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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ Agenda Packet 05.01.2024PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Formal Meeting – 6:00 PM Emma Harvat Hall Iowa City City Hall 410 E. Washington Street Agenda: 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda 4. Request: Expansion of Electric Transmission Line Location: West terminus is MidAmerican’s Northgate Substation, located within the City of Iowa City. The east terminus is ITC Midwest’s Rose Hollow Substation, located in unincorporated Johnson County. A petition filed by MidAmerican Energy Company for the construction of a new 161,000-volt electric transmission line in Johnson County. Per Title 16, Public Works of the Iowa City Municipal Code, the Planning and Zoning Commission is to make a recommendation to the City Council. 5. Consideration of meeting minutes: April 3, 2024 6. Planning and Zoning Information 7. Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this meeting, please contact Anne Russett, Urban Planning, at 319-356-5251 or arussett@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Upcoming Planning & Zoning Commission Meetings Formal: May 15 / June 5 Informal: Scheduled as needed. AGENDA ITEM 4. Request: Expansion of Electric Transmission Line Location: West terminus is MidAmerican’s Northgate Substation, located within the City of Iowa City. The east terminus is ITC Midwest’s Rose Hollow Substation, located in unincorporated Johnson County. 1 EXHIBIT A 161,000 V Nominal, (169,000 V Maximum) Electric Transmission Line Johnson County, Iowa Northgate to Rose Hollow The west endpoint of this line is on the Municipal Boundary of the City of Iowa City, Iowa approximately 0.06 mile east and 0.01 mile south of the Northwest corner Section 6, Township 79 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa; The west terminus of this line is MidAmerican Energy Company’s Northgate Substation located approximately 0.53 mile east and 0.02 mile south of the northwest corner of Section 1, Township 79 North, Range 6 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa. The east endpoint/terminus of this line is ITC Midwest’s Rose Hollow Substation located approximately 0.05 mile north and 0.27 mile east of the southwest corner of Section 32, Township 80 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa. The west terminus of this line is MidAmerican Energy Company’s Northgate Substation located approximately 0.02 mile south and 0.53 mile east of the northwest corner of Section 1, Township 79 North, Range 6 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa. Beginning at the west endpoint of the line on the Municipal Boundary of the City of Iowa City, Iowa approximately 0.06 mile east and 0.01 mile south of the Northwest corner of Section 6, Township 79 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa; thence east on private property in the north half of said Section 6 for approximately 0.21 mile, to a point in public road right of way, 0.26 mile east and 0.01 mile south of the northwest corner of said Section 6, adjacent to the south right of way line of 340th St NE in the Northeast Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 6; thence east in public right of way adjacent to the south right of way line of 340th St NE and crossing Taft Ave in the north half of said Section 6 for approximately 0.75 mile, to a point in public road right of way, 0.01 mile south of the northwest corner of Section 5, Township 79 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa, adjacent to the south right of way line of 340th St NE of said section 5; thence east in the public right of way adjacent to the Filed with the Iowa Utilities Board on February 21, 2024, E-22537 2 south right of way line of 340th St NE in the north half of said Section 5 for approximately 0.24 mile, to a point in public road right of way, 0.24 mile east and 0.01 mile south of the northwest corner of said Section 5, adjacent to the south right of way line of 340th St NE in the Northwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 5; thence north crossing 340th St NE continuing on private property for approximately 0.05 mile in the Southeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of said Section 32, Township 80 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa; said point also being at the east endpoint/terminus at ITC Midwest’s Rose Hollow Substation located approximately 0.05 mile north and 0.27 mile east of the southwest corner of Section 32, Township 80 North, Range 5 West of the 5th P.M., Johnson County, Iowa. The total distance of this 161,000 V transmission line in Johnson County, Iowa, is approximately 1.25 miles. Filed with the Iowa Utilities Board on February 21, 2024, E-22537 AGENDA ITEM 5. April 3, 2024 Meeting Minutes MINUTES PRELIMINARY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION APRIL 3, 2024 – 6:00 PM – FORMAL MEETING EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Craig, Maggie Elliott, Mike Hensch, Billie Townsend, Chad Wade MEMBERS ABSENT: Maria Padron, Scott Quellhorst STAFF PRESENT: Madison Conley, Sara Hektoen, Anne Russett, Parker Walsh OTHERS PRESENT: Tom Anthony, Will McBride, Barbel Anderson, Gina Landau, Jerry Full RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: By a vote of 5-0 the Commission recommends approval of SUB23-0009, an application submitted by Barbel Anderson for a combined preliminary and final plat of Bab's First Addition, a 3.74 acres subdivision containing two residential lots and two outlets located