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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-12 Bd Comm minutesMINUTES HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION May 18, 2010 -18:00 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL APPROVED 4b 1 Members Present: Dell Briggs, Wangui Gathua, Fernando Mena-Carrasco, Martha Lubaroff, Dianne Day, Connie Cuttell, Corey Stoglin. Members Absent: Howard Cowen, Yolanda Spears. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Others Present: Esaie Toingar, Jeff Portman, MacKenzie Elmer, James Eaves-Johnson, Nick Stuber. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): None. CALL TO ORDER Chair Briggs called the meeting to order at 6:02. PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: No. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE April 20, 2010 MEETING: Stoglin, moved to approve. Carrasco seconded. The motion passed 5-0. (Day and Cuttell were not present for the vote) PEACE IN PALESTINE PROGRAM See attachment. DOCUMENTARY WRITER PRESENTATION Esaie Tonigar presented to the Commission on his documentary. The documentary looks at persons particularly from Africa who have just arrived in Eastern Iowa. Tonigar described the film as a bridge to assist those new to the area on such things as local custom and culture as well as assisting Eastern Iowans on the customs and cultures of others. Commissioners Lubaroff, Gathua and Carrasco will review the film and discuss at their next scheduled meeting in June. IOWA CITY PRIDE Commissioners due to their summer schedules declined to participate as a vendor but will send materials to be distributed at the event on June 20tH CORALVILLE 4th FEST PARADE Commissioners Day and Lubaroff will participate on behalf of the Commission. HUMAN RIGHTS BREAKFAST Bowers reported the date of the Breakfast for 2010 is currently being selected and advised Commissioners to email her names of potential key note speakers for the Breakfast. SPEAKER'S BUREAU Stubor let Commissioners know that his AmeriCorps VISTA term will be ending soon and that a replacement has been selected who he will introduce to Commission staff before he departs. Commissioners Briggs, Lubaroff, Day and Carrasco will meet to discuss the Bureau and report back to the entire Commission at their next scheduled meeting in June. Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 2 of 7 SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES Lubaroff reported that her Spears and Carrasco are still working on planning a program on bullying in schools. Stoglin gave an update on a program he Briggs and Cowen are working on re: civilians and the police. Day gave updates on the status of the immigration panel her, Cuttell and Gathua are planning. YOUTH AWARDS Commissioners remarked at how well the program went and how well it was received by the community. DIVERSITY DIALOGUE CIRCLES Bowers will hold a meeting next week concerning this program. She hopes to get a few Circles lined up for the summer and fall. CIVIL SOCIETY Day reported the Conference went well. However, the Conference did not have a high turn out. She hopes next year turn out will be better. REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS Day reported that the Senior Center will be hosting a program on Sanctuary Cities in June. ADJOURNMENT Day moved to adjourn. Lubaroff seconded. The motion passed 6-0 at 19:15. (Stoglin not present for vote) Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 3 of 7 Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2010 (Meetina Date) NAME TERM EXP. 1/19 2/16 3/16 4/20 5/18 6/15 7/20 8/17 9/21 10/19 11/16 12/21 Dell Briggs 1/1/11 X X O/E X X Yolanda Spears 1/1/11 X O/E X X O/E Corey Stoglin 1/1/11 O/E O/E X O/E X Dianne Day 111/12 X X X O/E X Wangui Gathua 1/1/12 X O/E O/E X X Martha Lubaroff 1/1/12 X X X X X Howard Cowen 1/1/13 X X X X O/E Constance Goeb- Cuttell 1/1/13 X O/E X X X Fernando Mena- Carrasco 1/1/13 X X O/E X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting/No Quorum R =Resigned - = Not a Member Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 4 of 7 Peace in Palestine Program Jeff Portman: Two of us are here. We had written a letter, Gerry Sorokin and I questioning the reason why the Iowa City Human Rights Commission would bring in Mark Braverman a couple of weeks ago. The letter I think may be ,received that letter? Jeff Portman: a few points that we were checked by. One is we weren't quite sure why the Iowa City Human Rights Counsel wants to bring in people to talk about events which are not happening in Iowa City. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission and why we're getting involved in and has no direct relevance to Iowa City or to the people. Secondly, we're wondering if you are bringing people in what is the um, how do you go about selecting those individuals. Gerry and I have a long history in the Palestine political issues. We use speakers and neither of us was apprised of this person coming in, or were asked whether we thought this person should come in or not. Not that the Iowa City Human Rights Commission has a responsibility to do so, but you would think that a person bringing up this kind of program would be of interest to members outside the Palestine Student organization as co-sponsors and that the Jewish community might want to have some say in who you brought in. Third this is the second person that brought in about Israel Palestine, very anti-Israel. Out of any of the speakers that the Iowa City Human Rights Commission brought in, _ balanced view of what's going on there. Just by chance a week before this person came in Hillel and the Synagogue brought in a speaker about that issue, who gave a much more balanced point of view in which both sides would come together. Obviously we're not going to agree with this person he was so one-sided that no one in the Jewish Community would ever think of bringing someone like this out. So why do use the most American Jews _. I just question why the Iowa City Human Rights Commission wants this type of thing. Why isn't anybody in the Jewish community consulted about this type of thing? Why would, why isn't anybody in the Jewish community consulted about this? why bring such a radical point of view? Dell Briggs: Any comment? Corey Stoglin: I guess I just came from out of town today from work, so what are your credentials that would make you guys be the ones for us to... Jeff Portman: I'm the Rabbi of the Synagogue and Gerry is the Director of the Hillel Foundation, two Jewish institutions in Iowa City. James Eaves-Johnson: And I'm not Gerry. Just to James Eaves-Johnson: Can I say? Dell Briggs: Sure James Eaves-Johnson: I went to the event and it was um it was pretty bad. In addition to being obviously hostile to Israel, this gentleman presented as like a Jew who knows what Jews are really like. Um and he said a lot of things that were, well I'll let you judge how bad they were. He explained that basically Jews were idolatries by saying that when we go to the synagogue we pray to the flag of Israel and the ideology of Zionism. He routinely refers to Jews and Israelis as being, having ugly racist views. He talks about the typical Israeli view being based on fear, hatred and racism. Um as it relates to how Jews see Christians he talks about how Jews are told that Christians only want to kill or convert Jews, and he's not sure which one is worse. Um he, again going into the Christian Jewish relationship he says that Jews are taught that Jesus is a bad guy, even though in fact he says that Jesus was the greatest prophet. He tells Christians that they need to get over being accused of anti- Semitism. That they can't be enablers of Israel, like those who enable alcoholics with alcohol. Ah he says that the great thing about Christianity is that abolish the old order, and that its "too bad Jews couldn't go along with it." He describes the differences between Jews and Christians as being based on the commitment to the tribe verses a commitment to humanity. Um and just in case you wonder if you think any kind of co-existence can happen Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 5 of 7 between Jews and Christians, or whether or not these views might sour a relation with Jews he warns Christians that "in pursuing justice," excuse me. He warns Christians that "pursuing justice, relationships with 'the Rabbi down the street but other Jews may be in jeopardy."' Um and then he just goes into some verily stereotypical points of view. He says that politics are always going to be tricky because of the power of the lobby. That significant political contributions come from the lobby and that's why American Presidents have had to get up and say nice things about Israel. He talks about how the media is pro-Israel and hostile and specifically mentions the editor of the Washington Post, who he simply describes as a Jewish guy. He doesn't say his name, doesn't give any other reason for why he's ,just that he's Jewish. Um and once he goes on this rant he finally acknowledges that he knows that it sounds anti-Semitic to say that "Jews have all the money," that they "control the press." That ah its anti-Semitic to talk about "money Jewish interest." Um but he says that he says those things because it is true. To me its just appalling that somebody who would say those kinds of things, especially in a place where there are so few Jews. Iowa City there are some Jews here, but there aren't a lot. Um I just don't know how it can be perceived as anything other than anti-Jewish incitement, and obviously the Human Rights Commission if anything should be on the other side of a speaker like this, not supporting him or defending him. And that's all I have to say. Dell Briggs: Any comments from anybody on the Commission? Dianne Day: I'm sorry I came in towards the end of that and missed the first part of your comments, but I've been reading the letter that was in the packet. I know that you were concerned. I think that, I don't know if anyone else has said anything. My personal view as far as obligations of the HR Commission are to educate the people of Iowa City, not to take a stand one way or the other on any issues, and that there are more than one or two or three opinions or resolutions or whatever you want to call it that I felt were fulfilling our responsibilities as the HR Commission to bring up various points of view. You mentioned in your letter that you had aspeaker - Gershon Baskin and I did go to that. For instance if you had possibly notified us of that event, we would have most certainly considered and probably would have sponsored that event to help promote a lighter um, wider publicity of that event because I thought he was very good. So I'm not sure I'm speaking mainly from my point of view in that I was the one who did ask the Commission to sponsor this event along with the Senior Center, that the Senior Center was approached to hold an afternoon meeting, and we agreed to host it. Then I thought this might be appropriate if the HR Commission wanted to go along with it, and I read them the bio and that was a long meeting. So that was at the end of a very long meeting, but um that's the process. So I don't think that there was any merit in saying that the HR Commission, that we were pushed or shoved or hoodwinked um. It was our obligation to promote different points of view and that's my viewpoint. Dell Briggs: I think that we'll agree with that, that it is the Commission's position to try to educate people in the community of different views. Ah a lot of times those are going to be controversial, but you know they do provide different sides and different points of view. It's all educational and as Diane said if we had known about yours, then we probably would have had members attend that, and also would have been willing to probably sponsor along with that too. Um and its never the intentions of the Commission to direct anything at any one particular group in a harmful way. That's never the way of the Commission, so we try to as best as we can to educate people on different views so that they can all see what's right, what's wrong, and help make educated decisions about things that are going on. As far as it being an issue that's abroad, I would say probably things that are abroad effect people right here in the local areas also. So ah obviously if you guys are bringing in people to talk about the same subject matter, then of course it is a local issue. So from that standpoint I don't know what the Commission can do, you know as far as future decisions on what is going to happen or what they're going to sponsor or whatever, but I can tell you this, it is never an intent for this Commission to target or harm anyone. It is strictly here to educate the community as issues that are going on, whether they be national or local. Wangui Gathua: To add to that when we are planning sponsorship it's discussed publicly and at length and even the event is advertised at length. And everyone and all stakeholders are invited to participate and to express even their feelings and the way they see, and even the speakers. Its not, its publicized as much as we can. Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 6 of 7 Jeff Portman: I just want to make a short response; this person here is so out of line as an anti-Semantic. I don't think the Commission wants to sponsor a known anti-Semite. I think people if they're going to sponsor someone, that's what you're going to do you should do a little more research, dig a little bit about what this guy has said. This guy is not a member of normative experience of the Jewish Palestinian speakers. He's so far off to be anti- Semitic and that is not the type of speaker you would bring in. Connie Cuttell: We made a comment that sponsorship doesn't mean agreement or support. Jeff Portman: If you had known he was anti-Semitic you probably wouldn't have supported him. Connie Cuttell: Well and I did attend the speaker, I did attend and I don't pretend to be an expert in either ah, but ah I thought it was reasonable received by people. Jeff Portman: Did you hear what he said? Connie Cuttell: At the speech? James Eaves-Johnson: I mean he said things like Jews only go the synagogue to pray to the flag of Israel and ideology of Zionism. He said things like um you know religious differences between Jews and Christians are based on commitment to tribe versus commitment to humanity. Um that he says things like Jews, you know the reason why it sounds like he's saying that Jews have all the money and control the press, and why he talks about money Jewish interests and major Jewish organizations bullying people because its true. Those aren't comments about Israel or the conflict over there. Those are comments about Jews. Connie Cuttell: And again, I would just say that I don't think our sponsorship means that we agree with everything that was said, but we're trying to get out different viewpoints. Martha Lubaroff: I'd just like to make one comment. Connie Cuttell: I don't recall that particular comment Martha Lubaroff: I remember when at the end of a very long meeting Diane asked us to be a co-sponsor and I raised my hand. Had I known more about this guy and had I been presented with more information about him, I probably would have spoken up against it. I think that we get asked to co-sponsor a lot of programs and I think we just can't rubber stamp it when somebody comes to us. I think if we haven't learned anything we ought to learn that we need to do research, and I don't agree with you Connie. I think that if our name is on it as a co- sponsor Ithink that implies support from us. So the only thing I would say to the Commission is when we get asked to co-sponsor a program, that we dig a little deeper into what the program is, the speaker, that's just my feeling. Corey Stoglin: Alright um ---- Dell Briggs: We're going to give this five more minutes and then we have to move on. Corey Stoglin: Um I don't think any program we've done we've said we are 100% behind any speaker here. I think that's pretty much always been a given ever since I've been on the Commission, and we're just there to provide the venue for these people to speak. Um I don't think that ah we would consult with anyone, like if you wanted to bring those opinions we shouldn't have to go through a vetting process with any organization in this community if we wanted to bring someone here. I mean ah that's one of the things I gathered from what you first said that we weren't consulted or something like that. That's going to make, that'd be like for housing discrimination we had to consult with the banks or lender, so that kind of was one of the things I got when you first made that comment. Um and this is the flagship of university of the state, so we're not just citizens of Iowa City. 6 Human Rights Commission May 18, 2010 Page 7 of 7 We're citizens of the world you know. I went to the University of Iowa and a lot of my friends have been all over the world, and we're not taking a side in just by offering a chance for this venue to come out. So ah. Jeff Portman: So if I put my stamp a person talking about the justice of Hitler. I'm not sponsoring him. I'm not saying its okay. I'm ,that's what the HR Commission; they put their name on organized speaker. They're saying that yeah we should give this guy, we should listen to his guy, he has something worthwhile to say. You actually put your name, this guy was going to come anyway. He spoke somewhere on campus he was going to be here anyway but by putting your name on that you're saying, you're giving some legitimization, and this guy didn't deserve legitimization, and that's my tax dollars going to that. That's what I object to. The guy came in is fine. We had nothing to do with that. The only speaker that's their freedom, but the City of Iowa City put their name on it and by giving it that, we gave this guy some legitimization he didn't deserve. Dell Briggs: Okay well I agree with you on certain points that you made and I do think it would be advantageous for all to look further into speakers before we actually ah given those situations that we do actually look further into rather than putting a rubber stamp on it. You know as some people may you know again think that that is what we did, but yeah we can look deeper at different speakers, and ah the board should be a little bit more educated on some of those things when they come around. So from that standpoint I agree with you, but ah I think we do have to wrap this part of it up so we can go on with the meeting. But ah I agree with you on certain points that you made. Jeff Portman: Thank you for your time Approved Minutes April 2010 MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION APRIL 22, 2010 ROOM 208, IOWA CITY/JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR CENTER Members Present: Merce Bem-Klug, Chuck Felling, Jay Honohan, Sarah Maiers, Jean Martin, Charlotte Walker Members Absent: Michael Lensing Staff Present: Linda Kopping, Emily Light Others Present: Dave Dowell, Bob Welsh RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM. Jay Honohan chaired the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 25, 2010 MEETING: Walker asked to clarify her statement on page 3 about the large meal providers needing tilt skillets. Her statement now reads, "Walker said the tilt skillets are necessary for the operation of the big meal providers, and they already possess them." Motion: To accept the minutes from the March 25, 2010 meeting v~rith corrections. Motion carried on a vote of 6/0. MartiNFelling. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. COMMISSION ASSIGNMENTS: Honohan is scheduled to visit the Board of Supervisors on April 29. Maiers will visit the City Council to report on the April meeting. 4b 2 UPDATE ON THE SPECIAL NUTRITION PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Approved Minutes April 2010 Honohan said he met with Kopping and Bem-Klug to identify specific issues for discussion with Elder Services' nutrition program representatives. Honohan said the group feels there should be a listing of the equipment that the Senior Center will maintain and equipment that Elder Services will be responsible for maintaining. Most of the equipment is used only for the nutrition program, but some of the equipment is used by the Senior Center occasionally for special events. A written agreement will detail each party's responsibilities. Honohan said he is no longer concerned about ownership. He is concerned with who will fix or replace each piece of equipment when it breaks down. This negotiation will likely lead to the creation of an entirely new lease agreement between the Senior Center and Elder Services. Kopping said the committee also discussed finding out how much Elder Services claims the Senior Center provides to the meal program through an in-kind match. CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED POLICY RECOMMENDATIQNS FOR THE CODE OF CONDUCT AND ACTIONS TO TAKE WHEN THE CODE IS VIOLATED: The Commission discussed the code of conduct in detail. Welsh asked about petitioning. He doesn't think it should need to be authorized by the coordinator. Kopping described the importance of par'tiapant choice. If petitioners are stationed in a designated location, participants can decide whether or not to approach them and it removes the potential for discomfort. Welsh brought up the point of bodily hygiene. He said the City could be sued for exclusion based on bodily hygiene. Welsh said the dining program is open to ail persons by necessity. Dowell suggested creating a committee to make the disciplinary decisions, rather than rest all authority with the coordinator? Honohan said that the policy has steps that address this question. Honohan said he thinks it is excessive to review the entire code of conduct and progressive disapline policy with a participant upon a first offense. He thinks a lot of violations of the code of conduct may result from a lack of education and can be resolved with a short conversation. Kopping said the policy is written for the argumentative offender, not the one who will respond immediately to a casual instruction. The Commission agreed that the code of conduct could be discussed in detail with a violator, if necessary, but most situations may not warrant this step. Approved Minutes April 2010 Kopping said the policy could be revised to say: the staff member will tell the person which rule was violated and ask if they would like a copy of the code of conduct and disaplinary policy, and act according to the person's wishes. Honohan does not think the directions for the staff response to an offense belongs in this portion of the policy. Honohan said the instructions could be detailed in a memo to the staff. Walker disagreed. She said the staff needs guidelines for handling an offense so the situation doesn't disintegrate, and the expected staff procedure should be public knowledge. Felling said this section could be rewritten to describe the sequence of staff actions, rather than dictate instructions to the staff. Honohan said he would accept that suggestion. Kopping and Honohan will address these issues when they prepare an edited draft of the policy for the next meeting. The rewritten policy will need to be approved by the Commission before the ceramics room can be reopened. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED CERAMIC STUDIO GUIDELINES AND POLICIES: Kopping referred to the ceramics room guidelines that were included in the packet. Walker said they look good. The Commission agreed. Motion: To approve Senior Center ceramic room guidelines. Motion carried on a vote of 6/0. Felling/Maiers. UPDATE ON BOARD APPOINTMENTS FOR FRIENDS OF THE CENTER: Kopping said Judy Atkins agreed to serve on the Board. Kopping has not received an answer yet from Sue Shallau. Karen Franklin is not available. OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW: Kopping said City engineers are testing the showers for the cause of the leaks. No repairs have begun, and responsibility has not been determined. Recommendations from the self-assessment committees are included in the packet. They will be included in the summer program guide also. Kopping is working on compiling the recommendations into an action plan. Kopping reported that Craig Buhman is on medical leave following surgery, and Michelle Buhman will be out of the ofFce for a few days taking care of Craig. Susan Rogusky is on leave. The Ciry Manager authorized the Senior Center to Approved Minus Apri12010 hire apart-time temporary maintenance worker for the time that Craig is absent and working light duty. Corbin is working full-time for the Senior Center, not cleaning in Cable N while Craig is gone, but that change will not be permanent. Walker would like the Steering Council to make reports to the Commission. She wants minutes to be distributed to the Commission. Light said the minutes will be available at the front desk and on the website. Walker wants the minutes posted somewhere so people don't have to ask to see them. Walker said she would like to see more low-income people on the committees. Felling said it is an open invitation. Walker said she thinks the Steering Council seems like a convoluted thing. Honohan said he appreaates all the work these volunteers have done, and he sees no reason to be critical of them. Felling said one of the purposes of the group and sub-committees is to get more people involved from all backgrounds. COMMISSION DISCUSSION: Board of Supenvsors Report on the March Meeting: Honohan called late and could not get on the agenda for the March meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Citv Council Report on the March Meeting: Lensing may have attended, but he is not here to report. ADJOURNMENT: Motion: To Adjourn. Motion carried on a vote of 6/0. MardNFelling. M O ~ r ~ O ~ N ,Q. 'C Q d 0 L Q. Q. a O .y tl~ ~~ V V L /a% +~+ Y~ d V = O l0 ~ ~ ~ N na ~ t0 r N T T T T N O T (O T _ T T T , W O N N X X X 0 X X X v N x x x x x x x M M X X X X ~ X X N N X X X X O X O T to ~ • T N O O O N T Q T T T T O T T W M M M M M M M E L N N N N (~ N N T T T T T T T L ~ L ~ N C C N ` _ N m t0 O O C to N p J N 'C O ~ LL C ~ ~ N U v = ~ t O ~ ~ L t6 O Z Y ~ U ~ ~ ~ ~ U N ~' N 7 ~ x c E W ~ N ~ C C N to y O ~ N ~ Q ~ O O dQQZZ II II W ~ 11 XOOZ a~i Y 4b 3 MINUTES APPROVED IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MAY 12, 2010 - 5:15 PM EMMA J. HARVAT HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Robert Anderson, Barbara Eckstein, Will Jennings, Le Ann Tyson MEMBERS EXCUSED: Caroline Sheerin STAFF PRESENT: Sarah Walz, Sara Greenwood Hektoen, Stan Laverman OTHERS PRESENT: Nila Haug, Dennis Nowotny, Mark McCallum, Pam Michaud RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairperson Barbara Eckstein at 5:18 p.m. An opening statement was read by the Chair outlining the role and purpose of the Board and the procedures governing the proceedings. ROLL CALL: Anderson, Eckstein, Jennings, Tyson (Sheerin absent). CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES FOR APRIL 14T" 2010: Tyson motioned to approve the minutes. Anderson seconded. Eckstein invited discussion. Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 2 of 11 Eckstein offered three typographical corrections. Eckstein and Walz discussed whether or not Eckstein had been on the Board at the time of the decision referenced in the "Board of Adjustment Information" section of the minutes. Walz said she would look into it. Tyson noted that her first name is spelled incorrectly. A vote was taken and the minutes were approved 4-0 (Sheerin absent). SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS: EXC10-00004: An application submitted by Nila Haug and Dennis Nowotny for a special exception to allow a Bed and Breakfast Inn to operate in the Central Business Service (CB-2) zone at 511 E. Washington Street. Walz explained that the zoning code allows two different types of bed and breakfasts: 1) a Bed and Breakfast Homestay, and 2) a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Walz said that both of these are considered accessory uses to the principle use of single-family owner-occupied housing. Walz said that a Bed and Breakfast Homestay allows three rooms for rent, and is reviewed administratively by the Building Department. A Bed and Breakfast Inn allows up to five bedrooms for rent, and is allowed by special exception only. Walz stated that the subject property at 511 East Washington Street is located in the CB-2 zone, a commercial zone located just outside the Central Business zone. The applicants have operated a bed and breakfast at the adjacent property, 517 East Washington Street, since 1990. In 2009, the applicant was issued a citation for renting rooms at the subject property without a rental permit. Upon inspection, it was discovered that rooms had been created and bedrooms added without the necessary building permits. Walz said there are currently five bedrooms in the house. The Building Official has provided the applicant with a list of items that must be brought into compliance with code, and a new inspection is scheduled for May 24, 2010. Walz said that the applicant is court-ordered not to rent more than three bedrooms under the provisions of the Bed and Breakfast Homestay use. The applicant is requesting the special exception to increase the number of bedrooms that can be rented out from three to five. Walz reviewed the requirement of the Specific Standards for this special exception. She said that Bed and Breakfast Inns are allowed in owner-occupied, detached single-family dwellings subject to the approval of the Board of Adjustment. Walz said that the first criteria states that the principal use of the property must be as an owner-occupied single family dwelling, the definition of which has been outlined in the staff report. Walz said that the applicant maintains that the principal use of the property is as asingle-family, owner-occupied dwelling; however, no evidence has been provided to support this. Walz noted that the applicant has requested that all five of the bedrooms be made available for rent. She said that staff believes that the application cannot satisfy the requirement that the principal use of the property is owner- occupied single-family if all five bedrooms are available for rent; the owner-occupied, single- family use would be subordinate to the rental use if that was the case. Walz said that staff is in agreement with the applicant for most of the other specific criteria, and that the property is otherwise suited to be a Bed and Breakfast Inn, because: 1) they cannot rent Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 3 of 11 more than five bedrooms; 2) there is sufficient off-street parking; 3) there are no resident employees; and, 4) there are no rooming units on-site. In terms of the required rental permit, the applicant does have a scheduled re-inspection for the code violations found on the initial inspection. Walz next addressed the General Standards. Walz stated that the first standard states that the specific proposed exception will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, comfort or general welfare. She said that staff believes this criteria cannot be satisfied until the Building Official has inspected the property to ensure that all items meet code. The second standard requires that the proposed exception will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity and will not substantially diminish or impair property values in the neighborhood. Walz said that the intensity of the use would be appropriate for the neighborhood, as the area contains a mix of residential and commercial uses. She said that for this reason, the proposed exception also will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of the surrounding area. Walz noted that because the subject property is in a fully developed neighborhood, all of the required drainage, access roads, utilities and necessary facilities are already in place. Walz said that ingress and egress would typically be from the alleyway and are adequate for the proposed use. Walz said that it is staff's belief that the Building Official must re-inspect the property before it can be determined whether or not the exception conforms to all other aspects of the applicable regulations and standards of the zone. Staff further believes that if all five bedrooms are made available for rent, the application cannot satisfy the code requirement that the principal use of the property is owner-occupied single-family. Walz stated that the Comprehensive Plan does not specifically address bed and breakfast uses; however, it clearly supports a diversity of businesses and uses to serve the community. The Plan does directly address public safety and includes goals to "continue to maintain the prevention of fire as the primary objective of the fire department" and to "actively participate in the enforcement of building and fire codes." Before staff could make a recommendation on this application, the Building Inspector must verify compliance with all fire protection, wiring, plumbing and building codes. Additionally, there is the outlying issue of whether or not this property meets the requirement of being principally asingle-family owner-occupied use. Given that the building has five bedrooms and that the application requests the use of all five bedrooms for rental purposes, the principal use of the property is called into question. Staff believes that making all five bedrooms available for rent would make the owner-occupied use a secondary use for the property, thereby making it impossible for the property to meet the first specific criteria of the special exception requested. Walz said that staff recommends the denial of EXC10-00004, an application for a special exception to establish a Bed and Breakfast Inn at 511 East Washington Street. Eckstein invited the Board to ask questions of staff. Anderson said that he assumed that a hotel or motel use could be approved in that zone, and asked if that use would allow the property owner to operate the facility as they wished to under a different title. Walz said that a Guest House would be permitted in the zone, but that she would Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 4 of 11 have to check on whether or not a hotel or motel could be. Walz explained that a Guest House can be non-owner occupied, and permits up to nine bedrooms to be rented. Walz said that a Guest House requires a license from the state in addition to compliance with city code. Walz noted that Stan Laverman from the Building Department was present and available for questions. Laverman conducted the inspection referenced in the staff report. Walz confirmed that a hotel use would be permitted in the CB-2 zone. Eckstein opened the public hearing. Nila Haug, 517 East Washington Street, said that she had been successfully operating the Golden Haug Bed and Breakfast for 20 years. Haug said that she and her partner had acquired the home next door, 511 East Washington Street, and that they live in both residences at some time or another. She said that they have no resident employees, but that her 89-year old mother, her brother, and her son all have come to live with her, and help out around the bed and breakfast. She said that atone time she herself had to go stay at the Brown Street Inn because there were not enough rooms available in her homes. She said that they live in the rooms that are not occupied. Haug said that the rooms at 511 East Washington are quite expensive by some standards because it is a newer facility, and that there are not a lot of guests that stay there. She said she would like to be able to increase her income since there are so many people now living in her home. Haug said that if all five bedrooms were ever needed for rental, then they would give up their bedroom and rent it out to guests. Haug said that when she opened her bed and breakfast 20 years ago, there were no codes concerning bed and breakfasts in the CB-2 zone. In 1998, she was informed that she would be required to have a permit to operate her bed and breakfast, and to submit to inspection. She said that the more rooms she can rent out, the more hotel/motel tax she can charge and collect for the City. Haug said that they would like permission to rent all five bedrooms, noting that they are hardly ever occupied. She said she could not really provide evidence that they reside at 511 East Washington other than utility bills, unless she was to invite staff over to witness them sleeping in the residence. Jennings asked if there was a reason that Haug did not pursue Guest House status if in fact the idea was to have a separate property with available rooms. Jennings noted that there was no special exception required for a Guest House. Haug said she had originally requested Guest House status, and was told by Jan Ream, Code Enforcement Specialist, that she would need to apply to the State of Iowa for that permit. Haug said that when she applied to the State for the permit, the State said the City had said she could not do it. Haug said she did not know who the State spoke with regarding that. Walz deferred to Laverman on that issue. Laverman, Senior Housing Inspector, said that a Bed and Breakfast Inn or Homestay would be considered a residential use, and a Guest House is a commercial use. A commercial use would require compliance with current commercial building code regarding separation, stairways, ingress/egress, etc. Laverman said it is difficult from a building standpoint to make an older home comply with the commercial building regulations required for a Guest House. Haug asked what Laverman meant by "separation." Laverman explained that each unit would be considered a separate unit, and the owner would have to provide documentation that there was clear separation, with no shared utilities, and the required fire separation. Tyson said she understood Laverman to be saying that separation between each bedroom unit would be required. Greenwood Hektoen said she believed the focus should stay on what the Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 5 of 11 application is actually requesting. She said there is a lot of history with this property, and the Board needs to consider on what is being requested on the present application. Anderson said that it seems the primary issue is one of occupancy. He asked if there was not one of the five members of the family that could claim to reside for 90 days at the subject property. Dennis Nowotny, 517 East Washington Street, said that approximately 85% of his belongings have been at 511 East Washington Street for three years. He said that other than a bed check, he did not know what else it would take to show he was a resident there. Tyson asked how the applicant had fallen into the situation where they were not complying with code at the property at 511 East Washington Street, when they had successfully operated an identical business next door for 20 years. Nowotny said that city code allows three unrelated people to live in your home without having to mess with inspections and rental permits, etc. Nowotny said they had owned the 511 East Washington Street property for about four years, and have been operating it on the premise of having roomers under those guidelines since that time. Haug said that last autumn she began replacing basement windows. At that time, an inspector stopped by asking if she had a permit to do so, as changing the size of the windows had made acquiring a permit necessary. Haug said she had been unaware that a permit was necessary and had asked if she could apply for one the following business day. When she applied, she was told she could not get a building permit until she applied for a rental permit because she was putting egress windows in the basement. She said she was simply trying to get more light into the basement by enlarging the windows. She said that ultimately they went to court with the City because she did not need a rental permit and they were attempting to force her to apply for one. She said that it was determined that it was not enough for the family to live in the house, it had to be the deed-holder. She said this is how the whole mess got started. Eckstein asked if it was the case that the 511 East Washington Street property has, up to this point, been operating as a bed and breakfast, renting three rooms with one or more members of the applicant's family living in the other two rooms. Haug noted that only one bedroom was occupied by family members, but that it was not always the same bedroom because specific rooms were sometimes requested. Haug said that it was not a traditional bed and breakfast, because breakfast is not eaten there. She said the rooms are large and have living rooms that form suites; a lot of people do not eat breakfast, which was one reason why they originally called it an inn. Eckstein said her understanding is that there were two unresolved issues with the application: one concerning occupancy, and a second issue concerning code compliance for the rental/building permits. Walz said that was correct. Jennings asked staff if there had been additional evidence regarding owner-occupancy that had been requested but not submitted. Greenwood Hektoen said that she regarded the oral testimony given at the meeting to be the additional evidence. Greenwood Hektoen said that the burden is on the applicant to establish that they meet the necessary criteria, and that in staff's opinion that burden has not been met. Tyson asked what the applicant had presented in terms of establishing owner-occupancy. Greenwood Hektoen replied that the only evidence provided is the testimony given before the Board. She said it is up to the Board to weigh the testimony. Jennings asked if it is correct that the applicant is asserting that at any given time one or more Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 6 of 11 of the family members is occupying one or more of the five bedrooms at the subject property for a minimum of 90 days. Jennings said that his understanding is that while the bedroom the applicant is living in may change, they are asserting that they remain residents of the property. Walz said that the issue of the applicant's occupancy is unclear in two ways. First, there is the issue of "owner-occupancy," in which the deed-holder is an occupant of the property. The second question is: what is the principal use of the property? Staff believes that if all five bedrooms are made available for rent, then the principle use cannot be owner-occupied, single- family housing. She said that it sounds as though the principal use would be rental property with the owners occupying the property from time to time. Anderson said that while he is troubled by the same question, the 90-day threshold is so low as to contradict the idea of owner-occupancy. Walz said that the 90-day threshold defines who is an owner-occupant, it does not define the principal use of the property. Haug asked what the difference between owner-occupancy and principal use was. Walz said that principal use would be the primary use of the property. Haug said that if the principal use of the property is that it must be owner-occupied, and if the definition of owner occupied is 90-days, then the principal use requirement is fulfilled by their arrangement. Greenwood Hektoen noted that the principal use needs to be as asingle-family dwelling. Anderson said that his understanding is that there are two thresholds that need to be met: the owner occupancy and the primary use of the property. He said that if the applicant were to live in the property 90 days a year but to rent out all of the rooms the other 275 days, then the primary use would not be as asingle-family residence, but as a rental unit. Haug assured Anderson said that she would be retired if the rooms were occupied 275 days a year; she said that her occupancy at 511 East Washington Street was quite low. She said the reason she runs the bed and breakfast is because she likes to decorate, and she likes the lifestyle, and she likes the fact that she is offering choices to visitors to the area. She stated that she and her family live in the home more than they have guests there. Tyson noted that the testimony has been that there are five bedrooms, but not how many kitchens/baths are in the unit. Haug said that the home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and three living rooms. Tyson said her question is how does the applicant actually do their living in the home if it is asingle-family dwelling; how much and what space do they occupy? Haug said there is a bathroom for each bedroom and they use the bathroom for the suite they happen to be occupying. Haug said that for 20 years her family has lived out of a damp basement, and that they like to live in a nice space, which is why they live in 511 East Washington Street primarily. Haug said that since her 89-year old mother came to live with them, they used the rooms in the 511 East Washington Street home when they have guests at the bed and breakfast next door. Anderson asked if the rental permit specifies which bedrooms will be occupied by renters and which by the owner-occupants. Laverman said that under the current agreement the City cannot specify which rooms can be made available for rent so long as all rooms meet requirements and are habitable. He said that the Board may be able to do so, but the inspection office cannot. Greenwood Hektoen noted that the rental permit is for the whole dwelling. Eckstein invited other members of the public to speak. Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 7 of 11 Mark McCallum, 932 East College Street, said that he used to own the Brown Street Inn. He said that he had applied for this same special exception in 1994, and that to his knowledge his is the only one that has been granted in an RS-5 zone. McCallum said that he sold the Brown Street Inn approximately seven years ago, and that it remains in operation. McCallum said that the primary concern expressed by neighbors when he purchased the home was that it would become a rooming house. He said that as people came to understand him and his business, they came to view the inn as an asset to the north side neighborhood. McCallum said that it can be difficult for some people to understand innkeepers, and that they often fall between the cracks when it comes to zoning matters. McCallum said that as a commercial real estate agent he understood that the "highest and best use" for all three of Haug's properties would be to tear them down and develop apartments in their stead. McCallum said that the proposed use, an inn with five guest rooms, would be less than half that of an apartment building in terms of density, and significantly less in terms of income potential. McCallum said that whether it is called a Guest House, a Bed and Breakfast, or a Hotel, the property would provide lodging, or "Hospitality-Oriented Retail" as the zoning code calls it. McCallum said that Haug is bringing something very vital to this CB-2 neighborhood. McCallum said that the definition of the zone in the zoning code is to provide a transition between residential and commercial. He asked the Board to consider the uses that could be allowed in the place of this bed and breakfast. He said that South Gilbert Street could easily be replicated in just those three lots. McCallum said that if Haug was focused on money, she would hire a realtor, sell the lots for development, and could easily walk away with a million dollars. He said that, instead, Haug is all about lifestyle, and that he is asking the Board to consider that aspect of this application. He said her goals are in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan and she is trying to bring some unique transitioning between the residential areas and the intensely commercial downtown areas. McCallum noted that it is very common for innkeepers to move from room to room in their house. He said he does the same thing in his apartment building as he is renovating it, and did it at the Brown Street Inn as well. McCallum said that when he was renovating the Brown Street Inn he really appreciated how the City worked with him, even though he may not have met every criteria for doing so. He said that he hopes the Board takes those issues into consideration. Eckstein thanked McCallum for the useful context he had provided. She asked if McCallum had applied for the entirety of the sleeping areas to be rentable when he applied for his special exception for the Brown Street Inn. McCallum noted that the Brown Street Inn actually had six sleeping areas. He said that innkeepers move around to accommodate their guests, often based on pricing and marketing to individual customers. McCallum said that Haug actually has themed rooms that are very specific to individual taste. He said having the flexibility to offer different rooms at different prices is necessary for innkeepers. He also noted that there are peak times that need to be taken advantage of, such as weekends with home football games and other special events. McCallum said that it is not uncommon to have an occupancy rate of less than 50%. If Haug were to put an apartment building on the lot, it could have 13 apartments with three bedrooms each, which would mean at least 39 occupants on the same parcel. On a busy night, McCallum said, Haug likely has no more than five or six people in that space. Greenwood Hektoen redirected McCallum to the question of whether or not the Brown Street Inn's special exception retained a room for the owner to occupy even at maximum rental occupancy. McCallum said that was correct. Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 8 of 11 Eckstein asked why the applicant chose to come before the Board at this time, given the fact that there would be another meeting in June and that there was an outstanding inspection. Haug said that the permit has been paid for, the inspection was held, and all but one of the outstanding inspection issues has been resolved. Haug said that she had asked Laverman and Ream a question about the outstanding issue and that they had told her to go the library and research the matter. Haug said that they had told her the zoning code requires a landing (rather than the step that is there presently) at the exit of the home. She said she asked Ream to provide her with a copy of the code and Ream told her it was proprietary information and she needed to go to the library and look it up. Haug said she wants to see the code prior to spending $1,000 for stones that she may not even really need. Laverman said that all outstanding issues from the initial inspection have not been addressed. He said that all plumbing fixtures that have been added need permits, and the permits have not yet been applied for. The renovations that were done to the property also require permits, and none of those have been applied for either. Haug offered acounter-argument to Laverman's comments, however, she did not speak into the microphone so the comments were lost to the record. Greenwood Hektoen advised that the details of the inspection were for the applicant and the Housing Inspections Department to resolve in another forum. Pam Michaud, 109 South Johnson, said she had been neighbors with Haug since 1990. She said that she and the other neighbors present have been intensely involved with historic preservation in Iowa City. Michaud said that she owns rental properties, which she furnishes and rents primarily to international scholars. She said that such places are a tremendous asset to the area, and that their neighborhood is a well-kept, active, trendy neighborhood. She said she supports the use of codes and that she believes the code violations are resolvable, but that she wanted to reiterate what McCallum had said about the unique service Haug's property provided. She said that she hopes Haug retires after she herself does, because she does not want to have to look at yet another under-occupied, under-taxed apartment building. She said that she knows it is not an issue for this Board, but that it is a painful fact that small landlords pay 100% taxes, whereas huge landlord operations like the Clark family pay 50% taxes because they can take the steps necessary to have their apartments zoned as condos. Michaud said that historic properties maintain the character of their settings. She said that the City has poured a lot of time and resources into historic properties, specifically in that neighborhood, and she would like to see Haug's properties stay in the neighborhood. There were no further comments from the public and Eckstein closed the public hearing. Eckstein invited a motion. Tyson moved to approve EXC10-00004, an application for a special exception to allow a Bed and Breakfast Inn to operate in the Central Business Service (CB-2) zone at 511 East Washington Street. Anderson seconded. Jennings said that he is hesitant to vote for this application with so much of the inspection information still outstanding. He said he is not able to support the motion at this time. Anderson said he too is torn, because he can appreciate the benefit to the neighborhood that the inn provides. He said that he has, in fact, been charmed by the houses each time he walks by; he thinks they are a great addition to the neighborhood, and he can absolutely understand why people would want to stay there. Nonetheless, the fact that the occupancy is so much in Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 9 of 11 question is problematic for him. He said it is not difficult for him to imagine that someone would transition between bedrooms to facilitate the requests of guests; however, it is a question as to whether the principal use of the home is as the single-family, primary residence of the deed- holder. Anderson said that having the outstanding questions surrounding the permits resolved would have been helpful. However, he is having difficulty supporting the application. He said that he could more easily support the application if it was for the renting of four bedrooms, retaining one for owner-occupied living space. Tyson said that she has trouble supporting the application as presented. She said that as much as she would like to support it, more evidence is needed regarding owner-occupancy, and she would like to have seen the inspection issues resolved prior to voting on the matter. She said she hates to vote it down without having those issues resolved. Greenwood Hektoen noted that the applicant was informed of staff's concerns about the application but opted to move forward with it anyway. Jennings said that he is very supportive of this type of use. He said he is very much aware of what the alternative might be, and that it is not necessarily an attractive one for him. He said that he is constrained by a narrow range of criteria upon which he can act. He said that of primary concern to him at this point is the violation of building and other codes. Jennings said that he cannot in good conscience vote in favor of a facility when there are outstanding code violations. He said this was not a statement about the intent of the violations, or how the violations came to be, or a comment on any of the parties involved. Jennings said he lives in a neighborhood where over-occupancy and code violations are rampant, and he finds that unacceptable. He said that he believes hospitality is an area where it is critical that basic code issues are addressed. Jennings said that he understands the frustrations and difficulties that sometimes arise between the City and homeowners in these cases, but that it is not his role to resolve those difficulties. Jennings said that he would like to offer a friendly amendment to allow the applicant to defer the application until the June meeting so that the May 24th inspection can have taken place prior to the Board voting on the matter, which would give the Board more information regarding the inspection issues. Jennings said that this would also give the property owners the chance to restate or present their evidence regarding owner-occupancy. Jennings said that at present he is being asked to judge on the basis of "he said-she said" and that is not conducive to good decision making. Greenwood Hektoen repeated that the applicant had chosen to move forward with the application in spite of the deficiencies staff had pointed out. She said she did not believe there was anything that would prevent the Board from deferring; however, the applicant had been given that option and had chosen to proceed. Jennings noted that there is an existing motion on the floor that would first have to be resolved before a deferral could be considered. Tyson said that if the motion was to be amended then she would need to see concrete owner- occupancy information submitted and the inspections resolved before she could consider supporting the application. Anderson said that the code and permit violations are secondary in his mind at this point, as he has no doubt those will be resolved at some point in the future. The greater issue for him is the issue of owner-occupancy and the principal use. He said he did not wish to provide false optimism to the applicant that a deferral would necessarily result in a different outcome. Iowa City Board of Adjustment May 12, 2010 Page 10 of 11 Eckstein asked if the Board needed to do findings of fact and vote on the motion on the floor before considering any other options. Walz said that if the Board wished to defer, the best course of action might be to withdraw the motion and defer until such time as the inspection has taken place. Walz said that this would allow the applicant to come back the following month to show inspection issues had been resolved. Greenwood Hektoen said that the Board would not have to do findings of fact to defer. Tyson withdrew her original motion. Tyson motioned to defer the application until the June meeting, and asked that the applicant provide substantial proof of occupancy and proof of inspection results. Greenwood Hektoen stated that if the Board had found any other issues in the staff report that they felt needed to be further addressed, now would be the time to make those known. Jennings seconded. A vote was taken and the motion to defer carried on a 4-0 vote (Sheerin absent). Walz stated that the next meeting is on June 9, 2010, and this will be the first item on that agenda. She said she anticipated at least one other item on that agenda. She asked if all Board members would be present for that meeting, and they indicated that they believed they would be. Anderson asked if he could offer a general observation to the applicant about the case, and Greenwood Hektoen said that he could. He said that he believed there was still an outstanding question as to what qualifies as evidence of occupancy. Anderson said that to his mind, given the fact that there are five members of the family, if there were multiple deed-holders residing there or receiving mail there that would suggest to him that the property was their primary residence. Tyson said that for her that would involve a history of mail, not just mail delivered in the next 30 days. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION: None. ADJOURNMENT: Tyson motioned to adjourn. Anderson seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 4-0 (Sheerin not present). The meeting adjourned at 6:23 p.m. z o o x 3 m Z Z 0 0 P1 3 m ~. ~ ~ ~~ 3 m 3 s m u ~~ a a c ~~ T (D O ~. A~ d 3 O r+ rt fD lD 7 P~ "~ "~ O ~~ rf d ...~ ~ ~ ~ N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~, n c N Q. n ~ o~ ~ ~ ' c ` ~ ' ' a ~ ' ~ ~ ~ z ~ ~ n , ~ . m ~ s a A ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ • ~ • ~ o ~ ~ 0 0 0 0 o rn ~ 0 0 0 0 0 ~~ w In ~ N a x x x m k W N X m X X X 0 w x X x x X _ o x x x x x 1t m X X X N O~ V A ~_ ~o O O W O N 0 fD Z ~D a A~ ~D n fl. 0 a a 0 -~ D a c N Pf lD 7 Pr MINUTES APPROVED PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MAY 12, 2010 - 5:00 p.m. BECKWITH BOATHOUSE MEETING ROOM Members Present: David Bourgeois, Clay Clausen, Lorin Ditzler, Craig Gustaveson, Aaron Krohmer, Margaret Loomer, John Westefeld Members Absent: Maggie Elliott, Jerry Raaz Staff Present: Mike Moran, Terry Robinson, Marcia Bollinger, Iowa City Planning Department Others Present: Andy Dudler, Ann Dudler, John Richmond, Steve Schuette, Ryan O'Leary CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 5 p.m. by Chairman Gustaveson. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: 4b 4 Moved by Bourgeois seconded by Westefeld, to support the four PIN grant proposals related to Parks and Recreation which include workshops at Grant Wood Gvm, staff for roller skating at Grant Wood Gvm, Grant Wood Neighborhood Association Harvest Party and the North Market Sauare Park Grand Opening Motion passed 7-0 with Elliott and Raaz being absent. OTHER FORMAL ACTION TAKEN: Moved by Westefeld, seconded by Krohmer to approve the April 7, 2010 Parks and Recreation Commission minutes as written. Motion passed 7-0 with Elliott and Raaz being absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None PIN GRANT APPLICATIONS Marcia Bollinger was present at tonight's meeting to review the proposed PIN grants with the Commission. Before reviewing those, however, she announced that there will be a grand opening dedication of the Wetherby Splash Pad scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, ceremony starting at 5:30. Party in the Park will follow at 6:30.. Bollinger then went on to review the Program for Improving Neighborhoods (PIN) Grant Applications. There are four grant proposals that were related to Parks and Recreation. The following information copied from a May 6, 2010 memo written by Marcia Bollinger, Neighborhood Services Coordinator. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 2 of 11 Workshops at Grant Wood Gym - $950.00 -Grant Wood Neighborhood Association - these workshops provide educational opportunities for residents to learn about various subjects. Previous workshops have included babysitting training, home alone after school, house painting techniques, curb appeal with the Master Gardeners, etc. The workshop themes are determined by the residents. Funds are used for honorariums, door prizes and other costs. Staff for Roller Skating at Grant Wood Gym - $2000 -Grant Wood Neighborhood Association - 68 pairs of roller skates, purchased through last year's PIN grant program and a United Way grant, have been purchased and are available. These funds would ensure that staffing is available for at least 2 roller skating parties per month at the Grant Wood Gym. Harvest Party - $950 -Grant Wood Neighborhood Association -this annual event has become a tradition in the neighborhood and provides free family fun including costurrie contests, jumpy castles, door prizes, haunted house and a free meal. These funds will be used to purchase food and treats for over 400 families that have regularly attended. North Market Square Park Grand Opening - $500 - Northside Neighborhood Association -funds will be used to host a grand opening of North Market Square Park once the renovation project is complete in fall of 2010. Bollinger asked if there were any comments or concerns from Commission. None noted. Loomer asked how involved Grant Wood School has been in these projects. Bollinger said that they work hand-in-hand with the school administration. She further mentioned that workshops and roller skating are scheduled at the same time so that parents can drop their kids off and then attend a workshop. Moved by Bourgeois seconded by Westefeld, to support the four PIN grant proposals related to Parks and Recreation which include workshops at Grant Wood Gvm staff for roller skating at Grant Wood Gvm, Grant Wood Neighborhood Association Harvest Party and the North Market Square Park Grand Opening. Motion passed 7-0 with Elliott and Raaz being absent. OPTIMIST CLUB FUNDRAISER: Ryan O'Leary was present at tonight's meeting to discuss ideas for the Optimist Club. He ncted that the Optimist Club of Iowa City has been in existence for about 61 years and for about 45 of those have been selling holiday trees at the Dairy C~ueen. They typically raise about $25,000 a year and donate every dollar to youth oriented programs. The Optimist Club is proposing that rather than signs being put in place to commemorate their donations, they would like to plant symbolic trees in these areas and then perhaps a bolder with an inscription. Their request for proposal includes planting a couple of evergreens at the entrance to Napoleon Park and then this fall as renovations happen in College Green Park would like to plant a couple of trees near the play structure. Next year they would like to look at planting trees at Boys Baseball PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 3 of 11 and probably out a Kent Park where they previously built an education center. It is also their hopes over the next few years to earmark donations for projects like North Market Square and the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. They would like to do a larger project such as planting 20-30 trees at TTRA. O'Leary asked for feedback from Commission. Gustaveson said that he thinks it is a great idea. Westefeld agreed. Gustaveson sees the Optimist Group doing this for several years to come and expressed his thanks to the Optimist Club and all that they have done for the Community. AFFILIATE GROUP DISCUSSION: Moran presented the affiliate group proposal to Council at their work session a couple of weeks prior to this meeting. At that time there were very few questions from Council. At the Council Meeting on Tuesday, Boys Baseball and Kickers were both in attendance and presented their concerns. At that time Council determined that it was necessary for there to be more dialogue regarding this policy. They asked that Moran schedule a meeting between Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Moran feels that with their limited number of meetings in the summer, this may be difficult to do. Therefore he proposed that instead the Commission meet again with the affiliate groups individually and report back to Council. Bourgeois, who was also at the Council meeting, said that he was surprised by the Council's suggestion considering all the tirr~e and effort that has already been put in place by staff and Commission. Gustaveson expressed his disappointment in the newspaper article which he felt accused Commission and staff of not listening to the affiliate groups. Gustaveson feels that it is quite the opposite, that the groups are not listening to staff and Commission. He noted that