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2. Student Leadership Awards - Hoover Elementary
Teague: And I'm gonna call you all up here! And I'm gonna stand in the middle of you
two. So we have two outstanding student.... student leaders in our community and
so happy that you're here with us today and I know that you all both have some
prepared, uh.... thoughts that you wanna share with us. So, how bout we start
with you, Calvin?
O'Brien: Hello, I'm Calvin O'Brien from Hoover Elementary. I'm here to talk about my
personal volunteer experiences. I've done a few food and clothing drives. I did it
for the people who need it most. I've helped out my parent's cookie store,
Cookies and More, by setting out trays and putting sheets on them. I also put
toppings on cookies. I have helped out....I've also helped out at school. I helped
a younger class get notified about our school by being in student council. This
year I helped a student translate from Spanish to English because he couldn't
himself. Thank you for listening! (applause)
Teague: And, Calvin, do you have some people here with you today?
O'Brien: Yep! (laughter)
Teague: Let's wave! Where are you all? (laughter) Thanks for comin' and supporting
Calvin in his, uh, journey in Iowa City, so ... thank you! And then we have Tali
also, who is a student leader and receiving this award today and you have a few
words you warm say.
Clements: Hi, my name is Tali Clements. I am in sixth grade at Hoover Elementary. I
volunteer to my neighborhood by picking up trash. I've also volunteered by
doing kindergarten roundup. Throughout my elementary years, I've done student
council, recycling, and I'm currently doing safety patrol. I'm so honored to be
receiving the Outstanding Leadership Award. Thank you. (applause)
Teague: Thank you so much, and you also have family here with you today, and some
friends as well. Wave! There they are! Thanks to all of you comin' to support
them. So there are two Student Leadership Awards, and both of your names can
be inserted in here, which I'll.....they're very identical but it's ... the difference is
the names. (reads Student Leadership Award) Thanks to both of you for all that
you do in this community! Thanks! (applause)
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regular formal meeting of February 18, 2020.
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3. State of the City
Teague: And .... um, it is my duty and privilege tonight to address Iowa .... the Iowa City
Council, the Iowa City Community, on the state of the City. I would like to start
by thankin' the people in Iowa City. We have a lot to celebrate. Tonight I'm
proud to share highlights of what we've done as a community and some lofty
goals we are working towards achieving in the year ahead. I wanna take a
moment to recognize all past Council Members, especially recently retired Mayor
Jim Throgmorton and Council Member Rockne Cole. (reads statement)
(applause)
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4.-9. Beginning of Consent Calendar— Consider adoption of the Consent
Calendar as presented or amended
Teague: Um, could I get a motion to approve consent calendar with the removal of 91.
and 9.i.?
Taylor: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Teague: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Salih. Discussion? Roll call please. All right,
um, movin' on to Items 9.h. and 91
9.h. Establishment of "No Parking Any Time" parking prohibition on
Elmridge Avenue --Establishment of "No Parking Any Time" parking
prohibition on the west side of Elmridge Avenue between Court Street and
Crestview Avenue.
91. Establishment of "No Parking Any Time" parking prohibition on Raven
Street --Establishment of "No Parking Any Time" parking prohibition on the
south / southeast side of Raven Street between Kenwood Drive and Court
Street
Thomas: Yeah, I had asked those to be .... to be broken out because I wanted to get a better
understanding of, um .... these particular items, which had to do with establishing,
uh, no parking on Elmridge and, uh, Raven Street, and so I was .... (talking in
background) hoping to, uh, to hear from staff how... what.... what the process was
in terms of arriving at that.... conclusion.
Hightshoe: Hi, Tracy Hightshoe with Neighborhood and Development Services. We had
talked about this at the last time we had a, uh, same type of incident happen and
about the process that we go through. Since then, we get a complaint from, or a
concern from Streets, Garbage, Fire, whatever it is that on a 25 -inch ... foot street,
they went out there. If you have two cars parked, um, parallel to each other, we
can't get our.... whatever equipment that we're tryin', whether it's a snow plow or
whatever, we can't get through. Um, we have our MPO staff go out there and
verify it. They come back, they send out a letter to all the residents on that street,
telling them what the proposed action's gonna be, when the Council meets, and
they can contact staff with any questions. When we get those emails, we ask
the ... the resident if we can forward those on to the Council, um, I believe all of
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them said yes, so those are the correspondence you received in your packet, and
then .... we put it on the consent calendar and then you consider the .... the action.
Thomas: So there wasn't .... ac .... an actual meeting in the ... in the....
Hightshoe: It was a letter, not a meeting (both talking)
Thomas: ....letter and not a meeting. In looking at some of the correspondence, I mean
there were a few people I think in ... in both cases who expressed concern as to
whether this is .... really what.... what we should do, and ... and at least open up the
opportunity to have a conversation. Both of these streets are relatively short
segments, as I recall.
Hightshoe: I believe so.
Thomas: Um, so it seemed like it....it does kind of lend itself to sort of a neighborhood
scale engagement, where .... where staff would meet with the community and
discuss what some of the options might be, and I know I've raised in the past
when this issue has come up the notion that since the issue is when cars park
directly opposite one another, uh, the .... the residents were saying could we not
post that, stating avoid having that condition occur. That would be one option.
The other option that I had suggested, and .... and had hoped would be offered to
the residents as an option would be alternating parking from one side to the other,
creating what sometimes is referred to as a checkerboard pattern. Um, so you
avoid ... having cars parked opposed to one another, because in part one of the
issues is .... and.....and this was referenced on Raven, once .... once you....limit
parking to one side of the street only, it can, depending on the circumstances on
that street, uh, induce higher speeds, and that was .... that was mentioned because
for Raven because the, um, some speed humps were put in on Friendship, which
seems to have perhaps moved traffic onto Raven and created some cut -through
driving conditions there. So ... so the benefit of having cars on both sides of the
street is that it does narrow the perceived.... perceived width of the street and can
discourage speeding. But that ... that just...that's just an option, is the ... is the way I
viewed it. .... sol ....I don't know how other Councilors feel, but I ... I
personally would be interested in having that opportunity for the neighbors to
have that conversation with staff and among themselves as to how to move
forward.
Fruin: I think the key difference on the neighborhood engagement scale is whether it's
initiated by the neighborhood or initiated by staff. In this case you have the
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pictures from our plow driver, who couldn't get up and down the street.
Therefore, we move a little bit quicker. Uh, we also don't have enforcement staff
that ... that work on the, you know, they have their hands full with just kind of the
inner neighborhoods of downtown. So any .... any type of regulation that needs
constant monitoring and enforcement, um, becomes a concern because we really
don't have the service level to .... to back that up. So .... going to one side of the
street or the other is pretty straightforward. Doesn't, you know, it's pretty
intuitive for ...for those parking on there, and in these particular locations, uh, I
don't think the capacity of parking on the street is .... is, um, is a challenge. In
other words there's not that many people parkin' on the street to where people are
gonna be displaced onto other side streets. So ... for us it's fair ...it's a fairly
straightforward, uh, process, um, understanding some of the neighbors aren't
happy, urn .... uh, we can go back and engage the neighborhood, but .... you know,
every time this type of thing comes up, if we do a two or three-month long
engagement, it just.....you know, it's a .... it's a .... workload issue for staff.
Everything gets bumped back a little bit. So when they tend to be pretty
straightforward — we can't get a plow down the street — we take the path of least
resistance and move that parking to one side.
Dilkes: Before we move much farther, let's get a motion to accept Items 9.h. and 91 on
the floor.
Teague: Could I get a motion to accept 9.h. and 9.i., please?
Salih: Move.
Mims: Second.
Teague: Moved by Salih, seconded by Mims. All ... all in favor? (several talking) Oh, just
to get .... all right, and we're still in discussion. All right. Got it! So .... did
anyone else wanna make a comment on (several talking)
Thomas: ...wanted to clarify that, you know, that with .... with either.... either approach, uh,
the one I would .... the one I'd been advocating for, uh, the checkerboard pattern,
would be signed. So it would be clear where parking would be permitted. Just...
in the same manner that a parking only on one side of the street would be signed.
So it...it would be pretty clear to the residents as to what the limits of the...
checkerboard pattern would be and ... it's just that it would have signage on both
sides of the street.
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Mims: Yeah, as I recall our discussions on that from the last time, my sense is that the
Council was comfortable with what staff was doing in that the checkerboard
pattern, you .... you create this weaving in and out, which is difficult for the larger
City vehicles. Um, I think to me it leaves you with even a bigger mess when it
comes to plowing than if you're at least hitting one whole side of the street done.
Um, so I'm comfortable moving forward with what staff has recommended.
Hightshoe: I did just wanna add that Emily did get back to one of the tenants basically, saying
we do not offer odd -even calendar parking outside of the downtown area, and
only prohibit parking.....and prohibiting parking on one day of the week does not
ensure vehicles will not park on street when snow plows or trucks or emergency
vehicles need access to that street. So we don't offer the odd -even outside of the
downtown area.
Teague: Any other discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 6-1.
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11. Planning and Zoning Matters
ll.a. Zoning code text amendment related to animal related commercial uses
— Ordinance to amend Title 14, Zoning, related to animal -related commercial
uses. (REZ19-14)
1. Public Hearing
Teague: Hello!
Sitzman: Good evening! (mumbled) Evening, Mayor, Council, Danielle Sitzman, NDS
(mumbled) This is a text change to our zoning code amen ... zoning code, as
mentioned. It's based on an application submitted by Phil O'Brien requesting an
amendment to the zoning code to allow animal -related commercial uses in our
Commercial Highway (CH -1) zone to allow for the development of the
community-based indoor dog park and recreation center on North Dodge Street,
just north of I-80. Um, the proposed community-based indoor dog park at this
point is conceptually, uh, planned to include approximately 2,200 -square feet of
full ... in size, including a full-service restaurant, retail space, pet-fren... friendly co -
lab office spaces, rentable meeting spaces, and elevated on -leash walking track,
over 15,000 -square feet of agility and modular space for off -leash activities or
custom events, and a dog -friendly diving pool area. Be mostly indoors with some
contained outdoor space and walking trails, and the applicant matain .... maintains
the facility would have minimal impact to any neighborhood businesses in the
way of sound or outdoor activities, and the deve... and the applicant envisio....
envisions its uses having a regional draw in its customer base. Shown here, uh,
outlined in yellow the location, uh, this is showing, again, the location (mumbled)
context of the current zoning. Uh, the subject zoning, as I said, is CH -1, Highway
Commercial. Aside from the recreational center component, the proposed uses as
described above were previously, uh, would be allowed by right in this zone.
Staff feels that the subject property is appropili .... therefore appropriately zoned as
CH -1, Highway Commercial, and fits the direction of the comprehensive plan. In
addition, due to the subject property's distance from residential zones and
adjacency to our more intense land uses, staff supports changing the zoning code
text to allow this additional use in this district. As far as our current regulations
go and how this code change would work and what is being proposed tonight,
there are several steps. First it would be to look at the, uh, changing the
definitions section to add animal daycare and indoor animal recreation, um, as
definitions and including them in the general sub -group of the animal -related
commercial uses. Um, there's also a definition needed for private outdoor animal
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recreation as well. The second step would then be applying those definitions to a
zoning district and assigning them to the CH -1 zoning district. This is the
overview of where the general animal -related, uh, commercial uses are allowed in
a variety of our commercial zones. You can see CH -1 is blank. The process
would be then to add those definitions in to CH -1, so that they would be allowable
uses in that district. Um, there would be a lot provisionally, meaning by right but
with additional requirements or criteria, that provisions would have to be made to
accommodate that particular use. Um, as far as the outdoor animal component
would be, uh.... code change would require allowing that by a separate process, a
more stringent process going before the Board of Adjustment as a, um, special
exception noted here in this table with an S. Um, there would be additional
criteria on top of those provisional criteria, um, intended to regulate the impacts
of having an outdoor private animal recreation area. Um, staff proposed seven of
these additional criteria and the Planning Commission did support those. And that
would be the fourth and final step for implementing this, uh, code change for this
particular use. When reviewing code changes, staff use .... uses several basic
criteria, uh, common to all rezoning, uh, processes, including consistency with the
comprehensive plan and compatibility with the neighborhood. In this case, we
did evaluate this particular use and found it to be both in keeping with the vision
of the comprehensive plan and generally compatible with the existing commercial
neighborhood. Um, trying to then kind of go a little bit beyond our normal review
criteria, staff did also look and analyze where else this impact would have an
effect if it were to change for all CH -1 zones, shown in this map in the kind of
lime green, is where all our properties that are currently zoned CH -1 throughout
the entire city are located. It's a very small, uh, use of this zoning district and it
would be very narrow application of this code change across the city. And then
finally staff did also look at what other cities are doing and how they regulate
these uses, reviewed some of the peer cities zoning ordinances and found that,
um, our .... based our recommendations for those criteria on, uh, what we found
there and what we thought to be reasonable, um, and our.... um.....proposed
separation distances for example are a little bit more strict perhaps than some of
our peer cities. So as far as process goes, this comes before you for an ordinance
consideration and then would be made, uh, part of our city code. Uh, based on
review of the relevant criteria and potential impacts, staff drafted and
recommended approval of the proposed zoning code text changes and at their
January 16'h meeting, by a vote of 7-0, the Planning and Zoning Commission did
vote to recommend approval of this code change. And that concludes my staff
report. Happy to answer questions!
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Teague: I'm gonna open up the public hearing before we have, uh, Council questions.
Openin' public hearing. (bangs gavel) And are there any questions for Danielle?
By staff? By Council? All right. Is there anyone from the public that would like
to address this topic? Seein' there is none..... for Councilors?
Taylor: I'm very much in favor and excited about this project. I think it's a very unique
and great use of that area, that's been kind of neglected for a while. Uh, it's pretty
well known that I'm a cat person, uh, so I've been really amazed at the number of
dogs that there really are, uh, in this community, but I do have a very wonderful
grandpuppy, uh, a very large German Shepherd and I know that he would just
absolutely love a facility like this, and I think my daughter and her husband and
the grandkids would .... would love taking him to something like this. So I'm....
I'm in favor of this.
Teague: Great!
Thomas: Yeah, it seems like a....you know, the zoning here is being triggered by an actual
request, which is kind of an interesting, um, concept in a spot which I think has
been difficult to find appropriate use for. So, um .... seems like a .... a very good
idea.
Weiner: I lived places in the world where ... where dogs are allowed in restaurants and in
other places, so it's actually a .... a refreshing concept to find a venue where that
could be possible here.
Teague: I wanted to ask the Council if they're inclined to support P&Z recommendations?
(several respond) All right! I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Could I get a, uh, motion to ... uh, give first consideration?
2. Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Mims: So moved.
Weiner: Second.
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Weiner. Council discussion?
Mims: I would just add I think this is a great use. I think it's great change to the code,
and I .... I think this will be very successful, because, um, as Pauline indicated,
there are a lot of dog lovers in this community and .... and around, and I think the
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training facility, I've got neighbors who train their dogs for competition. They
travel out of town to do that sort of stuff. So I think it'll be real positive.
Teague: Roll call please.
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ll.b. Fringe Area Rezoning - North of Iowa City Along the West Side of
Highway I NE — Letter to the Johnson County Planning and Zoning
Commission in support of a rezoning from County Agricultural (A) to
County Residential (R) for 115 acres of land located in unincorporated
Johnson County, north of Iowa City along the west side of Highway 1 NE in
Fringe Area "A" of the North Corridor. County, north of Iowa City along the
west side of Highway 1 NE in Fringe Area A of the North Corridor.
Teague: Could 1 get a motion to approve .... the letter?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. And hello!
Sitzman: Hello, Mayor! This is an application submitted by Debra Mulford for a rezoning
of approximately 115 acres, from County Agrie .... Agricultural (A) to County
Residential (R). Uh, the subject area is currently being used for farming and there
are no residences or buildings on the land at present. Shown here outlined in the
white. This is again the property in the context of its current zoning (A) Agricul
..... Agricultural in green and the County in (R) Residential in yellow. A little
refresher from our recent work session. Um, land use regulation is under the
authority of the County for land outside of city limits, not in an incorporated city.
However, State law allows cities to establish a two-mile extraterritorial area
known as a fringe area, beyond our city boundaries, for the purposes of reviewing
and approving subdivisions. State law also grants cities the authority to require
that subdivisions in those areas adhere to the city's subdivision regulations, unless
the city establishes an alternative standard set forth in an agreement between the
city and the county. Um, the City and the County do have a fringe area agreement
at this time and we would review applications under that. Um, with the current
agreement, cate .... category....categ.....categorizes land in the fringe areas, ffinge
areas A, B, and C, and these areas are then fin-ther subdivided into two categories,
either within or without the city's growth boundary, and the growth boundary is
what we talked about just recently at that work session. Urn, and it is intended to
define the City's corporate limer .. limit as it grows, is most likely to grow in the
near future, um, in near future terms in planning we're talking 20 to 40 years,
so... Um, this, uh, subject property is within the city fringe area, it's within that
two miles of our corporate boundary and subject to the fringe area agreement, and
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it is outside of our city growth area. Um, as I said, fringe area is a component of
our comprehensive plan and we would use it as re .... review applications like this
one. Um.....as far as the review criteria, our concern, uh, for a rezoning we
would look again at our comprehensive plan and fringe area and compatibility
with the existing neighborhood. Um, the future land use map and the County's
comprehensive plan, uh, does designate this as appropriate for the rezoning to
Residential. Um, according to Johnson County's plan, um, primarily single-
family detached uses, with a preferred density of one unit per acre or denser. Uh,
as far as compliance with the fringe area agreement, um, it is, um, in compliance
with the fringe area agreement. Uh, our fringe area agreement has some specific,
uh, vision concepts, or expressed (mumbled) particular to this, uh, A boundary,
uh, including that 50% of the property be designated as open space as it develops
and that's unique fringe area A north quarter, outside the growth area. The
applicant has, uh, submitted a rezoning, a boundary and overlaid it with the
potential, uh, future subdivision, which they're not proposing at this time, but they
were required to submit a concept for showing how they could accomplish that
50% open space. And they have been able to show that in the design of their
subdivision, or potential future subdivision. Most of that open space is area that
consists of stream corridors, woodlands, and flood plains. As far as steps in this
process, we're at the step highlighted in blue here, including your
recommendation, uh, via the letter to the County. It would then go through the
County's, um, planning and .... and zoning process, and before, um, their boards.
Uh, if it were to develop, they'd have to come back the plat, which would come
back to you in the future. Uh, so based on a review of the relevant criteria, staff
recommended approval of the proposed rezoning. We did forward some
comments to the County regarding some, um, future things to think about as that
subdivision would be drawn up, some connectivity that we would encourage, if,
uh.... if and when the subdivision comes forward. At its February 6"i meeting by a
vote of 6-0, um, the Planning and Zoning Commission also recommended
approval of this rezoning to you. And just a final note that although this land is
now outside the City's gro.... growth boundary, uh, part of the discussions we had
a couple weeks ago, uh, talking about an update of that fringe area agreement,
would consider this area to be included in the future in the City's growth... growth
boundary potentially, to guide the transition, um, from the planned Commercial
Office and Research Park, uh, uses within the city, uh, outward towards the limits
and into the county. So just of note. Currently does meet the fringe area
agreement. And that concludes staff report.
Teague: Great! Any questions? All right! Thank you! Is there anyone from the public
that would like to address this topic? Council discussion?
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Mims: I'm supportive of this. I think the .... the, uh, tentative plat is interesting cause I'm
very familiar with this area, I live out in that direction on the north side of town,
and urn.... definitely have some natural features that they need to deal with in
terms of stream corridors, etc., which looks like they've, um, been able to do that.