at 1310 Cedar Street. By a vote of 5-0 the Commission recommends approval of SUB23-0011 an application submitted by Northgate Land LLC for a combined preliminary and final plat of Highlander Development Fifth Edition, a 39.96 acre subdivision containing one commercial lot, one outlot for stormwater management and two outlots reserved for future development. CALL TO ORDER: Hensch called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. CASE NO. SUB23-0009 Location: 1310 Cedar St. An application for a combined preliminary and final plat for Bab's First Addition, a 3.74-acre subdivision containing two residential lots and two outlots to accommodate two single-family homes. Russett began the staff report showing the zoning map and noted the property is zoned RS-5. She also noted there is a lot of City land around this property, Reno Street Park is to the west and then Oakland Cemetery and Hickory Hill Park are to the north and east and all are zoned Public but most of the rest of the area is zoned single family residential. In terms of background 1310 Cedar Street is a historically significant site, there's a Greek Revival home that's on the property now which will remain as part of this subdivision. This site has never been subdivided, and the request is to create one new residential lot for one new single-family home with the existing home remaining at 1310 Cedar Street. Russett showed the combined preliminary and final plat noting it's 3.74 acres with two outlots and two residential lots. The existing home will be Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 2 of 12 located on what will become lot two and is about two acres. Lot one is where the new single- family home will go, which is one acre and then there are two outlots. Outlot A will be dedicated to the City of Iowa City and outlot B will remain under current ownership and be private open space not to be developed. Both lots will be accessed from Cedar Street and there's existing water and sanitary sewer service in this area. Russett noted however there is not a sidewalk currently so a five-foot sidewalk will need to be installed as part of this request. Russett stated this is an infill development, which is encouraged by goals and policies in the Comprehensive Plan, which encourage development in areas that already have infrastructure and services. In terms of environmentally sensitive areas, the proposed subdivision is exempt from the sensitive areas ordinance since they are only proposing to build one single family home and disturbing less than 20,000 square feet. In terms of neighborhood open space, the applicant is required to either dedicate land or provide a fee in lieu to satisfy the neighborhood open space requirement and they have opted to dedicate outlot A to the City of Iowa City for an extension of Oakland Cemetery which meets the neighborhood open space requirements. Stormwater Management is going to be provided on site through a detention basin which the City’s public works staff has reviewed. Staff received one piece of correspondence in support of this subdivision which was provided to the Commission. Staff recommends approval of SUB23-0009, an application submitted by Barbel Anderson for a combined preliminary and final plat of Bab's First Addition, a 3.74 acres subdivision containing two residential lots and two outlots located at 1310 Cedar Street. Next steps are that this will be going to City Council on April 16. Craig noted two things, first, the detention basin easement looks like it's right in the middle of the lot where she assumes they're going to build a house. Russett noted that may be a question for the applicant’s engineer, but it is a one-acre lot which is a pretty large lot. In addition to that, they wanted to limit their impact to less than 20,000 square feet so as not to trigger the sensitive areas ordinance, so the development of the home, the driveway, and the detention basin is all in one area. Craig also wanted to discuss outlot B, and that it's just a piece of property that is owned by the owners and will just sit there untouched forever. Russett noted outlot B was actually requested by staff. The original application request was to do a one-acre lot for the development of the new home without the outlot but that would have created lot two as a flag lot and to avoid a flag lot, but to allow the one-acre lot one, staff requested that outlot be created as private open space, not to be developed, to comply with the City’s subdivision regulations. Hensch acknowledged the limit to impact is under 20,000 square feet so sensitive areas ordinance doesn't apply but are there any sensitive slopes or wooded areas on this parcel. Russett noted the only developable lot is smaller in size than the 2-acre woodland minimum and she doesn’t think there's any significant slopes on it either. Hensch asked for the public's edification why, in this instance, is there both a preliminary and a final plat being presented at the same time when usually those are split. Russett explained that they opted to combined them to make the process more streamlined for the applicants since this Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 3 of 12 is a very small area and there's no infrastructure besides the sidewalk. Wade asked if this will be the only area with a sidewalk on this side of the street. Russett noted no other houses there currently have sidewalks but there is a new home going in further east, which will require a new sidewalk and eventually over time hopefully it all connects. Hensch opened the public hearing. Tom