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Home My WebLink AboutA001 - Letter from Nyemaster Law Firm on Uthe Farm Developoment - 13-o o N hound d u�4 py NYEMASTER, GOODE, VOIGTS, WEST, HANSELL & OrBRIEN A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW L.R.VOIGTS PHYLLIS E.PEARSON WADE H.SCHUT KERI K.FARRELL-KOLB 700 WALNUT,SUITE 1600 JAMES B.WEST BRADFORD L.AUSTIN MARK D.ALJETS DEBRA L.DALTON DES MOnvEs,IOWA 50309-3899 EDGAR F.HANSELL SARA J.SERSLAND G.THOMAS SULLIVAN JOHN T.CLENDENIN W.DON BRPITIN,JR. HAYWARD L.DRAPER JOAN FLETCHER AMY L.VAN DUYN (515)283-3100 R.CRAIG SHIM JAMES E.GRITZNER THOMAS H.WALTON NEAL K.WESTIN DON MUYSKENS MICHAEL W.THRALL WILLARD L.BOYD III STEPHANIE L.MARETT ROGER L.FERRIS MARK C.DICKINSON JEFFREY W.COURTER 1416 Buaam AVENUE,SUITE 200 LAWRENCE E.MYERS GREGORY B.WILCOX HALLIE E.STILL-CARTS OF COUNSEL AMES,IOWA 50010-8070 KEITH E.LUCHTEL JOHN F.LORENTZEN DAVID W.BENSON REEN GERALD J.NEWBROUGH ROD KUBAT BRMAN J.HUMKE JOHN J.MCLAUGHLIN (515)233-3000 DREW W R.TIL ROBERT A.VANORSDEL STEVEN J.ROY DEBORAH S.KRAUTH LOTSON RICHARD J.SAPP FRANK B.HARTY PAULA S.DIRRRNFFI.D DREFACSIMILE G.R.NEUMANN JAMES C.WINE COREEN K.BEZDICEK FRANK B.COMFORTFORT RUSSELL E.SCHRAGE BRUCE W.BAKER JOHN B.TUFFNELL BATTIER L.HILL,JR.DLER (515)232-3846 CARLTON T.KING THOMAS W.FOLEY JILL M.STEVENSON BARRY GREGORY P.PAGE STEVEN H.LYME ANGEL A.WEST L.W."BILL"J. ROSE BROOK DIRECT DIAL RANDALL G.HORSTMANN TERRY C.HANCOCK KATHRYN A.OVERBERG (515)233-1587 JAY EATON ANTHONY A.LONGNECKER ANGELA L.WATSON RAY NYEMASTER BURNS MOSSMAN JOSE PH A.QUINN JENNIFER L.VERGILH (1914-1995) REPLY TO: AMES BJN@NYEMASTER_COM June 5, 2000 RR The Honorable Ted Tedesco g City of Ames, Iowa f 515 Clark Avenue r JUN — 6 2000 1 Ames, Iowa 50010 ! _ CITY CLi.RiK RE: Uthe Farm Development Dear Mayor Tedesco: I am writing on behalf of the Uthe Development Company,L.L.C.that will develop the Uthe Farm. The purchase of this property will be completed June 1, 2000 with the hope that the development can start in the fall. In order to facilitate the zoning of this property for development, I am writing to alert you,the Council and the City Staff about a problem with the density on the property and to request the City to determine if a modification of the zoning statute can be made so that a development of this type can take place in our city. The density issue involves Article 12 of Chapter 29 of the City Code, which is the new zoning statute. The specific section is 29.1202,"F-SR"Suburban Residential Zone. The specific subsection is(6)and specifically table 29.1206(6)-"Suburban Residential Floating Zone Suburban Regulations." In that table, it establishes the density requirements for suburban residential, low density and medium density. I believe that the density requirements followed a staff study of previously developed neighborhoods in our community and the density of those subdivisions. I believe Uthe will be the first development that will be laid out under the new zoning ordinance. The Uthe Development is designed to incorporate various types of housing in a mixed density design. The developers and engineers discussed with City staff numerous alternatives to meet the density requirements. Based on the current needs in the market place in Ames, the Uthe Development Company believes it has designed a reasonable layout of lots in the development. The zoning and design will be submitted to the City within the next week or so. The design has The Honorable Ted Tedesco June 5, 2000 Page 2 approximately 170 lots of a Northridge type size, approximately 165 lots to accommodate the $170,000 to $190,000 type house and 137 lots for townhomes. The current density excluding the townhouses is 3.4 lots per acre. If the townhouses are included,the density is approximately 3.9 lots per acre. I believe the design of the development meets the goals of the City to provide a mixture of different types of single family units within the development. The engineers have worked with staff to increase the density by eliminating as many corner lots as possible,which use up more land and thus are less dense. The developers have also increased significantly the number of medium size lots for the $170,000 to $190,000 priced homes because of the results from the Ames Economic Development Commission Executive Call program,as well as the Focus Luncheon which indicated a significant shortage of those priced homes in Ames. There is a significant shortage in Ames of all price ranges of homes and this development tries to address each of these to the best of the developers ability. The density requirement in the new zoning statute for low density suburban residential is 3.75 lots per acre. In order to meet that density requirement, the number of larger lots would need to be reduced to 60. That is just an insufficient number based upon the shortage of these types