HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-08 Transcription Page 1
1. Call to Order
Throgmorton: All right, I'd like to bring to order the special formal meeting of the Iowa City
City Council, January the 8th, 2019. Roll call please. So, at the end of December,
Little Village held a special awards event in the Graduate Hotel. It's pretty
exciting! Lot of people there. It was a real fun event, and guess who was Crandic
Champ? (laughter) Iowa City! Yes! (cheers) All right, so, cause we're the first
one to ever win a Crandic Champ award! (laughter) But it was fun to get. A
really fun event to go to and we certainly appreciate Little Village,uh,
acknowledging the great work all of us in Iowa City are doing. Yeah. All right,
so we'll move on to Item 2, which is a proclamation.
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2. Proclamations
2.a. Martin Luther King,Jr. Day
Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) So in a second I'm gonna ask Royceann Porter to come up
and accept this proclamation,but I'd just like to note that Royceann....uh,
Rockne, and I participated in the civil rights tour that was conducted this past
June, in which we went to various cities and sites that are extremely important in
the history of the civil rights movement in the United States, and that included
several sites that were part of Dr. Martin Luther King's life, and Coretta Scott
King's life for that matter, including the Dexter Avenue parsonage,where they
lived in 1958,uh, in a building which was bombed about a week after Dr. King
had a certain vision of, um....what....what his life was all about. It had pro...a
profound effect on me. I'm sure it did on Rockne as well, and everybody else
who was involved in that tour, and there were about 50 of us, perhaps half of
which were students, uh,African American students from the Iowa City area. So,
it's a real treat to ask Royceann to come up, our newly elected County Supervisor,
ask her to come up and accept this proclamation. (applause) (laughter) (unable
to hear speaker in audience)
Porter: Well thank you! Um, I do wanna tell you that on January the 2151 we will have
our Second Annual,um, Martin Luther King Unity March, which we will start at
Eastdale Plaza this year, and we will march over to, um,Mercer Park,where all
activities will begin. Uh, the Unity March begins at 9:00 and then after that,
10:00, um, all the activities begin at Mercer. And, uh, we....at lunch we will have
free food, and uh, at 2:30 we're askin'everybody to please come to the program at
Bethel AME, where we will have guest speakers Mazahir Salih, Bruce Teague,
and Ruthina Malone as guest speakers, along with Rod Sullivan. So we ask that
you attend,uh, get out, uh, it's called a day of service. We ask that you come out
and enjoy this day. Please bring your kids, and it's for the community. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thank you so much, Royceann. (applause)
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9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda)
Throgmorton: This is a moment when anybody can address any topic that's on their mind but is
not on our formal meeting agenda for tonight. Please come up,just state your
name, take not more than five minutes to express your view, uh, and please if....if
you'd like to do that, come on up! Hi!
Swaim: My name is Ginalie Swaim and, uh....in re, uh....in tandem with the
announcement on Martin Luther King Day, uh, I just wanted to remind the
community that, uh, we have two buildings in Iowa City that tell some of the
story of civil rights issues, um, in Iowa City. The....the Tate Arms,which is I
think 914 S. Dubuque Street, and the Iowa Federation, uh, home on 914, or end of
Iowa Avenue. You probably know this story, so I'm not going to take up time
now, but basically these were places were, um.....African American students
while the dorms were segregated and housing was very, very limited, these were
places where African American students at the University could find housing, and
urn, we.....the Historic Preservation Commission received a grant from the
National Park Service a few years ago to, uh, create nominations to the National
Register for these, uh, two buildings. I'm not sure of where we are, where the
Commission is on the grant,but part of the grant was also to do some signage and
pro....programming to share the story of that. So, urn, Martin Luther King is one
of my great heroes and it's great to know that there are some buildings that tell the
story of social justice and housing for African Americans. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ginalie. Good evening!
Lyon VanSwol: Hi, my name is Donna Lyon VanSwol and I just wanted to bring up, urn,
something about all the building going on in Iowa City, which is wonderful. It's
great to see the expansion. Um, I have a building going up next to me. It's
another home and it's...I don't know, five or 10 feet away and I contacted, um,
Geoff's office and I talked to Tim, sorry I don't know how to pronounce his last
name—Hennes, I believe, and um, I was not aware of the very liberal,um, hours
of operation that a builder has, um, to build a home in Iowa City, and I understand
from Tim that this is a pretty old law that hasn't really maybe been readdressed in
recent years with the density of Iowa City becoming more and more, uh,
populated,but he mentioned that 365 days a year, starting at 6:00 A.M. they can
start opening packages and any sort of building materials, and as of 7:00 A.M.
they can start machinery, etc., urn, all the way up to 10:00 P.M. and the home
going up next to me is, eh, five to 10 feet away and, um, started a couple weeks
before Thanksgiving and went all the way through out holiday, and I had talked to
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Ashley—she was very kind, very helpful, urn, to carry, you know, take some of
my information, but I had to make a phone call when on January l5`at 7:10 the
banging started, when probably most of you were asleep in bed, en...enjoying
your New Year, I had to change my holiday plans with family and visitors because
of the disruption. I haven't....approached them. I've asked them, couple items
ended up in my yard. I asked them to please just keep them,but what I ask of you
or if I need to possibly do something is maybe we readdress, as the city continues
to grow, some of these proximities of people to be informed a project is going to
start, what the builder anticipates, if holidays are included, possibly saying, you
know, it's 50 degrees out, I know it's New Year's Day, let me buy ya a cheese
tray! (laughs) And gonna come at 7:00 with my bulldozers, urn, something,just
to create harmony and keep the neighborhoods from, you know, creating any
undue stress or intensity, and so, urn, this happened over at the new Churchill
Meadows subdivision and um,which is great. Again, the building is great. I
think that's a....very positive thing. I just think a little consideration or a little bit
more information, to the people especially in very close proximity. Somebody
two blocks away isn't gonna care, but somebody five or 10 feet away, during the
major holiday season of the year, I think it's gonna impact their lives greatly. So I
just wanted to bring that attention to you. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Donna. Uh, I had no idea. I can't speak for anybody else,but I had
no idea what the rules were for when construction could start and when it must
end, that kind of thing. Maybe you can give us a short memo about...this
particular topic. All right, anyone else? Hi, Charlie!
Eastham: Good evening,thank you very much, uh, Council Members and Mayor
Throgmorton. Just wanted to talk a little bit more about affordable housing.
(mumbled) end up on your, uh, work session conversations. Um, we were, uh,
right to note that the City of Iowa City has long enjoyed a very, uh, a very high, or
low, bond rating. Um, the City of Iowa City, as all of you know, has also over the
last two to three decade...decades tolerated very large number of people in the
community spending more than half of their income, their very limited income,
for their housing costs. As you know (clears throat) the last Census, uh, there are
some 1,400 non-student househos....households living in Iowa City with incomes
averaging around 15,000 to $18,000 that are spending about half or more of their
income on their housing costs. (clears throat) this is a, in my view, a...a result of
our indulging ourselves, in my, uh....uh, opinion, uh(clears throat)with a, uh,
high bond rating. I think in the future we're gonna have to reassess whether we
want high bond ratings or people being able to afford their housing when they
have very low incomes, and I hope that the Council will take that into
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consideration as we continue to work on....on proposals and ideas for in...for
increasing affordability of living in these communities. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Charlie. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else we'll turn to Item
10, Planning and Zoning Matters.
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10. Planning and Zoning Matters
10.a. Zoning code amendment related to transfer of development rights for
historic properties—Ordinance amending Title 14, Zoning Code of the Iowa
City Code related to Transfer of Development Rights for certain historic
properties. (ZCA18-00003)
1. Public hearing [Continued from 11/20, 12/4, 12/18 meetings]
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Would anyone like to address this
topic? Okay, seeing no one, I will close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could
I have a motion to give first consideration please?
2. Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration) [Deferred from 11/20, 12/4,
12/18 meetings]
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Discussion?
Mims: Well, I will not be supporting this. I think when we started,um,we had gotten
this request, urn, in terms of....a property that we're going to look at tonight for
historic preservation overlay(clears throat) excuse me, and I...was very interested
in having staff look at this and very,urn, optimistic about the possibility of using
this kind of,uh,program to facilitate, um, historic preservation. But to me the
more we looked at it, the more details that staff brought to us, uh, it showed how
incredibly complicated this is, urn, and I think how much controversy there very
well would be, um, particularly with the receiving sites, um, in terms of
increasing the density, um, in certain areas where we already have, uh, some
pushback from increasing density. I think there's also significant problems with,
um, lack of certainty for developers as to whether they would actually be able to
transfer those development rights, and where they could transfer them and, you
know, if they already have property could they use it there, urn, you know, is there
going to be a market to sell them to other developers, etc., and to me the
complexity of it and the uncertainties outweigh the potential benefits. So without
going into more detail, I'm not going to support it.
Throgmorton: Others?
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Thomas: Well my....my response on....on this is, you know, I....I can't say that I disagree
with your comments, Susan, as....as general comments, urn, however the way
I've been....the way I at this point look at the, you know, what we're considering
here is....that, you know, it was driven by the next item on our agenda. It was one
specific property, uh, that was really the trigger for this consideration and I think
in retrospect as I look at this the, um....the.....the direction we took with ....with
looking at the transfer of development rights took on too broad a scope. Urn, you
know, there...they did raise a lot of concerns,particularly as to where the density
would go and how it would go in terms of, you know, the...the level of intensity
that would be allowed at the receiving end, uh, and I....I can't argue with the fact
that I think those issues are....are relevant,urn, to our consideration. However,
the....the.....this rezoning.....urn, this zoning code amendment would in the end,
uh, it would be a decision that Council would....would have to make the final
call, and as I looked at, you know, again this next item on our agenda, uh, I, as I
recall when staff presented the information on that, there was a very small amount
of increment that we're talking about transferring. It was a really small amount,
and....that....all this general concern really in my view did not apply to. Uh, you
know, that...that it's....it would be easily, uh,transferred, simply because it's not a
large increment. Uh, and that there.....there are places in Iowa City, and I...what
comes to immediate....to my mind immediately would be despite the issues we
may have with Riverfront Crossings, I think that level of increment could be
transferred to that location, and so my feeling is at the moment that I know
there....there are flaws with....with the language in the amendment, uh (clears
throat) but I think as we've often said on documents like this, especially in that it
took up such a broad scope, uh, we....we almost introduced(laughs) more bugs
than I...I would of liked to of, uh,us to of introduced. I think if we had perhaps at
the beginning said, um, what can we realistically do that while not necessarily
targeting an individual property,uh, not raise all the issues that, you know, that
would perhaps bring the whole concept down, and so at this point in my view I
think I would like to approve it. I think we...we took great pride in, uh, the
transfer of development rights on the Tate Arms project. One project generated
enormous amount of; urn,positive response. I feel this is in a way a similar
situation, uh, if we can with this amendment save one building, or help save one
building, uh, and continue to work on....you know, the....the amendment itself to
improve the language, I think,you know, it wou... it would mean that staff's time
going into this would be, uh, given value, and we would save...uh, what I think is
a very significant building on North Clinton, urn, in the process. So, you know, I
will be supporting it.