It certainly is, you know, very close to city limits. Um .... lot of people that like to
live out in the county, um, as we said this might end up being in the city some
day, um, but I think it's a good, uh, a very good use of that area.
Dilkes: Mayor, we'll just need a voice vote on this one.
Teague: All right, thank you! All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 7-0.
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Teague:
Mims:
Salih:
Teague:
Decker:
Teague:
Decker:
ll.c. 12 E. Court Street - Level H Design Review Height Bonus Request --
Resolution approving height bonuses for 12 E. Court Street in the Riverfront
Crossings — South Downtown Zone. (DRC19-04)
Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
So moved.
Second.
Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. And, um, we know that, uh, Councilors, this
has been before us a little bit. Uh, we did a deferment, um, on the vote the last
meeting, and so .... I know that we do have a presentation that will come from the
developers, um, but as we're just thinkin' about how we want to proceed with this
item tonight, um, I do just wanna make mention that we do have before us, um,
through conversations, through, um, that I've had with each of you. There were a
few conditions that, urn .... I asked staff to prepare just in case we wanted to
consider some amendments to the resolution, and so, um, my thought process on
this is that we kind of ...move forward with .... the item at hand, which is really
the, um, the consideration for, um, the height bonus, and then, um, and some of
the conversations of some of the conditions I'm sure will naturally come out, uh,
within individual comments. Um, but I will say is that whether, um, this is
approved or not tonight, I think the conditions of whatever happens in this is still
relevant, uh, for us to consider the conditions within the amendment to the
resolutions, and so ... we'll .... maybe start with, um, the developer comments, and
uh, presentation at this time, and then we will move, um, into public discussion,
and then Council discussion. Welcome!
Welcome. Thanks. Good evening.
Good evening!
(mumbled) I'm gonna talk real quick and then I'll be back. Nathan's gonna do
most of our stuff to start, but um, we don't have a ... formal presentation tonight,
more some clarification slides, um, and uh.... then we'll be here for questions.
Um, Nathan's items are .... first let me find `em here. Um, so we'll go through real
quick, um, continuin' the discussion from last time, um, Nathan'll lead off. We
kinda each have, um, three areas we're gonna go through. Uh, Nathan has some
information on, uh, balconies for you; site line exhibits; and adaptability of the
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building, and then I'll get up here and I have some quick numbers on taxes, um,
we'll go through the Capitol Street stuff briefly, and then I can talk about
sustainability and climate. So....
Teague: Okay!
Griffith: Hello!
Teague: Hello!
Griffith: Uh, I am Nathan Griffith, Neumann Monson Architects, uh, project architect for
this project. (mumbled) Okay, so (clears throat) you had some questions about
the number of balconies on this, uh, project. So, in the east building there's 166
units that have balconies, and that is all three bedrooms, uh.... roughly half the
two bedroom units, and overall that's 39% of the units of the building. And then
the west building is 176 units, there's more units in the west building, and that's
roughly 36% of the total number of units in the building. So with that, I'd like to
move on to the view shed questions about the skywalk, and here's a .... a slide that
shows, uh, we have a few slides that we put together here. On the left is a kind of
Google Earth view of the area that we're talking about. Center of the image
labeled `Old Capitol' there and then at the bottom of the image is, uh, the 12 E.
Court site. We're roughly, the center of the site is roughly 1,500 feet from the
center of the Capitol. If we were to kind of go north 1,500 feet, we marked the
point A, uh, and then we went on site and took a couple images. The top right
image, uh, from Google Earth is from point A looking south towards the Capitol.
Uh, this is North Capitol Street, and so directly in front of you would be T. Anne
Cleary Walkway. Uh, the image on the .... on the bottom right there is, uh, actually
from the jail looking north, uh, what would be through kind of the 12 E. Court site
to, uh, the Old Capitol. So as you can see both of those images at present day
there is no view to the Capitol .... from the north side or the south side. Uh, we
wanted to put, uh, next there on the bottom right a rendering that shows how we'll
open the street up and actually create a view, uh, to the Old Capitol. Um .... upper
left .... I believe you've seen the image on the bottom right. On the upper left is,
uh, a picture taken today, from roughly the same spot, kind of again marking what
we have today. And so here's a slide that's kinda doing a lot of different things.
Let me walk you through, uh, on the bottom is a site plan that we've put together.
Uh, on this image, the Old Capitol's on the right side. So bottom image, very
right side is labeled Old Capitol in very small letters. Uh, in the center is, uh, the
outline of 12 E. Court, with the skywalk labeled, and then on the left side is a
point that, uh, we've determined is, uh, the actual point where if you were to stand
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and back up south, keep looking north, at a certain point that skywalk will kind of
intersect the dome of the Old Capitol (noises in background) and so we wanted to
identify that point for you, and then as you continue to head south, the skywalk
would get lower and lower. So we attempted to diagram that out above, directly
above that plan that I just walked you through is called `section through Capitol
Street,' and this is a section drawing. On the very left side is where a human
might stand, to start to get that overlap in the center of the image. It's very faint
from where I'm looking at here, is the skywalk, and then the very right side is the
Old Capitol, and you can see the view column from the person on the left, all the
way to the Old Capitol, uh, and what we did is we blew up those certain points
above that. So top left, you know, that view cone is coming right to somebody's
vision, uh, five foot, six, you know, if you're standing there looking at the Old
Capitol, and you were to hold your fingers out, the Old Capitol's probably about
an inch and an eighth tall. So at the point, the.. that the skywalk starts to overlap
the dome, uh, how much does an inch and an eighth matter in your entire view
shed? (clears throat) And then thirdly I was, uh, wanted to address the
adaptability. There were several questions of the adaptability of the project. Uh,
so .... we are a, uh, kind of sloth and column construction, and what that means is
the building is held up by the floor slab and the columns. So all of the interior
walls can be removed or demolished in the future. Uh, we can make an efficiency
unit, a three-bedroom unit. Uh, this is the same construction type that we've used
on Plaza Towers, on Park at 201, and we've done those same types of
modifications. So, it's a very flexible, uh, construction type. Uh, also with the
construction type, it's, uh.... non-combustible, right? It's all sort of concrete. So,
uh.... as.....as compared to wood, it's again very flexible. In a wood building
you'd get wood load-bearing walls you could not remove. In this building, uh, we
can remove all the walls in the inside and make one large unit if we'd like. Uh,
we believe also in the adaptability, you know, most critically the balconies play a
huge role in how this project is adaptable, right? Uh, they meet market standards
of a unit like this not rented to a student population. If you look around all the
other projects like this that are built have balconies. If we build this project
without balconies, it's no longer viable, right? So ... the balconies, we believe, play
a critical role in the success of the project, and the adaptability. And then lastly
the skywalk, um, plays another large role. If you're renting the unit and you're
paying quite a lot of money on the top floor, you want to be able to access the
amenities in the .... the, uh, east build .... or excuse me, the west building from the
east building, uh, without going outside! And that's, you know, that's.... that's
critical to the function of the building so....
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Mims: Nathan, before you leave, can I ask you just a quick clarification? Um, on the
balconies, did I understand you correctly that there was 166 units in the east
building that will have balconies. That will be all of the three-bedroom units and
approximately half of the two-bedroom units?
Griffith: That's correct. Yep.
Mims: And the same thing for the west (both talking) total of 176? Okay. Thank you!
Griffith: I'll stick around for questions too. Thank you.
Decker: I realized I forgot to say my name last time. Rob Decker. Um, I'm with Axiom
Consultants. I'm the project manager for this project. Um .... one of the other
things, I don't have it in here but I was thinking of when Nathan was talking is
one other feature of adaptability that we feel important is the amenities. Um, I
don't have a slide for this cause I'm just coming up with it while sitting there, but
it's something that's important to the building. The amenities are important to the
building as it is, uh, as it's sort of visualized now, but it's important to the
building, to the life span of the building too, especially if different populations
come in, if student population declines, what have you, whatever this building
becomes, if it lives for 100 years, probably beyond that, those'll be critical, we
feel, to the ... to the people who are living in it, uh, especially in terms of
marketability and .... and life style. So ... um, the three items I have, uh, just really
quickly, um, a lot of mine is more numbers -based, not as .... not as, uh, visually
appealing, but um, so I'm gonna look down a lot cause I gotta read
some ... through some of these things, but uh, one of the important things that we
wanted to express is the, because this thing is so large, and because it's such a
long-term effort, um, and this would be based on a $200 million valuation, which
I think is probably significantly lower than ... than what it will eventually be, but
looking at taxes per annum for 20 years, the history of that, um, property has been
about 4 %2% increase annually. Uh, 2 ''/z% might be a more, um, typical rate in
other parts of town, but um, in terms of valuation, that's a pretty fair ...for that
prime property, that's a pretty fair number. If you look ... if you use that increase
on an average, um, the 100 -year collected taxes on the property will be
somewhere between $1.75 billion and $7.16 billion. Averaging that somewhere in
the middle, we're looking at about $3.5 billion over the life span of the .... of the
property. The current property, uh, as it sits now, running those numbers based on
the most current valuation, uh, and using that same sort of middle, uh, range, not
to go through each of those, uh, three more times. It would be about 325 million,
which is about 9% of that total number. Um .... moving on to the, urn .... second
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item. So, and I'm not gonna spend a ton of time on this. We've talked about, um,
Capitol Street a lot, but ... um .... you guys asked for a couple of exhibits and so I
have, um, I have sort of two. I may flip back and forth between them, so not to
confuse you, but we wanted to show sort of, um, angle versus parallel, and what it
is, and there's not a ton of things to point out here. I think you guys all have a
very good, uh, understanding of that, but in terms of the, uh, in terms of the
parallel, um, we're talking about, uh, curb -to -curb about 47 Meet. Oops, I went
the wrong way! Sorry! And in terms of. ... angled, we're talking about, uh, 53
feet. I'm sorry! There's a, you know what, I realize there's a mistake. I told you
the .... my dimensions wrong. The, um ... they're 11 feet different. So the, um, it's
53 on the angled and 42 on the parallel. So I caught that when I was getting ready
for the meeting tonight. So it's 53 here and it's 42 here. This actually, we
actually measured that out to the ... to the (mumbled) That's why it's messed up.
So there's an 11 foot difference, um, in terms of the curb -to -curb width here. And
so, um, what you're looking at in terms of. ... the sidewalk is a 19 foot, which is
obviously very wide versus a .... almost nearly a 14, 13 '/2 foot, so both have really,
um, large walks. Other than that, um ... bump out wise, uh, planter wise on the
sides, the spacing of those, all of that stuff— that's all, that all stays the same.
That's all per City standard. Um, so .... uh, and then we have this displayed on
both of these, as we talked about last time. We didn't really .... it's not really
important to us what the lane width is, and so on both of these it's an 11 foot lane.
I believe 10 to 11 foot lane is what, uh, the City's standard would be. So we just,
we drew an 1 I foot lane on this one. So I just wan .... kinda wanted to present
those to you as sort of the, uh, comparison of the ... of the look of those two items.
Um, and then.... lastly, um, going into the environmental and, um.....um.....
climate action plan side of things. Um, and some of this I know you're going to
address moving forward. Obviously this is going to be just touching on ... on a few
of the things that I think'll be, um, a part of this project, but um .... solar, uh, has
been, as I had mentioned last time and I've mentioned to a number of you, has
long been planned for this project, since its earliest days. Uh, the owner, when
they talked to me about it two years ago, uh, the very first time they spoke about it
said that they wanted to put a lot of solar on the building. So, a number that we
came up with today is 150,000 -kilowatt hour system, which is a huge system.
Um, that's the equivalent, just to kinda give you, um, we do a lot of solar design
at our engineering company and I have it myself. So sometimes it's .... it's hard to
visualize what sort of impact that has. Um, a 150,000 -kilowatt hour system
would power 15, 16....I'm sorry! Fifteen single-family homes, and that's using
2018, uh, EPA data for kinda the average American home. So to ... it'd fully power
15 single-family homes for a year. And that's... equates to about seven million
pounds of greenhouse gas emissions over the 25 -year warranty period of a solar
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system. The reason that number's important is because that's how long they're
warrantied for. They typically last about 35 years, um, solar panels do. I like to
say that instead of solar systems cause then it sounds.... sounds like you're
(laughing, mumbled) Um, walkability of the building is something that, um, I
think is an important, really important aspect of, uh, this project and what makes
it unique in terms of. ... of climate effect. So you've heard me talk last time about
the unique nature of the building, and how it's uniquely situated on a .... on a site
in town that is .... that is unlike any other. I think we probably all can agree on that
regardless of anything else. It's basically a ... a private development on a
University property for all practical purposes, and because of that I think the
building itself is just walkable. People are not gonna drive, uh, students
particularly, are not gonna drive to class from this location. Urn .... and so
thinking about that, it's really hard to quantify a lot of these things, as I'm sure
you can all relate, so it's hard to quantify impacts of. ... of large buildings. When
I'm trying to do so, what I try to do is take sort of digestible pieces that I think are
realistic, um, realistic assumptions and sort of, um, apply those, and so if you ... if
you were to assume that .... take about 30% of the residents that are gonna be in
this building and just take those car trips, just take those annual car uses off the
street. I think that's a pretty low assumption for this property. I think it's a fair
amount to say 30% of the people that own cars, if you assume everybody there
owns a car, which most people .... most students do these days, um, and ... and you
kind of remove those from that kind of annual usage from the street, um, they're
not, you know, driving from seven blocks or nine blocks away, where I live,
coming downtown, kind of leaving downtown for two or three blocks and sort of
circling through the avenues looking for parking stalls, you know, for the .... for
the day. If you sort of make those assumptions, which I think is fair, you're
talking about 302,000 gallons of gas, three million pounds of coal, 455 single-
family homes worth of electricity usage per year, due to the sheer walkability of
this .... of this facility, which is about 3,500 acres worth of forest. So, I feel like
there's a .... that's a pretty fair offset, urn .... valuation to make in terms of what...
what the walkability effect of this building (mumbled) actually think it would be
much more significant than that. Low -flow fixtures, which I know you're going
to address, urn .... pretty common. Looking at, uh, faucets, toilets, and shower
heads. I actually wrote the (mumbled) numbers here. I won't bore you with the
gallons per minute of those, but really what low -flow means is generally 20 to
30% reduction in water usage. So that's obviously a massive amount when you're
talking about this number of units, but one thing that'll get lost in that is also the,
um, additional energy that'd be used to heat that water, to treat that water, to
treat ... treat the water both coming in and going out to the waste water plant.
So .... pretty large impact there as well, and I ... totally in favor of adding that to the
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project. Um, and ... in the same vein, LED lighting is something that this.... this
will (mumbled) current facility does not have. Most LED lighting, probably at
about a 10% level, so assuming, uh, a 75 -watt bulb, which is a pretty common
household bulb, you're lookin' at a 7 1/2 -watt bulb. That's gonna equate to, um,
about 41,000 -kilowatt hours per year, which is about 20,000 pounds per year of
greenhouse gas emissions, or about 40 acres of forest. Um, over the life span of
the building we're talking about two million pounds of offset there for LED
lighting. Um ... lastly, urn .... sorry, I've got a couple more. New energy codes, um,
these ones get simpler as they go. New energy codes, ASR90.1, which is sort of
the governing, uh, one of the governing .... uh, codes that oversees energy use and
that the energy code is based on. There's some data that I, um, have been looking
at over the last couple weeks and talking to our mechanical and electrical
engineers. Um, there's actually some really good data between 1980, which is
ironically very close to when the existing buildings were constructed in 2013, and
that is a, um, that is a .... a.....an analysis that has resulted in ... effectively, for lack
of a better term, efficiencies becoming about twice that of what they used to be.
Over that, what was that, 33 years. So, um, from 2013 to now, in that seven years,
and really within the past decade, energy codes have ... are getting more and more
stringent, more and more quickly. Um, but I think it's fair to say that I think it's a
fair statement to make that the new building will be twice as efficient as ... as the
properties that are there now, in terms of how it uses energy. Um, recycling
integration, um, and I know that's part of the climate action plan. There'll be
large-scale recycling efforts in the building. We have shoots designed, um, to sort
of funnel recycling down to the basement and to collection centers. Uh, Neumann
Monson has already sort of identified those areas, and if you assume two pounds
per apartment, per week, which is pretty low, that's about nearly 100,000 of
cardboard recycling per year. Um .... lastly, storm water, we're .... um, at the
existing facility, uh... this is one that I just put in, and this is my last thing, uh, we
have about 58 residents per acre, um, in the existing facility, and we'd be lookin'
at about 787 residents per acre in the new facility. In terms of residents per
impermeable surface area, we ... that's effectively staying the same. Um, we're not
changing that per se on the new site, um, and consider taking out Capitol Street.
Obviously you have to consider that. You're talking about a really ...a much more
efficient use of density, um, for that same amount of impermeable runoff. Um,
and I think, lastly, I think there's an opportunity here, and this'd be part of our
LEED stuff if we get into that, but uh, I think there's an opportunity.... it's hard to
imagine with something that big, but the runoff will be effectively the same. The
impermeable area's effectively the same. So I think there's effective ways to...
that we could integrate that. We talked about that very early on in this project, to,
um, integrate that into the Capitol Street right-of-way, the Capitol Street
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infrastructure, whether we can get it into, you know, planters along the street.
These are all things that are gonna have to be worked on with the Engineering
department. Um, but, uh, those are some things that I think we could do, is work
with sort of the City infrastructure that we're putting in and ... and what we're
bringing off of the site and work to ... to integrate it, which is not currently...
currently there. So .... those are kind of the .... the topics that we have for you
tonight and ... we're here to answer questions.
Teague: One of the items that you were handed, I believe, when you got here tonight is
about the, um, environmental sustainability.
Decker: Uh huh.
Teague: And one of `em is the LEED silver standard. Can you talk to that a little bit....
potentially, or is that something you need to....
Decker: I can talk to in a general sense. Nathan an talk to it a lot .... speak to it a lot better
than I can (both talking)
Teague: Okay.
Decker: ....if you wanna go into specifics. I can speak to it on a very general level, um,
that I ... you know, I don't think that we're opposed to doing that. I don't think it's
an unreasonable request for the building. Um, and uh, we .... it's been discussed
by us already, um, through the .... through the process. So (both talking)
Teague: Okay!
Decker: um....if you have specifics on what LEED silver is, you know.....
Teague: No. I .... I just wanted to at least hear your thoughts or comments on behalf of the
devel.... on behalf of the developer.
Decker: I mean I suspect that's coming for most all buildings (both talking) in town, so...
Teague: Great! Thanks.
Bergus: Rob, I had a question on the property tax calculations that you gave us. What
kind of rollback did you assume for....
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Decker: Those are numbers I got from the owner. So I can't speak (both talking)
Bergus: Okay. Thanks.
Decker: I can clarify it though if you want me to and so.....
Teague: Anything else for the developers? Thank you.
Decker: Thank you!
Teague: How many people in the public would like to address this topic? If you can just
show me your hand. Okay. All right. Um, I'm gonna open up public comment,
uh, and ask that you all either.... in the back there are stickers that you can write
your name on, and address, and you can place it there, or you can, um, just write
when you come up to the podium. Also, please state your name, uh, to Council,
as well as, uh, keep your comments to three, no more than, um ... we'll .... we'll go
four minutes today. Um .... there's a lot of individuals that would like to address
this topic. So, public comment is open.
