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ITEM 2. Student Leadership Awards
Item 2a Hoover Elementary
Throgmorton: I wonder if Trey Dervich...Dervrich and Lauraya Netolicky could come forward.
Look at this thing! It's quite a microphone, isn't it? Looks like something you
should throw a long distance. Let me stand between you, okay? All right, so
you're both from Hoover, right, Hoover Elementary. Terrific school! Things are
changin' though. All right so here's how we're gonna do this. We're gonna
start with you, Trey. I'm gonna ask you to read your really good statement, yeah,
and then....I'll ask you to read yours, Lauraya, yeah, and then when it's all done,
I'm gonna read...well I can't open this up. So I'll open this up and read your,the,
uh, award statement, and it's identical for both of ya, except, you know, your
name is on your award. Trey's is on his. Okay? So, you're first, Trey! (both
talking)
Dervrich: (clears throat) Hello, my name is Trey and I attend Hoover Elementary. Some
things I do in service are help my dad with our business and other stuff with him.
I've helped at the Soup Kitchen in the past. I am a member of my school's safety
patrol. I've also completed all of my homework on time for the whole year. I
still behave well in school, as well as everything else. For this final bit I just
wanted to say thank you to my dad, Mr. Kosier, and my mom for helping me
receive this award and of course the City Council for making this possible.
Throgmorton: All right, great! (applause) So, Trey, my father owned a construction company
when I was younger and I can remember working for him, for his company,just
like you described. I wasn't so good at it(laughter) I had, I don't know for
whatever reason, you know. I remember one day when it was really hot and
really humid and my job was to throw wood, trash wood, on a fire. It was like 99
degrees and 98%humidity! Ahhh, I didn't like that at all! Anyhow, keep up the
good work! Okay, Lauraya!
Netolicky: I think I was chosen for the City Council Citizenship Award because of my
activities I participate in, such as 4-H, Future Problem Solvers, safety patrol, and
doing many community service projects around the Iowa City area. I do this
because in the beginning of 2016, I set a goal to be more helpful around the
community, whether it would be picking up trash at the local playground or
serving thousands of Special Olympians in the mid-winter tournaments. I like
doing it because it makes myself confident and helps people in need.
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Throgmorton: All right,bravo! (applause) Could you hold that for me please? Thanks. Was
trying to....havin' trouble opening this up. Okay, so this was, uh,remember I
said, it's identical, but just Trey's on this one. So, Student Leadership Award
(reads award) So this is gonna be yours, Trey, and Lauraya.....this is yours. It
says exactly the same thing, except it has your name on it. Okay? So,help me
congratulate Trey and Lauraya for doin' such great work. (applause) And bravo
to the parents out there and everybody else who's helpin' Trey and Lauraya
become such terrific student leaders and I'm sure things'll go great in the future!
Okay,here we go! We're off to our meeting now. We got the rest of our Council
meeting. You can stay if you want. I don't know! (laughter) Okay! Thanks!
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Item 3. Consider adoption of the Consent Calendar as presented or amended
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? I....I'd like to note that
Item 3e(2) sets a....I think it's e(2), sets a May 1 public hearing and vote on an
asphalt resurfacing project for Riverside Drive, from Rocky Shore to Sturgis
Corner. Improve the quality of that road a lot! And Item 3e(1) is a resolution
setting a May 1 public hearing on an ordinance rezoning almost two acres at 1705
Prairie Du Chien Road. So, people interested in that property, uh, should come on
down to the public hearing. So, any further discussion? Hearing none,roll call
please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 4. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [until 8 pm]
Throgmorton: Uh, anybody who would like to address any topic that's not on the formal meeting
agenda, please feel free to come up and....state your peace, uh, tell us whatever
you'd like to tell us. Please don't take, uh, please indicate your name and then
take not more than five minutes to make your statement. Hi,Nick!
Theisen: Nicholas Theisen, 1240 Esther Court. Just give me a second.
Throgmorton: Sure!
Theisen: All right! So in the ongoing series of my bi-weekly bummers, I'd like to say good
evening to the cowards of City Council, every single one of you. I say cowards
pointedly actually because I could really only come to one of two conclusions
about your inactivity over these many months. One is that you're inordinately
lazy, and you're not lazy, and I know that, because I've seen you devote an absurd
amount of time to the windows on a gas station. So clearly you're willing to
actually get into the weeds on a particular issue. So then the only conclusion that
I can come to when it comes to the issue of housing is that you're in fact just
cowards. C-o-w-a-r-d-s,just in case I'm not understood. Now the reason why I
say this is because I have heard several of you on various occasions spout some of
the most dunderheaded right-wing talking points when it comes to the issue of
housing that it really kind of boggles the mind. I'm not gonna recite those, and
seeing as you're unwilling to generally get into the weeds on this issue, I will say
that you really only need to understand three things. So when it comes to public
housing, and that's really what you should be building—public housing, you need
to know these three things. First, where will you get the money from?
Interestingly enough,because we live in Iowa City and because you have
maintained your precious triple-A bond rating, actually the money is a non-issue.
You have over $200 million of unused borrowing capacity. And you don't need a
referendum. You don't need to send it to the people. Four of you just have to
have the guts to actually do something. So that's item one. But, the obvious
objection to taking out so much debt is, well,Nicholas,how are we going to
service this debt? I have a couple of ideas. The most rational idea is to actually
just have a progressive property tax,but since you guys generally answer to
developers, landlords, and business interests, that's just never going to happen.
So the alternative is that you could actually just not lower property taxes every
single year for the past seven years. That's an idea! I mean your own City
Manager tells you that you actually face a possible budget shortfall because of the
possibility that the State won't give you your annual backfill. So what do you do?
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Hm, let's lower taxes. That sounds like a really great idea. So, that's how you
service the debt. There actually are a whole slew of things that you could do to
service the debt. You could pass ordinances to extract funds from the University
like they do in Syracuse, there's a whole bunch of different things you could do!
So that's two things. The third thing, and this is a very serious issue, is well,
okay, where will you get the land? Johnson County actually has the most
expensive land costs in the entire state. That's a serious issue. Well, it's a really
good thing that you have the power of imminent domain then. All you have to do
is condemn the piece of land, condemn a property, City Manager and staff could
do it for you, and then you can actually purchase that land at an extremely low
rate, but again, unlikely to happen. And....this pains me to say because I actually
like at least two of you, at least.....but when I say cowards, I mean all of you. I
mean every single one of you. It doesn't matter if you voice objections to
particular things, to particular policies, if you then vote for them. Your objections
don't matter. There's zoning that pro....that basically creates a lot of market-rate
housing for rich people, and you're like, ehhh, maybe we shouldn't be doing this.
Then vote against it! Grow a pair! Sorry, that's a bit sexist. Grow something,
grow a spine! Stop being cowards. Because the thing is, your City staff isn't
going to do it for you. In fact your City staff is probably going to work against
you. Good example of this. In 2016, when...let's just say a City Manager, we
won't name any names, was working with representatives from CWJ to deal with
the displacement issue at Forest View. One of the ideas that was suggested by the
Forest View residents, and by representatives from CWJ, was to actually use
general obligation bond debt to build housing for the people who were going to be
displaced. Now apparently at that meeting it was spoken of favorably, so much so
that Raphael then went to the residents and told them hey, this is a real thing that
could possibly happen, and then when that statement was made to the residents, a
City Manager—again, who shall remain nameless—chose...took it upon himself
to find the first reporter that he could to basically shame Raphael for doing this.
Basically making him look like a fool, like an idiot. Great job! So,basically
what I'm trying to say is, you actually have the power in this situation. Stop just
doing whatever your City staff tell you to do and actually grow a spine,build the
housing, deal with the housing crisis that exists in this city. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening, Joseph!
Dobrian: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I'm the evil (both talking) Dobrian of 1015 Second
Avenue. I, uh, refer the Council to an op-ed piece that I wrote, that appeared in
the Press-Citizen on the 11th of this month, with regard to the parking ramps. I
have discovered that quite recently a change has been instituted by which if you
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have not been there for an hour, thus not incurring a charge, you are deprived of
the 15-minute grace period to get out of there, so that you put your ticket in the
machine, it says ticket is paid. You say, oh, good! I made the effort to get in
under an hour, and it paid off. Then you get to the gate and no, no, they shake
you down for another dollar, because in between your...ticketing, inserting the
ticket into the machine and you're actually leaving, although it was maybe three
or four minutes, you've gone over the hour! You don't get the grace period
unless you have incurred at least a dollar's charge. Now I don't know if this is a
bug in the system or if this is an act of bad faith. I'm not sure. But....it occurs to
me that this is going to fall heaviest on the people least able to afford it. Most
people are not going to miss the odd dollar here and there, although they are going
to be perturbed by being surprised with a dollar charge after they had been told
the ticket is paid! But there are people in this town to whom every dollar comes
hard. And the use tax like this is gonna fall hardest on them. In many cases
perhaps, they will be old people or people who are otherwise a little bit slow
moving and they need every minute to get out of the parking lot, especially at
times of heavy traffic,heavy outgoing traffic, when delays are inevitable. So I
call upon the City Council to remedy this situation and restore the 15-minute
grace period to those who have not yet incurred a parking charge. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Joseph. Anyone else? Seeing no one, we will turn to Item 5,
Planning and Zoning Matters.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5a Rezoning 225 Prentiss Street—Ordinance conditionally rezoning
approximately 1.1 acres of property located at 225 and 225 % Prentiss Street,
from Intensive Commercial(CI1) to Riverfront Crossings—Central
Crossings (RFC-CX). (REZ18-00003)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Good evening, Bob!
Miklo: Yes, Bob Miklo, Department of Neighborhood and Development Services. Urn,
this property was most recently used for a plumbing supply and....and showroom.
Uh, the proposed rezoning,uh,will allow the property, uh, to be used for a
mixture of commercial and residential uses. Wanted to show you its...its location
on Prentiss Street, with Ralston Creek adjacent on the, uh, the east side. Here's
an image of what the property,uh, currently looks like. And here is an image of
the,uh, Comprehensive Plan,um, Riverfront Crossings Master Plan that shows
this general area,the idea being you've got the property would be redeveloped for
residential uses, um, with Ralston Creek, uh,being developed as an amenity,uh,
for open space for....for the area. The, uh, applicant has submitted a concept
plan,uh, showing a, uh,residential building on the property, with parking on the
ground level. Uh, I would note that the property is within the flood plain, so the
parking level will raise the, uh, the residential aspects of the building out of....out
of the flood plain. The concept plan also shows the development of a pedestrian,
uh,walkway system along Ralston Creek,uh, that would also,urn,provide
direction to the west,uh, to the alley and that therefore would provide access to
this open space to the other,uh, apartment buildings that the....this, the same
developer has built on this block, or plans to build on this block. Uh, I would note
that this is a very conceptual plan, that the actual landscaping and details in terms
of,uh, street lighting, uh, will be,uh, reviewed by the....the Design Review
Committee at the time of, uh,building, uh,permit approval. The,uh, conditional
zoning agreement that goes with this request includes, uh, the installation of
the the pedestrian street, and also the improvement of,uh, the western half of,
uh, Ralston Creek. Um, that would include removing,uh, invasive trees, uh,
stabilizing the bank, and uh, doing grading necessary for the....for the pedestrian
walkway. The, uh, application also includes a concept plan, showing how a
building on this site, uh, might comply with the form based code, if this rezoning
is adopted. There are several more images in your packet. Uh,basically showing
a three-story building with a step-back at the,uh, third floor,uh, and then the
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corner element has a tower, which is allowed by the form based code. Uh, the,
uh, form based code limits height in this area to four floors with the possibility of
an additional floor,uh, for....for,uh....um.....a zoning bonus, if that's granted by
the,uh,the, uh, form based,uh, or excuse me, the, uh....the Design Review
Committee. The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed this plan at two
meetings, and after the second meeting when there were some changes made to
the overall concept, the Commission, uh, recommended approval of the rezoning,
and staff recommends approval as well. Be happy to try to answer any questions.
Throgmorton: Any questions for Bob?
Cole: What's the parking requirement here? My initial view is there seems like there's
a lot of spaces. Are those what are required by the zoning for this area?
Miklo: Yes. It depends on the number of....of bedrooms, and we don't know that, um,
we don't know the exact number of bedrooms,but I....I don't believe it's going to
exceed greatly the mini....the minimum requirements. And I...and I would note
that it's interior to the building.
Throgmorton: Bob, can you remind us please of what the affordable housing component of any
zoning change in the Riverfront Crossings District is?
Miklo: There is a requirement that, uh, 10% of the units, uh.....uh, be affordable for a
period of....of 10 years, uh, and the conditional zoning agreement does address
that that will be, um, fulfilled at the time of site plan or building plan approval,
and that affordable housing could be in the development, or it could be in an o...
in another,uh, development in the area.
Throgmorton: I have one other.....thank you, I have one other question havin' to do with the, uh,
pedestrian trail, down by the creek.
Miklo: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: I....if I,uh, the image you showed from the, uh, from the Riverfront Crossings
plan, River Crossings District plan, shows that trail, a trail like that, going....I
guess under the railroad. Yeah, is there any likelihood that's going to happen any
time soon?
Miklo: Not with this particular proposal. I think that would be more of a long-term,um,
improvement, something that the City would probably have to act on, similar to
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what we're doing on Riverside Drive, where we're putting a trail through to
connect the, uh....um, under the railroad embankment.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. On....on a, thank you, on a peripheral point, Geoff,I'd like to note
that I was down by the Maiden Lane bridge,uh, several days ago and saw
astonishing amounts of litter and trash on the banks. Uh, I hope we can do
something about that. Any other questions for Bob? Thank you. Anyone else?
Theisen: Don't pat yourselves on the back. Ten percent of a building that has about 50
units is five units. Congratulations! For 10 whole years (mumbled) 10 years for
the building to accrue astronomically in value so that way the City can continue to
gentrify it. So, congrats.
Throgmorton: Uh,just for the record that was Nick Theisen speaking. Good evening, Kevin.
Digmann: (talking in background) Um, as you guys know, we've developed all three, this...
this (mumbled) project here. I wanna speak a little bit on affordable housing.
The bo....the building on the bottom left sits in existence today. That's 602
Dubuque Street. If you guys driven by that, that was the building we completed.
The building in the middle is 620. That's under construction currently, and will
be completed, um, you know,by August. The third building is 628 and what
we've done is we've partnered with the Housing Fellowship to turn that into an
affordable housing building, the entire building(unable to hear person speaking
from audience) Let me finish. The, uh, the Housing Fellowship was successful in
getting their tax credits through the State, so they will manage the property and
the, you know,the Housing Fellowship's a non-profit group. So this....this
project, we devoted that one whole building to work with those guys to provide
affordable housing in this complex. Um, the....that building will have 27
affordable units. I don't know the standards, maybe somebody can speak a little
bit more how the affordable is done with the Housing Fellowship,but I...I think
it's even below some of the rents that the....that the affordable, that the 10%rule
would apply to. So I think that's....that was a big deal for us to work with those
guys to provide that. And, uh, and I'll be happy to answer any questions. Like
Bob says, we've....we tweaked the building to match the, uh,Riverfront Crossing
design code. Obviously the building that exists there today is not very attractive
at all, and we think this'll be a nice enhancement to....to, uh, to the community
and uh, to the area. So happy to answer any questions.
Salih: This is bigger than the 10%, like you just was talking about the like, uh, how
much is the AMI, like the area median income, like 80%? 60%? 30%?
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Digmann: I'm not a....entirely sure what the....the Housing Fellowship goes by. I know the
standards for developers to provide. I believe....I believe you use a 60% rule of
thumb with the rents for the one and two-bedrooms. I'm pretty sure the Housing
Fellowship is....is dramatically below that, is much less than that,for what their
rates are. So this....this is a real win, I think, to have this building being done,
right, as part of this project.
Throgmorton: Geoff, do you know, is it 60% or.....
Fruin: Yeah, the Housing Fellowship project, urn, that's the one that Maryann Dennis
spoke to you about, and Tracey Achenbach has spoke to you about recently, that
is a mix of income levels. It goes all the way down to 30% for some units, and I
think, uh, maybe there's some at the....at the 60 or 80%, but it's a....it's a range,
and there's also a couple market-rate units in there. Goin' off memory, but I think
it was a 30-some-odd unit building with about four market rates, and then a range
of affordability, but...when you tap into that LIHTC program, which is what the
Housing Fellowship was able to do, there are requirements that a certain, um,
percentage of those units get to a very low income level, uh, so it goes well
beyond what the inclusionary zoning ordinance would require.
Digmann: So I....I bring that up because of the how affordable issue and let you know we
are trying to do more than what is required by this zone.
Throgmorton: Sure. Any questions for Kevin?
Digmann: Thanks.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Kevin.
