HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Meeting of the Ames City Council 05/05/1998MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA MAY 5, 1998
The Ames City Council met in special session at 5:30 p.m. on the 5th day of May, 1998, in the City
Council Chambers in City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law with Mayor Ted Tedesco
presiding and the following Council members present: Campbell, Cross, Hoffman, Parks,
Quirmbach, and Wirth.
CALL TO ORDER: 5:40 p.m.
AMES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PARK SUBDIVISION PAVING PROJECT: Moved
by Campbell, seconded by Hoffman, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 98-187 approving preliminary
plans and specifications for the Ames Community Development Park Subdivision Paving Project;
setting May 20, 1998, as bid due date and May 26, 1998, as date of public hearing and award of
contract.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0. Resolution declared adopted unanimously, signed by the Mayor, and
hereby made a portion of these minutes.
NAMING ENTRY ROAD OFF SOUTH RIVERSIDE DRIVE AND ASSIGNING THE
ADDRESS FOR VISIONAIRE: Moved by Parks, seconded by Cross, directing staff to take the
necessary steps in naming the entry road off South Riverside Drive as “Aviation Way” and assigning
the address for VisionAire as “1101 Aviation Way.”
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE:
In response to comments made and questions asked at the previous meeting, City Manager Steve
Schainker asked the Council if they thought it would be helpful to restate the reasons the Zoning
Ordinance is being updated. Councilman Cross indicated it would be beneficial for the public, those
watching on Channel 12, and the Council. The City Manager asked Planning & Housing Director
Brian O’Connell to give a brief explanation on why the Council and Staff are taking the time in
much detail to review this document.
O’Connell: Back in 1993, the City envisioned a two-pronged effort: updating the City’s Land Use
Policy Plan (LUPP) and updating the Zoning and Subdivision Regulations. One of the primary
reasons why the time is being taken to review the Zoning and Subdivision regulations is because the
City has recently adopted the LUPP. The Plan, as it has been adopted, represents some different
thinking for this community in terms of how we see development occurring, how we see dealing
with existing portions of the community--this Plan represents a new vision as to how we plan for the
City as it exists and how it would grow in the future. The Plan stresses increasing density (using
land more efficiently); the Plan identifies Ames as being made up of small places (unique
neighborhoods, unique areas); the Plan talks about being more effective in protecting existing
neighborhoods. Regarding commercial zone regulations, the Plan talks about a greater degree of
hierarchy in our commercial zones -- currently in our existing regulations we have three commercial
zones; in our proposed regulations and as a result of the Plan, it lists five -- recognizing that
neighborhood areas that are developed commercially are dramatically different than regional
commercial areas, or highway-oriented commercial areas, or the new idea of a commercial node.
The Plan also has us thinking about industrial development in terms of Planned Industrial and
General Industrial, but also that industrial uses can be categorized by their impact. These things have
come out in the Plan that substantiates why we should look at our regulations. Many existing
regulations in our current law date back to 1956 or earlier; simply put, our existing zoning laws are
approaching 40+ years old -- and a lot has happened since then. Our existing zoning ordinance has
experienced many amendments which causes lack of comprehensiveness in the law. It creates an
environment in which there is a lot of debate and discussion.
Our current commercial and industrial zones need more distinction. Our existing regulations do not
allow for innovate types of housing development. The ordinance is often referred to as being
inflexible and unpredictable. With the new ordinance, we are trying to achieve flexibility and
predictability. As a City, we have faced concerns about the complete lack of standards with respect
to building design. There is a desire to have regulations that address building design.
Mayor Tedesco indicated he would like to see examples of how it looks under the current plan versus
how will it look under the new plan. O’Connell noted that, at the last meeting, Staff handed out
pages of tables with selected examples of how residential apartment buildings would be affected;
six examples were given for various categories. Mayor Tedesco and Councilwoman Wirth indicated
a need to go over this document (dated April 20). The Council agreed that additional meetings
would have to be scheduled.