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Cole: I'm gonna be an enthusiastic supporter, and you know, I think my concern, I
wanna address both Bruce, based upon your comments last time, and Susan as
well. I think you bring up some very good points, um, in terms of are we
unleashing unwanted density in other parts of the community that we don't
intend. What are the unforeseen consequences of this? I think though to John's
point though, is that....we may, we're not unleashing density and a third party's
gonna make that decision as to where that density is going. Uh, the Council is
going to retain control over this process. And so to the extent that the Council
makes political decisions that aren't popular, urn,there is that accountability.
People can come up and speak, and I'm hoping, although I'm understanding it
won't always happen this way that the sending and the receiving process, in terms
of the sites where we send the density to and then, again, the receiving sites,
hopefully that would occur simultaneously,probably not all of the time, uh, but so
we'd have a sense of where that density would be going, um, once we would do
the historic preservation, uh, so to me we keep that control, and I think the other
part of it is, to the other issues we're going to be talking about tonight, what other
tool do we have when we wanna preserve a historic structure? Urn, to save that
economic value for the person that's subject to a landmark. This is virtually the
only tool that we have, uh, and so, Jim, you brought up a question about
transferring density to downtown. Urn, there may be some additional density in
terms of types of buildings that could be built,but it's already unlimited height
downtown anyway, as far as I'm concerned and I don't anticipate that we would
see a lot of transfers of the density necessarily downtown. To Bruce's point, that I
anticipate you would make, you had made a concern about whether it will work.
Will developers have the confidence,uh, to be able to, uh, carry through with a lot
of this stuff Well, we can see once we pass the ordinance. I mean what would the
worst thing that could happen—that no people take advantage of transfer of
development rights. How are we worse off than we are right now? This is a tool,
albeit imperfect. You'd brought up Riverfront Crossings—we're constantly in the
process of making that a more perfect document, and so I think for this one it is a
little buggier than what I had wanted to, and that's no slight with staff. They
came up with an incredibly complicated proposal in a relatively short period of
time,but I think that those bugs, to the extent that they exist, that could come
throughout the planning process and we would maintain control. I think Historic
Preservation,weren't they unanimous in support of this? Correct? (several
talking) So we have two bodies that that's their area of expertise that were
unanimous and supportive of it. So, urn, and the other part of it is is we come
along to get that super majority is extremely difficult when you're landmarking
over the objection of...of a....of a land owner, I think we're going to see it a lot
more likely that this is not going to withstand super majority if we don't have this
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tool; whereas if we have this tool, you'll likely see the land owner supporting it,
as opposed to opposing it. So I am in support of it. We maintain the control.
We're not outsourcing to a third party, and Bruce, again, the worst that can happen
is it doesn't work and how are we any worse off than we are now, so...I'm in
support of it.
Teague: I think my....my biggest concern has been....you know, if we have this tool for
them, you know, for developers to have and....and there is no guarantee. So
you're makin'the assumption that a developer would come,um,with a project
and actually simultaneously know whether they wanna transfer the rights. Of
course this is all in the hands of the developer when they come and make their
deal. I think when....when they don't make the deal simultaneously and then, you
know, Council has the....uh,the right to make a vote when they do want to
transfer, that's where I find it to be....um.....it....it could be major problems,
because they've....they've.....they've, you know, saved a historic site. They have
the transfer of rights, and then it's a place where they wanna go, to one of the
receiving sites, and they can't...because Council votes it down, and so that's
where I think, urn, this doesn't work. Again, I....I hear your point where that's in
the hand of the developer. If...maybe, you know, it should be a simultaneous, urn,
request. You know, some people can't do that. Urn, you know, one project is
more than enough for, you know, some....some individuals. I mean I...I respect, I
think the staff did a great job, um, and there's been bodies that's reviewed this.
Urn, I am still not convinced that this is the right toolkit that we should have in
the....you know, one of the tools that we should have in the box for, uh, reservin',
uh, historic development, um, you know, I....I say keep talkin'! Ya never know
(laughs)
Throgmorton: All right, so....maybe I didn't track ei...both of you folks, uh, fully, but it's
important to keep in mind that we're not talking about....though this is stimulated
by a particular owner/developer,we're not talking about only one....potential
development. We're talking about all future developments that are in comparable
situations. So it's opening up a....a big door with all sorts of unforeseeable, uh,
unforeseeable consequences and, uh, complications and difficulties. I think it's a
big door we wanna....we don't wanna go through! I do wish we could have
(laughs) you say, okay for this we'll transfer density to one particular place, but
we can't! All right? So.....uh, that's a key concern for me, and so I'll just repeat
a few things I said on December the 4th when we last discussed this. In my view
it makes no sense to transfer density to the downtown or Riverfront Crossings
District because they already are either....um, fully able to develop to intense
density...well,basically cause they're fully able to develop to intense densities, or
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get height bonuses, uh, but also transferring density to the downtown would
worsen conflict over, uh,between preservation and development, and transferring
density from the downtown would potentially involve massive transfers, and
this...this reso....this ordinance would permit a transfer of densities from the
downtown to other parts of the city. How's that gonna play out? Also transferring
it to the Riverfront Crossings District is not necessary given the existing height
bonuses there. So....like....like near the park, uh, the height bonuses permit
development up to 10....12 stories in height I think it is. Right near the river,uh,
near the park. So we're gonna enable transfer of density to there? How ya gonna
do that?
Thomas: Well there....Jim, there are different heights (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yes, of course there are, but....but you know are you sure you wanna be able to
enable a....a location that is permitted to get height bonuses up to I guess six
stories (both talking)
Thomas: ...other parts.
Throgmorton: Maximum height,with....with height bonuses included (both talking)
Thomas: ....four....(both talking)
Throgmorton: ...but let's talk height....or maximum height, plus height bonuses. And are you
gonna add bonuses to that, because of a transfer of density? I....I don't think that
works. So....and it doesn't make any sense to me to transfer density to the
Northside neighborhood, which you live in and I live in. How's that gonna play
out? I don't think we have any sense really about how the consequences of
adopting this regulation would play out; therefore, I will vote against it.
Taylor: I agree and as important as it is, I'm....we had lengthy discussion about, uh,
historic preservation earlier, and....and that is important, uh, and.....develop....
transfer of development rights worked very well in the, uh,Tate situation, but that
was a very unique situation. I think I agree with Susan there, uh (mumbled) lack
of, urn, cert....uncertainty with....with the developers and....and, uh, and I think
Bruce alluded to that too, uh, it's not certain that it's....it's going to be obvious
that, oh yes, we will approve this. It's not. There's not that given certainty for
that,uh, so I....I think because of that,uh, I...I....I'm not afraid....I appreciate
that we took a lot of time though. When I look at the timeline,we've given this a
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lot of time and then to....to vote it down doesn't seem quite fair but, uh, I think
with all the uncertainties in it, uh, I can't agree with it.
Salih: Uh, I was not agree with this for the first place and even before we defer it, but
uh,because I think we really need to think about it carefully and we need time to
modify it, so we can like solve all the question that raised by Jim, by everyone
here, um,just give it time again I guess or....yeah, I'm not supporting it as it is.
Throgmorton: The....the beauty about the Riverfront Crossings District density transfer
component was that it enabled density be transferred within that district, to sites
that would be able to get height bonuses, as part of the overall plan for the...for
the area. So it was....it was contained, and as a result pretty predictable. And it
certainly worked out well with regard to Tate Arms, and I'm very happy about
that,but I think this is a very different situation. Any further discussion?
Mims: I would just add one further comment. I wanna thank staff for all the time and
effort that was put into this. I know this was a totally new and different concept
that we haven't used here. Can't imagine how many hours you folks put into it,
and please understand that this vote is not any reflection (laughs) on you or your
work or your effort in this. I think we just needed a lot of information to be able
to even try to consider this, and now that you've done all of that, and we've been
able to see how it might work or not work, that's what we're judging. So...thank
you for all your efforts.
Throgmorton: Okay, I assume there's no further discussion. Roll call please. Uh, motion's
defeated 2-5....or fails to pass 2-5. Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence please?
Taylor: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Uh, moved by Taylor, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. All right, we'll move to Item 10b.
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10.b. Rezoning Historic Landmark Designation 410-412 North Clinton Street
—Ordinance rezoning property located at 410-412 North Clinton Street from
High Density Multi-Family Residential(RM-44) to RM44 with a Historic
District Overlay(RM-44/OHD). (REZ18-00007) (Second Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to give second consideration please?
Teague: Move.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Danielle, good evening!
Sitzman: Good evening, Danielle Sitzman,Neighborhood and Development Services. Just
a quick refresher on this one. Um, this property is located in the Central Planning
District and is currently zoned high-density multi-family, RM-44. The property
does currently contain, uh, boarding rooms in the original structure and
apartments in the non-historic east addition. Um, the comprehensive plan guides
development of the city and includes a historic preservation element in the land
use and housing goals. Um,the Historic Preservation Commission works to
safeguard the City's historic aesthetic and cultural heritage by preserving districts.
In this case,historic landmarks and properties of historical architectural and
cultural significance. In 2015 the applicant, which is the Historic Preservation
Commission,began a study of hi...of historic properties that have been identified
as possibly eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places but were
not yet protected by zoning designations. The house at 410-412 N. Clinton Street
was identified as one of these key historic properties. It was at the time,uh, that it
was brought forward one of seven properties nominated for, uh, rezoning to a
landmark designation,uh, earlier in the spring in 2018. This slide just
summarizes the actions that have occurred, uh, on this case. Um, I'll just
summarize quickly. Urn, based on the findings of that study in 2015, the Historic
Preservation Commission met in December and conducted a public hearing, at
which they reviewed and evaluated the historic significance of the property. The
Commission determined that the property met the requirements for landmark,
based on its architecture and association with prominent citizens of Iowa City, and
therefore voted to recommend approval of the designation as an Iowa City historic
landmark. Landmark designation is enacted through a zoning overlay, and
therefore requires recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to
you. The Planning and Zoning Commission's role is to review the proposed
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designation, based on the relation to the comprehensive plan and proposed public
improvements and plans for renewal of the area involved. The Planning and
Zoning Commission met in March of 2018 and conducted a public hearing again,
at which they reviewed and evaluated the proposed rezoning of the property. Um,
the Commission did determine that the rezoning supported the goals of the
comprehensive and Central District plans and voted to recommend approval of
the designation as a landmark. Um, after that meeting there was a,uh......uh,
consult offered between all those boards, along with yourselves. Uh, staff did
present some additional information,urn, at...in response to some questions that
were,it, asked at that consult, urn, having to do with the property which is shown
here in the clear area. That is the area within the boundaries of the specific
property. Urn, staff did a quick evaluation at that time for the consult, um, as to
the development potential of the site,uh, under two scenarios. The first scenario
being if the sa...site were vacant, if all structures on the property were removed,
and the zoning, existing zoning, were maximized, uh, a three-story building with
approximately 18,000-square feet of total floor area could, it,be developed
within that buildable area. This analysis assumed,uh, lower level parking and
about 24 bedrooms could be located on the site. Alternatively staff looked at
(mumbled) development scenario would be if the original building were preserved
and reused, and the more modern rear addition, uh, to the east was replaced with a
newer one. In that scenario approximately,it, 15,572-square feet of total floor
area,uh, could be available for development, or about 87% of the,it, full
redevelopment potential. If it were designated as a landmark, uh,property, it
would then be eligible for several, it, waivers from the Board of Adjustment, uh,
consideration of waivers to the parking ratio, uh, requirements and also other site
development and,uh, dimensional standards. So that concludes my, uh,recap for
you. Again, coming to you with a recommendation of approval.