Eastham: I am Charlie Eastham, 953, uh, Canton Street in Iowa City. I just wanna continue
the discussion about affordable housing. Uh, the comments were right, the
Housing Fellowship is developing the, uh, a building that Kevin pointed out. Uh,
and the, uh, income targeting, uh, ranges are 30, 40, and 50 or 60%, I can't
remember exactly which. So some of the units'll be low priced. They will have
rents in the$400 range, something like that,but I think, uh, Mr. Theisen is correct
in saying that that's not enough. There're not enough units for the entire, uh, in
comparison to the entire number of units that are in the Riverfront Crossing, uh,
overall plan, as well as it's not enough to meet the needs of the, uh, 1,400 or so,
uh....um, unrelated residents in Iowa City that are now paying more than 30 to
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50% of their income for their housing costs. So, uh, I....I have congratulated
Maryann Dennis on the Housing Fellowship's, uh, success in financing this
particular, uh,building,but I also think the Council, you, need to be more, urn,
assertive in getting the number of actually affordable units way above what we've
been doing recently. Thanks.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? I thought there might be a fair number of people, other than five,
uh, to speak on this, so anyhow. I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs
gavel) All right, uh, I need to ask the Council if, uh, you're inclined to vote in
accordance with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation to
approve the rezoning. (several responding) All right, so I....well, I did it in the
wrong sequence, didn't I? I don't know.
Dilkes: No harm done!
Throgmorton: No harm done, yeah, well....what would happen if harm was done (laughter) All
right, so could I have a motion please to give first consideration?
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
Thomas: Well I...in reading the, uh, packet, there's quite a bit of discussion on this item
that took place at Planning and Zoning and I'd like to thank the Planning and
Zoning Commission for raising a number of issues which I think has resulted in
a.....an improved project, particularly the interface with the, uh, Ralston Creek
which kind of spoke to what I mentioned in the, uh, work session about the
importance of promoting real viable open space throughout the city, uh, wherever
we have the opportunity and clearly the master plan identified that and it's good
to see us following through on that. Uh, so I will....I will be supportive of the
project.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? All right, I'm not hearing anything. So I'll make a few comments.
Uh, it was very clear in reading the minutes of the Planning and Zoning
Commission's hearings, or in discussion, that the....the first meeting on February
15`h, I guess, was pretty testy, and.....I....I want to, uh, acknowledge and....and
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thank Kevin for, uh, listening carefully to what the Commissioners said and to
revising the proposal. I think the....uh, the revised version that you've presented
to us, Kevin, is really way better than what was originally presented, and
somethin' that we can be proud of. So, I want to acknowledge that and thank you
for doing that. Uh, I also want to praise the Commissioners for being so clear
about their, that is the plans and the codes expectations. I....I think it probably
was difficult for them to be that clear, but they were and....uh, I admire that. I
also want to....say that I think it would be really terrific if we could get some help
from the federal government with regard to dealing with the affordable housing
challenges that we face in this country, cause....uh, it's a really serious problem in
major....in cities all over the country, and cities by themselves cannot deal with it.
Uh, it's beyond our capacity, despite what Nick says, uh, so I'd really like to get
some help from the federal government, and I don't think that's gonna happen any
time soon. Lastly, I...I would like to, urn.....urn.....praise Nick Theisen for being
so clear about his views. I think I'd probably phrase things differently (unable to
hear response from audience) I think I probably would phrase things differently
than Nick did, but I....I praise him for doin' it and beyond that, I would strongly
recommend that anybody who has strong views like Nick does run for City
Council. You always have an opportunity to influence decisions on this Council
by being on the Council, instead of just speaking to the Council. So, anyhow,
with that.....uh, any further discussion? Hearing none roll call please.
Salih: (both talking) I just warma say something (both talking) Yeah, urn.....I'm not
voting against this, I'm supporting it, but I really want to say something that we
really as a Council Member we can do a lot here without even help from the....I
know that help from the federal is great but here in this city we can do a lot of
things. We just....I will encourage the Council Member to really start (unable to
understand) about doing affordable housing. There is many ways. There is many
people here experting in, that have experience of doing affordable housing. We
just need to, you know,have the courage to do that, and that's all I gonna say on
that. (unable to understand)but I will encourage everyone to think about this
carefully.
Throgmorton: Okay! Any further discussion? Pauline?
Taylor: I just think that, um, our Council has....has come quite a ways over the last couple
years comparatively. Uh, I don't remember,having followed Councils in the past,
a stress on affordable housing and putting into code such as, uh, even the
Riverfront Crossings and inclusionary zoning. That just wouldn't have happened
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and it has happened and now it is required and I think it's....it is at least a start
and that's what we can do.
Throgmorton: Further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5b Rezoning 513 Riverside Drive—Ordinance conditionally rezoning
approximately 0.62 acres of land from Community Commercial (CC-2) zone
to Riverfront Crossings—West Riverfront(RFC-WR) zone for property
located at 513 S. Riverside Drive. (REZ17-00005)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hi, Bob.
Miklo: This property is, uh, located with....within the West Riverfront sub-district of the
Riverfront Crossings, uh, District. It previ....excuse me, it previously contained a
gas station and a convenience store. Um, it's....was, those buildings were
recently removed, uh, from the property. Uh,the proposed, uh, Riverfront
Crossings zone, uh, will allow this property to be developed with a mix of
commercial and residential uses, or just one of those uses. It could be all
commercial or it could be all, uh, residential. Um.....the, uh, the code requires
that, uh, any new building on this site be built up close to the street, or the
sidewalks, with, uh, parking located within the interior of the building or behind
the building, not highly visible from....from the street. Uh,the goal is to create a
more pedestrian-friendly, uh,urban environment in this location. There is a, uh,
four, uh, story height limit that applies in this area, and the possibility of a bonus,
uh, additional floor, depending on, um.....urn.....achieving bonuses through some,
uh, some things such as masonry construction or additional affordable housing or
additional open space, and those are all reviewed by the, uh, the Design Review
Committee. Uh, for a residential building in this area, they....it will be required
to provide 10-square feet of usable open space,uh, for each bedroom, and also
will be required to, uh, provide affordable housing according to the Riverfront
Crossings' zoning code. Uh, given the, uh, significance, uh, increase in density
that this, uh....um, development, uh, will bring to this corner, the applicant has
agreed to a conditional zoning agreement that would dedicate right-of-way
towards Riverside Drive. It would also close, um.....uh, most of the curb cuts
with one curb cut on Myrtle and the possibility of an exit, uh, only onto Riverside
Drive. Urn, the, uh, addition of the, uh, right-of-way will allow the City to
implement, uh, the plan for the improvement of this intersection and, uh,
implementation of the Riverside Drive streetscape, um....uh, project in the future.
Uh, Planning and Zoning Commission, uh, recommended approval of this
rezoning, as has staff. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions.
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Throgmorton: Bob, if there's an exit onto Riverside Drive, would it be a right turn only exit?
Miklo: Right, that's correct.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Bob?
Cole: Are there going to be any sort of conceptual drawings of the proposed structure,
utn....on this site?
Miklo: Uh, there aren't included with this, uh,proposal. Uh, any development of the site
will have to go through our Design Review Committee at the time of a building
permit.
Throgmorton: Is there anything else you wanted to say about that?
Cole: No (both talking)
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Bob? Urn, Eleanor, I'll ask you this question. We went
through this, uh, a year ago or something like that, didn't we? Yeah. And then,
uh, the developer chose not to sign the conditional agreement at the time. What
was....
Dilkes: The applicant requested, um, deferral.
Throgmorton: Yeah, right. (both talking)
Dilkes: Urn....had issues with the conditional zoning agreement and dedication of
property.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay, hearing no further discussion, uh, again I need
to ask you whether you....whether you are inclined to vote in accordance (several
talking in background) Zoning Commission. Sorry? (several talking) Oh!
Thank you. I'm gonna....nobody else gonna talk? I'm gonna close the public
hearing. (bangs gavel) Sorry! Go ahead (several talking)
Mikes: I'm sorry. I'm hearing both of you at the same time, so I can't....what....
Mims: No, I was just questioning if the public hearing was still open, as Jim was asking
where we were at (several talking)
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Throgmorton: I just got the sequence wrong again. Okay. So, anyhow, I need to know whether
(laugh) y'all are inclined to vote in accord with the....yeah. Okay(several talking
in background) So, I'll close the public hearing. Could I have a motion please?
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion?
Taylor: I'm excited to see this intersection be improved, particularly the sidewalks. It's
going to be great!
Mims: Well and getting a traffic light there's going to be a huge improvement too.
Throgmorton: Yeah,uh, I....I wish we had, um, some rendering of some kind with regard to the
building itself. I thought we had one a year ago when we first looked at this, but I
don't....I don't remember. It would have been in the packet if we did, wouldn't
it? Anyhow.....
Dilkes: I....I think it....all the information was included again in this packet (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah. Yeah.
Salih: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: Okay. Any other discussion? All right,roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5c Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 715 Park Road—
Ordinance rezoning property located at 715 Park Road from Low Density
Single Family Residential(RS-5)to RS-5 with a Historic Preservation
Overlay (RS-5/OHP)zone. (REZ18-00011)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: Yeah,the next,uh, seven items are nominations,uh, for historic preservation
overlay zones for landmark designations. Before I, uh,present each of those,urn,
I have some just general comments that pertain to the group as a whole.
(coughing, difficult to hear speaker) like to keep those in mind as you.....as we go
down the agenda and work through each item. Urn, as you know the
Comprehensive Plan guides development of the city. It,uh,but it also includes a,
um,historic preservation element,urn, that we work with and....and to, uh,
identify,uh, areas that we want to preserve, including historic districts as well as
individual landmarks. Um,the,uh, Historic Preservation Commission,uh, enacts
this plan or works towards it, uh,by doing studies of individual buildings and...
and collections of buildings within neighborhoods. Uh, the...with the goal of,uh,
gathering information to determine which ones really rise to the level of being
landmarks or.....or historic districts. The, uh,the first step in the process to
landmarking designation is a public hearing before the, urn, Historic Preservation
Commission, and that occurred,uh,last year. Uh, the second step is a public
hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission and that occurred earlier this
year. Urn,both of those commissions recommended approval of these, and now
it's....the decision is yours as to whether the zoning,uh, ordinance,uh,protecting
these buildings should apply. Urn, once a property is designated as a landmark,
any changes to the exterior that require a building permit, uh, will require
approval by the Historic Preservation Commission, or in most cases their staff.
Uh,more routine things, such as painting, do not require a permit and...and
therefore are....are not,uh, not regulated. Urn,the designation also,uh,would
bring some incentives. There are some zo....zoning bonuses or variances that can
be granted to,uh,historic landmarks. Urn, and then there are also some, uh,
federal, state, and local tax incentives for....for landmarked buildings or investing
in....in landmark buildings. Urn, both the, uh.....urn, as I noted, both of the...the
commissions have, uh,recommended approval of these. Um.....and, urn,before
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we go into each one, I believe Ginalie Swaim also has some general comments
about landmarks and....
Throgmorton: Okay!
Swaim: Hello, I'm Ginalie Swaim, Chair of the Historic Preservation....Commission.
Iowa City has 47 local landmarks. Tonight the Commission is asking you to add
seven more. This long list of landmark has....has had additions now and then
when an owner of an historic property requests landmarking. If the property met
the criteria,then the Commission has recommen....recommended designation to
Planning and Zoning and to the Council. That is the case with the first property
we'll look at tonight on Park Road. Far more often though, landmarking of a
property has been sought proactively by the Commission and that is the case with
six brick houses you'll look at tonight. After the loss of three brick cottages on
South Dubuque, the Council asked the Commission to proactively identify
historic buildings that should be protected. That's what we've done, and that's
what we're presenting tonight. Proactively, before any perceived 11th hour, while
these houses are still in the hands of owners who have cared for them and care
about them. The seven houses tonight all meet the required level of significance
for historic landmarks. The six brick houses all lie in areas under some threat of
development. The Commission believes development and growth can be linked
to and can draw upon our heritage and legacy,but only if those historic resources
are still standing. We do not oppose change,but rather proactively ask for guided
change regarding those things that we cannot replace or rebuild once they're
gone, like an 1860 brick mason's house, or an 1870s brewmaster's house, or a
1917 pediatrician's house. Bulldozers and wrecking balls take a day to destroy
what has stood for decades and decades and decades. Most of these houses were
here before Iowa City's population even reached 8,000. There are tools available
to assist owners of historic properties where applicable—federal and state tax
credits; a County property tax exemption, which we had begun to explore; and our
new Historic Preservation Fund. But one of the most basic tools as you know is
landmarking, which is designed to protect historic resources in the first place and
help stabilize neighborhoods. Now is the time to pick up that tool and use it. The
destiny of these seven houses is in your hands tonight. We thank the current
owners of each one of these houses for their continued stewardship. This is a
huge part of why the houses still stand and why they continue to serve as useful
purposes. Tonight however is not about the owners but about the houses, and
how they have helped define the character of this community and contribute to the
common good, and can play a role in our future prosperity and way of life. Bob
will now introduce each individual house and each will be voted on individually.
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This may make for a long meeting, but we believe that each house deserves its 15
minutes or more of fame. Thank you for your careful consideration and for your
leadership.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie!
Miklo: 715 Park Road is in the, uh, Manville Heights neighborhood. Um, it's, uh, in the
Northwest District Plan within our....our Comprehensive Plan, and it is currently
zoned low density single family. Uh, the Comprehensive Plan indicates that the
surrounding neighborhood should be, uh, continue to be single family and
therefore this zoning designation is in compliance with....with that goal of the
plan. The, uh, preservation plan, or element, of the Comprehensive Plan, uh,
called for a study of the Manville Heights neighborhood to determine which
properties were historic or are historic, and that study was done about....or
completed about 10 years ago, and this was one of the properties that was
identified as being eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and
important in our history and uh, Ginalie will go into a little bit more details about
the specific history of this house. Urn, staff and the Planning and Zoning
Commission,uh, reviewed this landmark designation and determined that it does
comply with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan for continued residential use
and, um, also the preservation element of the, uh....the plan. Um , Ginalie, if you
would.....
Swaim: This is the Byfield House. It is not in an area vulnerable to development. After it
was put on the Register, the owner requested landmarking designation. Built in
1917, this is one of the younger houses tonight. It is a mere 101-years-old. This
house was part of the first wave of building in the Manville Heights
neighborhood, developed by Burton Manville. It's historically significant for its
association with prominent citizens. Was built for the founding chair of the
pediatrics department in the U of I College of Medicine, Dr. Albert Henry
Byfield, and it was designed by an engineering professor, Stuart Hobbs Sims.
This is the theme we see often in Manville Heights—properties that are associated
with University faculty and staff. It's significant also for its architecture. It's a
large-scale, well preserved example that blends Tudor revival and English arts
and crafts. In fact, a house in Biddenham, England, which appeared in an
architectural plan book from 1912 may have in...inspired Professor Sims.
Landmarking this house is a step towards recognizing Manville Heights as the
historic neighborhood it truly is. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Would anybody else like to address this particular....um,
proposal? All right, seeing no one...uh, are you folks inclined to vote in accord
with the Planning and Zoning Commission and recommending approval? All
right. I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Botchway: Move first consideration.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Uh, moved by Botchway, seconded by....uh, Thomas. I'm gonna come to the
motion to accept correspondence afterwards, right, that's okay, right? Okay.
Discussion? I'm all for it. I remember seeing this....we....we put it on the
Register, is that what it was, uh, a year, year and a half ago or somethin' like that?
Yeah. Good, glad to see it. Uh, anybody else?
Taylor: When you had the tour of historic homes, uh, what, last fall I believe it was, that
this was one of the homes and I had the opportunity to tour this home and it's just
as beautiful inside as it is outside, but it's just very impressive and great for the
Manville Heights area.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0. Item
5d....
Fruehling: Jim, there's correspondence.
Throgmorton: Oh yeah, the motion, which I just said (both talking)
Botchway: So moved.
Throgmorton: Hold on! Hold on! Uh, could I have a motion to accept correspondence?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. Thanks, everybody!
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5d Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 1029 North Dodge Street—
Ordinance rezoning property located at 1029 North Dodge Street from
Medium Density Single Family Residential (RS-8) to RS-8 with a Historic
Preservation Overlay (RS-8/OHP). (REZ18-00010)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: Yeah, urn.....aerial photograph shows the location of the property at the
intersection of Prairie Du Chien and Dodge. Urn, there's residential development,
urn, to the, urn.....uh, south, north, and uh....um, east, uh, or excuse me, to the,
uh, east there is commercial development. The....the HyVee and the Hilltop.
Um,the other area is....is all residential. The, uh, Comprehensive Plan, urn,
indicates that this area should continue to be residential and the plan also supports
identification and protection of historic properties. Uh, the Planning and Zoning
Commission, urn....uh, and staff, uh, reviewed this application and, uh,
recommend approval.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Bob.
Swaim: Ginalie again! Many Iowa Citians have probably admired this house. It's a true
architectural gem at the intersection of Dodge and Prairie Du Chien. Fortunately
there's a stoplight there, so one has time to linger over the features. This house
was built in 1893 and it's today architecturally significant because it shows a
transition between two major styles, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival. For
example, the overall height and proportion, the three small ocular windows at the
top, and the spindle details all signal Queen Anne. Whereas the arched Palladian
window on the second floor is more Colonial Revival. Take a cha....a moment to
look at this wonderful carving on the pediments over the porch and at the top
gable. It's, uh, all of these things are....we're very fortunate these are all still
intact. The house is in what's known today as the Shimek neighborhood, but it
was once called Tank Town, because the municipal waw....water tower was in,
uh, 900 block of North Dodge, and it was originally a neighborhood of Bohemian
and German immigrants, a major part of our local past. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Ginalie. Anyone else want to address this topic?