the Commission and staff have been working on this proposal for nearly a year, have met with those groups that expressed their concerns, and have made accommodations for those groups based on their statements. He feels that at some point, staff and Commission have to say that these facilities belong to the City and that there are costs involved in maintaining them. Ditzler asked Commission if there is something that the group should do to respond from a PR standpoint as it seems that the problem is perception. Moran acknowledged that there is a good relationship between the City and most of these groups. However, staff often talks only with a couple of individuals from a group and never to the entire group. Therefore, many are getting bits and pieces of information and not all of it is correct. He further noted that while Council is in agreement that there is a need for a fee structure, they are not sure that the process is yet complete. Ditzler asked if that opinion was based on what Moran had told them or what they were hearing from the affiliate groups present at their Council meeting. Moran feels it was based on what they heard from the groups. Ditzler believes that the proposal to meet with these groups is a good idea. Gustaveson said that he would rather that the groups come to a Commission meeting and address the entire group. He also feels that writing an editorial for the opinion page explaining all the details of the proposal is a good idea. Claussen said that he was offended by some of the comments made in the paper. He would request that the Press Citizen reporter talk to the Commission and staff as well. Moran reported that some of the groups still have angst about donating a large amount of money, i.e. $50,000 to put in lights, and then only getting one year of credit. Kickers PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 4 of 11 has donated over $417,000 over many years and so feels that that should count for something more than just one year of facility usage. Moran acknowledged that it is difficult to know where to draw the line when it comes to donations and getting free facility usage based on that donation. Krohmer asked if it would be possible to send out a request for information to affiliate groups asking them for their membership statistics, specifically if they give scholarships and also for resident status, finding out what percentage are Iowa City residents and what percentage are nonresidents. Krohmer stated that the question he receives from the public most is why are tax payers paying for maintenance of facilities that are being used mostly by nonresidents. Having the exact numbers would help in answering this question. Gustaveson said that he too would be interested in finding out which of these groups offer scholarships. Ditzler wants to be sure that the groups understand that by us asking for this information, we are not changing the proposed policy. Krohmer said that he sees it as just an extension of a request we have already made. If they don't have numbers available, he does not expect them to look at every registration form to gather the information. He doesn't want them to spend that kind of time on getting those numbers. He would just like to be able to answer that question when asked. Westefeld asked how many affiliate groups there are. Moran reported 17. Westefeld then asked how many of the 17 are unhappy about this proposal. Moran stated that none of them are happy about paying a fee; however, the most unhappy is Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, Kickers and Camera Club. The rest of them know about it and Moran has spoken to them but they did not attend a meeting. Westefeld asked why they are upset, is it primarily how much it is or is it just having to pay a fee of any kind. Moran says that he feels it is more philosophical, that they are used to not paying anything for these facilities. Schuette stated that the City and Girls Softball are partners who worked together to create and improve the program and the facility. It was their understanding that the City would maintain the facility and that Girls Softball would operate the program. Now it is the perception of many that one partner is charging the other partner for doing their half. Even though the proposed fee is only 10% of the full cost, the perception is why has Girls Softball done this for so many years if they are going to be lumped in with all of the other affiliate groups that do not donate money to the City. Krohmer agrees there is a value to the City for that service but there is a greater value to the families that are actually participating and this is where he can't comfortably ask tax payers that aren't participating in these programs to fully fund the maintenance for the families that are participating. He also thinks they are great programs so does not want to push them out of existence so there needs to be some level of agreement that allows both the people who are paying property taxes and don't use these facilities to feel it is a good relationship that allows the programs to continue in a way that also serves their community. The numbers are where there seems to be a disagreement. Gustaveson said that Commission did address this by making the caveat that when a group makes a donation to the City the fee would be waived. Moran noted his concern that if they assign a level of donation to receive free use of the facilities, then some groups may decide to donate a much lesser amount than in the past. Krohmer said PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 5 of 11 that this, however, would not be in the best interest of the kids. Krohmer also noted that Boys Baseball talks as if they have proprietary control of the fields. Moran stated that this is not the case, the land is owned by the City. O'Leary stated that as a member of the public he suggests that staff and Commission develop a plan that is fair and equitable to those who do donate. Claussen said that one of the problems is communication because the information is being filtered. He still talks to people on the street that think they are going to be charged 40% of the full facility use fee. There is some misinformation being given and it is helping some of these people get leverage. Gustaveson said that O'Leary made a good point and appreciates his comments. He said that from his standpoint, what we are trying to do is put the groups on an even playing field for those who donate and those who do not donate to the City. Krohmer wondered why the Commission keeps talking about perception and hurt feelings - if a group is already giving large amounts of money to the City, what negative effect would having to pay $2700 annually have on them. He further noted that tax payers are paying money to keep these fields maintained and that the users certainly should be able to pay 10% of the fee which he sees as a token amount. Ditzler summarized the discussion to this point as follows. She said that so far Commission talked about writing an editorial for the opinion page describing the proposed policy in detail. The Commission also talked of having the groups return to the Commission. She does not feel it makes sense to have the groups return to the Commission as this has already been done and it will most likely be the same discussion as before. Krohmer doesn't see any reason to meet with the groups. He would, however, like to send out the request for information. He also said that until Commission has some idea of what Council wants the group to do, everything else is just moving in circles. He feels that Commission should meet with Council if that is what Council suggested. Moran said that while they may want to meet with Council eventually, initially Commission should give them their plan of action and then schedule a meeting later if they still feel it is necessary. Westefeld said he would be fine with additional meetings but it would be important for bath the benefit of the affiliate groups and the Commission to be very clear on what the goals are of these meetings. Moran said that he would follow up with a letter to Council letting them know the plan and invite one or two of them to attend these group meetings if interested. Gustaveson asked if this meeting with affiliate groups should be a special meeting to devote their time to just this one subject. Bourgeois thinks that Commission will just hear a repeat of what has already been presented by these groups. However, meeting with the individual groups would allow Commission the opportunity to detail the plan with them. Ditzler thinks that the most efficient way to handle this situation is to respond to those groups that are upset. She does not see it as a good use of time to have them return with the same conversations as before. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 6 of 11 Schuette expressed that he feels that Commission should meet and have a dialogue with groups again. He feels it would be more productive to meet with the individual groups, rather than inviting them to a Commission meeting where there is not the opportunity to talk in detail. He believes this would allow for the City and Girls Softball for instance, to come to an agreement. Gustaveson summarized that it appears that it is the consensus of the Commission that 1) Moran will meet with the different affiliate groups individually , 2) Commission will write a letter to the editor clarifying the Commissions and staffs position. 3) Moran will write a letter to the Council explaining this plan. Moran noted that Commission members are welcome to attend these group meetings as well. Moved by Ditzler, seconded by Westefeld for Mike Moran and a Commission Member to meet with the different affiliate groups individually, for Commission to write a letter to the editor and for Moran to write a letter to Council explaining this plan. Passed 7-0 with Elliott and Raaz being absent. Schuette noted that Girls Softball has had a good partnership with the City and the City is under fire. As the Girls Softball Board sees these two groups as partners, they are concerned about the best way to handle this. They want to help the City by doing something positive. One suggestion was to possibly name something in Terry Trueblood's memory. Their desire is to work through this and maintain the good relationship they have with the City. DOGPAC CONTRACT: Moran noted that the DogPAC contract is due for negotiation in June. Staff and DogPAC have already discussed the contract. It is the desire of both staff and DogPAC to hire staff to man the dog parks to assist with monitoring of the tag sales etc. While they haven't worked out all the details, the thought is that the wages for this position would come directly from dog park revenues. Whatever is left after that would be split again (90/10) between the City and DogPAC. Moran reported that in roughly running the numbers, if they paid staff $10/hr, 40 hours a week, it would cost about $36,500 for the year for both parks. The reported revenue for last year from tags was $38,000. The Legal Department is working on the contract. This contract will come up for a vote at the June Commission meeting. Andy Dudler stated that the hours may be scaled back a bit depending on the heavier populated times at the dog parks. Moran suggested that the hours be varied so that the public would not know exactly when staff is present, giving them the opportunity to go to the park when no one is there and perhaps not pay the entry fee. However, Anne Dudler thought that if this person was going to be selling tags etc., that there would be a need to have them there at consistent times. Discussions will continue regarding this. Krohmer asked why the City would continue to split the revenue after paying for the staff costs. He feels that since this is a City facility, that the entire amount of revenue should go to the City. He stated that he will oppose any contract that continues to financially support DogPAC with City revenue. He feels that it is necessary to thoroughly examine why the City continues to fund this organization. Gustaveson expressed his disagreement with Krohmer's statements. Gustaveson said that his fee for DogPAC tags is no different than someone signing up to play baseball, that it is a user fee and he wants his money to go back to DogPAC as a dog park user PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 7 of 11 to put in the park benches and trees, and the development of future parks. He also said that one of the reasons these are called public parks is that tax dollars support some of it, whether it is a basketball court, tennis court, or soccer fields. Some of that money is coming back to support that. He suggested that perhaps DogPAC collect the money directly and then that becomes their money and leave it up to them to decide what to do with it. Ditzler sees it as being similar as these other affiliate groups, in that they provide a service that the City is not able to provide. The service is having a place for dogs to run. Krohmer does not see what service DogPAC provides. Gustaveson noted that there would not be a dog park if it wasn't for DogPAC. He feels it is no different than Kickers or anyone else getting a program going, and that DogPAC was instrumental in getting these parks built. Moran noted that the contract will come to Commission in June for a vote. Andy Dudler said that he does appreciate Krohmer's concern and thinks it is valid. However, he further noted that it is important to keep in mind that the money isn't going anywhere else so it is benefitting everybody. Ann Dudler reported that Rita's Ranch was $32,000 so if there is a desire to open another neighborhood dog park, it will take a substantial amount of money. The increase in revenue this quarter comes from the work of volunteers from DogPAC sitting at the entrances, talking to people, educating them and letting them know where and how to get their tags. Westefeld noted that the challenge is how to balance these relationships and figure out what is the Commission's role verses the groups role and what is fair and what is equitable. The main finding is that there is more to that decision than just money. Gustaveson exited the meeting at 6:15 p.m. for a visitation. Andy Dudler noted that their future direction is looking at Willow Creek Park for the next neighborhood dog park and there are people who are interested in donating substantial amounts of money to help that happen. LAND ACQUISITION DISCUSSION: Moran reported that the following are information items only - no need for action by the Commission at this time. APlackinaw Village: Moran noted that Casey Boyd owns this property. He has proposed to the Planning Department that he donate lots 40 through 46 to the City. These properties are next to the interstate. Staff feels that this would only mean more maintenance hours for them. Moran said there might be more interest if he were offering land on the other side of the trail that would then allow for trail expansion. Krohmer suggested that perhaps Project Green could help in planting several trees on this land making it a natural area. Claussen noted that being a realtor himself, he sees the benefit for the developer to donate this land as it would not be sellable property. Robinson said that City Code says that we have to mow this property. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 8 of 11 Terra Verde: This property is near Rochester Avenue. The developer is looking at donating Outlot A which is densely covered in trees, very wet, and has a number of issues. Pending at this time. Chadek Property: This property is located directly south of City High School on Court St. The Chadek family currently lives at 515 Third Ave. Moran met with the three daughters and they wanted to know if the City would be interested in the property. When Carl Chadek passed away his will stated that the business had to be gone from the property by the end of this year. The grandson (Mike) has taken the business over and he has found property out of town in the county. The daughters are now trying to figure out what to do with this property. They have been approached by a couple of realtors to see if they want to subdivide and build on it. Moran asked if Carl had wanted anything specific for the property. The daughter said no but that he liked to garden and would probably approve of garden plots placed on this property. Moran asked them if they were interested in donating or selling the land. They are interested in selling the land. They are going to get it appraised. The last appraisal was done in 2001 and was $291,000. It is estimated that a new appraisal will likely come in between $450,000 and $500,000 if appraised for a subdivision. If it was appraised as parkland it would be appraised at a lesser amount. It is a five-acre piece of land and would make an excellent neighborhood park. Krohmer noted that the Planning Department has identified it as one of the key pieces of parkland that they want to acquire. Moran will ask the family for a parkland appraisal to see the difference and will then negotiate. Krohmer noted that it would not just be the Parks and Recreation Department involved, that it would also be the Planning Department as they have identified it in their Master Plan. COMMISSION TIME/SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Claussen noted that he believes that Commission would not want the affiliate groups going to Council and that it would be better resolved by working with these groups individually. Robinson reported that he was told at a meeting regarding the Boys Baseball property, that the City doesn't own it, that it is theirs. Robinson started doing research on this through staff files and the assessor's office. He found that the largest portion of the property was sold to the City for $1. It does not say anything in the transaction that it must be used for baseball, it just says that it was sold to the City. Mary Villhauer believes that there was a caveat put on that property that it was to be used for Boys Baseball and that is not the case. Westefeld asked about the history of the sign that says priority for all diamonds will be given to Boys Baseball. Robinson said that was put up so that when those other than boys baseball participants are refused use of the fields, they can refer them to this sign. Moran stated that this has become an issue when Boys Baseball reserves all of the fields whether they are needed or not. He feels that it is situations like these where a memorandum of understanding will be very helpful. Krohmer discussed his idea of allowing public artists to bid on projects for the City. He met with an individual with the U of I's Sculpture/Ceramics Department. They came up with two different ideas: 1) for asculpture -the idea is to essentially work out a program with the University Art Department that has grad students and undergrad PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 9 of 11 students going out into the community to find an area where they would like to place a piece of public art. They would then come before the Commission with a design proposal and their ideas for financing the project. Artists would not be expected to be compensated as this would be part of the learning process for them. 2) Ceramics -the idea is to simply sit down with the Ceramics Department and perhaps a person who handles classes at the Recreation Center and discuss ways that we can start combining resources. Possibly do a class through the Recreation Department and possibly firing things made by the classes at the Recreation Center, etc. Krohmer wants to get the majority of the Commission to approve this idea before he moves forward. Krohmer also noted that the Art Department is getting some pressure to get involved with the Community and this is one of the ways they would like to do it. Ditzler asked if there would need to be discussion with the Public Art Commission. Krohmer said that that would have to be worked out as well. Westefeld feels that continuing to have a dialogue about this is fine with him feeling that it is important to partner with the University on multiple levels. Loomer thinks that when it reaches a good point that it needs to be put on the Commission agenda. Bourgeois supports the idea. Ditzler noted that partnering with the University on projects is something that was in the Master Plan as well. CHAIRS REPORT: No report. DIRECTORS REPORT: Naming Policy: Dale Helling has asked that Moran and one Commission member as well as the Library Board of Trustees and a member of the Animal Foundation meet and discuss and rewrite the policy. He will then present to Helling and Council for approval. Moran announced that Cindy Coffin, Therapeutic Recreation Specialist with the Iowa City Recreation Division received the IPRA Professional of the Year award which was renamed the Trueblood/Slattery Award. Moran announced that the Wetherby Splash Pad dedication will take place on June 8. It will open on May 28. North Market Square: Steve Ford from Confluence turned in plans for North Market Square. This will go out to bid this summer. The goal is to have project finished by September 15. Kickers: Statue dedication on Saturday, May 15 at 10:00 a.m. The Trueblood family will be present. These statues are located next to the north side concession building. Robinson reported that the ballfield budget for FY10 is $162,850. This is what is paid for staff to maintain the fields. These include two fields at Kickers, fields at Napoleon, Mercer and City Park. The soccer budget for FY10 is $119,317. Information item only. PARKS ANC RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 10 of 11 TTRA: Presentation by Snyder & Associates in June to report phases and budget. Westside Recreation: Staff went to the Iowa City School District to talk about Crossings Elementary School and express interest in a shared use agreement between the City and the school. However, Coralville has since decided that they are going to provide water and sewer, therefore, that building will stay within the Coralville City Limits. Moran withdrew the proposal at this point. Park Use Ordinance: This will be an item on the June 1 City Council Agenda. There has never been an ordinance allowing staff to regulate who can and cannot sell items etc. in the parks. This ordinance will allow authority to the Parks and Recreation Director to make these decisions. Farmers Market: Staff has been approached by Kurt Friese on behalf a group who would like to pursue the possibility of a year round farmers market by acquiring a new location for such. Moran told them that at this time the City will not be involved, however, will help gather information etc. if needed. The June Commission meeting will be held at the Beckwith Boathouse Conference Room. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Westefeld, seconded by Bourgeois to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Motion passed 6-0 with Elliott, Gustaveson, and Raaz being absent. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION May 12, 2010 Page 11 of 11 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2010 NAME M O O f~ N 01 d' ~ 00 M r' o ~ O TERM ~ ~- M ~`' ~ N . M ~ it ~ ~ tD ~ ~ ~ °D ~ O {~ ~ T r EXPIRES David 1/1/11 O/E O/E O/E X X X Bourgeois Clay 1/1/14 X X X X X X Claussen Lorin 1/1/13 O/E X X X O/E X Ditzler Maggie 1/1/13 X X O/E X X O/E Elliott Craig 1/1/11 X X X X X X Gustaves on Aaron 1/1%13 X O/E X X O/E X Krohmer Margaret 1/1/12 X O/E O/E X X X Loomer Jerry Raaz 1/1/12 X O/E X X X O/E John 1/1/14 O/E X X X X X Westefeld KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum * = Not a member at this time Airport Commission May 20, 2010 Page 1 MINUTES FINAL IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION MAY 20, 2010 - 6:00 P.M. AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING Members Present: Howard Horan, Minnetta Gardinier, Steve Crane, Jose Assouline Members Absent: Greg Farris Staff Present: Sue Dulek, Michael Tharp Others Present: Matt Wolford, Adam Henderson 4b(5) RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL• (to become effective only after separate Council action CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Horan called the meeting to order at 6:04 P.M. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: Minutes from both the April 15 and April 29, 2010, meetings were reviewed. Crane moved to approve the minutes of the April 15, 2010, meeting as submitted; seconded by Gardinier. Motion carried 4-0; Farris absent. Crane then moved to accept the minutes of the April 29, 2010, meeting as submitted; seconded by Gardinier. Motion carried 4-0; Farris absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Aviation Commerce Park -Tharp noted that other than the lot offer on Lot #10, which the Council did accept, there isn't much more to report. Dulek noted that the abstract needs updating, but otherwise things should be wrapped up soon. b. FAA/IDOT Projects - AECOM -David Hughes -Tharp noted that Hughes is not present this evening. i. Runway 7/25 & 12/30 -Tharp noted that they have some of the punchlist items yet to complete. ii. Obstruction Mitigation -Tharp noted that he does not have an update on this item. Dulek noted that she did send a letter to the contractor for the United Hangar demolition regarding final documents for payment but has not heard anything back. iii. 2010 Pavement Rehab -Tharp reported that they will need to have a special Commission meeting on June 30th in order to have the public hearing on this item, and subsequently approve the plan specs. Bids would then be opened July 19th, and the contract would be awarded at the August 19th meeting. Airport Commission May 20, 2010 Page 2 Construction could then begin shortly after this. This will be a 30 to 45-day project, according to Tharp. The majority of the project involves crack sealing and general pavement repair type issues, in addition to some drain improvements in the Hanger "A" area. The total on this project is around $220,000. c. 2011 Air Race Classic -Gardinier noted that she is still working on some of the details for this. The dates of the race will be June 21St to the 24th, with planes starting to arrive around the 16th of June. Gardinier added that she did meet with staff at the Convention and Visitors Bureau recently regarding the race. She also noted that they have received a $1,000 donation from the Iowa Aviation Promotion Group. Gardinier then responded to Members' questions regarding the race, adding that as she finds out more information on next year's race she will let the Commission know. Gardinier also noted that due to this year's Air Race Classic, of which she is a participant, she will not be at next month's meeting. d. Corporate Hangar "L" -Tharp reported that he added the State application to the packet. He noted the breakdown of the funds, adding that he did receive a call from the State already. e. Airport "Operations": Strategic Plan Implementation; Budget; Management - Tharp stated that he is working with Accounting on some delinquent tenants. He believes this should be resolved soon. He added that overall they are doing okay budget-wise. Tharp noted that they are looking at a possible $4,000 bill to fix the south gate opener problem. The north gate is functional at this point, according to Tharp. A brief discussion ensued about whether they should do both the south and north gates at this time. Horan asked if they shouldn't go ahead and budget for the north gate for next year. Tharp noted that they must do the south gate now, but that he believes they could budget for the north gate to be redone in the next few years. Members agreed that Tharp would have the south gate fixed now. Gardinier then asked why there is no hot water in the Terminal building, adding that she has never been able to get hot water in the restroom. Tharp noted that this has been an ongoing problem, and basically what happens is the pilot light keeps going out on the water heater. Members briefly discussed this issue, with Tharp stating that they could always do under-sink type heaters in the restrooms. He will look into this further and report back to the Commission. Crane asked about the year-to-date expenses, and whether there are any expenses outstanding. Tharp responded, noting some asphalt work to be done this summer for about $60,000. f. FBO /Iowa Flight Training /Whirlybird Reports -Matt Wolford of Jet Air introduced himself to Commission Members, noting that he has just moved to Iowa City from Galesburg. He shared a maintenance report with those present, noting that the only thing not included is the carpet cleaning that was just completed. He also noted that the open house is this upcoming weekend and Jet Air has been getting things ready for this. Gardinier asked if there are any plans to cut the brush around the Airport perimeter, and Horan responded. Adam Henderson with Whirlybird Helicopters spoke next. He stated that they have been preparing for the open house, as well. Henderson then briefly shared how his business has been doing; adding that he currently has eight students enrolled. Henderson then responded to Members' questions regarding Whirlybird Helicopters. g. Subcommittees' Reports -Horan asked Tharp to make the subcommittee list a part of the normal packet. He then reviewed the current subcommittees for the new Members. Airport Commission May 20, 2010 Page 3 h. Commission Members' Reports -Crane noted the possibility of youth programs being offered in aviation. Tharp stated that he is familiar with the group promoting this. He added that Jet Air did atwo- or three-day camp a couple of years ago for youth. Horan shared with new Members some web sites they can visit for aviation information. Gardinier shared with Members that she had been interviewed recently for a Mediacom television show. i. Staff Report -Tharp noted the open house this coming weekend on Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00, stating that he has had phone calls from local congressional folks who have stated they will be stopping by. SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING FOR: The next regular meeting will be Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 6:00 P.M. at the Airport Terminal building. The special meeting will be held on July 1St at 6:00 P.M. ADJOURN: The meeting adjourned at 7:06 P. M. Gardinier made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:06 P.M.; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 4-0; Farris absent. CHAIRPERSON DATE s= 0 N N ~ O ~o O N ~ O ~ N a ~ ~ Q~~ Z O O~ ~~o O V N UZQ W ~' aW ~_~ QQ NI ~ X X X X GPI N X X X , x W ~ ~I ~ ~ X ~ X X M X X X x ~I x x x x x N r N x x x X X l r rZ LV W H ('7 M Ln M ~ ~ N M Ct M N M O M O „' cWc Z .~ rn ~ L ~ Q~ c~ c m ~ c~u o 0 ~ m o o vi ~ > a? ~ a~ ~ ~ c o m rn ~ x c E ~__~~ ya~d~~v a¢~z°z° a II II II II II X ~ O Z ~ ~I W Y 4b 6 IOWA CITY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FINAL MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010--5:30 P. M. CITY CABLE TV OFFICE, 10 S. LINN ST.-TOWER PLACE PARKING FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Laura Bergus, Hans Hoerschelman, Saul Mekies, Gary Hagen MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert Kemp STAFF PRESENT: Mike Brau, Bob Hardy OTHERS PRESENT: Josh Goding, Lee Grassley, Michael McBride RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL None at this time. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION Grassley reported that transmissions in central Iowa are now all digital. Subscribers who need a digital to analog converter are given one free of charge. If they need an additional converter, a rental charge applies. Less than 15% of subscribers require assistance from a technician to install the converter. Subscribers who previously had a converter and were paying a rental fee will no longer be assessed the fee. When the Iowa City area converts to all digital transmission the access channels will remain in their present position. Grassley said that the customer service office on Gilbert Street will be moved to Mediacom's Southgate facility due, in part, to a recent robbery. The public will be notified on their bills and by a newspaper ad. DOCSIS 3.0 Internet service is available and a marketing campaign will begin in June or July. Hardy said the schools appear to be responding to the initiative to assist the schools develop more programming. Funds are available from the local programming fund to help with equipment purchases, if needed. Mekies said the years of efforts by the Commission are paying off. It appears the obstacles to progress have been removed. Hoerschelman said the Commission should assess progress in August. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mekies moved and Bergus seconded a motion to approve the April 26, 2010 minutes as amended. The motion passed unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS Hagen said he watched a lot of local access television while in the hospital and was impressed with the quality. SHORT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS None. CONSUMER ISSUES Hardy referred to the complaint report in the meeting packet and said that all complaints had been resolved. Mekies noted that complaints about Internet speeds have been common. MEDIACOM REPORT Grassley reported that transmissions in central Iowa are now all digital. Subscribers who need a digital to analog converter are given one free of charge. If they need an additional converter, a rental charge applies. Less than 15% of subscribers require assistance from a technician to install the converter. Subscribers who previously had a converter and were paying a rental fee will no longer be assessed the fee. When the Iowa City area converts to all digital transmission the access channels will remain in their present position. Mekies asked about the announced rate increases for some services in light of the fact that inflation is near zero. Grassley said part of the need for increased revenue is to retain and hire highly skilled employees and the costs imposed on Mediacom by other companies for programming costs and other services. Grassley said that actual costs to many subscribers is well below the listed retail cost due to the discounts given for bundled services. Bundled service packages now extend for two years. Mekies noted that the increased rates are for high-end services that subscribers can avoid if they wish. Grassley said that the customer service office on Gilbert Street will be moved to Mediacom's Southgate facility due, in part, to a recent robbery. The public will be notified on their bills and by a newspaper ad. Grassley said that Mediacom has produced afour-minute psa on the conversion to digital transmission. Hardy said the City Channel would be glad to cablecast it when the time comes. Grassley said Mediacom's phone service will be provided in-house by the end of the year. DOCSIS 3.0 Internet service is available and a marketing campaign will begin in June or July. Hoerschelman noted that the FCC is looking at the language used by cable operators advertising their cable modem service speeds as "up to" a certain level and asked if Mediacom is considering changing their ads. Grassley said Mediacom will wait for guidelines from the FCC. UNIVERSITY OF IOWA REPORT McBride reported that nine of the ten commencement ceremonies have been shot and are on the air. The last commencement will be shot next week. During the summer staff development will be priority. Developing playback redundancy is in the works. KIRKWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE Kirkwood provided a written report. PATV REPORT Goding reported PATV experienced some playback problems related to power outages. The psa supplied to Mediacom for playback has produced good results and generated a large number of intern applicants. The next guidelines workshop will be June 6 at 2:30 p.m. Other workshops are by appointment. PATV's website has been redesigned. Among the planned productions is Arts Fest, Jazz Fest, and Trek Fest. Plans to upgrade to a digital playback system are under way and will likely be in place by the end of the year. The board of directors will meet June 17 at 7 p. m. SENIOR CENTER REPORT No representative was present. Hardy said Susan Rogusky has opted for early retirement. LIBRARY REPORT No representative was present. ICCSD REPORT Hoyland provided a written report. Hardy said the initiative to assist the schools develop more programming is working well. CITY CHANNEL REPORT Hardy reported that the City Channel's web streaming offerings are available on an iphone and an audio-only option has also been made available. The Community Television Service recently recorded a program for United Action for Youth and the annual awards ceremony for the Alliance for Retarded Citizens. The Friday Night Concert Series is again being recorded. The new IC People program will feature tree surgeon Seth Bihun and Susan Mimms will be on At Home. New Community Voice shorts feature the Regeneration Factory and the Iowa Dance Festival. In the past month 14 public meetings were recorded. Other new programs include the Johnson County Urbanized Area Board, the Youth Human Rights Award ceremony, and Police Beat, the new program for the police department. Five candidates made use of the Meet the Candidate program. EQUIPMENT CHARGES Hardy reported that a letter was sent to Mediacom inquiring about charges for converter boxes. Mediacom responded and clarified that the charge includes a remote control and was within the maximum permitted rate. STATE LEGISLATION Hardy said he has asked the legal department to determine if Iowa City would be protected from losing its municipal franchise if a competitor indicates an intent to provide service. ICCSD PROGRAMMING SUPPORT Hardy said the schools appear to be responding to the initiative to assist the schools develop more programming. Funds are available from the local programming fund to help with equipment purchases, if needed. Mekies said the years of efforts by the Commission are paying off. It appears the obsticles to progress have been removed. Hoerschelman said the Commission should assess progress in August. ADJOURNMENT Mekies moved and Bergus seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:28. ~~ Michael Brau Cable TV Administrative Aide TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 12 MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD July 2008 to CURRENT Meetin Date Hoerschelman Saul Meikes Bob Kemp Gordon Gary Hagen 7/28/Og X X X X X 8/25/08 X X X o/c X 9/23/08 x x x x X 10.27/08 X X X o/c X 11/24/08 Did not meet 12/15/08 X X X X X 1 /26/09 X X X X o/c 2/243/09 X~ x o/c o/c X Laura Bergus 4/27/09 X X X X X 6/1/09 x x x vacant X 6/22/09 X X X X Mekies 7/27/Og X X X o/c x 8/24/09 X X X X X g/28/Og X X X X X 10/24/09 x x xx o/c 11 /23/09 x x o/c x X 1 /25/10 X X X o/c o/c 2/22/10 X X o/c X o/c 4/26/10 X X o/c X o/c 5/24/10 X X 0 X X 6/28/10 X x 0 X o/c (X)=Present (O) =Absent (O/C) =Absent/Called (Excused) 4b 7 MINUTES APPROVED HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 - 6:30 PM EMMA HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Andrew Chappell, Andy Douglas, Jarrod Gatlin Holly Jane Hart, Rebecca McMurray, Brian Richman MEMBERS ABSENT: Charlie Drum, Michael McKay, Rachel Zimmermann Smith STAFF PRESENT: Steve Long OTHERS PRESENT: None RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL: The Commission voted 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent) to recommend approval of the Citizen Participation Plan with minor changes. The Commission voted 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent) to recommend approval of the FY11 Annual Action Plan and the FY08, FY09, and FY10 Annual Action Plan Amendments as proposed by staff, including a recommendation to allocate an additional $70,000 IN FY11 HOME funds to the City of Iowa City's owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Brian Richman at 6:30 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 25, 2010 MEETING MINUTES: Richman recommended a change in wording on a comment attributed to him. Chappell motioned to approve the minutes as amended. Hart seconded. The motion carried 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent). PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. STAFF/COMMISSION COMMENT: None. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 2 of 9 REVIEW OF THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN (Recommendation to City Council): Long said this is an important HUD-required document that is being updated from the last time it was approved in 2004. He said the format is different though the contents are essentially the same. Long said the only change staff is proposing is under Section 3, bullet #2. He said there are now two categories: "substantial change" and "non-substantial change"; previously there was only the "substantial change" category. Long said that under these revisions, any change of $50,000 or more would be considered substantial and would require City Council approval. Anything under $50,000 would go to the City Manager, who would decide if it should go back before the City Council or the Commission. Long said that a review had been conducted of the Participation Plans for the other entitlement cities in Iowa and that some of the changes incorporated into the new document came from those plans. Long said that basically the plan governed how documents would be made public and what do to if there was a change in purpose, scope or location for an HCDC-funded project. Long said there have been issues in the past concerning changes in location; however, that part of the plan has been unchanged because the City Council has provided good direction with its scattered-site housing policies and, as it stands, changes in location go back before the City Council. Chappell asked what ~~ „ was meant by the phrase change in scope. Long said it deals primarily with changes in dollar amounts and significant changes in budget. Long said that this is an area where the City Manager can make the decision rather than having the matter go back before the Council and the Commission, so long as the change was non-substantial. Douglas asked if this pertained to CDBG-funded projects and Long replied that it was in regard to CDBG/HOME-funded projects. Chappell asked if the language meant that these regulations pertained only to projects that were originally allocated at least $50,000. Long said that was correct. Chappell asked if the amendment to the plan was only required if the change in scope also was of at least $50,000. Long said that was correct, adding that it was $50,000 or 25%. Richman said that it should actually be "the lesser of." Richman suggested that it should read: "a change by the lesser of $50,000 or 25% would be considered a substantial change." Long and Chappell agreed. Richman commented on Section 5, The Citizen Access section. Richman noted that earlier in the year there had been some issues with the survey for the CITY STEPS plan. He said he wondered if there were ways to improve that process to garner more participation from the wider community. He said that it would be valuable to get input from the wider community when setting strategy, and not just from vested parties. Long said it is difficult to get wide participation. The City had advertised in the neighborhood association newsletters, had meetings at different neighborhood organizations and sent direct mailings to targeted neighborhoods. Long said that he believed there had been some lessons learned from the online survey. He said it would have been helpful to have a mechanism whereby the same people could not take the survey more than once. Richman pointed out that this could have been done by requiring an a-mail address. Richman suggested that it might be useful to consider having a staff, Commission or Council member appear on a local radio show to talk about the importance of the process and what actually comes out of it. He said it could be one way of getting people more interested in participating. Richman suggested adding a sentence under Media which includes something about making an effort to have City officials appear on local media to discuss the process. Douglas suggested that City TV would be an appropriate vehicle for that. Long said these could be follow-ups to the media releases already included in the plan. Richman said that having people actually discuss the matter in a public venue could get more participation from the general public. Chappell motioned to approve the plan with the changes proposed by the Commission. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 3 of 9 Gatlin seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent). REVIEW OF THE FY11 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AND FY08 FY09 FY10 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AMENDMENTS (Recommendation to City Council Long said that the Commission had already actually considered these matters. He explained that the FY08 amendment was the result of a CDBG allocation to Blooming Garden for which the applicant had cancelled its agreement. The Commission terminated the agreement and reallocated those funds as part of the FY11 funding process. Long explained that the FY09 and FY10 amendments were the result of Dolphin International having been allocated $188,000 in HOME funds for down-payment assistance. As that project is no longer moving forward, those funds have also been reallocated. Long said that this agenda item is the formal process to let HUD know about the changes. Long said that the Annual Action Plan is currently in the middle of the public comment period. McMurray asked how many comments were typically generated for something like this. Long said that it depends. He said that there may not be many for the amendments, but staff has already received a number of comments on the Annual Action Plan. Long said there had been comments from applicants that had been pleased with the process and some comments from Dolphin International as well. Hart asked if the comments were public and if the Commission would see them. Long said that the comments will be sent to the City Council as part of their packets and will be forwarded to the Commission at that time as well. Hart said she would like to see them. McMurray asked if Dolphin International was hoping that City Council might change the Commission's ruling on their case based on the comments they were offering. Long said that was likely the hope. Long said that the FY11 Annual Action plan is aHUD-required document. He said the plan looks a little different than it has in previous years, as a consultant was hired that used a HUD template that staff has not used in the past. Long said that this had the effect of making the document a little less reader-friendly. Long distributed the budget for the CDBG/HOME funds. He explained that the Commission does not consider Council-mandated earmarks such as The Economic Development Fund, Aid to Agencies, and Housing Rehab. Richman noted that there was a memo in the Commission packet outlining the final dollar amounts from HUD. Long said that they had received some good news. Richman said it looks as though the City received an additional $70,000 in CDBG funds. He said that staff favors rolling that funding into owner- occupied housing rehab. Long said this was not correct. He said there had been no increase in HOME funds, but there had been an 8% increase in CDBG funds. Long said there has been a pretty drastic decrease in program income in the form of loan repayments because the refinancing frenzy that had occurred for several years has decreased in the last year or two; additionally, people are staying in their homes longer and not selling them as quickly as had been the case in the past. Richman asked for some sort of sense of the magnitude of the drop in program income. Long said he believed the funds were down about $60,000, and those funds are used to estimate Aid to Agencies and administration costs. He said that 15% of CDBG dollars can be used for Public Service applications and up to 20% can be used for administration. He said that a lot less administration dollars have been used the last two years because so much time has been used for flood recovery. He said this is part of the reason there is a little bit of surplus in HOME funds, which is usually used for project cost overruns, or changes in projects. Long said a lot of projects have issues that come up, so the reserves are kept to cover those. Long said that HUD has just notified the City that they must have some HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 4 of 9 funds committed by July 31, 2010, and that one way to do that is to give it to Housing Rehab. Richman asked if the additional $70,000 would be money above and beyond the $212,000 earmarked by Council and Long said that it would be. Richman asked how that $282,000 would compare to what had been earmarked by Council in the past. Long said he believed that last year's earmark was $228,000. Long noted that with HOME funds and Housing Rehab a comprehensive rehabilitation of the property must be done; it is not allowable to simply go in and replace the furnace as it would be with CDBG funds. Richman said the question is if the Commission wants to go in and allocate it to owner-occupied housing rehab, or to something else. Long said that staff had chosen Housing Rehab because they knew they could commit it quickly as they have a waiting list of people. Richman said that is fine unless Commissioners have other ideas. Hart and Chappell said they have no problem with staff's proposal for the money. Long said the first part of the Annual Action Plan explains what the goals are in CITY STEPS, how they will be met, and the anticipated resources for the next year. He said CITY STEPS is then basically summarized. Long said that Appendix A describes each project with the objectives, outcomes and accomplishments. He noted that the Commission's Justification Memo is attached at the end. Long said that City Council does look at the Justification Memo, so he appreciated the time the Commission put into it. Hart asked who had done the memo this time and Richman said that he and Zimmermann Smith had done it. Chappell asked about the public policy recommendations on page 29. He noted that one of these recommendations was to adopt a mandatory inclusionary zoning ordinance. He said it was his understanding that at a recent work session the City Council disavowed itself of any interest in inclusionary zoning at this time. Chappell asked if the Commission should then remove that recommendation. Long said that they could not remove it because it was part of CITY STEPS and had been adopted. Douglas said that the City Council might choose to revisit the issue. Long said CITY STEPS is reviewed every fall. Douglas said he liked the idea of leaving it in, as it may put the slightest bit of pressure on the Council. Long said he would anticipate at least one or two of the Council members revisiting this in the fall. Douglas said that he had come across a statement in the plan that encouraged the creation of co-ops for the management of mobile home courts. He asked if this was something new. Long said that it was new, and that it had come about as a result of the Housing Market Analysis that was done just prior to CITY STEPS. Douglas asked if this was actually happening. Long said it was not. He said there had been discussions with one mobile home park that is actually outside the city limits, but that nothing has gone beyond the discussion phase. McMurray asked what was meant by a "cooperative." Long said that instead of a mobile home having a single, private owner, everyone in the mobile home park would own a share of it and would have a voice in its management. Long said this has been done in other parts of the country. Douglas said that the current owners of a mobile home park would have to be interested in selling to a cooperative entity. McMurray asked if ,Iowa City had more mobile home parks than is usual as it seemed like there were a lot of them. Long said he did not believe so, but that many of them were just outside the city limits. Richman said it was relative; there were more than in Manhattan, for example. Long said that Habitat for Humanity had put together a good study of mobile home parks and presented it to the Board of Supervisors last month. He offered to forward it to Commissioners. Long said there is one park in Iowa City where 88% of the homes were built before 1976, when HUD passed requirements banning the use of aluminum wiring and requiring the use of 2x4s and 2x6s in their construction. McMurray said that if the mobile home parks were outside the city then there was not really anything the Commission could do about them. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 5 of 9 Long said that the Commission could direct staff to study the issue within the city limits if they were interested in learning more. Long said that if the Commission wished to put some of the extra funds into Housing Rehab then that should be stated as part of any recommendation the Commission makes. Douglas motioned to adopt the FY11 Annual Action Plan and FY08, FY09, and FY10 Annual Action Plan Amendments as proposed by staff, including a recommendation to allocate an additional $70,000 in FY11 HOME funds to the City of Iowa City's owner- occupied housing rehabilitation program. Hart seconded. The motion carried 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent). DISCUSSION OF FY10 PROJECTS THAT HAVE NOT PERFORMED PER THE UNSUCCESSFUL OR DELAYED PROJECTS POLICY: Long explained that the City has a policy which states that if a CDBG applicant has not expended at least 50% of their funds by March 15th they must come back before the Commission. At that time, staff reviews all of the budgets to make sure that they are on track. Long stated that there are five applicants that have not spent 50% of their funding. MECCA's Aid to Agencies funding has not yet been spent; however, Long said that they simply have not yet billed the City for the funds. Long said that the same is true for Successful Living's Therapeutic Recreation Program. Long said that United Action for Youth had received funds to renovate the exterior of their facility on Iowa Avenue. He said that the project had involved painting, and the weather had not been warm enough to allow the work to be done prior to March 15th. The Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (NCJC) received funds to replace an exterior deck. Long said they hoped to begin by May 1St, and staff is confident that project will go forward. Richman noted that this would only give NCJC two months to spend their allocation. Long said that after talking to the architect, staff is confident the project will be done by then. Long said MECCA's security improvements are on track to be completed. Long said that all of the projects seem to be on target for completion and that it is unlikely that any of those CDBG funds will need to be recaptured. The new facility for Shelter House is under construction and will be completed on schedule. They drew down the CDBG Stimulus funds first and the FY10 CDBG funds will be drawn down by the end of the fiscal year. REVIEW OF THE FY11 ALLOCATION PROCESS: Long said this agenda item offers Commissioners the opportunity to consider (or form a committee for further consideration of) how the allocation process went overall, and/or any changes or recommendations the Commission might have in terms of meeting format, application materials, outreach to the community, etc. He said the idea was to have the Commission start thinking about it while the process is still fresh in their minds. He said that the issue can be set as an agenda item for a later date, or a subcommittee could be formed to revamp things somewhat. Richman said he still felt like the ranking process is less than perfect. He said that the categories and line items available to rank some of these projects still need some work. Richman said that he believed the ranking forms could certainly be improved to better reflect some of the things that go into the consideration of these projects. Douglas said he would agree with that. He said that some of the points are so broad as to be meaningless HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 6 of 9 and can be applied to all of the projects. Richman said that putting criteria that Commission members do not necessarily put a lot of weight on tends to unfairly skew the process. Long asked if having separate ranking sheets for rental projects and owner-occupied projects would be helpful. Richman said he personally would not find that particularly helpful. Richman said that he would very much like to see the staff reports delineate specifics about the ability of applicants to repay all or portions of their loans. Chappell asked if Richman meant that staff should support recommendations on financing. Richman said that was correct. He said that this year all of the applicants for housing requested some variation of a forgivable loan. He said that this was not addressed in the initial staff reports, though Long and Hightshoe had provided this sort of information later on. He said it might be helpful to see this information earlier in the process. Richman said that one thing that could go on the ranking sheets is whether the Commission feels the proposed financing terms and developer fees are appropriate or reasonable. Douglas noted that this might cause applicants to think a little bit more about the terms they request. Hart said that was a good idea. She said that there are some projects or applicants that will simply never bring the kind of resources to the table that would allow repayment; however, there are some applicants that can repay. Chappell said that overall the process had been about as efficient as he could have imagined it to be. He said that in the end he is not sure what he got from some of the site visits; however, for a project like DVIP's ramp, it did help to understand the nature of the project better. Long advised Commissioners to continue thinking about the issue. Chappell said he had concerns similar to Richman's regarding the ranking sheets. McMurray said she would like to be able to give additional points for green projects. Chappell said he wondered if there could be some sort of discretionary points that are awarded to projects, as so often it wound up that all of the applicants had the same point totals. Chappell said that he sometimes became so absorbed with the ranking sheet that he then ignored the priority level. He said he could not, however, figure out how to build the priority levels into the ranking sheets. Long said the function of the sheets in their present form is to serve as guides for the Commissioners' recommendations. Richman pointed out that in the last allocation cycle rental housing was a high priority and owner-occupied was either medium or low. Richman said that, nonetheless, funds were appropriated for owner-occupied projects such as Habitat for Humanity, though all of the funds could have been allocated to rental projects that were technically ranked as being of a higher priority. Richman said he agreed with Chappell's idea of having some way to reflect the more subjective assessment that shows up in the rankings. Douglas said that ultimately it seemed as though the Commission did not really pay much attention to the rankings. He said the rankings serve as a process for Commissioners to wrap their heads around a project, but in the end they are not used much. Richman asked Long what a good process for improving the allocation system might be. Long suggested having a subcommittee get together to go over the process. He said that in the past staff has contacted other communities to see what they do. He said Iowa City is one of the few to use a ranking sheet. Chappell asked if any of the feedback from applicants made reference to that part of the process. Long said that Habitat had some concerns about the ranking process. Chappell asked what the nature of their concerns was. Long said that they seemed to think it was not really worthwhile to even use the ranking sheets. He said it was the opinion of the person who offered comments on Habitat's behalf that the Commission should either strictly use the ranking sheets or should strictly use the priority levels. Long said the ranking sheets were set up to be used as a guide. He said that, to be honest, one of the original intentions of the system was to weed out some of the applications that did not seem to be feasible; a score of less than 65 meant the project would not be funded. Long said that since then the ranking system has evolved quite a bit, and continues to evolve. McMurray said she thought the rankings had been intended to eliminate some of the biases Commissioners might hold. She said that everyone has their own favorite projects and agencies that they cannot help but want to aid. She said that the rankings have been useful for her in checking those inherent biases, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 7 of 9 and seeing that although she may really like a project, if its ranking is low it should be funded lower, if at all. Gatlin said that he would not want to see the ranking sheet eliminated, but some modifications would be helpful. Gatlin said it had been helpful to him to see how other Commissioners had ranked projects. McMurray said it would make sense to eliminate categories where either all points or no points are awarded across the board. McMurray gave the category of "human resources" as an example of this. Long explained that this category was put in place to level the playing field for agencies such as Habitat for Humanity that had a lot of volunteer power but few outside resources who were competing against agencies with a lot of resource power but little volunteer support. Richman said this brought up the issue for him regarding the applicants' documented attempts to secure outside funding. He said it has never been clear to him how specifically the ranking sheet is asking applicants to detail the efforts they have made to secure outside funding. Chappell said it may be helpful to have a meeting prior to using the ranking sheets where Commissioners discuss what those individual categories mean. Chappell said that he remembers having questions about how two categories actually differed. He said there was no need to get dogmatic about it, but that a conversation about individual interpretations might lead to a better understanding in the end. Long said that would be a good way to get everyone on the same page. Richman said that ever year there is recognition that there are some problems with the process, but by the time the Commission starts talking about it, the process is six months behind them and no longer fresh in their minds. Richman proposed that Long a-mail out the three ranking sheets and everyone take ten minutes to evaluate which ranking items are problematic; then, at the next meeting the Commission can discuss ways to improve the ranking system. The Commission agreed to proceed in this manner. DISCUSSION OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CELEBRATION: Long explained that this is an annual celebration that is held to focus on community development and what the funds actually do in the community. He said it is usually held at a place that has been assisted by HCDC. Chappell asked who attends the celebration. Long said that there are typically around 100 people; recipients of FY11 allocations are acknowledged. He said that invitations are issued to neighborhood groups, community members, realtors, former members, etc. He said the event is promoted through local radio and cable television as well as press releases. Long said that it does typically work best if a couple of Commissioners take the lead on the project. He said that staff generally sees to the details, but they take ideas from the Commission members. He said that there will be an intern available to help with the celebration this year. Hart said she would be willing to help with this celebration. Long said the committee would pick a theme and a location. Staff then solicits donations from area restaurants to provide food. Long noted that last year First American Bank donated funds to purchase food for the event from restaurants that had been assisted by CDBG funds. Long said that banks are historically good donors in part because of the Community Reinvestment Act. He said he would send out an a-mail about this to Commissioners who were not present. MONITORING REPORTS: Shelter House -New Construction 8~ Operations (McMurray): McMurray said she was unable to speak with Kafi Dixon directly, however the $2,500 operational expenses for STAR has been fully expended. The CDBGR stimulus money in the amount of $116,785 is also fully expended. The $194,483 in CDBG funding was also allocated to this project and the funds HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2010 PAGE 8 of 9 have not been expended; however, the funds will be spent by the end of the fiscal year.. McMurray said that Shelter House had sent her a construction summary to show what has been finished on the project, and the budgetary changes that have occurred. Richman asked if they were on schedule to finish in the fall. McMurray said that she had asked that but no date had been given in their reply. Long said that they are governed by very strict funding deadlines so they will be finished by October. He shared photos from the Shelter House website. United Action for Youth -Facility Rehabilitation (Gatlin): Gatlin said that UAY had been allocated funds for maintenance and structural updates to their property at 422 Iowa Avenue. Gatlin said that the project was 80% done as of two weeks ago. The painting and the structural updates to the stairs and the exterior of the house has been completed. Gatlin said a new door has been put in and the window update will be completed by July 1 S`. He said they are approximately $2,000 over budget, but definitely feel they will be finished within the required timeframe. Long asked how that $2,000 over-run would be paid. Gatlin said that they had mentioned there had been some funding available through CDBG in the past and that they would be contacting Long and Hightshoe. Aid to Agencies -United Action for Youth, Elder Services Inc., MECCA (Douglas): Douglas said that Elder Services had received $54,000 in funding from Ald to Agencies, $41,000 of which has been spent. He said they are on track to sperid the full amount for their case management department, which helps elderly and frail people stay in their homes by having services arranged for them. Douglas said that he had not spoken with MECCA, but he believed Long's report had already addressed the MECCA issue. Douglas said he would address UAY at the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT: Gatlin motioned to adjourn. Douglas seconded. The motion carried 6-0 (Drum, McKay and Zimmermann Smith absent). The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. Z O N O V H z W J a O W W D ~_ Z 0 V Z Q Z N O D 0 U W W o V ~ Z o Q N 0 Z W H Q x x o x x o x x o N X X X X X X X X X M X X X X X X ~ X X M c~ X X X X X X X X X N N X X X X X X X X X N •- O N O n- r ~- r O ~ N ~- ~a W r O N r ~ O r ~ O r O N r ~ O ~ O ~ O ~ O O N H W _ ~ O O ~ O O O O ~ Q W V W 2 ~ W ~ ~ W Q Z Q Q ~ ~ J Q = ~ ~ N Z N 2 ~ J V } m Q V ~ ~ Q ~ w a a J C9 ~ Z J H Q ~ _ W ~V _ Y U_ ~Q Q Z V O O ~ ~ ~ ~ N ~ ` ~ ~ x ~' E y.., W ~ ~ aci~ °~~ ~a~i~ca ~ Q Z o Z II II II II W ~ ; Y X O Z 07-12-10 4b 8 MINUTES APPROVED PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MAY 20, 2010 - 7:00 PM -FORMAL CITY HALL, EMMA J. HARVAT HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Charlie Eastham, Ann Freerks, Elizabeth Koppes, Wally Plahutnik, Tim Weitzel MEMBERS ABSENT: Josh Busard, Michelle Payne STAFF PRESENT: Bob Miklo, Jacob Rosenberg, Karen Howard, Sara Greenwood Hektoen OTHERS PRESENT: Dave Larsen, Glenn Siders, Steve Goetzelman, Kent Ralston RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: 1. The Commission voted 5-0 (Busard and Payne absent) to approve REZ10-00008, an application submitted by Dealer Properties IC, LLC fora rezoning from Highway Commercial (CH-1) to Intensive Commercial (CI-1) zone for approximately 22.83 acres of property located west of Mormon Trek, south of Highway 1, adjacent to City View Drive, subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement (CZA) that addresses the following: 1. Landscaping requirements for frontages on Mormon Trek Boulevard, Highway 218 and Highway 1 to be approved by staff. 