Anthony (Shoemaker & Haaland) is the one that prepared the plat with the cooperation of staff, the applicants, attorneys and everybody else who gets wrapped up in these kinds of things. To address the one question about the stormwater management, Anthony noted they started off hoping they could do rain gardens to alleviate most of the earth and just get it at a level which satisfied the stormwater management. However, mathematically there was not really enough storage available in a rain garden so they are actually combining the two and plan to make a rain garden inside the detention basin. It will be close to the house and actually will be part of their backyard gardening area and still maintain the stormwater storage facility at the same time. It is a new innovative way to do that but with the small area they didn’t have much to work with. For the stormwater management they are only catching water from the rooftops and the driveway and the yard so they were able to get that to fit in that small area. They'll also get to do landscaping and put plantings in there. Hensch acknowledged kudos for doing something with the detention basin, as a lot of times it just becomes a clustered mess because they're not maintained. Anthony explained doing something innovative like this, from an engineering perspective, they call them teacup detention because it's so small, normally they're measured in acre feet, these are measured in acre inches. He stated it's very small, but it does its job. There's one out at the Moose Lodge right in their front yard that is about the size of this area and it’s working great. Will McBride (419 Pleasant Street) and his husband are neighbors with Babs Anderson. The original property is Babs and they've been neighbors for five years. They love their home, but it's an older home and they now have a toddler and a second baby on the way, so they have determined that their house isn't a great fit for their growing family. They love the neighborhood and being close to the parks, being able to walk downtown and there's a lot of serenity that exists in their little street with all the wildlife. Renovating the house wasn't something that was going to be viable so they talked to Babs about it and her situation was that she has been in her house for quite some time and financially it's become a burden, and this is going to be a way to help her stay in her home and she can remain their neighbor. McBride noted Babs has been approached by other people to significantly develop this land and that was something that none of them wanted to see happen because it is very special. Their intention is pure and very honest, they have a dream home, nothing too over the top, but something that will work for them. He stated they’re both healthcare providers and are rooted in the community, their families live here, and they’re planning to make this their forever home. They are not a corporation or trying to do anything sinister, they love Iowa City and this location and want to stay there. Barbel Anderson (1310 Cedar Street) is known as Babs. She stated this addition is actually the location where Tom and Isabel Turner originally lived, and 1310 Cedar Street is also the original Rose Hill. The inside log cabin was Captain Frederick Macy Irish, who moved there when there was no Iowa City and not even a state of Iowa, it was just the territory of Iowa that was opened up for a settlement. The capital at that time was Burlington, and Captain Irish, Chauncey Swan, Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 4 of 12 John Reynolds, and one last person decided Burlington was too far south and Iowa City was a good place to have the new capital of the then territory of Iowa. Anderson stated she was born and raised in Germany and never imagined she would end up here but she really loves America and loves Iowa City. Her husband Roger and her actually built a house at 1421 Cedar Street, and his previous house was on Rundell Street, which was in the floodplain, so he said they needed to have a bigger house and he never wanted to live anywhere in the floodplain again. She noted Cedar Street and the Hickory Hill Park are probably the highest location and at night in the wintertime when all the trees have lost their leaves, they can actually see the lights of the Sycamore Mall and when downtown was flooded there wasn't a drop of water on their street. Her husband wanted the land because he wanted to live on a farm but she’s a city girl and lived in Munich, Germany, so they found a lot and built a house down the street at 1421 Cedar. The owners before them were Tom and Isabel Turner and she was very well known to the city of Iowa City and when they passed away this whole property came up for sale. It was actually auctioned at First National Bank and they were able to buy the property. When they bought the property, Mr. Trueblood was parks and recreation manager and he had written a letter saying that they wanted to buy one acre to add to Oakland Cemetery but at that time her husband wanted to have the land and didn't want to sell it. However, now she has decided she will sell one acre to Oakland cemetery. Anderson also noted the part adjoining Oakland Cemetery is called the Evergreen Garden and there are many different varieties of evergreens. Actually, the whole 1310 Cedar Street lot is on the tree walk, there's a map from the City where people can walk around the area and the many, many beautiful trees. She is also happy to help her two wonderful neighbors who are going to buy the one acre, it will be so great for their children to be able to run and have a big place where they can play football or baseball or soccer. And, at the same time she is able to give a piece of that Evergreen Garden to the cemetery. Anderson stated she does not understand about the runoff thing, the land actually is the highest where the house is built and towards the backside is what they call a ravine and the ravine they are told was an original well when Captain Irish built a log cabin and live there. The ravine and the low area go all the way to Ralston Creek so whenever there is a rainfall the water goes away, they have never had any flooding. Hensch closed the public hearing. Elliott moved to recommend approval of SUB23-0009, an application submitted by Barbel Anderson for a combined preliminary and final plat of Bab's First Addition, a 3.74 acres subdivision containing two residential lots and two outlets located at 1310 Cedar Street. Craig seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. CASE NO. SUB23-0011 Location: North of Northgate Drive and East of N. Dodge St./Hwy 1 An application for a combined preliminary and final plat for Highlander Development Fifth Addition, a 39.96-acre subdivision containing one lot and three outlots to create one developable 2.22-acre commercial lot. Russett stated this is another combined preliminary and final plat for an area off Northgate and is a commercial subdivision. She shared an aerial of the site as well as the existing zoning map. It's Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 5 of 12 currently zoned CO-1 and the area to the east and west is an ID zone and most of that is under agricultural operation, and the existing commercial areas to the south are zoned CO-1. In terms of background, this land was annexed in the late 1960s, early 1970s. In 2015, it was rezoned to CO-1 and then in 2016 Council approved a plat for this area, Highlander Development Fourth Addition, Part One. That plat contained 10 commercial lots with an outlot for stormwater management. The plat also shows the extension of Northgate Drive and some east/west streets for connectivity. At this time no improvements have been made to build this area and no street infrastructure or utility infrastructure was done. Therefore, the landowners would like to re- subdivide this land to create just one buildable commercial lot, one outlot for stormwater management and two outlots reserved for future development. Russett shared the proposed plat, again the whole area is 39.96 acres, she pointed out where the one buildable commercial lot is located, two outlots for future development and noted the lot for stormwater management is in the same location that was originally approved. Russett stated there is no sidewalk in this area, so a sidewalk would need to be installed as part of any development in this area. The Comprehensive Plan identifies this area as appropriate for an Office Research Development Center, which aligns with the rezoning that happened in 2015 to CO-1. However, at this time there is a decline in the need for office space and commercial office uses so the applicant and the landowner would like to replat this to remove most of those commercial lots. She stated there are no environmentally sensitive areas on the plat and the areas where the two outlots are, the 31 acres, would need another subdivision for development to occur in those areas. Stormwater Management again is being provided by outlot A and Public Works is working with the owner to ensure adequate stormwater management is provided for any development on lot one. Russett noted in terms of correspondence, staff received one email with some concerns regarding the fact that Northgate dead ends and it's a one way in and one way out. There were also concerns about stormwater management, the building style of any new development and the height and that correspondence was forwarded to the Commission. Staff recommends approval of SUB23-0011 an application submitted by Northgate Land LLC for a combined preliminary and final plat of Highlander Development Fifth Edition, a 39.96 acre subdivision containing one commercial lot, one outlot for stormwater management and two outlots reserved for future development. Next steps are after the Commission makes a recommendation it will go to City Council. Elliott noticed on the original plat there was extension for Oakdale Boulevard and will that still part of this development. Russett explained no that would be vacated and that would be an outlot for future development. And again, any future development would need to be subdivided at a future date. Elliott asked if it is no longer the plan to have the Oakdale go through. Russett stated the plan is still for an Oakdale extension, when that land gets subdivided in the future for development it would need to accommodate the Oakdale extension which would likely somehow connect back to North Dodge. Wade asked why they are re-subdividing it now versus just following the existing plat, lot one seems to be the same size regardless. Russett explained the big difference is the outlot reserved for future development, which is a different boundary than what was originally platted. Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 6 of 12 Additionally, she believes their intent is to sell the land. Hekteon noted also, with the original plat there were certain infrastructure installation requirements and this backs away from those obligations. Townsend asked if there is any idea of what's going to go on the lot. Russett replied no. Townsend asked how high of a building could go there and Russett explained 25 feet, unless it's a hospital use which allows up to 65 feet. Hensch opened the public hearing. Gina Landau (Navigate Homes) is representing the Northgate land and stated the reason for doing this is mainly because there was no longer a need, especially in this area, for office parks or commercial office areas post COVID. There are already a number of buildings out there that are vacant so there’s no reason for more. She noted in 2016 when that Fourth Edition was approved it just wasn't working as far as to put a street in and do all the infrastructure, so they pulled back which come to find out was probably good after what happened in 2020 because otherwise they’d have all of the rest of those buildings sitting empty. Landau stated the real reason for this re-subdivision is so they can sell this land off and have it remain as farmland. It's been farmed, even though Navigate Homes owns it, and they’ve had the same tenant farmer farming it for years and years. The plan is hopefully to sell it to the neighbors and the same farmer is going to farm it. Navigate Home is just going to keep that one commercial lot but there's no current plans for that commercial lot. Of course, when they would build they would have to conform to the requirements for the city of Iowa City. Landau also noted when Highlander First was approved in the early 2000s apparently they considered a second access through one of the parking lots, in the sub dividers agreement, she doesn’t quite know how because that wouldn't fly with Code now, but she understands the access question and eventually the plan would be to have connectivity and access with the Oakdale Boulevard extension. She did receive from City Engineering a document showing how Oakdale Boulevard would cut through and there is currently an update to the Capital Improvement Plan for 2025 for that extension but as mentioned, anyone wanting to subdivide those two outlots would have to follow that plan and dedicate that right-of-way for the future Oakdale Boulevard. Jerry Full (Partner, Liberty Growth) stated they own lot six in the older development. They’ve owned that lot and built a building for Shive Hattery but they moved across street, they had a new tenant after a couple of years of vacancy but now it's vacant again because of COVID. He stated they have owned that lot for 28 years and most of the owners out there didn’t know an association formed for that group of lots. He explained 22 years after they bought their lot, in 2020, they had a meeting of all the landowners up there to see about forming this association because all of a sudden Southgate was saying they had to fix the creek behind their lot, behind the music school, behind the dental school, and the work was going to cost $120,000 or so they had multiple meetings about that and hired counsel to give them advice. They decided they’d use square footage ownership percentage to decide how to pay the legal fees and the lawyer but less than half of the owners on that property contributed to the legal fees. So last week is when they got this letter about the change that they're addressing tonight but one month before that they got a letter from the City saying that as landowners up there they have to fix that creek. They had let that association go away because nobody had any interest and only a few were footing the legal bills. Others all had plenty of money to pay, Mercy Hospital is an owner up there and they didn't pay any. Anyway, Full noted they’re pretty unhappy about how Southgate has dealt with them and that it was 22 years from the time they bought the land to an association Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 7 of 12 being formed, an association was supposed to be formed it formed in 1995 but their first meeting was in 2017, which likely was called for because they wanted the individual owners to fix it. Full thinks Southgate should be responsible for doing most of that creek work and he really would like to see something addressed about that issue before this plat is improved, because they're not part of that association. Southgate said that they would pay for a bunch of the legal fees and pay for some amount of any repair they did as an association, but they didn't even pay for all their share of the legal fees. Full stated there are issues in that area, they got a letter from the City a month and a half ago about they need to fix that creek but he’s not going to enter into a contract himself or with his group to fix that creek when they know half the people in that area who are theoretically responsible for it won't pay their share and he would have to go to court to get those people to pay. Full is unsure of how the City is going to deal with the issue of that creek because all the land on the other side of the creek isn't responsible whatsoever for the flood management waste or street water management plan, not at all. Additionally, there were several buildings, big ones, that were exempt from being part of that association from the get-go, who are dumping water into that creek so something's got to happen and they're saying it has to be done by July 1, but who’s going to do it, the association doesn't exist anymore. Full just wanted to bring that to the attention of the Commission. Hensch closed the public hearing. Elliott moved to recommend approval of SUB23-0011 an application submitted by Northgate Land LLC for a combined preliminary and final plat of Highlander Development Fifth Edition, a 39.96 acre subdivision containing one commercial lot, one