe. It's nice, but when black boys and men continue to be racially profiled in this city ... not by the Police, but by employers who, uh, deem us unworthy of a job, regardless of degree, regardless of...criminal background... we have a problem... because if you notice in Chicago, uh, for me as a native... younger people operate differently. And for the fearless, young people who, um, some of 'em have moved here, not to be ... for negative reason, but to attend the University or Kirkwood, or just to live. They come with that same fearlessness that you're not ready for. And what I mean by that is ... the racism that people dance around or only embrace for when it's convenient, it has really taken root in the last year, even since ... the analysis that was put forth very bluntly about where Iowa City stands in relation to City hiring, promotion, and retention. I put that out there is because again, at the end of the day, uh, for those of us who ... really understand civil rights ... Dr. King was assassinated for being a man who stood up for economic justice. Economic justice, meaning regardless of my skin color, I'm a man and if I'm doing the work, I deserve the work. There are too many African Americans in this city, regardless of education, who have been locked out of employment because of your old -boy network. There are too many African Americans who leave because they know elsewhere people can be honest about ... um ... work. So here we are a year later and when ... attempts are rebuffed to ask about ... efforts and individuals are putting in resumes to, uh, better themselves because ... and I speak this in terms of individuals who, um, may be leaving the City. At the end of the day, African Americans who have put in a fair work, fair worth ... uh, still are left behind, and not to negate other races, but I would be a hypocrite if I, uh, used the racial justice in believing that I speak for all races. Nope, African American. So ... I would hope that if we're going to be honest in 2016 since nothing was done in 2015, that we start having an honest conversation, that may hurt and will hurt some feelings, about race. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 6 Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? All right! Ordinarily we would move on to Item 5, uh, but ... we think it would be helpful to move Item 7 up to this moment in the, uh, agenda, and....so I would invite a motion, uh, from one of our Council Members to that effect. Taylor: (mumbled) I move that we, uh, move Item 7 up to Item 5. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Roll call. Karr: It's a motion. Throgmorton: Motion! All in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion carries 7 — 0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 7 ITEM 7. SUPPORT IOWA CITY MUSLIM COMMUNITY - RESOLUTION DECLARING SUPPORT FOR MUSLIM COMMUNITIES AND URGING ALL TO STAND TOGETHER FOR PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING Throgmorton: So let me read this resolution. (reads resolution) So, uh... Dilkes: Need to have a motion to get it on the floor. Throgmorton: We need a motion to get it on the floor. Dickens: So moved. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Uh... (several talking) Sorry! It's a motion so there's a roll call. Dilkes: Discussion. Throgmorton: Discussion! Thank you. I told you I'd need help! (laughs) Joe, you wanted to say something. Go ahead! Coulter: On behalf of the Human Rights Commission, and the, uh, Muslim communities, I want to thank the City Council, uh... and you, Mayor Throgmorton, uh, for this statement of solidarity and support, uh, for us and I look forward to accompanying you, uh, to present the proclamation to the (mumbled) and the, uh, Executive Committee, uh, at the Iowa City, uh... Muslim, uh... church. Throgmorton: Mosque. Coulter: Thank you, mosque! (laughter) Throgmorton: I'm not the only one that occasionally makes a mistake! Okay, so ... would anybody else in the audience like to say something on this particular point? Beadleston: Um, yeah, I just wanted to say again thank you. Um ... this'll be really important to the Muslim community and uh, it's a really great honor to know that our community leaders have stepped up and really made a commitment to this important, um, resolution and the proclamation of the supervisors, Board of Supervisors, um ... and I really am proud of...our leaders. I just don't know if I said that before, but I really ... I'm very proud of you and this means so much to the Muslim community. I've worked with people all over this country and in other nations, Muslim leaders, um ... and I know that, uh, this is something that's not happening in every community, so I think... everyone needs to be really proud of the people of our city for being leaders. Thanks! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 8 Throgmorton: Thank you, Joy. Anyone else in the audience? Seeing none, discussion among Council Members? Hearing ... oh... Botchway: I just think it's important, um, I really appreciate. There's folks in the audience that were at the, um, Muslim solidarity, um, event not too long ago with Johnson County. Um, you know, it's just important from an Iowa City perspective as we are kind of the pinnacle, um, as we think about it from a campaign standpoint, an election standpoint. Some of the rhetoric that's being spewed is ... is just kind of deplorable and so, um, you know, us supporting this, I think, is a step in the right direction. I hope other communities would do so as well. Cole: But I think Joy makes a good point. This is not only going to be about words. This is going to be about standing, shoulder -to -shoulder with our friends and neighbors of the Islamic faith. Um, frankly what they've had to endure, um, is ... is terrible and so I'm really glad that we're taking a proactive leadership role in this. We have to make clear that this is not only going to be words. We will stand with you. We do encourage you to report any claims of harassment, threats, or violence to our law enforcement and let us know how we can best serve you. Throgmorton: Anyone else? All right, there's a motion on the floor so, um... Karr: Roll call. Throgmorton: Roll call (mumbled) All right. Thank you! Dickens: (mumbled) number 6 at this time or (mumbled) Throgmorton: Uh, I think when it comes up, but it would ... do we need to formally remove Item 6? Karr: No, they'll be no action. You can announce if someone is (mumbled) no action on Item 6 if you'd like. Throgmorton: Okay. So we'll come to that when we (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 9 ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS ITEM 5a CENTRAL BUSINESS SUPPORT (CB -5) CODE AMENDMENT — ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14, ZONING CODE, SECTION 4B- 4A- 7, TO ALLOW RESIDENTIAL USES ON THE GROUND -LEVEL FLOOR IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS SUPPORT (CB -5) ZONE IN THE AREA BOUNDED BY GILBERT STREET, VAN BUREN STREET, BURLINGTON STREET AND THE MID -BLOCK ALLEY SOUTH OF JEFFERSON STREET, PROVIDED CERTAIN FORM -BASED ZONING STANDARDS ARE MET. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Open the public hearing now, right? Open a public hearing (bangs gavel) John Yapp! Yapp: Uh, good evening, Mayor, Members of Council. Uh, John Yapp, Development Services. Uh, this code amendment was discussed during the recent Comprehensive Plan amendment process, uh, for this area. Uh, and essentially what the code amendment would do is not require commercial uses on the first floor, uh, in this area. Uh, the area we're focused on now is fairly targeted, uh, too....and my shading didn't show up very well on this ... here's abetter map. Uh, targeted to the ... three and a half block area between Gilbert Street and Van Buren Street, north of Burlington Street, south of the alley between Jefferson Street, uh, and Market Street. Uh, the reason we're bringing this code amendment to you now is ... is in conjunction with the next item, uh, on your agenda. Uh... what this code amendment would do would be to state that in this area, uh, commercial uses are not required on the first floor, uh, in the CB -5 zone. Currently in all CB zones, uh, commercial uses are required. Uh, many of us have seen some vacant commercial spaces in the, uh, outlying part of the downtown. Uh, and we've discussed, uh, allowing residential uses in those areas, uh, with certain design standards. What staff is recommending is use... utilizing the form -based code standards, uh, to allow residential uses in those areas, according to certain building types that are described in the form -based code. Uh, this is a graphic from the form -based code of an ... I'll admit they're somewhat generic, uh, graphics but they show townhouses, an apartment building, multi -dwelling building, and a liner building, uh, as potential residential type structures, uh, that would be allowed. Uh, a liner building, at the lower right hand of the graphic ... is a, uh, residential building that lines a, uh, parking deck, uh, that would be behind the building. Uh, again, this code amendment would, uh, be in the three and a half block area between Gilbert, Van Buren, Burlington, uh, and the alley south of Jefferson Street. Uh, a summary of the code amendment is buildings with residential uses on the first floor would be required to comply with form -based code standards. Uh, buildings that have commercial uses on the first floor would continue to be required to have commercial, uh, development standards. Uh, this code amendment would provide the flexibility to allow residential uses on the first This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 10 floor. Uh, this allows for a greater density of residential uses within the downtown area, uh, while eliminating the requirement for commercial areas ...commercial uses in an area where commercial uses are either not desirable or feasible. Uh, staff recommends approval and the Planning and Zoning Commission have recommended approval. Be glad to take any questions. Throgmorton: Any questions for John? Thomas: John, didn't the, uh (clears throat) as I remember in the Planning and Zoning discussion, wasn't there a reference to the, uh, south Gilbert... subdistrict as the... Yapp: The... Thomas: ...standard? Yapp: The standards would be based on the south Gilbert District form -based code standards. That's correct (both talking) Thomas: So that language in the south Gilbert... Yapp: That's correct. Thomas: ....District would apply then to these three (both talking) Yapp: For building design ... for the residential building design component, the frontage component. Thomas: Just for the frontage component. Yapp: Frontage and ... uh... placement, building placement components, as well. Thomas: Um, what ... what controls, if any, pertain to the building heights then in this ... and I'm particularly concerned about the ... the area to the north of Iowa Avenue. This half block area, on the north side of Iowa Avenue up to the alleyway. Yapp: And if I can show that (noise, unable to hear speaker) currently zoned CB -5. If I can get my mouse ... this area here. Uh, north side of Iowa Avenue. Cole: That be at the UAY location? Yapp: That is, yes. UAY and, uh, adjacent property to the east. Thomas: So, I know we had discussions, um, on the three municipal blocks pertaining to building heights, along Iowa Avenue, as I recall... Yapp: Correct. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 11 Thomas: (both talking) ...two to four story height limit in the Comprehensive Plan for that frontage, the southern frontage of Iowa Avenue between Gilbert and um, Van Buren. So ... or ... I guess it would be Johnson... Johnson Street. No, it's Van Buren. Yapp: Van Buren. Thomas: Van Buren. Yapp: Yes. Thomas: So w ... how does that, I don't recall there being any discussion of building height control ... any kind of Comprehensive Plan amendment discuss... discussion about building heights on the north side of Iowa Avenue. Yapp: (both talking) The, uh, the area on the north side of Iowa Avenue was amended into the Central District Plan. Uh, building height however is controlled by the ... the zone. Uh, and in the CB -5 zone, uh... has a 75 -foot tall height limit. Thomas: Right but that ... so that gets back to my question then on the ... the Comprehensive Plan because the ... the, um, the zoning we are ... will be in our next item discussing would be for CB -5 zoning... correct? Yapp: That's correct. Thomas: So ... so that area is also CB -5, but there were building height, uh, additional language in the Comprehensive Plan regarding building heights along Iowa Avenue for the southern ... you know, for the parking lot that we'll be discussing in the next item. I don't recall there being any discussion about ... in the, at the Comprehensive Plan level regarding build ... I guess the question in my ... would be then, is there any building height control, uh, other than what CB -5 allows on the north side of Iowa Avenue that's included in this? Yapp: It would be controlled by the CB -5 zone. Thomas: Simply by the CB -5 zone? Yapp: That's correct. Cole: So this proposal for 5a then would apply to that, um, area north of Iowa Avenue then? Yapp: If...if the owner chose to use ... to have residential uses on the first floor. Cole: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 12 Yapp: Yes. Cole: Well earlier you had talked about the lack of commercial use on ... on first floors, is that empirically proven? Is that just sort of an ad hoc observation? Is that just sort of feedback, because as I look at sort of our commercial needs downtown, um, it really is a question of cost. I think there's a lot of people that are looking for office space but are really sort of priced out. Um, what efforts has the City made to ensure that we do have optimal utilization of our first floor commercial space, cause I tell ya, this does concern me to change this. I could look at potentially tweaking that, but ... um, what efforts has the City made to ensure that we do have the optimal utilization on some more of these ... these vacant commercial spaces? Yapp: I guess I cannot answer that larger question. Um, and Wendy Ford our Economic Development Coordinator is not in the room currently. Uh, but this proposal is based both on ... what I'd call empirical, anecdotal evidence of vacant commercial spaces. Not in the core of downtown, but in the outlying perimeter of the downtown, and as ... a significant amount of public feedback, uh, during our Comprehensive Plan amendment process that... especially in the areas that are ... are in a ... a border zone between the core and residential neighborhoods, that it's not always appropriate, uh, or desirable to have ... to require commercial uses on the first floor. And ... on the flip -side, uh, there has been a desire to increase residential density within walking distance of downtown, and within walking distance of campus, and those residents in turn help support the commercial uses that are downtown. Throgmorton: Other questions for John? Thank you, Mr. Yapp! Yapp: Thank you. Throgmorton: Would anybody else like to address this particular item? McCallum: My ... my name is Mark McCallum. I live at 113 S. Johnson. Uh, I support this, uh, provision, but I'd ask to go a little bit further. For years ... you know, I've always looked at the Peninsula model where they have actual live/works .(coughing, difficult to hear speaker) to you is ... um ... why aren't we looking at, um, in ... look at (mumbled) and some of the ... develop small, aff...affordable commercial spaces that we've lost due to new redevelopment proposals, and I think there's something that the City needs to be doing in regards to trading opportunities for small business people who actually want to live and work in their ... their space, and so, um, I ... so that's the larger question I'd ask. I ... I see ... I agree that there is a lot if you go down south Gilbert, lot of vacant, um (clears throat) commercial spaces and that is not good. I'd rather see that ... that space utilized, uh, in ... you know, or give property owners an option and perhaps ... I see, would like to see a provision allowing developers to, um, either go both ways — This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 13 develop units that could be either lived in or worked in or both. So I ... I just pose that question to you tonight. Throgmorton: Anyone else? Seeing no one else, uh, ready to speak I'll close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Closed. 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Botchway: (mumbled) first consideration. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Discussion? Karr: I'm sorry, who moved and seconded? Dickens: Botchway, Dickens. Karr: Thank you. Throgmorton: Discussion? (noises in background) Dickens: I know I brought this up, uh, with Tom several years ago, noticing that Gilbert Street area has been empty for multiple years and at that time he had told me that they were already looking into this and hadn't received a lot of feedback, so I'm glad to see that this is moving forward. Uh... you know, it ... having empty buildings costs everybody more, empty spaces, so ... if we can fill 'em with either apartments or the option of putting businesses in, I think it's a great option that you're able to do, not forcing one or the other, that it leaves a little more leeway to ... to build these buildings and make 'em affordable. Mims: I would agree, I'm glad to see this moving forward, like you said, Terry. It's something that we've, you know, talked about in the past and, you know, there's certain areas, um, you know, where want to keep that first floor for commercial, but I think there's certain areas where we can have that flexibility and this makes a lot of sense. Thomas: I certainly support the, um, the question of allowing residential use on the ground floor. Um, I ... I'm not clear on ... on why the ... the, um, the area to the north, the north side of Iowa Avenue up to the alleyway has been included as a part of this amendment. Uh, and what I'm not... understanding is ... is how the, um ... the building height controls which we have in the Comprehensive Plan for the municipal block area, uh, which as it pertains to this would be on the south side of Iowa Avenue. Um, it would seem to me if...if that building height limitation on the CB -5 was put in place for the southern side of Iowa Avenue, east of Gilbert Street, that um ... if...if the concern was with the ... you know, the ... the, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 14 um ... (mumbled) character of Iowa Avenue that we would apply the same standard on the north side of Iowa Avenue, uh, for symmetrical purposes. Uh, to, um ... to make sure that the building heights on ... on the north and south sides of Iowa Avenue would be consistent. Um ... (clears throat) and I ... if I understood staff, I'm not hearing that there are such controls ... uh, in the, um ... on the building heights on the north side of Iowa Avenue. Throgmorton: Only if there's residential activity on the first floor of the mixed use building, right, John? Karr: We're going to reconnect (mumbled) Throgmorton: Yeah. Yapp: Should I wait? Karr: Please. (noises, re-establishing phone connection) Taylor: Hello! Thanks, I'm back on! Karr: Okay, thanks! Yapp: Uh, Pauline, John Yapp, uh, on staff responding to a question. The, uh, control on height is embodied in the zoning regulations. So for the CB -5 property, it ... the control is 75 -feet. Is the height limit (both talking) Thomas: And there's nothing in the Comprehensive Plan that would limit the building height on the north side to two to four stories, as we have on the south side of (both talking) Yapp: That's correct. There ... there is not. For the, uh, property on the south side of Iowa Avenue ... uh, we have a rezoning application, and because we have a rezoning application, that gives the City the opportunity, uh, to ... uh, include ... uh, regulatory height limits as a part of that zoning application. However, for the property on the north side of Iowa Avenue, that ... is already zoned; it's private property. Um, the regulatory measures are embodied in the zoning, the CB -5 zone. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. Okay, let's see, uh, we now .... (mumbled) Did I already close the public hearing, didn't I (several responding) Karr: ...have a motion on the floor. Throgmorton: Motion's on the floor, um, we ... uh, discussion? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 15 Thomas: Well I ... I guess I'm not ready to give up on the question of commercial on the ground floor. Um, I think that office space, commercial use is ... is a ... there's a huge shortage of it. I guess I agree with Mark on his question of the possibility of the live/work. Um, it's close to the downtown, and I'm also concerned in terms of the general development process where we have the specific zoning, uh, change here that's... that's tethered to another proposal that we have later on in the agenda, um ... I'm willing to look at allowing more flexibility on our first floor commercial spaces, whether that is a live/work, um, greater flexibility, but in terms of completely eliminating the commercial, um, component on our ground floors, um, at least at this point, I have concerns about that. Um, I ... I could consider something new in the future that would possibly change that, but at least as of right now, um, I'm not supportive of this. Mims: It is a pretty limited area though too. Thomas: Yeah. Botchway: (several talking) ...didn't know if John was going to come in, but I think Susan answered it, I mean I'm ... I'm completely in favor of this, just from what Susan mentioned about the flexibility, um, you know, I ... Terry had kind of mentioned this beforehand and I give him more credit, but urn ... I like it. I like different things, especially in this area. Um, you know, I ... I'd like to see it. Throgmorton: Yeah, I'm going to support the ordinance as well. I ... I, though I think Mark raises an interesting question about live/work units and I ... I'd like to see John, uh, connect with Mark, or ... or provide us with a response in one way or another to that particular point, though maybe not directly as a matter of this particular ordinance because we're going to vote on it, at least take first consideration now. Okay. So, um, we have a motion on the floor. Uh, all in favor of the (both talking) Karr: Roll call. Throgmorton: I'm sorry, roll call! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 16 ITEM 5b REZONING CITY HALL PARKING AREA — ORDINANCE REZONING 0.98 ACRES OF PROPERTY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC (P-1) TO CENTRAL BUSINESS SUPPORT (CB -5) ZONE FOR PROPERTY LOCATED SOUTH OF IOWA AVENUE BETWEEN GILBERT STREET AND VAN BUREN STREETS. (REZ15-00022) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: So I need to ask, uh, ex parte question. Says, uh, anybody ... does anybody need to make public disclosure about ex parte, um ... conversations. (several talking) Open the public hearing first. There ya go! Let's see, that's like the Ie mistake, right? Okay! We're good (several talking) All right, so ... I'll open the public hearing (bangs gavel) Now ... would anybody need to make a disclosure of ex parte ... ex parte communications? Hearing none, Mr. Yapp! Yapp: Uh, this, uh, concept came to the City Council, uh, last summer. Uh, at the time, it was announced that the Unitarian Church property, uh, was for sale. Uh... the applicant, uh, Jesse Allen, came to the City, came to City Council with a concept plan that would include allowing development on the City's surface parking lot, north of City Hall, uh, while allowing preservation of the original structure of the Unitarian Church. Uh, at that time, the Council, uh... consensus was to allow further development of this concept. Uh, that resulted in a rezoning application, which is before you tonight. Uh, the property in question is ... is north of City Hall, the surface parking lot, and at the time we also had some discussion about surface parking lots in a downtown setting. Uh, and ... I think there's both an ec... an economic argument that would say surface parking lots are really dead zones, but more importantly, uh, there's a ... a vitality argument, uh, that surface parking lots are designed for cars, not for people. Uh, buildings, however, can be designed for people. Uh, this graphic shows the zoning pattern. The, uh, parking lot is currently zoned P-1, which is a public zone because it is owned and used, uh, by the City. The Unitarian Church property is zoned CB -5. Uh, property to the north is CB -5; to the east is CB -5, and to the west is CB -10. Uh, this graphic shows the recent Comprehensive Plan amendment, uh, for the three -block area. I'll focus on the .... the north part of the area. The Unitarian Church structure is shown as a potential historic building. The, uh ... frontages along Iowa Avenue and Van Buren Street are shown as two to four stores