Norbeck: Hi, my name is Martha Norbeck and I wanted to jump in front here, while the
discussion of energy, uh, is fresh in your minds. Um .... I wanna start by pointing
out the content of the packet. So .... Council, uh, gets this packet, it's many pages
long. It has lots of content in it. It is an expression of your values. It is an
expression of the staff's values, of Planning and Zoning values. So when I read
through the packet for this section, there's almost no mention of energy, nary a
mention of energy. I'm trying to understand how we're here! So when I was
involved in the adoption of the Riverfront Crossings years ago, I said you should
be setting an energy performance target for anyone seeking a bonus height. We
managed to get the affordable housing clause, which is awesome, and how did
that happen? Because people believed it was important. So here we are, we have
a project that's been in the works a couple years. It was brought to the City a year
ago. City says, you know, the climate action plan isn't enough. We're gonna call
this a climate crisis. And then I see this packet! And I'm sitting here going what
is going on? How did Planning and Zoning not even ask about it? There's
multiple comments about balconies and views! Where's the energy discussion?
If ..how can you say it's crisis and then not insist on it being a regular point of
conversation, again and again and again, throughout your packets? I just don't get
it! It doesn't mesh! So that's my first point to ... to the City, to the Council. If you
want climate .... the climate crisis to be addressed in a way that is legitimate and
solid and conse... quential, that needs to show up in the packet that is an
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Page 23
expression of your values! So moving on to this specific project. You heard a lot
of comments, with a lot of numbers, that were like woo! That sounds impressive!
Let me put the solar in context for you. This is a 900,000 square foot building,
give or take. So when he says they're gonna put on 150 -kilowatts of solar, that
sounds cool, but it's maybe gonna offset 2% of the building's energy use. That's
not hardly anything! It's lipstick! It's good, don't get me wrong. I'm very pro -
solar. I encourage it for all projects. But you have to look at it holistically! You
can't just put solar on the top and say woo-hoo, we're green! Low -flow, that has
been standard in projects for years! Yeah, sure it's good, but if you don't do it
you're paying huge water bills! It's just business, smart business. It doesn't even
cost any more. So we need to put these things in context. The City needs an
energy performance target. You've got to set one! It's time to actually put down
a marker and say if you wanna bonus, if you want seven extra stories, you have to
do something for it! Every single project that wants an incentive should have an
energy performance tied to it. How are you acting on climate if you're not doing
that at the very least? So .... I encourage that this team to come back to you with
an energy performance target. When I start working with clients, as soon as we
know the location and the size and the.... buil.... building use of the space, so if we
know it's a school, 100,000 square feet, in Cedar Falls, I can tell you the right
energy performance goal for that building. There's tools out there. That should
already be available. That should be asked for from anyone who's asking for a
bonus or an incentive. Energy performance target! I would encourage you to
look at the 2030 challenge as your criteria for that.... incentive. If that's too much
for you, then find something else! There's so many cities that have adopted more
stringent performance in exchange for bonuses. We have the legal latitude to do
that. We can't change the code! I realize that! But we can tie energy
performance to incentives. Thank you!
Teague: (mumbled)
Svoboda: Hi, my name is Larry Svoboda. I, uh, sent a letter to each, uh, of the Councilmen
regarding our concerns as ordinary landlords about what's going on in Iowa City
and I would like to, uh.... uh, go forth with that just a little bit. (clears throat)
Um, I believe.... what I believe, I .... I get up and I look at what's going on in Iowa
City right now and I can't believe what's goin' on. The high-rise buildings that
are being built here by out of town contr.... uh, construction people, uh, the
money's going out of town for the, uh, the rents that are coming in, whatever rents
there are. Half of these buildings are empty. Uh, and.... and.... the.... the
workforce comes from out of town to do the work, and then there's the little
average landlord in Iowa City that's gonna take it right in the shorts on what's
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Page 24
goin' on. And .... and I .... that's what I'm here .... I'm just tryin' to point out to ya
where this thing is gonna end up, in my opinion. It's not really my opinion.
Actually, um, what I'm talking about is, uh, situations that I have seen in other
communities where we're over -built, specifically I am familiar with Davenport,
cause I used to work there. There was some industries in Davenport that decided
to leave the community. They had a terrible over -housing problem. The .... the
building sat empty, or nearly empty. The values went down to zero. Uh, or close
to zero. There was .... there was forfeitures of all kinds for, uh, property tax and,
uh, utility payments, everything that goes with it. Uh.... when the thing hit the
bottom, we had a resident from here — I'm not gonna mention the name — that
went down there and bought everything at a .... at a fire sale. Sooner or later it
turned around and it's back to normal now. So it was a fantastic investment for
him, but it was a terrible loss to the people that couldn't keep the property. Um,
and so, uh.... (mumbled) compare Iowa City to Davenport, there's two different
....two different, uh, situations here. Davenport, it was an industrial community,
and they lost some industry and they were able to gain it back. Iowa City is a
one-horse town, whether you wanna believe it or not, it's a one-horse town. It's
gonna stay that way, because there's not the labor force in this town to ... to be able
to build anything besides the, uh, University of Iowa, and it would be very
difficult to make any kind of a .... a change, uh, to where... where, what I'm getting
at: how you gonna fill these buildings? There are.... everybody asks me on the
street, people that don't even know anything about the apartment business, well
where they gonna get all the people to put in these buildings, and the question is,
that's a good question, because right now they're draining, whatever's, uh, going
on in this .... this community right now is draining the smaller buildings. You see
for sale signs out on everybody's property, well not everybody, but you see a
number of `em, and uh, there.... there's gonna be a lot of problems comin' down
the road, cause it's only gonna get worse. I'm not here to object to this particular,
uh, project. I am here to object to everything that's goin' on with respect to these
high-volume, high-rise units, uh, that it's gonna put the average, uh, landlord in
Iowa City at a very disa.... great disadvantage and ... and a lot of problems can
happen. Um (clears throat) but I .... I call it the perfect storm. Uh, enrollment is
supposed to stay stationary at the University. I just talked to Housing this
morning. And ... and they don't expect any enrollment, significant enrollment.
They're certainly not looking for more housing for their students. And I know
because they rented, uh, four of my apartment buildings. I live in a .... my
apartment building's in a very good area where the University leased four of our
buildings for four years and because they had an influx of...of tenants and they
had some problems with respect to some, uh.... uh, remodeling in a couple of the
buildings, and uh, they're.... they.... they're no longer there, but ub, they are very
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Page 25
satisfied where they sit right now with respect to their housing, and I know that
....I've been told by, uh, a .... a top source in the Housing department that the
President, uh, Mr., uh, Harreld I believe his name is, uh, doesn't wanna .... doesn't
want to (mumbled) He wants to keep it level, where it is right now, uh, he....
they're really not interested in trying to make more, or make .... make it available
for more people to come to the campus.
Teague: Larry, I wanted to just let you know that you're above the four minutes, and I
wanna make sure that we have opportunity for everybody (both talking)
Svoboda: Okay! Okay! All right! Already.....I'll skip down here (mumbled) Uh, already
there's a .... there's a building for sale, the Rise is for sale already, and it hasn't
even got off the ground. It's for sale. Uh, the Latitude in .... in, uh, Coralville is
empty. And I understand from a ... a real estate person that it's going to be coming
on sale. Apparently he knows what he's talkin' about. So it'll be on sale. And
we're gonna see some more of these. And so, um, these things aren't gonna work.
In the meantime, a lot of these things are built, the people take the .... the... these
are built by re .... uh, real estate investment trusts, uh, they are .... are, these are
large money organizations that don't care if these things get rented. It sounds
crazy! But they can use `em for write-offs if they don't get `em full. So they're
not .... they're not concerned about the population. They're just concerned
about .... it's a money thing. Okay? Uh, tax breaks, uh, breaks given by the City,
uh, I don't know what you (mumbled) I'm sure you've given some tax breaks to
these people who come in and do this, uh, but what about, uh, the, uh.... the .... the
rest of us that have to carry the burden of tax because we're not losing tenants and
they're gaining tenants, but our .... our, uh, our property taxes are gonna be going
up, and contrary to what you said earlier, way I see it anyway. I don't know if
you've seen the new assessments that have come out. I have copies of it. Like to
drop off ....some samples that I took of, uh, current assessment rates on certain
building and what's coming up (mumbled) the increase is amazing. The first one
that I've (both talking)
Teague: I'm gonna have to say thank you, Larry, so that we can make sure that we have
opportunity for other people.
Svoboda: Okay! All right.
Teague: Thank you, and if you wanna give something to our, uh, City Attorney, she can
accept that.
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Svoboda: Yeah, okay!
Teague: Thank you. (noises in background)
Svoboda: The top one on the list there, I just wanna make a quick mention, is the most
expensive increase on a building. It's $937,000 for the increase on the building
that has a .... well you'll see the value on it. The one on the bottom there happens
to be 120 East Davenport Street, which is mine. It's one of the oldest buildings
that I own. It's never been brought up to, uh, any .... it's got the old cabinets, it's
got everything. It's got a 20% increase on it! I don't know where I'm gonna .... if
the taxes go up accordingly, it's .... we're gonna walk away. There's gonna be
people walkin' away from their buildings. So I'm just say you...you've
gotta ... you gotta big problem on the .... if you keep going like we have been, um, I
think I made my point, so .... thank you.
Teague: Thank you for sharing!
Wu: Hello there, Austin Wu, UISG City Liaison. Uh, I ask the Council tonight that
when you're making your decision tonight, uh, I ask all of you to take into
account that the comments made by UI students, both undergraduate and
graduate, at last week's joint meeting. Many students, myself included, have
expressed apprehension of the so-called student -centric development and the past
conduct of the developer in question. Although increased housing supply is good
and that certain costs associated with new construction are inevitable, the
proposed amenities in this development do very little to make an attempt at some
notion of naturally occurring affordability for this development. Uh, first ... from a
sustainability perspective, I also wonder if cro.... mass or cross -laminated timber
could be employed in the construction of this building, rather than steel and
concrete. In Vancouver, Canada, the Brock Commons tower, a dorm at the
University of British Columbia, so student -centric housing at the core was built
with timber to a height of 18 stories more quickly and less expensively than it
would have if steel or concrete were used. While current... concurrently off-
setting an estimated 2,432 metric tons of carbon. So, uh, in the past week I've
had a lot of students come talk to me or email me, um, and they've expressed
bewilderment, uh, confusion over the nature of this building. Um, they don't
know who it's aimed for, cause they certainly don't feel like it's aimed towards
them. Um, I haven't met anyone who says like, yes, I want to live there. I can
afford to live there. This building is made for me. Um, anyone can say that this is
a student -centric development and it's designed to house students, but that's just
not what I've seen in the reality on the ground. Thank you.
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Teague: Thank you. Welcome!
Kuenzli: Hello, thank you. Oops, I got it .... stuck it on the wrong place on the page. Oh
well! Um, my name is Cecile Kuenzli and, uh, for 50 years I have been
concerned with the balance ... been concerned with, uh, preserving the uniqueness
of this city as it grows. To that end, I served as the first and then the second, uh,
head of the Longfellow Neighborhood Association, several seasons with the
Friends of Historic Preservation, and I'm currently in my fourth year with the
Historic Prese... Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, and I'm here this
evening to urge you not to grant the five -story bonus to the tower project. The
reasons for keeping the height of the four -tower project at eight stories, for which
it is zoned are several and significant for the appearance of this city. One always
has to view a new building within the context of its location in order to avoid a
visual hodge-podge of structures, and I might say the same truth applies to
whether the building is at Clinton Street, 400 Clinton Street, or here at 12 E.
Court. The buildings located adjacent to or near the tower project are only six to
eight stories high. To suddenly erect four 15 -story buildings would be
incongruous in the setting, and completely out of scale with almost every building
throughout the rest of the city. It is much more costly to build a 15 -story building
than an eight -story building. The increased costs would only end up being passed
on in the form of higher rental rates to tenants of the units in the building.
Students and citizens alike all need more affordable housing units in this town,
not more luxury cost apartments. The developer argues that concentrating
students in the towers would reduce rental pressure on residential neighborhoods
located near the campus. However, if the rents in a 15 -story building are higher
than rents in a nearby neighborhood structure, no pressure will be relieved, as
students will opt to live in the lower cost housing. Um .... student, you just heard
from Mr. Wu that (clears throat) students are not in favor of the amenities in this
building because they too would serve to increase the cost of the rents. They're
unnecessary because only, uh, 200 yards away they have the University Wellness
Center, where their student pe ... fees pay for their membership. So, urn .... and if
you didn't have the amenities, you wouldn't need the skywalk uniting the two
buildings and obstructing even a thumb's worth of the view of the Old Capitol.
When you're considering the massive scale of this project, Councilors should
keep in mind that the University student population, um, was recently projected to
drop for 10 more years, while tuition rates continue to rise. Also the number of
foreign students has declined as well, in the current political climate, and for a
number of other reasons. Furthermore, if it is as is being discussed, the
University should soon require second -year students to live in University -owned
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facilities. The developer might be induced to sell the towers to the University, at
which point the City would no longer derive the property tax revenue from the
towers, a feature which the developer promotes being very beneficial to the City,
the property tax — big dollars for the City, but not if the University owns it. The
developers have recently built very attractive rental housing on the north and
south sides of College Green. One can only hope that the same spirit of civic
mindedness, which created those structures, will prevail in the question of the
towers, and that the developer will build in accordance with the zoning code, for
eight stories, and an opened up Capitol Street, which will permit citizens to once
again enjoy the vista of the Old Capitol building. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you! Welcome!
Gerhardt: Thank you. This is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day. But, uh, I'm Bill
Gerhardt. I'm President of the Iowa State Building Trades. I've lived in the Iowa
City area since 69. We're excited about this project. You heard from, uh, from
Rob Decker and from Nate, uh, from the architect's office, how it's good for the
environment, it's good for the tax base, it's gonna help affordable housing, um,
the people I represent build stuff. They build big stuff like this. This'll be done
safely. It'll be done quality -wise. Uh, and to answer the one person's question,
this is not an out of state event or out of state occurrence. The developer's local,
the architect's local, project manager's local, and the workers on the project'll be
local. So hopefully you guys will, uh, agree and go ahead and approve this.
Thank you.
Teague: Welcome!
Barron: Hi! Sara Barron, Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition. Someone was
really wonky with their sticker here, sorry, might have a serious issue on your
hands. I'm just gonna flip this over. (laughs) Okay! Um, I wanna acknowledge
a couple of things before I start talking. One is confirmation bias. So most of you
already have a somewhat formed opinion on this issue. Um, I wanna ask those of
you who are inclined to agree with what I'm saying to think critically about it, and
those of you who are inclined to disagree with what I'm saying to think critically
about it, okay? Um, I also wanna say that I know that you are all supporters of
affordable housing, and ... and I don't believe that your vote on this project one
way or another, um, is some kind of litmus test of...of whether or not you support
affordable housing, okay? Um, that said, I do wanna share with you that after a
lot of discussion and consideration, uh, the Board of Directors of the Johnson
County Affordable Housing Coalition, um, voted, um, unanimously in support of
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the project as it's proposed tonight by the developer. Um, so I wanna highlight
their reasoning, um, and I encourage you to really carefully consider their
recommendation. Um, the first reason for our support of this project, clearly, is an
unprecedented multi-million dollar contribution to the affordable housing fund.
Um .... we see several options for investing this money, um, in the designated area
and I don't want you to let your imagination be limited by what's been done
already.... with that fund. There are so many possibilities for us to explore when
we have a resource of this magnitude, and it would be a real game -changer for so
many families, uh, who live in Iowa City. Um, the second point is that the
vacancy rate for many years has been unusually low, okay? Um, and it's been
that way for a pretty long time. Um, and the market will have to adjust, um, to the
new units that are coming online, but those shouldn't be viewed as unwelcome
adjustments. Um, we see opportunities for renters seeking lower rent options, and
I wanna remind you all of the study that Iowa City participated in two years ago
that showed that our general rental market was occupied.....53% of the general
rental market was occupied by University of Iowa students. So over half...half of
our rental market in the Iowa City, Coralville area is occupied by University of
Iowa students. Um, they compared us to peer communities, where the average
was 37% of their general rental market. So just to give you an idea of how much
correction we have to look forward to to get closer to average, um, there's a big
shift that needs to happen in the number of units that are available, and the
number of units that are occupied by University of Iowa students in our markets,
the ways that that impacts availability, vacancy, and prices. Um, also this won't
be the only time you hear me talking to you about this. But we need to have some
straightforward development standards that can be adhered to, and we need to
embrace density as a piece of affordability. So the less land you have to buy, the
more you can go up, the less land cost is folded into the price of the housing, as it
goes to renters, and also if we have a development process where you can earn 15
stories, um, which you have developed for Riverfront Crossings, there should be a
clear path to eaming that 15 stories, um, and if not in this location, then where in
Riverfront Crossings did you mean for it to be developed ... to that level. Um, we
need to have really straightforward development standards because all of this pre -
development work also adds to the cost of our housing. Um, and finally I want to
acknowledge the students' concerns about affordability, um, that UISG has
expressed, cause I think they are absolutely right. We definitely need to do a
better job of addressing affordability for students. Um, and ... the problem is that
new construction is a really tough road to affordability. Okay? So with the
exception of LIHTC, which has lots of outside money coming in, new
construction isn't the best route to affordability, but what we are going to have is
lots of opportunities to think about, um, the new units that are available and how
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to help make those more affordable over the long run for students, and I... just
side note, I would love to facilitate a conversation between the City and the
University and the students and other stakeholders about how we can be creative
in solving that problem, because both graduate and undergraduate students really
need it. Um, so I understand you have a lot of considerations tonight, but I wanna
just remind you that our committed group of affordable housing advocates have
unanimously supported this project. Thanks!
O'Berry: Hello!
Teague: Hello! Welcome!
O'Berry: Thank you! (mumbled) So my name is Kelly O'Berry. I, um, am a ... my spouse
and I are small business... rental business, um, owners. We have two properties
here in town, which may sound like small potatoes compared to 880 units and
1,575 beds, um, but I .... I am here, um, we've been in this business for six years.
We, uh, are good landlords. We take good care of our properties, but the
continued approval by the City Council of more gigantic rental properties in Iowa
City that then appear to sit empty is effecting me, and I keep reading about them
and hearing about them and grumbling about them, and I thought ... I had better
come, cause you can't read my mind if I don't come here. So I'm here to tell you
that we've had a for rent sign in front of one of our properties since January of
2018. We were not able to rent a four-bedroom unit last year because there just
are too many properties that are available for .... for rent, and we rent mostly to
students. We .... this is reasonably priced property with laundry facilities and a
two park ... two -car garage. Um .... it has some features that would be appealing to
students, and we are finding it more and more difficult to find tenants ... for this
kind of property. So we've had a for rent sign and Craig's List ads and Trulia ads
for a year and have not been able to rent this property. Um, I ... so we are the ones
that are taking it in the shorts, as the guy earlier said, and I .... I think I read
somewhere or heard that the Council is thinking that by in ... allowing all of these
giant, high-density properties, that it will force smaller landlords to lower our
prices to bear the burden of providing low-income housing, and I wanna say that I
don't think that sounds fair. So I would like to encourage you to consider it
carefully, urn .... I mean I think this property maybe is a done deal, that it's gonna
happen at all and all you're considering today is that extension of height, and
more units. I'm not concerned about view of the Old Capitol. I'm not really
concerned about balconies or skywalks. I am concerned about the people that
ha ..... that own rental property in this town that don't farm it out to giant property
management companies that don't care about their tenants, but people like me that
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provide a service to students who come here and need an affordable place to live.
Thank you.
Teague: Welcome!
Peterson: Thank you. My name is Royce Peterson. I am a carpenter here in Iowa City.