outlot for stormwater management and two outlots reserved for future development. Townsend seconded the motion. Hensch asked if what Mr. Full brought up about this creek involve any the land involved in this application. Russett replied it does, lot one would need to provide stormwater management and meet the requirements before they were able to develop. Hensch asked if the stormwater management plan has been approved by the City Engineer. Russett explained the stormwater management area was approved with the Fourth Addition, but the letter Mr. Full is referring to is a letter that Public Work staff sent because the facility isn't functioning property. Public Works has done a proactive inspection of these facilities around the City and for the ones that aren't working they have reached out to the property owners that are responsible for maintenance and told them that something needs to be fixed. So, before Navigate Homes can build on lot one they're going to have to be able to provide the stormwater management either on that lot or if they want to connect to the existing system, that existing system would need to be fixed. Everything would need to be approved by the City Engineer. Hekteon noted the stormwater management easement was established with the Highlander First Addition. As an obligation of public record it should show up in the abstract when one purchases property but it has always been the owners obligation. Who the owner is has changed through the years, but when it was first platted it said the owner will construct this detention facility in accordance with plans approved by the City and they had the ability to pass that onto an owner’s association which is what they did here. That has been the nature of that relationship since the First Addition was established, and with each subsequent plat it has remained on the land, and essentially that language has remained the same in all the various subdivider’s agreements and would continue with this Fifth Addition plat. If they want a building permit they have to Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 8 of 12 demonstrate that the facility is functioning as it was originally designed. Hensch stated as far as the Commissioners are concerned, their responsibility is to determine if this preliminary and final plat complies with City Code and that the stormwater management issue will subsequently be approved by the City Engineer because they're not engineers and shouldn't get involved these engineering issues. Hekteon noted additionally it is not their responsibility to mediate the interpersonal conflicts or disagreements among the owners out there. Craig stated they have heard this before, issues of a developer that develops a piece of land, commercially, residentially, whatever, and then walks away, giving legal responsibility to a group that either has no idea they have the responsibility, or they don't care nor are willing to do their part, to maintain it. It's a mess. She has sympathy for everybody, but the law is the law. Hensch agreed, this seems to be a reoccurring problem with homeowner’s associations where the developer creates an area and the HOA is responsible, this is not an uncommon issue. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION ON THE 2023 IOWA CITY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS: Russett stated every calendar year urban planning staff does an analysis of residential development that occurred within that year, it’s not necessarily built that year but they looked at final plats. They look at building permits and other things to track as to whether residential development activity is keeping pace with residential needs in Iowa City. Russett wanted to review some of the key takeaways from the analysis and go through some of the charts and maps that were included in the report in agenda packet. 2023 had more subdivision activity than the past few years, but single-family lot creation is still low compared to historic trends. This is especially true when they don't include the manufactured housing units that were approved with the Iowa River Mobile Home Park which was a rezoning that came to the Commission but when they final platted that piece of property it ended up allowing 35 new single family homes. In addition, most of the new multifamily capacity is due to the West Riverfront redevelopment project on the corner of Myrtle and Riverside. The next takeaway is that the total number of dwelling units permitted exceeded 10-year trends, but single-family permits are still at an all-time low. In addition, the number of dwelling units demolished was a little elevated in 2023, again most of that was due to the redevelopment at the Myrtle and Riverside project which resulted in the demolition of 109 units. Staff also took a look at the University Impact Area this year and the development activity in that area was higher, but again a lot of that is due to the West Riverfront redevelopment, which is in the University Impact Area. Other than that, the trend that they're seeing in the University Impact Area is a conversion of duplexes to single-family homes. Staff looked at the supply of vacant lots, and that has increased since 2022, though several subdivisions still do not have infrastructure in place, but that should improve in the coming years. Lastly, if permitting trends from 2020 and 2023 continue, the City is expected to only meet 75% of its demand for new housing by 2030 which is a deficit of over 1000 dwelling units. Looking at final plat activity, more lots were created in 2023 Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 9 of 12 than is typical, but recent trends again in single-family lot creation is low. Russett showed a chart with the anticipated dwelling units based on lots platted noting single-family detached is down from a 10-year average, duplexes are actually up and that's probably in large part due to the plat on the west side of the City off Camp Cardinal Boulevard, and multifamily is up again because of the West Riverfront final plat which had almost 300 units. Elliott noted it seems that what they want is more duplex and multifamily in order to meet the need. Russett agreed and acknowledged it may be a shift due to people's price point and that it's harder to purchase a single-family home. So maybe there's more of a need for smaller duplex and attached single-family type uses. Russett showed a chart of the anticipated dwelling units by lots platted from 2014 to 2023 again noting the huge jump in multifamily is attributed to the West Riverfront redevelopment, which typically they wouldn't see in final plat data because most redevelopment doesn't require a final plat but the West Riverfront did. Elliott asked about the development on Dubuque Street and if that is included in this. Russett replied it was permitted in 2022 so it was included in that data and is under construction now. It was not platted so that might be why it's not showing up on this chart. Russett next talked about new dwelling units based on building permits issued. The total number of units permitted in 2023 is above recent averages, almost exclusively due to multifamily units, and again permits for single-family are down. They did add accessory dwelling units this year so they are going to try to keep track of that moving forward and it'll be interesting to see if the changes made to the zoning code will result in more accessory dwelling units. Russett showed a map of building and demolition permits. For the University Impact Area, the West Riverfront project was the main thing that happened in the University Impact Area, other than there were three building permits for single-family detached homes, one accessory dwelling unit, three duplexes converted to single-family and then one commercial building converted to a duplex use. Russett noted the conversion from duplexes to single-family is something they talked about a lot last year when they were going through those text amendments, they were looking at data and the trends in permit activity, especially for duplexes and the interesting thing is that in areas where duplexes aren't allowed they’re not seeing single-family to duplex conversion, they’re seeing duplex to single-family conversion. Staff also looked at the City's vacant lot supply and did a build out analysis of vacant lots applied to estimate how long it would take for the current number of vacant buildable lots to be developed based on the 10-year average of building permits issued by type. Currently they have about 2.3 years of vacant single-family lots, 4.7 of attached single-family and then 1.6 years for both duplex and multifamily. The anticipated build out timeframe for vacant single-family lots actually increased from 2022 and that is due to the low building permit numbers seen in 2023. Wade asked if that include lots that have been out in inventory for a while, infill lots versus a new lot. Russett stated it includes both newly created and infill vacant lots. However, it doesn't include the lots that were created that don't have infrastructure. Craig asked if the multifamily housing lots, the development across from the fire station off Dodge Street were included in this count. Russett confirmed they are in this count. Russett noted the last thing that they looked at was projected housing need versus projected Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 10 of 12 development. She shared a chart shown in dwelling units and stated one of the most important things that they do in planning is forecast what they need to accommodate in new residential growth. What they are seeing is the need for dwelling units by 2030 is 4610 new units and the projected amount at this point is 3550 new units, a deficient of about just over 1000 units. Iowa City can only accommodate 77% of the projected demand at this point. Lack of supply can lead to increased competition for limited supply of residential lots and housing, which can increase cost. Additionally, a lack of supply can also push development to other nearby communities, which can cause homes to be further away from employment centers. Therefore, it's important to continue to encourage residential growth in areas where it's appropriate like these infill sites like the 1310 Cedar Street that they saw tonight, and in some of the designated growth areas at the fringe of the community where they anticipate annexing land for future development. Elliott asked if any the changes that were made in the Code recently expand the ability of single- family lots to be duplex lots. Russett confirmed yes, they could be platted as duplex or single- family even in the midblock. Hensch noted the status certainly shows that there's a challenge placed to the Commission and City Council to get new development to occur for housing and it looks like that annexation that was not approved several years ago by Council was a mistake. They've got to have developable areas, if there is a deficit of 1000 units that means demand is going to greatly outstrip supply, which means costs of housing are going to proportionally or not proportionately increase. No one