HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Action Form dated November 25, 2014 ITEM # 28
DATE: 11-25-14
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
REQUEST: REZONE FROM AGRICULTURAL TO PLANNED INDUSTRIAL FOR
EXPANSION OF IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARK
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Two property owners in the recently annexed area south of the Iowa State University
Research Park are requesting a rezoning of their property from A-Agricultural to PI-
Planned Industrial. Iowa State University Research Park owns six parcels comprising
about 108 acres. Erben Hunziker and Margaret Hunziker Apartments, LLC owns two
parcels comprising about 80 acres. The entire area is 187.93 acres. A location map is
found in Attachment 1.
The subject parcels, along with five residential properties along S. Riverside Drive, were
annexed in September. Upon annexation, the properties' zoning designations became
A-Agricultural, in accordance with Section 29.302 of the Ames Zoning Ordinance. At the
time of annexation, this area became the Planned Industrial designation on the Land
Use Policy Plan Future Land Use Map. This LUPP designation is consistent with its
Planned Industrial designation of the Ames Urban Fringe Plan prior to annexation.
The existing ISU Research Park has the same PI zoning as is currently requested for
the expansion. The requested PI zoning for the expansion area is an interim zoning
district to facilitate the immediate construction of the first building, The Hub. The
HUB will be a centralized services building supporting employment uses within the Park.
The ISU Research Park intends to work with the City to develop a unique zoning district
to allow supportive commercial uses to be integrated with traditional business park
uses. That will be a subsequent zoning request to this application for Pl. A complete
analysis of the rezoning petition is included in the attached addendum.
This rezoning does not include the five residential properties (Forth, Smith, Harder,
Riley, and May) that were annexed along with the Phase III Research Park land. They
will remain as A-Agricultural.
Planning and Zoning Commission Recommendation. At its public hearing on
November 5, 2014, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend to
the City Council to rezone the subject property to PI. A representative of the owner
spoke. No others spoke in favor or opposition.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. The City Council can approve the request for rezoning from A-Agricultural to PI-
Planned Industrial, based upon the findings and conclusions found in the addendum.
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2. The City Council can deny the request for rezoning from A-Agricultural to PI-Planned
Industrial for the subject parcel if the Council finds that the City's regulations and
policies are not met.
3. The City Council can defer action on this request and refer it back to City staff or the
applicant for additional information.
CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
The proposed rezoning to PI is needed at this time to help the Research Park initiate
construction of the Hub Building. Rezoning of the entire Research Park to another, new
zoning district will follow next year. The current rezoning is consistent with the Land Use
Policy Plan land use designation and policies for industrial development. Infrastructure
to serve the area will be extended as part of the development agreement with the ISU
Research Park.
Therefore, it is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council accept
Alternative #1, thereby approving the request to rezone the subject parcels from A-
Agricultural to PI-Planned Industrial.
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ADDENDUM
REZONING BACKGROUND:
Existing Land Use Policy Plan. The LUPP designation of the entire subject area is
Planned Industrial. This designation applies to all of the area recently annexed including
five residential properties. The subject property was the focus of an amendment to the
Ames Urban Fringe Plan in November, 2013 which changed the designation at that time
from Industrial Reserve/Research Park to Planned Industrial.
Existing Zoning. Upon annexation in September, this area was automatically zoned A-
Agriculture. This designation is prescribed by the Ames Zoning Ordinance, Section
29.403(1) which states in part, "Land shall be in the agricultural zoning classification,
automatically, at the time that it is annexed to the city and shall remain in that
classification until it is rezoned to another classification."
The annexation included 13 parcels. Five parcels are residential property owners and
are not included in this rezoning--they will remain zoned agricultural. The ISU Research
Park and Hunziker Apartments own the remaining eight parcels and have met the
requirements to petition for a change of zone.
It should be noted that the rezoning to PI may only be a short term measure. The
Research Park has plans for particular uses and development patterns for which the
existing Planned Industrial regulations may not accommodate the full build out as
envisioned by the Research Park administration and their consultants. Subsequent to
the current PI zoning request, the Research Park will seek the establishment of a new,
unique zoning district to accommodate that full build out. The Research Park is seeking
the PI district at this time (rather than explore those other options) as they are under a
deadline to begin construction of a new State funded building (termed the "Hub") to be
completed by June, 2016.
Existing Uses of Land. Land uses that occupy the subject property and surrounding
properties are described in the following table:
Direction from Existing Land Uses
Subject Property
Subject Property Mostly cropland, riparian corridor, one empty homestead
North ISU Research Park, rural homesteads
East Rural homesteads, industrial, Ames airport
South Farmland (unincorporated Story County), rural
homesteads
West Rural homesteads
Master Plan. A master plan is not required for a rezoning to Planned Industrial at the
time of submission. However, ISU Research Park has been working with various city
departments on the development and presented portion of their development pattern to
the City Council. Rather than a Master Plan, the Research Park has entered into a
development agreement outlining the areas of development and phases for
infrastructure development.