Belong to Carpenter's Local 1260. Um, which is on Williams Street and
Muscatine. Um, we are here to talk to you guys, again. (mumbled) And thank
you, guys, uh, first of all I'd like to say I listened to the State of the City. I'm
proud to be a carpenter in the city. We have a very progressive city, and your
values follow right in line with ours. So thank you for that. Second, um, I wanna
address what one of the gentlemen said earlier about large developments being
done by out of state, um, developers and out of state workers! I'm not gonna
disagree with that. There's been several projects like that. But.... fortunately this
is not one of them. We've been involved with this project since day one. We
know that we're gonna put a lot of carpenters to work on this project, with
sustainable jobs, with a ... that have living wages and benefits. Um, we came
tonight in support. We are members of the community. We don't ,unfortunately,
get a lot of the smaller buildings that are done out of wood. These are the type of
jobs that the carpenters get to build, larger size projects. Um ... having said that,
we've seen what wood structures can do in the city when not built properly with
trained people. One of `em went up in flames not too long ago, and that was
dangerous for our .... our community. So, having said that, I support this project
with the wood .... or the, excuse me, the steel structure, the concrete, the metal
studs. Like they pointed out earlier, it is easy to remodel them that way. Less fire
issues. Um, they last longer. And .... and, you know, we are definitely in support
of it and again, thank you guys for your consideration tonight. Uh, hopefully you
put a bunch of us to work! So, thank you!
Teague: Welcome!
DeVe: Thank you! Spur of the moment.... decided to come up. Um, affordable housing,
huge topic, been for a long time.
Mims: Could you introduce yourself please?
DeVe: I'm sorry! Yes, Doug DeVe, uh, North Liberty resident. Affordable housing, uh, I
think we can look at it from two options. We can talk about low rent rates or we
can talk about high income. These are the kind of construction jobs that pay high
income. This type of wage, urn .... would allow somebody to pay for a higher,
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sorry, my heart's beating fast (laughs) I'm a little nervous. A smaller project
doesn't pay the wages that the union does. This type of project is going to pay
high wages. The people that live here are gonna get these wages and .... and it....
(clears throat) excuse me, I'm really nervous. I think you understand what I'm
gettin' at.
Teague: Yes!
DeVe: This is a high payin' job, uh, so if we're talkin..... talkin' about affordable
housing, we can bring new members in with a job like this. It's a multi-year
project. Payin' these wages, we can bring in apprentices. And ... let me just stop
cause I'm nervous, but ... the other thing he said was .... tax revenues over .... the life
span of a human, maybe a little more, in ... in billions! Billions! Image what you
can do with a number like billions to help people. That's all I got. Sorry! Thank
you.
Mims: Thank you!
Nieuhas: Good evening, I'm Steve Nieuhas: I'm a business representative with the
Carpenter's Local 1260 also.
Teague: (both talking) Welcome, Steve (both talking)
Nieuhas: Royce and I have been workin' in this area for years. I'd like to say ...I heard a lot
of people, lot of pros and cons that are good and bad, I mean not bad, but like to
see everybody's view. Nobody's really mentioned about the urban sprawl. I
mean would you rather the farm land keeps gettin' tilled under and turned into
housing, or would you rather go up? I personally would rather see it go up.
There's a lot of jobs there, and density is better for cities, I believe, than going
out, because if you look at like Tiffin, North Liberty, Coralville, all those places
are gonna be one big city here eventually, right, if they're not already. At the
corner of 380 and, what is that, Highway 6? Or is that 1? Anyway, when you get
out there, that all used to be farm land! Everything used to be farm land, and you
just keep movin' out if you .... if you don't allow these big projects to go, you're
gonna be in West Liberty in 20 years! Or .... Hills .... or Solon! These projects,
you're gonna keep growin'! You need to keep growin' and growin' up is our
opinion, and that's all I got.
Teague: Would anyone else like to address this topic?
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Michaud: Hi, I'm Pam Michaud.
Teague: Welcome!
Michaud: Um .... right, so lots of good points from everybody. I hear your concerns about,
um, several years of work, and urn .... and also urban sprawl. Thinking that we
have certainly had galloping growth in this community. The perception that we
have a lack of student housing is history. We have vacancies and now two huge
complexes are for sale. I'd say yes we need, uh, to build up, but maybe for
families or couples with one or two children, not for more students! And I don't
think too many people with children are gonna wanna be in a 10 -story building.
Um .... I hear your concerns and I'm also a small landlord, and um ... I've been very
fortunate to rent, but ... it's through a lot of work, four times as much work as it has
been, to get the same number of people to rent, and you know, this is nothing to
you because you've been persuaded by millions of dollars for affordable housing.
How about just using that affordable housing right in that location, instead of
somewhere else. It could be right on Burlington and Court. Half of that building
could be interspersed affordable housing. Um, it's time that we get realistic about
green goals. It's not just about a few students that wanna live across the street
from a rec center. It's about people that wanna work downtown, or just maintain
roots here. Um ... I think that we have to relook at that, uh, comprehensive plan,
because the growth is on steroids. Not only is this project up, but we've just lost
the Chamber of Commerce building, which was the Elks building previously on
Gilbert and Washington. There's more development coming up on Clinton Street,
400 block of Clinton Street around that area. That this is not the only project for
this particular developer. Um, REIT's are a huge threat and look what happened.
Now they're for sale. Great! So I'm glad that we have local workers on this. It's
important to have unions represented .... and have real jobs for them, but I think
there is some serious drawbacks to what this purpose is gonna be, because we
already have too much student housing. Thank you.
Carlson: Good evening.
Teague: Good evening! Welcome (both talking)
Carlson: I'm Nancy Carlson and I got my thing off easier this time!
Teague: Great!
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Carlson: Okay! In 2018 when this site appeared before the City Council, the only thing on
the agenda was the rezoning for RM -44 to Riverfront Crossings 50. That was the
only thing that could be legally discussed. At that time when the consult
expressed their feelings toward 15 -story buildings, that was only a .... dis, a
direction the City Council Members might be leaning toward. This was not, this
was an off-the-record statement that was not binding. In fact it might have been a
disservice to the developer. In a large project like this, there is a .... process that
must be followed. We are now at the step where the actual development of the
project is discussed. February 4a' was the first step in this. This step is the most
important one of the whole process. It is very disheartening to hear Council
Members say that the major components have already been decided when up to
here there have been only informal discussions of concepts. Personal images of
how this should be built or would be built. The consult is tasked with examining
this project very carefully. I would hope you would take your task seriously. I
would hope you would look, you would discuss the elements that bring this to a
level two design review, including the requests for more than three stories of
bonus height, a historic preservation height transfer, a public right of tra... way
transfer. Do these things add to the project? Do seven extra stories improve this
project, or create unforeseen problems in the future? I will support the right-of-
way bonus. The City is ... but the City is giving the developer close to five stories
of height and 304,000 -square feet of space. He is now asking for a skywalk and
angle parking. Are these concessions beneficial to the goals that we were looking
at when we suggested the opening of the street? There are a few skywalks in
Iowa City. They all serve the general populous of the city. The developer wants
this skywalk because of the way they chose to draw up the project. Who does it
serve? There are going to be 912 units in the buildings. Since the occupants are
students, the foot traffic will be very heavy. I would hope that the street design
would take into account the large number.... large amount of foot traffic and the
safety of these pedestrians. I would hope the hic... vehicular traffic would take a
subordinate place. I would hope that each request for additional floors would be
weighed. Does it add to the project in the City's objectives? Remember, this is
the first time the City can legally discuss these important components, they ..that
are given. I believe they get an extra floor because it is student housing, but
housing for who? Do they get another floor because they are building a luxury
building for a niche market? They're asking for historic preservation height
transfer, so they can build a lu.... luxury building for a niche market. I believe
they have offered $9 million for affordable housing in the Riverfront Crossings
area. While on the surface this may sound incredible, what does this actually
mean? What are you going.... giving away, and are you comfortable approving
the project (noise on mic) before you know what the specification .... specific
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conditions are. Since they are asking for a bonus floor for student housing, could
that floor not be included in affordable housing for students, that would at least be
an attempt at a democratic community of students? How much time should we
spend on a project of this size, that will be here for a hundred years? And have a
profound effect upon our downtown. This is the third meeting, a little over two
years. That comes, if you figure the building's going to be here for a hundred
years, if we spend a little over two years on that, that is 2 ''/z% of the lifetime of
the building. You are.... approving a business contract. Your concern is the city
and all of its citizens. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. I wanna ensure that we do have time for Council deliberation, but
please come on up!
Halling: I feel this one's important! All right, so y'all have heard ... oh, my name's Kara,
carpenter 1260, but not while I'm talking to you. Y'all have heard from small
business owners, landlords, and you've heard from one member of the student
body. So you're gonna hear from another, and I have a family, and this is the type
of housing I would look at for my kids because the amenities, while I have all of
these things available to me, bein' a University of Iowa student, on campus, I
don't wanna take all my kids over there! If I can just go right across the street,
and I don't even have to walk outside cause lord knows when it's negative 20
degrees outside, I don't wanna walk outside to go to the gym! Let alone go back
to my house! So I think (sighs) when you're lookin' at this, it's important to not
just take...one person's opinion, cause I know this man never talked to me! And I
woulda told him I would support it, not because I'm a member of 1260, but
because this is the type of place I would want to live with my kids, if I was
attending the University. If I lived in a place like this, I would want to be in a
place like this. It's... important to take in more than just a single student that
doesn't have any kids, because.... there's not a lot of places like that. Yes, there
are a lot of houses for rent, but they don't have ... the gym. They don't have a
place where we can have our kids watching something on their tablet or phone or
lord knows whatever else they have nowadays, while we work out at the gym or
where we can all go together and sit down and read a book, or anything like that.
They don't have that where it's right in walking distance of the college. I have to
live two towns away just so I can afford my housing and my kids can go to school
four towns away from that because I don't wanna put `em in a bad school in,
sorry if anybody lives from West Liberty, but my kids aren't gonna go to school
there, and I'm not gonna bring them to Iowa City when .... I don't have a place for
them for daycare because daycare is so expensive. This would be a perfect place
for family units for the college. Thank you.
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Teague: All right, well.... Council discussion?
Weiner: Um, there.... there's a lot to say about this project. Um, it would clearly, if we
approved it it would clearly change the face of one part of Iowa City. Um, and I
will say I've written down some of my comments so I don't forget things. It is,
um, this has been addressed to some extent. It's also fair to note that the lens
through which the Council views the city has changed since the zoning was
changed in 2018. Um .... thanks in part to students who care, there was a
declaration of a climate emergency; the promulgation of a 100 -day plan and the
creation of a commission to follow through on that. Prior to the November
election, I heard from a lot of people. Some didn't want such a tall, dense
building. Others wanted the density and don't mind .... didn't mind the height.
Some were really focused on strict sustainability standards. Many focused on
affordable housing, whether as part of the project or fee in lieu of. Others, as
we've heard this evening, we counted the need to provide really good jobs for the
construction trades. The Council is being asked to consider a height bonus, but it
ends up being so much more than that! As the project manager pointed out, and
others have, this is a building that would be here for at least a hundred years. The
parcel was rezoned, the developer has a right to build to the current height, uh,
according to the conditional zoning agreement. They could build to eight stories,
or to 10 with the two stories transferred from preserving the Tate Arms. I'm
guessing, just guessing, that without some additional height bonus, given the
requirements of the conditional zoning agreement, it wouldn't pencil out. Um...
if we say no, if they don't build, we won't get additional affordable housing
dollars or 10% of units, um, we won't get potentially energy efficient buildings or
a lot more people living walking distance from campus. The developer could sell
the property to an outside developer. Of course they could do that even if we say
yes. But part of the pitch that we've also heard is they're doing it locally. Local
architects, local construction company, local union labor. So I've been asking
myself and others how to make it a model project, if we choose to approve it.
Sustainable, attractive, flexible, and really energy efficient. The wild card is
vacancy rate and that is really hard to scope out. The best estimate I've been able
to get right now is around 9 to 9 %z%. I have no idea what the demand will be five
years from now because there's a lot .... there's a long preparation in building
period for a building like this. Um, we could see a decline in student enrollment.
We do know that about 2,000 units have come online in the last two years. Uh,
there was pent up demand, and demand tends to be around 300 to .... 350 to 400
diti.... additional units, um, annually. Ultimately, the developer will have to
decide if. ... if.....if we approve this, if the market is right to proceed. That's out of
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our control if we approve it. So I've looked at what we can impact. We can
impact solar, which they've already talked about putting on, um, and as Martha
Norbeck noted that.... that's, that covers a ... while there's a lot of carbon offset, it
covers a small percentage of the units, relatively speaking. For me, energy
efficiency is the crux of the matter. Um, buildings account for 40%....48% of
energy use in the U.S. Neumann Monson, I believe, has .... has signed on to the,
urn .... to the 2030 challenge, and so one of my questions is, do .... does Neumann
Monson in ... intend to design to that standard for .... for this building? That would
mean designing a building that ... with renewable energy and building energy use
would use 80% less than what the current baseline is. Unt .... I'd love to see it
designed to the 2030 challenge. At a minimum, then LEED silver with at least
eight points for energy. And I would like to, as a .... as part of this process, I
would like to also request that, um, staff cons .... look at drafting, um, the sort of
requirements so that this would not .... if we place a rec.... a requirement on this...
on this project, that it would also end up being a requirement going forward for
energy efficiency, because I think that is where we need to be in this town. Um,
another ...a couple of other things that I would mention quickly and I apologize for
going on for so long is flexibility. Who would be in this building, would it be
built only .... only for students, or for example, a number of top story .... top stories
aimed at a .... at a different market? Uh, perhaps condominiums. The ... the folks
there are also gonna have to go somewhere for groceries. I don't know where in
the neighborhood currently there's any place that could serve that large portion.
Maybe that's something that could be part .... part of the ground floor. In the end
no one really likes change. It's hard. I spent a career moving around the world,
and I always told my kids that we had to wait at least six months before we could
even start to think about whether we liked the place. Um, what I couldn't tell you
what we'll think about this project five years from now, if it comes to fruition. I
just know that change is a process and one way to really tru... to create, and I know
we've heard some opinions to the contrary, but one way to create affor.... more
affordable housing stock, um, in the city is to increase the housing stock.
Taylor: I'll go next. Um....as we've talked amongst ourselves, this is truly one of the
biggest decisions we as a City Council will ever have to make, uh, it's a decision
that could effect Iowa City for many years to come, we're talkin' a hundred years
that this might be, uh... uh, around. Um, so I have put a lot of thought into this
decision and also have a lot to say about this project. Uh, first of all, as I did, uh,
two weeks ago, I'll start by saying that I was pleased to see all of the thought and
planning that went into ensuring that this development would be safe and secure
for its residents. Although there does seem to be, uh, some questions regarding
the security plan. Uh, I appreciate and thank, uh, the University of Iowa Student
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Government for the student surveys that they've done over the past few years
regarding student needs, wants, and concerns about student housing in this area.
The need for security has always been listed as a major concern. So that is a plus
for this development. However, in those surveys I don't recall a need or want for
amenities, such as rooftop restaurants, study areas, gymnasiums, swimming pools,
or for that matter, luxury -type apartments. And in our, uh, most recent joint
meeting, uh, I believe, um, Austin alluded to that, with, uh, members of the
Student Government we heard many of the students question the need for these
amenities. The well-equipped, uh, University recreation facility's only one and a
half blocks away, the University Main Library is only three blocks away, with an
abundance of study area spaces, as well as the IMU, only a few short blocks away,
that also has many wonderful study areas. These amenities seem to only add to
the cost of this project. As for the luxury description, what we have over and over
heard from students and the community is the need for affordable units, and not
more of these luxury units. Former Mayor Jim Throgmorton always spoke of
wanting Iowa City to be an inclusive community. I see these massive luxury
buildings as being very exclusive. Low- to middle-income students will not be
able to afford to live there. We received an offer from the developer for a fee in
lieu of in the tune of $9 million to go towards our affordable housing fund. While
this sounds very attractive, the fact is that it must be used in Riverfront Crossings.
So the question is, where, by whom, and when would it happen? We haven't
actually had a stampede of developers wanting to build affordable housing, uh,
in .... in Iowa City, let alone Riverfront Crossings, or even to redevelop some of
the existing properties. So a question to the developer, why not just include
affordable units in this development in the first place? It has been said that I don't
like tall buildings. This can't be further from the truth. After all, I grew up in Des
Moines and was used to seeing buildings at great height. But that's Des Moines
and not Iowa City. I've heard from so many people that they've always been
impressed with the charm and character of Iowa City, and that that was partly
what drove them to choose Iowa City as a place to live. I don't feel that this
development would add to the charm and character of Iowa City. I believe that it
does not in fact enhance the neighborhood, but instead distracts from the quality
and character of the area, especially, uh, the very beautiful Uoxman Music
Building that would be right next to it. The plan for this district calls for a
maximum of eight stories, with the possibility of approval by staff of two
additional stories, for a total of 10. I question the need for any more than that. I
believe the scale of these proposed buildings and their actual mass is too large and
should be scaled back. We recently heard from our own Historic Preservation
Commission with their concerns that they believe that the proposed skywalk and
height bonus for 12 E. Court Street negatively impact our historic vistas, and it
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was noted that it was a unanimous vote by the group. We've received several
emails from individuals in the community expressing their concerns, and we
heard from many more of them this evening. Most notably, one was from, uh, I
know probably everybody in this room knows this person, but I won't say his
name. He's a very well-known, well-respected, long-time Iowa City resident, and
he had notable concerns about this development in our community. We can't
ignore these many concerns that are coming from our community. We as a
Council must remember that the extra height bonuses are up to our discretion!
Which means the freedom to decide or act according to one's judgment. These
bonuses are not guaranteed! We must feel that there is a compelling evident to
justify giving any bonus. It is still uncertain about what the effect of a possible
decline in the University undergrad population would be on the vacancy rate of
this and other units in the area. And speaking of these other units, has the market
supply already overshot the demand? I would say that adding another almost
1,000 new units could certainly affect this. An argument has been made that an
increase in supply will increase the vacancy rate, and hence cause a decrease in
the cost of rent. We've even heard that an 8 to 10% vacancy rate would be
healthy. Uh, I didn't take business courses, I was in nursing, but I do not agree
that this is a healthy number. Healthy to whom? The person proposing this
project? Certainly not to the smaller scale landlords in our community. I know
several landlords and we heard from a couple of them this evening, in this area,
and they have told me that an 8 to 10% vacancy rate is not healthy. I'm almost
done! Another point that we have been asked to consider are the
recommendations made by our City staff regarding the skywalk, the balconies,
and parking on what would be Capitol Street. I believe that they gave each of
these ideas a lot of thought, and I agree with their decisions. In particular, I do
not see the attraction or appeal of balconies. There are many attractive apartment
buildings throughout the city that do not have balconies, one of which is actually
owned by Mr. Clark, on the comer of Van Buren and College Street. It's a very
attractive building. Um, I compliment him on that, uh, and I find it to be
attractive, without even the need for balconies. And .... with all due respect, to Mr.
Gerhardt and Mr. Peterson and all of my union brothers and sisters that are here
tonight, I am a union member proud union member, have been active in unions
for over 38 years, and I'm glad to see you all here; and of course I'd be very
happy to see this be a union -built project. Cause I'm about as pro -union as it
gets! Uh, my late husband was in fact a member of the building trades, very
proud member. But I would ... I have not seen a true guarantee. Mr. Peterson
mentions that he's been in discussion with the developer over this, but wasn't
mentioned whether there's a contract, signed and sealed and delivered, that this
indeed will be a union -built project, and that is my concern, that it would really be
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built by true union workers, cause we've seen the detrimental effects of buildings
that were not, and the issue of contractor versus subcontractor. It's a big issue, as
you all know, and I would not want to see that happen with this building. I also,
most importantly, I would like it ensured that the owner of these units would
ensure that at whatever the cost, he would guarantee the safety of all of his
employees.... and this, on this and any of his properties. That's a ma .... also a
major concern for me. There are just too many uncertainties and concerns from
the community about a development of this size. I cannot in good consciousness
support this project as it has been presented to us.