of lots in the market place. It was a surprise to the developers and engineers that so few larger lots could be created when they actually tried to lay out the design. Our clients have spent approximately$50,000 trying to lay out a design under the new zoning law for a development that they believe will be successful in the market place. They initially believed that the townhouses would count toward the density and there would not be a problem. On further analysis,however,it became clear that they did not count toward the density. It is my client's hope that the density issue can be resolved with modifications of the zoning statute to maintain the mixture of uses and a reasonable density on the property. There appears to be several alternatives to this problem. One would be to lower the density requirement so that the development meets that level. Clearly, any density number that is picked would be somewhat arbitrary. It may work for this development, but not the next, so the Council would be constantly tinkering with the number. It will take some time to figure out what is an appropriate density in light of the lot size requirements in the statute, the set back requirements - front,back and side-as well as other building restrictions. Since this is the first development under the new statute,tinkering with the number may not be a good solution because it may come back to be a problem in subsequent developments. Another alternative would be to make the number a goal, but it is my understanding that the Council has previously rejected that thought. Another alternative would be to allow townhouses(defined as"Dwelling, Single Family Attached" in the Code, See Article 2, Sec.29-201(52))in suburban residential low density. This solution may cause some difficulty in allowing such a use in other established neighborhoods in our community that may be zoned low density. It would, however, eliminate the density issue and would allow a denser use of land in the"low density"zoned residential areas. It may be appropriate to allow such The Honorable Ted Tedesco June 5, 2000 Page 3 a use in "new developments," but not have it be a permitted use in neighborhoods that have previously been developed. Another problem with townhouses under the current statute is that they do not fit into either the low or medium density zoned areas for the development. In a low density zoned area, townhomes are not a permitted use under Table 29.1202(4)-1 on Page 102 of the Zoning Code. In medium density zoned areas, a townhome development is a permitted use,but the density requirement of 10 lots per acre does not allow a pure townhome development because you cannot get enough lots on the ground to get to the 10 lots per acre density requirement based upon the size requirements of the lots. Currently, the land would have to be zoned high density to permit a pure townhome development, because townhomes are a permitted use in a high density zoned area and there is no density requirement whatsoever in that zone. I guess everyone just assumed high density zoned areas would have a high density use. I do not believe,however,it is the intent of the city to have its high density zoned land be used for townhomes. I believe that creative minds of the Staff can come up with a reasonable solution to this problem without undermining the overall intent of having a development in Ames meet some type of density requirement. I believe that this only affects new development, so a change can be limited. I do believe the current design by the developers meets the goal of the city of having a mixed use of land and various priced housing to meet various needs in our community. The Council has expressed a desire to have Northridge type lots available in our community,which this plan meets. In addition, the plan provides for moderately priced homes which are currently desperately needed in the market place. Numerous employees of Ames businesses are going to Ankeny to purchase such homes in light of the fact that similar used homes in Ames are currently$10,000 to $15,000 more expensive than those found in Ankeny because of the supply/demand situation. I ask that the Council refer this matter to the Staff for their review and suggestions. Uthe Development Company stands ready to work with the Council and Staff to provide a development that will be successful for them and the community. It is our hope that this matter can proceed promptly in light of the significant crises facing the community from the lack of sufficient housing. Your Truly, NYEMASTER, GOODE, VOIGTS, WEST, HANSELL & O'BRIEN, P.C. 7! EE � - Barry J. Nadler BJN:slc cc: Ames City Council Members Steve Schainker Honorable John Klaus, Attorney, City of Ames Dean Hunziker, Hunziker Land Development Group Robert Friedrich, Jr., Friedrich Land Development Group C:\cdrive\LAW HILJNZUCER\Uthe\Tedesco-ltr.wpd