HF 184 Do Something?

It's not often that we in U-Heights get really riled up about the legislature in Des Moines. However at last night's city council meeting everyone was in agreement that House File 184 is bad for our town. The bill would eliminate the ability of cities to regulate occupancy through zoning codes. I had written about this last month: Interesting News From Des Moines and What It Means for U-Heights

(photo courtesy iowahouse.org)

Most of U-Heights is zoned R-1 single family. Our zoning codes says that in R-1 zones a family is people related by blood or marriage, or up to 2 UNRELATED adults. So an R-1 home could have:

•  a parent or two plus 5 children
• 2 parents a grandparent and a child
• two brothers and a roommate
• 2 roommates. 

The bill would eliminate all of this and the only limits on occupancy would probably be related to the size of the lot or structure.

If you agree that this would be bad for town I'd urge you to contact members of the Iowa House ASAP it is possible that the bill will be debated on the floor as early as 3/13/2013.

Here is the link to House members by county with their email addresses:

Iowa House

The Iowa League of Cities also opposes this bill. Here is what they had to say:

Action Step: Please contact your Representatives today to oppose HF184, using the League’s talking points to highlight home rule and the purpose of these ordinances. The main supporters of the bill, the landlords, are arguing that this is a property rights issue for landlords who own the rental property. You should stress this is also a property rights issue for the neighbor who bought their property with the expectation of living in a single family neighborhood--not next to rental properties with many renters who can cause congestion and other issues and disturb the character of their neighborhoods.

Here is some sample language I sent to several House members:

Dear Representative XXXX,

As a city councilor for University Heights, a small town of 1,000 adjacent

to the University of Iowa, I would urge you to oppose HF184. This bill

would be very detrimental to our town's well being.

We have a significant number of rental properties in town and we work had

to welcome new residents. We know from experience that many of our long

term citizens first lived in U-Heights as students, loved that experience,

and return to us later in life. However, by not allowing communities to

establish zoning regulations for the benefit of our citizens we will face

a situation where the density of residents would overwhelm our narrow

streets and small infrastructure.

Ninety percent of our homes were constructed before 1970, 57% were built

before 1960. Many homes are small bungalows or mid-century modern ranch

homes of less than 1,500 square feet. Allowing us to regulate the number

of unrelated adults per household is the simplest way for a very small

community to preserve its quality of life and provide benefits for every

citizen.

Please consider everyone's rights and vote no on HF 184

-Mike Haverkamp

 University Heights