Thomas: Well I will .... share my thoughts on this, and thanks for everyone who's attended
and given us, uh, their comments. This is a very complex project, with... multiple
points of view bearing on it. Um ... I would say first of all in terms of ...what is
this discussion about? It's about whether this project is 10 stories or is it 15
stories? You know, we have by right .... uh, the developer can build eight stories.
We also have an administrative approval for two. And we .... we do have a ... uh, a,
in that two additional floor height, we have the transfer of development rights,
which I feel strongly should be considered and applied, if possible, to the project.
So .... so the issue is whether the building is 10. I think .... I think we can all agree
that's going up, I hope, uh, versus 15. Um .... and so.....you know, I .... I've always
felt, uh, over the last couple of years, the two issues that we as a city, uh, have
been focusing or need to focus on, um, in all of our decisions, are questions of
equity and the .... the pressing issue of climate change. Uh, so ... so what I've done
in terms of my comments, and .... and I don't disagree with many of the other
comments that have been made with respect to the threat this project may pose in
terms of the rental structure within Iowa City. I .... I am concerned about that. Uh,
there's a level of uncertainty and speculation that I just simply cannot... truly, I
don't think any of us can truly understand what this particular project will do to
the rental market. Um .... so I....I would wanna just set that aside, although I am
concerned about, as has been noted, we may be beyond.... the.... the sort of typical
scenario in Iowa City, which is that.... there's a lack of affordability and a lack of
student housing. So in, kind of in response to Martha's concerns, you know, I've
tried to focus really over the last couple of years on the question of. ... climate
change and how that might affect our development process. So I .... done as much
reading as I can. I've had many conversations with Martha and others who are
interested in the question of climate change and how does that affect development
in Iowa City, and so what I've attempted to do, based on what research I've done,
uh, and these discussions, to come up with some principles that I would apply to
this project. And I've .... I've identified four as they relate to the .... the issues that
we've been asked to apply for the criteria in approving additional building
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heights. Uh, the first principle would be build with low-energy materials. We
should design no bigger or more extravagantly than needed, and so the buildings
will sensitively take their place in the downtown. So we ... we did have a meeting,
a joint meeting with the Student Government, and we heard loud and clear about
this question of extravagance and luxury. Uh, their concern was primarily how it
might affect the rents. But it's also has a climate change impact, in the sense that
all of that added amenity, which arguably is not needed as was stated because, uh,
an al ... a .... a equivalent facilitation can be accessed a block or two away, that all
those added amenities have what is referred to as embodied carbon content.
Everything we build and manufacture requires energy to build. And so to the
degree we gild a lily, so to speak, on a project with those amenities, it's going to
add to the carbon content. Carbon, uh, content, urn .... I have .... I have a definition
here. Is the sum of all energy required to produce a good or service. So, to the
degree we can reduce the embodied energy of this project, that advances our...
our climate goals. The sharing economy, which is represented by this idea that
we're in a mixed-use area. We have easy access to the Wellness Center, to social
spaces, uh, from this particular site. That's a cornerstone of a climate change
response, you know, we can increase our prosperity without duplication of
services. The more we share, the less embodied energy is required to satisfy those
needs. In terms of sensitively placing the project in the downtown, we .... we do
have the finding of the Historic Preservation Commission, that negative impacts,
uh, of the skywalk and bonus heights will impact the historic views of Old
Capitol, and the Courtie.... County Courthouse, which was not discussed by
Council. Urn .... and, you know, as I tried to present at our last meeting, I think
there will be impacts, uh, from the north. What we saw tonight was the view, I
believe, from 1,500 feet. My...north of Old Capitol. My concern would be much
closer proximity to Old Capitol, with the, uh, proposed buildings on the backside
of Old Capitol, uh, forming the .... the background to the .... to the view. Um, so
there is that documented negative impact that the project will have, as noted by
Historic Preservation. The .... the second principle would be ensuring that the
building envelope is buffered from the extremes of heat, cold, and humidity.
Typically in an urban setting, we rely on our urban tree canopy to provide
protection from summer heat and heat index, and we rely on the surrounding
buildings to protect us from winter.... winter cold and chill. The concern with this
project would be that the propor.... the portion of this building envelope, above
the tree canopy, and the surrounding buildings, will be much more susceptible to
heat loss and gain because it doesn't have those buffering elements to protect it, in
summer and winter. Uh, the third principle would be ensuring that the building's
main structure is readily adapted to a diverse range of uses and occupancies, so
that it endures through changes in land use, as we've said, to the end of the
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century. Um .... and we've heard from .... from the .... the development team that
the construction type will have adaptability built into it. I think that's certainly a
valuable, um, strategy in terms of trying to meet this question of adaptability. But
my concern is this, that as a privately -owned, student -oriented high-rise building
in Iowa City's market, it's.... it's really untested in terms of its adaptability to a
wider residential demographic or any other use, and we have no survey data on
housing preference by either students or that wider demographic, by which to
eval.... to evaluate its marketability. And with a project this size, I think that
question of truly understanding what market is this building going to serve,
especially if we find that its not going to be utilized at full capacity by students,
who's going to be interested in living there? I, you know, I .... that really concerns
me in terms of understanding as, you know, we had that market survey done
before Riverfront Crossings was developed. That was the foundation of that form
based code, what we anticipated to be the demand for residential and commercial
development. I would .... I would want to have some assurance that, you know,
from a third party, uh, analysis that we did have in fact that kind of demand of the
wider demographic for living in such a structure. Um, and lastly I would say
the ... the fourth principle would be to employ the three above principles in
connected multi -story buildings, always in ways respective of their surroundings
and that don't diminish another nearby building's energy efficiency. You know,
what we've learned from climate change is that everything connects. So when
you build a structure, uh, what is .... what are the impacts of that structure going to
be on the surrounding structures? They too have their own energy efficiency
profile that could be impact by this project. And .... just for starters, and again,
none of this has been sort of gone through any kind of rigor analy.... rigorous
analysis. I .... I'm basically trying to, through observation and looking at the site,
identify some concerns. But... one.... one clearly is concern in this regard, and that
would be the Voxman Music School, where you have offices or rooms, I'm not
sure what their use is, uh, facing west, which will be impacted by this project, as
well as the surrounding public and private outdoor spaces, which will be impacted
by the proposal through fall and winter. So that means Burlington Street, the
reopening of Capitol for this block that we're proposing. The surrounding streets
and open spaces will be affected by that building when the sun is at a lower sun
angle. Uh, again, how much? Don't know. You know, what .... it would be
helpful to have that information, but we don't have it. So .... so my position at this
point is .... I'm willing to .... to grant the two additional bonus heights, uh, with the
emphasis on the Tate Arms, um, but given all the uncertainties in terms of this
project and as ... was noted, you know, the energy efficiency of the building was
really not the starting point of this project. I would .... I would like there to be a ... a
rescoping, if you will, a reevaluating of this project, both in terms of market
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conditions and improving its energy efficiency, moving forward from the platform
of a 10 -story building. And see to what degree any additional floors may in fact,
um, address the issues that I've been raising, but for now, there're just too many
uncertainties for me to support the idea of five additional floors.
Mims: I think as everybody's said, um, and first let me say thank you, to everybody
who's come and spoken and who has expressed an interest, and .... and shared their
views with us. I would certainly agree with my colleagues that this is a very
large, very complex project and one that may have, um, potentially the biggest
impact on this city of any other project that has been approved by a city council,
um, ever maybe. Um, and .... and I sat here through the discussions, um, multiple
years for the Chauncey, um, and that's .... kinda small potatoes actually, um,
compared to this one. Um, but talking of the Chauncey, one of the things that
was .... that's interesting and .... and brought to my mind tonight was a lot of the
discussion at that time and concern about the height of that building were so many
people who were against the height of the Chauncey said 15 stories are fine south
of Burlington. It's the proximity to the neighborhoods, it's the proximity to
downtown, but south of Burlington is fine. And now that we're looking at 15
stories south of Burlington, we ... hear lots of other issues about why maybe 15
stories is not okay. Okay? So for me, when I look at it .... I don't think anybody
has the answers,or at least I haven't heard them, on what this .... what, how this is
going to actually impact vacancy rates. We don't .... we don't have any hard and
fast numbers on what that is going to do. But I also hear and think about the
many hours that we have talked about and debated how much money we should
put towards affordable housing, because of the significant need for affordable
housing in our community, and basic economics tells me supply and demand has
an impact. And so as we increase that supply, then that should help some, um, in
terms of the rents, okay? I can't tell you who's going to get hurt, who's not going
to get hurt, but it also relates to one other comment that I've heard repeatedly, and
I'm really not sure where it got started, and I .... I don't believe that it's true, and
that is the continual labor.... continual labeling of steel structured.... steel
structures as luxury housing. Okay? To me, it is steel because of the height. It is
because that is the way you have to build over eight stories or so. You can go up
about eight with concrete and wood, then you gotta go steel. It doesn't
necessarily make it luxury. I took a tour through the Rise building before they
opened. And again I've heard that one referred to as luxury housing. When I
walked into those apartments and looked around, I would not consider that luxury
housing. Do they supply certain amenities.... to provide for entertainment for
students and activities for students, which make a healthy living environment?
Yes they do. To .... to me personally, that's not luxury housing. Um, I'm thinking
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of like super upscale amenities within my living space, if I'm gonna call it luxury,
but maybe that's just different opinions, um, from different people. Comments
have been made about affordable housing. We are not, one, new construction is
hard to be affordable, downtown it is impossible to be affordable, unless there is
significant taxpayer subsidy. You're talking about the highest priced land in the
city is downtown, and then you put new construction on top of it, it's not going to
be affordable as we describe affordable, unless there's a huge, uh, tax subsidies to
it. We don't know what the ... the rents are gonna be in these new units. Um.... so
...the 15 stories, per se, do not bother me. Um, I see the increase in ... in supply,
which I think can have a positive impact on our community. Um .... I think
comments were made about density versus urban sprawl. I think .... I totally agree
with that. We need to build more dense, uh, trying to protect our farm land
around our city, and if you don't care about that, think about also your taxes in
terms of how much city infrastructure we have to build. You start developing all
these single-family home developments and studies show that the property taxes
on those hardly pay for, and maybe don't pay for the city infrastructure, the
seats ... the street, the snow removal, the water lines, the sewer lines, etc. So
having more dense development helps offset, um, those costs. When we talk
about the views .... uh, when this first came up, and particularly when it was
referred to .... referring to views of the Courthouse, as I drove up and down
Burlington Street, you can't see the Courthouse from Burlington Street. Period.
Between the buildings that are already there and between the trees that are already
there, you... there's maybe one little gap where you can see the Courthouse. So to
me the only impact, particularly on the Courthouse, might be if you're looking at
the Courthouse say from the southeast and then these buildings are the backdrop,
to the Courthouse. And so maybe that concerns you. Urn .... to me we're opening
up a view of the Old Capitol that we don't currently have, and with the height of
the skywalk, um, and we'll get into some of these other issues later, that does not
have enough of an impact, um, for me to not support the development. I ... I really
feel that there are more positives for this for the community as a whole, for
students, for affordable housing, um, that I will .... I am in support of the 15
stories.
Bergus: I also just want to thank everyone who's provided input. As a new City
Councilor, this has been a very difficult topic to grapple with, both in terms of the
volume of the information, the time that it's been pending, trying to defer to the
careful policy decisions that the prior Council enacted, and just trying to take in as
much as possible, up until this moment. So I've been scribbling a lot of notes,
um, not .... don't have good prepared remarks like everybody else, but I really do
wanna focus on the issue that's in front of us, and we do lack a specific policy,
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um, relating to some of the values that we've articulated yet tonight, and without a
policy that says in order to have a height bonus you have to do these five things,
we have a policy that says we have discretion. And so we have discretion to ask
for items of public benefit, based on what the current Council believes are our
priorities, furthering our strategic plan goals that we think are for the benefit of
the community as a whole, and ... and to Councilor Weiner's point, I think some of
that shift, I think some of that may have shifted a little bit within the last few
years and the developer's proposal, you know, focusing so much on student
housing, so much of that has been built within the last few years. That's less of a
priority to not have sustainability be at the core of the presentation from the
developer. I articulated last meeting is really.... really kind of disappointing, and
so I just wanna... wanna focus in on .... on the height bonus request as a tool to try
and achieve these other, um, public benefits, and I think if we look at....at the
climate crisis that, um, you know has just been really recently declared and the
plans that we have in trying to react as a government, what we can do about that,
the specific sustainability items that the developer has speaken... spoken to today, I
think, are very important. I would not be in favor of granting the height bonus
without those kinds of. ... of requirements. Um .... I also think it is important to
think about density, both in terns of urban sprawl, as well as in terms of the
height itself, and the fact .... this is where I go back to what the previous Council
very carefully considered and articulated in terms of where .... a request like this
might even be entertained, in this particular block, in this particular configuration,
south of Burlington but so close to downtown was one area identified as if we
ever have density, you know, if we ever have a building height of 15 stories, this
is an appropriate spot for it, and I .... I do take that into consideration and it's... it's,
you know, um, persuasive to me when considering the benefits of density from
the environmental standpoint, and .... the other thing that I think about in terms of
this Council and our priorities is the affordable housing component. So, um, I did
try to set aside any confirmation bias that I had, thank you, Sara, but, urn ... I .... I
did find it very, uh, persuasive that the Affordable Housing Coalition, which
doesn't just represent one, um, perspective, but tries to have a variety of
viewpoints, uh, was unanimously in favor of this project, at the proposed density
and height, um, and .... and I think that .... you know, our .... our former Mayor, uh,
Jim Throgmorton, at one point made a comment like, well, uh, governments can't
make market, but governments influence markets, or something along those lines,
and I .... and I think to the point of, uh, the Affordable Housing Coalition,
the ... what we can do in allowing this many potential units, which could only be
constructed if the developer decides that it is appropriate in the market, with the
supply and demand, and conforms to whatever conditions we may impose. If that
happens, if we allow for that, um, it....it really does influence the supply
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and .... and I think, you know, I also can't say who would be harmed by that. I'm a
small landlord myself. I understand, you know, the pressures in the market, but I
also think that we know that landlords in our community and throughout the state
have also benefited from some pretty significant tax relief in the past few years
and that that is also, you know, one factor when I look at the .... the cost benefit
and who all, urn .... might bear, I think what would be unintended consequences of
increasing the supply, potentially significantly for the student population in our
community. So I am in favor of granting the height bonus to the full 15 stories,
with requirements relating to, um, the sustainability elements that we've been
discussing that I think we need to nail down.
Salih: Um .... I'm gonna support this project for the 15 story because of the following. I
believe the Riverfront Crossing master plan meant to be built high over there, and
downtown maybe not, but south Burlington is ... meant to build high. So I support
the 15 -story building there and the ... I just would like to see also, as Laura said and
the other Council said, like sustainable .... sustainability and also like, uh, make
sure this building will be, uh, have a security and management and all this kind of
thing, which he's going to talk about it later. But .... uh, what I like about this
building is just, uh, of course you know thank you very much for.... agreeing to
like pay fee in lieu for affordable housing, and thank you also, Sara, for
supporting this as the Affordable Housing Coalition. Uh, I think, uh, if we look at
the ... budget proposal from President Trump right now, cutting a lot of thing to
housing and social services support programs, uh, and also eliminating CDBG
and Home programs, and cut voucher and Housing fund. Then .... he as a
developer helping creating affordable housing that will be affordable forever, is
needed right now more than ever, because if we cannot receive those fund, you
never know, and if this fund has been cut that we used to do affordable housing
with them, then .... we need another help, and uh, to the point of Councilwoman
Taylor that, uh, affordable housing need to be in the, like the same building. I
don't think so. I really agree with Susan Mims about downtown, affordable in
downtown, that's hard, and new construction, and also furnished apartment. How
all this, you know, all this things cannot make that affordable, that's why when I
ask for fee in lieu, because we would like to build affordable housing that will be
affordable for forever. And this is supposed to be spend in Riverfront Crossing
and I think there is many way to do. There is like Affordable Housing Coalition
and other people have real experience about affordable housing. They can come
up with a plan that we can spend the 9,400,000 I think, and build affordable
housing there. Uh, I also like it a lot union members here, which is ... I wanna see
a building that .... local project, local labor, you know, bring more jobs to the
community, and got like livable wage, and this wages will be spent in our
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community, which is will be like really fantastic, and I love project that being
built by unions, because as a community organizer at Center for Worker Justice,
the misclassification of workers, many, many building that been built by outsider
in this town, we know all the problem that been happen from wage theft, like
misclassification and discrimination, and also low -quality building. And I thinks
like making local people, union that we know, this is ... this is great to see. Uh... I
thinks I conclude by I support the 15 -story building and ... with all the thing that
we're going to discuss later about sustainability and (mumbled) Yeah.
Teague: So I guess it's down to me as far as my comments on this project. Um, I do
wanna say thanks to the many voices that have come out. Um, I've talked to....
spoke to a lot of people in the community. Um, I appreciate everybody bein' here
today to share their thoughts, their passion on this project, and as a real special
thanks to the Council because this has been, um, what I know, um, a project that
many people, as you can tell by the comments that have been shared today, um,
the Council has listened to the community, and uh, those that reached out to them.
They've deliberated a lot on the content and .... all the elements that, um, as a part
of this. For myself, I can tell you that I am, uh, definitely not a .... a confirmation
bias person. Um, where I came here really to hear from the community, continue
to hear from the community, continue to hear from my fellow Councilors, to...
come to a decision or to a place where I feel is, um, where I want to be. This is
one where, um, there's some great things in this project. When we talk about
climate action, we talk about density, and you know, I'm not gonna repeat a lot of
the things that's already been talked about, um, in .... in great detail. I'll keep it at
somewhat of a high level. So, um, density, that is somethin' that, uh, at least for,
uh, climate action, there's some positives there. Again, when we talk about
climate action because of density, there's some missing pieces here. When we,
uh, and ... and I think, you know, uh, Councilor Weiner talked about the energy
efficiency, that we really do wanna see this standard, and ... and on this project, and
also ensure that it's on future development projects. Um, even Councilor Bergus
talked about, you know, the height bonuses, um, is a tool that we .... that we have
leverage for, uh, when developers come to us, to ask for public benefits, uh, to
achieve some of the goals that Council has. Um, when I think of the ... the
opportunity for the construction trades, those are benefits, those are great things.
We're talkin' about local money circulatin', dollars circulated within our
community, and so that is a huge thing for us to consider. Um .... I'll tell you that,
you know, the balconies and the skywalk and the angled parkin', I'm gonna wait
until we get there, um, after I kinda tally up where people are thinkin' on this, um,
essentially yes/no, and I also heard a deferment, uh, proposal, uh, potentially from
one of the Council. When we, um ..... as I look at this, and I .... and I think of the
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vacancy rates. We've heard from.....landlords. I've heard from large landlords
that have .... I .... I call `em a large landlord, 20 -plus, um, properties. I've heard
from large landlords that support it. I've heard from large landlords that don't.
I've heard from small landlords that don't. I don't know that I've heard from any
small landlord, um, that does support this right now, in the moment when I'm
thinkin' about this. Um, I am a small landlord and, urn .... I do know that vacancy
rates matter. You know, it does matter. Vacancy rates will affect our community.