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Trimble: Alicia Trimble, Friends of Historic Preservation. I....I kind of, since we're
beginning on the brick houses, actually just want to address, urn, the importance
of the brick houses and why they're corning up first. Urn, in 2014, which was two
City Councils ago now, urn, during the cottages, um, the City Council did....give
a clear directive to the Commission that they were to identify districts, as well as
individual landmarks in the area. Um, the HPC did begin a very arduous process
of going through all the remaining properties that were considered critically
endangered near downtown, and urn, it took an incredible amount of time and
they went through hundreds and hundreds of property....I....properties. I know
because I was there. When deciding what properties to start with on the
landmarking process, HPC looked at the danger to the structures due to their
proximity to heavy developing...heavily developing areas, and due to the
overwhelming irres....irreversible damage that can occur to the properties due to
their building materials. Lack of education when taking care of brick buildings is
devastating. Historic buildings are made of soft brick, a totally su....suitable
building material if properly maintained. However, soft brick is much like a loaf
of French bread. It has a hard crust, which protects a softer inside. Many brick
buildings in Iowa City and across the country, across the world,have been
devastated simply because they were powerwashed, which removes that hard
crust. Further, soft bricks expand and contract with temperature and moisture.
That means if a soft brick building is pointed, or repointed,with modem mortar,
the bricks will expand and the hard, new mortar will not. This means under the
force of the....brick, uh, expanding, they'll eventually burst. Um,that damage
can occur from a simple error and, urn....can cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars in damage. So, when the Commission was looking at these, I think the
brick buildings were picked first,just simply because as a historic landmark, you
have access to a Historic Preservation Planner who is trained as an architect and
um,has all of the resources at her fingertips to help people, urn, and I believe
these were why you're seeing some of these properties as the first buildings
before you tonight.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Alicia. Anyone else? All right, seeing no one else, again I want to
ask you whether you're inclined to support the Planning and Zoning
Commission's recommendation? Yeah? All right, I'm gonna close the public
hearing. (bangs gavel)
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Thomas: Move first consideration.
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Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Botchway. I....I'd like to start by, uh, thanking,
I should of said this at the last,uh, for the last, uh, building, but I warma thank the
Historic Preservation Commission, including our....our Chair Ginalie, the
Historic Preservation staff, and Alicia Trimble for the really good,hard work they
have done in bringing these buildings to our attention. But, especially sorting
through all those possible properties that Alicia just referred to and then, you
know, comin' to the comin' to us with these specific buildings. So thanks so
much for doing that. Regardless of how we vote, thank you for doing that. All
right, uh, further discussion? I drive by this, or dri....ride my bike by it or
somethin' pretty darn often (laughs) as I know(several talking and laughing)
Mims: It's a gorgeous building and (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah it is!
Mims: ....it was, you know, I was worried when they were widening Dodge Street about
the preservation of this building and, you know,how much lawn was going to be
left and they've.....you can see they've put in a retaining wall and, urn, it....it
looks really nice. It's kinda close to the street, but still it's....it's nice, and it's a
gorgeous building and I'm glad that we're able to do this.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Any further discussion?
Cole: We talk a lot about our gateway on Dubuque,but this really is another gateway to
the City of Iowa City, and what I really love about this is you have all these
modem structures. You have the new HyVee,but then you have this as sort of
one of the very first symbols that you see as you enter. I think it's a really great
way to sort of commemorate this particular property.
Thomas: This....this one is truly a landmark, uh.....it.....I live on the Northside so I know it
well, as well, and uh, I feel like I've arrived home when I pass by this building.
It's really and truly a marker. (several talking in background)
Throgmorton: I guess I'd like to say one other thing, uh, you know I'm trained as an urban
planner, so in 1893 when this house was being built, the world's Columbian
Exposition was being held at Chicago, uh, which in some ways marked the start
of urban planning as a profession. I mean there's a long story associated with
that,but still, it was an important event and there were quite a few,uh, Iowa
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Citians who hopped on the train and went to Chicago for the Columbian
Exposition. So I can imagine this building, you know, the mason....masonry
people puttin' it together as other people were goin' off to, uh,to have a good
time in Chicago. All right, any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please.
Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5e Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 504 East Bloomington
Street—Ordinance rezoning property located at 504 East Bloomington Street
from Commercial Office (CO-1) to CO-1 with a Historic Preservation
Overlay(COI/OHP). (REZ18-00012)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: Uh, this property is located in the Northside neighborhood of the Central,uh,
Planning District. As noted, it is zoned commercial office, and it's currently used
for a office on the first floor with a, uh, couple of apartments on the, uh, on the
second floor. Urn, the Comprehensive Plan indicates that this is an appropriate
use, uh, for the property. Uh, I'd like to point out that landmark designation does
not regulate the use of the property. That is still controlled by the underlining....
underlying zoning, uh, in this case office. Um, so, uh, designation of the property
will conform to the comprehensive goal, or Comprehensive Plan goal of
protecting historic buildings, as well as the Central District Plan goal of, um,
continued office use in this area, as well as the goal of providing a diversity of
housing, including the, uh, the smaller apartments that are located on the....on the
second floor.
Swaim: This is called the Hummer House,built by 1880, this Italianate brick house which
we'll show here in a moment. There it is! Has caught the public's eye for
decades. The windows are gently arched. The front door has etched glass with a
flat fan fare above, and when the lilacs and crab apples finally start to bloom,
you'll really want to go for a walk by this house to see the brick work detail up
close. The house is significant for its Italianate architecture, and also for its
association with Helen and George Hummer. George owned Hummer
Mercantile, selling food products, which later expanded into other parts of Iowa.
You know, sometimes historians have to work hard to find the women behind
historic homes in the 19th and early 20th century. George for example is listed on
the building committee of the public library. His name appears in city directories
and city histories. But if you look back to the 1870s deed for this lot, in fact for
most of the block, that's where you'll find the name of Helen Hummer, the sole
owner. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Anyone else? Seeing no one else,uh, I wanna ask you if
you are willing...or interested or....(laughs) wrong verbs (laughter) inclined to
vote in accord with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation?
(several responding) All right, I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs
gavel) Could I have a motion please?
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion?
Thomas: Another gorgeous house!
Throgmorton: Yeah (laughter)
Thomas: Uh, I mean it is interesting, as we go through these, and this....this is my
neighborhood, but the image of Iowa City, the...the contribution these buildings
make in terms of the memorability of this place is pretty remarkable.
Taylor: Just reflects the character and the history of the community.
Throgmorton: Yeah, I guess there are a couple things I wanna note, uh.....uh, first like John,
I....I go by this building very, very often, but I've also attended many meetings
inside the building, which makes me think about history and how history is
continually evolving. So the owner of this particular building, uh, Jim Larew, uh,
was Chief of Staff for the Governor of the State of Iowa for four years. So that in
itself is not a trivial thing. I mean we're not....we're not approving (laughs) Jim
Larew here (laughs) but we're, uh, I just note that his occupancy and the way he
and his wife have lived in that building, have had a major effect on the fact that it
is before us right now. All right, uh, let's see. I closed the public hearing, no
(mumbled)
Taylor: No. (several talking)
Throgmorton: All right, uh, let's see, have I (several talking) Thank you. Thanks, everybody.
Okay, any further discussion? Hearing none,roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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tem 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5f Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 213 East Market Street—
Ordinance rezoning property located at 213 East Market Street from Central
Business Support(CB-5) to CB5 with a Historic Preservation Overlay (CB-
5/0HP). (REZ18-00009)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: Uh, this property is located in the, uh, Central Planning District, and within that
district we have the North Marketplace, uh, where there is, uh, more detailed,
uh....uh, section, or a section in the plan. It's currently zoned Central Business
Support zone, or CB-2. Urn, when the,uh, City drafted the Central District Plan,
uh, we conducted a series of community workshops, urn, that led to the policies of
the plan that are specific to this property, um, as well as the property at, um, 319
Bloomington Street, which is later on your agenda. Urn, residents and, urn,
business owners,urn, who participated in those workshops told us that the, uh,
histar...historic character of, uh, the Northside Marketplace is one of its greatest
assets and something that they wanted to be,uh,preserved. Uh, therefore a goal
of the Comprehensive Plan is to,uh,preserve the lower scale and density of this
area when compared to downtown. Uh, the plan calls for limiting heights in this,
uh, commercial area to two, uh, to three stories and preservation of, uh, several
historic buildings. Urn, many of the, uh, the....the historic buildings in the area
are already designated as landmarks, as you can see by the, uh, the purple, urn, or
the blue triangles on this map. And then others are protected by the, uh, Jefferson
Street Historic District. Um, so the, urn....um.....urn, property at 213 Market
Street is here, urn, and I'll point out the boundary of the, uh,Northside
Marketplace, and then again, 319 Bloomington Street, which is a....a later agenda
item, is within, uh, that,uh, commercial area. Urn, so, uh, when the Planning and
Zoning Commission and staff reviewed this, uh, application, we did find that, urn,
landmark designation, uh, would help, uh, the goals of preserving the new
character and scale of the Northside Marketplace as, uh, well as the goal of
identifying historic properties.
Swaim: This is one of two Italianate houses we're looking at tonight that tell the story of
this city's late 19th century brewing industry and its brewmasters. Brewing beer
and enjoying beer socially was a longstanding part of the 19th and early 20th
century cultural traditions of German Americans in the Midwest, and I can say up
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Page 28
through the 1950s too because I was a German farm kid (laughs) in Scott County,
and we know that's a.....it's a new social tradition in some other demographics in
this town. Anton Geiger, a German immigrant, built this Italianate house....how
do I get to it? Thank you. ....in 1870....70, after he built the Union Brewery on
Linn and Market. The Union Brewery is on the National Register. It was also
known as Hotz and Geiger Brewery. In fact Anton married Hotz's daughter.
Geiger used similar architectural details on his house as he did on the brewery,
such as paired brackets and other trim in the freeze band right under the roof.
You can see that there's evidence that there was a front porch at one time. Um,
but there's a....enough, um, other architectural details intact that the house is still,
urn, highly qualified. Owned and cared for by the Wesley Foundation since 1940,
it is a good example of reuse of a historic building, which is something that
preservation champions. Historic building should not just exist. They should be
used and adapted appropriately for modem-day needs and desires. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Would anybody else like to address this? Seeing no one....
I'm gonna ask you again, are you inclined to support or, uh, the Planning and
Zoning Commission's recommendation? (several responding) Alrighty! Close
the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion please?
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Botchway: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Discussion?
Botchway: I appreciate the...knowing about the beer (laughter)
Throgmorton: Maybe we should drink a beer to it! (laughs) Toast one! All right. No further
discussion? Roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5g Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 412 North Dubuque Street
—Ordinance rezoning property located at 412 North Dubuque Street from
High Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-44) to RM-44 with a Historic
Preservation Overlay (RM-44/OHP). (REZ18-00006)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: Urn, this property is also in the Central Planning District. Uh, the, uh urn,
Comprehensive Plan for the area encourages the investment in older housing
stock and the maintenance of a variety of, uh, of housing in the neighborhood,
urn, including smaller homes or more modest, urn, houses, such as this. Um, so
the designation of this property at 412 Dubuque Street would help achieve those
goals, um, as well as the goal of protecting historic properties.
Swaim: So now we come to a more modest one-story brick cottage,built in the 1860s, and
in preservation the small simple house can be as significant as the large elaborate
house. This house is associated with Sylvanus Johnson, who originally owned the
property and is often cited as the first brick maker in Iowa City. Also associated
with David Bortz, who lived in this house, was a mason, and later....a brick
mason, and later a prominent builder. So when we look to some of the large
elegant brick houses in Iowa City, we should remember that the people that
owned the brickyards, made the bricks, and laid those bricks are also part of our
rich local story. This house is also significant because it represents early brick
cottages in Iowa City, a vanishing breed. There are very few remaining examples
of this important type left. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Could I ask you a question, pleases? Ginalie? Yeah. It...
yeah, so do we know where the brick carne from?
Swaim: Urn, I....the Happy Hollow was one brickyard. I believe that was probably where
it was from. Urn....Nicholas Oakes had a brickyard where Longfellow is, right?
(several talking in background) ...where Longfellow is, but I believe the first one
was at Happy Hollow.
Throgmorton: I kinda thought that was the answer, but I didn't know that for sure. Thank you.
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Swaim: Hence the word hollow! (laughter)
Throgmorton: Okay, does anybody else....want to address this topic? All right, seeing no one,
are you folks inclined to support the Planning and Zoning Commission's
recommendation? All right. I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Could I have a motion please?
b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Mims: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion?
Cole: Think this is really important for Dubuque, I mean Dubuque obviously has a ton
of development pressure on it. Beautiful, simple, elegant structure and I'm really
pleased that we're able to preserve it.
Throgmorton: Yeah, I agree. Any further discussion?
Botchway: I would say it also kinda signals, uh, I guess I would say a progression from, urn
.....you know, conversation we had a number of years ago around the cottages,
and so I appreciate, you know, the fact that even though, you know, I think it was
stated that this is somewhat of a simplistic home, that you know preserving
something that has a historic character, on a....on a busy street.
Throgmorton: Yeah, on that point, Kingsley, I....I pick up on what Kings....what Ginalie said
about David Bortz being a brick mason and eventually a prominent Iowa City
builder. Uh, if I read the text correctly,he built several Iowa City University and
public buildings, including Calvin Hall. Yeah, which was moved across the street
when, in 1910 or whatever the year was when they moved it. Yeah, so....he....he
was quite active here and it's pleasing that we can recall that by, uh, preserving
this building as a landmark. Any further discussion?
Thomas: Again, this is such an elegant simple home, um.....I'm really glad we are able to
make this (mumbled)
Throgmorton: All right, no further discussion? Roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5h Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 319 East Bloomington
Street—Ordinance rezoning property located at 319 East Bloomington Street
from Central Business Service (CB-2) to CB-2 with a Historic Preservation
Overlay (CB-2/OHP). (REZ18-00008)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: This property's also located in the Central, uh, Planning District and the, uh,
North Marketplace, uh, sub-area of that district. As noted it's zoned, uh, Central
Business Service zone, urn, and again, uh, the, urn, historic designation does not
affect the, uh, the use of the property. It can continue to be used as a commercial
property. Urn, like, uh, 213, uh, Market Street, this property was specifically
identified by the residents and, uh,business owners who participated in the
Northside planning workshops, urn, as a....as a key property to be protected. It
possesses the scale and historic character that the, uh, community desires to
preserve in this mixed-use neighborhood. Again, a goal of the Comprehensive
Plan for this area is to preserve the lower, uh, scale and density compared to the
downtown. Um, the plan calls for limiting heights, uh, of buildings to two to
three stories and of course the preservation of....of several of the historic
buildings in the area. Urn, as noted many of those buildings have already been
designated, uh, including, uh, the Haunted Bookshop, which shares a property
line,uh, with this property. The Haunted Bookshop is on Gilbert Street,uh, and
it, uh, shares the alley property line with 319 Bloomington Street. Um, the...the
City has also made,um, some zoning code amendments to help assure that new
construction, uh, in this area, uh, will be of a lower scale. Uh, we changed the
CB-2 zoning district, uh, a few years ago from a...a 10-story building or allowing
a 10-story building, down to a,uh, 45-foot height limit, which could allow up to
a....a four-story building; however, we also have a floor area ratio of two, um,
which means that in most cases the buildings in this, um,neighborhood,
according to the...the new CB-2 zoning, uh, would be limited to two or three story
buildings. Uh, it would be possible to achieve a store....uh, excuse me, a four-
story building,but that would require a considerable amount of open space in
order to, uh, stay within the....the FAR, or the floor area ration, of two. Uh, we
are also, uh, considering, uh, a form based code for this area. We've done some
....some research into that, and we'll be working with a consultant in the....in the
future possibly for, uh, the form based code. Um, I would note that designation of
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a landmark would not be in conflict with the form based code. Urn, as we....as
staff sees it, uh, a form based code, the intent would be to, uh, formalize the....
the lower two, three,possibly four story scale in this neighborhood. Urn, so when
the, uh, Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed this, uh, they found that it did
meet the Central Planning, uh, District goals of....to preserve the unique character
of the area at a scale that is, uh, a step down from....from downtown. Uh, you
have received protest petitions from the property owner and some of the adjacent
property owners. Uh, therefore approval of this, uh, rezoning, uh,would require
six out of seven Council votes. Um, there is a State statute that does require a
super-majority when the owner of a property, or owners of 20% of....of nearby
properties, uh....um, sign a protest petition.
Throgmorton: Bob, if,uh, if, uh....fewer than six are inclined to support the Planning and
Zoning Commission's recommendation,then we have to offer a consult,would
that be true?
Miklo: That's true.
Throgmorton: Yeah. All right.
Dilkes: So you would continue the public hearing.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay(both talking)
Dilkes: ...consult.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Bob, before you sit down, I wonder if anybody has any questions for
Bob. I do have one,beyond the one I just asked. I thought I heard you say that
the CB-2 zone permits 10 story buildings.
Miklo: It did at one time. Uh, as a result of our studies of this area, we amended the code
several years ago to go down to a maximum of 45-feet, or four stories. Um, but
that four stories is also, urn, a....combined with a floor area ration of two, which
means if you cover the entire site, you can do a, uh, two story building. If you
cover half the site you could do potentially a four story building.
