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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-07 Bd Comm minutesItem Number: 5.a. i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org May 7, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Housing & Community Development Commission: March 14 rlr p- �'r �tLl' LL CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: April 19, 2019 To: Mayor and City Council From: Kirk Lehmann, Community Development Planner Re: Recommendations from Housing and Community Development Commission At their April 18th meeting, the Housing and Community Development Commission approved the March 14, 2019 meeting with the following recommendation to the City Council: 1. By a vote of 5-0 (Eastham and Fixmer-Oraiz recused) the Commission recommends to City Council the following allocation of FY20 Emerging Aid to Agencies funds: $9,000 to Grow Johnson County, $5,000 to the Center for Worker Justice, and $5,000 to Successful Living. 2. By a vote of 7-0 the Commission recommends to City Council the following allocation of FY20 CDBG/HOME funds: In the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by 20% or less, these amounts will be prorated accordingly, subject to federal caps/requirements and requested amounts; in the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by more than 20%, another funding round will begin. Additional action (check one) No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction _X_ Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action CDBG HOME Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program - Lot Acquisition/Rental Construction $176,000 Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity - Lot Acquisition/Homebuyer Assistance $50,000 Successful Living - Rental Acquisition $164,000 The Housing Fellowship - Rental Rehabilitation $70,000 Successful Living - Rental Rehab $59,000 The Housing Fellowship - CHDO Operating $21,000 Domestic Violence Intervention Program - Shelter Repair $90,000 Old Brick — ADA/Structural Fortification Improvements $10,000 In the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by 20% or less, these amounts will be prorated accordingly, subject to federal caps/requirements and requested amounts; in the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by more than 20%, another funding round will begin. Additional action (check one) No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction _X_ Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action MINUTES HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2019 — 6:30 PM SENIOR CENTER, ROOM 202 FINAL MEMBERS PRESENT: Megan Alter, Charlie Eastham, Vanessa Fixmer-Oraiz, Christine Harms, John McKinstry, Maria Padron and Paula Vaughan MEMBERS ABSENT: [vacant position], Mitch Brouse STAFF PRESENT: Kirk Lehmann, Erika Kubly OTHERS PRESENT: Ryan Holst, Elias Ortiz, Craig Moser, Jake Kundert, Shirley Tramble, Brenda Nogaj, Kari Wilken, Roger Lusala, Roger Goedken, Brianna Wills, Heath Brewer, Ashley Gillette, Anthony Smith, Sara Barron, Michi Lopez, Martha Norbeck RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 5-0 (Eastham and Fixmer-Oraiz recused) the Commission recommends to City Council the following allocation of FY20 Emerging Aid to Agencies funds: $9,000 to Grow Johnson County, $5,000 to the Center for Worker Justice, and $5,000 to Successful Living. By a vote of 7-0 the Commission recommends to City Council the following allocation of FY20 CDBG/HOME funds: In the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by 20% or less, these amounts will be prorated accordingly, subject to federal caps/requirements and requested amounts; in the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by more than 20%, another funding round will begin. CDBG HOME Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program - Lot Acquisition/Rental Construction $176,000 Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity - Lot Acquisition/Homebuyer Assistance $50,000 Successful Living - Rental Acquisition $164,000 The Housing Fellowship - Rental Rehabilitation $70,000 Successful Living - Rental Rehab $59,000 The Housing Fellowship - CHDO Operating $21,000 Domestic Violence Intervention Program - Shelter Repair $90,000 Old Brick — ADA/Structural Fortification Improvements $10,000 In the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by 20% or less, these amounts will be prorated accordingly, subject to federal caps/requirements and requested amounts; in the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by more than 20%, another funding round will begin. Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 2 of 11 CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Vaughan called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 21, 2019 MINUTES: Eastham moved to approve the minutes of February 21, 2019 with corrections. Alter seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 7-0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL FOR FY2020 EMERGING AID TO AGENCIES APPLICATIONS: Eastham excused himself from this agenda item as he is on the Board of one of the applicants. Fixmer- Oraiz also recused herself as she is employed by one of the applicants. Lehmann presented the Commission with a summary of the six applications and the requested funding amounts and discussed clarifications about the Forest View Mobile Home Park application. The applicant, Center for Worker Justice, is not able to be present at this evening's meeting but Lehmann can try to answer any questions regarding the application. Padron began by stating she recommended $9,500 for Unlimited Abilities and $9,500 for Grow Johnson County. Vaughan recommended $7,000 for Grow Johnson County. Harms recommended $5,000 for Grow Johnson County. McKinstry recommended $5,000 for Grow Johnson County and $5,000 for Successful Living and $9,000 for the mobile home park redevelopment. Alter recommended $3,800 to all the applicants except for Little Creations Academy. Padron noted the minimum allocation should be $5,000 so Alter reconfigured her allocations to $5,000 for Center for Worker Justice, $5,000 for Johnson Clean Energy and $5,000 for Successful Living. Lehmann added all recommendations into a spreadsheet and calculated the averages. McKinstry noted there is the most consensus for Grow Johnson County so that allocation should be at least the minimum of $5,000. Given the total amount of funds the Commission has to allocate to emerging agencies, they can only fund at most two other organizations. Padron noted the next two top vote getters were Successful Living and Center for Worker Justice (Forest View). If both those were awarded $5,000, the total allocated would be $15,000 which leaves $4,000. Padron asked why McKinstry and Alter wanted to fund the mobile home association. McKinstry noted that Forest View has a tremendous potential for affordable housing in the future. Lehmann clarified the request was not for people to attend the meetings but rather Center for Worker Justice costs which included helping the tenant association start by providing space for them to meet, occasional transportation, some translation for public meetings and childcare. The applicant stated that the most important of these functions is for meeting space rent so this association can meet. McKinstry noted this Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 3 of 11 is a true startup, it is an emerging organization. Vaughan said her concern was that the organization seemed temporary, project based, and not an emerging agency. Padron noted they are funding the Center for Worker Justice which is an agency, for their project of helping this neighborhood association. However the Center for Worker Justice has been around for more than two years and has received funding from the City so wouldn't they be excluded from this. Lehmann clarified the Center for Worker Justice has not received Aid to Agencies funds which makes them eligible for this funding. Alter supports this application because the Center for Worker Justice is lending aid to a group in community outreach and is helping a neighborhood association. Vaughan questioned the allocation to Successful Living which appeared to be an allocation to pay employees but that would not be an ongoing payment, it would only be for one year. Her concern is if they are having difficulty paying their employees then perhaps the model for their organization should be reviewed. Harms agreed and noted all the agencies are having difficulty with payments from Medicaid and not getting paid as much as they thought and this may start a trend of all agencies coming forward. The change in Medicaid payment was known to the agencies and some likely prepared for it better than others. Alter feels this application was a creative attempt at a solution to the problem at least for the year and was thinking of the people who are impacted by the care from Successful Living but acknowledges Harms' point that this is not a permanent solution. Padron noted these funds are for emerging agencies and Successful Living has been around for 20 years and some of the other applicants, like the energy project (Johnson Clean Energy), is very new and interesting. Vaughan noted she would like to see more details on what Johnson Clean Energy will be using the funding for and be able to target their ideas, they appear to have a lot of goals, which are all great, but it is a lot to accomplished and they need to be more focused. Padron suggested allocating $5,000 to Successful Living and $5,000 to Center for Worker Justice and the remaining $9,000 to Grow Johnson County. Grow Johnson County has never been funded before and is helping many people. Harms noted Grow Johnson County had come before the Commission before but set aside their funding request when hearing another agencies needs and acknowledging that agency needed the funding more. Harms moved to recommend to City Council the following allocation of FY20 Emerging Aid to Agencies funds: $9,000 to Grow Johnson County, $5,000 to the Center for Worker Justice, and $5,000 to Successful Living. Alter seconded the motion, a vote was taken and motion passed 5-0 (Eastham and Fixmer-Oraiz recused). RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL FOR FY2020 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) AND HOME INVESTMENTS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (HOME) APPLICATIONS: Lehmann shared a handout with the Commission that had the CDBG/HOME allocations ordered by average score, projects with more than $50,000 should get first consideration and per the City's Consolidated Plan they can only fund two public facilities projects. Additionally, there are staff comments, one is Successful Living has unspent funds from the past fiscal year and if additional funds are allocated they may have difficulty meeting their commitment deadlines, therefore staff recommends not funding Successful