Um, I think, urn .... economics, basic economics, as Councilor Mims has
mentioned, um, when we're talkin' about our affordability goals as Council, we
have to rely on .... the landlords within our community help us achieve that. One
basic way to economics is just the market will shape itself, is my believe, where
we will have affordable housing. You know, the $9 million, I'll tell you that.... $9
million, if we had one family (mumbled) they can spend it as they want, it's like
winnin' a million dolla.... you know, win .... winnin' the lotto. But forme, I'll just
say this.....the opportunity for someone to live in Riverfront Crossing in this
building or any other projects, is worth more than money when we talk about the
opportunity and exposure to other things that students who are, um, financially
wealthy experience. I think exposure to other cultures and other individuals can
provide a life lesson that other .... that they may not be able to receive if we are,
one, potentially creating all affordable in one location. That's not to knock
anybody, um, if you ... I won't get .... get in too deep, but if you're ..... if you're just
talkin' about a product of your environment, I think exposure is how people get
beyond where they are, and so, um, I .... I appreciate the $9 million. In this project
we're gonna take the $9 million (laughs) but I just wanna make the statement that
opportunity and exposure is worth more than $9 million. That is more of a big
global, um, thing that 1, you know, definitely heard .... from, urn.... there.... there's
some policy changes, uh, that I think Council will have to consider, outside of this
project, but today we're asked .... if our ...you know, if we will support the 15, uh,
story height bonus. We know that the University of Iowa, uh, these are the
students that this is bein', uh, marketed to. This ... that, those are the students that
will be there. There's uncertainty as we talk about the .... the.....the, you know,
over the 100 -year, the .... I think I had it at $3.5 billion. That sounds awesome!
And if we were to get that as a community, that will do a lot of the goals of this
community, not just the Council, but the ... the goals of this community. We don't
know if this will be sold to another developer, and we can't....I won't go there.
Um, I think that's just too much, you know, speculation and all that other stuff. If
it's sold to the University of Iowa in the future, we know that we won't get the tax
dollars. There is no mechanism for us to put a stipulation on this project, as we
couldn't do any other development to get .... um, to ensure that we get tax base
from this, uh, project ... in the future. So we don't have any tools in our toolbox to
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do that, and I think, um, it is not .... Council at least in my view, it's not Council's
place to kind of, um, hold any developer, um, at bay because we don't have that
tool in our toolbox. I am ... you know, this is a decision that I think is very
monumental. Um, it does affect some individuals. It will affect some.... some of
our individuals, specifically some of our, um, property owners. It will have an
affect. I am very, uh, fully aware of this. I wish there was somethin' that, uh, I
can do to ensure that that won't happen. Um, flip side, I do believe that it will
affect our market, uh.... uh, allow affordable housing. Um, there's a lot of people
within our community, um, well in the periphery that I always mention. They
wanna be here in Iowa City, and I ... I think I heard that 53% or somethin' like that
of. ... of our rental market is University of Iowa students. And, um, there's a large
missing piece of people that wanna be here. And I think, um, this project and
other projects might be that catalyst to reach some of our goals. I think I'm ready
to make a decision, at least within myself. One thing .... you know, I don't know
....you know, we really have to get serious about our climate crisis, and .... when
do we .... you know, when do we say this is where we .... we're gonna, you know,
we're gonna start it. We understand that we have the commission that's gonna
come back, um, after the I00 -day report and come back to Council, but this is
such a .... a huge project. We have all said that this is one of the biggest decisions
Council has made in a while. I don't know if I can get anyone to kinda,
um ... defer this (laughs) um, so that we can have more discussions about .... if we
really wanna get serious about our climate crisis. I really do think that the energy
performance target, we need to talk about. This is an opportunity. We have a
height bonus for five stories. Um, and this is a tool that we have as a Council to
reach some of those goals. We have the energy efficiency and the standards that
we don't want only to be limited to this project, but to ... uh, future developments.
So .... I right now will probably make the .... request that we defer this for, uh,
some of the things that I just mentioned. So I don't know if I can, um, I guess I'm
gonna make a motion to defer. Is there a second?
Thomas: I'll second it.
Mims: I .... I won't, yeah, I won't support the deferral. Um, I think I made it really clear
two weeks ago that I felt that we needed to do our homework and come prepared
to make a decision tonight. Um, while I appreciate all the comments, you know,
about the climate crisis, and agree that we need to get more serious about it. I
think we also, in all fairness, have to look at it from the standpoint of. ... look at
timelines, and where, uh.... you know, we've .... we made that declaration .... I can't
remember how many months ago or whatever. This is a project that's been kind
of in process for two years, and .... it's almost like you wanna stop a project that's
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in the middle of its process so that we can get stricter requirements in place that
we hadn't gotten around to doing already. That's on us! That's on us that we
hadn't already done that. Um .... and we've been talking, like you said, we've got
the commission, we've got the 100 -day report, etc. They're going to come back.
I absolutely and totally agree that we need to look at those things very carefully,
and need to make improvements and more stringent requirements, and I think we
need to do that .... in collaboration with our development community and builder
community, so we, again this becomes, or can become, in conflict with our
affordable housing goals. So .... I don't think there's any quick and simple
answers to .... that whole issue. And so to basically stop a project in its tracks to
try and do something that could take weeks or months, am .... I don't .... I don't
think that's a fair way to deal with people that we're trying to do business with.
Teague: I would just like to respond to that, and I would agree. I .... I think we've had
other, uh, projects before us where, um, I've .... I made mention that the
comprehensive plan, um, isn't where we want it to be, uh, it's outdated, and ... I
didn't want to hold those developers to some of the new information and some of
the new, um, goals of the Council, and so .... I've, um, forwent some of those new
goals of the Council to really, um, push that, uh, project through, because it was
totally in line with the comp plan, but in this project right here where I .... I see we
have an opportunity, um, and it is because we have leverage. Um, and so that is
where I ... I, you know, normally I think you're exactly right. We don't hold, um,
one developer to a standard that we won't hold other developers. I think right
now it is an opportunity and, um, I just wanna see what other Councilors are
thinkin' as far as like if we're serious about our climate crisis, if we're serious
about, um, you know, this bein' a .... a.....a, some leverage. I just wanna see what
other people think.
Thomas: Well my .... you know, my position of approving the 10 was in effect ... trying to
create the space for that conversation to happen, of getting a higher level of
integration of our climate action goals into the project, rather than having them
tacked on at the end as conditions, without .... in .... in my view looking at .... you
know, if we're re .... again, really serious about climate action, it needs to be more
deeply integrated into the building itself, so that these issues of embodied carbon,
which also apply to the steel and concrete. Did mention that in my presentation,
but that's one of the .... a critical concern with high buil .... tall buildings is the fact
the structural system is high embodied carbon. Now there are, as Austin
mentioned, uh, mass timber systems which can replace the concrete and steel, but
that's not what we're seeing with this project. So .... you know, my hope had been
that this, given the size of this project. I think Susan's argument if this were kind
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of a standard project would be one thing, but this is ... this is a building which will
define the downtown. And so I think the stakes are .... are considerably higher in
terms of if we want this project to reflect our values, because it is going to be of
such a scale, um. .... I'm not confident if we approve it tonight and move forward
on it that it's going, in the end, we're gonna find that it satisfies.....those
standards.
Weiner: I don't personally think that it's unfair to .... discuss adding, or to add a
requirement. For example, such as LEED silver with a certain number of energy
points. The ... um, the project manager has already expressed.... the.... the
willingness to consider that. Um, I .... the, I don't believe that the, we've seen
renderings, but I do not believe that the actual planning, the actual architectural
plans have been .... have been started yet. I could be wrong, but I don't believe
that's the case. So I think it is entirely fair for a building of this .... for a building
of this scale, and which wold so fundamentally change the, uh, at least one
portion of Iowa City to view it through that climate change lens, with the energy
efficiency lens ... lens attached to .... in .... in order to grant the extra five stories.
Mims: I guess my question to you, Janice, with that ... are you talking about... going above
and beyond some of the discussions that have already taken place, with potential
amendments? And ... and having to defer for that, or are you referring more to
some of the potential amendments that I know individual Councilors have already
discussed? One-on-one.
Weiner: I'm referring to existing potential amendments. I have .... I would like to see
different things going forward in .... as we look at amending the code, um, but I
think that, uh.... if we were to appro.... if we were to approve, uh, this project that
it ... that the project itself should be seen as, um, a .... a flagship and a leader in this
field, sort of the first to really implement some of these standards on a large scale,
even if going forward we would want to make them somewhat more stringent.
Becau.... because, yes, it's been in the planning for a couple of years. I don't
know if that's clear or not, but basically what I'm saying is yes, I would be fine
with the .... the amendments that we have .... that we've discussed, um, privately
for future reference and for .... for looking at what we would ... we would want in
the code going forward, I would likely ask for more.
Bergus: I just want to make this explicit. So I reached out to staff requesting certain
sustainability, um ... uh, recommendations based on solar and, um, you know,
what .... what could we have as standards for improving the sustainability of this
project, and we looked at the, uh... the TIF policy, which is one.... previously
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articulated policy of the Council that .... that requires, you know, should the
developer get that benefit, and here we have a different benefit, which is the
height bonus, but should the developer get that benefit. There's a requirement for,
uh, minimum LEED silver certification with at least eight points, going, uh, you
know, based on the, urn.... optimized energy performance credit. And so what
we ..... what we have in front of us for consideration is some specific language
requiring that. Uh, requiring rooftop solar to generate at least 150,000 -kilowatt
hours annually, um, and if it's phased in, a minimum of 75,000 -kilowatt hours
annually, and installing only low -flow fixtures in the residential units, and
common bathrooms, and it has a definition of that. So, um, that's what I was
referring to as far as, you know, the specific requirements. Um, if we were to
defer, I would hope that we would have .... try and be very articulate about what
we're hoping to determine or consider or require, um, so that we can be
purposeful in .... whatever additional information we would need to get. So I ... I
just wanted to be explicit that I feel like that satisfied those requests as far as I'm
concerned.
Salih: I agree with you, Laura, you know, if we really wanna defer this, we have to talk
right now about what we wanna see, uh, next time and I don't know, uh, for all
this kind of (unable to understand) requirement, is that something have to be like,
uh, on the agreement now, so we can vote for it, or this is something we can add it
later? (unable to understand)
Dilkes: I think we have to have.... description of what's being required.
Salih: Then in this case I guess we just have to defer it and, uh, make sure what kind
of. ... what we wanna add, like (both talking)
Dilkes: ....that's included in the handout (several talking)
Mims: Let me ... let me just maybe make it clear to the public, urn .... I think various
Councilors have had just kind of some one-on-one meetings, trying to .... kind of
figure out what people were looking for, what, you know, what was important,
etc. Um, and as Councilor Bergus said, she specifically reached out to staff and
said, hey, here's.... here's some things I'm interested in. Might wanna offer as an
amendment to the resolution, and ... we all have been up here long enough to
realize that particularly when you get into something that's complex like this, you
don't just add an amendment from the floor without.... being fairly specific in the
language, and so requested that staff help out in terms of drafting some language
so that .... we knew, and the developer would know and staff would know what do
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these amendments really mean and what kind of requirements would they really
put, and so, um .... so there's the environmental sustainability. The balconies have
been an issue from the beginning, that staff, uh, did not recommend the bal... the
balconies. Uh, Planning and Zoning did approve balconies. Um, so that has
been, you know, a point of discussion, so we knew that could go either way. So
we have language in the .... in the resolution, and we asked for language to go in
the opposite direction, so that we would be prepared for that. Um, the skywalk
was another one that there was some discussion on, and then the Capitol Street
design, either angled parking or parallel parking. So basically the intent from
individual Council Members was .... these are some things that we .... we know that
we're going to discuss and we don't know which way we're gonna fall on `em,
but we wanna have specific language in front of us, either way we go, and so staff
has asked to do that for us. So ... to your point, Maz, and maybe that you hadn't
seen this, there is language prepared, um, on those environmental issues that
Laura had asked staff to do. So we do have that in front of us.
Salih: Yeah, I see that. I see what you talking about, environmental sustainability, but
really I'm .... I'm looking (unable to understand) but there is more to it, like, uh,
what Martha said early. I guess she brought like a lot of good point, that we can
add here. (unable to understand) I thinks as she said if we need to add
something, we have to add it now, or....
Mims: And .... and I guess I would say, I'm in the same boat that Laura is. I think I'm
comfortable with, on the environmental sustainability with the three points that
would be here in this amendment. I would like to see us looking at this much
more closely, in terms of what additional requirements we would make on future
projects, but I'm comfortable with this for this project.
Teague: Any other comments before we take a vote?
Bergus: Well I guess .... we're voting on the deferral (both talking)
Teague: The deferment. (several talking) ....um, just up or down vote.
Bergus: Yeah. Is there, um, just .... like what ... what would we be looking for to nail it
down for the next meeting?
Teague: I think for me where the hesitancy came .... um.....is really related to the climate
action. I know some of the other things that I won't go into, like the vacancy
rates, um, my heart really goes out to the .... to the landlords, but um .... if there
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was an opportunity for us to really look at.....because we .... we did one-off
conversations. We didn't.... staff did give comment, um, on the things that we
specifically submitted, and I asked to put into language, but there wasn't like a
comprehensive recommendation from staff on some of the things that might be,
um, you know, even from the 100 -day report, that could be added .... to meet our
climate crisis, and so that ... I think that's my reason for doin' this, is just to allow
staff some time to navigate that one aspect. I, you know, the vacancy rates and a
lot of the other things, you know, the balcony, the sky .... I'm not referrin' to that,
is really if we're gonna be serious about our climate ac ... uh, crisis, um, goals and
achievin' that, if we just allow one more meeting, and unfortunately I didn't
notice, that was something that.... even though we tried to navigate it, you know,
it was somethin' that I .... I ..... I just have a pause, just to look at what that might
be, and this is our opportunity, um, to .... right now to .... to do that.
Thomas: Yeah, and I .... I had not .... seen the .... these, the actual language until I walked in
this evening. And, uh.... what was also raised in the course of the meeting was
another notion, uh, raised by Martha of the energy performance targets. So there
are these different, uh, criteria that can be applied to .... energy efficiency in a
particular proposed project. So .... you know, I .... I .... as is clear I have .... I had a
number of other issues related to how this project affects the .... the context in
terms of energy performance (laughs) shall we say, but it does seem .... you know,
having an opportunity to better understand what would be applied to this, and we
have the....you know, the language pulled from our TIF requirements and that we
also have the, at least an opportunity to .... (mumbled) I would like a better
understanding of the energy performance targets, as they relate to building
performance.
Fruin: I could, uh, offer some.... some thoughts on this, uh, as you... as you work your
way through it. Um, introducing a new energy standard for .... for a project like
this is not something we can come back with in two weeks and have ready for
you. To give you some context, when we worked through this with ... with, on this
particular issue with our TIF policy, that was several months of debate, of analysis
by the EDC committee, uh, by Council, to get to that TIF plus eight standard. So
I think when you're talking about introducing a new standard, with the intent to
not only imply, uh, apply that to this project, but to future projects, you're gonna
look at a much more robust project, uh, process to develop that standard. You're
gonna have lots of folks from the community that wanna, uh, inform you of their
thoughts. You're gonna have a Climate Action Commission that's gonna wanna
weigh in on that as well. So if you defer with the intention to set a new energy
standard that hasn't been contemplated before, I .... I would expect, um, that
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you're going to need considerable more time than two weeks to develop that
standard. I understand there's other communities that have that, but typically in
my experience you can't just pluck .... a standard from that ... from that code
and ... and use that as our standard without considerable debate. I think the
building community, the architectural community, uh, the ... the climate advocates,
again, they're all gonna warm weigh in on that standard. Now in the 100 -day
report, we do identify that the, um, that these bonus height requirements need to
be revisited, particularly it needs to be a requirement for any bonus height to....to
meet some standard, but again, we're trying to follow a process in which the
Commission is reviewing that report, and they're gonna come back to you, agree,
disagree, reprioritize and then we're gonna get to work on that. So .... my, my
thought is, you know, I appreciate.... your responding to the calls from the
community here. I like the idea of basing that on a current standard that's been
vetted, um, and that's our TIF policy. I think if you feel like that's inadequate for
a project like this, um, unless you're prepared to defer for a substantial period of
time, you .... work within that framework. You know, maybe it's LEED gold
instead of LEED silver, and I know that's not gonna satisfy everybody, but, um, at
least it's a framework that has been vetted publicly that was ... that decision was
made with considerable public input into that process.
Salih: If there is any way we can add to those like three? Uh... like option that we have
here and (mumbled) and .... (mumbled) since it going to take time. It's not fair for
the developer to wait really.
Teague: Yeah, um, I ... I guess I ... I was the one that made the deferment, urn .... I know that,
uh, Council has ga... given great thought to some of the things that we wanna be
prepared for today. Um, you know, to .... to even hear right now on the cusp, me
to ask Council to even think about what you just proposed, like do we want ... is
there one thing we wanna add, like LEAD gold and all that other stuff, I don't
know that I .... I'm askin' of that. Um, what I would propose is that, um .... we
maybe take the vote and see where we land, urn .... on this and then we move from
there, but um .... I know that I .... I don't know what the goal, you know, what the
gold means, you know, as far as this project and so .... I, that is not what I'm askin'
of ....of the Council for this deferment.
Salih: I guess before we .... we take the vote, let us think about, you know, if we can
change (mumbled) just move forward, and so after that if we can (mumbled) you
can just withdraw the .... the motion, right?
Dilkes: You can talk about that now before you vote.
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Salih: Yeah.
Mims: What kind of, I mean, do you have a specific idea of a change that you would
make (both talking)
Salih: (both talking) ....propose idea. Laura, do you have something else to add to that
environmental sustainability? Should that we have (both talking)
Bergus: ....my concern was if we deferred it and just say to staff here's some ideas that
you helped us develop, but this isn't it but we don't know what it is. I .... I don't
feel like that's a fair process. Um, and that's why having a standard that was
vetted and, you know, has been implemented, um, that's where I got to my
comfort level, uh, with the additional, you know, in addition to that, the solar
requirement, which'll probably help them meet that standard, but .... but making
that a specific requirement, and um, the low -flow fixtures, urn .... you know, again,
I ... I just wanna make sure we're being as specific as we can, based on the, if we
were to defer it, it would be for a purpose to include something that would
actually be an amendment to the resolution.
Teague: And .... I'm .... I'm sorry, this is....this is .... this is Council time, but we appreciate
the offer. Um, any other comments, or are we ready to vote?
Weiner: I mean one of the reasons that ... that I also said yes to this LEED silver standard
with the eight points for energy is because it has been vetted, and while it's not
my ideal for other projects going forward, it is, uh, it is something that has been
considered by this Council and by the public as .... as a standard for, uh, for
developers who ... who are asking for TIF money. And so it's not an unknown and
it's not an unexpected ask, if you're looking at sustainability and energy
efficiency. And again.... looking at a.....at an entirely different.... process, which
would be what we go through with the .... with the Commission and with their
report. That's a separate issue at this point for me. The issue that I'm looking at
right now is how .... is what can we as a Council do, if we were going to approve
this height, this .... this height bonus request, that will get us considerably more
energy efficiency that we might, than we would otherwise have seen in this
project, with a standard that the development community here already knows to
expect.
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Teague: So we have a motion on the floor for deferment. Um, are we ready to, uh, vote?
All in favor say aye. Any opposed? (several talking) So ... it's not a roll call. It is
an up or down vote.