Infrastructure. There is currently no infrastructure on this site. However, the City and
the ISU Research Park have approved a development agreement that includes
provisions for the installation of the necessary infrastructure and have cooperated on
the funding mechanism—a combination of Department of Transportation RISE grant
and tax increment financing.
A traffic impact analysis was completed and found that, with the Phase III development
within the subject rezoning area, there will be no significant traffic impacts. The
approved development agreement includes provisions for future development and
accounts for potential future impacts with future phases. The water and sewer capacity
to serve the area is adequate and only requires extension of utilities through the subject
area to serve new development.
Access. Access to this recently annexed area is from University Boulevard and South
Riverside Drive. University Boulevard will be improved as part of Phase III development
of the area proposed for rezoning. Later phases of development will include
improvements along Riverside Drive.
Applicant's Statements. The applicant has provided an explanation of the reasons for
the rezoning in Attachment C. The applicant requests the change in order to facilitate
the expansion of the ISU Research Park.
Future Actions. The City Council will see future requests regarding a preliminary plat,
and changes to the existing zoning standards or the creation of a new zoning district.
Findings of Fact. Based upon an analysis of the proposed rezoning and laws pertinent
to the applicant's request, staff makes the following findings of fact-
1. Ames Municipal Code Section 29.1507(2) allows owners of 50 percent or more of
the area of the lots in any district desired for rezoning to file an application
requesting that the City Council rezone the property. The eight parcels are under
two ownerships representing 100 percent of the property requested for rezoning.
2. The subject property has been designated on the Land Use Policy Plan (LUPP)
Future Land Use Map as "Planned Industrial."
3. The "Planned Industrial" land use designation supports the "PI" zoning
designation. Under the "PI" zoning designation, the proposed expansion of the
ISU Research Park can be accommodated.
4. Infrastructure is proposed to be extended to this site under the terms of the
development agreement between the City and the Research Park.
Public Notice. Notice was mailed to property owners within 200 feet of the subject site
and notice signs were posted on the property. As of this writing, no comments have
been received.
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Conclusions. Based upon the analysis in this report, staff concludes that the proposed
rezoning of the subject property is consistent with the Future Land Use Map, as well as
the Goals and Objectives of the City of Ames Land Use Policy Plan.
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Attachment A: Location and Current Zoning
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Proposed Rezone
from Agricultural to Planned Industrial
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0 500 1,000 IM Ames City Llniits Ames,
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Subject Parcels
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Attachment B: Land Use Policy Plan Map [Excerpt]
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Low Density Qrierrted .
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Oriented _Planned33a � �.
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Suburban
Residential Z 8h .
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Planned ,.
hndustrial ,
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Proposed Rezone � ,
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Planned Industrial 4
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Legend
N feet
Ames City Limits P m es,
Subject Parcels
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Attachment C: Applicant's Statement
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REZONING APPLICATION
The following text is intended to supplement the Rezoning Application packet as required.
I. Current Zoning, Agricultural(.A)
2. Proposed Zoning. Planned Industrial(PI)
3. Proposed Use, Allowed uses as described in the P1 zone requirements. The first
building is intended to house ISU Research Park.staff and other office"meeting space uses
associated with ISU and the Research Park.
4. Reasons for Requesting Rezoning. We are requesting rezoning in order to construct the
first building the Research Park Phase 111,currently known as the"flub". The rezoning
request matches what is set forth in the Land Use Policy Plan(LUPP)and the Ames
Urban Fringe Plan,
5. Consistency of this rezoning with the Land Use Policy Plan. Because this area was
not within the City Limits at the tirne of the LUPP's inception,this property is not
included in the LUP1'naps. However,we arc still able to meet and exceed several goals
of the LUPP,especially Goals No. 1,No.2(there is even a picture of the Research park
on p. 19 of the LUPP),No.4,No.5,No.7,and No,9.
In addition to the LI this request is also consistent with the Ames Urban Fringe Plan.
This plan forecast the expansion of the research park,according to the text taken from tlae
Man here:
Industrial Reserve/Research Park(I1IRP)
T he Industrial Rc serve,Research Park area provides jbrrluture cr%pansion of uses similar
to the ISLi Research Park:innovative technology companies that arc supported b>,
proximity to loam State University, within a planned development setting. There is land
available:#or this use:within the adjacent Planned Industrial portion of tire:L.trban Service
,4rea,but demand,/br this land use is difficult to predict ac'curateN. This Indatstrial
Reserve/Re,warch Park designation provides additional etpansic»a area_for this use,
IRRP Policv 1:Locate this lanai use designation adjacent to areas within the Urban
Service Area land use elassrflcation that are designated,for eavpansion of the ISIJ
Research Park.
IRRP Police,2:rigricultural uses are conrpatilrlc:with this designation.
IRRP Polio,3:Prior to consideration ofarav request./or rezoning or industrial
research Park subdivision development approval, require an antenchnent to the
.Imes Lirban Fringe Lund Use F'rarnework:,lap re-designating the area proposed
jbr deweloprncru ftoin Industrial ReservelResearch Park to Planned Industrial.
IRRP Policy 4: H'hen development is proposed,require the urban level design
requh ememt and service standards cis required in areas desiggnated Planned
Industrial.
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