Living until they spend down the current funding. Also for new organizations without a lot of history, staff recommends starting with small funding amounts as there may be concerns with compliance and the five year reversion of assets requirement. If a new organization does not last for five years, then the City has to pay back those funds to the federal government and if the organization doesn't own their facility they must be able to lease it for the five year compliance period. Lehmann said this may affect the applications from Little Creation Academy and Old Brick. City Staff will monitor all CDBG/HOME funded projects and work with agency staff to make sure they meet compliance. Eastham asked about the Successful Living application and how much were they allocated and have left unspent. Lehmann said they have approximately $30,000 from the FY18 rehab allocation unspent, for the FY19 acquisition they have spent around $60,000 and will spend approximately $75,000 shortly which Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 4 of 11 leaves approximately $60,000 in additional funds they have not spent. The rehab project is the one they have had more delays on, not as much with acquisition projects. Lehmann noted this is a concern staff wanted the Commission to be aware of as they award funds, the Commission can still allocate funds as they see best and staff will work with those agencies to make sure there are no issues moving forward. Eastham noted that the new Successful Living rehab project could get funded and move forward even though the current rehab project is having issues. Roger Goedken (Successful Living) stated with regards to the FYI rehab project they anticipate the work being done in April, weather has been some of the hold-up. With the home acquisition funds they have purchased one home and have residents moving in, the other they just closed on and they anticipate to spend those remaining funds by the end of the fiscal year as they are actively looking at houses. He explained there were many issues with the rehab project including when federal agencies shut down, rental moratorium, and issues with finding contractors. He added that even when they have acquisition projects they sometimes have to do limited rehab to those houses to make them accessible for their clients. Lehmann stated there were also some delays with the FYI acquisition but staff had amended the Annual Action Plan for it and it was completed a couple months back. Goedken said the current application is for a kitchen/bathroom remodel and new HVAC on a house they purchased a few years ago, they do have residents currently living there but the repairs are needed. Lehmann stated regarding the HUD guidance for the boiler issue for Little Creations Academy, HUD requested additional clarification and Lehmann supplied it but has yet to hear back. Vaughan began with the public facilities projects (CDBG) and noted they can fund no more than two projects. Lehmann noted they have $100,000 to allocate and also that CDBG funds can be used for housing projects but HOME funds cannot be used for public facility projects. Vaughan stated when looking at the commissioner's allocations it appears everyone was in favor of funding Domestic Violence Intervention Program - Shelter Repair and additionally the Old Brick — ADA/Structural Fortification Improvements. Alter proposed allocating $90,000 to DVIP and $10,000 for Old Brick. Eastham noted the DVIP application is strong in terms of the need to repair the shelter as well as the need to repair the parking lot however he feels financing the repair to the parking lot could be done in another way and the Commission's priority should be on the repairs to the shelter interior. He noted Council has the ability to provide additional funds to these organizations and the Council should pay for the parking lot repair. Alter agrees however noted that Council just funded a larger allocation in the Aid to Agencies based on Commission recommendation and may point to the fact the Commission indeed has funds to support this application in this case. McKinstry noted with the recent consolidation, DVIP now has to cover a larger geographic area and that is stretching their already dwindling funds. If they had the money to do these repairs, such as the parking lot, they would have done it — they do not have additional funding to support this repair. Padron agreed with McKinstry and noted that what Eastham stated about DVIP is how she feels about Old Brick, perhaps Old Brick could find funding elsewhere. Fixmer-Oraiz agreed with Alter and noted if we send any of these applications to Council they may not fund anything. She also agrees with Padron that Old Brick could have more avenues for funding. Harms feels the Commission should support Old Brick and noted it is always hard for the Commission because there are applications for historical preservation and others for necessary community services. For that reason she feels comfortable with the allocation of $90,000 to DVIP and $10,000 to Old Brick. Vaughan noted the Commission is to only review what is in the application before them, they are not here to make recommendations on how other agencies might run their business, they are to look at the applications and make recommendations based on the information in those applications. Eastham noted he is fine with the allocation of $90,000 to DVIP and $10,000 to Old Brick but will keep advocating for City Council to step up and help agencies, we should not solely rely on federal funding. Lehmann noted that Old Brick is also applying for local and state historic preservation grants as well. Vaughan next moved to housing applications, there are $540,000 in HOME funds to allocate. Looking at the Commission's individual allocations it appears if they went with the averages for application they Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 5 of 11 would be slightly under their allocated amount Eastham noted he is uneasy allocating money to Habitat for new homes when there are other agencies such as Successful Living and MYEP who have clients living in homes in need of repair. Padron agrees. Lehmann noted The Housing Fellowship - Rental Rehabilitation would need to be allocated $70,000 based on the estimated funding required for CHDO reserve funds. Eastham stated Successful Living and MYEP had a clear plan and need for adding to their group homes, they both have waiting lists, both run stellar group home programming for the residents, the rehab amounts seemed reasonable. Eastham added he would be fine not allocating any CHDO operating funds to The Housing Fellowship, he feels that organization would be fine without those funds and would prefer giving MYEP and Successful Living amounts closer to what they applied for. Vaughan noted her concern with Successful Living having challenges meeting timeframes and payroll (since they requested paying employees from the emerging agencies grant). She is also concerned about the future of Medicaid funding from the State and feels more local aid will be needed for these agencies. McKinstry agrees with Eastham on the issue of need for affordable rental versus affordable ownership and noted he did not allocate as much to Habitat for Humanity because the money could help more individuals in rentals rather than ownership. He also values the need for affordable homeownership and it addresses historic imbalances and therefore would want to see some homeownership in the mix which should be supported by some public funds as well as private funds. Fixmer-Oraiz was swayed by the presentation Habitat gave at the last meeting and learned about the overall impact homeownership has on the community. She allocated the full amount but equally can see the need for assisted living as well and will support those as well. Alter noted that Habitat said they could purchase a lot and get started on a new home with a $50,000 allocation so that is what she feels they should be awarded. That will open up more monies for Successful Living or MYEP. She does strongly support funding Habitat for the reasons McKinstry noted. Eastham asked if there was any support from other commissioners to reduce The Housing Fund allocation and therefore not fund their CHDO operating request. He stated he has seen their budget and feels this amount requested is not a make or break amount in their overall budget. Those funds from the CHDO operating request could better be served in Successful Living and MYEP to expand the number of residents they could serve. Fixmer-Oraiz did not agree and felt CHDO operating funds should be funded. Padron agreed and also feels the Habitat allocation should be lowered to $50,000 and any additional funds be split amongst Successful Living and MYEP. The Commission discussed the reallocations and staff presented a new allocation table for the Commission to vote on. They also discussed what to do in the event the federal funding was different than what they based the allocations on. Lehmann said in the past, staff has prorated the allocations among the agencies unless it was more or less than a 20% difference. Eastham suggested no positive prorated amounts be added to The Housing Fellowship. Vaughan noted they could add if prorated up but to make sure the allocation is not more than the asking amount. McKinstry moved to recommend to City Council the following allocation of FY20 CDBG/HOME funds: CDBG HOME Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program - Lot Acquisition/Rental Construction $176,000 Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 6 of 11 Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity - Lot Acquisition/Homebuyer Assistance $50,000 Successful Living - Rental Acquisition $164,000 The Housing Fellowship - Rental Rehabilitation $70,000 Successful Living - Rental Rehab $59,000 The Housing Fellowship - CHDO Operating $21,000 Domestic Violence Intervention Program - Shelter Repair $90,000 Old Brick — ADA/Structural Fortification Improvements $10,000 In the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by 20% or less, these amounts will be prorated accordingly, subject to federal caps/requirements and requested amounts; in the event federal funds are higher or lower than budgeted by more than 20%, another funding round will begin. Fixmer-Oraiz seconded. Passed 7-0 PRESENTATION ON FAIR HOUSING STUDY: Lehmann presented the Fair Housing Choice Study staff began working on some time ago, beginning with introduction, public input received and initial observations. Fair Housing Choice is the ability to choose housing free from unlawful discrimination, it applies to owners and renters, and to people providing other housing services as well such as financing. There are many protected classes based on Iowa City's Human Rights Ordinance including age, disability, color, class, race, nation of origin, creed or religion, sex, gender or identity or sex