Dilkes: So ... why don't we raise our hands. Who voted for deferral? Okay.
Teague: I didn't hear the .... the second vote. So, um, motion passes, uh, motion fails 2-5.
All right, so we have the original motion to approve the resolution, um ..... we
need another motion to go back there, or since the deferment, we ... the motion is
still there (both talking)
Dilkes: (mumbled)
Teague: All right!
Fruin: Yeah, so, uh, Mayor, we have the .... the handout in front of you, we're prepared to
put on the screen and .... and as Danielle's puttin' that up I'll just, uh, really quick
explain. I think it's been alluded to, but I had four Council Members, uh, over the
last few days, um, ask me for, uh, or .... or share their thoughts on .... on potential
amendments, uh, so the City Attorney's office worked to draft some language, and
what you're gonna see on the screen is language that can, uh, both tells you what
is in the current resolution and then below, um, some suggested language on if
you wanna make a change to that item. So for example this first item that's on the
screen. Uh, the current resolution, uh, language is at the top. It says balconies
shall not be allowed, uh, I'm sorry, no balconies shall be allowed. If it's the
Council's will to allow balconies, then that language there below will, um, allow
you ... will get you to that point. Um, the second page deals with the skywalk. The
third page deals with the Capitol Street design, and the fourth page deals with the
three sustainability elements that have been mentioned, that is the LEED silver
plus, uh, with eight points in the optimize energy performance credit, the rooftop
solar modules, and the low -flow fixtures. So .... my suggestion is you take each of
those and formally one -by -one, um, if you've got questions we can work through
you on this (mumbled) I know you ... you all just got this when you .... when you
arrived here today. We can explain the language if needed, and then at the end,
uh, you can offer, um, one motion to amend the resolution, uh, with the language
that's included or modified, uh, and we'll be good to go with that one single vote,
if that's okay with you.
Salih: What do you mean one single vote for all of them?
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Fruin: No, you'll informally vote so we know what that motion should be (both talking)
so balconies, you'll informally kinda take a poll; we'll know if there's support for
balconies or not; we'll move to the next item. After we get through four, with any
more discussion, you should be ready to take your vote.
Teague: Okay (both talking)
Dilkes: (both talking) ...motion's made you can refer to the documentation you've been
provided.
Teague: Right. So I think, um, I'm gonna go with, um, balconies fust and then, uh, I know
that we've bad some deliberation on balconies. I wanna maybe first just take a,
um, who would be in support, urn .... to amend what is currently within the
resolution, ub, to allow balconies. If I can just see a .... urn ..... hands. So I see,
okay. Um .... so I'm gonna say that this would be, um, amended. And for number
two is the skywalk, um, I'm gonna do the same show of hands who would, um,
allow the construction of the skywalk, um, which would be an amendment to the
current resolution. If I can see a show of hands? Okay. (several talking) So...
Bergus: I'm thinking.
Teague: And .... and maybe I should also, um, if I can see a show of hands that say no to
the skywalk, and .... and keep the resolution as is. Please let me see your hands.
And ... all right, so this is one item that we'll probably come back and discuss.
Okay. It wasn't very clear there, and then for number three, it's the Capitol Street
design. So, urn .... if we want to go,um, different from the current resolution,
this'd be to allow, um, angled parking. So if you want to allow angled parking,
please raise your hand. (laughter) If you don't want to allow angled parkin' and
keep the current resolution as written with, uh, parallel parkin', please raise your
hand. Okay. So .... um, this one we won't do an amendment for, and then ... um,
the last and fourth item is the environmental sustainability. Um, if you are, um,
this is new, so this would be added. If you are inclined to vote for this, please
raise your hand. Okay. All right. So the only one that we need to maybe have
some, uh, opportunities ... for discussion on is the skywalk. Um .... so, please....
share!
Bergus: Looks like maybe I'm the undecided on this one. Um, so you know I just wanted
to kind of frame where my thoughts were at and then hear from my colleagues a
little bit hopefully. Um, you know the view shed part of it, I am less concerned
with. I think, you know, I work downtown, I walk to the Courthouse frequently,
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and you know, going down Burlington. My sister used to live in the Pentacrest
Apartments. I feel very familiar with the area, and um, you know, the ... there isn't
a view to the Old Capitol now and opening up Capitol Street is very, very
important, and so when I look at the, you know, the cost benefit of it, the view
shed piece is less, um, persuasive to me. The forcing people, urn .... I guess not
forcing people onto the street level is .... is more of a concern and I know we heard
from the developer that they are probably not looking to ori .... uh, the commercial
in the building necessarily towards the tenants, and so, um, I just .... I just sort of
worry about the, again, the idea of like what .... what are we .... what are we
encouraging or facilitating by having that so self-contained. Now on the flip side
I, you know, the .... the idea of not, um .... opening and closing (laughs) the doors
constantly to get people down onto the street and... and I guess the ... some small,
uh.... energy benefit from that is .... is compelling as well. It was just the general
convenience for the.... residents, but what are, I mean (several talking)
Mims: ...where I come down on it. To me, again, like with you, Laura, the view shed is
not critical to me. Again, with the transparency of that skywalk and the height of
it and really, you know, where you'd have to stand to have it impact your view of
Old Capitol, I .... I can live with that. I look at it, um .... kind of equity for
residents in the two towers, in terms of access to the amenities that are going to be
in there, and I also look at it as we talk about wanting these structures to be
flexible for different demographic over the next five, 10, 20, 30 years, of okay, so
maybe we don't have enough students to fill this place and maybe they decide to
condo three or four floors, you know, at the top of one of the towers, and you
know, maybe the .... makes logical sense, you condo the ones in the highest
building, which that's the east building and your amenities in your west building,
and so making it easy for people to get across there. I don't worry so much about
not pushing people out to the street, because you've got tons of students that are
gonna be getting out on the street every day, two or three times to walk to and
from classes. So .... to me, that kinda takes care of itself, because they're gonna
have to get out every day, to ... to go to classes, but I think having that connection, I
think particularly adds to, um, the attractiveness of the building for non -students
in the future.
Teague: I guess for me I just wanted to wait to see the renderings, um, today which we
were shown. I .... I honestly came to this meetin' with no decision on where I
would be, um, on this project. Um, but I am comfortable with what I've seen.
Um, I think some of the, uh, things that Councilor Mims just mentioned, um, I... I
would agree with, and I think overall it's the flexibility of the building. Um .... I
do get historic preservation, or you know, just some of the comments about, you
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know, the view. I hear it. I, um, I think what was presented would be, um, in my
opinion, um....very, uh, acceptable within our community, urn .... and so I, that's
why I support it.
Salih: For me I really torn, I don't know, but um .... part of me saying that this will be
really for like, uh, energy efficient, very good. People are not gonna walk out and
opening doors all the time and they can just use the skywalk, but at the same time
when I look at the staff recommendation and, uh, look at this from the, everything
that they said, when we open the Capitol Street I guess this important street so we
can, the view will be really good. So I just really think that, uh.... it is really
blocking the view of the Old Capitol from some angle (mumbled) uh, I don't
know like the picture that we have (mumbled) is from where we take that, but uh,
like maybe like close or far away, I .... I just think that it will (unable to
understand) Capitol, and I know that some people say the view is not important,
but I thinks for me it is important. The Capitol is really, uh, a major construction
(mumbled) important in Iowa City, and it's really ...I really don't know what to do
(laughs)
Mims: Can I make ... just make one comment to you?
Salih: Uh huh!
Mims: When I looked at .... one thing that was really compelling to me was with the
description tonight of how far south you had to be in order for the balcony, the
skywalk, to line up with the top of Old Capitol. You had to be like way down by
the jail.
Salih: Really?
Mims: Yeah. You had to be that far south, was .... I think way down by the jail. So if
you're up like on Court Street or just a little bit south of Court South, on Capitol
Street, that skywalk is gonna be way above the top of Old Capitol. So to me the
fact that you had to be all the way down by the jail in order to have it impact your
view of Old Capitol was that much more compelling to me that it ... it's not that
obtrusive in terms of the view.
Taylor: I still think that it's in the view, the skywalk is in the view no matter what
direction or how far away, 1,500 feet or 2,000 feet, you are, it's in the view and I
feel that it, uh, it distracts from everything around it, the surroundings and it
almost even seems to, uh, make those buildings seem even more massive, because
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they've got that connecting piece between them. So it just seems even bigger and
more massive than ... than it is, so, uh, I ... I'm not in favor of the skywalk.
Thomas: Well we did hear from the Historic Preservation Commission. They were not in
favor of the skywalk. Their .... their point of view, I think, matters, in my
assessment. Staff recommended against it. You know, the .... the notion we are
trying to promote walkable urbanism (laughs) which is not on a skywalk. It's on
the street, uh, between .... the buildings that make up this part of the downtown.
Uh, so .... it, to me this reflects this kind of world unto itself quality that the project
has, which .... I don't find consistent with the notion of trying to promote flow and
walkability and continuity at the street level. But, uh....
Salih: Can the staff tell us why this is not being recommended? Again (laughs)
Fruin: Yeah, I .... I think the ... the points that have been made in the negative hit it right on
the head. Both, uh, Pauline and John's concern articulate the same concerns
that ... that staff had. Uh, it's the view, I mean one of the desires to open up Capitol
Street is to recapture that view of the Old Capitol. You get four shots at it. We
gave .... we gave this one away in the 70s, and this is our chance to claim it, and to
me a .... a private structure, uh, that spans across the street, that, um, maybe blocks
isn't the right word, but interrupts that view, um, is .... is significant, and we are
giving a bonus for the return of Capitol Street, and ... and while it would be
returned for pedestrian and vehicular use, um, staff's thought was it should be
returned, the who .... the whole view shed should be returned for the height bonus.
Um .... uh, and then, um .... the second piece is, um, I think John mentioned there,
skywalks go against the principle of that walkable area, and you've seen cities
that have invested heavily in .... in skywalks, struggle with ground floor retail, and
I'm not suggesting that one skywalk is gonna do that, but I don't think that's the
type of, um .... environment that we've been trying to ... to create downtown.
We've been trying to push things out onto the street and create really pedestrian -
friendly streets. So there's clearly different opinions, and uh, that was .... that was
staff's thought on this particular issue.
Thomas: I .... I would just add quickly. Yes, the view is one aspect of this relationship of
Capitol .... Old Capitol as it's expressed by Capitol Street, um ... just in the same
way that Iowa Avenue is an expression of Old Capitol, uh, east -west. It's .... it's a
line of. ... force, if you will, emanating from Old Capitol. Old Capitol is the place
of origin of this town. It's sort of like at a, in my view, at a micro -scale, the ... the
aspirations of Iowa City were like Washington, D.C.'s in terms of identifying a
high elevation.... identifying two streets that projected out into the surrounding
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landscape, that ran at the four quadrants, and that that line would not be
interrupted. So it's a ... it's a line of force, so you know, using the Washington,
D.C. analogy, you know, running skywalks across some of the defining axes of
Washington, D.C. is at a .... the former capitol of Io ... you know, of the State of
Iowa the same intent I think was .... was attended with the layout of Old Capitol,
as it related to these two particular streets.
Weiner: I would like to see all of the Capitol Street right-of-way, um, see it back to the
City, um, and perhaps there .... this....this can also create a little bit of a price point
differential between the two buildings, so that if you're not.....if you don't want
all the amenities, um, and don't want in ... instant access to all of them, maybe you
end up paying a little bit less, but to me I just would really like a clean break.
Bergus: I have a question for our attorney. Um, the way that the resolution is currently
worded with the, um, dedicating the right-of-way without reservation of air rights
to the developer, would that preclude in the future them requesting some kind of
easement or something for .... and adding it back in later, if we say no now?
Dilkes: Urn .... I don't think so.
Bergus: So the option would be open to (both talking) add it later?
Dilkes: (both talking) ....vacation of that right-of-way just like anybody could.
Bergus: For just that use? Okay.
Teague: So, are we ready to do, um, maybe a .... a.....a hand vote again, just to see where
we land? I'm gonna start with what's currently in the resolution, um, which is not
to .... uh, grant the skywalk, so that would mean no skywalk. So if you're in favor
of the current resolution, with no skywalk, please raise your hand. Okay. And if
you are in favor of the skywalk, I think, please raise your hand. So all right , this
will not go, um, as a part of the amendment. (sighs) So, Councilors, are we ready
to, um .... move to approve a resolution....
Mims: I would like to amend.....
Teague: With the amendment to allow balcony and environmental sustainability, as written
by staff, drafted resolution. So we'll get it all in one.
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Dilkes: Right, and I think all ... we just need a motion to amend pending resolution to add
the balcony language and the sustainability language provided by staff.
Teague: So that's separate with an up and down vote.
Dilkes: Right.
Teague: Okay.
Mims: So I move to amend the resolution, with the balcony language and the
environmental sustainability language, given to us tonight by staff.
Teague: Moved by Mims.
Salih: Second.
Teague: Seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 7-0.
Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
Mims: that's already (several talking)
Teague: Oh! So .... all right .... that's already on the floor. So we wanna do a roll call. All
right, and this is for, just so that we know what we're voting for, um, this is for the
five stories, the height bonus, for 12 E. Court Street.
Dilkes: As amended.
Teague: As amended. And so we're gonna do roll call and this is either you are supporting
it or you are not. Roll call please. Motion passes 5-7, uh, 5-0 (laughs) 5-2
(laughter) It's after 10:00 (laughs) Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion
passes 7-0.
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12. Robert A Lee Recreation Center Phase 2 Improvements — Resolution
approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the
Robert A Lee Recreation Center Phase 2 Improvements Project establishing
amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post
notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids.
1. Public Hearing
Teague: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
Seydell-Johnson: Welcome to the after party, hosted by (laughter, unable to hear) Let me keep it
really simple! Sothis is the project for Phase 2 of renovations at Robert A. Lee.
A couple things it's gonna do, it's gonna replace the fire alarm system, which
des... desperately needs to be done. It's gonna take the two small restrooms on the
pool deck, make them into one larger family changing restroom, a .... available
for .... also for people with disabilities, and then take the old racquetball court and
game room and turn those into a usable space for community groups, rec
programming, um, a variety of needs. That's all!
Teague: Great! Any questions for Juli? Thank you! All right, any public discussion on
this item? Seein' there's no public discussion, I'm gonna close the public hearing.
(bangs gavel) Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
2. Consider a Resolution
Mims: So moved.
Taylor: Second (both talking)
Salih: Second.
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Taylor. Council discussion? (talking in
background) All right! Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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3. Maximum Property Tax Levy — Resolution setting the maximum property
tax levy for certain levies for the proposed budget ending June 30, 2021.
1. Public Hearing
Teague: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hello!
Bockenstedt: Hello! Good evening.
Teague: Good evening!
Bockenstedt: (mumbled) (talking in background) Good evening. I'm Dennis Bockenstedt,
Finance Director for the City. Uh, tonight is the public hearing for the fiscal year
2021 maximum property tax levy. Uh, approval of the maximum property tax
levy is a new requirement. It was passed by the State Legislature in 2019. Uh,
this change pertains to the general levy, transit levy, the tort levy, the emergency
levy, and the employee benefits levies. Uh, the levies that were not impacted by
this change include the debt service levy, the library levy, and the SSMID levy.
Um, the proposed maximum property tax levy is $53,930,125. Uh, that's an
increase of 12.58% over last year's levy, and we're talking about just total dollars
that the City's asking for. Uh, there's various reasons why we had this much
growth in our property tax asking, um, one of those reasons is the property
reassessments that were done by the City Assessor. Uh, another would be new
construction that took place within the city. A third reason is that we added an
emergency levy, uh, this year and then also we did a slight increase to the
employee benefits levy. Uh, that 12.58% does not reflect the decrease that we
made, or that's proposed to the debt service levy, because that is not an impacted
levy. Uh, and since this increase is greater than 2%, it will require two-thirds
majority of the City Council to approve. Uh, for the FY21 budget overall, uh, the
property tax rate is decreasing, uh, by six -cents for 15.83 and 15.77, and the total
property tax revenues are budgeted to increase by 9.2%. So that difference
between those two is the difference in the impacted levies versus the non -
impacted levies. Um .... there'll still be a separate public hearing to, uh, adopt the
budget in March. Uh, however, this is a new mandatory step that the City Council
would approve the maximum property tax levy, uh, and that's what you're being
asked to do tonight. And I will, uh, try to answer any questions if you have any.
Mims: (several talking) ....on such a night (laughs) (several talking)
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Teague: Thank you! Anyone from the public who would like to address this topic? I'm
gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I get a motion to approve
the resolution?
2. Consider a Resolution
Salih: Move.
Teague: Moved by Mims.
Salih: By me!
Teague: Seconded by...Weiner. Um, I'm .... (several talking and laughing)
Salih: (laughing) Moved by me.
Teague: Moved by Salih, seconded by Weiner. Council discussion? I'm sleepy! (laughs)
Mims: I'm .... thrilled to see us able to lower the levy, again. I would like to see more,
but at least we've still been able to go down again, and I know we may not be
able to continue this forever, obviously, but uh, it's nice to see.
Teague: Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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14. Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Allocations — Resolution Adopting the
Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Allocations for Fiscal Year 2020.
Salih: Mayor, I will recuse myself from this.
Teague: Okay! Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
Mims: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Um, and hello! Yes, welcome!
Bowers: So this is just, um, a resolution based upon a recommendation from the Human
Rights Commission to approve funding for the first six, uh, top ranked applicants
and then partial funding for the seventh, um, highest ranked applicant. Okay?
Mims: Was it .... was it a hard process? I'm just curious (both talking)
Bowers: No, it's actually gotten a lot better. This was the fourth year and it, um, the
meeting was over, uh, within an hour, so (mumbled)
Mims: Okay.
Teague: Great.
Bowers: Thank you!
Teague: Well thanks for the ... um, for the process that you all go through to ... get to this
allocation request, so .... great!
Weiner: I think it's a ... (mumbled) I think it's a really impressive and diverse group .... that
....that the Commission has recommended that we support.
Teague: Is there anyone from the public that would like to address this topic? Council
discussion?
Taylor: (mumbled) ...what Janice said, that, uh, it's an impressive group of. ... of those
non -profits out there that, uh, these funds are going to go to, and thank them for
what they do for the community.
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Mims: Agree!
Teague: Totally agree! (several talking)
Weiner: I would add one more thing, and I'm sorry, I don't wanna prolong (both talking) I
really appreciate them, um, focusing on a group, uh, like Inside Out Reentry.
There's not a lot that we can do for people who have already served their time and
who have for example not necessarily been able to get their voting rights back but
this is something we can do to help.
Teague: I would second that, that's a great point to make. Any other.... discussion on this
topic? Roll call please. Motion passes 6-0, with one recrusal.
Dilkes: Based on a conflict of interest.
Teague: Based on a conflict of interest.
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15. Assessment Schedule -appeal 213 W Benton — Resolution adopting an
assessment schedule for unpaid mowing charges and directing the Clerk to
certify the same to the Johnson County Treasurer for collection in the same
manner as property taxes.
Teague: Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Teague: Moved by .... Mims, seconded by Salih, and .... hello! We're gonna open this up
for public discussion.
Moriarty: Hi, uh, my name's Ian Moriarty. I live at 213 W. Benton Street. Um, I feel that
this fee, uh, should be waived. Uh, I was at work and my wife was at home, and
someone from the City came. They told her that an area next to the garage was
overgrown, which it was, and that it needed to be cleared out. I came home. I
took care of it. I cleared out that area. Seven or eight days later, a crewman came
out from .... I don't know where, but they went around my house and they cut
down flowers and grasses that I was using like, uh, Echinacea, Black-eyed
Susan's, lilies, uh, some grasses I was using to make bouquets of flowers for my
pregnant wife, urn.... they.... didn't address anything in the area which had just
been pointed out to verbally with a hand signal to my wife. Um, I think they
over -stepped their bounds and did what they were not supposed to do, and I had
taken care of what had been asked of us. So .... that's my case.
