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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA009 - Letter from George Kizer, concerns about proposed ordinance 3919 Dawes Drive j Ames IA 50010-4114 L - Ci3Y CLERK CITY OF VIES,IOWA��� 27 July 1998 Mr. Steve Schainker Manager, City of Ames We are appreciative of the vast amount of time and effort that you have spent in reviewing the Ames Municipal Code. We are also appreciative of the opportunity to provide our personal input to the process of revising this document. We regret that we have an unavoidable conflict with the date of the meeting at which citizens input may be provided. We are therefore taking the liberty of citing sections with which we have questions or concerns. ARTICLE 15: PROCEDDURES 15-1 B. Notices and Hearings, 1.Comphance with Notice Requirements ,(a) &(b). (a) Comment: The text of this section states that"Notice ... shall be deemed to be complete when there is substantial compliance with the applicable notice requirements." The compliance requirements stated in 4 (a)and(b)are simple and straightforward, and it should be easily determined whether or not these requirements have been met and whether or not the notices are in compliance. The addition of the term"substantial"gives rise to unreasonable opportunity for interpretation. (b) Comment: The text of this section states that"Minor technical deviations from the requirements shall not be deemed to impair the notice where there is actual notice." Again it is believed that the term "minor technical deviations" gives rise to unreasonable ambiguity as to what would constitute such a deviation. 15-1 B 4 (a)Mailed Notice [lines 56-62]and(b)Published Notice.[lines 64-711 Comment: The minimum of four(4)days prior to the meeting appears to be in conflict with the RULES OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT of the City of Ames,which presently requires a minimum of seven(7)days for newspaper notice of meeting(II A 5. (a). Section©of the same rule requires that"reasonable advance notice of the initial hearing shall be mailed to the owners of the land within two hundred feet of the site." Four days notice seems to be unreasonable and insufficient time for notice, and would serve only to limit opportunity for interested citizens to provide input to the proceedings. A letter mailed in Ames on a Friday afternoon would be delivered on Saturday at the earliest. City offices would be closed until Monday, providing only one day for research and communication before a possible meeting on Tuesday. Seven days would seem to be a reasonable minimum time period for both newspaper and mail notices, as is presently required. We would therefore respectfully ask that the wording be changed to minimums of seven days for both newspaper and mailed notices,which would be both reasonable and consistent with present RULES OF THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT. 15.4 Special Use Permit, D Review Criteria, 1 General Standards, C. Comment: The present text of this criterion is stated as follows: "Not be hazardous or disturbing to existing or future uses in the same general vicinity and will be a substantial improvement to property in the immediate vicinity and to the community as a whole. " The proposed revision includes only the first 15 words of this statement and omits any reference to improvement to property or to the community as a whole. The stated purpose of the Special Use Permit(15-4 A) "... is to provide a set of procedures and standards for specified uses of land or structures that will allow practical latitude for the investor or developer, but that will,at the same time, maintain sound provisions for the protection of the health, safety, convenience and general welfare. This section permits a detailed review of certain types of land use activities that,because of their particular and unique characteristics, require special consideration in relation to the welfare of adjacent properties and to the community as a whole...." It is our belief that the deletion of the phrase"and will be a distinct improvement to property in the immediate vicinity and to the community as a whole."will have the effect of removing special consideration for property in the immediate vicinity and to the community as a whole, which is among the stated purpose of Special Use Permits. For these reasons,we respectfully ask that the text of the present criterion D, 1, C be retained rather than the proposed revision Thank you for your consideration of our input to revisions in the Ames Municipal Code. S' rely, /4141 George A. Kizer 232-1446