orientation, marital/familial status, presence or absence of dependents and most recently added public assistance as a source of income including Housing Choice Vouchers. The City strives to further fair housing in everything it does, it is a requirement of HUD funds but also applies to all the City's programs. This means the City tries to take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice and ultimately to foster inclusive communities. Lehmann pointed out that fair housing is different than affordable housing although there is a lot of overlap because often affordability is a barrier to housing choice. However, fair housing is the idea that housing is available to all residents of the community whereas affordable housing is housing costs that match incomes. Often protected classes have lower incomes so providing affordable housing is important to fair housing but it is not sufficient to affirmatively further fair housing. The Fair Housing Choice study is being conducted by Neighborhood Services and the Office of Equity and Human Rights. It includes both qualitative (getting narrative) and quantitative (looking at data) components. In terms of public input so far (qualitative) City staff held a public meeting and six focus groups of different representative groups (a total of 83 attendees), and then also did a public survey for broader public perspectives, which got 234 responses. For the quantitative analysis they looked at private and public data, most of which is from the census. The goal is to complete the study in May 2019 so it is ready for review when the Consolidated Plan is updated. Staff will share a copy of the study draft with Commissioners in May. For the survey, 234 individuals responded, skewing towards higher incomes. The survey was made available online and hard copies were provided through the public library and social service agencies. They received good feedback in terms of getting representation of protected classes. 70% of respondents were females, 17% were nonwhite or Hispanic, 5% were foreign -born, 20% had a disability, 12% spoke another language, 12% had a Housing Choice Voucher. One big thing that stuck out were only 43% of respondents said they felt they understood their fair housing rights while 26% felt they experienced discrimination. Somewhat shocking but not surprising, was only 3% of those filed a complaint. Most stated they didn't know what good it would do (70% of respondents) while others were unfamiliar with Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 7 of 11 how to do it or afraid of retaliation. I n terms of barriers cited, affordable housing was overwhelmingly cited as the primary barrier to fair housing choice, including all for types of households (large families, small families, persons with disabilities, etc.) and the most common source of discrimination people noted was having a Housing Choice Voucher. In terms of public policies that were identified as barriers none received a majority, but the top ones were City funding practices followed by zoning and housing codes. At focus groups and the public meeting, the comments mirrored many results from the survey. Iowa City was noted as an expensive housing market, and incomes don't necessary match the cost of the market and it is especially problematic where there is not a diversity of housing choices within a neighborhood (if it is all single family it can be challenging for different groups to find housing). This includes both City assisted housing and privately affordable housing because it is just not City assisted housing that is affordable. For the housing stock it was also mentioned that there are low quality rentals, especially near downtown, which can be problematic for persons who are in protected classes as well as accessibility challenges in older parts of the City with properties not built to visitability standards. There were several public policy challenges raised, development codes can increase costs and limit flexibility, especially where design review is involved. Policies need to better align with goals and funding that is allocated should match up with the goals the City has (it doesn't always). The City should also streamline processes wherever they can including rental permitting, and the City needs to make sure they enforce their rental housing standards so there is quality housing. Coordination was also cited as an issue, between the City and surrounding jurisdictions and also with other actors (tenants, builders, landlords, etc.) or educational institutions such as the school district and university. Overall education is generally needed for tenants and landlords to better understand what fair housing rights are, what the responsibilities of different parties are in the housing market and to better information people on neighborhoods (people can be informally or formally steered towards certain neighborhoods) and the survey corroborated that. In terms of data observations, Iowa City is a college town and has more young people, fewer families, and fewer children especially near downtown. Generally, near downtown there are fewer persons with disabilities because it is a younger population, it is more ethnically, racially and culturally diverse, a lot due to immigration into Iowa City especially from Asian populations, but also black/African American populations as well. There are some racial/ethnic concentrations across the City, specifically Black/ Hispanic groups south of Highway 6 and Asian groups concentrated on the west side. None of these concentrations meet the standard HUD for being a racially and ethnically concentrated area of poverty however. Those areas do tend to have lower incomes but the lowest income areas tend to be nearer to the university where students are. There are large limited English proficiency populations, especially Spanish (3100 speakers) and Mandarin (2400 speakers). Segregation by race or ethnicity is considered low in Iowa City based on the dissimilarity index standards, but it has been increasing over time. For the economy, it is focused around education and healthcare, there is a high proportion of low-income households due to student populations and that is increasing as well. Minority households tend to have lower incomes in Iowa City, primarily outside downtown, and LMI (low moderate income) areas are primarily to the south and west but there is a large LMI area downtown as well. The majority of housing in Iowa City is rental, concentrated in around downtown and near the university. Minority groups tend to have lower homeownership rates in Iowa City, which especially true for Black households and households of two or more races. There has been a large increase in multifamily building permits, peaking in 2016, much of it is downtown, and there are correspondingly higher vacancy rates with that. That being noted, rents have increased faster than incomes or housing values. Housing values have actually been closer to increases in income lately but rents increased more quickly. In terms of cost burden (which means they are paying more than 30% of their income on housing), 16% of homeowners and 64% of renters are cost burdened, a lot of whom are students based on non -familial status. Minority households tend to experience housing issues at higher rates including housing cost burden and other issues such as overcrowding and the quality of facilities. Lehmann noted there is limited data on fair housing because things don't get reported, but of the data they do have in Iowa City there tends to be around 10-12 fair housing complaints per year. Most of those are based on discrimination by race, disability or sex. 113 tend to be outside the City's jurisdiction so they Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 8 of 11 get referred to the correct jurisdiction, 113 get closure at the City or withdrawn due to resolution and the remaining 1/3 require further various levels of investigation. Data from the State or Federal level is even more limited, most is based on Johnson County. Progress since the last plan, there were five findings and while the City was making progress some of these findings have cropped up again. For example, racial ethnic concentrations is still there, outreach and education is still an issue and a huge need. Staff next looked at policies, public sector policies in addition to private sector policies and Lehmann discussed those and where staff found impediments. For City development codes there is no reasonable accommodation policy for persons with disabilities which is basically a streamlined approach for, say someone in a wheelchair to put a ramp outside their house in a historic district where there are many levels of complex policies to deal with. Staff is looking to adopt some sort of reasonable accommodation policy to ensure people can be housed in older parts of the City without running into bureaucratic barriers. Also staff is looking at generally increasing opportunities or choices for housing by allowing diverse housing throughout the City. That will focus on increasing density because single family can be affordable depending on construction but allowing more multifamily by right in residential areas would be good. They are also looking at bedroom caps in multifamily as that can restrict large families and student living. Finally looking at how permanent supportive housing is currently treated in the community because it is treated as separate use only allowable in specific zones (essentially the Cross Park Place project where it is long-term housing, more than a year lease). Housing Code has new requirements like rental permit cap, increased inspections, which may affect protected classes, these changes are relatively new as of 2018 so it is hard to know the impact or results but it will be tracked. Vaughan asked if those new requirements were federal requirements. Lehmann replied it was a State requirement change where a city could not distinguish between nonfamily and family households in the zoning code which was a way the City was trying to balance student housing downtown. When the State made that change the City reviewed the process and put a cap on areas near the university and also increased inspections for certain types of units. For affordable housing assistance, Lehmann stated the City put more local funding towards affordable housing initiatives but it doesn't have the same federal requirements, so staff has not been tracking protected characteristics for beneficiaries. As such, impacts are difficult to ascertain for all City assistance because more than half the units created aren't being tracked. With new funding comes new programs and lots of requirements and staff is making sure administrative rules are well coordinated. For site selection and neighborhood revitalization, Lehmann stated the Affordable Housing Location Model and rental permit cap interact in complex ways; both affect certain types