Throgmorton: Danielle, could you repeat the,uh, the difference between the previously
allowable....well the allowable development, it, if the building's torn down
versus if(both talking)
Sitzman: So about 18,000-square feet of occupiable space, if completely redeveloped under
current zoning, and that's making a lot of kind of ballpark assumptions about
parking ratios. Urn, it would have to accommodate parking on-site, um,but just
looking at the floor area ratios and the number of stories that would be allowed,
18,000-square feet,um, looking at what could happen if the original structure
were preserved, what the buildable area is, it yields about 15,572-square feet of
buildable area. So about...um, 87% of the....of the, uh....completely redeveloped,
uh, scenario.
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Throgmorton: Thank you. Does anybody have any questions for Danielle?
Mims: I do. Urn.....when you have a.....basically two structures here, urn, one which
is....is seemed to be historic and one which I think was built, I think the addition
was built maybe in the 1960s, and I think clearly would not qualify as historic in
and of itself. How does City code...apply to that addition which,um, my
understanding is is more than 50% of the total building.
Sitzman: If it were to receive the landmark (both talking)
Mims: Yes, thank you!
Sitzman: So there are, uh, standards that would allow for redevelopment of that non, uh,
historic portion. It would be, uh, subject to review by the Historic Preservation
Commission. Um, it would not be held to the same standards as the original
structure,but it would have some criteria applied to it as far as compatibility with
the historic structure. So it does get a review,but there is the ability for it to be,
uh, redeveloped.....under the designation.
Mims: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: I'd like to follow up on that. Danielle, I don't know, I really don't know if you
can answer this, but....uh....um, the attorney....Bob, your name's Bob, right?
(response from audience) Yeah, Bob Michael, uh, in his,uh, communication to us
about this topic, uh, basically argues that....that the two parts are really
inseparable,that they're a whole and not....you can't just treat them, uh,the front
part, the older part, as being separable and therefore prese....preservable. I don't
know if this is a structural question or what, but....do you cons....if.....is there a
technical means of, a viable technical means of determining whether in fact they
are separable?
Sitzman: I'm not sure that I can answer that for you, Mayor, tonight. I have.....understand
their argument that it may not qualify as historic because of the addition,but I
don't believe that was the Historic Preserca....Preservation Commission's under,
uh, recommendation. They felt that it met the criteria. Now whether it can
actually physically be separated, I mean it was constructed at one point, so
deconstruction should be possible as well.
Teague: (several talking) ...explain to me a little bit of what the overlay means.
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Sitzman: Sure! Urn, so...uh, in Iowa City what we do, and to designate something as a
landmark, is to change its zoning and to give it a new....a new zoning
designation, which is on top of the existing zoning designation. So therefore it's
an overlay. So it'd be going from RM-44 to RM-44 with the-overlay of the
historic, uh, landmark designation. That designation triggers certain reviews and
certain standards for the preservation of the property.
Teague: So inside and out would have to come to a,um....certain standards accordin'to
the(both talking)
Sitzman: I don't believe it'd be interior. It would just be exterior.
Teague: Just exterior.
Salih: But if one of them, like 410 or 412, those two separate building?
Sitzman: They had two separate addresses historically, but they're currently one structure.
(several talking)
Throgmorton: ....address purposes (both talking)
Sitzman: ...I'm not sure the history of the addressing. One address is original and...I'm not
sure that,when the second address was (both talking)
Salih: But they still, one of them is consider historical, the other one is not.
Sitzman: So the survey that the Historic Preservation Commission did determined that it
met the criteria for designation as a historic landmark.
Salih: Both of them?
Sitzman: The original structure, which is the western mo...most portion.
Salih: Which is that 10 or the 12, one of them, right? (unable to hear response from
audience)
Sitzman: It's 412 is the address of that.
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Salih: That mean that 410 is not historic. You just adding it to it because the first one
(both talking)
Sitzman: It's all connected...it's one structure,but the portion of the building that qualifies
it is the original por...portion.
Dilkes: I don't think that's unusual. For instance, if you think of the Unitarian Church
here it had a, it was designated a landmark. It had an attachment to it that was....
in nobody's mind historic and that attachment was demolished.
Salih: Yeah, that...that's true because they want to do that,but in this case we....the
owner doesn't like that. When you....when you like to designate your building as
historic, okay,there is no problem. We can just....as long as you agree, we can...
even you have additional (unable to understand)talk about it, but here since....I
think the owner is not agreeing,that's why I need to ask those question.
(mumbled) to help me make my own decision.
Throgmorton: Yeah, fair enough.
Taylor: With the Unitarian Church though that was like physically attached to the original
building, but now 410-412, they're not physically attached, are they? (several
responding) Oh they are, okay. I'll have to go back and look at the pictures then.
Teague: Did I understand correctly that 410 could be, um, built upon?
Sitzman: So, the (both talking)
Teague: ....if we did the historic?
Sitzman: Right, even with the landmark designation it could potentially be redeveloped.
Throgmorton: Just to be clear, the....the....the newer part(both talking)
Teague: (mumbled)
Throgmorton: ....overall thing could be demolished and rebuilt as some other structure.
Cole: And the newer portion that was built in the....the newer that was built in the 60s
does not have to be historic, correct? The....the newer structure.
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Sitzman: For the standards of the landmark designation?
Cole: Yeah.
Sitzman: It's...the proposal still qualifies, even with a more modern addition on it.
Cole: I guess my point though is that if we landmark the older portion, the brick portion,
they would be able to demolish the back portion and do that in a more modem
way, correct?
Sitzman: (both talking) ....overlay zoning would apply to both 410 and 412,but the more
modern addition would be eligible for a renovation.
Cole: Yep!
Dilkes: I think the issue with the more modern...um, addition, it would still....the whole
property would be subject to review by the Historic Preservation Commission.
The issue with that piece of it would be compatibility with the historic structure.
Cole: Yeah. Okay.
Throgmorton: Well I....I'd like to ask a series of questions that could possibly be answered by
you, Danielle. Could possibly be answered by Ginalie, uh, as former Chair of the,
uh,Historic Preservation Commission, and I guess there's nobody here from the
Planning and Zoning Commission. So I can't ask them any questions. But these
are questions that Bob Michael raises on behalf of the owner, and they get to the
heart of, uh, the....the claim that if we designated 410-412 as, uh,historic
landmark that we would be taking private property without due compensation. So
....without just compensation, I'm sorry. So I think we need to consider those
objections very carefully. So I wanna go through them one by one, and maybe
Danielle or Ginalie can help me get get answers for these. So there are five
that I wanna lay out. So the first is....the building is not associated with the lives
of significant persons or events that have made significant contributions to Iowa
City's history. I know there was a lot in the material that the Historic
Preservation, uh, Commission developed and ultimately, uh, supported. But I'd
like to know, if you could, Ginalie, what your response to that would be. (unable
to hear response from audience) If you could, yes.
Swaim: This is Ginalie for the....could you repeat the question?
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Throgmorton: Sure!
Swaim: I wanna make sure I've got it.
Throgmorton: The building's not associated...is not associated with the lives of significant
persons or events that have made significant contributions to Iowa City's history.
Swaim: Well, the building is associated with, um....Dr. Milton Cochran. I don't...I hate to
repeat this information. I've done it before.
Cole: Is it even required to qualify,that there has to be a famous person(both talking)
Swaim: ...the significance that we, uh....we believe it's significant for its architecture. We
also believe it's significant for its association with prominent citizens of Iowa
City. I think...without looking through this again, I think on architecture alone it's
significant and uh, again I....I.....(laughs) the....the people who have lived there
had some role in Iowa City that...Milton Cochran, um, much of his glory came
after he left Iowa City,but he was involved in the Civil War(mumbled) 1865
house, this is all about Civil War(laughs)which is one of the most significant
events in, uh, in U.S. history. Samuel Sharpless, uh, owned the property from 67
until at least 1950. He was....15, he was Director of the Johnson County Savings
Bank, supervisor of various farming industries, and a member of the Iowa City
Council. That counts (laughs) as prominent! Um...uh, then Edwin Dennis and his
wife Anna bought the house,passed it on to their daughter Gertrude who was
involved in cultural circles. These, uh, levels of prominence are similar to the
levels of prominence, uh, local prominence that we, uh, associate with the other
houses that were landmarked at the same time. Uh....was that, was there
something else?
Throgmorton: Well I mentioned events.
Swaim: Events, urn, well it's....it's a(laughs) The event I guess is the architec...I can't
say a particular event, but because it...is so incredibly well preserved in its
integrity, it speaks to us of what an 1865 Civil War-era house looked like, and the
fact that there is probably less than two dozen of those in Iowa City, and that this
is in a....in a...the core of the original Iowa City, uh, near the University, near the
downtown, um....the event I guess is its architectural, urn, being at a time when
we were a....a new, uh, country struggling with this identity.
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Throgmorton: All right, great. Thank you! The second claim that I understand, uh, Bob Michael
to have made on behalf of the owner is we've already sort of discussed and that is
that the whole building must be considered not just one part. In other words both
410 and 412....and that parts are not eligible independent of the existing building.
Not sure exactly what that means,but that's why I asked Danielle that question
about whether these....must be considered inseparable or whether in fact the
historic part of the building, the historic structure could be preserved, while the
remainder is demolished and re, uh, rebuilt in some other fashion. So, I....I think
I understand the answer to that, given the prior discussion. Okay.
Swaim: Could I add one point to that....
Throgmorton: Sure!