Cole: (several talking) Bob, I'm curious about the structure in the back, um,that is not
....like in the back of the photo there, urn, that is not a....his....historic structure?
Is that correct?
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Miklo: That's correct. That's an addition, uh, and the guidelines that the...if this was
designated a landmark, the guidelines that the Commission uses would allow
much more flexibility for that portion of the property. Could allow that portion to
be removed and replaced, um (both talking)
Cole: What I'm wondering is (both talking)
Miklo: ....structure that....that we're (both talking)
Cole: Suppose we were to landmark it, and either the current land owner or a future land
owner were to want to develop more intensely that back area, urn,would...what
kind of density bonus or benefits would they get to be able to enhance that back
area. Are there any benefits that they would be able to get (both talking)
Miklo: Zoning code does provide some zoning incentives for landmark properties. It
allows the, uh, the waiver or reduction of parking requirements. Uh, it allows in
some cases a transfer of development rights, so if you're limited, uh, on the front
of the property, you might be able to build taller in the back, um.....um (both
talking)
Cole: Including res...additional residential structures behind? I....I guess what I'm
getting at is (both talking)
Miklo: That would be a possibility. Without actually seeing a....a plan(both talking)
Cole: ....at least be possible.
Miklo: (both talking) ...hypothetical, uh,but again the goal is to preserve the original
structure. It's....it's certainly possible under the, uh, Commission's guidelines
and the Secretary of Interior's standards to add, uh, modem additions to historic
buildings. Uh, there would be some design guidelines on how to do that, so that
it's a compatible design.
Cole: Okay.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Bob!
Swaim:• This is the second brick house associated with Iowa City's 19'h century brewing
industry and prominent citizens, in this case Conrad and Anna Graf. Conrad Graf
arrived from Germany in 1874 and was quickly offered a job at the Union
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Brewery. It was run by Simeon Hotz and Anton Geiger, whose house is a mere
block away, already presented tonight. Graf must have done pretty well because
within a year he had married the boss's daughter! They built this house in 17...
1878, 79. Eventually the brewery would be owned by Graf and there were three
breweries within this....within one block of each other on Market Street. Graf
also played an important role in the 1884 Iowa City beer riots, which you might
have read about in the Little Village, and which gained nat...national attention
back then. It was a protest that may seem interesting and humorous now, but it
was emblematic of the reoccurring and defining political fight in, uh, late 19th, uh,
19`h century Iowa between Republicans and Democrats over prohibition. Graf
also owned at one time or another much of what we know as the Northside
Marketplace and was all in all a mover and a shaker. Their house is a more
elaborate Italianate than the one owned by Mr. Geiger, the other brewer, the
one...the Wesley House. For example there's more elaborate framing around the
oval window, more elaborate arches over the second story windows. This house
has been part of our streetscape since 1879 and has been long admired by Iowa
Citians and still is today, whether they are worshiping at St. Mary's, a local
landmark;buying a book at the Haunted Bookshop, a local landmark; dining at
Devotay in a local landmark; getting a hair cut, La' James, in a local landmark; or
just waiting for the newest Marketplace restaurant soon, Goosetown Breakfast
and Bar, also in a local landmark. 319 Bloomington is one with the scale and
character of the Marketplace. Warm, inviting, historic, people-friendly qualities,
that Northsiders and many more have said they value in this vibrant commercial
and mixed-use area. The Commission proactively identified this house as worthy
of a landmark. We hope you agree.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Anyone else want to address this? Good evening, David.
Rust: Good evening. Thank you. David Rust and Joy Smith, we're the owners of the
property. Um, we're the property owners of....of....I have a statement I'm gonna
read, uh, we're....we're the property owners at 319 Bloomington Street, a
building that has operated as commercial office space for at least 50 years and
which we purchased in 1999. We believe that historic preservation should be a
significant consideration in community development. The historic nature of the
Northside and Goosetown neighborhoods is in a central component of the
neighborhood's continu continued vitality, and it is important to our friends
and neighbors, many of whom like us have lived in the neighborhood for decades.
After much consideration, we are asking you to vote no at this time on historic
landmark designation for our property. We detailed our reasons for opposing that
designation in an April 5 letter to the Council. For those who may not have read
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our letter, I will briefly summarize. 319 Bloomington is on a block that will
inevitably see redevelopment in the next decade. That redevelopment has already
begun at the corner of Market and Linn. Our property is adjoined to the south and
west by two large parking lots, one of which is owned by the City. On the east, it
adjoins two houses that are owned by Mercy Hospital. One of those houses is
currently unoccupied. While we do not know what Mercy intends for those
properties, it is a strong possibility that they will be sold and/or redeveloped. We
oppose historic landmark designation at this time because it destina....designation
targets our small parcel and seeks to place permanent restriction on how the
property may be used, without regard to what development may occur around it.
Because we are literally surrounded by unknowns, the designation asks us to bear
inordinate amount of risk, leaving us little flexibility about how we might position
ourselves in that process. While the City is not responsible to protect our
investment from risk, we think it is unfair to burden us with a zoning overlay that
could make it difficult or impossible for us to recover our initial investment, no
matter how diligently we maintain our property. Tonight we want to suggest a
path forward that considers both the interest of staunch supporters of historic
preservation and our legitimate interest, to protect our initial investment in this
property. Reflecting on this process to date it seems to us that an absence of trust
is at the heart of the matter. We feel distrusted because our nearly 20-year history
of preserving 319 Bloomington Street seems not enough to convince the most
ardent preservationist that we will continue to do so. Ginalie stated that tonight is
not about the owners, it is about the houses,but we ask you where would these
houses be without the investment and concern of the owners. On the other side
we feel unable to trust that the City or the Council will have the resources or
sustained interest to protect our legitimate interests in the long run. This is not
due to an absence of good intent. Councilors come and go. Councilors' priorities
change, as a result of elections. Budgets are limited and may be shrinking. It has
been suggested that if we would agree to the designation, the Council will protect
our interests through application of the zoning code. We are not so naive as to
trust that. We do see a way forward that might be a catalyst for positive change.
Some residents of the Northside have previously asked the City to resume and
refine the 2008 comprehensive planning process for the Northside Marketplace
and especially this block. Such a process might bring together property owners
and stakeholders from the neighborhood, to envision future development for the
entire block that is good for the property owners, the residents of the
neighborhood, and the City as a whole. Some Council Members have suggested
that form based zoning might be a vehicle to achieve a desired outcome. We
don't yet know enough about form based zoning to have an opinion about this
suggestion. We do know that any process must include property owners on the
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front end and give weight to their legitimate interests if it is to have any chance of
success. Because of this dispute, we have begun to better know other property
owners on the block. We are a diverse lot. We certainly don't always share the
same views about historic preservation, zoning, or community development.
What we all share is concern about the future of this neighborhood in which we
have all invested. That investment of capital, and for many decades of labor,
deserves to be respected. We can imagine development in which 319
Bloomington could be a contributing historic structure. We can imagine a plan
that protects the investment and the interests of property owners, pleases the
neighbors, and contributes to the vitality of the neighborhood and the community.
Should that kind of planning and the subsequent development that would make
the plan a reality occur, we can imagine 319 Bloomington becoming a
contributing historic structure. However, that is not where we stand today.
Tonight we urge you to vote no on the historic landmark designation at this time.
We encourage you to facilitate a collaborative planning process for the Northside
Marketplace that involves stakeholders, all stakeholders, and respects their
legitimate interests. If that planning process results in further development of a
historic streetscape on our block, the City can reconsider and we might welcome
an historic landmark designation at that time, and we'd be happy to any questions
.....answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, David. Any questions for David?
Rust: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: David,there might be other questions later on. So....there might be other
questions later on, so just hang around. Well you would anyhow (laughter)
Rust: Okay! I'll just (unable to hear, away from mic) (laughter)
Throgmorton: Good evening.
Gilpin: Good evening. My name is Patrick Gilpin. And I'm representing my mother
Joan Gilpin who's the owner of the property at 330 E. Market Street....which is
also built on the site of a former brewery if I'm not mistaken.
Throgmorton: You said 330....
Gilpin: 330 East Market. Um, as I stated, urn, I'm the property manager for the building
at 330 E. Market Street, and our family has owned that building since 1968. So
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that makes us one of the longest tenured owners of that neighborhood, and we
would also like to oppose the request for the historic preservation to designate it
as a, uh, historic landmark at this rime because, uh, we feel like the neighborhood
has really changed dramatically in the last 50 years since we've been there and
also more.....drastically in the last 10 years since the last, uh, Comprehensive
Plan was put in place. Uh,just in the last few years, there's been three new
buildings that I can think of that have been built, one where the coffee shop is
there on the southeast corner of Linn and Market Street. Also the one that's, um,
on the....southwest corner of Linn and Bloomington where there's a retail condo
development presently, and now just with the recent breaking ground for the, uh,
development of the former Pierson Drug Store. So there's a lot more pressure on
development. Uh, we've been approached by several people over the years to sell
our building and have resisted that pressure,because we want to maintain the
character of the neighborhood and the retail mix and everything else that goes
along with it. Because I think those are all important to the character of the
Northside neighborhood and Iowa City in general. Um one thing that concerns
me is the, Rockne, you mentioned,uh, if they want to develop the back part of it
they could get exemptions for parking. Now I wanna speak not necessarily so
much to this particular property,but it illustrates what I think really needs to be
done. If we want to be proactive about this whole process is that we need to have
a plan in place before we go into it, rather than being reactionary when things
happen that are not anticipated or whatever, and one of those things is parking,
because one of the tenants in our building is one of those restaurants, and then
when you mention that there's going to be another restaurant going in and more
new buildings that are gonna have more people in them, if we're gonna have retail
and commercial and residential mix in the neighborhood, which I'm hearing a lot
of is gonna be happening, where are all of those patrons of those restaurants going
to park? Because now the only parking available is on the Market Street lot,
which is overutilized most of the time and so I think some of those things need to
be addressed before we really go forward. So I would ask you to deny this
request for the rezoning, or not for the rezoning,but for the designation, at this
time, and as Mr. Rust indicated, let's get together with the stakeholders in the
neighborhood and say `what's best for the neighborhood and what's best for Iowa
City,' and once that's determined and we have something in place,then let's
address this historic landmark res....designation, because if it's....the designation
is made now, it's gonna be much more difficult to rescind it or do anything about
it in the future. So I would rather see us have something in place before we go to
that point, and then address that. So...thank you very much.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Patrick.
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Trimble: Hello, it's Alicia Trimble with Friends of Historic Preservation. Again, um....I
just wanted to say before I begin here that I'm absolutely devastated to be
standing up here. I never thought I would be opposing the historic landmarking
process,urn, on the other side of Miss Smith and Mr. Rust. Urn, and I want to
apologize to the community, and to the Council. I chose not to go to the P&Z
meeting, urn,where a lot of these issues came up. My dog had just passed away
and I knew, like the HPZ...HPC, the P&Z Commission would have to follow City
code, and therefore these landmark properties would pass P&Z. Urn, I decided I
would not be a very good representa.....representative of historic preservation
with a snotty nose and bloodshot eyes. Instead it turns out that a lot of the
questions that were raised during that meeting, and because of that meeting, I
think I could have helped answer and I believe I could have helped assuage a
number of fears that seem to have arisen. The Council is now in the position of
the dreaded super-majority, and I sincerely apologize. When this happens it is
awful for everyone, especially for all of you. No one is arguing Joyce Smith and
David Rust are not great stewards of historic buildings. We know they are. We
know we can trust them. HPC trusts them. Friends trust them. I trust them and I
cannot say that about too many people who buy historic properties as commercial
income properties. However, and I mean this with absolutely no respect, or no
disrespect, we are just blips in Iowa City's history. This town was here before us
and it will be here after us, and it's about respecting those who came before us
and the things they've done before us. It's also about the values of our
community. And as my husband likes to say, if the beer truck gets me, which is
his euphemism for when tragedy occurs, um, what happens if Joe...Joy and David
pass away? It's not supposed to be that way. It's not something we want to
happen, and trust me it's the last thing I want to ha....want to happen cause that
house is gonna be toast. Um, but it's a reality of being human. We're all going to
die. What happens if they sell the property? The house is currently unproduc...
protected. And no one expects anyone to keep an income property for their entire
life. I think it's important to point out and to remind everyone in this room that
demo permits in Iowa City only need to be present on a building for five days. If
a demo permit is there on a Monday, this house could be torn down on a Saturday.
Um, this house is very important to Iowa City, not just because of its architecture,
because a role it and its occupants played in Iowa City history, which, uh, Ginalie
spoke a little bit about. I want to say a few other things that I should have said at
the P&Z meeting. First of all is a little history on why and where this house was
built. The house was not built in a corn....or excuse me,the house was not built
in a residential neighborhood and it was never meant to exist in a residential
neighborhood. Behind this, uh,house, uh, across the alley sat a stinking, noisy
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competitor's brewery. To its west sat an industrial shed the size of an entire lot,
which was part of an even larger ice house and bottling company that sat on the
other side of the shed. Across the street, the Sanborn map notes, though it does
not show, that there were some dwellings but it also says there were no less than
five barns present on the block. Where the laundry mat currently sits was a
stable. And to the, uh, east of the property for more than 20 years sat vacant lots,
and we know, uh, it's very well documented the vacant lots, uh, in Iowa, out west
as it was called back then, were usually overgrown with weeds higher than a
person's head by the end of summer. For wealthy business owners of the 19th
century,this was a very common place to build your business. You built it in the
middle of your commercial hu....uh, holdings. Graf came to own that brewery
and before that his father-in-law owned that brewery, so he had to be there in case
of emergency. There were no cars, there were no phones, you needed to be near
your property. He also came, as Ginalie said, to own much of the property
around...what we call the Northside Marketplace, uh, at one time or another.
Um, in this case the house is actually more appropriate that it sits among
commercial buildings and parking lots than in a residential neighborhood,because
it was built to be among commercial and industrial buildings, and among stables,
which were the precursors to parking lots. Another concern that has been
committed... submitted to the Council is that the building, uh, the building is
being preserved individually and not as an entire district. I would love a district
here. Your Commission would love a district here. Your city code does not
allow for a district here. Unless maybe we do some crazy congressional mapping
like Texas or something. But the fact is a district has to be contiguous. Our city
code's based on National Register, uh, expectations. Um, this is the reason, as
Ginalie said, uh, the Union Brewery, the Economy Advertising building, the
Union Bakery, and the, um.....Jacob Wentz house, all within a block of this
house, are also individually landmarked. Because of the infor....the former
industrial nature of this area and lack of zoning overlays in this area, um, it's
become pockmarked and the properties have to be individually landmarked to be
saved. Another concern was that, and it's been brought up twice tonight, that is
for planning to landmark buildings when an area is ripe for development. Um,
because we have a for....former planning professor on our Council, as well as
someone else who worked in much larger planning department, I would be
interested to hear your.... your understanding of good planning in your
discussion. Um,my understanding is we protect what our history and culture
value, we protect what our community values, we protect what draws people to
our communities, and draws people into our neighborhoods. Good development
then occurs around the things we treasure. There's also been an argument that
while it's legal for a community to protect its history and culture, designation of
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an individual property is unfair. I'm really struggling with this one to understand
it in its particular case. Nothing about the functionality of the house will change.
Miss Smith and Mr. Rust also stated a....what seemed to be a concern in their
letter that the business in the house operated mainly out of the two non-historic
additions and somehow the designation might matter. The opposite is actually
true. When a building is landmarked, strangely enough those additions are
strangely....kind of protected! Urn, it's a common misunderstanding that historic
over....historic preservation overlays force you to do anything. (laughs) They
don't force you to do a thing! And, if Miss Smith and Mr. Rust do want to
remove those additions to replace them with better additions, they'll be able to do
that as well. There's nothing in the historic preservation guidelines that would
prohibit that. As I always have to do too, I have to give my schpeel. We don't
operate in a void. We live in a community. We live in a society and we are
responsible and accountable to one another. The fact of the matter is that a loss of
any historic building is a loss to our whole community. There is no one who
looks at the Englert Theatre, or the Carnegie Library,both slated for demolition at
different times, and said Iowa City would be a better place without those
buildings. No one looks at the corner of Linn and Washington, at that parking lot,
and says, 'Wow, we'd be...we're so much better off because we have a parking lot
and not the historic City Hall.' Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you,Alicia.
Kuenzli: My name is Cecile Kuenzli. I'm also on the Historic Preservation Commission. I
want to pull away a little bit from this particular,urn, property and talk more
generally about all seven of these. When I have family and friends come and visit
from Chicago and Cleveland, invariably they comment on the wonderful diversity
of architectural styles in this town. They say 'We don't have those in our town.'
We're all in this room tonight because we're proud to live in Iowa City, and I
would argue that part of the reason we're proud to live in Iowa City is because of
structures like these. Um, by granting landmark designation to these seven
properties, we're showing that we both value and want to preserve our past, as at
the same time we build our future—Riverfront Crossings—in very different
styles.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Cecile.
Shullaw: Hello, everyone, my name is Susan Shullaw.
Throgmorton: Hi, Susan.
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Shullaw: And I will sign in here,just a second. I submitted an email to the Council,uh, last
night. I'm gonna read just portions of it. It's a little bit repetitive. I want to say
outright, echoing you, Jim,uh, I have such admiration for historic preservation. I
grew up in an older home in Burlington, it looked very much like this one. I live
in a historic district today. I value these....these houses greatly. I think my main
objection to this,uh, designation is it has to happen now. I would like us to just
take a step back and think about some alternatives for this block. Um, as I said in
my letter, uh, were we to move ahead, the most probable scenario absent a real
visioning for this block, a....a very important one, uh, bounded by North Linn,
East Bloomington,North Gilbert, and East Market Streets, uh, and without further
input, 319 East Bloomington will be surrounded in the coming years by taller,
bulkier, and visually uninteresting condo apartment buildings. It seems equally
likely that the City too will ultimately decide to build something similar on its
parking lot between George's Buffet and the Blue Bird Cafe, Riverside Theater
building. And of course owners of the latter may give in to would-be buyers as
well, perhaps resulting in yet more monolithic condo apartment buildings in this
precariously charming and historically significant part of town. Where will that
leave 319? As a perpetual landmark, this red brick jewel will become a sore
thumb. A lonely anachronism, completely at odds with its surroundings.
Whether it remains a doctor's office as it is today or is converted to some other
commercial use, its property value could decline and its historic value might well
follow suit. In this case, forever seems a long time indeed. Imagine an alternative
scenario. Not designating 319 as a historic landmark would provide, at this time,
would provide more time to fully consider the highest and best use for the
property, and devise a more appropriate and aesthetically pleasing outcome for
the block as a whole. The 319 East Bloomington structure has far more in
common architecturally with the older commercial buildings on Linn Street, from
Hamburg Inn to Oasis, as well as George's Buffet. What if any new structures,
built adjacent to 319 and elsewhere on this block, for example, were required to
adopt historically appropriate facades,such as the apartments along the 600 block
of East Washington Street, facing College Green Park. Thus creating more of the
cohesive neighborhood feel recommended by many of the City's urban planning
consultants. Um, we've seen great documentation for the....the importance of the
structure in Iowa City's history, but I believe that preserving a single building in
perpetuity without a well-conceived plan for the use and appearance of
surrounding properties with no similar protection sought for equally historic and
much beloved buildings with which 319 shares this block dishonors its history
and jeopardizes its useful future. So I hope you will consider voting no at this
time. Let's take our time and come back to historic designation later. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Susan.
Pagliai: Hi, uh, Armond Pagliai. I'm the owner of the parking lot next to 319
Bloomington. And,um, we've been in this neighborhood.....a long time, urn,
actually we....we were at 127 South Clinton until urban renewal, and then....tore
down our building and we went up and rented from the Scarda family, Pagliai's
Pizza at 302 East Bloomington. We don't own that building. But, uh, I'm here in
support of the neighbors, uh, Dave and Joy, to keep them in control of their
property, and we feel they've done an excellent job. Uh, I previously owned that
house and it's not all historic, cause those two metal poles, I carved `em out
myself. And, um......they're.....they're just good, generous porters of the
community, and we don't feel this should be designated on them at this time.
And this particular property, I think it is about the property owner. Urn.....we,
and I'm not sayin' that we're gonna wanna put up some big building on the empty
parking lot. We want to keep that....fit with,urn, the Northside neighborhood and
if we do something the only reason we have an empty lot is cause we need it. We
couldn't function without it. And....because the parking's so bad up there. And,
but it is....we were, urn, we'd been through four downzonings on that property.
We (mumbled) which I'm not complainin' about that part of it, but now we're
down to two and three. So, tonight is about the property owner when you
designate them and they don't have control of their property. You people are
actually in a sense.....doing,playing with their 401 K and their investment, when
you make these decisions. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Ar...Ar....how do you spell your first name?
Pagliai: A-r-m-o-n-d.
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Pagliai: Hi, I'm Polly Pagliai.
Throgmorton: Hi.
Pagliai: I wasn't planning on speaking....but urn, I did want to bring up the point that we
were approached for the parking lot in this interest of bringing....building the
Nolte School and I just, urn, I love the idea that we have some kind of
comprehensive plan for the Northside neighborhood. Instead it just kind of, I
don't know where that's going or....they approached us and we're not (unable to
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hear person speaking from audience) You know there's some....you know there's
some,urn, I don't know if I have the facts right. It's just like you kind of step
back and say, okay,what's happening? So I would just, urn, I would also
recommend voting against this designation and I love the idea of....I love our
neighborhood. So,urn,we don't own our building that we are in....presently and
um,but um, we....we're now on third generation there. My son and daughter-in-
law. So,urn.....anyway, I....that's just, I like the idea of really looking at the
Northside, urn, neighborhood, with the Northside, urn, businesses in participation
of that. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Polly, it's nice to see you,but uh....do I under....I just want to make sure I
understand. The Pagliai does not own the building that the pizza place is in, right,
but you do own the lot? Right, the parking lot across the street, right?
Pagliai: Right. Yeah.
Throgmorton: Okay,just wanted to make sure.
McGuire: Good evening, Linda McGuire. I,uh, live at,uh.....618 Ronald Street in the
Northside and,,urn, generally you would see me up here supporting, uh,desig...
uh,a historically,uh,progressive actions, um,but I....but I....I really want to ask
you to distinguish this one property, and you've heard reasons to do that from the
....it's currently in great hands. Um, but I....I'm asking you to also....I'm also
asking you tonight to....to deny this at this time, and I'm doing that as a neighbor
who,uh, one of the.....one of the founders of the Northside Neighborhood
Association, urn, to....because I'm asking you to continue a promise or at least a
process that you started,urn, with us back in 2008, with the comprehensive...the
plan that Bob talked about,um, has not been followed through. One of the
provisions in that plan,uh, one of the goals was to adopt zoning regulations to
ensure that new development is consistent with the existing, Main Street
commercial character of the area, and compatible with surrounding residential
neighborhoods, and I won't.....you can read this yourself. Urn, we in the last few
years,many neighbors spent many of our hours,urn,meeting with City
consultants, specifically to talk about what was going to happen on this block.
And as we....as I understand,the idea was that we were going to look at a form
based code that would provide a....much of the same,um, character that we're
talking about here. And the....and I understand, I could be wrong,that, urn, the
consultant's report, uh,was one step in the process for that,but that financial
considerations, uh,made it so that....that we could not go forward with a form
based code in...in our neighborhood. Now I don't know much about what that
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process is, but I....I do think, urn, we have not....I don't wanna say that we've not
been op....operating in good faith, because that's not what I'm saying at all. But
I'm disappointed, severely disappointed that...that we have had, um, all the
buildings that were mentioned before (mumbled) there's another one right now
where the....uh, switching station used to be that....that's going up. Urn, we have
the largest undeveloped amount of property around any of these others. So I'm
asking you for....for good reason to....to deny this tonight, at this time, urn, for,
uh, to give it the opportunity to go back on the process oil...of developing this
form based code, perhaps even with some little park....park, not parking, but a
little park space there. Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Linda. The whole Northside neighborhood's gonna be here pretty soon.
(laughter)
DeGraw: Hi, my name is Shari DeGraw, and I sit on the Historic Preservation Commission,
and I think everyone loves this building and while I hear a message to hold back,
it's not making sense to me. I think we're here tonight to preserve the building.
Urn, if something were to happen, like Alicia said, it may not be revisited. So if
you value the building, and so many people have said they do, I believe that you
should vote in favor of landmarking the building. Urn (mumbled) also point out
that the Unitarian Church, on the corner of Gilbert and Iowa, was a successful
partnership working with Jesse Allen, and the building remains and there's a
building that will be modem and new, and it's....the two are co-existing. They
will co-exist. And I think that with that as a precedent,we could move forward if
it were to happen that way with this stretch of Bloomington. Um...and I think that
the request that people have made to do a form based code is a great re....request
to alert you all to do that. Urn, and the third point is I used to live in the Pagliai's
building on the third floor, and I came here in 1999 also. Urn, I....it was a
professional job and I felt really proud to step out on the street and see the historic
neighborhood, and I would see the St. Mary's steeple, um,the building I lived in,
and when I turned the corner and saw this building, it was just gorgeous, and
there's really nothing else like it when you're walking from the Northside in a
southerly direction and you hit this area, there's no other pretty building like it.
So if something were to happen and it didn't exist, we would lose a part of
our....our culture and a true part of substance in Iowa City. So I hope you vote to
pass it.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Shari. Anyone else? Okay. I don't see anyone else, so I will ask the
question I've asked in the last six....after the last six public hearings—are you
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inclined to vote in favor, in accordance, with the Planning and Zoning
Commission's recommendation?
Mims: No.
Thomas: Jim, you had mentioned during the work session you had some....something in
mind, I believe, for this property, in terms of.....the point we're at? Mistaken?
Throgmorton: Uh, yeah, you're right I did. Uh, what I had in mind was,uh, the possibility of
voting to....well, of continuing the public hearing to our next meeting and....and
then, uh, voting that night, on May 151. That would give all of us an opportunity
to process what we've heard, reflect on it, let it sink in, get an emotional sense of
it as well as an intellectual sense of what we think should be done. Uh, and....and
then vote as we think is appropriate. So, that's what I was going to suggest, John.
Uh, if we.....if there's interest in doing that, I would want to have a motion to
defer. That'd be the....this'd be the moment to do that, would it not?
Dilkes: It would be. I think you also need to figure out though if you need to have the
consult with P&Z. Otherwise we get to May 151 and then you may then have to
back up and (both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, so we could have a....a tentative, uh, in....indication of whether people are
inclined to support the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation,
right? Susan's already said no. So, uh, my tentative inclination is yes. How bout
the rest of you?
Cole: Yes with the zone. With the Planning and Zoning.
Throgmorton: Yeah, yes....to.....to support their recommendation that we approve this, um
....designation.
Thomas: Well I would....I would just want to add, before anyone else speaks, urn, when
I.....you mentioned at the work session the idea of..of continuing it. Um.....I'm
trying to find a way of identifying a middle ground, if we can, on this thing.
Throgmorton: Yeah!
Thomas: Um, and.....you know, on the one hand we have the beer truck scenario (laughs)
which you know is, you know we don't wanna talk about it, but it is....it is sort of
on the one extreme. Um.....I think, you know, staff....Bob.....Bob has identified
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and described how he believes, how staff believes the....the existing zoning does
not threaten the building....in terms of the scale of future development. Uh, if....
if we were to continue this, one....one reason I like that idea is that I would like
some confirmation from staff, urn, by looking at....at that CB-2 zoning with the
existing conditions, and if possible, within a say two-week framework, uh,
confirm in fact that, uh, what Bob described is....is indeed the case, that with....
with the constraint on the FAR, the parking requirements, and so forth, that we
can truly expect to see a two to three story building development, um, on that
block. The....the bulk of the development, to me, is the main concern. I do not
want to see, you know, a....what we saw across the street here on Washington,
uh, so I....I would feel more comfortable, um, if possible within a limited
timeframe, uh, to see if we can't confirm that, um, that scen...you know, that
future with respect to our current zoning. In the long-term I would like to see a
form based code approach, but in the short-term, I would like to see that.....the
negative impact as we....we see across the street will not in fact ensue if we leave
the zoning CB-2 for the short-term.
Throgmorton: John, I understand what you're seeking here, and it makes sense to me, but it...we
have to acknowledge that we cannot tie the hands of any future Council. If some
developer, or property owner, comes to the Council and asks for a rezoning, to
CB-5 for part of the block, maybe a large part of the block. There's nothing we
can do to constrain them, to tie their hands. So....I understand your point about
CB-2 and wanting guidance about that, but there's this other part of it too.
Cole: In terms of a procedural clarification, if we were to vote no now, and we did the
consult with the Planning and Zoning....I haven't done one yet and I've been on
Council for two and a half years (laughter) So, mechanically how does that
process work then? We go and consult with the P&Z and then we could change
or vote it. If we can't agree then we (both talking)
Dilkes: No, one....once you vote no, if there's a no vote on an ordinance, it's done.
Throgmorton: But we haven't voted and we're not....(several talking)
Mims: ....then we would come back and vote after the consult.
Cole: Yeah,that's what I'm getting at.
Throgmorton: Just so everybody knows (both talking)
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Dilkes: If there are two....or more of you who are....are inclined to consider a no vote, I
guess I would say it that way, then we might as well have the consult with P&Z.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so (both talking)
Dilkes: ....continue it for that reason, as well as to get additional information.
Cole: I'll just say, I'm inclined to vote no at this point.
Throgmorton: Okay. (several talking)
Salih: I'm also (both talking)
Cole: ...and I think we need to have the consult with the P&Z. Are we going to have a
chance for any commentary though or
Throgmorton: Yeah, there's nothing can....we can't be....we're not constrained about havin'
some discussion and so on (both talking)
Cole: .....a little bit....(both talking)
Throgmorton: ...ask Geoff as well, yeah. All right, so um.....(mumbled) be clear about what I
need to do. So I'll need to continue the public hearing, I'll need a motion to
continue the public hearing, right?
Salih: Move.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: But that's what I would need to do right now(laughter) yeah?
Dilkes: That's right, but if you want to have more discussion I would go ahead and have
that and then continue the public hearing (both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, do the little more discussion beforehand. I wanted to ask you a question,
Geoff, so if you don't mind. Uh,the question for you is, can you kinda give us a
sense of where the form based code light work stands and what's possible, what's
not possible, in relation to this site.
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Fruin: Yeah, the urn.....uh, so the Council direction that we have on form based code is
to move forward with the implementation of a form based code in the South
District, urn, and to do,uh, some selective editing of the,urn, zoning code that
exists,the traditional zoning code, in the Northside, which would include the...
the commercial Northside Marketplace. Urn, what....what you're gonna see with
that is probably some fine-tuning of some, uh, areas that the consultant sees as
high risk, uh, in terms of the impact that redevelop....redevelopment may have on
the character of the neighborhood. But you're really not getting into what I'm
hearing from, uh, some of the commenters tonight, which is a visioning process
and....and really tryin' to, uh, rally everybody together around a....a.....a larger
picture. That's not what it's intended there. Where we're at specifically is in the,
urn, we're negotiating the scope with the consultant. Um, that will ultimately
have to come back to you. Um, I don't have a timeframe for that. Frankly with
our staffmg situation in....in the Planning Department right now, it's...it's really
not realistic for us to....to kick that project off in the next several months anyway.
It's probably gonna be later in the summer before we're even ready to...to begin
work on that project.
Throgmorton: And also, can you respond to John's suggestion?
Fruin: Well....the....the consultation process, as I understand it, probably was not set up
for a....a historic overlay. Urn, and....and Eleanor, Bob, you can correct me if
I'm wrong, but I....I see the Planning and Zoning's review of....of this type of
overlay as, uh, they're....they're checking. They're checking to see whether it's,
urn....um, complementary of the Comprehensive Plan, urn, so I....I think you,
you know, the code is set up to have that conversation with P&Z. I think it may
be more fruitful for Council to include the Historic Preservation Commission on
that, because that's the body that really....that really vetted this. The P&Z
probably has some....some good insight, but urn, in these particular cases, I think
you're gonna get more out of.....a three-way consultation, if you will. So you
might want to consider that. That will be challenging from a scheduling
standpoint(laughter) but, uh, I....I think you should have that discussion.
Throgmorton: So we're required by law to consult with the Planning and Zoning Commission
and we could offer to consult with the Historic Preservation Commission. Is that
right? Okay.
Miklo: In terms of, uh, John's request to do an analysis and report back, um, the CB-2. I
think that's something we could do. We probably couldn't do it in the next two
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weeks, given the other projects we're....we're working on. It would take maybe a
month to get that sort of work done.
Throgmorton: Well if we wanted to we could defer for a month, you know, to the meeting on the
17th or whatever, 15th.
Dilkes: Yeah, you certainly can. That's....
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Salih: And why we are deferring?
Throgmorton: Uh, well two reasons. One is to offer a....a consultation with the Planning and
Zoning Commission,which would be required by law,but also offer a
consultation with the Historic Preservation Commission, which Geoff just
suggested. Beyond that, uh, deferring for a while would give us, each of us, an
opportunity to reflect on what we have heard, and kinda sort through it calmly,
and....and come into the next meeting with a real clear idea about how you wanna
vote. It's hard to do,hard to decide, you know, reading a few things and then
hearing people talk. It's hard to make that decision quickly. All right, could I
have a....help me here, could I have a motion to defer, or to continue the public
hearing and defer our first vote to the 15th of March, or April.....May (laughs) to
our formal meeting of the 15th of May.....and also to offer a consultation with
both the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Historic Preservation
Commission. That afternoon, or at some mutually convenient time. Yeah. Is that
a reasonable motion? Could I have a motion to that effect please?
Taylor: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Cole. Uh, this is a....a voice vote? All in favor
say aye. (several talking)
Botchway: So I mean I....I appreciate this, I mean I'm always in favor of if we can take more
time to discuss, um, especially a project or projects such as this. Um, I would say
though that it'd be....it'd behoove many Council Members that may not have
been,uh, a part of Council when the cottage discussion happened to maybe go
back to those minutes and, um, you know, spend some time kind of reviewing
those, because I think that a lot of conversation here, um, change...or is happening
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because we changed a process,urn,by which we wanted to be more proactive in
how we design...designate a certain, uh, buildings, uh, that landmark designation.