Division I: General Provisions
P. 4, line 114 Moved by Wirth, seconded by Quirmbach to replace the word “Variance”
with “Waiver/Modification.” (Section 23.3.3)
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Moved by Hoffman, seconded by Campbell to approve Division I with the amendments (changes
noted in bold and those voted on), and to add “Bike Master Plan” (p. 6, line 191, as 23.8.9).
[Councilman Quirmbach reaffirmed that this approval was for the purpose of moving forward, and
that further amendments could be made at the time of public input.]
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Division II: Definitions and Rules of Construction
P. 11, line 381 Moved by Parks, seconded by Hoffman to modify the language by changing
“Zoning Enforcement Officer” to “Building Official or his/her designee.”
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Moved by Hoffman, seconded by Quirmbach to approve Division II with the amendments (changes
noted in bold and those voted on).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Division III: Procedure
Quirmbach: Insert language that specifies that we’re skipping the Preliminary Plat in the Minor
Subdivision.
P. 16, line 604 Parks: change “not less than” to “within 21 days...”
P. 14, lines 511-513 Quirmbach: place period after “...duly adopted plans.” Delete “and whether
the Preliminary Plat will be conducive to the City’s orderly growth and
development and will not harm the public health, safety, and welfare.”
Make this change also on p. 15, lines 533-535; p. 17, lines 623-624; p. 20,
lines 698-99.
Moved by Campbell, seconded by Parks to approve Division III with amendments noted (those in
bold and changes made above).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Division IV: Design and Improvement Standards
P. 24, lines 894-910 Moved by Parks, seconded by Campbell to delete Section 23.18 in its entirety
(lines 894-910).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
P. 26, line 913 Moved by Campbell, seconded by Hoffman, to add the word “residential” in
“Section 23.19.1 General As a requirement of residential subdivision
approval, trees shall be planted...”
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
P. 31, line 1092 Moved by Wirth, seconded by Parks to change the word “shall” to “may.”
P. 32, line 1135 VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
P. 30, line 1054 Moved by Hoffman, seconded by Wirth to delete reference to thickness of
sidewalks in Section 23.20.14 (lines 1054, 1055).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Moved by Wirth, seconded by Parks, to approve Division IV with amendments noted (those in bold
and changes made above).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Division V: Submission Requirements
P. 36, line 1252 Moved by Parks, seconded by Hoffman to delete the words “A Scale...”
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
P. 37 Moved by Parks, seconded by Wirth to incorporate the correct language in
Section 23.27.2.a as noted by Scott Renaud in his April 21 letter, allowing
licensed Professional Engineers to be added to the list of professionals that
can be responsible for the Preliminary Plat.
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Moved by Wirth, seconded by Parks, to approve Division V with amendments noted (those in bold
and changes made above).
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
COMMENTS:
Since Articles 8 and 9 of the Zoning Ordinance were not discussed at this meeting, City Manager
Steve Schainker said that they will be the items of discussion at the May 7th meeting. He also
distributed written “FYI” responses to questions asked by the City Council at its April 21 meeting.
Mayor Tedesco noted that these would be discussed at a later date.
Moved by Campbell, seconded by Hoffman to forward EAI’s request to staff.
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Councilman Parks complimented Councilman Quirmbach on the good points he raised, and asked
if he would forward these items to the Staff before the meeting, noting that it would speed up the
process if Staff knew of these details ahead of time. Parks also suggested that Councilmembers
consider faxing syntax items such as these ahead of time, since they were not policy issues.
Moved by Parks, seconded by Cross to move the joint meeting with the Humane League from the
May 12th to the May 26th meeting (noting that the May 12th agenda includes a discussion on Target
and could prove to be lengthy). The May 12th meeting will start at 7:00 p.m.; the May 26th meeting
will start at 6:30 p.m.
VOM: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT: 8:55 p.m.
_______________________________________________________________________
Jill Ripperger, City Clerk Ted Tedesco, Mayor
_________________________________
Lynette Windsor, Recording Secretary