Swaim: .....um,to Danielle's presentation. I think one of the things about this house and
its addition is they are very discreet. They are very separate. You cannot be
confused by which is the 1865 and which is essentially later. Um, so if they were
quite muddled (laughs) together, where it's hard to look at and say, 'well I don't
really see that this has historic integrity,' that would be one thing. That's not the
case in here. One could, walking by, as Pauline suggested, could think this is two
buildings.
Throgmorton: Thank you(both talking)
Swaim: ...I believe the...the Commission ruled, or that...because they are so different and
....and almost isolated from each other, one can be considered historic and the
addition not.
Throgmorton: Thank you. The third claim I understand Bob Michael to have made is that de-
value...if we designate this as an historic landmark, devaluation of their property
might be close to $500,000. Uh, Danielle's just told us that the developable....
developable space would be reduced from 18,000-square feet to a little under
16,000-square feet. I don't see how that adds up to....half a million dollars, in
terms of developable....property. Uh....am I missing something? Do you think,
either one of ya?
Mikes: I think that's a question for the developer and not for Ginalie.
Throgmorton: Okay. The fourth, there's only two more, the fourth claim I read in Mr. Michael's,
uh, email or letter to us was the rezoning would violate the stated purpose of the
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zoning code, which is to protect and improve property values, not diminish them.
I'm gonna give my own response to that, but other people are much more expert
in the language of the code, like Eleanor and Danielle and Ann. I think it's fully
consistent with the other purposes of the code, because the code has many
purposes. But if I'm wrong about that, somebody should tell me. Okay, the last
claim is that the rezoning will also discourage the City's goal of encouraging
affordable housing. I....I personally find that point to be irrelevant. I think it's
wrong. But somebody else could tell me if I'm wrong.
Swaim: I'm not telling you wrong....telling you you're wrong. I believe that when Mr.
Crane owned it, urn, the rents were quite reasonable for tenants for a very long
time. I think he said that he had pretty consistent tenants, occupa....occupancy
rate, felt that he was providing affordable housing for ten...tenants, and felt quite,
urn..:.loyal to that concept. I don't see how this would be changing that in any
way. We do not require any changes to a property if it has a historic overlay on it.
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Salih: Can I ask you why....why did we defer this last time? I just wanna refresh my
mind.
Throgmorton: Why we deferred?
Salih: You remember we defer this (several talking)we said we gonna think about what?
Throgmorton: We voted 6-1 in favor of rezoning for landmark designation.
Salih: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: But then in the next meeting we decided to defer,because we had, uh, the
developer had agreed to a six-month moratorium, so that we consider....we could
consider the viability of adopting a transfer of development rights ordinance.
Salih: (unable to understand)
Throgmorton: (both talking) ...which we just voted down.
Salih: Okay. Uh, I really...I don't know but, uh, to me like (unable to understand)
struggle too much since I came to understand historic preservation, why we doing
that, after I went through everything. I just figure out that not only the....the....
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the way that the structure look but the story behind this and...to me I really think
the story and the event that you just describe is not something that really we can, I
can at least say, oh,we need to do that, this is really important, and we need to do
that, and since also there is two part of this house, like half historic,half not...not,
I don't know, I don't think I'm gonna support it.
Dilkes: Can I just encourage you to get the statements of the developer before you
commit to any conclusion, um, in the event that they want to say something?
Throgmorton: Sure.
Salih: Okay! (several talking in background)
Throgmorton: Yeah, please, yeah, Bob, please up....come up!
Michael: As you may call my name is Bob Michael and I represent the owners of the
property at 410-412 N. Clinton Street. I trust that all of you got my letter that I
tried to get you today, and I apologize for the lateness,uh, hopefully, uh, accept
my explanation in the letter. Urn, my clients are, urn, I have one of my clients
here,uh, tonight and they request that you not, uh, rezone the property, and if I
can address some of the questions that you raised (both talking)
Throgmorton: Please do!
Michael: Urn, I don't believe anybody's ever discussed any events happening that made
this,uh, property historical, and I went back and...and I presented this information
to you last time, but uh....the original owner, Dr. uh, Cochran, he lived in the
house a year. And many of the things that he went on to do evidently happened
after he lived there. Urn, so he wasn't even an Iowa City resident, urn, when all of
that happened. Mr. Sharpless did not own the property, uh, this was Mrs.
Sharpless'property. He may have slept there, uh, but it was not, uh, his, uh, his
property, and then finally the Dennis's owned it after that, and I believe it was, uh,
Mr. Dennis who died first and he gave the property to his wife, provided she
never marry again. Otherwise she did not get the property, and uh, she did not
marry again, um, and willed it to her daughters and one of them bought the
property and, uh, subsequently, urn, after her sale of the property, at the time of
her sale, that's when the addition got put on in the 60s. So that's my, uh,
description of who....who owned,urn,the property. Urn, I believe maybe the
next question had to deal with was the decrease in the value of the property?
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Cole: I'd like to hear more about that.
Michael: Okay. Uh....my client looked at what he can,uh, what the property's worth based
upon what that property is returning now, and what they paid for it. And the
difference in that with a reasonable rate of return is $500,000. And I don't
believe, uh, I believe that your code, uh, says that a building is a building, and you
can't draw an imaginary line down the middle of it, even if it has two addresses.
It's one structure. You can't say well one is historic and one is not. Sure, one was
built in the 60s and should not be designated as a historic structure,but this
overlay's going to apply to the whole property. It's not just going to apply to one
part of it, and....and not the other part of it. And so, um....uh.....you know,just
as an aside here from my prepared remarks, I was sitting here during your
informal session and you were discussing I believe moving a historic structure
across the street, and that could cost you, the City, I think it was $350,000. And I
believe you folks have a budget of 150 million, 180 million, something like that,
and that's a big chunk of money to you folks, and....and you're asking my
property owner, who does not have that budget, to accept a decrease in value of
his property. And he doesn't get the choice to decide to spend it or not, whether to
move the house across the road or not. He's going to have this decision, this cost,
imposed upon...on him, and I believe, um, I just wish you would consider that, uh,
when you're considering your vote tonight. Now I do not believe ....um ...uh, I
addressed the building question. I'm trying to remember your other, uh, two
questions, um, there....
Throgmorton: One has to do with the stated purpose of the zoning code. The other had to do
with affordable housing.
Michael: I...I, um....I think those are....I.....I addressed....you may disagree with me that
there are other provisions of your code,but this clearly devalues,um, the property
a significant amount, and then also, um, it's cost....it will be costlier to upkeep
that property if you walk by, if you've looked at it, to maintain it as a historical
property, and those costs involved will have to get passed down to the tenant, and
that was my point about the affordable, uh,housing. Uh, this is not a....a piece of
property, it's not a single-family residential area, it's not a single-family home.
This is zoned for multi-family residential. Your highest density, uh, zoning. It's
across the street from the University residence homes,uh....uh, it's right near
classes, it's sur...it's next to properties that are zoned for high density, urn, and
it's....and it's one building, and that addition in 1960 or in the 60s, changed the
whole character of that building and it is...it is not a historical structure, and for
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those reasons, uh, we request that you do not approve of the rezoning of the
property.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Bob. Does anybody want to ask Bob any questions? Thanks! We
might have one or two, and if...in a little bit.
Michael: Be happy(both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah. Ginalie, you were gesturing, I don't know, did you wanna say somethin'
else?
Swaim: Well I just wanna clarify that it does not need to be associated with events. There
are categories of, uh....uh, significance, and one is events and one is people and
one is architecture and so on. Uh,but it, uh, to, uh, signify as a,uh,meet the
criteria, it does not have to meet every criteria, and this one does architecture and
it does individual prominent citizens. Now, yes, Mr. Cochran was a Civil War
surgeon, so he wasn't at home (laughs)but, uh, whether Mr. Sharpless or Mrs.
Sharpless owned the property, you know, I don't think we're gonna get into that
issue (laughs) of who....it's great that a woman's name was on property, and she
was probably doing a lot more to help her husband's career with, uh, Iowa City
Banking and City Council and all of that. We all know that partnerships in
marriage and ownership of property is a....can be kind of gray and when you look
at it historically you don't exactly know, and we know that women's roles are
seldom, uh, recorded in the....and don't often count in the currency of today
(laughs) because we don't know that much, but the fact that Mrs. Sharpless'name
was on it seems to me like, well that's great(laughs) um....yes this is one
building. And....but it is....if you look at it, you can clearly...in fact you can stand
at the front of it and not realize this thing in the back is attached to it. They are so
different, and the Commission really struggled, or examined this closely and staff
examined this closely, and ruled that, well, the original part is historic, the second
part would come under historic review...under review of the Commission if there
were any exterior changes proposed,but that...in all likelihood the Commission
would be very lenient in any changes to the exterior of the addition. The goal is
to save this pretty priceless architectural gem (laughs) in Iowa City,
and....uh....the cost of maintaining a historic building, well, I don't know how to
talk about that ex....exactly. They bought a historic building. They must have
understood that there would be costs associated with that. We do not require any
changes to a building, the City exam...uh, inspectors may, but that's under a
different, urn, requirement. We do if they make any changes to the exterior, come
to us, but I think I have explained that. I don't expect there'd be any changes to
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the exterior of the old building because it is in such (laughs) uh, has such great
integrity. I....I, excuse me for my passion, but...this is...house is remarkable. And
because you truly can visually divorce it from its addition, and probably, uh,
structurally divorce it from its...addition fairly....uh....uh, how, cleanly, I really,
really beg for you to keep this house as an honor of the Civil War era architecture,
what this town was going through. You know,the...the year it was built,we've
got the Lincoln's, uh, funeral (laughs) and the Old Capitol draped in black
mourning just down the street. So....it.....it's a.....it's a, well, I said enough.
Thank you very much!
Salih: Can I again ask the question about the....the building? You said this is still one
building but you can differentiate it,but now,it, do you like if say we preserve
this building today, and the....the portion that is not historic can they demolition
and build something else?
Swaim: Yes they can.
Mims: Can they by code or is that by...application to the Historic Preservation
Commission and a decision by the Commission?
Salih: Can they build anything they want? (several talking)
Mims: ...just a second and...and (several talking) I wanna...I appreciate what you're
saying but I'd like to get an answer to that specific question.
Swaim: Danielle is more versed in this than....as.....as Jessica and Bob were(laughs) and
they're not here so....but my....my understanding is that they...it would be an
addition. They would come, the plans would go to the building inspector.
Mims: I'm not talking about plans. I'm asking about demolition. Can they demolish the
addition(both talking)by right, or do they have to go through the Historic
Preservation Commission to even be able to demolish the addition?