I would say I have some questions, and so I am appreciating, um, you know, I
guess us stepping back. Um, but....you know, I'm always.....weary or eerie of
stepping back from processes, sometimes, and not stepping back from processes
other times. I mean it's....to me it does become problematic, urn, and you know,
if....if there's other people that are, you know, I guess we're talking specifically
around historic landmark designations and what that means for particular
properties, but it....I just, I'm leery of some of those situations, urn, especially,
again, since, you know, this is a part of our strategic plan. We've talked about
wanting to focus on historic preservation and so, again, I'm all in favor of
stepping back and taking more time, because I do think it's an important topic and
I do appreciate, uh, additional time to kind of talk with residents, but also answer
questions. Um,but I...I would say, I do have some concerns, urn, at stepping
back, urn,not necessarily following through a process that has led to some, you
know, I would tell you some stressful issues, at times, uh, around landmark
designations and, um, how do we protect historic properties. So I just wanna say
that.
Throgmorton: Yeah, uh, to be clear I mean I agree with what you said about stressful situations,
yeah, and especially in that context, but to be clear, given the fact that two people,
two Council Members (both talking) also indicated that they are tentatively
inclined not to support the designation. Then we are required (both talking)
Botchway: ...understand....
Throgmorton: ...to offer a consult. Yeah.
Cole: And are we gonna have a chance to comment or....can I make a comment on that?
Throgmorton: On....on what in particular?
Cole: Well and the fact that I voted no and the reasons behind that(both talking) So
I....I just wanna briefly, um, explain sort of where I'm coming at. You know, big
picture nationally as well as locally. I think we live in a culture now where we get
people in the room and we talk past one another, and we don't listen to one
another. I think what I hear is sort of classic Iowa City, which is everyone's being
incredibly thoughtful, reasonable, engaging in incredibly articulate debate, and so
I guess what I would like to do is I, you know, I think I kept on hearing 'at this
time, at this time, at this time,' and for me I guess I do trust these residents. I do
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trust both the proponents. I know a lot of the proponents for landmark, and I
know of(mumbled) pizza, it's great stuff. Um.....and....and I really believe that
we gotta give that an opportunity,urn, cause I think sometimes the best actions we
do are where we step back and let the community proactively resolve these so
they never even come before us. Now whether that will be realistic or not is
another matter, uh, but I just see a process where....because we're not at the 11`11
hour, we do have some time, and I think if we have that time, let's use it. I trust
it. I think everyone's acting in good faith. Frankly if we were in a situation
where our backs were against the wall and the wrecking ball was about ready to
swing, I would maybe have a different vote here, but....but we're not there, and
so let's build upon that and engage in this consulting process, and I'm hoping that
we can continue this incredibly thoughtful, articulate, um, Iowa City way that we
need to cultivate. So that's sort of why I'm at where I'm at at this point.
Throgmorton: Okay, any further discussion?
Salih: Can I just also say why I say no. Yeah? To me this whole issue as a new Council
Member(unable to understand) I really don't know a lot about it. This something
being, I guess, passed and, you know, before I come here and.....but I'm willing
to learn more about this and considering I....after I read it and I did my
homework, I swear to god, and I went to Bob and had the book right here and just
try to figure out the, you know, to understand something(unable to understand)
but....you know I went....I just kind of like look at all the building, the seven
building, and....and the surrounding for the seven building, and I went myself, I
drove to that building, and I start like going around to see like what's surrounding
it, and just.....this one is really different from the seven because I see like there is
a parking lot on the west side, the south side, and I understand, as Bob said, this is
the parking lot for the City especially could be still a parking lot,but you know,
City Council change and the philosophy of the City Council (unable to
understand) of each of the Council is different. I really don't know what gonna
happen if this, uh, if some....another City Council come and I don't know if still
we gonna have the CB-2 (unable to understand) That's why I think this is really
premature to designate this property as a historic landmark. Before any such
designation, there should be an evidence that the block itself will be develop in a
manner than enhances the historic feature of the area, and I also you know have a
concern that...and I think the concern that has been raised by the owner is....is
really acceptable and I....they should carry weight to the....to us, all of us. I
appreciate their desire to protect their initial investment in the property. Also
historic preservation is important, but it not only the con...consideration in this
block, because I think there is many factor, we have like to think about it. You
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know I really want to thank all of the Commission of doing like really tremendous
and hard work that you did for all those. This is really beautiful. I like this
building, and it look awesome. It supposed to be historic and everything,but you
know I'm just concerning about the area. Urn, that's why, you know, I'm just....
want to exercise my(unable to understand) and say(unable to understand)
Throgmorton: Being clear, this is just kind of a tentative(both talking)
Salih: Yes.
Throgmorton: You're not voting (both talking)
Salih: I....I know, but you know like just need to...to vote, to say you know so this
can be deferred. That why I just wanna say(unable to understand)
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Dilkes: I want to make one comment. Umthis is a land use decision. This is not about
who owns the property, and I think you really need to focus on that. This....this
deals with the context and all the things that have been talked about in terms of
the form based code, that's all fair game, but in terms....you.....I.....I urge you to
not focus on who owns the property. Um, that....you don't do that in other land
use situations and you should not be doing it in this (both talking)
Throgmorton: Right.
Dilkes: ...situation.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Okay, we have a motion on the floor which involves,uh, deferring...
continuing the public hearing, deferring first vote, to the 15th of May and offering
a consult with these two different commissions. Roll call please. Motion carries
7-0. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence please?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. So that's what we're gonna do with regard to that particular topic.
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ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
Item 5i Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 410-412 North Clinton
Street—Ordinance rezoning property located at 410-412 North Clinton
Street from High Density MultiFamily Residential (RM-44) to RM-44 with a
Historic Preservation Overlay (RM-44/OHP). (REZ18-00007)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Miklo: This property is also located in the Central Planning District. It's,uh, currently
zoned high density multi-family residential, and it, uh....uh, currently contains
multiple dwellings. I believe that there are six dwellings in the front of the
building, the original historic building, and uh....uh, six apartments in the
addition on the back. Um....I would point out that the property does include a
non-historic, um, addition,uh, that was put on some time in the 1960s and that
the, uh,historic preservation guidelines would provide a lot of flexibility in how
that could pro...that back part of the property could be treated. It could be
removed. It could be replaced with a....with a new structure or a new addition.
Uh, there would be some guidelines on how it would, urn, fit with the character of
the historic building. Uh, the landmark designation would,uh, therefore allow
some flexibility on....on how the back part of the property could be used. Uh,
again when reviewing this with the,urn, Planning and Zoning Commission, we
found that, uh, preservation of this building does meet the goal of identifying and
preserving historic properties,but also, um, one of the goals of the Central District
Plan, which is to pre....preserve, urn, smaller apartments and a variety of housing
stock,which, uh, this represents. Uh, also this is....is likely to be more affordable
housing stock than in new...uh, new construction that would possibly replace it if
it is, uh, if it is taken down.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Bob.
Swaim: This....this is one of our oldest houses tonight. It's across the street from Currier
Dormitory,but when it was built, the University campus was no farther than the
Pentacrest. It's another Italianate. It dates back to 1865 and has considerable
integrity. If you look at the doors, the windows, the brackets, the
porches....porch,urn, the heavy stone lentils and sills on the second floor, and uh,
also has shutters, which was fairly common at that time. It's also significant
because of its association with prominent citizens. (unable to understand) Dr.
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Milton Cochran, uh, was on the School Board, went on to serve as a Civil War
surgeon. Then first superintendent of the Soldiers Orphans Home in Davenport, a
statewide orphanage after the Civil War. Um, and then went on to serve as....at
an Indian agency in Wisconsin. The next owners were Samuel and Priscilla
Sharpless, a name we still remember. Samuel was the Director of Johnson
County Savings Bank and a member of the City Council. Later on by the Dennis
family, specifically Gertrude who was locally involved in arts and music. For all
these reasons, this house deserves proactive designation. Plus we have to tip our
houses....hats to houses that date this far back to the 1860s that continue to be
called home by Iowa Citia....Citians, whether they are owners or renters. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Good evening!
Jones: Uh, good evening. Uh, good evening, my name is, uh, good evening Members of
the City Council, my name is Christopher Jones and I'm an attorney here in Iowa
City, and I represent the owner of 412 South Clinton Street, uh, Mr. Robert Crane.
Um, I guess first thing I'd like to say is....the concept of making decisions, um, in
the absence of considering the people who are involved strikes me as a very cold
way to make a decision. Um, so I begin with that. Um, I'd like to begin by
saying that we're here to....ask you to reject this proposal to designate this
property as a historic landmark for three primary reasons. Uh, the first....first let
me also note that I believe that we...I had some photos, uh, that may have been
passed around, some additional photos of the property that I'd urge you to take a
look at. Uh, the first reason we ask you to....to vote no on this property is we
believe this is a very different property from many of the homes, uh, that you
are....have considered tonight. The second reason is the....we believe that the
historic integrity of this property, uh, was significantly compromised in 1965 by a
large addition that is attached, uh, to the back and the third reason,uh, we would
ask you to reject this proposal is because the historic landmark designate, uh, will
damage the value of this property, pro....most likely by hundreds of thousands of
dollars and it's an unfair tax for the City to impose that, uh, on Mr. Crane alone.
Uh, first a little background about this property. Mr. Crane purchased this
property in 1980, as an investment property, where he is engaged in residential
leasing activities since then. Uh,most of his tenants are not students, despite the
fact that this property is across the street from Currier Hall at the University of
Iowa. Uh, most of his tenants are low-income individuals. For almost 40 years
he's been providing a...quality housing to, uh, low-income people here in the city.
Uh....there are three structures on this property. A detached garage in the back,
uh, there's the older home that you see in the front, and there's also an addition,
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that as I mentioned was constructed in 1965 that is attached to the house on the
rear. This rear addition is the largest structure, and it has the largest footprint on
the property. Now unlike most of the properties that you are considering tonight,
which are mostly single resident's homes, this property, as was mentioned, is
zoned RM-44, high density multi....multi-residential. This is the most dense
zoning in the City of Iowa City, and properties with this zoning have signfic...
significantly higher value. They have the highest value for residential properties,
and they also have the highest income-producing potential. This particular
property sits in a unique location, across the street from the University of Iowa,
uh, Currier Residence Hall. It's just a few blocks from the UI's main campus, uh,
and the downtown district. It has a much higher value, uh, than all the other
properties that you have considered tonight. The house has nine rooms, not six.
They're inside the house. The interior of the house is used as a rooming house.
They have shared kitchens and common areas. Uh, the rent for each of these
rooms is $450 a month. The apartment building attached to the back, there are
nine individual, uh, one-bedroom, self-sufficient apartments. Each of those rent
for$560 a month. This is well below the average of$822, uh, for apartments in
the city of Iowa City. Uh, Mr. Pro...Mr. Crane has provided individuals with
limited means affordable housing in a very good location,just a few blocks from
downtown Iowa City. It has excellent access to public transportation, the
University, downtown shopping, and em....ployment. We oppose the landmark
designation, as we said, because this property has been compromised. As you can
see from the photos, the primary structure on this property is not the home. It is
the apartment building that is attached to the rear, and unlike other properties that
you have considered, where the buyers knew that they were acquiring older
homes. In this case Mr. Crane purchased this property primarily for the structure
in the back, which has absolutely no historic value, and I don't think anyone has
suggested that the property on the back does have historic value. If this property
is designated as a landmark, you will have to get, uh, Historic, uh....Preservation
Commission approval before making any alterations to the back makes very little
sense, uh, to impose that additional burden, uh, for property that has no historic
integrity. Um.....the third reason that we oppose the landmark designation is
because this property will have a severe negative impact on Mr. Crane's property
values. One of the City-stated goals for historic preservation is to stabilize and
improve, uh, the property values in the neighborhood, uh, with....in this particular
case,uh, this designation will impose a severe restriction on the property value. It
will destroy possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in property values. Now I
point out that Mr. Crane is a real estate professional. Uh, he's been a broker and
an appraiser for close to 50 years of experience, and it is his opinion that this
designation will lower his property value to the tune of hundreds of thousands of
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dollars. Given his experience, I think, as a real estate professional, I would ho...
suggest that that's a fairly credible assessment. We feel that this property unfairly
places the entire financial burden of preserving this property on Mr. Crane, and on
Mr. Crane alone. At the Planning and Zoning Commission, urn, there was some
discussion about how the back could be detached. Uh, and possibly an additional,
uh, attachment or an improvement on the back could be made without damaging
the structure. Well Mr. Crane has owned this property for nearly 40 years and has
left it unattached. He's 78-years-old and he doesn't have any present intentions to
make any additional alterations. However, this historic designation will impact
the property value because it introduces, uh, risk and uncertainty that a new owner
may not be willing to, uh, pay for. So regardless of whether.....a future owner
intends to put something on the back or not, it will lower the value for Mr. Crane.
And Mr. Crane feels that this will be, uh, you know, a form of punishment, uh, to
his property value, despite the fact that he's been providing this city with what it
says it has wanted,which is low-income housing here in the community. So for
those reasons we would ask you, uh, to vote no. In addition, I have some
additional, uh, protested....we have filed a protest of rezoning. Um, Mr. Crane
has received, uh, signatures from several additional property owners nearby who
also oppose this designation, and I'll, uh, give those to the City Clerk. Uh, so it's
not just Mr. Crane who is opposing, but several of the other neighboring property
owners have also, uh, indicated their objection to this as well. I'll....be happy to
answer any questions you have, um, but I'll conclude that, and I think Mr. Crane
wants to speak as well. Thank you!
Throgmorton: Okay, uh, could I have a motion to accept correspondence please?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. Good evening!
Crane: I'm Bob Crane. I am the owner of the property. I am hard of hearing. Now if I
speak too loud, give me one of these, I'll back....I'll back away. (laughter) I
won't back off, but (laughs) I'll back away. Uh....Chris.....Chris did a nice job of
analyzing what we have here as a property. Everything he says is true. There's
some things I certainly don't understand and was shocked about in this process.
There is such a thing in the real estate practice as `bundle of rights' and `bundle of
six of ownership.' One of`em is to rent and to manage,to find highest and best
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use, and it's...nothing is ever said about about a committee coming along and
telling us, well, we would like to have this in our.....our, uh, social group or our
societal group so that we can make it look nice and pretty. We don't really wanna
go too far, but uh, we're gonna have some things to say about taking care of the
property. And that....a costly procedure. I hope you all understand, I'm not
gonna ask the question of how many of you own rental property,but you know
how costly it is when you try to match current construction or 50-year
construction with the early....original 1865. That becomes very, very expensive.
If that happens, Chris points out,you see it's quite simple really. Expenses go up,
net income goes down. You capitalize net income by an effective rate of return,
you get whole value. When your....when your....return is less, you have lesser
value. That's just a phenomenon of the market. That's the way business is.
That's the way business works. That's the way it should run in my opinion.
We've been very obedient regarding taxation over there. I have paid taxes, never
been a day late. Done all those things. But I didn't expect a foreign government,
or foreign committee, to come in on....on what I do. I kinda done it pretty well. I
have treated people right. I am full. I'm proud of that. We have people there that
are not.....up here where they might like to be, but they're simply limited, for
various reasons. We take care of'em. We teach them something about getting
along, in that environment. And they can....they can afford it. I can afford it.
I'm....reasonably well off and uh, I'm glad to do that. Now this started with a
notice about, well, we're gonna invite ya to....participate with us and the
restoration committee, and then we had a mee....a meeting with that committee,
and I can tell ya, not all of`em were there. That's surprised me to start with. If
you're gonna have a committee to make decisions, you better have `em all there,
if I was runnin' it. Uh, then that....they passed it unanimously,just zip! That was
it! Then we had the Planning and Zoning Committee, and we met with them, and
the same net result—not all of`em were there. They passed it unanimous, all
those who were there passed, uh, the suggestion and I'm beginning to draw some
conclusions about how these things operate,but that's neither here nor there.
They passed it, and here we are in front of City Council. You folks are
responsible for.....in this case, my property! I mean....here I....here I am before
you and you're....deciding whether this committee, restoration, should move
ahead and seize that property at their will. I....that doesn't seem right to me. It
isn't right! I begin to think nasty thoughts like we, I mean, uh, are we a socialist
state? Is it true out there in rural Iowa that Johnson County is a socialist county in
the....in the state? Perhaps in the midwest? Ah, we've gotta think about it, cause
it's headin' that way in my opinion. If that offends somebody, I'm not sorry. We
are a nation of individuals, strong individuals, and we got where we are because
of that. And we also got that way because we treat people right. I don't care if its
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tenants, if it's your neighbors, the other fellas ya work with, or whatever, but we
do not.....like some of us the imposition of governmental factors. I'll....I'll move
on here and....uh, again emphasize, uh....what Chris says that I....this property's
just not a fit. I was offended at the Planning and Zoning Committee cause the
gentleman...the guy here that puts this picture up, he had that picture up the whole
night. Planning and Zoning never saw the backside of this property like we've
got there. That's what it really looks like! That's what you've got. Go down that
alley and you've got a....a nine-plex and an old garage, and parking, and stuff,
and a dumpster. You don't have this. It's just not a fit! Think about that! I have
a letter in my file from an architect that says 'don't....(laughs) don't call this
historical anything; it's a mix,' and the mix happened in 1965. That's when....the
true Italiana architecture was destroyed, in 1965. So, uh, we really don't want
the restoration label on this property. Myself personally (mumbled) and I'm not
beggin' the issue. I'm 78-years-old. My wife died nine years ago. I don't wanna
spend the rest of my life putting up with nasty requests about fix....oh fix that
trim, fix that trim, get that color right, this and that. No! I don't deserve that.