in height, and the interior of the property is shown as four to six stories in height. Uh, and this is a photograph of the existing parking lot, with City Hall in the background. Uh, this is the site plan for the, uh, proposed development and I'll go over it very generally. Uh, the applicant's architect, David Zahradnik, uh, will ... will give a more detailed, uh, overview of the building. Uh, but the building includes four story, uh, townhouses. They'd be stacked townhouses — two stories each — along the Iowa Avenue and Van Buren Street frontage. Uh... there would be a parking deck in the middle of the property that would both replace, uh, City staff parking and provide parking for the residents in the building, as well as a ... a, um, small amount of spaces available for users of, uh, the office space. A fire station, uh, would be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 17 located facing Gilbert Street, and what ... what the City has long desired is ... is a pull-through fire station. Uh, right now fire trucks have to back in to the fire station on Gilbert Street. This would allow fire trucks ... when they're returning from a call, so they're not at high speeds, uh, to pull in to the property at Van Buren Street and pull all the way through, uh, and park in this area, uh, facing Gilbert Street. Uh... yesterday and again earlier today, uh, we received an updated graphic of, uh, setbacks, uh, for the ... for the project, and we've passed out hard copies, uh, for you of these tonight also, cause this is a little hard to read. Urn ... the question of setbacks was a topic of discussion at the Planning and Zoning Commission level, and how ... how close would this building be, both to the right-of-way and to the sidewalk. At that time, uh, the applicant had not yet had the property surveyed, so it was difficult to answer those questions. Uh, now the property has been surveyed, uh, and we have some ... a little more precise information, but I would say that this is still, uh, approximate in that the building has not yet been final designed. Uh, but as ... as proposed, uh, the building would be four -feet, uh, setback from the property line, uh... on both frontages. Along Van Buren Street it would be about 12 -feet from the sidewalk, and ... along Iowa Avenue it would be about 9 -feet, 4 -inches, uh, from the sidewalk. Iowa Avenue is a very wide right-of-way. It's about 120 -feet wide. Uh, and there's a ... a very wide space between the sidewalk and the curb for, uh, the street trees, uh, that are there. Uh, this also shows those setbacks in comparison to the Unitarian Church property, which is between, uh, 7 -feet ... excuse me. Yeah, about 7 -feet and 14 - feet from the sidewalk. So this building would be in between that 7 -feet and 14 - foot area. Uh, and ... compared to the, uh, structure on the east side of Van Buren Street at Iowa Avenue, which is, uh, right on the property line, uh, about 4 -feet from the sidewalk. Uh, other ... another structure in the area is New Pioneer Co -Op building, that's also built right up to the property line. This is an image, uh, looking from the Iowa Avenue and Van Buren Street frontage of the, uh... townhouses concept, with the ... there'd be apartments above the parking deck. Uh, the townhouses would function as a liner building, lining that parking deck, uh, and ... and hiding it, if you will. Uh, one of the things ... I want to emphasize is that ... uh, rezoning this property and what staff has recommended it be rezoned according to general conformance with the mass and scale of this ... this concept plan, uh, rezoning this property does not ... require that the City sell the property to the applicant. Uh, we've not yet received detailed financial information from the applicant, uh, and because the City owns the property, uh ... ultimately it will be up to the City Council to enter into that development agreement. The rezoning is an important step, but it's not the last step. Uh, but I think the applicant is interested in hearing your feedback, as they proceed toward more refined, uh, design and those ... that higher level of detail would be included in the development agreement, uh, for the property. Be glad to take any questions. Otherwise I'll turn it over to the architect. Zahradnik: Good evening! Um, Dave Zahradnik with Neumann Monson Architects. I guess I'll take just a couple minutes to kind of walk you through this proposal just a little bit, and please keep in mind that this is still very conceptual. Um, as John This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 18 said, we were here back in, uh, July of last year, kind of gave you a very rough (mumbled) how this might come together, and uh... now we've taken it up a few more steps further, just kind of gettin' it down the road a little bit more and hopefully we can get this through the zoning. Um ... we had been working, uh, Neumann Monson had been working with the UU Church on their new site location when this all came up. Uh, one of the things they were looking for was a way to get their maximum property value. Um, obviously the maximum property value is there, without the church standing. Um, be that as it may, that's what can get them the most money for their new facility. Um, they had been looking with several different developers along the way, trying to figure out how to make that happen, potential of tearing down the building. Um, obviously one of the studies we looked at on what that land value could be worth, uh, it's worth quite a bit to them without the church on there. Um, we're fortunate enough to find a developer who's interested in finding a different solution that allows for that building to still remain and to be able to develop this property in a way that could meet some of the City's needs, um, because honestly when the City found that the property was up for sale, and they didn't have first right of refusals, they were thinking of, 'Wait a minute, we wanted that for our fire station.' So we found ways to try to make this a kind of more of a win -win-win situation for everybody here and uh, hopefully this is, uh, this is something that we can look forward and work towards. Um, I'll tell you a little bit more about the site here. This is that, the Unitarian Church. Uh, the parking lot here has about 80 cars in it right now that the City uses for parking, uh, both police, uh, fleet vehicles, fire vehicles, and uh, City staff vehicles. Uh, so certainly as a part of this proposal we thought that we needed to try to, uh, maintain that parking for the City's needs. Uh, we also took a look at, uh, the historic nature of this church and seeing what we could do to save that. Uh, also knowing that the fire station wanted to have these pull-through bays that John was describing earlier. Uh, we kind of came up with a concept on how we could, uh, make that happen. Um ... I'll tell ya just a little more about how this will come about. We're looking at having a good building separation between this church little stand-off, as a little jewel right here in the corner, creating kind of a pedestrian plaza between the ... the building on this side, which is a little bit of a taller mass, and the church, so that we could have an entry court right in here, off of Gilbert, that would allow for a small addition on the church that would create elevator access so it's accessibility. Right now that's one of the big reasons the church is vacating — it is not accessible. Um, they have a lot of issues with, uh, stairs, restrooms. Uh, we're planning that there would be a entry element there that comes in at grade and then you go down about a half story to the lower level, up to the, uh, upper level, and this church, right now we're thinking of potentials for... commercial space. I mean we're thinking it's (mumbled) right now that could be rented out in the future for multitude of different uses. Um, the other concept we were working on here is that idea of...if we did this parking, how can we provide for all of the uses that are on the site and still accommodate the City. So that's when we started looking at the structured parking. Um, we're looking at accommodating roughly a little over 200 spaces right now, which would accommodate all the needs of this, uh, residential and commercial uses that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 19 are on this site, plus provide for all the City vehicles that are currently parked on that site. Um, in this, um ... proposal (mumbled) as John described, there would be a liner building that is made up of two-story ... two two-story condos stacked on top of each other, each with walk-up from the street. The idea of that is to kind of reminiscent more of the brownstone, uh, kind of that type of a look, kind of a transitional feel where the height of the building would be 50 -feet or less and be kind of a transition as you're coming into downtown from the residential area, kind of taking it more to that, uh, downtown scale as you ... as you're moving in from the east on Iowa Avenue. Um, going back to ... this area here, above the, uh, parking deck we would have about 54 units. All be accessible units on that level, uh, so that there would be ele... or elevator access at each end and street entry at each end of the building. Uh, maybe I will ... move forward a little bit and as I ... I think John had done a pretty good job of describing this thing, so maybe I'll bypass that. Uh, talk a little bit about the townhomes. Each townhome, uh, has access at the first floor here. Also as you're coming in from the ramp, you'd be able to park at the back of your townhome, on the first floor, and have first floor entry into that townhome. So ringing the building is a two-story townhomes that, uh, have access both from the street level and from your parking garage. Uh, we did have to make some special considerations in designing this ramp to be able to get the fire trucks through there. Most parking ramps are not designed for the height of a fire truck to go through. So we did make some special considerations and a little bit more expensive ramp to try to build, given the fact that we needed all that clear area for the drive-through here. There will be a, what we call a speed ramp, which is a ramp that takes you right up to the next level of parking, right along this area here, and as you see, this would be the, uh, entry court area with elevator access that takes you up to the commercial floors that are directly above the fire department and up to the residential units. Um, this is still early concepts. We're still working out exactly how all this is, but gotta think of this from the ... the basic ideas here. Uh, and we also will have an entry access from, uh, Van Buren side here where we would be able to go up to the... residential units above, and then there are three flats type units that do not have walk-up, uh, that would be accessible units along those townhome designs, but have elevator access off of the Van Buren entrance here. Uh, if we go up a couple of levels here, the next level as you come up the ramp here, there is access to two floors of, uh... class -A office space, about 6,000 square feet on each level. And then there would also be entry access to the next level, that second stacked, uh, of townhomes, at your first floor of that townhome, at gra ... at that level parking access. So you could bring your groceries directly in without having to go up and down on these stairs, and at that point you do have, uh, car access to those flat units that do not have stairs within them. So we are providing accessibility, both for the townhome type ... style design and for the units that are above. Uh, when we get above we have, uh... three floors of units, a mix of three-bedroom, two- bedroom, and uh, studio apartments, uh, 54 units in total, uh, all having elevator access and being accessible units. This is a view looking at it from ... uh, the ... comer here where the Iowa Avenue ramp is right here at the side. You're looking here at the ... fire truck access doors that would be fronting Gilbert Street. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 20 And then the two levels of commercial, urn ... space right here. This is the Unitarian Church, kind of set off aside, kind of like this little jewel on the corners.... the... the thought process we've had, and then we're looking at the townhomes, and as you can see, all of the parking is really masked by the ... the building itself. We've looked at materiality, uh, again this is all conceptual, but we feel it's very appropriate. These townhomes would be of a masonry type. We've done some, uh, materiality surveys up and down Iowa Avenue, looking at the type of materials that would be appropriate to keep that scale down and ... and the mass was when the... residential units that rise above that height, we're looking at something of a lighter material. Might still be of a terracotta, might be more of a terracotta panel or an architectural metal panel or something, but we feel that that break in color, or just break in amenities, helps keep the scale of this building feeling less than what it is. Urn ... so those are some little architectural tricks we're doing. There would be balconies, um, and then again ... this is the view that John had shown you earlier where you do see this townhome design as you're coming in from Iowa Avenue, a ... around Van Buren here, with that, uh... three stories of apartments that are back over the ramp, back in the ... in the... recessing, back in the area. Um, I guess if you have any other questions I can kind of go over other parts of the design. I ... I can't stress enough, this is still very conceptual. We have to go through a lot of design review, and a lot more drawings. Even though it looks like we have things figured out, it's just kind of a start here, so... Throgmorton: Any questions for David? Botchway: You're mentioning accessibility from ... can you go back to that, uh, slide where you were talking about accessibility inside the parking ramp. You know, I know this is purely conceptual but ... is there thoughts on whether or not you're going to have the, um, you know, the required width for accessibility on both sides? Cause you have your driver coming out of the car, but you might have somebody on the other end, from that standpoint as well? Zahradnik: Uh, we would have ... we are not at that level, I guess (mumbled; both talking) We started laying out these spaces and we put them, you know, the required (mumbled) spaces would be down on the first floor. Botchway: Okay. Zahradnik: So ... honestly, these units down here would not have (mumbled) right at their back door. They would have van accessibility and then to the elevator and up to the unit. But because of the heights we would need for van accessibility, which does give you that ... extra option, so... Dickens: How far is the, uh, setback on the top? Three floors? From ... Van Buren and from, uh, Gilbert Street? Zahradnik: I don't (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 21 Dickens: Zahradnik: Dickens: Zahradnik: Dickens: Zahradnik: Dickens: Zahradnik: Dickens: ...past the townhouses or... You're talking about how far back from ... (both talking) Van Buren... ...Iowa Avenue to this... No, from Van Buren (both talking) coming in. Or do they go all the way to the edge of the building? No, this ... right here is where that would end. Okay. So ... if I go back to the slide ... I think this was 23 -feet off of Van Buren Street. This is another 25 -feet; so it's roughly 50 -some feet about (both talking) ...setback quite a ways (mumbled) Throgmorton: And it's what, about 75 -feet back from, uh, from Gilbert? Am I reading that correctly? The ... those top three floors? (several talking) Zahradnik: ...this is about 60 -feet right here and there's about another 25 -feet here and then that was about, uh, so it's ... it's more than that. We would have ... 29, 25 (both talking) Throgmorton: If you go to ... go to the rendering that's from the northwest, looking toward the building. All right, never mind. I see. It's hardly... virtually no setback from (both talking) top three stories, from Gilbert Street. Zahradnik: Right! Throgmorton: Right. Zahradnik: There is some setback ... of the fire station. This comes out more towards the property line here. There's a little bit of a setback right at the... residential area here. (both talking) Throgmorton: So I'd like to (mumbled) things here, just in the spirit of, you know, knowing that this is still at a fairly conceptual stage, so just, you know... Zahradnik: Sure! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 22 Throgmorton: ... feedback. Uh, one question I've has ... one question I have concerns, um, people who are working on the second and third floors of that building, of the tall building, or living in any of those floors a ... above ... the front, uh, and I'm thinking about the fire truck sirens ... going off. So, what do you ... what do you have in mind for mitigating the loudness of the sirens within the building? Zahradnik: That is something that we're really going to have to take a hard look at. So, I (laughs) it's not the first time that it's been brought up. Throgmorton: Yeah. Zahradnik: So ... but we will look at that. Throgmorton: Fair enough! (both talking) If I were gonna live there (both talking) I kinda had that in mind, right. The other thing I wonder about really has to do with the, uh... you architects call these renderings. What do you ... yeah, I'm not an architect; I'm an urban planner, right? So, anyhow, when I look at the rendering, and ... and I look at the top three stories, I think, uh, you know, I ... I think you could do better than that. I think you could push it, in terms of really improving the overall quality of design as seen from ... from the outside, and maybe even the two ... two floors of...the commercial or office space that you have in mind. Uh, you know, I'm sure you've already put thought into it, so I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job (laughs) but it just ... when I look at it, from my own background and thinking of a person walking along there, I ... I think you could do better. So... Mims: See and I think that is the thing that is incredibly challenging, Jim (both talking) Throgmorton:... sure it is, yeah. Mims: ...because not that it's so challenging for them ... it's challenging because everybody has a different opinion ... on what is attractive and what they like. I mean ... we've got old buildings with brick, and even new buildings with brick. We've got glass and metal buildings downtown that some people love and some people hate. And so ... you know, what you would say you would like to see "better design; they could do better,' somebody else can easily look at that very same rendering and say 'hey that looks pretty sharp; I like that!' So ... I think as a Council we have to be really careful ... I mean and obviously here tonight we're talking about rezoning, and ... but as I said, they ... you know, the developer wants to get some sense of where we're coming from because there are more votes and approvals that have to come, but I ... I think we just have to be really, really careful that we're not going to be the ... the, uh, design police, um ... you know, on these projects. So ... (both talking) personally I like the looks. Throgmorton: I'm sure they would understand I'm not saying 'do this,' right? (several talking) Well, just for David; any questions? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 23 Cole: In terms of the church itself, at this point there's no intention to make a residential use of that, cause I think one of the things I have ... had concerns on other projects where, you know, the developers have preserved the historic structures. They just end up being sort of apartments. Um, any thought as to what's going to go in there? Or is it possible that it may be residential inside (both talking) Zahradnik: ...no discussions about residential at all. Cole: Okay, so that's likely (mumbled) commercial use? Zahradnik: Right. Cole: Okay. I agree with Susan. I mean, if we're ... if we're in sort of a ... but if we're in a very preliminary stage I guess what I want to get a sense from you though is that when you do these design renderings, um, how expensive is it? Is it just a question of, you know, redoing a design on a computer or is there some actual tangible costs with that, because I don't want to... Zahradnik: Well in terms of the ... (both talking) I don't want you to think just cause this looks like a finished product, there's a long way to go to actually get this vetted in terms of what the materials really are, how they all go together, and how they look. So ... we're kind of at a ... odd spot where developers don't want to invest a lot of money to get through the approval process, and so, you know, we have to try to get stuff on paper so that people can start to conceptualize some of the ideas we might be having, are floating around the office, but ... we can't spend the hours and hours it takes to really vet the design fully just to find out that there's no, uh... um ... there's ... you're gonna be opposed to the whole concept. So... Cole: And there's a lot of elements that I like on it that are really good. The only thing that I'm thinking of is especially with Iowa Avenue, and when you think of a signature avenue in the City of Iowa City, looking both the east and west, I do think we need to get that community feedback because that's one thing, you know, once it's built, um, and ... and I am very protective of Iowa Avenue. So, um, but I think there's a lot of elements that I like and I think Jim is right (mumbled) on the right track, but I'm not a huge fan of this particular design. Um, but I like the element of the townhomes too, so... Botchway: Two more points, um, the first point being I just want to state, and you know, as we're talking about this from a developer standpoint, I do appreciate the, you know, preserving the church. I mean that's a huge deal. I do appreciate, you know, taking the time to make this a, I think you said three wins — win -win-win situation. With a (mumbled) excuse me! With a fire truck, um, access point, as well ... going back to ... my second point is, going back to (mumbled) point as far as talking about that dead zone, cause I know that we're ... we are kind of...hiding the dead zone (coughs) Excuse me ... almost, because ... I don't know, and I know that you're talking about the ... is there any way to move the parking structures This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 24 underground, or do something differently, and so yeah. I mean that's... that's a part of it. I just ... that's my ... we ... we haven't done anything ... to me we haven't done anything necessarily... we've done something differently with the space, obviously. I'm (several talking) ...see the parking but it's still there, and so it's not necessarily usable from that perspective, from you know what Mr. Yapp was talking about as far as you know... building for people. And I don't know if there's any other concepts that you had talked about or thinking about from that... Zahradnik: As far as underground, I guess the easiest way to illustrate some of the struggles we have here is this dotted line that you see right here. (several responding) This is the floodway zone, or the 100 -year flood line. So we've made every effort ... our first floor of all of our structures has to be a 100 ... or 1 -foot above that. So all of the townhomes. Parking could probably go down below into the flood zones (mumbled) but it might not be the wisest thing for us to do. Botchway: Right. Right. Zahradnik: So we are trying to keep this up so that we are ... building out of the flood plain. Cole: But the parking will not be visible from the street, cor... that's the concept of the townhomes, correct? Mims: A liner, right. (several talking) Cole: ...which I think is a good ... good element (several talking) Yeah. Throgmorton: Any other questions for David? Thomas: Have you developed a view of the project from ... uh, Washington Street? Zahradnik: We have not. We have not. I mean we have some models and things, but we focused on the two elements of Iowa Avenue, thinking that that was the signature side of this building. Like I said, each one of those takes a lot of time to develop and vet out all of our options, so ... um, at this point in the early concept stage, we have not taken a lot of time looking at just that side of the building, but I think we've tried to represent some of the character that you'd see ... in the whole development through those two images that we've developed. Thomas: I ... I raise it because I think it's another factor in terms of that ... that three-story building above, because that's going to form the backdrop of this building. Zahradnik: Right. Thomas: And so it...it provides a kind of a ... a ... a screen, so to speak. Right now, you know, the City Hall is profiling against the open sky. It won't be doing that any more. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 25 So how that ... how those two elements play together, I think, is ... you know, has some significance in that this is the City Hall. Throgmorton: Any other questions? So I need to open the public hearing formally, right? I don't think I did that. (several talking) Did I? Okay! Anybody in the public, uh, care to speak to this particular item? Beadleston: Hi, Joy Beadleston. Um, I'm very familiar with Jesse Allen Homes. My brother has worked with grandpa in the past, um, Jesse's grandfather, um, and I'm really confident that they normally build some really outstanding properties, especially along Rochester. Um, I was a little bit worried when they built (laughs) one of the properties on Scott Boulevard. Actually to me, I'm sorry, it looked ugly, but then I ... they painted it and that looked completely different! (laughs) So that was really awesome cause I was scared for a minute, and then um, I am worried too about the fire trucks going through. I live by a fire station. I get woke up a lot, and um, definitely I would think it would need some soundproofing, and if the City and Jesse Allen are entering this as partners, it seems like, not sure (laughs) but it seemed like it's ... like I would have to worry about the resale value, you know, of those homes with no soundproofing, and I know that ... that, uh, fire station gets used quite a bit, so the sirens are going off a lot and um, how it's gonna, you know, affect the fire trucks going in and out all the time (laughs) And the other thing is affordability. Are any of these homes, townhomes going to be affordable? Um ... thank god they're accessible — that's a good thing. And the other thing I do not think right now they're beautiful. I'm hoping they do make it a lot better looking. It looks, um, really ... I mean I know beauty is (mumbled) beauty but it is important to a lot of people in the community, especially when 200 people an hour go through the Library. So a lot of the ... the community go through that area all the time and I ... I would hate to them ... to always be looking at that building saying'oh god that's ugly!' You know! And have it be an eyesore for people. So I do think it's really important to look at what the majority of the community think would be better, and I am confident, of course, that, you know, from the past experience with Allen Homes that they do make a lot of really nice properties that they can definitely improve this one, and urn ... and I think that was my major issues. Landscaping I think was last. Yeah, it looks really beautiful. They have a lot of trees in the design and bushes and all that, but ... will it be mandatory or will it just be something that looks pretty, but when it actually happens there's no landscaping (laughs) at all. So that's an important thing to consider too. We need as much landscaping as possible. We've lost a lot of trees in our city so ... thanks! Throgmorton: Thank you, Joy. Ross: Hi, Brandon Ross. Urn ... yeah, a lot of talk of accessibility. Um, I would like to think that it will be accessible to people who can afford to live there, and that includes a growing senior population, um, handicapped people, uh, working class people. Will there be any, uh, places that will be affordable to people that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 26 actually are working in the neighborhoods, at the store, uh... uh, stores around town and things. That's a major point of accessibility, uh, to me. Um ... we have had, uh, I would say that the concern about how far back from the street is ... is a normal concern because walkability actually identifies the city. There are studies that show that if a building is not too far back, but far enough back, where perhaps trees can be planted, uh, that good planning, which doesn't have to be "design police," is just regular planning. Good cities do it. Uh, and so you want it to look nice. Iowa Avenue, I think, should have trees. Uh, but there are studies that show whether or not you should have a ... a large building that's flush against a sidewalk or it should be put back and how much. I think we can ... you can look at those things. Um ... and again, uh, I'm another one for the fire truck concern. Uh, that will change the whole neighborhood as a throughway, even though it's a pain for fire, uh, drive ... fire truck drivers to back in, and I've seen it. Everyone's seen that beer barrel polka a number of times and have been on Gilbert, uh, but walkability and livability, uh, is something that I have a concern for. There are a lot of people who go to the stores around there. There's the new Pioneer Co -Op which will be affected by fire engines going in, and we tend to plan large for fire engines, and uh, I brought this up with some friends earlier that, uh... the fire truck takes up a vast amount of space and uh, the fire chief often times requests, uh, larger spaces for even bigger trucks, which always tends to be the trend, but not... shouldn't necessarily be. So ... accessibility, yeah, is it walkable? Is it ... is it friendly to people ... and is it friendly and accessible to people in that people will be able to afford to live there, and uh, so again, I ... I'd ... those are main concerns of mine. Thanks! McCallum: Mark McCallum again. I see three positives on this ... on the plan. Um ... one, the church, um ... this is the first ... or second developer, I guess, that's come forward to try to save a potentially historic property where everyone else in town wants to tear something like that down. So to me that's very paramount, uh, community benefit. Two, parking is a big issue, so I ... this is a plan, very creative plan I think, that addresses parking needs without, um ... uh, parking is a very big issue in the College Green Area, so it seems to address a ... a very challenging effort that, you know, the housing needs, the City needs and everything. I don't know, from fire truck, uh, standpoint, I think this is a big improvement. Every time the fire department goes to lunch, they shut down three blocks of Gilbert Street, uh, to back those trucks out. I'm in that neighborhood every, you know, every day and so that drive-through is a brilliant idea. Thank you. 01,6;101 Tremble: Hello! Alilha Tremble. I'm with Friends of Historic Preservation. I, um, I just want to compliment Jesse Allen again for this project. I'm ... this was a project where we could have easily lost another really important historic building, um, but it ended up being a win -win-win, you know, three times over, as we said. Um, the fire station is going to have their pull-through; the church will be preserved; um, and that parking lot will not longer be on our main ... our main view, our main thoroughfare, you know, to the Old Capitol. So I think the ... I think this is a ... a, uh, great project and I would really like to see more cooperation This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 27 between City and um, and developers like this. I think this is really great. Um, I think, um, these buildings could be made to look like they fit in. Um, we certainly don't want new buildings to look exactly like old buildings, but there are ways to make them look very compatible, and um, make them look like they fit into the neighborhood. Um, and as long as those things are kept in mind, I think this is going to be a very good project. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. Michaud: Hi, I'm Pam Michaud. I live at 109 S. Johnson. I'm also thrilled that the Unitarian Church, uh, has a good chance of being repurposed, and I'm sure it'll be in a very tasteful way. Uh, Old Brick has certainly done that, and it seems to be, uh, cash flow all right too. It's... providing a wonderful venue for, uh, fundraisers, receptions, wedding receptions, dances. So I think that something similar, on a smaller scale, would also work for ... Unitarian Church. Or a visitor's center, which the City could be party to. Uh, I think the, uh, townhomes and the parking situation look good. Um ... I'm guessing that there may be some lower value level for the fire ... um, engines when they depart, um (laughter) There could be a phased -in, uh, at least after hours. I don't know. Anyway, that's... that's something I'm sure they can come up with creatively. Um ... but I ... the only problem I have so far with the conceptual thing is, uh, the affordable housing. Um, I know for a fact that there are many dozens of studio apartments that are renting for $1,200 a month within three blocks of that location. They are not all occupied by neurosurgeons, uh, nor are they occupied by single graduate students, uh, or young professionals. They're doubled up. There might be a few in, uh, the Plaza Towers that are really for the affluent, but ... I think in many other locations that I've chatted with people, uh, there ... there are two graduate students to a studio apartment. So there's no bedroom door. They're just little partitions, and um, we don't want to really replicate, uh, the housing density of Hong Kong. Um, I think that two-bedroom apartments are in high demand. There are lots of three and five -bedroom apartments downtown. Two-bedroom apartments would be an improvement for many graduate students. Um ... so otherwise, I love the design and I think that, uh... using a large pull-through lane is great. Uh, a public plaza or walkway for the church area would be great too. Thanks very much! Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? Landry: Absent from the discussion or ... or even involvement is whether or not there's been a study done in terms of similar college towns, because at the end of the day, um ... this is a very money -phobic environment where ... people don't sometimes understand miracles take money and I mean that from the standpoint of when you, regardless of race, ignore... children... and the thought that you can be someone, some of the problems ... not some. Many of the problems that you have related to affordable housing go back to kicking the can down the road and thinking that the problems will solve themselves in terms of individuals getting up every day and putting in a hard day's work for ... um ... suitable wages. (mumbled) saying that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 28 from the standpoint of...when I look at this property, I'm not ... concerned about sustainability or the aesthetics of it. I'm thinking 'who's going to be living there?' and at the end of the day we can be honest about the conversation now, versus being Iowa -nice and thinking that it's eventually going to be discussed. So ... um, when is the actual meeting going to take place between, uh, property owners in downtown Iowa City as it relates to market value, because that's something that's a meeting overdue that when you have a network of individuals that have gone, have done business with one another, who are friends with one another, who set their own rates, eventually you're going to price out individuals who have never been part of the network or part of the group, and ... it's again the conversations that don't take place prior to these public hearings about ... what Iowa City's future is, because your present is what has been kicked down the road, uh, at ... for at least two generations. So missing from this conversation is your Economic Development Director... and others who dictate... and I'm only just ... the Downtown District as well. You have a SSMID district that I haven't heard any conversation about how it fits into the property owners who are paying additional for this SSMID district, cause I'm only just saying that from the standpoint of you're honest conversations prior to public hearings, where for people who ... on both sides, when I hear affordable, it's a different type of conversation that people deserve ... a place to live, but ... at the same time, some of the problems that have ... that pre ... that have presented themselves can't be solved in a public hearing. It comes from people being honest about individuals who are profiting off of land owned by the City, and who's in that conversation, because again, at the end of the day, once again, economic development doesn't start here. It starts here. Think about it. Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, I don't see anybody else, so uh, before I close the public hearing, I need to do what we call 'take the temperature of the Council,' to see if a consultation with the Planning and Zoning Commission is needed. It's a legal, important legal technicality. So I need to know, have a sense of whether anybody's inclined to support ... or I mean inclined to oppose this particular rezoning. (mumbled response) Yeah, I don't see any nos. Okay, so I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Dickens: Move the first consideration. Mims: Second. Throgmorton: Discussion? Botchway: So I guess I'll again say, um, since the developer's are here and kind of wanted to understand some elements ahead of time, um, before we go into some of the deeper work. Again, kudos. Uh, I really, I mean, I appreciate that. I think it ... I know that when it comes back before us that plays heavily on my mind as far This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 29 as,um, what's going to be, um, discussed at that time. Um, I know .... I addressed my parking concerns, um, but I know that's a tough thing to do, and to Susan's point, you know, you can't do everything, and so I'll leave that, um, out. Uh, a couple comments were made about the affordability. I was going to plan on bringing that later on in the discussion, um, but I know that I've talked about it at a previous Council meeting. If that's a discussion that can be, um, brought up with City staff, I think would be good. Um, again, I'm not sure ... (mumbled) out of our realm from, uh, discussion standpoint right now but I'd be looking to ask that question later on, whether or not, you know, affordable housing was discussed, um, at all, and I know that, you know, there could be some possible, um, discussion about dollars or monies in that ... in that range, but I at least want the conversation to happen. I think that's where, um, when I'm talking about it from a process standpoint about... discussion about affordable housing, I at least want us to have the discussion about it and get that on the table on a regular basis, and so ... hope that you can do that, but again, I want to just again say kudos. (mumbled) even said, you know, wrote down that I plan on Tweeting out, you know, my appreciation as well, and so, uh, thank you. Throgmorton: Others? Cole: Well I tell ya what, some of the comments that have been made tonight have really, um, bolstered my view that there's a lot that I really like about this particular project. I'm excited about the fact that it's no longer going to be a parking lot. I've mentioned Iowa Avenue. Um, it is sort of a shame that we have this big, huge parking lot and there's really no active use of it, so that's really exciting for me. Um ... in terms of the church, I really hope that, um, no residential is contemplated for the church itself and that you think very creatively about what is to be used there. Um, again, I have not liked it in the past where, you know, we do save the building, which is great, but I really want a unique use that you focus on. Um ... and one final thing, um ... I ... I really enjoyed hearing the comments tonight, but don't be afraid to workshop it out in the community to get that feedback. Um, one of the things that I particular appreciate about this development team is what they did on north Linn. Um, there was development project there that community members had some concerns about, and there was sort of an interactive process where you responded to some of those concerns, and I think it really was a win-win, um, concept. So, I would say you're definitely on the right track and I think back to what Susan had said, if there's a issue where we don't ... parts of it we don't love, I don't see that as sort of saying we're not going to support it at all. Um, obviously I would have liked to have seen more of a commercial component on some of the ground floor, um, but that's not enough to sway my, uh, decision to oppose it. Thomas: This is a, um (clears throat) I think a really complicated project, uh, lots of pieces involved and trying to integrate into a unified whole, and um, you know, I think it's ... where we stand now in the conceptual phase it's a really outstanding project in terms of trying to integrate those elements. Um, the historic preservation, the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 30 introduction of a new building type. I ... I've always felt townhomes had potential as a market element in Iowa City. (clears throat) One ... one comment that I would have, and I ... I believe it can be resolved, uh... I think relatively in a short period of time, I hope, uh, has to do with the setback on Iowa Avenue. Uh, and that would be the distance, when I say setback what I'm describing is the distance between the sidewalk and the building wall ... which right now is, uh, 9 -feet, 4 -inches. And my sense is is that's a little bit too narrow in terms of a setback. We're talking about a ground -floor residential use. Uh, so there are issues of privacy. You know, this is one of the issues we open up by taking away the ground floor commercial is you've got people living on the ground floor now. Uh, so privacy is a concern, I think especially in this location because it's right near the downtown. So ... so, you know, I've looked at this over the last couple of days, uh, my sense is the ... the setback on Van Buren, which is 12 -foot, 1 -inches from the back of sidewalk is preferable to the 9 -foot, 4. That's a roughly a 2 -foot, 8 diff... difference. I know, again, this is conceptual, but um ... we have some very hard numbers that we're dealing with on this project in terms of the requirement of the townhome, the requirement of the parking structure, so we don't have a lot of flow in design terms, in ... in the sense of well, what can we adjust to make this work. So ... so my suggestion would be (clears throat) and I had mentioned this to staff is the ... the sidewalk itself on Iowa Avenue could be moved to the north, to create more room between the building and the sidewalk area. It would actually place the sidewalk more or less centered between the building wall and the ... the curb along Iowa Avenue. Uh, so we could gain that roughly two and a half feet by moving the sidewalk to the north. Um, that ... that's within the public right-of- way, so it's something I think we as a city can look at and make a determination on. Um ... my hope is that we could do that relatively quickly, perhaps between this consideration and the next consideration, to ... to confirm that in fact, uh, when ... as we get into design development that that would be an option, that we could ... we could explore and actually apply to the project. Uh... in that sense I feel the ... the one issue that's kind of the unspoken issue on this project is the question of Iowa Avenue. Uh, you know, if you look at Riverfront Crossings, that was a plan that included both the buildings and the design of the streets. And I think, you know, in looking at this, we need to make sure the sidewalk widths on Van Buren are right. I think now they're 4 -feet, probably need to be 5 -feet, and my sense is that we ... we ... because we can control the public right-of-way, we can adjust, as required, to make this thing work. Mims: I'm comfortable... ideally I would like to see more setback, but I, again, I think with the constraints that we have here and certainly at the point we're at now, keeping in mind this is still the rezoning and we've got two more readings just on the rezoning. So I think the idea of the actual details on the setbacks and the placement of the sidewalk are ... are things that we can look at later, but um ... we've also got some trees there that would be an issue if we tried moving that sidewalk. Some of those (both talking) Thomas: Possibly. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 31 Mims: Yeah. But ... I would go with it the way it is. All right, and certainly for tonight is rezoning. I'm very supportive. Dickens: I'd just like to thank the architect. I know it's an Iowa City firm, so I'm glad to see that we're using Iowa City firms for a project like this because we do have that kind of talent in this town and it's great to see. Throgmort_ on: Well I'm going to support the ordinance as well. I ... I find it fascinating and rather moving to hear the many very positive comments that, uh, that have been made by various people, uh, from the public, uh, but also by Members of the Council. It's really terrific to see that there are these subtle challenges that ... I ... John, I saw you taking notes about the sidewalk; maybe something can be done about that. David, I don't know where you're sitting now. Jesse, uh, maybe it's possible to think through a little bit more, as I'm sure you're going to do about, uh, about the exterior design and ... and maybe the sound insulation, so to speak, uh, of...of the interior of the building. But, uh, I'm ... I'm definitely supportive. There were some comments made about affordability, uh, I mean affordable units within this structure. There were also ... John said something about the development agreement. I have no doubt whatsoever but there'll be some financial, uh, implications for preserving the building, the UU structure — the church, and if we incorporate some, uh, affordable housing with ... with the developer's agreement, within the building, there'll be a cost to the City, uh, it'd be part of the development agreement. That's a different topic. We'll come to it when we get to it. So, um, roll call. Pauline, I must, uh, apologize to you. Um, it ... it's my bad. I should have asked you whether or not you wanted to comment, uh, right, uh, right during this discussion period. Taylor: Well I ... I did have some concerns about the affordable housing issue and (mumbled) mentioned that (mumbled) Riverfront Crossings and Downtown Master Plan, and I know on Riverfront Crossings that there are statements in there as far as 15% of the units would be affordable, uh, and then the question is what's affordable, but somebody brought that up so that's... that's all I (mumbled) concerns about. Throgmorton: Okay! Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 32 ITEM 5c REZONING 600 BLOCK OF S. DUBUQUE STREET — ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 1.03 ACRES OF PROPERTY FROM COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (CC -2) ZONE TO RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS - CENTRAL CROSSINGS (RFC - CX) ZONE LOCATED AT 602, 604, 608, 610, 614, 620, 628 SOUTH DUBUQUE STREET. (REZ15-00020) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Throgmorton: Open the public .... (mumbled) Mims: No (both talking) second consideration. Throgmorton: Right, second consideration. Dickens: Move the second... second consideration. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: But I need, uh, for new Council Members I need to ask ... uh, about whether... Cole: Yeah, I was just going to make a public statement that I am going to recuse myself. I was involved in representation of one of the tenants in one of the cottages and though... although it's not a legal conflict, I do believe in an abundance of caution I should recuse myself from consideration in this matter. Throgmorton: Pauline, John, no problem? Okay, with regard to, uh, the ... the other four of us who were here for the first reading, uh, any ex parti ... parte communications? No, me neither! Okay, John! Yapp: Uh, normally with second considerations we do not, uh, give much of a staff report. I thought tonight I'd give a brief overview for the new Council Members. Throgmorton: Sure! Okay! Yapp: Uh, this ... this property is on the, uh, east side of Dubuque Street, south of Prentiss Street. Uh, the property is currently zoned Community Commercial. Uh, Community Commercial is Iowa City's general commercial zone. Uh, it encourages low -scale commercial buildings, with no specific location standards or design standards, uh, and residential apartments are allowed above commercial space only by special exception. Uh, the proposed zoning is Riverfront Crossings Central Crossings zone. Uh, this zone allows a broad mix of commercial and residential uses. It's very much a mixed-use zoning district. Uh, for the Central Crossings area, the maximum height is four stories. Uh, the south half of...this block ... uh, proposed for rezoning is designated as a required retail storefront, uh, so would require retail in the first floor along the south half of the block. Uh, for the remainder of the block, residential building types would be allowed, and the Riverfront Crossings zone has a significant amount of building design standards, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 33 uh, including facade articulation and composition, window coverage and design, entranceway and frontage standards, building material standards, awnings and canopy standards, and even the, uh, location of mechanical equipment. Uh, I have a few slides just to show the elements of the form -based code regarding, uh, this slide shows building placement requirements. Uh, this zone does encourage buildings up closer to the frontages of...of the property. Uh, as opposed to a typical, uh, suburban commercial property would have parking in the front, with the building set way back. Uh, again, land uses, multiple land uses are allowed, and uses can be mixed — both vertically and horizontally — within the building. Uh, and there are special standards in the Riverfront Crossings zone for auto - oriented uses. Although that's not being considered tonight. Uh, Riverfront Crossings zone also has requirements regarding streetscape and setback, uh, standards. Uh, there's a landscaping strip required in between the sidewalk and the street. Uh, sidewalk location and then ... uh, frontage requirements for the private building, uh, and the area between the building wall and the sidewalk is a ... what I'd call a semi -private area where you'd find the porch or the stoop or the terrace, uh, frontage type. Again, building articulation standards, entranceway standards, materials, roof design, and signage standards. Uh, Riverfront Crossings also has standards re ... re ... regarding a pedestrian street, and this is, uh, new in the Riverfront Crossings zone in that a street ... uh... before Riverfront Crossings had to be a vehicular street. Now we have standards for a pedestrian street and buildings can have frontage on a pedestrian street. Uh, this rezoning and its consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, uh, reviewing the goals of the Riverfront Crossings, uh, plan, uh... the defining features of the Central Crossings District are the two rail lines, uh, both Crandic Railroad and Iowa Interstate Railroad and Ralston Creek all cross in this district. The Master Plan objectives (clears throat) are to encourage contextual in -fill, uh, leverage investments in transit through transit -oriented development or encouraging densities near transit locations, uh, restoring and enhancing conditions along Ralston Creek, providing that mix of residential and retail uses, and promoting new housing options. Uh, the project that, uh, the developer, uh, developed, uh, consists of two buildings, uh, with a ... a private, uh, pedestrian street in between the two buildings, as well as in the interior of the, uh, second building. Uh, the first building would be at the corner of Prentiss and south Dubuque Street. Uh, you can see some of the frontage elements, uh, both with the, uh, frontage type, the sidewalk, the landscaping strip, uh, the diagonal parking, how that flows into the, uh, pedestrian street in between the two buildings. Uh, entrances to the buildings would be, uh, off of that pedestrian street, and then the, uh, southern building would have that retail space. Uh... just to the south is the, uh, railroad tracks. And then this is the image of the, uh... again, the concept plan image of...of the two buildings, how they would relate to each other and the space in between, uh, the two buildings. Uh, with that, uh... this is second consideration, although it is a new ... new City Council. Uh, staff and Planning and Zoning Commission have recommended approval. Uh, Planning and Zoning Commission approval ... uh, was by a vote of 4 —1. The, uh, condition recommended is the ... uh, mid -block private pedestrian street, a minimum of 35 -feet wide in between the two buildings, uh, to help break This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 34 up the two buildings and provide that pedestrian space. The, uh, applicant is also here if you have any questions for him. Throgmorton: Wonder if any of our new Council Members have questions for John. Thomas: John, I think (clears throat) the only question I would have ... in a way was I think prompted by thinking about the, um ... you know, the previous project that we just looked at, and that is the frontage... Yapp: Uh huh. Thomas: ...and that, uh, we have two building ... two buildings there. One where the residential goes down to the... essentially down to the ground floor, and the other is ... is ground floor commercial, to the south, and along the street we have diagonal parking for pretty much the entire block length. So I was looking at the street types in the Riverfront Crossings plan and it...it had sort of a standard ... uh, street design for residential frontage and a standard street design for commercial frontage. The, uh, commercial had diagonal parking. The, uh, residential had par ... uh, parallel parking. And so ... my question would be on the block to the north, was there any consideration given for parallel parking as opposed to diagonal, uh, apparently to create more sidewalk space in front of the residential, but also to get the, urn ... you know, the headlights, the ... the fact that the cars would be oriented more toward the residences, uh, which would be on the ground floor. Yapp: Sure, and I believe the, uh, where the commercial is proposed there's diagonal parking there currently. Thomas: Right. This, yeah, right now it's sort of a mix. Yapp: Right. Thomas: So in that sense (both talking) Yapp: ...to be honest we ... we did not focus on the parking ... in our discussions with ... with the developer. We were focused on the ... on the private property, but that's an excellent point. I think as we proceed with, uh, street improvements in this district (both talking) Throgmorton: Pauline, did you have any questions you wanted to ask John? Taylor: Well I do like, if I'm remembering the picture I've seen previously, uh, in the past, I do like the separation of the buildings at mid -block with that usable, shared open space. I like that design, and I think the way you incorporated ... if I'm thinking where this is, it's ... it's like a hill, on a hill, and I ... I think, um (mumbled) incorporated the design into that, um, geographic area very well, but yeah, I would be concerned about parking also. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 35 Yapp: I didn't catch her last... Taylor: Oh, I said I would be concerned about parking also. Yapp: Oh, thank you! Throgmorton: Uh, thanks, Pauline. Uh, I ... I don't know if...Kevin, if you'd like to say anything or not. You don't need to, I mean ... yeah, okay! Uh, so, uh, we need a motion, don't we? Karr: We already have (several talking) Throgmorton: Oh, well, there ya go! Um ... discussion? Botchway: I expressed my concerns at the last meeting but ... you know, like I said to Kevin, I think it's, you know, a good project. So, I'll be supportive. Dickens: It's a nice ... nice use of that area. Thomas: And I'll support the project. Throgmorton: I'm good to go! Roll call. Thank you! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 36 ITEM 5d REZONING ALONG MORMON TREK BOULEVARD SOUTH OF HWY 1- ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 7.98 ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED EAST OF MORMON TREK BOULEVARD BETWEEN GRACE DRIVE AND EAGLE VIEW DRIVE FROM COMMERCIAL OFFICE (CO -1) TO INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL (CI -1) ZONE. (REZ15-00021) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move second consideration. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Urn ... roll call? No! What? (several talking) Yeah, uh, so ... sorry! Uh, yeah, so we need to know if anybody has any ex parte communications to report. I do, but does anybody else? Okay. I do. Uh... with, uh, owners of nearby property, who I had the great pleasure of visiting. Uh, Jane, right? I get confused. Janet Driscoll and George, um, Dane. Sorry? (unable to hear person from audience) Francis! I'm sorry! Yeah, I ... I should get a new jay ... day job! Uh, anyhow, I ... I had the pleasure of going out to visit with both of you, and I want to thank you very much for letting me do that. And really all I did was take a look at the property and, um ... learn what it's like to drive on the road going up the hill and things like that. But thank you! So ... no details really about this particular redevelopment were discussed. John! Yapp: Uh, just a recap. Uh, this rezoning is for a, uh, vacant property, uh, in between Mormon Trek Boulevard, Grace Drive, Eagle View Drive, and Dane Road. Um... the Comprehensive Plan identifies this property as appropriate for either Intensive or Highway Commercial, or Office Park Commercial, uh, hence the hash marks on the property. When the property was annexed in about 2003, it was zoned Intensive Commercial. Uh, around 2007 it was rezoned to office Commercial, at...at the request of an applicant. Um ... now the applicant is requesting to rezone it back to Intensive Commercial. Uh, the intent is for construction of a ... of a medical clinic, uh, that would include a variety of uses, uh, including family practice, pharmacy, mother's milk bank, a home care office, uh, warehousing for storage and distribution, and other related functions. Uh, normally a medical clinic would be allowed in the Commercial Office Zone, uh, but because of some of the proposed elements in this building, uh, specifically the warehouse and distribution, uh, the mother's milk bank, which would include some processing, uh, of the milk, the, uh, Intensive Commercial Zone is the more appropriate zone. Uh, this is the proposed, uh... concept plan, uh, for the project. Some of the pertinent elements are the, uh, landscaping and trees along Dane Road. Uh, the area at the, uh, northeast of the property, which would have landscaping and grasses, uh, and hedge, uh, provided on the property. Uh, this shows the ... the size of the building, uh, and other landscaping around the proposed... proposed around the building. Uh, staff recommends approval, subject to general conformance with the site concept plan. Uh, no outdoor storage being This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 37 permitted on the property, and exterior lights being no more than 25 -feet in height. Uh, those conditions came about after a, uh, neighborhood meeting with the developer, uh, and uh, neighboring property owners and other interested... interested parties. Uh... discussed the project and... and... came... came with these conditions to ameliorate those concerns. Uh, Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval, uh, as well. Throgmorton: Thank you, John! Yapp: Thank you! (several talking) Throgmorton: ... confused about where we are (mumbled) first reading or second reading (several talking) Yeah, discussion? Botchway: Um, I'm supportive. I think that, uh, you know, for that area, new families and some other things, I think this is a good project. I'm excited about it. I know there is another medical, uh, facility kind of further along Camp Cardinal, but this is close to where I live and there's a lot of new families in the area, so I'm excited. I ... I appreciate this project. Thomas: I just ... I missed my opportunity for asking a question, but um ... which was, uh, is the parking that we see in the plan, uh, required by our ... off-street parking or ... is, does it match the off-street parking requirement or... Yapp: I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it is, uh, slightly more than what would be required. Taylor: I believe at the first consideration with Dobyns recused himself because of his employment at the University of Iowa, which was, um (mumbled) um, and ... (mumbled) by the University (mumbled) since October, but if people felt there was any kind of a conflict, I ... I would recuse myself, but I don't believe there would be. Dilkes: I don't think there is, Pauline. Taylor: Okay. Throgmorton: Anybody else need to say anything? Roll call. All right! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 38 ITEM 5e VACATING AIR RIGHTS OVER ALLEY — ORDINANCE VACATING AIR RIGHTS ABOVE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY IN NORTH -SOUTH ALLEY BETWEEN HARRISON AND PRENTISS STREETS. (VAC15-00005) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Throgmorton: I don't think we do that. I got a note (several talking) Karr: No, we're not doing expedited. That was an error. Please cross out (mumbled) expedited action. Mims: Okay! Botchway: Move second consideration. Dickens: Second. Yapp: Uh, this is an application from Midwest One Bank who has constructed a new building, uh, at the corner of Harrison Street and Clinton Street, uh, to vacate air rights above a public alley, uh, 25 -feet in the air, to facilitate a skywalk, uh, in between the bank building and the, uh, future parking structure, uh, on the property. Uh, we've notified utility companies, have received ... no information that there would be any conflict with utilities. The alley would continue to be able to be used for traffic and pedestrian circulation. Here's an image of the, uh, bank building. And here's a ... this is a massing study, but of showing the, um ... location of the skywalk in relation to the future parking ramp. Throgmorton: Any questions for John? Discussion? Cole: I'm generally not a huge fan of skywalks, but in the particular I think it makes sense here, so (laughs) Throgmorton: That's exactly what I was thinking! (laughter) Cole: It's not going to become Minneapolis or Des Moines. Throgmorton: Any other discussion? (several talking in background) Okay, roll call. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 39 ITEM 5f REMNANT RIGHT OF WAY VACATION - VACATING PORTION OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY LOCATED BETWEEN 124 W BENTON STREET AND 731 S RIVERSIDE DRIVE (VAC15-00006). (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Yapp: Um, this is a vacation of a remnant (both talking) Karr: ...put it on the floor first. Yapp: Oh I'm sorry! (several talking) Mims: Move second consideration. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Okay, it's on the floor. John. Yapp: Thank you. Mims: I motioned. Who seconded? (several talking) Botchway. Yapp: Uh, this is a ... a vacation of a remnant, uh, piece of right-of-way on the north side of Benton Street, uh... at the location of the future, uh, Kum n' Go. It's a ... it's a piece of right-of-way that, uh, we did not know was there until we started entering into detailed design work, uh, with the Kum n' Go property. Uh, this shows the, uh, zoning pattern. It ... the property is zoned Riverfront Crossings, West Riverfront District. Um ... this piece of right-of-way has no utilities in it and it's not used for any pedestrian or vehicular circulation. Uh, staff recommends approval and Planning and Zoning recommended approval. Throgmorton: All right. Discussion? Roll call. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 40 ITEM 5g REZONING CARDINAL POINTE WEST — ORDINANCE REZONING 16.18 ACRES LOCATED SOUTH OF KENNEDY PARKWAY AND WEST OF CAMP CARDINAL BOULEVARD FROM INTERIM DEVELOPMENT - RESEARCH PARK (ID -RP) ZONE TO LOW DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (RS -5) ZONE. (REZ15-00018) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Mims: Are we doing expedited on this? 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 by suspended, that the second consideration and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Roll call. Right? Dilkes: Motion. Throgmorton: Motion. Sorry! Dilkes: Oh, no, I'm sorry! I'm wrong! See, I (several talking and laughing) Throgmorton: We should have discussion (mumbled) Discussion? Cole: Has there been any controversy surrounding that (mumbled) Dickens: ...is this the one we got the late handout or is that the next one (several talking) Taylor: I ... I had concerns about this rezoning. Can I bring that up ... do I bring that up now? Throgmorton: Yes. (several responding) Taylor: Oh, okay! This is Pauline, obviously. I'm ... I'm just really concerned about this ... this area and the ... the school, Borlaug, nearby and adding that many residential lots there and potentially having that many more children trying to cross, uh... uh, Cardinal, or Kennedy Parkway, or part of that Camp Cardinal Boulevard. It ... it just concerns me and I ... I would hope that, um, the developers would work closely with the School District as far as getting signage up, uh, you know, the flashing lights and whatever (mumbled) folks of that, uh, as they come upon that area, that there could be children crossing there. I mean I drive that road plenty of times and there's so much road kill along there and a lot of deer (mumbled) but they ... they won't necessarily be watching for children and my other concern was the affordability of the units. Um, somewhere I read that the, um, price range would be somewhere between 225 and $350,000 and we keep This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 41 talking about affordable housing and then we add, you know, 20, 30 more units that are ... are not affordable to most folks in this community. So, those were kind of my ... my major concerns about this, uh, being redeveloped to residential lots. Throgmorton: John! Yapp: Uh, John Yapp. Uh, we discussed the, uh, crossing of Camp Cardinal Boulevard at the last Council meeting, and I have discussed that with our Transportation planners. They've put it on their list to collect the traffic data and discuss that with the principal of Borlaug and develop a strategy, uh, for that crossing... which would be implemented next summer. Um ... regarding the, uh, price of the units, I don't have information about the ... the price. Let me see ... I don't see the developer in the ... in the room. Cole: Packet did say 250 to 325, or am I... Taylor: Right, right, that was ... the information I saw. Page 216 of our information. Cole: So why ... what was the reason then to, um ... think we need ... why didn't it work as an Interim Research Development Park? Was it going to be something else (both talking) Yapp: The, yeah, when this ... when this larger property was first, uh, annexed, the thought was, uh, that it would be future Office Research Park area. Uh, since that time, there's really not significant demand for Research Park type area. The, uh, district plan for this area also calls out the, uh... that clustered residential development would also be appropriate for the Camp Cardinal corridor. Is it too early for me to give the report? Are they still voting on expedited (both talking) Mims: We're still voting on expedited (several talking) Dilkes: But you can give it! (several talking) Yapp: Would you like me to go ahead and ... (several talking) Throgmorton: I want to ask a question, so I don't make a mistake. Um, I ... I'm supposed to ask about ex parte conversations among, uh, the (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) Council Members that participated (several talking) I should do that now. Dilkes: You should do that now. Throgmorton: Yeah, so have any of our new Council Members, uh, had any ex parte (several responding) Pauline, have you? Taylor: No. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 42 Throgmorton: Okay, and have any of the older Council people had any since the last meeting? Okay, great! We're good to go. John! Yapp: Okay this, uh, rezoning is proposed for the south side of Kennedy Parkway, on the west side of Camp Cardinal Boulevard. Uh, it's currently zoned Interim Development Research Park. The Interim Development, uh... zoning indicates that at the time it was zoned or annexed it was not yet ripe for development, in that it didn't have utilities or access. Uh, since that time, the ... area on the east side of Camp Cardinal Boulevard has developed. Uh, utilities have been extended, uh, and the applicant... would extend Kennedy Parkway, uh, as part of this project. Um ... to get back to Rockne's question, the district plan for this area, uh, does identify clustered residential development as an appropriate land use. As ... as part of the concept plan for the larger property, uh, it includes a mix of housing types, including single-family, uh, multi -family townhouse style units, and a multi- family building, with ... a majority of the wooded slopes and ravines preserved on the property, uh, both to comply with the sensitive areas ordinance, uh, but they also function as a ... as a buffer, uh, from Highway 218 and from Camp Cardinal Boulevard. Uh, what you're considering tonight is the rezoning for the first phase of this project. Uh, which is a proposed single-family, uh, residential development. The future phases of the project, excuse me ... uh, would require additional rezoning actions, uh, but this is the concept plan that the, uh, applicant has submitted for the larger property. Throgmorton: Questions for John? Cole: So the owner just... own... owns that part of the property. He doesn't own the rest of it? Yapp: Uh, the owner is Southgate Development. They own the whole property. Cole: The whole property. Okay. Yapp: At this ... they're only prepared to develop the first phase at this ... at this time, uh... that's where utilities and road network is available, at this time. Then the ... then they'd start with the subsequent phases. Cole: Okay, and they are intending to do the more higher density development. Yapp: That is correct. Throgmorton: Any other questions? Okay, we have a motion for expedited action on the floor. Uh, this is a roll call? Yes, uh, roll call. Mims: I move that 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 January 5, 2016. Page 43 Throgmorton: Roll call. Or discussion, I'm sorry! No discussion? Roll call. Okay, Item 5h. Karr: I'm sorry, can I get a motion to accept correspondence for expedited action? Botchway: So moved. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Um ... um... Karr: Botchway, Dickens? Throgmorton: All in favor say aye. All opposed. Motion carries 7 — 0. Or, Pauline, I didn't hear ya. Taylor: Yes, I approve. Throgmorton: Yeah, motion carries 7 — 0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 44 ITEM 5h CARDINAL POINTE WEST, PART ONE — RESOLUTION APPROVING PRELIMINARY PLAT. (SUB15-00023) Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Discussion? (mumbled) Botchway: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Throgmorton: Oh, there ya go! I gotta do that, don't I? Okay. You got that, Marian, right? Okay. Discussion? Roll call. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 45 ITEM 11. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION Throgmorton: Let's start down there with you, Rockne. Cole: Nothing to add. Dickens: (mumbled) but I think Joy Beadleston said it very well that, uh, make sure that you clean those curb cuts and if you can go around the, uh, fire hydrants, that helps the Fire Department in case there is a fire, that, uh, they can get to that fire hydrant because that's very important. Botchway: Two events comin' up, uh, one is kind of the MLK, uh, Day of Service celebration. Uh, that'll happen on January 18th at The Spot, 1030 Cross Park Avenue, Iowa City, Iowa. I don't know the zip code. Um, it is from 9 to 11 and 2 to 4 is going to be kind of a community give-away or, um ... um, just kind of a project, and then there also is the, uh, the actual event that starts at 11 and then another event is actually, and I think I sent both emails to Marian, so there should be (mumbled) um ... in the future, but is, uh, at the Bethel AME Church, um, starting at 2...2:00 that same day. Uh, they're going to have a program around, uh, MLK as well. So, uh, be excited to, uh, try to attend as many of those events as possible. Throgmorton: Excellent! Let's go to Pauline next. Pauline! Taylor: Um ... (mumbled) just hope to be back on my feet real soon and be able to attend in person! Throgmorton: We're looking forward to seeing you! Taylor: Thanks. Throgmorton: Okay. Susan? Mims: Nothing. Throgmorton: John? Thomas: Nothing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016. Page 46 ITEM 12. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF a) City Manager Throgmorton: City Manager? Markus: We had 368, um, snow complaints for failure to clean your sidewalks. Throgmorton: I've walked on half of 'em! (laughter) Markus: And, uh, you know with these snows, what happens if you don't get out there and clean 'em off, they get packed down (mumbled) it gets icy (noises in background) It's the neighborly thing to do, to clean your walks, so that people can get out and move around (mumbled, away from mic) ...encourage everybody to ... pay attention to taking care of your walks. Uh, the other thing I'd say is we're in the middle of budget season. Had a training session from Mr., uh, Bockenstedt last night and he did a real nice job with that. Uh, 8:00 is the next session on Saturday morning and ... marathon session pretty much all day Saturday. Um ... and I think it's at ... what time on Monday night? Karr: It's Monday the 101 at 1:00. Markus: 1:00 we go and (mumbled) other meeting after that but... it's... it's a fairly intense discussion about how the City spends their money. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of January 5, 2016.