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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Amendments for Clarification to Ames Plan 2040 RESOLUTION NO. 23-282 RESOLUTION APPROVING AMENDMENTS FOR CLARIFICATION TO THE PLAN 2040 FOR THE CITY OF AMES,IOWA WHEREAS, Ames Plan 2040 was adopted by the City Council on December 14, 2021. At the time it was adopted, the City Council recognized that edits to the text and maps would likely be needed for corrections and clarification purposes during the first 18 months following the adoption of the Plan; and, WHEREAS, given this, the Implementation Chapter within Ames Plan 2040 states that a formal amendment process is not required for edits during this 18-month period. This means that the changes do not have to go through the formal hearing process and the proposed changes did not have to go to the Planning & Zoning Commission. Approval is only required by the City Council. In the future,proposed changes that are not updates to information or reference items will require the full formal amendment process; and, WHEREAS, most of the proposed edits are minor and address internal consistency and clarity; and, WHEREAS, the most consequential edits are changes to the Future Land Use Map are 1) A large swath of land north of Highway 30 and east of I-35 is proposed with an Employment (Emp)designation.This area was previously not designated.2)A 4.3-acre residential development located at Oakwood Road & Green Hills Drive was mistakenly shown as Community Commercial/Retail (Com-CR). It is proposed to be changed to Residential Neighborhood 5 — Multifamily(RN-5)to reflect its current use. 3) The area west of Sam's Club on Airport Road has been changed from "Community Commercial (Com CR)" to "Civic." 4) The Redirection Area category along Grove Avenue has been updated to "Residential Neighborhood 2 — Established (RN-2)"to reflect the rezoning that occurred last year. 5)Approximately 80 acres of land on East 13th Street in the vicinity of the former regional mall site was designated General Commercial (GC). This area was previously designated as planned industrial and currently has industrial zoning and staff supports a correction of the GC classification to Employment. The regional mall site land retains its Regional Commercial classification; and, WHEREAS, in addition to adjusting the specific areas described above, the proposed map changes include other miscellaneous corrections. The identification of Low Density Residential (RLP) Manufactured Home Parks was inconsistent within the Plan and on the map. The map has been adjusted to reflect existing RLP zoning for the RN-2 classification only, not RN-5. The proposed Map also includes updates to the City Boundaries. Errors in the Legend have also been corrected. Dashed lines have been added within the Iowa State University Research Park area to reflect future transportation corridors with its expansion to match how other growth areas are generally depicted. Edits to the Fringe Area classifications are described separately; and, WHEREAS, at the time of adoption of the Plan there were questions about the background information related to growth scenarios and tiers. Specifically, page 40 of the Plan describes the process of how the specific growth plan was established and how the relationships of areas to infrastructure extensions were classified. Questions were raised at the time of adoption and during the Fringe Plan update process regarding whether the "Tier Criteria" are mandatory criteria. Staff consistently explained, and City Council adopted, that the explanation is not a mandatory policy, but was an explanation only of the evaluation process. Staff supports adding the word "initially" into the description of the Tiers to clarify this for a reader that the language is not mandatory; and, WHEREAS, Staff prepared changes on Page 48 of Ames Plan 2040 that address administration of the land use classifications by moving an explanation section to this page and adding some text to explain the relationship of the zoning districts that are listed within the classifications to future rezoning applications. The Low Density Residential (RLP)Manufactured Home Parks were inconsistently categorized within the Plan. Text was modified to reflect existing uses within RN-2. The use is allowed to be established within new areas of growth with RN-3; and, WHEREAS, in light of the recent infill workshop and discussion concerning infill policies, staff reviewed the RN-1 and RN-2 development guidelines. Staff found ambiguity in the statements regarding types of building intended to be allowed within RN-1 and RN-2. The policy refers to attached units and small townhomes. "Attached units"is vague in that it could have meant either duplexes or apartments. Staff interpreted this term to mean small apartment building configurations, not just duplexes, and made edits to the language to clarify"small" is the intended description of the policy. Alternatively, the "attached unit" term could be modified to be clearer regarding what types of building it should apply to in the policy; and, WHEREAS, the most significant changes to the Fringe Area components of Ames Plan 2040 relate to the expiration of the former Ames Urban Fringe Plan. The prior 28E agreement for joint administration of the 2-mile Fringe Area expired on April 30,2023. Plan 2040 acknowledged that the City had a Fringe Plan and related 28E Agreement, with the language referencing a prospective update to the Plan; and, WHEREAS, as a result of the expiration of the Plan, staff supports changing the language referencing a specific Fringe Plan and related polices to the area in general. This language allows for future adoption of Fringe Plan, but does not require the City to have a Fringe Plan for consistency with policies of Plan 2040; and, WHEREAS, the principal Fringe Area text edits relate to the Open Space &Natural Area, Urban Reserve, and Rural Character land use classifications as well as the Fringe Area Policy Framework and map. The language of the land use classifications have been adjusted to reflect the intent for managing the Fringe Area in general rather than through a specific plan. Staff added language to the Natural Area principles regarding the meaning of subdividing land within Natural Areas for conservation purposes; and, WHEREAS, the Fringe Area map from page 71 also includes proposed changes. The base Future Land Use Map includes planned designations for areas intended to be annexed to the City related to the prior Tiers evaluation and other readily serviceable areas. The Fringe Area Map includes additional designations related to management of development within two miles of the City. The current Plan 2040 Fringe Map carried over designations for rural development from the 2006 Plan assuming updates would occur; and, WHEREAS, Staff supports modifying the Rural Character mapped areas to reflect only areas that are concentrated areas of Rural Development and to not identify areas for future rural subdivisions since that has not been evaluated. This means removing an area within Boone County along Y Avenue south of Cameron School Road, area at the west end of Cameron School Road, area along 190th Street west of George Washington (GW) Carver Avenue, area along Stagecoach Road, and area along 190th Street near the I-35 interchange from Rural Character to Agriculture and Farm Service. The Meadow Glen neighborhood becomes Rural Character with the Urban Reserve Overlay; and, WHEREAS, Staff also supports adding a note regarding 590th Street on the east edge of the City referring to 28E agreement with Nevada limiting annexations. In the event such an agreement did not exist, the area along 590th Street would be treated as Urban Reserve within 1/2 mile of the existing City limits; and, WHEREAS, additionally, staff supports adjusting some Natural Area mapping. Generally, the Natural Area designation is not definitive or all natural resources or the full extent of natural resources but instead are a guide to identifying know resources. However, a large area of wetlands near Sand Hill Trail was mapped incorrectly at the time of adoption of Plan 2040. This incorrect mapping was to be corrected with a Fringe Plan update,but staff proposes to make this update now instead. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Ames, Iowa, that resolution Approving Amendments for Clarification to the Plan 2040 is hereby approved. ADOPTED THIS 9th day of May, 2023. Renee kall, City Clerk John A. Haila, Mayor Introduced by: Gartin Seconded by: Junck Voting aye: Beatty-Hansen, Betcher, Corrieri, Gartin, Junck, Rollins Voting nay: None Absent: None Resolution declared adopted and signed by the Mayor this 9th day of May, 2023.