I've made this work cause I worked hard at it. And it can work! But it will not
stand interference. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Robert. Anyone else? (unable to hear person from audience) I just
said thank you, Robert.
Dilkes: I wanna make....I think Mr. Jones may have misconstrued my earlier comment.
When I say it's a land use decision, that does not mean that you can't consider the
fact that the property owner has objected. What you can't be doing is
distinguishing between property owners—this one's trustful, this one's not
trustful, this one's a good person, this one's not a good person—that kind of
thing, but you certainly, obviously, the law recognizes that the objection of the
property owner is significant.
Trimble: Alicia Trimble, Friends of Historic Preservation, again. You guys are troopers,
man! I don't know how you do this well into the night like twice a month.
Throgmorton: Hey, we just started! (laughter)
Trimble: I know! Um.....again, I missed the P&Z meeting (mumbled) for this one as well.
Um, I think some clarification needs to take place again. Historic designation will
not make Mr. Crane do anything to this property, besides the normal maintenance
anyone has to do to a property. Urn....there's nobody's going to pick his trim
colors or his....his house colors or make him change his trim. Um, and I applaud
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him for putting affordable housing in, urn, in this....in this area, because that's a
very rare thing. Urn, I'm a little confused by reading the minutes and being at the
Historic Preservation Commission with this. His attorney at the first meeting, Mr.
Sigafus, I agreed, uh.....who was, uh, his attorney at the HPC meeting, I
apologize. I'm really tired, as I said. Um, he said that the City needed to pay him
the highest and best use, which in Iowa City translates to high-end student
housing for this property because this was inverse condem....condemnation, uh,
which the courts have said it isn't many a time. Urn, and then during P&Z
affordable housing came up as an argument, but clearly listening to the....the, um,
the attorney tonight, uh, Mr. Crane is providing very affordable housing. Uh, we
know with the historic overlay nothing will have to change about this property.
Urn, and so I actually think this is a very good match for this property. Urn, and
then of course there's always the beer truck scenario. What happens when the
next person owns this property? So, um, I would ask you to consider landmarking
this property tonight. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Alicia. Anyone else? Bob, uh.....(mumbled) I'd like to ask you a
particular question. What could the owner do with the addition in the rear?
Miklo: Urn, could continue to use it and rent it as is. Uh, it could be removed, uh, it
could be removed and replaced with a,uh, newer structure. Uh, if it is replaced,
the Historic Preservation Commission would, uh....uh, follow the Secretary of
Interior's standards in terms of....of having an addition that's compatible in
character and scale with the building. That doesn't mean it would necessarily
look historic,but it would have to be of similar color, urn, height, um....um.....so
just general guidelines in that regard.
Throgmorton: And the whole property is zoned RM-44, is that correct(both talking) so if the
owner chose to demolish the addition....the owner could put up some other
building that is consistent with RM-44 zoning. Is that right? (both talking)
Yeah, so, uh, hypothetically what....what could such a building be?
Miklo: It could be an apartment building. It would....it would likely be an apartment
building because commercial is not allowed in this....this zone.
Throgmorton: Yeah, uh, I guess I'm tryin' to get at, um, I don't know if you can answer this
question, but I was tryin' to get at how many units could hypothetically (both
talking)
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Miklo: I couldn't answer that without a site plan or a....a concept into how you would,
uh, accommodate the parking, um, but it would....could certainly be as many
units that are there now and most likely more, urn, and again the, uh, the....if this
is a...designated as a landmark, there can be, um, waivers or reductions in parking
....parking requirements, urn so, again, I can't give you a....an exact answer
(both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay.
Cole: You mentioned the waiver of the parking requirement (mumbled)include the
density bonuses cause it's landmarked as well?
Miklo: Yeah, although....if....if the, um, if this building was removed, if both buildings
were removed, it would probably be a much higher density than is there...there
today. That...that would be controlled by the number of parking spaces that....
that could be provided.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Bob or any of the other people who have spoken?
Taylor: Bob, I just had a question about the address cause it's 410 to 412 and...and on the
later handout we got, uh, the apartments in the back, on the railing, it says 410.
So....
Miklo: I believe that the original address is 410 and then the addition maybe 412, but it
goes by both addresses. (unable to hear people speaking in audience)
Taylor: It's the other way around....
Miklo: 412 was the original and 410 is the addition(both talking)
Taylor: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for anybody else? Uh, okay, so are you inclined to vote in
accord with the Commission's recommendation, the Planning and Zoning
Commission's recommendation? I....I can tell ya, I am.
Mims: I....I'm not. I think there's even more questions on this property than there is on
the last one, in terms of.....what the impact of this designation would be. Um,
with this addition and if changes needed to be made.....I.....I have a lot more
questions I feel like I need to have answered in terms of how this designation
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would truly impact this overall property, um, before I could....possibly support it,
and....and quite frankly, I....tend to be more reluctant to support these when the
property owners are not in support of'em. I think that's very important, but I....I
can't support this right now without more information.
Throgmorton: Understand. How bout the rest of you?
Cole: I am....supportive.
Thomas: I'm supportive.
Salih: Supportive.
Botchway: I'm confused. (laughter) We....we just....
Mims: Just say no! (laughter)
Botchway: Yeah, I'm gonna say no. I mean I don't....no. I don't see why this is....I can
understand that maybe the different articulation of the arguments to why this is
different, but I'm confused why we treated the last property differently than we
treated this one. I'd rather have a consultation as well. I don't....I'm, well, I
won't go into my reasons before but I'd rather have a consultation as well.
Taylor: I'm the same. I always thought when in doubt, um, no. Although it's a beautiful
building, but I also don't see the difference between the last property and this one
and more inclined with this one, uh, to....to say no.
Throgmorton: Okay. So, uh, that means we need to offer a consult. So why don't....why don't
we do the same thing we did with the last, and uh, I....I would request a motion
to, uh, continue the public hearing, offer a consult with both the Planning and
Zoning Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission, and defer first
consideration to May 15.
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Move.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. So you understand what we're doing? We're deferring to May 15`h,
cause there....there's a legal requirement given the way people are thinking about
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voting, so....you know, you get it, right? Yeah. Alrighty! Thanks, all, for
coming and uh, you know, going through this process. Uh, it's an important and
good process. Those of you who are tired, naming no names, should go home and
get some sleep! (laughter) Joy! (unable to hear person speaking from audience)
Um, I...no. No, it's wrong timing, Joy. Yeah. Thanks.
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Item 6. Asphalt Resurfacing—US Hwy 1 (Burlington Street and Governor Street)
2018- Resolution approving plans, specifications, form of agreement, and
estimate of cost for the construction of the Asphalt Resurfacing—US Hwy 1
(Burlington Street and Governor Street) 2018 Project, establishing amount of
bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to
bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hi, Ron.
Knoche: Good evening,uh, Ron Knoche, Public Works Director. Uh, with, uh, the plans
and specs you'll be approving, or uh, up for consideration tonight, uh, will include
Governor Street and Burlington Street, urn, from Johnson, uh, to Summit. Uh,
we'll have a piece of Johnson Street and uh, that'll be all overlays. Uh, Maier, uh,
soccer park road, Napoleon Street, and Taft Avenue and Ridge will be chip seals.
Urn, so those are the....those are the streets that are up for consideration with this
set of plans. Urn, at our next Council meeting we'll have plans before you for the
Riverside Drive and some patching on Burlington Street,uh, up to, uh, about, uh,
Gilbert Street.
Throgmorton: Ron, uh, I'm tired too but uh, I didn't realize that much of Burlington Street was
gonna be resurfaced. So it's only like one block that's not going to be resurfaced?
Knoche: So we have, uh, so the....it's actually the area that's....that's currently overlaid on
Burlington Street is what's up for replacement. So it'd be from that Summit
Street down to about where the Ralston Street bridge is...currently. So that area'll
be, urn, overlaid, um,be milled and then infill, and then the area, uh, have some
patching, some kind of PC patching,that'll be with the next project.
Throgmorton: Ah. Okay.
Fruin: So, Ron, can you just explain the difference with pat....what patching is?
Knoche: Sure. Yeah, so....so, um, a patching project is....is for the Portland cement,
concrete streets, so the, you know, what we consider concrete, the white stuff.
Um, those areas basically would be panel replacements and....and then removing
those pothole areas that we have, uh, further down the hill. Urn, the...for the
overlays, urn (mumbled) asphalt, uh, we'll....we'll mill off, um, we'll do base
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repair, uh, in areas that we need to and then we'll continue with an overlay over
top of that.
Throgmorton: Yeah, okay. Uh, any questions for Ron? I guess not! Thanks!
Knoche: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Anyone else want to address this? Yo, come on up!
Swenson: Vern Swenson, 801 South Gilbert. First of all thank you for actu...for repaving
those streets. I guess my main question is, uh, I believe Governor is on the City
bike plan. Is there any plan to stripe a bike lane while that project is underway?
Um.....
Throgmorton: Good question. Ron?
Knoche: The project will include bike lanes on both Governor Street and Dodge Street.
Swenson: Great.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Uh, anybody else want to address this? Okay, seeing no one I'm
going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
b) Consider a Resolution
Mims: Move the resolution.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? I'm glad to see this!
Anybody who drives north on Governor Street is probably gonna be glad to see it.
Botchway: You're gonna be the most popular person in town! (laughter)
Mims: There's a few more streets out there! (laughter and several talking) I've been
hearing about a few! (laughs)
Throgmorton: Okay, any further discussion? Jokes? Commentary? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 8. $10,750,000 General Obligation Bonds - Resolution instituting proceedings to
take additional action for the issuance of not to exceed $10,750,000 General
Obligation bonds
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hey, what brings you here?
Bockenstedt: (unable to hear, away from mic) ...stiff after sittin' here the last (laughter) So I'm
gonna address items 8 through 12 tonight and those all pertain to the issuance of
the 2018, uh, general obligation bonds. Uh, for items 8 through 10, those are
three public hearings. That'll be followed by a resolution, uh, with the intent to
institute, uh, proceedings. Uh, items 11 and 12 are two separate resolutions, uh,
that will direct the advertisement and the sale of the GO bonds. In total the bonds
represent just under$12 million, and the projects that are bein' funded were
developed through the five-year CIP process, which took place last fall and last
winter. Uh, the largest projects on our list, which is included in your packet, is a
$5....or a$5 million for the completion of the Gateway project. And, uh, $3.1
million for the pedestrian mall reconstruction project,uh,which is the first phase
of the funding for that project. Uh, the sale date, uh, the bond sale's scheduled for
May 1st and I will answer any of your questions if you have any.
Fruin: Dennis, I had a question from a...a Council Member, uh, earlier. Could you just
real briefly explain why we're breaking them up into three different, urn,
categories here, the essential and....and general purpose.
Bockenstedt: Sure, yeah, the category was based on the State law designation,uh, so those are
organized by our bond counsel, based on whether they're an essential purpose,
which is like a, uh, street, sidewalk, uh, and there's....there's a whole list in the
State code, versus a general purpose, such as a recreation, uh, which has separate
referendum requirements in the law, and so those have to be broken up, uh, and
presented through separate public hearings because of the requirements, uh,
within the State code.
Throgmorton: Okie dokie. Any other questions? Thank you, Dennis.
Salih: And you mean the....sorry!
Throgmorton: There's a question! (laughs)
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Salih: The first one is just essential, right? That, the 10...the 10,750,000, it's just the
essential only, right?
Bockenstedt: Yeah, those are all essential, uh, purpose projects, as defined under State law.
Salih: Are you just talking about#8 right now and you're gonna come back or....
Bockenstedt: No, um, I can if you'd like, but uh, essentially you would just hold each public
hearing, close it, uh, adopt the resolution and move on through items 8 through
12. (both talking)
Salih: ...ask something not#8?
Throgmorton: Mazahir, when we....when we get to whatever the topic is you wanna ask a
question about, we can have Dennis come up (both talking)
Bockenstedt: I can address any of your bond questions right now.
Throgmorton: Oh, well do it now! Go ahead!
Salih: Uh,just...I understand the first one is that 10,000, this is for the essential, and
the....I understand that, you know, the second one will be, as you said(unable to
understand) City Hall for the, you know, is general, and the other one, 700, also
you know, general fund. But what is, uh, 8,895,000, you know.
Bockenstedt: Sure. The....there's separate actions that are taking place. The public hearings
are being conduced under State law and so they're sorted by the purposes that are
in the State code. Then the....the two following actions really....put the bonds
together in how they're going to be sold to the investors. And so for when those
bonds are put out for sale to the investors, it's not necessarily by the State code
designation. It's based more on the IRS designation of a tax ability. So...so
they're all of the same bonds. The different actions are, uh, grouped together in
different ways,using the same project list.
Salih: And there is a reason of like dividing it like eight and three, could it be five, five
or three, two (both talking)
Bockenstedt: Well, you know,we kinda chose the....the separation of the...the 8.9 million and
the 3 million. Uh, what we were tryin' to do is, uh, stay within the...under the, uh
.....uh, bank qualification rules for the IRS. Uh, we found that over the last
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several years that bank qualifications brought out far more bidders, and so, uh, we
tried to split that up, take a small portion of the bonds, designate it as taxable, and
repay that in the short-term and take the bulk of the bonds and designate 'em as
bank qualified, which would then be sold at longer term and I guess the bottom
line is we were trying to maximize, or should I say minimize the interests costs on
the bonds bein' sold.
Salih: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Dennis. All right, anyone else want to address this? Okay, seeing no one
I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
b) Consider a Resolution
Mims: Move the resolution.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 16. Ped Mall-Commercial Use- Ordinance amending Title 10, entitled "Public
Ways And Property," Chapter 5, entitled "City Plaza," to allow an
association of downtown businesses to place a commercial structure on City
Plaza under limited circumstances for more than 45 days in 2018 and 2019.
(First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. Hi, Simon!
Andrew: Hello! Good evening, Simon Andrew, Assistant to the City Manager. Uh, the,
uh, Iowa City Downtown District has requested that, uh, two of the structures that
they used during the holiday market, uh, last year, uh,be placed on the ped mall
this year. Uh, currently under City code, City staff has the ability to
administratively approve up to 45 days for commercial structures on the ped mall.
Uh, they would like to have these structures out there from May through October.
Uh, they'd be primarily used for programming. They would be available for retail
uses. Uh, Betsy Potter from the Downtown District is here and she'll come up
and talk a little bit more about, um, what they actually plan to use these for. Uh,
the plan would be to have one on the, uh, chess board, near the playground, the
Library playground, and the other one, uh,just in front of the, uh, outdoor patio
area for,um, Brothers, so near the pergola, near Film Scene, up there. There is,
uh, one error to correct in the memo that was in your packet. Um, we did intend
to take down the pergola the first week of the project, uh, this coming month, um,
but, uh,when they got out there, the footings are a little more elaborate than they
realized for that. So, uh, that will be staying up for a little bit longer. So the, uh,
the pop-up, uh....uh, structure would be just to the, uh, east of that, uh, ideally, if
this is approved. Uh, they do have, uh, plans and specifications into the Building
Inspections Division, who's reviewing those for accessibility. There's a ramp and
railings and, uh, things of that nature that they're reviewing, uh, currently. Um,
so with that, oh, and the code amendment before you, uh,just....removes the 45-
day limit for 2018 and 2019. So it's only during the construction project
downtown, uh, trying to encourage the Downtown District to help support
retailers impacted by the construction project. So I'll turn that over to Betsy now
and she can talk to you about the details.
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Throgmorton: Hi, Betsy! Admirable endurance! (laughter)
Potter: This has been great (laughs) Uh, I'm Betsy Potter, I'm with the Iowa City
Downtown District. I will just go over real quick what we're thinking of doing,
and just some reminders of, um, things that we've done in the past,just as like a
refresher on that. So our main objectives with the pedestrian mall construction
from the Downtown District is that we really want to make sure that we are
continuing to drive traffic down the pedestrian mall, even with the construction
over the next two years, and we know there'll be some challenges with that, but
we're ready to take that on with a lot of programming and activation. So, um, a
lot of our plans that we have in place are through activation. So, it...we're
bringing back the outdoor yoga. We're bringing back the outdoor ping pong,
outdoor janga, live music. We're hoping to have a game library, seating and
shade. Our problem at this point is that Black Hawk Mini Park is going to be
under construction, and in the past that has been our activation space. So we are
hoping that the structures kind of act as a location for all of this programming to
exist. Urn, otherwise there's very few places in the pedestrian mall, at least for
2018, where you can provide the seating, the shade, activation space that isn't
within the walkway. So, um, that's.....these are kind of our goals and missions.