Swaim: I'm not sure I know(several talking)
Sitzman: I think Ginalie answered it as far as that there would be an....a review required by
the Historic Preservation Commission. Now for demolition I don't know the
particulars of when the exact review gets triggered,but it would have to be
contextually a relevant addition that would be built, so I presume demolition...if
we wanna look we can look it up for you.
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Throgmorton: That'd be helpful to be clear about that.
Mims: Thank you, Danielle.
Swaim: It doesn't mean that the addition would not....no one would expect it to be in the
style of a Civil War-era building.
Cole: The Carnegie Museum's a good example of that, right, you have that back portion
that's very modern, and then you have the Carnegie Library.
Swaim: Exactly! And we see that in big cities, where there are some, you know, urn,
joining of old and new, um....so.....
Taylor: But the requirement is that the new development would have to complement that
historic (both talking)
Swaim: But again I believe that the Commission wold be rather lenient in that, because of
the importance of saving this building and, you know, if they wanted to put up
a....a steel and glass addition, which I can't imagine that that would happen. I
think the Commission might scratch its head quite a bit, but I can't imagine that
the, uh, that would be done. (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, Maz, you had a question. You warm....
Salih: No I just saying like same thing, can they build anything, can they build like steel
and glass there and....same question, because you know....even though this is not
historic,but you are applying all the restriction for the portion that is not historic!
Swaim: The.....the restrictions are....uh.....I....I can't tell you what the Commission
would decide, but after 11 years on the Commission, I can tell you that the
Commission tends to look at these sorts of things in ways that allow the historic
character of the....of an original building to, uh, be maintained and if this is a way
of; uh, we want this property to be used. We believe the house can be continued
to be used. We believe that an addition could be, uh,put on that may,uh, serve
the owner better. We believe that these can be mutually, uh,beneficial.
Salih: How...how much square feet is the addition?
Swaim: Uh (both talking)
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Salih: Is it bigger than the(both talking)
Swaim: I looked back at the meeting notes from the joint meeting. I believe Bob thought
it was a little bigger. Uh, he didn't...at that time I don't think he had the square
feet.
Salih: But is bigger than the historic one?
Swaim: I believe so, yes. Yes.
Salih: I guess you just applying a lot of restriction for(both talking)
Swaim: ...restrictions that I have spelled out for you?
Salih: Huh?
Swaim: What are those restrictions that I (both talking)
Salih: I mean like all the restriction by the Historic Preservation Committee, it will apply
to the section that is not historic. So this is will limit the owner to build whatever
they want, even though this area is not historic!
Swaim: I...I understand your, uh, what...your statement....we have, uh.....(sighs) Yes!
(difficult to hear, away from mic, noises on mic)
Throgmorton: (mumbled) Maz's question(several talking in background)
Dilkes: Let me...let me just outline the process for you, for the historic preservation
(several talking)
Throgmorton: Time out, yeah. Go ahead, Eleanor.
Dilkes: So the purpose of the historic preservation overlay and a Historic Preservation
review is, and I quote, to ensure that material changes to the exterior features of
the landmark....do not substantially alter or destroy the defining architectural
character of a building site or neighborhood. So the focus is going to be...of the
Commission is going to be on whether the proposal, and it's hard to talk about this
in a vacuum because we don't know what the proposal is. Whether the proposal
for the site including the demolition of the new addition, and what is proposed to
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replace that....does that or doesn't do that. Okay, that's going to be the standard,
and then it goes on to say that the approval criteria, which I don't have in front of
me, because it refers to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for
Rehabilitation, Iowa City Guidelines for Historic Preservation, the individual
guidelines, etc.,but those are gonna govern the...the Historic Preservation
Commission's decision.
Swaim: Helen brought up a useful, um, comparison. The, uh,AME Church, is that
African Methodist Episcopal Church, on...Governor Street, uh(laughs) a gem of a
building in terms of a....uh, the simplicity of the building and the richness of its
history, uh, needed desperately to, uh, have more space, maybe eight years ago.
Um, and they, uh....came with....uh....uh, to the Commission with plans and
such, and what was allowed was a rather new looking addition, if you know.
There is, uh....uh, it's called in architecture terms "hyphen,"where the buildings
are joined, there needs to be something that clearly distinguishes the two
buildings. So that you don't get fooled into thinking that the addition to the AME
Church was indeed from the 1850s or 60s when it was originally built. So that's
the sort of thing that the Commission looks for when it's allowing an addition to a
building. There are many, many houses, uh, in residential neighborhoods where
(mumbled)people have come with requests for...to build additions, and....they are
frequently,uh, granted that permission and they are, it depends on how visible the
addition is, and whether it distracts from the streetview of the....of the historic
part of the house, okay? So as I said, these two houses...or building, this building
(laughs) is two parts, really look like two parts. It's kind of similar to, uh,
Augusta Place, how close it is to the Unitarian Church. When you look at it you
think, oh, this elevator, um, and exterior entrance that they have on the
southwest...southeast side,uh, that may be part of the new addition, or not the
new addition—the Augusta Place. Um, I'm sorry if I'm not making this clear
(laughs)but uh....(several talking) Anything more specific I can answer? I've
taken up a ton of your time.
Throgmorton: I think that's good. Thank you.
Thomas: The...the only one other question I would have is, uh, what is the parking
requirement for RM-44?
Sitzman: We may need the book again, Eleanor, but um....I imagine it's based on
bedrooms. You wanna....
Dilkes: You're probably better at finding it than I am (laughter)
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Swaim: While she's looking.....and as a landmark, one thing that can happen is parking
requirements can be waived.
Thomas: Right,that's why I was asking.
Swaim: Yeah.
Throgmorton: Okay. I don't suppose there's anybody else out there that wants to talk, in the
meantime? Yes, ma'am. Please address this specific topic.
Hughes: My name is Melva and,uh, it seems like,uh, I might be wrong,but it seems like
that they want to destroy the part that was added centuries later or decades later or
whatever,tear that down, and build,urn,housing. I hear they throw the word in
there, um, low housing. But I don't think that they're givin'the people that really
need assistance for low housing at all. I see all of these buildings goin'up and
you talk about just four....uh, units designated for people with low income.
People who are on low income,they're getting the shaft with these new
constructions goin'up around the city. Iowa City and Coralville, and I drive by
these things frequently and I don't think that they have rented all of those units
out to anyone, and I feel like that it should be somethin' done to stop these
buildins'bein'built if you don't have anybody to occupy them! And why not
increase those for low income to have housin'in it, instead of just saying well you
built this buildin'and guarantee that four to 10 units for people of low income.
That's my opinion about you goin'forward and destroyin'what you think is
historical. What's not historic and throwin'in,uh,that you're puffin'somethin' in
there for low housing people because you're not,and you know you're not.
Throgmorton: Okay,thank you, Melva. Please state your name.
Burford: My name is Helen Burford. Um, and I'm on the Historic Preservation
Commission and I apologize. I didn't come prepared, urn,to address this issue.
But I do want to comment that, urn,there....there is substantial, um, evidence that
historic preservation overlays,urn, actually,urn, sustain value rather than depress
value,um, in neighborhoods, and that, um,there is no evidence that it....a land
map status would discourage any form of....of what may be termed affordable
housing. Um,but I do believe we can get information for Council that would
establish the fact that his...that historic preservation overlays,um, stabilize
neighborhoods.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Helen. Danielle, were you going to speak?
Sitzman: (mumbled) Mr.Thomas'question about parking is based on number of bedrooms,
but it's a different ratio depending on whether it's one-bedroom,two-bedroom,or
three-bedroom,but for the assumed 24 units that we were talking about
potentially for the square footage, it's anywhere from 12 to 24 to 36,depending
on the bedroom count. Now if it were designated as a landmark district,they
could ask for a waiver for that,to reduce that down, from the Board of
Adjustment.
Throgmorton: Okay. I....I gather there's no one else who wants to speak to this topic. Thank
you. Council discussion?
Mims: I am not,um, inclined to support the historic preservation overlay. Urn, as I
commented when we were in discussion on the one on Bloomington Street, I find
it....I know a lot of people think that I don't care about historic preservation,
which is not true. Urn,but when it involves,uh, doing this against the property
owner's wishes, um, then I take that into significant consideration. Urn, I....I'm
very proud, and not that I've been personally involved,but I think Iowa City has
done a very good job of preserving an awful lot of properties, urn,a lot of local
landmarks, and fortunately I think the vast majority of those have been,um, either
at the behest of the property owner, or certainly without,urn,their opposition, and
I think those are by far the best cases. Um,we did five of them last year, and
when we had kind of the seven that came before us, and when people are willing
to do that and support that and,urn, own those buildings with a historic overlay, I
think that is absolutely fantastic. This one I think in particular,um,has a number
of problems for me. One, as I just said,the property owner's,urn, disagreement
with doing it. I think the...the addition to this building, and the complexity that
that provides to the property owner in terms of any redevelopment of the back
portion of that property, urn, and I....I appreciate your comments, Ginalie, that,
uh,the Historic Preservation Commission, if I....I apologize if I don't get you
quoted exactly right,but in all likelihood would be very lenient to changes made
in the addition. Urn, again, to me that still is putting a property owner who does
not want this in a position of having to jump through a lot of additional hoops and
....I find it very difficult to sit here and know what the Historic Preservation
Commission would look at in terms of something that is complementary to that
building in the front,which is clearly,uh....uh,would qualify on its own as a
historic building. So, we spent a lot of time; I won't take any more,but those are
some of the basic reasons that I will not support the overlay.
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Throgmorton: I....I'd like to put in some comment here, but uh, Danielle, uh,before I make...
potentially make a fool of myself, I wanna make absolutely certain I'm correct in
a certain statement. Do I understand correctly that....if the historic....if the site is
named an historic landmark,that the....the owner would have the right, would
have to maintain the historic structure,but would have a right to demolish the
newer addition and build something else in its place, and then other....
requirements would come to bear.
Dilkes: I don't think there is a right to demolish, you know, there may be....there's a
review....there's a review required by the Historic Preservation Commission. But
can you point to a section of the code that says you can demolish that non-historic
structure? I don't know that that exists. I don't think it does. If somebody can
point it out to me I can....(both talking) or maybe it says (both talking)
Throgmorton: ...with regard to the Bloomington Street historic landmark, and it was certainly
my understanding that the owners of that large lovely building in the front could
demolish the structure in the back and move ahead.
Dilkes: That's right. I think that was the understanding, but....I think that's because it
would be allowed by the Historic Preservation Commission. It would still have to
go through Historic Preservation Commission review.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Dilkes: I mean we're getting caught up in semantics here, I mean (both talking)
Cole: (mumbled)
Fruin: It's not a by-right, they can't just walk in and get a permit. There is an approval
process. We think there's a high likelihood that they would get it, but it's a high
likelihood.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Fruin: It's not a guarantee.