Teague: Anything else you wanna state to the Council?
Moriarty: Um .... no.
Teague: Okay. Thank you!
Moriarty: Thank you!
Teague: Great. Um, we're gonna have staff come up.
Laverman: Good evening!
Teague: Good evening!
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Laverman: Stan Laverman, Senior Housing Inspector. So, it's, uh, my department, division
that oversees this. Uh, in your Council packet, uh, there was a notice of violation,
uh, that was sent to the property owner, where it spelled out what items needed to
be corrected. Uh, additionally there was pictures that were, um, taken by the
contractor, prior to the work being completed, that showed, uh, the issues that
were still in violation. Um, the notice of violation clearly spelled out that it was
the entire yard that was, had issues. Um, and proper notice was given, uh, proper
amount of time was given for correction. Uh, we were reacting also to a ... a
neighboring complaint. This wasn't a proactive type of inspection, but uh,
reaction to a....a, someone in the neighborhood that took issue with the thistles
and other, um .... weeds in the, and tall grasses in the yard. I'll take any questions.
Thomas: So, Stan, what I was hearing, uh, from the resident was ... there were what sounds
like flowering perennials that were intended, you know, that were planted
intentionally, not weeds.
Laverman: Sure!
Thomas: Do you .... do you disagree with that or .... (both talking)
Laverman: Uh, I would disagree with that, yeah, from .... or that they were so intertwined with
thistles and .... and other tall grasses that they wouldn't constitute a garden, but
they weren't planted intentionally.
Thomas: And was there also some .... if I recall correctly, that, uh, there was a, some
indication as to what areas were to be, uh (both talking)
Laverman: So when the inspector went out there the first time, she did indicate that she talked
to a tenant and had pointed out different areas, uh (both talking
Thomas: Inclu... including the area that the contractor then had to go back in to do?
Laverman: Yes. That's correct. Yep!
Salih: My question is really, you know, given the fact that, you know, the owner went
and, you know, just like work on it, and uh.... left something there, maybe they
don't know this is something that have to be removed. It happened to me, you
know, sometime I really don't differentiate between what you call it, not uh,
appropriate plant and what, uh, especially I'm on like new hou.... like owner for a
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house, and uh, I don't know what consider (mumbled) what consider good plant,
what consider bad plant, but just let us given the fact that this person (unable to
understand) you know. Uh, I guess if he would of known this is something have
to be removed, he done the job. He's not gonna (unable to understand) no, I'm
not gonna do this area, so the City can send somebody to clean the rest of it. But
if you come out and you find .... like nothing has been done, I would say yes, you
can like, uh, give them the violation, but .... I.. just given the fact that he just done
it immediately, maybe he really doesn't know this is something that need to be
addressed or...taken care of. I ..... you know, a lot people, they really don't know.
don't know how we can do that, uh, I .... I, it happen to me as well. It happen to
people that I know, and because they just don't know. But I .... I just want the
people to give the fact that this person, as soon as they know ... he know that he
have to do something, he went there and do it, but maybe he didn't address some
of it.
Taylor: I agree with Mazahir that perhaps he was confused about what exactly was
needed, and....and he's stating, we don't have the photos there that he'd cleared
the side of the house that he believed was .... was the issue and was just confused
about not having to do the other.
Laverman: Sure! You have the ... the photos were in the packet, correct, that showed the ... the
photos that the contractor discovered, and kind of the beds and the conditions they
were in and, uh, I think it's pretty obvious that there's thistles, uh, from those
pictures, up by the house. I mean it's .... for us that's a very common.... common
weed. Uh, and quite often we do come across yards that an attempt was made,
um, but we balance that out with, you know, there was a neighbor, there was
someone that made a complaint, so we have that concern, as well as, uh, the
concern of the resident of the house, and we .... we try our best to balance that out.
Salih: But I wanna tell you something, long time ago when I receive a notice, I was
renting on the west side. I receive a notice saying that we have to do this and this,
and immediately we went and done it, but after that, the person come and said you
know what you done almost 90% of the thing, but you need to do this and that,
because (unable to understand) we completed the job. And .... I don't know what
happen in his case. As long as this person attempt to do it, I don't thinks if he
would know, he would just leave it so he can get violation.
Weiner: Do we know .... what is the responsibility of the owner versus the renter here?
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Laverman: Ultimately the owner is always responsible for the property. So he may, you
know, pass that duty off to the tenant, but ultimately the owner is always
responsible for the maintenance of his property.
Bergus: And the assessment that we're talking about is against the owner, correct?
Laverman: Correct!
Teague: Is this (both talking)
Dilkes: The assessment, essentially the assessment will be a lien against the property.
If. ... if by virtue of the lease, the landlord has .... imposed that requirement on the
tenant, then we assume that the landlord will seek repayment from the tenant.
Salih: Uh huh. Yeah.
Teague: Is this the first time for this property or maybe for .... this gentleman?
Laverman: Yes. Yep!
Teague: Okay. Great.
Salih: Uh, I thinks really if this is the first time and he attempt to clean it, I guess we
should of. ... like just (unable to understand) this time ... and waive it. That's my
(mumbled)
Laverman: I mean we .... we deal with this on a ... on a very regular basis. Uh, how many were
on the last assessment that were .... I mean, well snow! You're gonna run up
against that as well, but I mean for the last assessment for tall grass and weeds, I
think there was 20 -some, uh, properties, and I .... I can't sit here and say that those
were, you know, their second or third time. A lot of those were their first time as
well, I mean it's, uh, there's seven days where, uh, that's, you know, clearly stated
in our ordinance that that's how long you have to rectify these situations, so....
Salih: I don't base my decision just on one time, no.
Laverman: Uh huh!
Salih: No, I base my decision, and this person who really done attempt to clean it and
make sure it's good, and he's (mumbled) kind of plant is being intentional or
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whatever maybe is not that .... you know, they don't have to be removed because if
I done the job....you know, I'm not gonna say, yes, I will leave this so I can get
violation for it. Uh, you know, and based on that first, and after that this is the
first attempt, so we can like do something about it.
Mims: I just find these .... (sighs) I mean.... challenging, heart -wrenching in a way. I
mean I think we have a responsibility as a city, we have to respond to the
complaints, we have to enforce the ordinances. I feel incredible compassion for
you and you're caught in the middle, um, and... sometimes we get here almost in a
he -said, she -said kind of situation. We've got .... photos that to me in some cases
aren't totally clear, um, and I can see where people can misinterpret, but I .... I find
it very challenging to not support what the staff and the contractors have provided
to us, and the door that that opens for all kinds of situations, whether it's snow and
weed removal, or snow removal or mowing and grass. So I'll .... I'll support the
staff's recommendation on this.
Thomas: I, uh, I'm not too concerned. I mean I tend .... being someone who .... who does
have an interest in .... wildflower gardens, shall we say, um, and there can be an
aesthetic judgment here in terms of...the neighbor feels it's weeds, the resident
feels no, I'm .... this is intentional what's going on here, and yes there may be
thistle growing through, um, but you know... there is an intention there.
Laverman: Right!
Thomas: And so it may be .... to me I view this as a misunderstanding, and to some degree
a .... differing opinion as to what is a weed patch and what (both talking)
Laverman: Sure!
Thomas: ...may have, uh, unintended invasives, but also have some other stuff going on in
it, that you know I, in this case, without any, saying anyone did anything wrong,
just say that, you know, let's .... let's waive the fee in this instance.
Laverman: You think Mike Wright is watching this time of night, cause Mike (both talking)
Thomas: Yeah, Mike Wright would be another example (several talking and laughing)
Laverman: ....had multiple discussions about, you know, what constituted a .... a well -kept
yard, and ... um, well, and there .... and there was communication there. That, and
that was different as well, that, you know, there'd be times that, uh, we would
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have that call and we would have that communication and we'd, you know, there
would be an understanding, you know, so without communication, staff's, you
know, position is that we have to move forward to, you know, remedy the
violation.
Thomas: Right.
Laverman: Which is what happened in this case, and it was done through proper notice, with
proper time given. So that .... that's what I would say staff did.
Teague: So one of the things that I learned through, uh, UI .... UISQ um, is maybe the, for
the .... for the student, uh, population, um .... a lot of them was talkin' about
messaging, where they would appreciate, um, more messaging, and I know that,
um, Tracy Hightshoe had chaired the ways of the City messagin' that type stuff,
and so, um .... we know, um, we have a lot of programs within our city, and um,
messaging is going to get lost. We already know that communication is not gonna
be there. I don't .... I think the staff did exactly what you're supposed to do. I
think, um, at least for me, when I hear .... I'm a little bit of a softie, when I hear
that, um, from .... you know, the gentleman's statement that he attempted. I just
have to take .... take (mumbled) word the attempt, the knowledge that it satisfied.
Um, you know, could there have been communication that said, hey, I did it, you
know, that type stuff potentially, but I think for me in this .... in this situation, um, I
say thanks to the staff, you did your job. Down to the T. Um, I know that, um,
you know, the .... the possibilities that this could, you know, open up other doors
for other opportunities, but for me I'm gonna, um, support, um, the individual in
this, uh....in this situation.
Dilkes: Can I suggest, we're not talking about waiving the fee here. We're talking about a
determination of whether, um, the gentleman abated the violation. If. ... if you
think that violation was taken care of by him, then that's a basis for concluding
that you're not going to assess it, but we're not waiving fees.
Salih: Okay!
Thomas: Yeah, I think my sense is the .... the resident under... understood that he was abating
the problem and there was a miscommunication as to the nature of the problem.
Salih: Yes! Uh huh. Thank you for ...(mumbled) Yeah.
Teague: Any other discussion? Thank you! All right! Are we ready for roll call?
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Bergus: Can you clarify what exactly we're.... voting on (laughs)
Teague: Sure.
Dilkes: Um, it's a resolution adopting it as an assessment.
Bergus: So if a Councilor thought that the resident had abated the ... issue, we would vote
no?
Dilkes:
Right!
Bergus:
Okay!
Salih:
Yeah.
Teague: Roll call please. Motion fails 6-1.
Mims: 1-6 actually.
Teague: 1-6. The positive always goes first. Yep (several talking and laughing)
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18. Community Comment
Teague: And we invite Austin Wu from the UISG to come and speak to us!
Wu: Hello there, it's me again.
Teague: Yes!
Wu: Uh, so first I'd like to thank all the Council and staff who came to attend last
week's joint meeting with UISG and GPSG. I think many found it to be
productive and illuminating into the workings of local government and the status
of local issues. So ... with (mumbled) local issues on, uh, 12 E. Court Street, I
don't think the height is necessarily a bad thing. I think it's good to have density,
and I'm really a big fan of how few parking spaces are allowed for the number of
units. Um, if we're talking about getting people out and walking, ditching their
cars, and preventing that urban sprawl that's really characterized urban
development since 1945. But I think now that .... now that this stage is done,
it's ... it's time .... like when, uh, in future steps to take a real good long, hard look
on what is going inside the building. When plans are released, to take a look at
them very seriously, to ask does every single bedroom need its own private
bathroom? I don't think so. Does each individual person living there need 600,
700 square feet per person? I don't think so. Does each apartment need its own
individual in -unit washer and dryer? I don't think so either. Um, those are trends
that have been common in a lot of new construction that a lot of students don't
necessarily need or want. Um, they tend to drive up costs, and they're not
necessarily factored in to some of these amenities. Um .... and then with that I
think I'll move on to a couple of upcoming University of Iowa, uh, events of note.
So on Friday the 21' of February, from 5:30 to 6:30 P.M., at 1117 University
Capitol Center a panel of experts from UIHC, the State Hygenic Lab, the College
of Public Health, and International Programs will be hosting a discussion on the
potential impacts of the COVA 19 -novel coronavirus in Iowa, both medically and
socially, and on Saturday the 22°d, from 6:00 to 11:00 P.M., at the IMU, uh, the UI
Vietnamese Student Association will be hosting their 2020 Lunar New Year
celebration to ring in the Year of the Rat. Dinner, entertainment, and prizes are all
available free of charge, but donations to chanty and table reservations are all
welcome. That's all for tonight. Thanks!
Teague: Thank you.
Salih: Thank you.
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19. City Council Information
Teague: All right, we're gonna start with .... City Council information, and we're gonna
start with Councilor Bergus!
Bergus: Nothing!
Teague: We'll wait for Councilor Thomas (laughter) to roll back.
Thomas: ....my calendar, which I didn't have time to get, uh.... I have nothing either.
Mims: Uh, it's late. I'll just make it really quick. Had, uh, the opportunity in the absence
of Councilor Salih, to fill in for the, uh, refugee, uh, panel that we had. So that
was, for Peter.... Professor Gerlach's class. So that was very interesting and
appreciated that opportunity. Um, went to the reception to say good bye to Dean
Gardial and her husband Jeffrey Gleason, she's Dean of the Business College
who's leaving and heading to Tennessee and we will miss them greatly. Great,
um, great additions to our community. Um .... that I ... would say is it! Oh, a
number of us were at the Chamber banquet and that was (mumbled) partnership.
That was good ... good event (several talking)
Salih: I .... nothing (mumbled)
Taylor: I just have a couple things. I ... I just wanted to mention that a number of us know
former U Heights Mayor, Wally Heitman, has been in the news and social media
that, uh, he's been with all the passengers on a cruise ship that were quarantined
for 14 days for the coronavirus, and uh, then it was mentioned that he was
going ... they were all going to be .... able to leave, but one of the passengers that
had left, uh, eventually did, uh, turn positive, and so they were quarantined again,
so .... our thoughts are with Wally and hope that, uh, your health and uh, health is
good and you can return to Iowa very soon. Um .... Austin mentioned the UISQ
uh, GSG joint meeting. I was really impressed with the group of students that
were there, uh, they openly expressed, uh, their concerns and asked some very
good questions. So, thank you,Austin, for arranging that and hope we can do it
again some time soon. Uh, then as Susan mentioned, the Chamber banquet. It's
always a nice event, uh, interesting this time because they unveiled their new, uh,
terminology, the Iowa City Area Business Partnership. That's going to be hard for
me (laughs) to get used to that, gonna be the Chamber forever! Uh, upcoming,
we, as was mentioned, we have the joint meeting with the School District, uh, and
on Thursday the 27h, uh, Mayor Teague and I have a listening post at the Senior
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Weiner:
Center, 6:00. Everybody's welcome! Uh, Friday the 28°i is the annual, uh, City
awards luncheon, uh, at Robert A. Lee. That's always a good event and uh, it's
such a great group of long tenure employees there. Uh, that evening also at
Robert A. Lee, at 6:00 P.M., is a dinner to top off, uh, Black History Month. Uh,
the public's invited and there's no charge. Um .... and on a more somber note, the
Mayor had said that I could or should add this. This past week was a rough one
for, uh, many of us in the community. We lost two persons who had played major
roles in the political, labor, and social justice movements, uh, and events in this
...in this community, uh, for many years. Um, and we'd like to offer our, uh,
deepest sympathy to the families of, uh, Tom Jacobs and Jeff Cox. (talking in
background)
So, um, echo the comments about the Chamber dinner and the UISG, GPSG
meeting, which I hope will ... will happen again. Um .... I attended a .... a
(mumbled) meeting of the Childcare Solutions Initiative that's been ... that's rolling
with the, um, now Iowa City Business Solutions, was the Chamber, and um, and
the Iowa Women's Foundation, and some other groups, that .... that are working on
plans for that. Um .... and further to the COVID-19, just a point of interest. The
Iowa City Foreign Relations Council on February 26`h at noon will have a lecture
by Professor Hans House who's an expert on .... on pandemics, who will discuss
the current....the current state of that and finally the day after our last meeting, I
attended the Police Department awards here, which were actually really moving,
uh, and I just wanted to say a word because, um, we ... the Police Chief will be
retiring now, and he did such .... he really, he framed those awards as, um,
focusing on officers who are helping others and helping their own, and I think
that's very much what, uh, Chief Matherly has done during his tenure here. Uh,
he's .... he's, um, he's earned, he could have been a recipient himself of one of
those awards. He's bee .... he quickly became a trusted partner in the community,
um, he did enormous amounts of outreach, uh, he showed up, he talked to people,
he gained trust. He worked very hard on the reduction of, um, dispirit minority
contact, um, he ensured that the police... the officers became trained to deal with,
uh, persons in crisis. So, uh, in sum I would really just like to say thank you to
Chief Matherly.
Mims: Thank you, Janice, cause.... Geoff had mentioned that, and I think with all the
discussion tonight, um, with 12 E. Court, I think some of us kind of forgot that,
and I would like to add that I .... was fortunate enough to be involved in some of
that hiring process of one of many members, um, and it was .... I don't think we
could have made a better decision. Um, I think he was the absolutely perfect
person for this community, uh, particularly at the time, and all those things that
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you said, Janice, just an open, warm, uh, kind, caring individual who really
wanted to make sure that our Police Department was serving this community in
the absolutely best way possible, and he truly believed that, and he lived that, and
he modeled that, and he did everything could ... he could to help, um, with the
training, etc., for our staff. So, um .... he's still here for a little bit, but we will
miss him greatly.
Teague: Yes! Thanks for bringin' that up. Uh, certainly, um, ditto to the words on the
Chief and, um, wish him the best in his future endeavors! I got to attend on this
past Saturday the 15a', Humanize (mumbled) Hoodie screenin'. There'll be more
opportunities, I think, in the future. I would really encourage people to go out.
They also have a book out, uh, that's for sale, so ... um, I would encourage people
to also buy that as well. Um .... this Friday, oh ... well today actually I got a chance
to go to Rotary. I'm sorry, uh, I went to Rotary AM and just talked about some
things that, urn .... um, happen here in the city and .... well received, and it was, um,
at 7:00 A.M. and they were so alive and (laughs) vibrant. Yeah, they are, it was
really good, um, and then I did get a chance to go to the, um, Iowa City Area
Business Partnership roundtable today at noon, and that was also an opportunity
just to, um, be amongst the business community and .... and say thank.... thanks to
them from the City of Iowa City. Um, just a side note, I will be reachin' out to
you Councilors, because they would love to see, um, more of us. It is on the day
of our meetings, but um, I will kind of navigate that outside of this time now. On
this Friday, um, the QUIRE, Q -U -I -R -E, which is the LGBT, uh plus community,
uh, choir, of Eastern Iowa, will be havin' a performance. It's a Bayard Rustin, the
man behind the dream, and it's gonna be at First Presbyterian Church, at 6:00
P.M. and it ... it's a phenomenal, um .... um, just singing and narration and the
QUIRE's doin' so good and, um, I am very fortunate to be a narrator and one of
their guest soloists and so, um, if you have nothin' to do, please come and enjoy
the QUIRE. On this Sunday, um, Bethel AME Church at 3:00 P.M., they are also
havin' kind of a Black History, um, celebration, with, um, historic traditional, um,
songs, uh, from the Civil Rights movement, and that's gonna be at 3:00 P.M. at
Bethel AME. And I know that, um, did you mention, and um, that next .... on the
27' about us bein' at (both talking) yes, City Council listening post. So I will
leave it at that! Anything else from staff?
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20. Report on Items from City Staff
a. City Manager
Fruin: Nothing!
Monroe: There's a Civil Rights tour movie that was produced by staff that'll be screening
tomorrow at the Library at noon, if you'd like a lunch break.
Teague: Awesome. Great!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
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