2. Building and site design standards that address the appearance of the development and the location and screening of loading docks, garbage dumpsters, outdoor storage areas and other service areas or equipment. 3. Restrictions on lighting as deemed necessary by the Airport Manager. 4. The provision of an adequate buffer from the residential properties located to the south. 2. The Commission voted 5-0 (Busard and Payne absent) to approve an amendment to the Zoning Code to allow more flexibility in the application of development standards as they apply to nonconforming developments. 3. The Commission voted 5-0 (Busard and Payne absent) to approve an amendment to the Zoning Code to refine the definition of regulated stream corridors to exclude drainageways that do not have a bed and bank defined by an ordinary high water mark and a definite direction of flow. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Chairperson Ann Freerks. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 2 of 11 None. REZONING/DEVELOPMENT ITEM: REZ10-00006 &SUB10-00002: Discussion of an application submitted by TNT Land Development LLC for a preliminary plat and rezoning from Low Density Single Family (RS-5) to Planned Development Overlay -Low Density Single Family (OPD-5) for Terra Verde, a 58-lot, 23.22-acre residential subdivision located at 2949 Rochester Avenue. Miklo stated that this item needed to be deferred indefinitely. Staff is waiting for a wetland mitigation plan, as well as a plan the addresses the woodlands and the stream corridor on the property. Freerks opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak to the issue and the public hearing was closed. Weitzel motioned to defer the application indefinitely. Koppes seconded. Eastham noted that he would be abstaining from this item. A vote was taken and the motion to defer carried 3-0 (Eastham abstaining; Plahutnik not present at time of the vote; Busard and Payne absent). REZONING ITEM: REZ10-00008: Discussion of an application submitted by Dealer Properties IC, LLC for a rezoning from Highway Commercial (CH-1) to Intensive Commercial (CI-1) zone for approximately 22.83 acres of property located west of Mormon Trek, south of Highway 1, adjacent to City View Drive. Jacob Rosenberg stated that the applicant is requesting the rezoning to allow for the property to be used as a car dealership and collision repair facility. Rosenberg said that Lot 1 of the subject property is currently occupied by Billion Honda car dealership. The applicant has indicated that they may re-subdivide in the future. Rosenberg said that the property was annexed by Iowa City in 2003 to support the City's goal of developing commercial areas near the airport. At the time, the property was zoned Highway Commercial (CH-1) to facilitate the development of service uses relating to expressways or other major arterial thoroughfares. These commercial enterprises include: food, lodging, motor vehicle service and fuel. At the time of that zoning, auto sales were allowed in the CH-1 zone. In 2005, a new zoning code was adopted which limited retail uses in the CH-1 zone to those necessary to serve highway traffic. As a result, the auto dealership on Lot 1 is non-conforming. Rosenberg explained that the requested zone, Intensive Commercial (CI-1 ), is intended to provide areas for those sales and service uses whose operations are typically characterized by outdoor display and storage of merchandise. In this zone, special attention must be directed toward buffering negative aspects of allowed uses from adjacent residential zones. Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 3 of 11 Rosenberg noted that the Comprehensive Plan supports both CH-1 and CI-1 for the South Central District area's future land use scenario. The plan identifies the subject property and neighboring properties as suitable for large lot commercial uses with extensive outdoor storage. However, because the area serves as an entranceway to the city, the Plan also stresses the importance of aesthetics as the area develops. Rosenberg explained that the South Central District Plan specifies that intensive commercial properties on such entranceways are expected to upgrade landscaping and other design features to provide a consistent and attractive streetscape. He said that staff feels a Conditional Zoning Agreement (CZA) that includes standards to ensure that the property develops in a way that conforms to the policies of the Comprehensive Plan would be appropriate. Such a CZA would address landscaping, screening, and building and site design approval. Rosenberg said that the property is highly visible from Highway 218, and that staff would like to see a landscape buffer located in the rear of the property. He explained that Outlot B is a storm water management area, and that a wetland mitigation and compensatory mitigation plan were required prior to the subdivision of the property. However, there is some question as to whether those facilities would still be adequate for the proposed use. Calculations will need to be submitted to the City Engineer to assure that there will be adequate storm water storage. Rosenberg stated that provided that the concerns regarding the appearance of an entranceway to the city are addressed and all residential areas are adequately buffered, staff believes that the CI-1 zone would be compatible with the neighboring land uses. Rosenberg said the presence of a number of other car dealerships in the area would be a benefit as it results in the clustering of like-businesses. Rosenberg said that there are not many other CH-1 zones in the city, roughly 35 acres. He said there is a notable amount of undeveloped CH-1 zone located at Highway 1 and Interstate 80. Staff recommends that REZ10-00008, an application to rezone 22.38 acres of land at Mormon Trek Boulevard and City View Drive, be approved subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement that addresses the following: 1. Landscaping requirements for frontages on Mormon Trek Boulevard, Highway 218 and Highway 1. 2. Building and site design standards that address the appearance of the development and the location and screening of loading docks, garbage dumpsters, outdoor storage areas and other service areas or equipment. 3. The provision of an adequate buffer from the residential properties located to the south. Miklo added that the concern regarding the appearance from Highway 218 does not concern the display lot; rather, it is the back of the dealership, which will have dumpsters and storage lots. Freerks asked if the 35-acres of CH-1 referenced by Rosenberg included the subject property; Rosenberg clarified that it did not include the subject property. Koppes asked to be shown where staff desired to have screening on the south side. Rosenberg said that there were trees in that area, but not very many. He said that the applicant is proposing an auto repair facility for that lot and staff has concerns about buffering those areas from the view of residential uses. Miklo said the outlot is fairly wooded. Koppes asked if the Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 4 of 11 wooded area would be protected and Miklo said that it would as it is an outlot for storm water management and a wetland area, so no development could occur there. Eastham asked if access to the ID-RS area to the south was a concern. Miklo said that one of the reasons the area is zoned ID-RS is because there is no access. He said that the area would require access from the property to the south. He said there is some question as to whether it will ever be developable. The property owner to the south is doing a prairie restoration on his land and has talked about the possibility of dedicating the prairie to the City as open space. Miklo said that given the topography and the terrain, the only access would have to come from the neighboring property. Eastham asked if the provisions of the CZA would allow input of the tone and or shade of the exterior finish of the buildings. Miklo said the primary concern with that would be to avoid such things as corrugated metal buildings. Miklo said that such conditions have been imposed on Scott Six Industrial Park and the lots along Scott Boulevard. In that case the requirement was that areas visible from the street must have masonry or architectural metal finishes. He said that he did not believe color or details beyond general language regarding building materials and screening of loading docks would be justified in this case. Eastham asked about the covenant governing the property. Miklo said that the covenant applies to JJR Davis and specifies that property visible from public streets have to have a masonry or architectural metal finish. Miklo said that the City has does not enforce covenants. As a result, if such a requirement was desired by the Commission, then it would be appropriate for inclusion in a CZA. Freerks opened the public hearing. Dave Larsen, 277 Hickory, Kalona, appeared on behalf of the applicant. Eastham noted that the current dealership, Billion Honda, is bright white and is very prominently displayed. He asked Larsen if it was his experience that dealerships tend to insist on very obvious buildings or if they would be open to a more toned-down appearance. Larsen said that some dealerships are open to that, and some are not. Larsen said that his understanding for the design of the buildings in question is that they will be of similar metal panels to those used in the Billion Honda building. Larsen said that there is only one residential property visible from part of the property, and the dealership is purchasing that home and removing it. He said there is already a substantial amount of screening for the area. He noted that there are not only trees along the property line, but that a portion of it is also elevated, further blocking views of the proposed dealership. He circulated photographs to demonstrate this point. Larsen said that his original vision was for a hotel on the property on the Menard's side of the road; however, the three or four hotels that have expressed interest have been unable to obtain financing. He said that as a result, they are interested in rezoning that area to commercial as well. Miklo noted that the trees described by Larsen are along a creek bed and are not currently under the control of the applicant. Staff thinks that it would be helpful to have some S3 screening along the southern portion of the lot or the outlot to assure that the existing residential neighborhood is buffered from the proposed CI-1 zoning. Larsen said that it is the request of the applicant to have the matter voted on at this evening's Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 5 of 11 meeting as they are attempting to move forward as quickly as possible. Freerks noted that Larsen had indicated they would follow the good neighbor policy. She asked if they had met with anyone. Larsen said that all of the important people had been made aware of the plans for the property. Greenwood Hektoen noted that it takes four votes to approve a rezoning. Freerks invited other members of the public to speak to the issue. No one wished to speak and the public hearing was closed. Koppes motioned to approve REZ10-00008 subject to a Conditional Zoning Agreement that addresses the following: 1. Landscaping requirements for frontages on Mormon Trek Boulevard, Highway 218 and Highway 1 to be approved by staff. 2. Building and site design standards that address the appearance of the development and the location and screening of loading docks, garbage dumpsters, outdoor storage areas and other service areas or equipment. 3. Restrictions on lighting as deemed necessary by the Airport Manager. 4. The provision of an adequate buffer from the residential properties located to the south. Eastham seconded. Eastham said that the only difficulty he has with car dealerships in that area is that the buildings tend to have a very large, light exterior. He said that with two or three buildings in one area that could be a factor. He said that he understood that the Commission may have limited control over that. Koppes said she is fine with rezoning the area CI-1, but that the Commission may need to examine whether CH-1 is really a legitimate zone at this point. She would like to see the zoning for that area become stable and not continuously before the Commission for changes. Plahutnik said that he realized he was jumping into the meeting a little late, but that he agrees with Koppes in that he does not like the idea of zoning and rezoning an area multiple times. However, he said he also understood that it was an area that for the most part is undeveloped and that a lot depends on what kind of businesses people are able to get into the area. Freerks asked Plahutnik if he had attended the informal meeting and if he had heard what the applicant had presented at this meeting. Plahutnik said he had. Weitzel said that in reviewing the Comprehensive Plan, he has determined that the CZA is appropriate and necessary for maintaining an attractive entranceway to the City. Freerks said that she felt it would be good to bring the car dealership into conformance. She said that either zone would be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and she agrees that the back and forth zoning is not good for the area. She said she hates to see the dwindling of the CH-1 zone; however, as was discussed at the informal meeting, there is a lot of overlap between CH-1 and other zones. She agreed that it might be good for the Commission to further consider the future of the CH-1 zone. She said she did not have a problem with the color Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 6 of 11 chosen by the applicant so long as it conformed to design standards and passed staff review, and that she did believe the buffer was necessary. A vote was taken and the motion carried 5-0 (Busard and Payne absent). ZONING CODE ITEMS: 1. Discussion of an amendment to the Zoning Code to allow more flexibility in the application of development standards as they apply to nonconforming developments. Howard explained that nonconforming situations occur when the zoning designation of a property is changed or zoning regulations change such that existing, lawfully established uses, structures or lots no longer comply with zoning regulations. Without provisions in the code to address nonconforming situations, properties would have to immediately be brought into compliance when the code or zoning changed. The codes governing nonconformance provide relief to property owners and address a whole variety of situations that could occur over many years as property develops, redevelops and/or changes hands. Howard said the intent of the policy is to guide future uses and development so that it is consistent with City policy, to protect the character of an area, and to bring, over time, development into compliance with City regulations. Howard noted that there can be many different types of nonconforming situations, but that the matter before the Commission this evening involves nonconforming development. "Nonconforming development" is defined as an element of development such as a parking area, a loading area, outdoor lighting, landscaping, and other site elements that were established in conformance with code but which subsequently became nonconforming due to a change in the regulations or a change in the zoning designation of the property. Howard said that in 2005, the City revised its zoning code and specifically tried to address parking areas, outdoor storage areas, and buffering and screening standards. In doing so, the City attempted to address possible nonconformities in these areas. Even though allowances have been made to be more flexible as nonconforming properties redevelop over time, Howard said it is apparent that the code is not always flexible enough to address situations when uses change, particularly within multi-tenant buildings or shopping centers or when a property is vacant for a period of time. This has created a hardship for some property owners. Howard offered the example of a local mall in which each time a new tenant moved into the building the mall would be required by code to come into full compliance. Howard said the intent of the nonconforming regulations is to allow properties to more gradually make improvements to bring parking areas, outdoor storage and display area, etc into compliance. Howard shared a number of photographs that identified nonconforming sites, as well as photographs of sites in compliance with the most recent zoning code. Howard said that the goal is to bring properties into compliance over time, while creating a situation that is flexible enough to allow for consideration on a case by case basis as properties redevelop over time. Howard explained that the new provisions would deal with three basic situations: 1. When there is a change in use, whether it is within amulti-tenant building or a property with just one building or tenant space; 2. When a property is vacant and there is no principle use on the property; and Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 7 of 11 3. When a use is proposed for a property where the buildings have been demolished or destroyed. Freerks opened the matter for discussion by the Commission Eastham asked if this would apply when a building is in a state of obvious disrepair. Howard clarified that the provisions concern uses, not buildings, adding that if a property has been vacant for a year with no principle use, then when a new use moves in the entire property must be brought up to code. Freerks asked who would be reviewing this process. Howard explained that if the property owner needed a minor modification that would be handled administratively by staff. Eastham noted that these provisions allow the Building Official to either modify or waive the standards. Howard said that the language allowing the Building Official to waive requirements came about as a result of instances where there has literally not been enough space on a site for it to be brought into compliance with all code requirements. Howard noted that the property owner would still be required to go through the minor modification process and justify their request. She said she predicted that complete waivers would be fairly rare and typically the applicant is required to mitigate for any potential negative impact that might occur because of the nonconforming situation. Freerks opened the public hearing. Glen Siders, Southgate Development Services, addressed the Commission. He said that he appreciates the City and staff looking into this matter; he has been frustrated by some of the challenges presented by the current code. He said that he appreciates Howard's memo, and concurs and endorses it. However, he said that as he reads the ordinance he does not see in its language some of the things Howard had said were addressed by it. Siders said that there are two situations that his development company has been confronted with the most. The first issue arises in situations where the parking begins closer to the property line than the required ten feet. He said he hoped that this issue could be addressed as a minor modification. The second issue, Siders said, results from requirements for landscaped islands in parking lots. Siders said that the staff memo indicates that parking lot standards would not be enforced in those cases; however, he did not see the language in the code that actually addressed that. Howard pointed out the portion of the code that would apply to the scenarios Siders proposed and confirmed that the new provisions, rather than requiring all elements to be brought into compliance would only require compliance with a few of the most important, including screening of parking, loading, outdoor storage and display areas along streetside lot lines and any adjacent park or public trail or the Iowa River (rather than along the sides and rear property lines) and planting street trees when applicable. Siders said that he always becomes a little nervous when he sees terms in