Throgmorton: (several talking) ....I guess I wanted to say something that gets to the point I'm
going to support the landmark, uh, designation and rezoning. So, uh, I....I
certainly appreciate the owner's...willingness to work with us over the past six
months to come up with an alternative solution to this vexing problem.
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Unfortunately that did not work out. But now I ask that series of questions about
the takings claim because I think they're really crucial in this instance. Bob, you
on behalf of the owner have claimed that designating the property as a landmark,
historic landmark, would have a severe adverse affect,restriction on the value of
the property. If the....if you could not have a reasonable likelihood of being able
to demolish the prop....the newer structure, then I'd say you're right. And I
would have to oppose the rezoning,but I think the likelihood is very, very high
that the Historic Preservation Commission would approve a demolition of the
newer structure. Moreover, I can easily imagine architectural ways, and Ginalie
referred to this with regard to Bethel AME, architectural ways of preserving the
historic structure while also building a newer structure in the back that enhance
the value of both to the property owner, and to the City. And for those reasons
I'm gonna support the rezoning.
Thomas: I....I think this is, urn, you know, a very interesting project in terms of the matter
of, uh, historic overlay. It...it's, I find the...the fact that what we have there now
is....it's an older building. Goes back to the Civil War era, uh, shares the property
with a newer building, um, that...in a sense also kind of reveals the history of
Iowa City and the fact that this building, given its location, which is ideal for, uh,
student residences, uh, accommodated that, and accommodated that in...in a....in
a way which did not, in my view, diminish the historic value of the,um, you
know, the house under consideration. So there's, you know, I....I,you know, little
while ago I sent that piece to....to Council in the information packet on the notion
of the continuous city, and uh, you know, the author of that book spoke about the,
you know, the value of continuity, not only in terms of, uh,the .....the expression
of continuity in...in urban form but also over time, and maintaining that linkage,
the presence of the past, and what I find so fascinating about this project is that,
urn, this....what we see there now and I think with any change on the backside
would....would remain is that sense of continuity over time. Uh,which would, as
I think Jim mentioned, there would be a real opportunity there to create a dialogue
between this contemporary building and something that's, what, over 150-years-
old. That would be a....a beautiful expression of this place that we know as Iowa
City. Uh, in terms of the value, I do think,urn, with the RM zoning, which has a
pretty significant off-street parking requirement, coupled with the fact that the
development potential is still 87% of, um, you know, what....what's possible
with....with the RM zoning itself, that, uh....the.....the value of the property may,
given the cost of building underground parking for this site, uh,would, um....be
arguable at least. Um, furthermore the fact that we could waive the parking
would more likely reduce the project costs and lower the floor for the rents. So,
you know, if we're concerned about affordable housing, we...we've talked a lot
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about the cost associated with,urn, development, triggered by our off-street
parking requirements. This would be, if we preserve the existing house, it would
be waived. So, I feel this....this potentially is a real win-win opportunity, um, so
I'll be supporting it.
Cole: I'm going to be supportive of it as well, and Ginalie, I'm glad that you brought up
this question of, you know, the Civil War, you know, Lincoln's funeral, uh, a....a
structure that's in place at the time the Old Capitol, you know, could have been in
black,mourning that great loss of one of our greatest presidents ever,um, you
know, and going back it's' a separate topic. I lost that battle, John and I lost that
battle in terms of transfer of development rights, but I do lament the fact that we
have no tool at this point, (mumbled) I think easily get to a unanimous vote on
this, and I think this particular project, um, you know, is going to be an
illustration. If we don't have these tools, it's very hard to get over the super-
majority, um, threshold. So hopefully we'll be able to be persuasive to get us
there. Uru....I think in terms of that 500,000, I'm not convinced on that. I would
encourage you to read the works of Donovan Hickman. I mean there's tons of
empirical evidence on this question of historic preservation and I think if anything
if you look at not only....we have to look at the city as a whole and the
neighborhood as a whole in terms of zoning, is if you look at some of those new
structures in those historic neighborhoods,there's' substantial diminution the
adjacent properties. You have to look at historic value as I see it as a whole, as a
unit, as a neighborhood, and I think this particular area is historic. It is on Clinton
Street. Talk about Iowa City streets, Clinton Street, that's one of the big ones.
Iowa Avenue, Clinton, I don't think it really gets more historic than that. So I
think we're firm...on firm ground with that. I think, urn, I always like 100%
guarantees in terms of redevelopment,but...if we can have a highly likelihood, I
think is the word that...that Geoff had used. We only need to look just up the
street with,uh, Carnegie Library, where it's a perfect illustration of I think what is
possible here, will get some very robust development, a little bit of diminution,
um, I wish we had the development tool to get you up there and support that. I
understand you're advocating for your client and I appreciate that, uh, but I...but I
think this really makes sense in terms of preserving this, and particularly this
neighborhood. There are other historic structures that are brick in that area and I
think it does sort of work as a, urn, as a block, and I'm really concerned that we
could be repeating many of the same mistakes that we made here in the 60s and
70s, where we had some of these....these eight-plexes that were just plopped
down right in the middle of neighborhoods and that did do a lot of damage over
the course of time, and I think that's why we have historic preservation and this
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new process so...let's hopefully get over that hump, get that 6-1, and urn, and
preserve this structure because it will go if we don't do it tonight.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Taylor: This is really a difficult one. I think some of the other historic, uh,preservation
properties that we've approved, uh, seemed to go pretty smoothly and were pretty
straightforward,but this one's always bothered me because it was lumped
together with the 410 and the 412, and that always kind of confused me because,
uh, obviously the 410, uh, it just doesn't seem historic or not even have much
historic value to it. Uh, and to be honest I lived for a year, my first year here, in
Currier Hall, which is just up the road and didn't even realize that there was
anything behind that building. Uh, and speaking of Currier, it's one of the older
brick buildings and just up the road is the President's mansion. So, uh,the brick
structures are a very important part, and the Civil War is a very important part.
People don't realize that, but uh,having recently been introduced to the
Longfellow neighborhood, there is so much Civil War history in that
neighborhood, and I think we need to continue that and....and encourage
education in the community about that, that tie in this community, and that house
would be one of those as far as the structure, and an example of....of the type of
architecture that was built in that time, to represent that history. Urn, Susan had
mentioned that, uh,this one it's difficult when, uh, to vote when it's against the
property owner's, uh, wishes. Well, uh, the current owner hasn't owned it that
long, and I would have thought that when they went into the purchase of this
property they knew that....that this was possibly going to be designated as
historic. So I think they should have known that was coming down...down the
line, uh,we have no idea, we're kind of working on speculations that they're
going to redevelop the 410, uh, which I actually would look forward to seeing that
at some point in time then and seeing something that would be visible, that would
complement that building, uh, if that is what the plans are for that, uh, something
that wouldn't distract from the historic part of that building. So, uh....it....it's
difficult for me,but again as I said,um, since the owner, uh, knew this when they
purchased that property, uh, I....I think, urn, I....I'm going to have to vote in favor
of it, the designation.
Teague: For....for me I have to do a lot of self-reflection,um...for personal biases. So
when I drove down the street, you know, I see these beautiful trees and, urn, the
homes, the Presidential home right around the corner, and so for me I had to make
sure that I...I came back to revisit that,to see if this....when I make my decision,
urn, assess my personal biases. When....when the owner purchased this property,
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what...I'm assumin'with knowledge that it would be historic, um, or the
conversation of historic was goin' on, you know, I had to assess my personal bias
there as well. Right now I don't see any neighbors comin' out and saying...you
know, um, the University specifically. I don't hear them comin'out and saying,
you know, don't do this, do this. Um,we don't know what they'll do with their
properties, the ones that they own in the future. Um, and so again I....I have to,
you know, assess my personal bias. Limitin'the owner's ability, urn, you know,
to, um, as, you know, doin'.....doin' somethin' against theft wish, you know,that
is a challenge,because people buy things to do what they want with it. Again, I
have to, you know, assess my personal bias. And then historically,um, the
requirements, while we don't know exactly what they'll be doing with the
property if we, uh, in...you know, if we deem it as historic, um, it's gonna limit
what they can do. Even with the best, you know, urn, efforts that the Commission
would make, um, to, you know, meet the property owner's desires. At the end of
all of this, as I you know think of, you know, all the great things about,um, what
makes Iowa City Iowa City, what makes our historic neighborhoods historic, um,
and we have very few. When I think about the University of Iowa, um, where you
actually have the University, and houses associated with the University,believe it
or not, it's there on Clinton Street, and it's, um, on Melrose Drive. Urn, Melrose
Avenue. And so....Clinton Street is, when you look at it when you're drivin'
through there, and I drove through there, I got this, you know, great sense of
neighborhood, a great sense of, um, his...history. So for me after doin' deep self-
reflection, I am gonna support the historic preservation overlay.
Mims: Can I...Mazahir, can I make one comment before you start,please?
Salih: Okay.
Mims: I just wanna comment, because both Bruce and Pauline brought up the fact that
the current property owner knew that this was going on when they bought it. I
think that's absolutely irrelevant, because the property owner before that had also
contested this. So that's no change, I mean that....that was already being
contested whether it had been sold or not, so...
Teague: Sure. I appreciate that.
Mims: Thank you, Maz!
Salih: As Pauline said, this is really difficult. I really been like approving a lot of
historic preservation, you know, don't get me wrong that I don't like this topic or
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anything,but I really think about this carefully. Those to me those two building
and all the question that I ask is many restriction will be applied to the 410, and
they have to come, even if they want a demolition, as Geoff said, they cannot just
walk in and apply, you know, ask for a building permit, and all this kind of thing,
and also we defer this before because we would like to see what we gonna do
about transferring density, and now we voted that down, and the developer been
like waiting patiently...patient, you know, and...I really just think even though you
told me all the great history about this and everything,but I really am not going to
support this. I'm gonna vote no for this.
Throgmorton: Okay, well we know how people are gonna vote. Any further discussion? Roll
call please. Uh,motion, uh, is defeated 5-2. Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence please?
Teague: Move.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Thomas. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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10.c. 4548 Sioux Avenue SE Rezoning—Letter to the Johnson County
Planning and Zoning Commission in support of a rezoning from County
Highway Commercial (CH) to County Agriculture (A) for approximately
1.55 acres of property located in Johnson County at 4548 Sioux Avenue SE in
Fringe Area B - Outside the Growth Area (CZ18-00003)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Salih: Move.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Danielle.
Sitzman: Thank you, Mayor. Uh, quickly again, this is an application for a property to be
rezoned in the County. The applicants are the current owners are requesting the
rezoning in order to, um....uh, add a, uh, machine shed to their existing property.
