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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA033 - Email dated June 7, 2021 from James Pease to the Mayor and City Council r Voss, Diane From: Pease,James [NREM] <jlpease@iastate.edu> Sent: Monday,June 7, 2021 6:13 PM To: City Council and Mayor Subject: Hayden Preserve Master Plan ilExternaI Email],-- - -- - - - -- - - - Date: 7 June 2021 To: Ames Mayor and City Council From: James Pease, President, Friends of Ada Hayden Heritage Park Thank you for the opportunity to review the latest iteration of the plans for"Hayden's Preserve", a.k.a. Rose Prairie development. As you are aware,we have proposed several alternatives for this property that we believe would improve the quality of life in Ames,add to biodiversity, and better protect the watershed of Ada Hayden Heritage Park. You have rejected all of our suggestions. However,we are still paying attention to what you do with this parcel with the goal of protecting the park and the high quality water that it contains. The people of Ames expect nothing less of us and of you. The PIan submitted by McClure Engineering to you (Attachment AA and BB in the submission) is a great improvement over what you approved on March 9, 2021 a slight revision of that approved in 2016. The current proposal has more green space, including dedicated parkland and more detention basins and grassed waterways. We are also supportive of removing the E-W connector road that crosses the primary north-south waterway. It is clear that City staff have helped improve on the original plans. We do have several suggestions that we believe will add to the development and further protect Ada Hayden Heritage Park and its water. 1. We still believe that the 620 units is far too high a density of housing to be called a "conservation development" by any stretch, but that appears to be where you are headed. For the record, we recommend reducing housing density along the primary north-south waterway and providing wider Duffers in that area—the steepest slopes on the property—to greatly improve protection for the waterway and reduce run-off into the Ada Hayden wetlands. This would include parcels 4 5 7 and 8. 2. As per our Rose Prairie Restoration Plan submitted to you in April, 2021, slowing down the water coming down that primary waterway and increasing its residence time is critical to reduce nutrients and other contaminants entering the Ada Hayden wetlands. To do so, we proposed a series of small wetland impoundments in that streambed. With the increase in impervious surfaces provided by roads and houses,that is even more critical. We ask that McClure work with City staff to design several such shallow wetlands in that stream valley. We would note that these shallow wetlands would also give initial treatment to water coming from agricultural tiles lines north of 19011 St., currently the primary contributor of water to the stream. 3. As we mentioned in our letters and response to staff last fall, the positioning of a convenience store at the head of the waterway is particularly problematic, especially if such a store contains underground storage tanks. But Ames can show just how progressive we are as a community and lead by example i • by requiring that such a convenience store have only electric charging stations for the fast- developing electric vehicle industry and no underground petroleum storage tanks. Such a requirement, we believe, would be met with applause by the community, protect the park, and demonstrate leadership. Further, we know that some convenience store operators would be interested in this, as well. 4. The city's requirement of the developer that designated parkland be flat and on <2%grade means that the only places for that parkland would be on the western edge of the property. That also means, however,that some housing, particularly on Parcels 9, 12, and 13, are on much steeper land, requiring a good deal of earth moving and contributing, in the process, to soil and water run-off into the stream and valley. Also, we have not seen data that support the development of additional ball and soccer fields in this area which require flatter ground. We ask that the Parks and Recreation Department reconsider this requirement, rethink the types of recreational amenities they want for this particular park, and work with the developer to reposition the park, allowing for housing to be on the flatter, not the steeper, slopes. We would be happy to work with them in reassessing this requirement. Thank you for continuing to help us protect the integrity,wildness, and water quality of Ada Hayden Heritage Park. James Pease, Ph.D. Emeritus Assoc. Professor,Natural Resource Ecology and Management, ISU Environmental, Interpretive,and Wildlife Consulting 3840 Stagecoach Road Ames,IA 50010 Phone: 515/232-5381 [ell: 515/480-7858 "I'm glad I shall never be young without wild places to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" --Aldo Leopold 2