an ordinance like "feasible," "practical," or "would unduly reduce the ability ..." Siders stated that this language was very subjective. He said he appreciates what the City is trying to do, but such subjectivity is cause for concern. He said that leaves interpretation open to whichever individual in a given department reviews a plan. Howard said that this subjective language is actually an improvement of the code because as it is written now, there is no means in the code to apply for or be granted a minor modification. Siders said he understood that, but that he could not help but be concerned by the subjectivity of the language. Freerks said the idea is that every situation needs to be assessed on its own terms because each situation is different. She said Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 8 of 11 that the code could not say "always," as Siders might want it to and trying to come up with black and white language would take away the very flexibility that these provisions were intending to provide to property owners. Siders said he understood and he had no suggestions for alternative language. Steve Goetzelman, 632 Reno Street, said that he had opened a small business in Iowa City last April; that business was a change of use for the property, and the estimate to make the changes required to bring the property into compliance with code was somewhere around $180,000. Goetzelman said that they would never have been able to recoup those costs or even open the business if they had taken on those renovations. He said that they are currently operating with a temporary permit, but would like the opportunity to be more "official". These changes in the zoning code would offer encouragement to small businesses, Goetzelman said. There were no further comments and the public hearing was closed. Freerks invited a motion. Koppes made a motion to approve an amendment to the Zoning Code to allow more flexibility in the application of development standards as they apply to nonconforming developments. Weitzel seconded. Eastham said he believed flexibility is a good thing and will generally improve the situation. Eastham said that he did have one concern, however. He reviewed the Neighbors for Miller Orchard Action Plan with a lens toward how these changes might affect the changes neighbors in that area wished to see. He said that beautification of entranceways to the areas was one of the goals of the plan, and he wondered how these zoning changes might improve or reduce the likelihood of changing those streetscapes. Eastham said he did not see language that required the Building Official to consider the needs for neighborhood improvements against the difficulty/hardships caused to the individual property owner if required to bring the site up to code. Koppes said that the flip side of that is that there is nothing to indicate that these changes will prevent improvements to the Miller Orchard area. Weitzel said that he felt the changes were positive. He said that it is good to allow a business to move in and open, and not to discourage new business with cost prohibitive standards. Weitzel said that while he believes the standards are good, this will provide another tool to the Building Official. He said that the language is subjective of necessity; if the goal is flexibility then there cannot be a lot of "shall" and "should" in the language. Weitzel said that decisions need to be well founded. He said he agreed that the priority should be on screening from public streets and sidewalks above putting trees in parking lots. He said the last requirement he would like to see waived would be screening from the street. Eastham agreed that the street screening is much more important than interior landscaping. Plahutnik said that in this case, the Commission is seeking to come up with general rules rather than looking at a specific case. He said that his review of the ordinance did not find anything to indicate that staff would roll-over for every request. He said that he was pretty sure that staff was rather tenacious about making sure that zoning standards are adhered to whenever possible. Plahutnik said that zoning is by its nature imprecise. He said that if it was found to be necessary, it would certainly be possible to come up with specific definitions for "undue", "feasible", etc. He said that language could also be added that takes a given neighborhood into Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 9 of 11 account, and the fact that in certain instances requirements should not be waived. However, Plahutnik said, what is before the Commission represents a pretty good start. Freerks said she appreciated Eastham bringing up the Miller Orchard neighborhood plan. However, she said that she would not want any sections of the city to be exempted from the changes because she thought that could lead to greater problems. She noted that if businesses believed that it was more expensive to open in a given area due to zoning restrictions, it could lead that area into more problems when the goal had been to improve it. She said that she believed that the right decisions would be made in regard to waivers and flexibility. Freerks said it is always a balancing act. There was no further discussion on the matter. A vote was taken and the motion carried 5-0 (Busard and Payne absent). 2. Discussion of an amendment to the Zoning Code to refine the definition of regulated stream corridors to exclude drainageways that do not have a bed and bank defined by an ordinary high water mark and a definite direction of flow. Howard explained that currently the City relies on USGS quadrangle maps to define stream corridors, which are regulated in the City's sensitive areas ordinance. Howard said that while the maps are generally reliable, there are times when a specialist finds that a blue line does not signify an actual stream corridor. Howard said that this could be because the map is out-dated or because the map was simply incorrectly drawn due to reliance in aerial photos rather than field verification. Howard said staff would like to have the flexibility to have these types of things field-verified, and find that there is no stream if there is no defined bed and bank. Howard said this would bring the City into closer conformance to how the Army Corp of Engineers looks at and regulates stream corridors. Howard said that the changes to the code are fairly simple. Staff has added definitions and outlined exactly what wording would be deleted in the Environmental Review and Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Freerks opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak to the issue and the public hearing was closed. Weitzel motioned to approve an amendment to the Zoning Code to refine the definition of regulated stream corridors to exclude drainageways that do not have a bed and bank defined by an ordinary high water mark and a definite direction of flow. Koppes seconded. Plahutnik asked how areas that had formerly had stream-beds but had been disturbed by land movement or bulldozing would be treated. Howard said that in many cases streams had been degraded by tiling that was done on farmland; in those cases the streams are often no longer present. Howard said that the stream corridors the City wants to protect are those corridors that convey water within a channel that is visible on the ground even if the flow is intermittent. She said the goal is to protect the environmental value that streams provide. She said if there is no value left to protect, then there is no point in protecting the site of a former stream. Planning and Zoning Commission May 20, 2010 -Formal Page 10 of 11 Eastham asked if this approach was similar to what other communities in Iowa were doing. Howard said she believed Iowa City was far ahead of other communities in Iowa with regard to our environmental regulations. She said there were very few communities that have a sensitive areas ordinance. She noted that in some instances, Iowa City's ordinance is stricter than the Army Corp of Engineers' regulations. A vote was taken and the motion carried 5-0 (Busard and Plahutnik absent). CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES• Mav 3 2010 (informal) and Mav 6, 2010 formal Koppes motioned to approve the minutes. Eastham seconded. The minutes were approved 5-0 (Busard and Plahutnik absent). OTHER: Presentation of JCCOG Lona Ranae Multi-Modal Transportation Plan by Kent Ralston. Ralston explained that JCCOG is the metropolitan planning organization for the Iowa City urbanized area. He said that their specialty is transportation planning; however, they do some land-use and human services planning as well. The Multi-Modal Transportation Plan is a document that helps guide decision making about transportation improvements and funding 25 years into the future. Ralston said that they try to ensure that planning efforts are continual, comprehensive, and coordinated. This plan must be updated every five years, per federal regulations; the next plan is due by May 2012. Ralston said that the plan covers all aspects and modes of transportation. Ralston shared a number of different maps with the Commission that are included in the plan. He said that they would be happy to present again when the latest version was farther along. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned on a 5-0 vote (Busard and Payne absent) at 8:18 p.m. s/pcd/mins/p&z/2010/p&z 05-20-10.doc Z O N_ ~G ~~ 00 UW ~~ ZUo N Z N DD a ~ Z Q Z Z J a ~ X X X X X X X X X X ~ X X X X X X X X X ~ M ~ X X X X X X ~ N X X X X X X X r N X X X X X X x r N ~ ~ r ~ , ~ ~ , M ~ , N ~ _ O ~ , O ~ , M ~ , 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 W W ~ w ~ a J w J J a ~ ~ ~ ~ = V Z a W 2 U Y ~ H ~ m ~ Z ~ = pC W W ~ N w ~ a cn i- cn w w a a z ~ = g ~ z m w u~. 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Motion passed 6:0. CALL TO ORDER Finlayson called the meeting to order at 3:35 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA None CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 1 2010 MEETING MOTION: Fosse moved to approve the minutes; Robinson seconded. The motion passed 6:0. SCULPTURE DONATION-ART SMALL AND HOWARD HORAN Local resident Art Small used PowerPoint and with the help of Howard Horan gave a brief presentation to the Committee on several sculptures he and Howard Horan wish to donate to the Iowa City Public Art Program. Small explained that an oak tree had fallen down about 15 years ago on his property. He knew of a Russian wood carver "Valeree" who offered to create wood sculptures out of the fallen tree. Small discussed the four sculptures, explaining they were wood and had never been stained, only weathered for the last 15 years or so. Small expressed his desire to donate the sculptures to the Public Art Program. Small suggested that the sculptures should not be painted [aggressively], but an oil stain/sealer of a neutral color might be worthwhile. There are a total of four sculptures; two that are named "Chekov" and "Anna" that belonged to Howard Horan's father and two larger sculptures that feature Art, and his wife Mary Jo with their children. Small took questions. Carney asked how tall the sculptures were and Small guessed the two of him and Mary Jo were eight feet tall or perhaps a bit less. Small added that the sculptures do require minimal help to move. Seabold asked if the sculptures are mounted, and Small Public Art Advisory Committee Thursday, May 6, 2010 Page 2 of 5 responded that they are free standing, though it helps to have them on concrete. Horan added that one was mounted in concrete but that wasn't necessary. Horan added that his dad loved the poets "Chekov" and "Anna" and feels that other folks would enjoy the sculptures as well. The sculptures are currently located at 123 Ferson Avenue and 20 Rocky Shore Dr. Small and Horan said that Committee members are free to examine, measure, inspect, and take the sculptures whenever. Horan suggested Black Spring Park, Benton Hill Park, and Willow Creek Park as excellent possible sites for sculpture relocation, though Horan said it would be up to the Committee. Bollinger asked the Committee and Horan and Small if they were all envisioning the sculpture being located to a woody area. The response was unanimously yes. Robinson asked about maintenance issues. Bollinger asked again if they were all oak. Small wasn't for sure. Bollinger asked if some type of base would be needed. Fosse indicated he has seen sculptures redone. Small added that it would be bad to paint the sculptures garish colors, and Small and his friends thought it would be a good idea to have some type of sculpture park. Horan and Small thanked the Committee for their time; the Committee likewise thanked Small and Horan for there time and donation. The Committee was in unanimous agreement that the sculptures were excellent and would look great in a public location where they could be enjoyed by all. Horan reminded the Committee they had at least 60 days to just "go and get them". Horan and Small exited the meeting. Fosse said in light of budget constraints this donation was fantastic for the art program. Robinson said that the sculptures would need a solid base. Seabold said that either a concrete base would be needed or the current sculpture bases would have to be repaired. Bollinger suggested the Committee plan a date to examine the sculptures. Fosse and Robinson used a map on the wall and showed the Committee where Black Springs Park is located. Fosse added that vandalism is always a concern, but Fosse felt that vandalism was a smaller concern in Black Springs Park. Bollinger asked the Committee how they wished to proceed, especially since there is no plan to meet as a group during the busy month of June [Artsfest and other events limit meeting availability]. Bollinger again suggested the Committee inspect the sculptures. Seabold suggested the Committee say "yes" and "thank you" and figure out details as needed. There was unanimous consent that the sculptures should be inspected. Bollinger and Robinson reminded the Committee that any concrete base expense would be rather minimal. Carney also added that a plaque commemorating the piece would be needed. Robinson discussed technical maintenance aspects for a few minutes, but there wouldn't be any large problems. Bollinger said she would set up a tentative inspection time for Thursday, June 3~d and have a City van available to shuttle Committee members to the sculpture locations and possible relocation spots. DOWNTOWN SHOWCASE SUBMISSIONS Bollinger informed the Committee there had been five total submissions from four different artists for the downtown showcase pad. Using a PowerPoint presentation and distributing a packet, Bollinger went through each submission. John Anderson-Bricker: Two submissions, Hairball and Rolled Steel Scraper Hairball: steel, concrete, and ceramic tile, 2007. 11.5'x3.5'x3.5', 1,100 lbs. Public Art Advisory Committee Thursday, May 6, 2010 Page 3 of 5 Essentially afour-piece stand with three spheres hanging in the middle. Rolled Steel Scraper. welded mild steel, 2007. 117" high x 20.125" wide x 20.25" deep, 199 lbs. valued at $3,000.00. Bouunak Thammavong: Seed, painted steel 8' x 3' x 2' Proposed final color to be completed for the showcase. Inspired by sprouting maple seeds, this form references the hidden beauty in unexpected places; sometimes all you need is to add a little water. It's a fitting symbol as Iowa City recovers from the flood waters. Looks as if it requires a basic stand. Mike Sneller: Egg Leafs, no dimensions or weight listed. Appears to be small, only a few feet tall, and the piece looks like a split open egg or seed and has three protruding sections. Stephanie Sailer: Prelude, Stainless Steel, 4'/2' x 2'/2' x 2'/z' Essentially this piece looks like the top of an ice cream cone with various layers of ice cream draped over each other. The Committee examined PowerPoint pictures of the submissions. Kahn signaled that her favorite was Hairball, with Seed second. The Committee expressed worry about the last piece, Prelude, concerns that the piece could be slandered or labeled incorrectly. The Committee discussed each piece and the type of vandalism or labeling it would draw. Robinson and Kahn expressed concern with Hairball and the potential for damage and vandalism. Seabold asked if the sculpture would be ready in time. Bollinger responded yes. There was unanimous consent that the Committee liked the balls/spheres on Hairball but didn't like the frame. Kahn and Finlayson agreed that Hairball was a wonderful piece but doesn't quite fit a downtown showcase pad, it more fits a water park or something similar. The Committee discussed Seed and thought the piece was beautiful, had nearly perfect dimensions, and would fit downtown very well. Finlayson motioned to recommend Seed for the downtown showcase pad. Kahn seconded. Motion passed 6:0. Bollinger said the piece may need a mounting plate. Robinson said they would need mounting instructions. Seabold explained his selection criteria that sculptures need to be large, nice color, and really stand out. Robinson discussed possible maintenance issues and vandalism damages possibilities pertaining Seed. Bollinger said she would contact Bounnak and get the ball rolling. KIDZ TENT AND ARTSFEST UPDATE Bollinger reminded the Committee that volunteers would be needed during ArtsFest to collect donations for Kidz Tent, as well as to man Kidz Tent. Kahn said she would volunteer again. Fosse, Finlayson, and Seabold also suggested they may be able to volunteer as well. UPDATE ON POETRY IN PUBLIC/ART PROGRAM Burhop and Bollinger updated the Committee on Poetry in Public/Art Program progress. Burhop said that poems were put up in buses and in recreation centers. Burhop explained that responses to the new recital opportunity during ArtsFest had been high; around 30 people had voiced interest in reading their poems to a live audience. Public Art Advisory Committee Thursday, May 6, 2010 Page 4 of 5 Burhop distributed a sample of artwork submissions based on selected poetry for the Poetry in Public Art Program. The Committee was impressed and pleased with the quantity and quality of the submissions. Burhop stated there had been 81 total artwork submissions, considerably up from last year. Bollinger reminded the Committee the art aspect was still new and evolving and suggested changes to next year's version. One such change may be the addition of a review committee for artwork submission. Kahn volunteered to help with turning artwork submissions into electronic versions. Kahn also asked how poets might solicit artwork in the future. Bollinger and Burhop said changes might be made but no final decision had been made yet. The Committee was pleased with the overall program. COMMITTEE TIME/UPDATES Bollinger will tentatively schedule an inspection trip for the Committee to take on Thursday, June 3 to examine the wooden sculpture donations from Art Small and Howard Horan. The Committee asked for an update on the parking meters. Fosse said there would likely be 11 parking meters; most concentrated downtown at key panhandling locations. Fosse reminded the Committee that Denver had sponsors for their panhandling meters, perhaps sponsors could be found for Iowa City's panhandling parking meters and an honorarium then offered to artists. The panhandling ordinance hadn't been adopted yet, but it seems to pass the necessary readings. Bollinger said that June was a busy month and the Committee will next meet in July on Thursday, July 1St, not counting the inspection in June. ADJOURNMENT Finlayson motioned to adjourn; Kahn seconded. Meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm. Next meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 3`d to be an inspection trip. Minutes submitted by Karl Burhop. o° Up ~, N O ~p •N T > ~ Q~~ ~~o a~~ U ~ ~ ~ 7 ~ 7 L ~ n. F- a ~+ ... 0 U a~ ~. 0 'C ~1.+ it V ...i ...i .G a ^C t, O a~ ~o ~ ~ p o ~ N 'b p ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~C ~ M D D D O \ ~ . -i Q ~ ~--~ N .-~ O N ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 0 0 0 0 W ,-~ r, r. .-~ r. 0 0 0 0 0 p O p C~ ~+ .d o ~ ... ~ p ~ ~ ;~ eC ~ ~ O ~ • p ~..1 f .l LI it ~~. z d A ~ ~ a a H b U U W ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ a~ p, Q Q ~~ ~~ ~~ w ~~coo ~~-~L~ `~bC~o~ MINUTES FINAL PUBLIC ART ADVISORY COMMITTEE THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2010 EMMA HARVAT HALL -CITY HALL AND OFF SITE TOUR Members Present: Ann Kahn, Rick Fosse, DaLayne Williamson Members Absent: Jan Finlayson, Patrick Carney, Mike Moran, Mark Seabold Staff Present: Marcia Bollinger, Rebecca Raab Public Present: Art Small and Howard Horan, Sculpture Donators CALL TO ORDER Due to a lack of quorum, any official business could not occur at the meeting. Bollinger discussed the upcoming Arts Fest and suggested that many of the PAAC members had already offered to collect art and work at "Kidz Tent". Bollinger briefly reviewed the art that the committee would be touring today. Members departed to meet with Art Small and Howard Horan at the current location of the sculptures at 123 Ferson and 20 Rocky Shore Drive. It was determined that the sculptures were in stable condition, of good quality and could be easily relocated. A stop was also made at Black Springs Circle Park and a tentative location was determined where the sculptures could be located. Tour returned to City Hall and meeting completed at 4:45 PM Minutes submitted by Rebecca Raab. a> o° Uo N O d. ,~ N ~ 7 Q '~ N ~~o a-pN ~ 7 m 7 L f6 d H ~ ... 0 U 0 ~. .~ a b ~. 0 ~o ~ ~ po ~ N b b a~ d' ~ ~ ~ o o o ~ o ~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ M D ~C ~C ~ p ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O O ~ '-+ N '--+ O N y ~, .-. ~ .--~ ~ ,-~, ~ ~ ~ .-r ~ . ~ r. r-, r-. .--, ,--~ O O O O O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ •--~ ,--~ ,--~ ,--~ .-a W O O O O O d O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~..i O p ~ b ~ ~ a ~ C~ ~ T i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ U ~ ~ O A f~ V1 ~', O , ~ ~ s ir ~i ~ I Lw ~.y b a ZdAti~af~~ b U iC ~." ~ ~ N p,,,~ Q ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~1 W ~~COO