Um, staff has reviewed this against both the fringe area agreement. It is outside
the growth area, uh, in an area,um, also, uh, addressed appropriately by the fringe
area agreement. Property's currently zoned, uh, a commercial district. They
would like to be down-zoning it essentially to an agricultural district, to allow
them for the addition to their machine shed. Urn, the, um....proposal is in
compliance with the County's comprehensive plan,which is the kind of the
controlling, um, future land use plan in this area, and as I said, it's in compliance
with our fringe area agreement. Urn, so, uh, the Planning Commission did review
this at their December 20th meeting, and based on those two findings are
recommending this letter of support in, uh, in support of the rezoning. Happy to
answer any questions.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Danielle. Would anybody else like to address this topic? All right,
Council discussion?
Mims: Not very often we see downzonings! (laughter) I'm supportive!
Throgmorton: Yeah, me too. Anybody else? All in favor say aye. Opposed. Oh, it's gotta be
roll call. I'm sorry, excuse me, roll call. I misread that, so,uh,roll call please.
(several talking)
•
Dilkes: ....voice vote, you're fine! (several talking)
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Throgmorton: I was right even though it, the text says roll call (several talking and laughing) All
right! (laughs) Gettin'better all the time!
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12. Approving Consultant Services for the South District area Form-Based Code
—Resolution approving, authorizing and directing the City Manager to
execute and the City Clerk to attest an agreement by and between the City of
Iowa City and Opticos Design, Inc. to provide consultant services for the
creation of a form-based code for an area in the South District of Iowa City
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Uh, is anyone from the Planning staff going
to address this topic for us?
Fruin: We certainly can, uh....
Throgmorton: I think it'd be good for the public's, uh (both talking)
Fruin: Ann, you wanna give a quick overview?
Russett: Uh, good evening, Mayor and Council,Ann Russett with Neighborhood and
Development Services. Urn, as the Mayor mentioned,this is a request to enter
into a consultant agreement with Opticos Design to provide consultant services
for the creation of a form-based code. And this is actually a continuation of some
of the work that Opticos did for us back in 2017, a form-based code analysis, and
out of that study, um, it was determined that the City should move forward with
the form-based code for the South District. So the scope includes a number of
key deliverables, one being an assessment of the Riverfront Crossings form-based
code. Also they're gonna look at a residential market analysis to better
understand market demands for housing in the South District. The....the key
aspect of the contract would be that actual development of the form-based code
for the South District, with the hopes that the City can,uh, use that new code and
replicate it in other parts of the City. Um, they're also gonna be developing
concept plans for potential in-fill development on City-owned property on Ronald
Street, and they're gonna look at, um, some recommendations for addressing
concerns related to single-family in-fill that's oversized. That's about all I have.
In terms of the project timeline, we hope to start next month and be completed by
the end of this year.
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Throgmorton: Great, uh, thanks,Ann. So, uh, I know this has been an extremely difficult and
time-consuming process for I....I suppose you but maybe other Planning staff,
certainly the Legal staff and others, and...I....in the end I think the product looks
really good. I just wanna thank you and other staff for the work you've put into
this. So, anybody have questions for Ann?
Taylor: I just wanted to comment that obviously, uh, you're asking Opticos to do this
because you found them acceptable with their previous work they've done for us,
so...I would approve of that.
Thomas: I'm understanding,Ann, the....this looking at the large-scale single-family
residential in-fill is...is the, is Manville the...what happened in Manville Heights
(both talking)
Russett: That was kind of the impetus for this, yes. That was the impetus for that addition,
yes.
Throgmorton: Yeah, we had conversations about that in a relevant way, many months ago, so
yeah.
Thomas: Yes, I'm happy to see that that's been folded into this.
Throgmorton: Yeah and,uh,just as background about Opticos, they did this work for us before
and I think you just said that,but also they are one of the nation's experts with
regard to the development of form-based codes, and they've developed this
missing middle concept. It actu....they actually originated the idea, so it's the
concept that I referred to earlier with regard to that newspaper article coming, uh,
out of Minneapolis, about how they were using missing middle in order to ensure
that housing was more affordable, instead of having it all be single-family
housing. So that....that's part of what's involved in this contract.
Fruin: If I could just,uh,remind you. I think we talked about this many months ago,but
you may be wondering why the Riverfront Crossings analysis is in there. It's just
a good opportunity to have a third party look at it as we're three, four years into
the form-based code, uh, so we're gonna, uh....uh, have some feedback from
architects, engineers, developers that have gone through the process. They'll
obviously be able to come here and see what's been built and review our code and
suggest any tweaks. We're not, uh, necessarily feeding them anything,but um,
again,just three, four years in. Thought it'd be good to have a....a different set of
eyes, someone that's worked on a lot of these urban form-based codes come in
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and tell us maybe what they see workin', what they don't, and respond to some of
the, urn, comments from architects and engineers.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Geoff. Any Council discussion?
Mims: I'm just excited, we've been talking about this sort of thing for quite a while, so
it's nice to see it moving forward.
Thomas: Yeah, I....I also, urn, happy to see it moving forward. I...I mentioned to Susan
and Rockne over the break that, um, between the work session and the formal
session, that,uh, you know, that the scope of the contract is not really, other than
the....the Ronald site have any, uh, aspect of it that's....moving forward,uh, the
form-based code effort in the Northside area, and urn, that concerns me, um, I
mean I guess we....one could say that the...you know, looking at the Ronald site
may provide some insight in terms of how the....the, urn, the form-based code
could be revis...or the zoning code could be revised in the Northside to
accommodate, uh, form, you know, a form-based approach, but there's also the
question of, urn,Northside Market Place, which...you know, that discussion came
up during the historic designation for the Bloomington project. Uh, there's been
discussion for some time about the potential problems and challenges we have
with the CB-2 zoning that's in place now. Ur....so, you know, I'm...I'm gonna
support this, but I....I, one....one thought I was having, um, which can be perhaps
folded into, uh, budget discussions would be seeing how we might, urn,be able to
fund,uh, some form-based coding work in the Northside, it, possibly
reallocating the funds for that one UniverCity home and applying it toward, uh,
form-based coding. I do think, as has been mentioned, the...some of the threats to
the Northside, which UniverCity was developed for have diminished because of
our rental caps. So I'm thinking the next phase in my mind had always been that,
uh, we would begin to try to promote more affordability and diversity in the
Northside through a form-based code. Uh, and you know,unless we fund the
changes to the zoning code, that's not going to happen. So, um...but again I...I'm
happy to see this project moving forward.
Cole: I think though (mumbled) we had some sticker shock,because I supported that,
but it was about$450,000 as I....
Fruin: The Northside...came in, this was really preliminary estimates with,uh, Opticos,
uh,maybe even a year ago, the estimate on the Northside was 275,000.
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Cole: Yeah, so we had some sticker shock, and I wish we could go to that pre-World
War II era where somehow they built the neighborhoods that we like,with all
these (several talking) Yeah, um, but that being the case we are in 2019 and so....
Thomas: I'm not suggesting...
Cole: (mumbled) ...sticker shock. So....
Thomas: Well again I...I guess I would just like to have that conversation, if there are ways
of....of, um...form-based code light, I mean I think what Minneapolis is looking at
is a much more, and many cities are looking at a much more restricted concept
when it comes to in-fill in core neighborhoods. So I guess I would just like to at
least have that conversation with, uh, Opticos, and staff, I mean you know,
doesn't matter to me whether it's staff driven or consultant driven or some
combination, but urn, if we don't....if we don't proceed on the Northside, there
are a lot of properties in the Northside that are just going to be treading water and,
urn, you know, that are already reached a point where if....if we don't redevelop
them and try to incentivize that, they will just continue to deteriorate.
Mims: Yeah, my only....and I get now more of what you were saying during the break,
but I mean my....I think I have a pretty clear recollection of when we were talking
about these and trying to figure out what we were going to do with form-based
code was...you know, we did, we made that very deliberate decision that we could
not afford to do it all at once and our priority was to go with the Southside
because we wanted to get that in there before that started developing. We
didn't....we didn't want to do the Northside and in the meantime the Southside
started developing under the current zoning, and then trying to put a form-based
code in almost didn't make any sense, cause you've gotten too far down the road
already, and so I hear your concerns, John, about wanting to do more faster in
terms of the Northside, but I...I think that was a pretty deliberate decision,based
on the finances at the time. And I...(both talking)
Cole: Aren't we going to be doing some form-based code light(mumbled) some
suggestion there was going to be a little bit there or not? I thought(both talking)
Fruin: We looked at it, but(both talking)
Cole: Okay.
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Fruin: ....see where we ended up with this budget, and then we left, uh, I think we have
about 385,000 total for this project. If you read the contract you'll note that
there's some additional services that we could add,um, if....if we feel like we
need them once we're in the project, so we left ourselves a little cushion. You
know, maybe there's something that we get from the,their in-fill analysis that we
can apply to the Northside, and...and frankly I think some of the stuff they are
lookin' at, albeit it's a greenfield site on the South District, some of the standards
they develop there might be something that we can plug into...to the Northside,
but I guess I'll....I'll wanna be clear, at the same time I give you that little bit of
encouragement that...that they're really not focused on the Northside, other than
the Ronald's piece. So, um, hopefully there's some things we can take away, but
no guarantees.
Throgmorton: Yeah, I share a lot of John's feelings, but I wanna get this task done. Any further
discussion? Okay, hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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13. CDBG amendment for public facility project—Resolution adopting Iowa
City's FY18 Annual Action Plan Amendment#4, which is a sub-part of Iowa
City's 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan (CITY STEPS)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Salih: Move.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
Taylor: I think it's, uh, going to a good cause. They stressed how it....the purpose is to
improve the provision of affordable childcare services,uh, for at least 15 children
annually and that's,uh,that says a lot right there and that's important and one of
the items that they said they were taking care of was asbestos removal, which is
also very important and needs to be done. So....
Salih: Uh huh (several talking in background)
Teague: What I appreciate is that this is additional funds, so that...lets me know that
they've already been granted somethin', urn, and this just goes to show that the,
you know, that we're listening to the needs of our...of individuals within our
community and we are, you know,where possible meetin'those needs, so I...this
is a great opportunity, urn, for this....for, uh, the children at this center.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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14. Council Appointments—Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated
14.a.Telecommunication Commission Telecommunications Commission -
One Vacancy to fill a three-year term,July 1,2018 -June 30, 2021. (Term
expired for Derek John)
Throgmorton: There's no gender requirement, no gender balance requirement, and we have one
application from Adam Stockman. What do you....what's your pleasure, folks?
Taylor: Appoint(several responding)
Throgmorton: He doesn't seem to have much knowledge of the Commission, yet he's interested
and did apply,uh, but I think we'll have a full Commission if we do appoint
Adam and uh, it'd be nice to meet with our Commission(laughs) (mumbled)
called for. Any objection to appointing Adam? (several responding) Okay. Uh,
we'll....we'll do one, uh, voice vote here in a second.