ever wants development in their neighborhood, but this shows that they have to be advocates for development, because this 1000-unit deficit is not going to solve itself. Craig stated there is also an infrastructure issue, everything is so expensive. The cost for lots and for infrastructure in Monument Hills is extensive, the roads, the sewers, the stormwater work and getting all the utilities in there. Having been in Iowa City for decades and lived on the east side of town it’s been interesting to see the development, when they see something that takes a decade or more to get done like Scott Boulevard, year after year of trying to get that road built and connected and then finally it gets done and then development occurs around it, that's what it takes. She thinks back to when they had several issues related to the west side of town and talking about 965 coming down at some point, that would lead to some development on the west side so what's the timing of that. Russett stated the 965 alignment is actually just east of where the landfill is so that's in unincorporated Johnson County but might be on an unfunded capital improvement plan. However, there's there is no development out there at this point and even the area to the east doesn't have sanitary sewer capabilities so it's going to be a long time before that area develops and that road is built. Elliott asked about that development that had Oaknoll and a potential school out behind Menards. Russett noted some of that land is currently for sale and Oaknoll owns land out there but it can't be annexed though because they're not adjacent to the City. They anticipate development coming from the north off of Rohret Road first. Russett showed some patted residential area where development is potential. There's potential in Monument Hills, the Tamarack area off of Scott has mostly been built but there's still a little bit of development potential. Out on Camp Cardinal Boulevard lots and plats have been approved, but no infrastructure is in place yet that would allow for the many duplex units and some Planning and Zoning Commission April 3, 2024 Page 11 of 12 multifamily planned. There's still some potential off Preston Lane and there's some construction going on there right now. There are still some vacant lots in Churchill Meadows and further south off Sycamore there was a plat approved years ago and they just started putting in the infrastructure that would allow for some attached single family and single family. Craig asked what happens when something like the Mayflower goes from the University to private ownership. Russett stated first it would have to be rezoned and then likely it will be counted through the building permit data. For this particular study they’re looking at subdivisions and building permits and also vacant lots. They’re looking at the potential with the platted lots where nothing is built there yet, but there's a potential for a new unit. Wade asked if they have this data available that breaks those down by ownership type, like Riverfront is going to be rental versus actually ownership. Russett stated they would have to look at rental permit data. Townsend asked with all this building going on, and everything becoming more and more expensive, where are they on affordable housing. Russett stated part of the reason they want to do this study and share this data is to show they're not meeting demand, they need more housing, there's not a lot of building activity going on, and they need to see more housing. That doesn't mean that the new housing is going to be income restricted to people at 40% AMI because they can't just look at providing income restricted units, it has to be multiple things that they’re doing, providing financial assistance for income restricted housing, making sure that they're getting a diversity of housing types and that regulations aren't a barrier to building more housing. There's no silver bullet and they’re trying to approach it in multiple different ways. Townsend noted on Good Morning America the other day there was a story regarding how it's almost more efficient to rent than to buy right now with the interest rate which is frightening. Everything is so expensive. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: FEBRUARY 21, 2024: Elliott moved to approve the meeting minutes from February 21, 2024. Wade seconded the motion, a vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. PLANNING AND ZONING INFORMATION: Russett stated she sent an email out today about the planning consult and reminded them to mark their calendars for four o'clock on the 16th for the Bloomington Street landmark rezoning. Also the CI-1 to CC-2 rezoning the City initiated for the properties in Southgate was approved by Council last night. ADJOURNMENT: Townsend moved to adjourn, Craig seconded and the motion passed 5-0. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2023-2024 3/1 4/5 4/19 6/21 7/5 7/19 8/2 8/16 10/4 10/18 11/158 12/6 12/20 1/17 2/7 2/21 4/3 CRAIG, SUSAN X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X X X X ELLIOTT, MAGGIE X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X X HENSCH, MIKE X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X X X PADRON, MARIA X X X X X O/E X X X X X O/E X X X X O/E QUELLHORST, SCOTT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X X X X X X X X X O/E SIGNS, MARK O/E X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- TOWNSEND, BILLIE X X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X WADE, CHAD X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member