HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - request for variance from St. John's by the Campus Episcopal Church & Student Center St. John's By-The-Campus
Episcopal Church & Student Center
2338 Lincoln Way
Ames , Iowa 50014
May 3 , 1996
Ames City Council and Mayor
c/o City Clerk
P.O. Box 811
Ames, Iowa 50010
Ladies and Gentlemen of the City Council :
Mr . Mayor:
The purpose of this letter is to request a variance to
the Ames zoning code for the purpose of permitting the
modernization and enlargement of the building facilities for
St. John' s By-The-Campus Episcopal Church & Student Center.
We are located on Lincoln Way at the corner of Stanton
Avenue, directly across from the campus of Iowa State
University, within the designated perimeter of Campustown.
For the past one hundred years we have been dedicated to
serving the spiritual, religious, and Christian fellowship
needs of the general populace of Ames and its environs, and
in particular, to serving these same needs for the students
and faculty at Iowa State University. Our present facility
was completed in 1930.
Some fifty years after the completion of our present
facility, the zoning for our site was changed to C-C,
Concentrated Commercial District - a designation intended to
accommodate the special needs of the Central Business
District and the Campustown Business District. As presently
formulated , the requirements for this zoning designation do
not allow for the use of structures within this district for
purposes of a church and student center.
We request a variance from the restrictive requirements
of this zoning district for the following reasons:
1 . St. John' s By-The-Campus Episcopal Church & Student
Center was completed and has been operating at this site for
many years prior to the creation of the C-C zoning district
in Campustown. We recognize that zoning changes can create
difficulties for existing activities that find themselves no
longer in compliance with a new restrictive designation, but
we feel that the nature of our "business" sets us apart from
most others. We believe that wherever we ' re located , we will
provide unique services not only to our special constituency,
but to the public as a whole. In the Campustown location, and
across from the ISU campus , we feel this even more strongly.
2. Campustown exists as a unique district focused on