14.b. Board of Appeals (HVAC or Design Professional) Board of Appeals
(HVAC or Design Professional) - One Vacancy to fill a five-year term,
January 1,2018 -December 31,2023. (Term expired for Jim Walker)
Throgmorton: There's no gender balance requirement. We received one application and that's
from Jim Walker, who currently, I don't know, has served. He says three to four
years on the Commission. So we would be reappointing him, uh, I don't see any
problem with that, given the nature of the(mumbled) (several responding)
Taylor: I just had a question about it, uh,just a clarification. On his application he wrote
that he was applying for the at-large position, but uh, in the description it talks
about, uh, someone having HVAC or a design professional, but he said he's a
director of residential construction, but obviously he's been filling that position.
So someone must have felt he was qualified.
Fruehling: I think he's' qualified by experience.
Taylor: Experience (both talking)
Fruehling: He's not an HVAC person, but(both talking)
Taylor: Okay, thank you.
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Throgmorton: Okay, are we okay with appointing Jim, right? (several responding) Could I have
a motion to appoint Adam Stockman to the Telecommunications Commission and
Jim Walker to the Board of Appeals for HVAC or Design Professional?
Salih: Move.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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17. Community Comment
Stewart: Hi, everyone. Urn, as you plan for, uh, what you're going to do MLK, urn, Day, I
would like to, um, let you know about an opportunity to do some service. So the
University of Iowa,urn, puts on MLK Day of Service, urn, and staff, faculty, urn,
students, and the Iowa....greater Iowa City community are all welcome to
participate, um, and....in volunteering activities. So if you're interested, urn, you
can check in the IMU, uh, 8:00 A.M. and it lasts,urn, until about 1:00 P.M. Um,
in addition, you....as you probably all know,um, classes start up, so you may be
seeing students coming back again, of course (laughter)
Throgmorton: Good deal!
Stewart: All right.
Throgmorton: Glad to hear it. Thanks, Gustave.
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18. City Council Information
Throgmorton: This brings us to Item 18, City Council Information. So why don't we start with
Pauline and move to the right.
Taylor: Oh, not a lot to say. I, uh, I did, uh, go to the Johnson County Winter Farmers
Market, uh, on Sunday, uh, anybody that's, uh.....uh, suffering from withdrawal
from Farmers Market, it's a fun thing. It's not as large and uh, huge as....as the
ones that we have over here at Chauncey,but it is kinda fun and does still have a
lot of really great baked goods, cookies, pies, kolaches, etc., uh, some fresh meat
and arts and crafts. There's, uh, an older gentleman who has some absolute
beautiful hand-made jewelry,those of us that like jewelry, it's a really, really nice
pieces that he makes and another woman who does some wonderful paintings. So
it's just kinda fun to...to go to that, uh, and that's every other Sunday from now
until April, from 11:00 A.M. till 1:00 R.M. at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, so
that's kinda fun. Uh,the other thing we got a notice that the Cross Park Place is
having an open house, uh,Wednesday, January 16th, 4:00 to 6:00 R.M., uh,but of
course we have our budget session at 1:00 so maybe hopefully we'll (laughs) skip
through that really fast and...and be able to make it over there, cause that is a...a
really important, um, significant, uh, event in....in Iowa City, I think,uh, for our
community. That's all!
Teague: Well typically I have several things, uh,but with the holidays I only have one
awesome and amazin'thing....that I attended, and that was, uh, the swearin' in of
Supervisor Royceann Porter, who was here today, and it was such a historic event
for me, um, one because she's a friend, and uh, is....it's kinda nice to know
someone, uh,that has,um, you know....served your community and....and
essentially, um, was able to see that value in, uh, bein' elected an official. So,
congrats to Royceann and lookin'forward to you and this 20, uh, 19 year and
seein' what all you're gonna do within our community, and so that's the only thing
that I, um, really did that I wanted to note.
Salih: I really don't have anything,but I have request. Uh, I really would like you
(unable to understand)have to be at the evening time.
Throgmorton: (both talking)
Mims: ..what was that?
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Salih: Like sometime we, like we have meeting during the daytime. I have to take off
from my job. I see here there is a business (unable to understand) retire. I'm the
only one struggling with that. Please if you wanna do any meeting in the future
try to do it at least 5:00 and up,because I have to take time off from my job. To
do so.
Throgmorton: (both talking) ...understand.
Salih: And that's (mumbled) income will become less! And I cannot survive!
Cole: So,um, I actually had a wonderful holiday. Just got back from a short trip to
Florida, to a certain magic kingdom, and the reason why I'm bringing that up is
that first thing that you enter when you see in the magic kingdom of....lot of you
have been out there, is essentially historic Main Street, and I really...one of the
first things my nephew said as well, this really reminds me of Iowa. So that's
how I'm connecting it back here. So, we have these beautiful places in our local
rural towns. Go out and explore those and really celebrate those, because I don't
think we really realize how awesome Iowa is and our small towns, and we have
elements of that in our own downtown, uh, so....and this is something where
people come from all over the world and actually pay a lot of money to go to this
place, and in Iowa we get all this stuff for free. So,unfortunately that did make
me miss the, um, budget meeting on Saturday,but I have a very important a
constituent that...that sort of, uh,pulled a lot of weight with me in terms of going
there, but uh, so celebrate that. The second thing that's gonna come up is believe
it or not, um, I don't have the exact date for it, but keep an eye out for a local
foods planning event with Johnson County Local Foods Coalition, um, in late
January. Usually it's done at Merge, where they talk about all the local foods
entities doing their great planning work for the coming year and one of the fun
parts about that is to see what the....the summary of what they did in previous
years, but then also sort of forecast what they're gonna do for the following, um,
summer and fall, and so that's always really exciting, cause nearly everyone who
gives a presentation, um, is a doer, and they have a track record and they get
things done, so, um, even though I say spring is just around the corner, it actually
maybe it's already right here, uh, as far as that goes, but uh, spring is coming and
we are going to be (mumbled)planning season here relatively quickly. So that's
always some good news when it starts to get a little colder. So that's all I have for
now.
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Thomas: I just wanted to (clears throat) excuse me, I'll mention that I finally saw on
television last night, uh, the America Reframe program, the film uh, "Saving
Britain."
Mims: I wanted to watch that last night.
Thomas: Uh, I don't know if any of you have seen that, but you know, Rockne just
mentioned,urn, small town Iowa. This is a...this movie, I won't get into the
details of the story, but it's basically a love letter to Iowa, uh, particularly the town
of Washington, Iowa. And, uh, it's....it's a beautiful film, um, and it really
does...in fact Andrew(several talking) Film Scene was one of the,uh, makers of
the film (both talking)
Throgmorton: (mumbled)
Thomas: Huh?
Throgmorton: Plus Tommy Hanes.
Thomas: Yeah, a number of Iowa Citians. Uh, it's really just very lovingly done and, uh,
the...the main character, who discovered these films in the basement of this
building in Washington kinda steals the show. I mean he's just a...a charming
fellow, very eccentric,um, so I highly recommend it. I think it really does speak
well for Iowa and,uh, both in terms of its culture and landscape. It's really well
done.
Mims: I'm jealous. That was on my calendar to watch last night but it didn't(both
talking)
Thomas: ...if you look up on....online (both talking)
Mims: Uh, nothing! Thank you.
Throgmorton: Okay, I'll just mention a few things. On Friday, this coming Friday, January the
l la,I'm gonna join mayors John Lundell and Terry Donahue in signing the
Economic Development Protocol...that Geoff has been working so hard on over
the past few years. Please feel to come on down, uh, the signing's at, I don't
know, 8:30, uh, in the morning,but the Board meeting starts at,what is it(both
talking) yeah, 7:30. It's gonna be at Merge. (several talking) I'm really pleased
about that. Uh, our Council has a, um....um....um(both talking) thank you, I'm
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suddenly blanking out on what the C is. Capitol improvements plan work session
on Wednesday, January the 16th, beginning at 1:00 RM. here. We have an
Economic Development Committee meeting on, tell me if I'm wrong, Friday,
January the 18th, beginning at 1:30 RM. here. And as Royceann mentioned
earlier, yes your name keeps coming up, Royceann! Why is that? (laughs) As
Royceann mentioned earlier,there's....there will be a Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Unity March on Tuesday, January the 22nd,beginning at 9:00 A.M. at Eastdale
Plaza, going to Mercer Park. And I'm really looking forward (several talking)
Did I say...I'm sorry, Monday the 21", thank you! Thanks so much for correcting
my error there. Sure it's right on my calendar but....and then on January 23
through 26, I'm gonna be in Washington, D.C. attending the U.S. Conference of
Mayors, and the Mayors Innovation Project meetings. Bruce I think is going to
the Mayors Innovation Project meeting as well, and just to make sure y'all
remember, I brought this up, I don't know,three or four meetings ago about the
possibility of people goin' to this so....Bruce volunteered. (laughs) I'm really
happy about that. It'll be an interesting experience for ya.
Salih: And do we have a joint meeting also?
Taylor: Joint entities (both talking)
Throgmorton: We do, yes. (several talking) Next Monday, that's right, and there'll be a coffee
hour or whatever at 4:30, reception at 4:30, right here, then the meeting at 5:00?
Is that right? (several talking) 4:00.
Frain: It's at the County. (several talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, all right, so that's enough for me.
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19. Report on Items from City Staff
a. City Manager
Throgmorton: That means we're done with that stuff, doesn't it? So, Geoff, anything? Ashley?
Monroe: One thing, uh,just that we could continue the Cou....Council tours of our
departments, uh, at the City. So the first option I guess would be to go to Refuse
and Landfill buildings, if anyone has interest. Um, you know, if that's not of
interest we also have others that were mentioned at some point, uh, going to the
Senior Center, uh, touring Finance Divisions and....and that department, as well
as Neighborhood and Development Services. So I thought to just give you a
couple dates and see who might be interested and we can work out, urn, who...
who would attend which day. So, um, the earliest would be Monday, January 4th
in the after...or I'm sorry, 14th in the afternoon; uh, Monday January 28th,AM or
PM; and then Thursday the 3151 of January, in...in AM or PM. So, uh, you can
feel free to give me any, uh, thoughts now or you can just email me, letting me
know what you're interested in doing and we'll facilitate it.
Throgmorton: Okay, good deal.
Salih: (mumbled)
Monroe: Landfill? Put a tour on the 28th at the Landfill be okay for any others? We would
meet at City Hall and transport out there so....
Teague: None of those dates work for me.
Monroe: Okay (laughs) We'll work out a different time then for you. We're happy to
facilitate to any...any other time. If you have interests and can't work out a time,
we'll....we'll make it happen.
Throgmorton: Great. Thanks,Ashley!
Monroe: Yep!
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