We really want to make sure that we are still driving pedestrian traffic and they're
not stopped by the construction fencing. So we know that these structures are
very aesthetically pleasing. We heard that a lot this, um,holiday season, and so,
um, we think that actually they will be....they'll peak people's interest, and it will
encourage people to come down, urn, the pedestrian mall. So, you know, we
learned a lot of things as did everyone in 2016 sorry (mumbled) cut off, um,
with the streetscape update, but some things that we really took away from the
Washington Street project is that activation does work, especially in an adjacent
area to the area....to the construction zone, and that, um, we brought a lot of
people down just for programming elements, and they stuck around. They, you
know, had a cup of coffee, they ate supper downtown. Urn, all the activation
elements that you see on the screen were something that we did during the
Washington Street construction timeline, and it really drove people to use that
space, that may have not, um, during the construction season. We also....really
learned a lot of lessons with public art, and we will be doing public art in the
alleyways this time, not on the construction fencing. Um, also what we learned is
that we don't have to change up the programming every single week. If we keep
it consistent, it actually encourages people to come down more frequently because
they know what's going on. We don't have to spend all of our dollars marketing
it constantly, but if you know that there's always outdoor yoga, you know there's
always outdoor seating, um, that there's a game library, it will bring people down
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on a more consistent basis. And then also, if you're going to leave a place
flexible, and encourage community members to come down and use it, you need
amenities. So there needs to be some sort of seating, there needs to be some sort
of space to drive them to. So those are kind of our lessons from 2016. Urn, this is
just an image, if you weren't able to see our pop-up shops, this is what one of the
images, um, we will only be placing....they'll be singular. So they were very
modular in the way they were designed. So that is what one would look like.
And as you can see, we did not just use them for retail. We used them for other
elements. This is one of our program spaces over the holidays. So that's just an
example that they're not just meant to be retail shops. We can use them for a
variety of different uses. And then this is the rendering that, um, Simon was
talking about. So with this,we are actually adding on a deck space, and the deck
is meant to be used as a stage. So we have no stage downtown this summer, and
um, each one of these units would have a stage on the front, to allow for live
music, to allow for the Sunset Salsa, that happen on one of these. Bread Garden
Market is one of our partners and they will be doing their live at-the-market off of
one of these decks. That's the intention here. Um, we are hoping to put out the
red chairs on these every single day, to allow for additional searing. Put up the
red umbrellas again. Urn, the one in front of the Library, on the chess board, we
are working with the Iowa City Public Library to open it up and put chess games
out there so that if you really want to play the chess still,you'll have an
opportunity to. You can check out chess boards from the Library. They also are
very interested in using this space for summer programming, to do a book sale out
of, things like that. So,we have a lot of different, um, options with these pop-ups,
if they are able to be there for a little bit longer, and to have multi-use in them.
Does anyone have any questions about this rendering? It's pretty self-
explanatory. This is the pop-up shop,this is the deck on the front there.
Thomas: And that's a ramp going up, on the side, is that....
Potter: Yep! This is the ramp right here. This is just to indicate the handrailings. And
it's only 7-inches off the ground,just as like a clarification there. So, that's why
there's no handrailings around the entire deck. Um, but as recommended by the
building inspection, we will probably put potted plants,just to indicate where the
elevation is. And then like I explained, um, we were really fortunate last year to
do the Prairie Box and that had a lot of different options for programming and,
um, we were able to put some bands on it a couple times, and so we know that
this concept will work and it will drive people to an area. If you put live music on
an informal stage, front porch, um, type concept. So that's what we're hoping to
do again, and like I said we're working with the Bread Garden for the live music,
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urn, on Saturday nights, Sunset Salsa is hoping to operate off of one of these.
We....we'll hopefully have a whole bunch of pop-up performers that we will help
schedule, and then, urn, in the meantime, like I said,we're hoping to partner with
the Children's Museum again,the Public Library, other organizations, to use these
units, um, as they wish! And these are our current partners that we're just looking
to partner with again this summer. We've partnered with them every single
summer. So that's pretty much all I have. I'm happy to answer questions.
Throgmorton: All right! Looks like a good idea to me!
Salih: Yeah, I don't have question but I...I really, this'll be really exciting and especially
(unable to understand)ped mall there is construction going on there, and people
will (unable to understand) going on there,because if you wanna come and see
construction,but if this kind of programs like operating there, the people still
gonna come because they will know that it's just certain part of the ped mall is
construction and there is still an area that, you know(unable to understand) It's
exciting!
Potter: Hopefully! Okay! Thanks!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Betsy. And thank you, Simon. (laughs) All right, uh, so, uh....any
discussion? Did we have a motion on the floor already, don't we?
Salih: Yes.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay, so no further discussion? No? Okay, roll call please. Motion
carries 7-0.
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Item 17. Board of Adjustment alternate - Ordinance amending Title 14, "Zoning
Code", Chapter 7, "Administration", Article A, "Administration," Section 2
"Board of Adjustment" to provide for an alternate temporary appointment
when a Board member is unable to participate in an appeal due to a conflict
of interest. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Thomas: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Salih. Discussion? Uh, well let's just note that
this is a response to the controversy over the "Kinnick House" on Lusk Avenue
and when we had our lengthy discussion with the, uh, with Lusk....with the
Manville Heights' neighbors, uh, or considered topics that they had raised for us,
we looked into this and identified this as something we wanted to do. So I'm very
pleased that we're able to respond to it. I don't know, Eleanor, I guess your staff
was involved in drafting this, right? Thank you so much for doin' that. Uh, any
discussion among our Councilpeople?
Taylor: I think it's a very good idea and a good idea to look back at former members to
have them be that alternate if they're willing.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Salih: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: Okay. We have a motion on the floor, um, could I have a roll, uh, roll call please.
Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 18. Taxicabs-"Soft" Taximeters- Ordinance amending Title 5, entitled
"Business and License Regulations," Chapter 2, entitled "Taxicabs," to allow
for"soft" taximeters and for taxicab business licenses to be sold. (First
Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. Does anybody wanna....does any staff
member wanna say anything about this?
Fruehling: This was just...we had gotten a request from one of our existing taxicab
companies,urn, for the ability to be able to sell an existing taxicab license and
then also the ability to be able to use soft meters, or e-meters, um, as well as the
mechanical meters,just an option.
Throgmorton: Okay. Good, and this will....
Salih: You mean this is not gonna like(unable to understand) additional option....
Fruehling: Uh huh.
Salih: ....to what they have. We're not changing what they have right now.
Fruehling: Correct.
Salih: Okay.
Throgmorton: So in a sense it helps level the playing field for taxicabs, relative to, uh, T...what
are they called, TLCs? (several talking and laughing) All right, uh, we have a
motion on the floor. Any discussion?
Cole: Whatever we can do to help our taxicab companies. (several responding)
Throgmorton: All right, hearing no further discussion,roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 19. Council Appointments. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated.
Item 19a Telecommunications Commission
Throgmorton: So we have in the....for the Telecommunications Commission,there's one
vacancy to fill a three-year term, and we have one application from James Pierce.
There are no gender requirements for this, because it's been open for over a year.
So.....uh....James Pierce is a, what, a 24-year-old student who's lived in the city
for about a year, and he presents a, I think, a pretty good rationale for wanting to
be on this particular commission. Uh, I see no reason not to, uh, appoint him.
Taylor: He seems to have an understanding of what it's all about.
Throgmorton: Yeah. All right, so....I think we need a motion to appoint James Pierce to the
Telecommunications Commission.
Salih: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Botchway. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries. I'd like to say also I really like the table that provides information about
the current members, uh, my sense is it really helps me at least think about the
diversity, various kinds of diversity of our existing, uh, members, and helps make
appointments.
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Item 21. Community Comment [if necessary] (items not on the agenda)
Throgmorton: Ben or Gustave, if we turn to Item 21, would either one of you like to say
somethin'?
Nelson: Good evening. Urn....this is my last City Council meeting! (several talking and
laughing) So I just wanted to do a quick recap of kind of like....you know, where
I've been and so let's get right off. I've seen, you know, Council serve as a quasi-
judicial board. Seen young students recognized for their own leadership, which
you know gives us all great pleasure and hope for the future. Um, seen the
Council's character personally attacked in, um,public hearings. We've been
given digital tours of Iowa City's historic houses. A crash course in late 19`h
century architectural history, um, we've been lamenting the mistakes our
community has made in the past. Um, but we've also publicly set forth a vision
for where our community should go, and that's only what happened today.
(laugher) (unable to hear speaker) Urn....
Mims: You looked back really far, didn't you? (laughter)
Nelson: It was 9:00...9:30 when we were talking, still talking about, you know, historical
preservation. I was thinkin' by the time this meeting's over, I'm gonna be up for
historical preservation (laughter) Um, but no, in....in all seriousness though, the
two years that I've been here, um, I think they've been very productive in terms
of collaborating from the student body and also the University, uh, with the City.
We've been able to promote greater housing supply, urn, in the downtown,
promoting our community in a....in a fashion that is holistic for all community
members involved. There have been mistakes that have been made, notably I'm
thinking the Rose Oaks' situation, um, but we've been making sure that as we
move forward with these conversations, we've cognizant of every single
demographic that is involved, um, including students, including long-time
community members, including (mumbled) community members. Um....and
from the general perspective that I've been given from, you know, Jacob Simpson
and then his predecessor Nicki before him,um, so on and so forth, and even from
my own conversations with you all, that this sort of collaboration isn't....isn't
historically the norm. Um,that this sort of collaboration....it's....it's a novel
idea, uh, but I think we've seen great success in terms of what we've achieved
moving forward. Um, and I....and I think in a lot of the conversation earlier
today kind of, uh, you know, can coalesce into this one moment of, you know,
Mr. Graf, who owned 319 East Bloomington Street,he didn't....when he moved
into that house, he didn't even bother to think of like the historic moment that his
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actions were doing when, you know, he was brewing beer, trying to make money
and have a fun time, but nonetheless we're here, 150 years later, talking about
trying to preserve his legacy, and I....and I think to put Mr. Theisen's words a
little bit more eloquently is that.....in the....in the here and now as we act, we
have an opportunity to pave history for the next 150 years, and I....and I think we
need to have the courage to hop on that....to make the tough decisions so that,
you know, 150 years from now we can look back and....and think of like the
success of this administration, of these City Councilors, of these politicians. Urn,
I....I think if we shy away from that, or if we're not bold enough,um, then...then I
don't...things certainly won't go the way that, um, we want them to in the here
and now. Um, but with that said, I've appreciated my time working with you all.
I hope that you continue to reach out to Gustave....to Gustave's successor, and to
their successor, urn,because the student voice matters ultimately at the end of the
day, every single packet that you have, the Old Capitol building is right on the
logo. Uh, Iowa City at its core is the University, which since it's developed has
a....a million other beautiful layers on top of it. Urn, but fundamentally the
University, urn, is what makes Iowa City unique and I don't think that vision can
be overlooked. So, uh, that's all I have for you all. I'll be around for the next
year, so...probably longer, so I'll see ya around! (several talking)
Throgmorton: Well....well done, Ben. I'd like to say you've done a superb job as, uh, liaison
for the student....for UISG to the Council, and you've, uh, followed in the
footsteps of a long train now of people who have done superb jobs. So, Gustave
(laughter) the bar's pretty high, and I'm sure you'll be able to leap over it and do
really well, but....great job, Ben! What are ya gonna be doin' for the next year?
(unable to hear response from audience) (laughter)
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Item 22. City Council Information
Throgmorton: We can start with Susan and move to the right.
Mims: I have nothing.
Throgmorton: That brings us to you, Pauline.
Taylor: Well,uh,just a few things. Reminder that this Sunday, April 22"a, is Earth Day,
and I saw in some of the information we got that the,uh, Landfill and Recycling
Center has an open house, from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. So people should be welcome
to come to that. Um....don't wanna step on Geoff's toes,but attended the event at
Merge today with the unveiling of the logo for RAGBRAI and it was very
exciting,well attended. You can speak a little more to that if you want when it
comes to your turn, but that was really fun. Um...and, uh....Friday, April 27th, at
the Iowa City Public Library, at 12:30, is the annual Iowa City,uh, Federation
Labor Workers Memorial. Uh, every year they list the,uh, number of people,
workers,that have been killed on the job, and it's always a very shocking, uh,
to....to hear the number, uh, of folks that are killed on the job. So, uh, it's one
way to memorialize them and....and, uh, try to struggle for a safe work place and
work place environment. Ur....oh, attended the groundbreaking for the Cross
Park. I think a lot of us were there. That was....that was exciting and congrats to
Crissy on that and the others that supported that. That's all!
Botchway: I'll be brief. Uh, Free Medical Clinic, um, Free Medical and Dental Clinic
fundraiser, uh, 5:00 P.M. this Friday. uh I missed somethin' but oh well,
oh! Water treatment plant...tour, comin' up. Better(several talking) I'm excited!
Um....(several talking) waste water, yeah! (several talking and laughing) What'd
I say?
Taylor: Water, water treatment(several talking and laughing)
Botchway: This is really interesting! (laughs) I'm not sure I wanna know. Okay, I
appreciate the...the (laughs) (mumbled) so that's good. Um, Mac Madness,uh,
it's a,um, I'll be participating in (mumbled) I hope as a judge. It occurs at Urban
Acres on Saturday the 28th from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. It's for,um,the Animal
Shelter(mumbled) for the Animal Shelter and it's different macaroni and cheese
from different businesses. Had a blast last time, and so, um, we'll see what
happens this time! That's it!
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Salih: I really don't have anything. I just feel I'm busy but I don't know like (unable to
understand) the only thing I wanna ask, uh, there is an opportunity for a TV
channel to come and record something like my life story, and they would like to
come and like, you know, record while I'm in City Council meeting. Is that
something that we cannot do it, so they asked me if that's something possible and
I....maybe on the 15 of May, City Council meeting.
Throgmorton: Who would be doin' it?
Salih: It called (can't hear) Channel from Washington, D.C. They coming from
Washington, D.C. and they just want to interview me and they also want to record
while I'm in...doing the Council meeting.
Throgmorton: ...no reason why you shouldn't do it. Yeah.
Salih: Okay yeah but....(several talking and laughing) Yeah,that will be on the 15,
yeah. 15 of May.
Throgmorton: Good deal! Rockne?
Cole: I'll just briefly talk about two events. This past week, on Sunday afternoon, there
was a STEAM Festival out at Terry Trueblood and I mean I'm tellin' you it was
awesome. It had 4-H, it had Backyard Abundance, City of Iowa City, University
of Iowa and it's to get kids interested in science, and it was packed, and I think
the City was the one that actually organized it,but it seemed like there were a lot
of players. So who gets the...who is the leader of that?
Fruin: Parks and Recreation.
Cole: Parks and Rec, it was awesome, so if you ever get to do that again in the future,
please do, and it was packed. Um, bookmobile, I can't say enough great things
about it. Um, on Friday,uh, last week actually, the Johnson County, and this is a
little bit off my radar, it celebrated Muslim Awareness Week, and I guess that
there was some University of Iowa students that had had that and the, uh, Johnson
County Board of Supervisors had done a proclamation, um, and so as part of that,
Hussein, one of the leaders of the community, they had an event on Friday night
at Robert A. Lee. Um,we didn't have as many....a big a turnout as we had
hoped,but we had a nice, really good discussion. So we had a little exchange. It
was probably about 15 hardy souls, and we had a really good discussion, and uh,
it was very productive and I think as much as we lamented what's going on in
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other parts of the country are really thankful the progress we've made here and
the collaborative relationship that we've developed, and I think you know
everyone has had a lot of gratitude for that, so....kudos to the organizers of that
event as well.
Thomas: Uh, I will be attending, and I think Jim may be as well, um, April 28th, a week
from Saturday, Horace Mann fair. I'm not gonna mention what I'm gonna be
doing at the....at the fair but(several talking and laughing)
Botchway: (laughter) What day is that? (several talking and laughing) Yeah! You said
what day?
Thomas: Saturday, a week from Saturday.
Botchway: What time?
Thomas: I'm not gonna tell (laughter)
Fruin: I'll get ya that info, Kingsley(laughter)
Botchway: Fund...is it fundraiser?
Thomas: Yeah.
Botchway: All right, lot of money! Let's go! (laughter)
Thomas: That's it!
Throgmorton: Yeah, okay, I have a long list to read so I'm not gonna read any of it, except for
one thing. On the 9th of April, Jody Matherly, our Police Chief, and others, did a
really terrific job in a community forum on hate crimes. It was over in the, you
know, what's it called,UCC, Universi....the Old Capitol Mall, yeah. Uh, but...
yeah, Jody and Janet Lyness, our County Attorney, and, uh, the other speakers
really did a great job, and there were about 80 people present in the room for that.
It was really good. Yeah. So,that's it for me.
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Item 23. Report on items from city staff
a) City Manager
Throgmorton: Geoff?
Fruin: Uh, real quick,uh,Pauline referenced it. I wanna show you the RAGBRAI logo
that was unveiled today. (several talking)
Throgmorton: He's ridin' a bike, right?
Fruin: ....on a bike, uh,UNESCO City of Literature nod, and Old Capitol. Uh, we had a
lot of really great partners workin' with us on RAGBRAI. The logo was
developed by the University of Iowa. Uh,they've been great partners through
this whole process. Uh, think Iowa City, Downtown District, a number of folks,
um, you know the problem we have right now is we don't have roles for
everybody who wants to help out. Um,that'll come certainly the day of the event,
but the community receptions been great, and that was evident today at Merge. It
was...it was packed, for a press conference. So a lot of energy, uh, and a lot of
excitement. You can buy your t-shirts at, urn, IowaCityRAGBRAI.com and uh,
that's the web site that will continually be updated as we release more
information. So, uh, check that out and,uh, help us out by, uh,buying a t-shirt!
Monroe: I don't have anything.
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