of housing in certain areas at certain times. Staff is working to identify those affects for affordable housing and service providers, how they impact choices for protected classes and seeing if there are ways to streamline some of these programs as they come into play. Currently there are 1215 Housing Choice Vouchers, about 850 of which are in Iowa City. Within Iowa City, Housing Choice Vouchers are still relatively concentrated in certain neighborhoods, typically the more affordable neighborhoods thus the concentration. However based on the survey there is also some evidence landlords may still be discriminating against Housing Choice Voucher recipients. Therefore providing more information to Housing Choice Voucher recipients is needed, further alerting them of their rights and encouraging them to live in other areas of the City is something staff is recommending. Also The Housing Authority has a preference categories with families, persons with disabilities, and elderly with residency in Iowa City as the first group to receive vouchers. Staff recommends an equity analysis to make sure the policy is targeting the correct populations for service as based on the CITY STEPS Consolidated Plan. With regards to home lending, Lehmann noted the data showed Black and Hispanic households have elevated rates of denials, however a study that was conducted a year ago showed there are discrepancies in data entry and there are issues with a small sample size. Staff wants to follow up to make sure this is not discrimination and will continue to monitor. Additionally they recommend additional fair housing education for lenders and borrowers. Alter asked if the City has anyone that works with lenders and people who are applying to help them through the process. Lehmann stated the City does trainings for lenders but is unsure of how regularly it Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 9 of 11 is done. These trainings are also provided for the general public. Kubly added if a person is part of The Housing Choice Voucher program they are assigned a case worker to help them navigate the process. Eastham asked about impediments related to realtors. Lehmann said he had no data on it but based on the focus groups it doesn't seem to be much of an issue, it seems the larger issues for steering people to certain locations is word of mouth from others in the community. Eastham said he hears anecdotal statements about realtors engaging in steering certain people to certain locations of town. McKinstry noted when he has talked to realtors it appears everyone is super sensitive to steering and know it is illegal and unethical and are hypervigilant in not steering people to certain locations of town. He was startled to find there are four or five protected classes here in Iowa City more than in other areas of the State or Nation. He stated that two woman in Missouri, this year, were denied the opportunity to live in a retirement center because they were married to each other. Because of situations like that McKinstry is so glad Iowa City has these additional protected classes. Lehmann noted for the rental market there is a mismatch between the cost of rentals and incomes and staff recommends more rentals in high demand areas, especially downtown, and considering ways to reduce the cost of housing such as group living options. The also recommend more education on the protections for renters and keeping landlords apprised of the protected classes and education of best practices. Additionally staff needs to make sure all fair housing complaints are dealt with in a timely manner and resolved quickly. Since there is a lack of metrics for policy impacts staff will need to make sure they measure these fair housing impacts on protected classes. Lehmann noted staff does not do a lot of testing in Iowa City but it is one of the better ways identify discrimination or steering. Finally Lehmann talked about other observations worth noting. There are ethnical and racial concentrations so encouraging a range of housing throughout the City while continuing to invest in minority, LMI or protected class neighborhoods is important. Homeownership rates are lower for minority groups so it is important to encouraging homebuyer programs in targeted areas for protected classes. For elderly households and persons with disabilities, especially those with ambulatory issues who cannot walk around easily, there is a need to focus on areas of town with accessibility barriers to help ensure aging in place is possible. Student populations have the lowest incomes, so there is a need to ensure all, especially those who are LMI or in protected classes, can afford to live in the community. In terms of next steps, Lehmann stated staff is working on the internal review of the draft of the Fair Housing Study, hoping to get a draft to stakeholders in April and start to let the document be public for adoption process, there will be a public meeting with HCDC on May 16 and then go before Council either May 21 or June 4 and have the document adopted prior to June 30. Eastham stated he wanted to see the data behind this study for the HCDC review Harms noted that when someone has an issue, time constraints for resolving the issue is enormous, especially for working individuals. Perhaps the City could increase hours of availability to help the public. Fixmer-Oraiz noted a recurring theme in the Study is a need for education and outreach and there definitely needs to be more for renters, landlords and potential homeowners. Eastham stated if the City is going to put resources toward this education and outreach it should be for consumers, realtors and banks already have some educational opportunities. Fixmer-Oraiz noted the university does a freshman intake and perhaps the City can provide education on fair housing. Lehmann noted the university does a "Renter 101" event and Iowa City provides information at that. Vaughan suggested something other than just a written brochure, it doesn't often speak to a lot of people, and is easily tossed. She noted it should be written to speak to all individuals, regardless of the level of education. Padron noted it is important to remember not every resident has a computer or internet and much of what comes from the City is via email or directs one to a website. Harms noted with the elderly or others they may not want to use a computer and the City needs to be cognizant of that. Lehmann noted they did hand out hard copies of the survey in the senior living areas, agencies and also at the library for those that did not want to use a computer. The surveys were provided in multiple languages. Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 10 of 11 Vaughan asked if there was educational pieces created do they have to be done by staff or can volunteers assist. Lehmann said they would welcome volunteers and partners. McKinstry is happy to see the interest in collecting data on housing in the City. Fixmer-Oraiz asked if the City could partner with the school district and send information home in back packs. Lehmann stated the school district has tightened up on allowing things to be handed out but improved coordination between the City and schools is needed. Any additional comments or questions can be directed to Lehmann. STAFF/COMMISSION COMMENT: Lehmann noted that Council has appointed Peter Nkumu to the Commission, he is the president of the Congolese Community of Iowa and will be a great addition to the Commission. Staff is interviewing consultants for the Consolidated Plan this month. Staff, Padron and the head of the Human Rights Commission had a brief discussion on the ways to revamp the Aid to Agencies process, conversations will continue in April. The next HCDC meeting will be April 18 where we will discuss projects not conforming to the unsuccessful delayed project policy which will include a report from The Arthur Street Healthy Living Center. They will also have HCDC monitoring reports and begin Aid to Agency visioning process and also a background information presentation on the Affordable Housing Model. Staff will present the Annual Action Plan and continue the Fair Housing Study review. Eastham noted he heard from an agency partner some agencies are having discussions with the City Manager on Aid to Agency funds and what those agencies feel the City should be funding. Lehmann said this will be part of the discussion at the next meeting. Lehmann stated Community Development Week is April 22-26, there will be some type of proclamation and Vaughan suggested doing some type of tour of projects that are complete, to see the impact. Lehmann noted there is a new tenant education program that the local Homeless Coordination Board is putting together, it is intended as a possible alternative to eviction for tenants. It will start April 9 in the Iowa City Public Library and be held every Tuesday through May 14 for a total of six modules. Fixmer-Oraiz had a question on monies from other sources and specifically The United Way who gives out all kinds of money to agencies. Lehmann noted the application process does go through The United Way along with Coralville, Johnson County and United Way. ADJOURNMENT: Fixmer-Oraiz moved to adjourn. Alter seconded. Passed 7-0 Housing and Community Development Commission March 14, 2019 Page 11 of 11 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record Name Terms Exp. 7/10 9/20 10111 11/15 12/20 1/17 2121 3/14 Alter, Megan 6/30/21 X X X X X X X X Brouse, Mitch 6/30/21 X X X X X X X O/E Eastham, Charlie 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X Fixmer-Oraiz, Vanessa 6/30/20 X O/E X X X O/E X X Harms, Christine 6/30/19 X X X X X X X X Lamkins, Bob 6/30/19 0/E O/E X O/E O/E . McKinstry, John 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X Padron, Maria 6/30/20 X X O/E O/E X X X X Vaughan, Paula 6/30119 X X X X X X X X Resigned from Commission Key: X = Present 0 = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused ___ = Vacant Item Number: 5.b. Awl Q- CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org May 7, 2019 Item Number: 5.c. Awl Q- CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org May 7, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Parks & Recreation Commission: March 13 IOWA CITY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES APPROVED MARCH 13, 2019 RECREATION CENTER — MEETING ROOM B Members Present: Suzanne Bender, Steve Bird, Luke Foelsch, Cara Hamann, Ben Russell, Angie Smith, Jamie Venzon, Brianna Wills, Joe Younker Members Absent: None Staff Present: Brad Barker, Zac Hall, Juli Seydell Johnson Others Present: None CALL TO ORDER Chairman Younker called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBER: Younker introduced Brianna Wills, new Commission member to the board. Wills shared that she has lived in Iowa City for eight years and has four children. Her husband is an orthopedic surgeon in Iowa City and she is the Executive Director of Old Brick. She reminded commission members of their family's donation in honor of their son Calder Wills. She further noted that being a member of the commission will help them determine where best to direct future donations. All members and staff introduced themselves to Wills as well. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): Moved by Russell, approved by Hamann, to recommend the designation of the Ned Ashton House as an Iowa City Local Historic Landmark based on the criteria for local designation. Passed 9-0. Moved by Venzon, seconded by Smith, to recommend the designation of the Old Settler's Association of Johnson County Cabins at City Park as an Iowa City Local Historic Landmark based on the criteria for local designation. Passed 8-1, Bentler voting no. OTHER FORMAL ACTION: Moved by Smith, seconded by Venzon, to approve the January 9, 2019 minutes as written. Passed 9-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None HISTORIC LOCAL LANDMARK DESIGNATION FOR THE NED ASHTON HOUSE AND THE CITY PARK CABINS — JULI SEYDELL JOHNSON Seydell Johnson directed commission members to the information included in their agenda packets regarding these two items. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION March 13, 2019 Page 2 of 6 The first item discussed was the Ned Ashton House. She explained that the Ashton House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. She further noted that this designation would require Historic Preservation Commission approval of any significant changes to the exterior of the building. Seydell Johnson said that this has been a practice of staff, even though it was not required, whenever changes have been made to the house and/or the property. Younker asked if there were any necessary repairs needed to the property that could become a concern if listed as an historic landmark. Seydell Johnson said there is nothing planned. Bentler asked if there would be any restrictions on usage of the house. Seydell Johnson said there would not be any restrictions on use. She further noted that this designation would have no effect on the landscape. She pointed out that the patio on the back of the house would have to go through a review, however, staff made efforts to make sure that it was appropriate to the building when installed. Moved by Russell, approved by Hamann, to recommend the designation of the Ned Ashton House as an Iowa City Local Historic Landmark based on the criteria for local designation. Passed 9-0. Seydell Johnson noted that the Old Settler's Association of Johnson County Cabins at City park (a.k.a. City Park Cabins) were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 2013. It is recommended to designate the City Park Cabins as an Iowa City Historic Landmark. Bentler questioned the criterion item which states that for a property to become a Local Historic Landmark, it must possess integrity of location. The larger cabin was originally built on a different site and moved to City Park. Moved by Venzon, seconded by Smith, to recommend the designation of the Old Settler's Association of Johnson County Cabins at City Park as an Iowa City Local Historic Landmark based on the criteria for local designation. Passed 8-1, Bentler voting no. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF Parks & Recreation Director — Juli Seydell Johnson: • Willow Creek Park: Seydell Johnson reported that the renovations of Willow Creek park are moving forward. She shared photos and plans of the new playground. She noted that the restroom will stay in its current location, however the shelter will now be separate from the restrooms. She shared that the playground will include a musical theme throughout. The playground will include several pod areas, a stage for play acting, two parent/child swings and other features. The larger play structure will have a poured -in-place surface underneath which increases accessibility. There will be a quiet space adjacent to the playground as well. Restrooms will be like those installed at Happy Hollow and Creekside Parks. The bids for this project are due on March 20. Construction will begin this spring with completion scheduled for September of 2019. Foelsch inquired about the musical theme. Seydell Johnson explained that it was a request from CARTHA (Collaborative Arts in Research Translation for Human Advancement) and a local rotary club, noting the promoting healing effects of music. Younker noted that he believed there to be discussion about fencing around the park. Seydell Johnson said that it was included in the original plan but that it did not fit within the budget. Bird asked that with the number of bids coming in over budget recently, if staff considered this when creating the budget for this project. Seydell Johnson said that yes, the bidding climate was considered. • City Park Adventure Play: Seydell Johnson stated that staff and contractors are still working on the design process. She reminded Commission that this playground will be built into the hillside between upper and lower City Park. After not being satisfied with the first two design concepts, staff asked for more funding to provide the fun adventurous playground that is desired. Staff and designers looked at options to include an embankment slide built into the hill, however it did not fit within the budget. Instead there will still be a tube slide on the hillside that will provide the same experience. The playground will also include a log climbing structure and a merry-go-round. Wills PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION March 13, 2019 Page 3 of 6 asked if staff had considered a spider -web play structure. Seydell Johnson said that staff did consider such a structure, however, with there being like -structures at school playgrounds, it was decided to go with something a little different. Smith asked about the rope bridges etc., that had been discussed. Seydell Johnson said these items were looked at as well but would make the project over -budget. Younker asked if these items could be added later. Seydell Johnson said it would not be likely since this structure is being adapted specifically for this location, however, it may be possible to add additional elements around the site. Younker asked about the river animal theme that was discussed at a previous meeting. Seydell Johnson said that there will be two spaces that will have stamped animal prints on colored concrete. 2020 Projects: Seydell Johnson noted that staff is already making plans for summer projects scheduled for 2020. These will include a restroom, shelter and playground at Wetherby Park. There will be neighborhood meetings held and PIN grants offered as well. Fairmeadows Park will have a preschool -sized play space installed. The smaller playground was selected as there is a playground for older children available at Grant Wood Elementary which is very near the park. A shelter and playground will also be installed at Scott Park that will be similar to the structures at Cardigan and Frauenholtz Miller Parks. Napoleon Softball Complex will also get a new playground installed. Seydell Johnson noted that Snyder & Associates are the designers for these projects. Recreation Center Updates: Staff is currently accepting proposals from non-profit groups that may be interested in using the current racquetball and game room spaces as office space post construction. Five groups attended the pre -proposal meeting. Iowa Parks &Recreation Association Spring Conference: Seydell Johnson announced that a few members of the department were nominated to receive awards at this year's conference. Those included Tammy Neumann for the Administrative Assistant Award, Joe Wagner for the Athletic Fields Maintenance Award, Kate Connell for the Young Professional Award, and Nancy Pope, a part time temporary staff member who has been very committed to the edible gardens and other programs with the Recreation Department. While none were selected for an award, she commented that all staff of the department are worth of an award. Recreation Division Superintendent — Brad Barker: • Summer Planning: Barker reported that staff is currently working on the second draft of the Summer Activity Guide, as well as the Summer Camp packet. Summer Camp registration will begin on March 29 and all other program registration will start on April 25. • Swimming Program: Barker reminded commission of the swim lesson program being offered to students from both Faith Academy and Alexander Elementary. He said that 26 kids from Faith Academy and 57 from Alexander Elementary participated. Staff will continue expanding upon this program. • City Park Pool Turns 70: Barker explained that staff is planning a summer -long celebration of the pool this summer with a couple of events for each month. • Swim Scholarship Program: The 24-hour swim event held annually to raise funds for the Swim Lesson Scholarship Program will move to City Park Pool this year. This event will be held on Sunday, September 1. • Staffing: Barker announced that Matthew Eckhardt, Aquatics Program Supervisor, will be leaving his position after working for the Recreation Department for 11 years on April 5. Staff is working on posting this job opening which will initially be open for internal City staff only. • Partnerships Barker announced that the new partnership with the Iowa Sports Foundation is going well with 27 teams signed up from Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and the corridor. Staff will work towards offering some different options that people have expressed interest in. This may include smaller group sport opportunities or drop-in sessions which are not as competitive as organized team sports. Many adults no longer have the time to commit to a season long team sport. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION March 13, 2019 Page 4 of 6 • Garden Plots: Garden Plot renewals have begun for those who leased a space in 2018. Registration will open to the public on April 1 for those plots that are still available. • Summer Camp: Staff will be doing some more heat map studies to determine what areas of Iowa City are currently served by the summer camp program and those that are not. This will help with planning continued outreach. Barker will present their findings at a future Commission meeting. Parks Division Superintendent — Zac Hall • Flood Potential: With the melting of the snow and the added rain, Hall reported that staff will keep a close eye on areas that are prone to flooding. Staff closed a section of the trail at Riverfront Crossings that runs under Highway 6 due to flooding today. Staff will keep in touch with the Corps of Engineers and continue monitoring areas for flooding. • Hickory Hill Park: Work continues at Hickory Hill Park. Engineering will be hiring a contractor clean up the creek bank, to remove logs from the creek and continue the stabilization process along the creek. Continued invasive species removal will take place at the south end between the creek and the trail. Hall announced that the trail section off First Avenue and the parking lot will be closed for renovation. He noted that the contractor is working against a tight timeline due to the bat habitat restrictions that begin on April 1. The other part of this project will include the bridge improvement at Hickory Heights Lane. This will be a major improvement to the park and will provide better access for maintenance vehicles. • Creekside Park: Hall said that the contractor will be back to work in the park soon after having to stop work in January due to the snowfall. • Gardens: Staff continues working with Backyard Abundance on designs for Chadek Green, Walden Green and Creekside gardens. Work will begin at Chadek Green Park this fall with the other locations to follow. • Signage: It was noted in the Parks Master Plan that there is a need for more signage at the entrances of parks. Hall announced that ten new signs will be installed in the parks this summer. • Staffing: Hall announced that Tyler Baird has been promoted from Horticulture Specialist to the Assistant Parks Superintendent position. Other staff promotions include Steve Erickson who has been promoted to the Horticulture Specialist position, and Nate Steel has been promoted to the Maintenance Worker I -Forestry position vacated by Erickson. CHAIRS REPORT: No report. COMMISSION TIME/SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Bender updated the Commission with a report from the Tree Advisory Committee. She noted that the committee discussed the Emerald Ash Borer issue. She reminded commission that the plan was for 400 trees to be treated. She said that some interesting ideas were discussed. One was that if a tree is considered marginally infected to not treat to save money that could instead be invested in replacement trees. Bentler asked Hall to share the Arbor Day events discussed by the committee. Hall shared that staff is working with Green Iowa AmeriCorps volunteers as well as Trees Forever and the school district to plan events for Arbor Day. He said that they will be doing a large-scale tree planting event with students from Hoover Elementary in the morning and City High students in the afternoon of Wednesday, April 24 at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. On Thursday, April 25, there will provide a presentation for students at Shimek Elementary and more Arbor Day celebration activities at Willow Wind School and Regency Heights on Friday. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION March 13, 2019 Page 5 of 6 Bentler said the committee talked about ways to encourage property owners to plant more trees. She noted that Marion has a program where they add $1 to individual's property taxes to help in the cost of additional trees for the community. The committee agreed, however, that taxation is never well received so turned their discussion to incentive ideas. One idea was to possibly offer a small discount of .50¢41 off a property owners water bill if they plant a tree. Wills asked if the City has a goal of how many trees they would like to see planted. Hall noted that there are goals noted in the Urban Forest Management Plan. Wills suggested that perhaps the City could make it a friendly competition. Younker noted that perhaps the staff present to commission and overview of what other cities are doing. Wills asked about the electric company incentives that have been offered in the past. Hall said that there has been a change at the state level and that this program is being disbanded. Bentler said she believes there is one more year to take advantage of the program. Smith noted that the process will need to be monitored so that there is a variety of trees that are planted. Bentler said that it is difficult to monitor private properties, but certainly can monitor those being planted on the right-of-way. Smith suggested that perhaps a list of preferred trees be shared with the community. Younker suggested that staff invite stakeholders (realtors, developers, etc.) to a future meeting to get their input. Bentler noted that she saw in the minutes that it was requested to return some of the trash receptacles back in City Park and wanted to express her support of this request. ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Bentler, seconded by Venzon, to adiourn the meeting at 5:59 p.m. Motion passed 9-0. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION March 13, 2019 Page 6 of 6 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NAME °�° 00 00 p" 00 00 00 °° M � 00 e4 � M M TERM EXPIRES n P c o ~ ^` Suzanne 12/31/20 O/E NM X X X X X X X X NM X Bentler Steve Bird 12/31/21 X NM X X X X X X X X NM X Wayne Fett 12/31/18 X NM X O/E X X O/E X X Lucas 12/31/22 * * * * * * * * * x NM X Foelsch Cara 12/31/19 X NM X X O/E X O/E X O/E X NM X Hamann Lucie 12/31/18 X NM X O/E O/E X X X O/E Laurian Ben Russell 12/31/21 X NM X X X X X X X X NM X Angie Smith 12/31/21 X NM X X O/E X X X X X NM X Jamie 12/31/20 X NM X X X X X O/E X X NM X Venzon Brianna 12/31/22 * * * * * * * * * O/E NM X Wills Joe Younker 12/31/19 X NM X X X X X X X X NM X NM= No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum * = Not a member now i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org May 7, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Planning & Zoning Commission: April 4 Item Number: 5.d. MINUTES APPROVED PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION APRIL 4, 2019-7:00 PM — FORMAL MEETING E M M A J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Larry Baker, Carolyn Dyer, Mike Hensch, Max Parsons, Billie Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: Phoebe Martin, Mark Signs STAFF PRESENT: Sara Hektoen, Anne Russett OTHERS PRESENT: CALL TO ORDER: Hensch called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. DISCUSSION ON THE GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY, APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, AND REZONING CRITERIA: Russett noted this discussion came up during the March 12 City Council/Planning & Zoning Commission consult meeting where the Mayor requested the Commission discuss some of the items presented at that meeting, mainly related to the Good Neighbor Policy application requirement and rezoning criteria. Russett noted this evening the Commission doesn't need to recommend any items, this is just the start of the conversation and in May the City Council will also discuss this item so any information discussed this evening will be shared with Council and Council will then make any specific recommendations to staff next month. Russett stated the Good Neighbor Meeting Policy was established in 1998 and reviewed in 2013 and at that time both staff and City Council felt Good Neighbor Meetings should be kept voluntary, and today staff recommends meetings remain voluntary as well for a variety of reasons. 1. The projects that come before the Commission and that staff review are all very different, some are large scale with large impact, some are small with small impacts. 2. Some meetings happen early in the process of the rezoning stage and don't happen at platting. 3. There are notification requirements the City sends out as well as postings on the site for notification to neighbors. Russett shared a table that showed some of the applications the Commission reviewed in the last few months and whether or not a Good Neighbor Meeting was held. The Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 2 of 8 results are varied, there were a couple of rezonings (Moss Ridge Road and Highway 1 rezoning and the 2130 Muscatine Avenue rezoning) that did not hold Good Neighbor Meetings, the vacation the Commission reviewed a few weeks ago did not hold a Good Neighbor Meeting but the larger scale projects like Forest View, Cherry Creek and the affordable housing project on the east side did hold Good Neighbor Meetings. Russett noted the Commission has expressed some concerns about the number of people who are notified of the Good Neighbor Meetings. The requirement is for notification for neighbors within 300 feet of the project area. Russett showed a map of an area to show what 300 feet looks like, the example property was 2130 Muscatine Avenue. Staff has not done a comprehensive review of what other local jurisdictions require, but based on the cities staff is aware of the 300 foot requirement is comparable, they are aware of one other jurisdiction that does use a much larger area because it is rural in nature. Russett next presented some background on rezonings and how staff looks at rezonings. Rezonings are requests to use the land differently and are not always tied to a specific project. When staff receives an application for a rezoning they review that rezoning against all of the uses that are permitted in that zone district. They look at the intensities that are permitted, the densities, and they review whether they are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan vision as well as whether or not they would be compatible with the neighborhood. She noted sometimes it is difficult to separate the rezoning of the land from the specific development project that is being proposed. Often both the Commission and the City Council want more information on the project, staff does as well, particularly for the larger projects. In terms of application requirements for rezonings, there are two types of rezonings. First is the standard rezoning which is one base zone to another base zone designation (i.e. RS -5 to RM -12 or CO -1 to CC -2). The other type is the OPD or Planned Development Overlay where there is a base zoning designation and then an actual overlay. These are often done when there are sensitive areas on the site. The application requirements for these two different types of rezonings vary. There are more details on OPD rezonings required (landscaping. elevations, concept plans) than on standard rezonings. Russett showed another table of projects the Commission has reviewed over the past few months along with the level of detail provided for those rezonings. Different levels of detail are provided depending on the project. The Lower West Branch Road and Taft Avenue and the Moss Ridge Road and Highway 1 rezonings only provided concept plans whereas the rezoning of the multifamily housing on the east side provided a concept plan, elevations and landscaping. In terms of criteria, Russett stated the criteria is different between a standard rezoning and a Planned Development Overlay rezoning. The general criteria for standard rezonings is consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and compatibility with the neighborhood. For OPD rezonings they look at those two criteria but also specific criteria related to density, design, impact to streets and utilities, etc. Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 3 of 8 It is staff's goal to have a consistent message to applicants in terms of what is required at the application stage for various application types, particularly rezonings. Staff must often times provide advice to applicants on what they should provide so the Commission can make an informed decision and that should be a consistent message. If they are asking for concept plans or landscaping plans that are not required as part of the application the applicant has the right to question why they need to provide it. It is also staff's goal to not require too much detail that the process becomes increasingly burdensome. Baker asked if the area of notification and the lack of a requirement for a Good Neighbor Meeting is the same no matter what the type of application. Russett confirmed that was correct. Baker suggested that perhaps the larger the development the wider the area of notification ought to be as well as the requirement of a Good Neighbor Meeting. He feels the impact of the project should dictate a different standard. Parsons questioned how to clarify a size of a project. Does that mean acres it covers, because in the example of the Chauncey project, it has a huge impact but yet only covers a small area. Baker suggested possibility density as a measure as well as size of acres involved. In most cases number of acres involved would create a higher density. Hektoen noted the State Code allows people who live within 200 feet of a rezoning have the authority to protest rezonings and trigger a super majority vote from Council. Baker is not sure that addresses the issue, he still sees a bigger difference in the projects on Muscatine Avenue and one the size of Forest View and how the community input and notifications for each of those projects should perhaps be different. Russett said for a project such as Forest View staff would, and has, told the applicant they should hold a Good Neighbor Meeting as it is very important for the project. Baker appreciates that, noting if they don't hold a Good Neighbor Meeting then they will hear from the neighbors at the Commission meeting. He also asked if there is any interest in having the area of notification larger for larger scale developments. Hensch noted there are a couple common things the Commission hears from the public at meetings, they say they are never notified (but they are usually outside of the circle or just ignored their mail) or they were not invited to a Good Neighbor Meeting. Hensch said he does struggle with an application that chooses to not hold a Good Neighbor Meeting, philosophically he is opposed to that because it is a good communication tool, it shows concern for the neighbors and respect to the neighbors. It does not mean the applicant has to do or change anything to appease the neighbors but maybe small things can be changed and problems avoided. He does not see a downside of requiring a Good Neighbor Meeting for a rezoning. He does not see it as necessary for a vacation or plat, but for a rezoning, when someone moves into a neighborhood they know what the neighborhood should look like, but with a rezoning it brings a choice of changes for land uses and could change a character of a neighborhood and therefore the neighbors should be involved in that decision. Part of the role of the Commission is to do what is best for the community. He feels requiring a Good Neighbor Meeting and expanding the notification area is a good thing. He understands it won't solve all the problems but there does need to be changes. Putting notification in the newspaper is not the solution, no one reads newspapers anymore, and it is time to rethink how these notifications are being presented. Perhaps they should be done via social media. Hensch did note he does not want to create more work for staff so it must be put on the responsibility of the developer. Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 4of8 Hektoen asked what Hensch would envision the consequence being if a developer doesn't hold a Good Neighbor Meeting. Hensch said the developer then could simply not proceed with the rezoning. Parsons asked if notice goes out, no one responds, then what it the purpose of holding a Good Neighbor Meeting. Hensch said that is fine, at least the option was there. Parsons asked what would constitute a Good Neighbor Meeting, could the developer hold it at their office at an inconvenient time. Hensch said there are already rules for Good Neighbor Meetings set from Neighborhood Development Services on what constitutes a meeting. Russett said the current process is the applicant would set up the meeting, staff would work with the applicant on developing the letter to the neighbors and creating the list of the people who would get the invitation. She noted staff does attend the meetings, they do not moderate them, but are there in case there are questions related to processes. Dyer also agrees that Good Neighbor Meetings should be required and also there has to be better notice for projects with bigger impacts for the community at large and especially the neighborhood. In the case of Forest View they did hold Good Neighbor Meetings and that was good but there was not good notification of the meetings. Additionally that project will affect everyone on the Peninsula not just those within 300 feet. In earlier meetings the people living in Idyllwild came to express their concern about drainage and therefore a whole lot of work was done regarding drainage as a consequence. The project affects whole neighborhoods, not just 300 or 500 feet from the edge of the project. She also agreed there has to be better ways of notifying neighbors, more visible ways. In the case of big buildings, such as the ones downtown, that concerns everyone, not just those within 300 feet. It will affect the skyline, traffic, and aesthetics for the entire city. She is not sure what the answer is regards who to decide which projects are large (area, density, dollar value, etc.). In the example of the Chauncey there were lots of people at the zoning meetings and Council meetings because those people were not in the area of which to be invited to the Good Neighbor Meetings. Russet asked Dyer about projects that are downtown and affect the skyline does that concern include Riverfront Crossings. Dyer confirmed she would include Riverfront Crossings when discussing downtown skylines. Hensch noted the issue of if the Commission receives a report from the Good Neighbor Meetings has also come up in the past. Sometimes they occur but the Commission does not get a report. He also discussed the inconsistency in requirements and the Commission decisions and that is true, sometimes the Commission is aggressive on a project developer and sometimes back off regarding elevations, concept drawings and construction material lists. He agrees there needs to be consistency and developers deserve the right to know what is required, but these items are what helps the Commission make their decisions. It helps the Commission make a correct decision for a neighborhood if they can see exactly what the developer wants to do with the rezoning. Baker noted that was one of the problems with Forest View is there are design standards and guidelines but that doesn't really show what will actually be built on that area. Hensch said there were some concepts with that application, they just didn't have any elevations. He understands some of the big projects will be phased in over time so all details may not be available but to deal in trust and hope doesn't always work out. He also knows that sometimes it does require the developer to have certain drawings created and that costs money, but if they want the development they should be willing to invest in the process. Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 5 of 8 Baker questioned however if a developer shows a drawing or elevations at the rezoning, how obligated are they to follow those. Hensch noted they are not obligated but it shows a good faith effort. Hektoen noted the drawings or elevations can be made as a condition of the rezoning, to say they must have substantial compatibility with concept plans show. Dyer noted that some of the OPDs they have reviewed over the past few years have required changes before approval and the developers have ended up being happy with the changes suggested by the Commission and ended up being better projects for the community. Sometimes it is providing more open space in a family development or changes in building materials to add distinction. She feels strongly that multifamily projects and OPDs need to have concept drawings and elevations. Hensch also said often a developer comes before the Commission, the 45 -day clock is ticking, and they don't have concept drawings or elevations it can seem like a "rubber-stamp" being pushed though. He feels in many cases the projects get so much better when there has been this input by the Commission and the public and developers come back with better solutions. Townsend noted that when there is a rezoning, there are the signs that go up, so it would be nice to have Good Neighbor Meetings so the community can find out more details and an opportunity to ask questions. Otherwise people see the signs and have to call City Staff and ask the questions, staff may or may not have the answers to. Dyer asked if the wording on the signs is legislative or could there be more information put on the signs. Hektoen doesn't feel the wordage is codified. Dyer said an attachment to the sign could post when the Good Neighbor Meeting is being held. Baker feels the consensus is a recommendation to require a Good Neighbor Meeting for all rezonings and elevations for all projects. Hensch said this is just an initial discussion meeting and they can come back to this at the next meeting after some thought. He would like the suggestions to be thoughtful, not detrimental to staff time, and helpful to citizens. Hektoen noted that requiring site plans or concept plans it is important to note that all projects are different and the stage of which they are in when they come before the Commission are different so it is important to keep in mind within the zoning context the Commission has the tool to impose conditions to address public needs that are created by the rezoning. So if there is an application that is very nebulous or will be a 15 year build -out and the Commission can articulate the public need, they can impose a design review as a condition of the rezoning to come back before the Commission with a concept plan. Baker asked if that could have been imposed on the Forest View project. Hektoen said the condition of a design review was imposed. Dyer said that would be a staff review though, not Commission. Russett said for the project at 12 East Court Street, they did add the condition of a design review by the Commission. The project is in Riverfront Crossings, Pentacrest Gardens apartments. Baker asked if the Council could also impose such a condition and Hektoen said they can. Russett will have this discussion topic on the next meeting agenda as well for continued discussion. Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 6 of 8 Parsons stated his reservations of making Good Neighbor Meetings required, he doesn't feel they are necessary for all rezonings. He feels the trust is in staff, they know the rules and see all the applications and they know what the Commission wants and what the public would or would not want in their neighborhoods. He feels requiring such meetings for small projects would be a burden on staff. Townsend agrees with Parsons but does feel there should be a way,people in the neighborhood could find out more information, such as having a link posted on the site, etc. Parsons asked when the notices of rezonings go out to the public. Russett said it must be a minimum of seven days but they try to have them out at least two weeks prior. Dyer noted if the neighbors are to have an impact, they need to be part of the process long before the rezoning meeting. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: MARCH 21, 2019 Dyer moved to approve the meeting minutes of March 21, 2019. Townsend seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. PLANNING AND ZONING INFORMATION: Russett gave an update from the Council meeting on Tuesday where the Council discussed a few things pertinent to the Commission. First, staff presented Council with a residential infill analysis and she will send out the PowerPoint presentation to the Commission. Staff has been directed by Council to work with the consulting firm, Opticos Design, to think about ways to address out of scale or oversized infill residential. Also the City has executed a contract with Opticos to work on a Form -Based Code for the South District. Council has asked staff to explore an amendment to the contract to include a visioning session for the North Side Marketplace as well as a parking study for the North Side Marketplace. That area is Linn Street east to Gilbert Street and Market Street to Bloomington. In terms of recent applications sent to Council. 2130 Muscatine Avenue rezoning was adopted as well as Rollins Pass preliminary plat. Council had the Forest View public hearing on Tuesday and was continued to the April 23 meeting, staff has received some protest petition so are running the numbers to see if a super majority vote is needed. Hektoen mentioned there will be two people coming from Minneapolis to discuss the Race, Place and Land Use Minneapolis 2040 Plan. They have eliminated single-family zoning and will be speaking about that at the Iowa Memorial Union on April 25 at 7:30pm. Baker asked when Council would vote on Forest View. Parsons said that is not known for sure. Baker asked if there was time as a Commission to have discussion at the next meeting on whether they wanted to recommend to Council to impose a condition of their vote to have elevations and design review to come back before Council for approval. Russett said the Commission has already made their recommendation to Council on that application. Hektoen noted that Planning & Zoning's review of the application has passed, the recommendation has Planning and Zoning Commission April 4, 2019 Page 7 of 8 been made. Hensch said they can reach out to the Councilors as citizens. Baker noted that the Forest View project is such a long-term project with three distinct components and he wondered if a developer could do one of the components and not do the others. Russett said there are times where things are platted as outlots or zoned ID (interim development) but once you have the zoning designation and it's platted that is what is done. There could be a scenario where nothing gets built. Baker is concerned about the commercial area being developed but the residential is deferred, delayed or whatever. Russett agreed that could happen. Hektoen noted they should not be discussing the Forest View project as it was not on the agenda, but it was noted in the recommendation they must provide the replacement housing in the first phase of the project. Baker will not be at the May 16 meeting. Adjournment: Dyer moved to adjourn. Parsons seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused - = Not a Member 5/17 6/7 6/21 7/5 8/16 9/6 9/20 10/18 12/20 1/3 1/17 (W.S.) 2/4 2121 3/7 3/21 4/4 BAKER, LARRY -- -- -- -- -- -- X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X DYER, CAROLYN X X O/E X O O/E O X X X O/E X X X X X FREERKS, ANN X X X -- -- HENSCH, MIKE X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X MARTIN, PHOEBE X X X X X X X X X O/E X O/E X X X O/E PARSONS, MAX X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X SIGNS, MARK X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E THEOBALD, JODIE X X O/E -- -- TOWNSEND, BILLIE -- -- -- -- -- -- X X X X X O/E X X X X O/E X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused - = Not a Member i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org May 7, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Senior Center Commission: February 21 Item Number: 5.e. Approved Minutes February 21, 2019 MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION FEBRUARY 21, 2019 ROOM 205, IOWA CITY/JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR CENTER Members Present: Lorraine Dorfman, Zach Goldsmith, Kenn Bowan, Cheryll Clamon, Hiram Webber Members Absent: Scott Finlayson Staff Present: Michelle Buhman, LaTasha DeLoach Others Present: Angela McConville, Jori Romano Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:18 Recommendations to council: Approval of minutes from the January 24, 2019 meeting with amendments. Motion carried on a vote of 4-0. Clamon/Dorfman Public Discussion None Commission Assignments Bowen will attend the next Board of Supervisors meeting. Operational Overview Senior Center Update Policies Motion: To approve Administrative Record Retention Policy. Motion carried on a vote of 4-0. Goldsmith/Dorfman Motion: To table the art exhibit policy. Motion carried on a vote of 4-0. Clamon/Goldsmith Motion: To approve Evaluation of Programs and Services and In -House Agency Services policy. Motion carried on a vote of 4-0. Clamon/Dorfman Discussion: Goldsmith questioned evaluation of every five years. De Loach commented the five years evaluation has been previously established based on the National Accreditation process. Webber arrived at the meeting at 4:44 PM Motion: To approve the Marketing policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Goldsmith/Dorfman Motion: To approve Operational Databases policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Weber/Goldsmith Approved Minutes February 21, 2019 Motion: To approve Senior Center Quilters policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Dorfman/Clamon Motion: To approve Winter Weather closing policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Dorfman/Clamon Motion: To approve Works -Study Employees policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Goldsmith/Weber Pantry Update De Loach announced that the pantry is up and running. A new logo has been created and a student intern is working on developing a toolkit to manage the pantry. A plan is being developed to secure food during the slower donation seasons. The pantry has been a valuable service for those who rely on the congregate meal program which has cancelled several times in the past few weeks due to severe weather. A student intern is keeping a record of how much food is donated. A grand opening is the works for around the second week of March. DeLoach encouraged commissioners to attend the grand opening. Recycling bags for to use take products home will be made available in time for the grand opening. In addition, a new condom dispenser has been installed in the location near the pantry. Potential Open House/Programming De Loach reported that staff is working on a possible Open House during the month of May. DeLoach will update the commission as program details are confirmed. Bowen commented that the center needs to develop a stronger marketing program. De Loach agreed and highlighted the efforts of the new staff has been stepping up the social media and signage around the building. Staff Training Information De Loach updated the commission how the staff is being trained in different areas: • Jessi Simon, Development Specialist, recently completed the Grant Writing workshop. • Michelle Buhman, Program Specialist, will be attending the American Society on Aging conference in April. • Emily Edrington, Community Outreach Specialist, will be attending the Global International Conference in June. The focus of this conference is to help identify ways to increase was to create intergenerational programs. Commission Discussion De Loach announced the commission will vote to appointment the non -Iowa City Commission seat at the March meeting. Dorfman noted that the term of her appointment is incorrect in the minutes and needs to be corrected. Meeting Reports Approved Minutes February 21, 2019 None. Program Committee Report Bowen and Dorfman reported that the program committee is working on the summer session. A guest was present looking for feedback on a potential program. Parking Clamon commented that parking continues to be a problem for people who want to attend senior center program because the Tower Ramp is regularly full. Senior Center members who hold a parking permit are allowed access into the ramp in the permit only lane. Clamon noted that signage for the permit only lane and the full sign in the parking ramp is not visible from the street and tends to cause additional problems. She also commented that ice has been a problem in the ramp, particularly on the top floor. The icy conditions present a danger for seniors. De Loach reported that she spoke to the director of the Parking department regarding signage. Clamon reported people have expressed to her that they are unhappy with parking and have vowed not to return to the Center or downtown Iowa City because of the parking. Motion: To approve the Parking policy. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Clamon/Webber Future agenda items Parking. Motion: to adjourn. Motion carried on a vote of 5-0. Clamon/Webber Approved Minutes February 21, 2019 Senior Center Commission Attendance Record Name Term Expires 3/15/18 4/19/18 5/17/18 6/21/18 7/19/18 8/16/18 9/20/18 10/18/18 11/15/18 12/13/18 1/24/19 2/21/19 Kenn Bowen 12/31/19 N/M X X X X X NM X X NM X X Cheryll Clamon 12/31/20 N/M X X 0/E X X NM X X NM X X Lorraine Dorfman 12/31/21 N/M X X X X O/E NM X X NM X X Robert (Scott) Finlayson 12/31/20 X X 0/E X X NM X O/E NM X O/E Zach Goldsmith 12/31/21 X X NM X X Kathy Mitchell 12/31/19 N/M X X X Margaret Reese 12/31/18 N/M X X X X X NM X X NM Hiram (Rick) Webber 12/31/19 N/M X X X X X NM X X NM X X Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM= No meeting -- = Not a member