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Friday, March 13, 2015

March Council Meeting Summary


 
Fellow U-Heights residents,



City Council held their regular March meeting Tuesday night, below are some highlights. For more information please look at the full agenda and attachments


One University Place Ordinance First Approval

Following a recommendation from the Zoning Commission last week, city council held a public hearing on a zoning amendment for One University Place  and heard community comment. Council also heard from the developers regarding their request to increase the residential unit number from 80  to 104 and surface parking from 55 to 108. Their plans show a reduction in commercial space and the footprint of the front building. The back building would remain 5 stories. Due to a petition filed by 20% of residents within 300 feet of the property, council approval would require a super majority of 4 yes votes. Council approved the first reading tonight 5-0. A second reading of the amendment will be held at the April meeting. 


FY16 Budget Approved.

Following a public hearing council approved the FY16 budget. City budget years begin on July 1. The carryover projected at the end of FY16 is $779. The re-estimated carryover for the end of FY15 (June 30, 2015) is $13,665.


Parking Passes Created

Police Chief Ken Stanley announced a policy where any resident hosting a gathering can contact the police department and request parking passes for guests who may be leaving their car on a city street overnight. He also passed out several passes to each council member for them to distribute to any neighbors if needed.



Upcoming Events

  • City Council Work Session on Tax Increment Financing MONDAY MARCH 23, 6:30 pm (tentative) 
  • City Council Meeting TUESDAY APRIL 14 7:00 PM 
  • Annual Spring Clean Up Day is SATURDAY APRIL 25th 9-noon 
  • Arbor Day Tree Planting Ceremony will be SUNDAY APRIL 26th 
  • Farmer's Market starts TUESDAY JUNE 2nd
  • City-Wide Garage Sale will be SATURDAY JUNE 6th throughout town 
  • RAGBRAI comes through U-Heights! SATURDAY July 25th

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

HF 161

An almost overlooked issue at last night's city council meeting was the announcement of the passage of  HF161, a bill in the Iowa House of Representatives that would eliminate the ability of cities to limit occupancy of homes based on family status. Most of U-Heights is zoned single family meaning a family of related individuals, regardless of size, may live in a house. By our zoning definition, however, no more than two unrelated adults comprise a family. As our city attorney observed last night, this is the bedrock of all of our zoning and housing regulations. I wrote about this two years ago when the same bill was in the Iowa House HF184 Do Something?


Check this story in this morning's Press Citizen for details.

Bill would end some single-home roommate restrictions


I would urge all of you to consider writing to our senators to express your feelings on this topic. A similar bill SF458 has the important difference of NOT eliminating the non-related standard for zoning. Here is information I shared with people at the council meeting last night:

Local Senators
joe@joebolkcom.org                   Johnson
robert.dvorsky@legis.iowa.gov     Johnson
Kevin.Kinney@legis.iowa.gov        Johnson/Washington
rob.hogg@legis.iowa.gov             Linn
liz.mathis@legis.iowa.gov             Linn
wally.horn@legis.iowa.gov           Linn

Ask senators to oppose SSB1218, or SF458 or similar bills to HF161. The key is not to limit the ability of cities to restrict, via zoning, the number of unrelated adults that can occupy a property.

Points to mention: As a community of small homes (2 bedrooms, many under 1600 square feet) and narrow streets we would simply not be able to accommodate the amount of pressure this would put on our town. Street storage of autos, problems with garbage collection, and general wear on property are all problems exacerbated by increasing the number of adults living in a single property.

Other senators

Majority leader         mike.gronstal@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Majority Leader:    bill.dotzler@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Majority Leader:    matt.mccoy@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Majority Leader:    amanda.ragan@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Majority Leader:    mary.jo.wilhelm@legis.iowa.gov
Republican Leader:    bill.dix@legis.iowa.gov
Republican Whip:      jack.whitver@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Republican Leader: rick.bertrand@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Republican Leader: randy.feenstra@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Republican Leader: tim.kapucian@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Republican Leader: charles.schneider@legis.iowa.gov
Assistant Republican Leader: dan.zumbach@legis.iowa.gov

Find all Iowa Senators: