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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Packet of Communication to Council dated July 24, 2026 main fax MEMO To: Mayor and City Council From: Renee Hall, City Clerk Date: July 24, 2026 Subject: Packet of Communications to Council Listed below are the communications to the City Council known to staff as of July 24, 2026: 1. John Schuh, Ames Resident – July 9, 2026 RE: Mowing city property 1706 Amherst Dr 2. Ann Shuey, Ames Resident – July 20, 2026 RE: Flooding on Nixon Avenue 3. Craig Sackett, Ames Resident – July 21, 2026 RE: Safety concern for road curve located by Stonehaven Apartments 4. Mike McDaniel, Lightedge – July 23, 2026 RE: Lightedge Development Project proposal 5. Mike Frisk, Ames Resident – July 23, 2026 RE: Flooding in North Ames 6. Erin Ollendike, Civil Design Advantage, LLC – July 24, 2026 RE: Request to waive the requirement for Rural Subdivision covenants for a Plat of Survey at 3500 360th St 7. ISU Interfraternity Council – July 24, 2026 RE: Request for golf cart use for fraternities and sororities 8. Mark Lambert, City Attorney – July 24, 2026 RE: Changes in State Law, SF 2378 From:Ann Shuey To:City Council and Mayor Cc:Ann Shuey Subject:Request for Investigation and Action Regarding July 4 Storm Drain Failure on Nixon Avenue Date:Monday, July 20, 2026 4:04:05 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from annmshuey@gmail.com. Learn why this is important [External Email] Dear Mayor Haila and Members of the Ames City Council, I am writing to express my serious concerns regarding the apparent stormwater infrastructure failure that occurred on July 4 and the significant damage it caused to homes on my mother's street, Nixon Avenue. My mother is 83 years old, lives on a fixed senior income, and has owned her home on Nixon Avenue for many years without ever experiencing a flooding issue of this magnitude. Like many responsible homeowners, she maintained insurance coverage that included sump pump backup protection. Unfortunately, her claim is now being denied because the damage is being classified as a "flood" rather than a sump pump backup. During the July 4 storm, the City's storm drain system backed up to such an extent that water overflowed into residents' yards, flooded garages, filled window wells, and ultimately entered basements. Many homeowners suffered thousands of dollars in property damage through no fault of their own. What makes this situation particularly troubling is that several years ago, homeowners were required by the City to connect their sump pump discharges to the storm sewer system. Residents complied with that requirement in good faith, trusting that the City's infrastructure would be capable of handling significant rainfall events. Instead, when the storm drains became overwhelmed, the backup appears to have created conditions that left homeowners vulnerable to flooding from the very system they were directed to use. To make matters worse, many insurance companies are denying claims because they contend the water entered homes as "flood water" through window wells and other openings, rather than solely as a sump pump backup. As a result, homeowners who believed they had purchased appropriate protection are being told they are not covered. Many of these homes are miles away from any river, lake, or designated flood-prone area, and residents had no reason to believe they needed separate flood insurance. As residents and taxpayers, we believe the following questions deserve answers: 1. What caused the storm drain system to fail so severely on July 4 on Nixon Avenue? 2. Was the stormwater infrastructure functioning as designed, or were there known capacity limitations? 3. Has the City conducted, or does it plan to conduct, an engineering review of the affected area? 4. Has the City inspected the storm drains serving Nixon Avenue to determine whether any blockages, maintenance issues, or system failures contributed to the backup? 5. What improvements are planned to ensure this does not happen again? 6. Will the City consider assistance or relief for homeowners who suffered property damage as a result of the storm sewer backup? Most importantly, residents need a clear plan of action. Homeowners should not have to fear that every significant rain event will result in flooded yards, overwhelmed window wells, damaged basements, and denied insurance claims. Stormwater infrastructure should be designed, maintained, and improved to protect neighborhoods—not create additional risks for homeowners. I respectfully request that the City thoroughly investigate this incident, communicate its findings to affected residents, and prioritize the infrastructure improvements necessary to prevent future occurrences. This may include increasing storm sewer capacity, inspecting and clearing existing lines, implementing additional drainage solutions, installing backflow prevention measures, or pursuing other engineering remedies recommended by qualified professionals. The residents affected by this event deserve answers, accountability, and confidence that this situation will not be repeated. I also ask that the City recognize the financial hardship this has placed on many families, particularly seniors such as my mother, who now face substantial repair costs despite having maintained insurance coverage. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to learning what actions the City plans to take to address these concerns and protect homeowners from future stormwater-related damage. Respectfully, Ann Shuey On behalf of a Nixon Avenue homeowner 1 Hall, Renee From:Craig S <sackett401@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, July 21, 2026 10:57 AM To:City Council and Mayor Subject:Fwd: Street Parking Concern Attachments:IMG_2400.jpeg [External Email] Hello, I am writing to you today to bring a safety concern to your attention regarding the curve located by the Stonehaven Apartments. The curve is hazardous as I have almost been hit on numerous occasions from oncoming traffic while navigating the curve. I would like to know who the appropriate person or department is to speak with regarding this issue to see what safety measures can be implemented. If it is possible, I think making the highlighted area a no parking zone with rid the problem entirely. I have attached a picture of the area I am referring to. Thank you for your help and for your service to our community. Best regards, <IMG_2400.jpeg> Craig Sackett Email: Sackett401@gmail.com Cell Phone: 641.221.0734 Some people who received this message don't often get email from sackett401@gmail.com. Learn why this is important 1 Hall, Renee Subject:FW: Lightedge Development in Ames Attachments:Ames_City_Council_Letter_23Jul2026.pdf From: Mike McDaniel <mmcdaniel@lightedge.com> Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2026 8:51 AM To: City Council and Mayor <mayorcouncil@amescitycouncil.org> Cc: Schainker, Steve <steve.schainker@cityofames.org> Subject: Lightedge Development in Ames [External Email] Dear Mayor Haila, Attached is a letter regarding our proposed colocation project in Ames. As we have continued to engage with City staff, Council members, and the community, we have listened carefully to the questions and concerns that have been raised. The attached letter outlines a series of voluntary commitments and proffers that we believe address many of those concerns while reinforcing our commitment to being a long-term partner to the City of Ames. Our goal is to develop a project that delivers meaningful economic benefits while respecting the community’s priorities related to utilities, infrastructure, environmental stewardship, and neighborhood compatibility. We hope these commitments demonstrate our willingness to work collaboratively and transparently throughout the development process. We appreciate the time and consideration the Council has given this project and welcome the opportunity to discuss any aspect of the attached letter or answer any additional questions. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Mike McDaniel Mike McDaniel Lightedge SVP - Development D 913-553-5975 Some people who received this message don't often get email from mmcdaniel@lightedge.com. Learn why this is important 2 M E 913-219-7392 mmcdaniel@lightedge.com July 23, 2026 Mayor and Members of the Ames City Council City of Ames 515 Clark Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010 Dear Mayor and Council Members, On behalf of Lightedge, thank you to the Council, City sta , and the Ames community for the time and thoughtful consideration you have given our proposal. We recognize that projects like this raise important questions, and we appreciate the opportunity to address those concerns directly. Throughout this process, we've listened carefully to questions about utility capacity, water use, lighting, noise, and long-term accountability. Those are reasonable questions, and we are prepared to address each with binding commitments in a Site Development Plan, Development Agreement Lease, or other mutually acceptable agreement. Lightedge helps hospitals, banks, manufacturers, governments, and businesses securely store and protect the digital infrastructure they rely on every day. In practical terms, that means bank branches that run more e iciently for customers, healthcare providers who can focus on patients instead of technology, and schools and local governments that can depend on the everyday systems they use without interruption. We understand that being a good technology partner also means being a good community partner — and unlike a large-scale campus built to serve national or global computing demand, this facility is sized specically to meet the everyday needs of institutions right here in Ames. Utility Usage and Infrastructure • Lightedge will fully fund any utility upgrade needed solely because of this project, and/or pay our proportional share of any improvement that benets the broader system. • We will ensure that any required substation be built to City specications and transferred to the utility upon completion. • Though the on-site generator plant is typically permitted for emergency use only, Lightedge will work with the City's utility to explore emergency support or limited peak-shaving — running our backup generators briey during the City's highest-demand periods to reduce strain on the local power grid — subject to noise and air quality compliance. Water Conservation Water is the question we hear most from Ames residents, and rightly so — it's the resource this community depends on and cares most about protecting. We want to be direct about our approach rather than leave it as a technical detail: this facility is designed to reuse the water in its cooling system rather than continuously draw new water from the City supply, and to use only a small fraction of what a large-scale facility would require. We believe this approach reects the City’s broader commitment to sustainable growth, responsible stewardship of public resources, and thoughtful long-term planning as reected in the Climate Action Plan, and we welcome the opportunity to work with City sta to ensure the project complements those goals wherever appropriate. • The facility is expected to use less than 10% of Iowa's threshold for a large water user — the state’s regulatory category for facilities with the highest water demand — during normal operations. Iowa’s “large-user” threshold is 25,000 gallons/day; our project falls well short of that threshold. In addition, we will use only City-supplied domestic water and will not seek large-user designation without prior written approval from the City Manager or Council. • Normal use covers restrooms, routine cleaning, and irrigation. Limited non-routine use may occur for initial cooling-loop ll/ush, wintertime humidication, and re suppression. • Cooling is a closed loop system with air-cooled chillers — meaning heat is removed using fans and refrigerant, similar to a large air conditioner, rather than by evaporating water, and the water in the system is recirculated and reused rather than continuously drawn from and returned to an outside source. No open-loop or evaporative cooling — methods that rely on continuously consuming new water to cool the air — is in any phase of the project's design. We recognize a commitment is only as good as a community's ability to verify it. We welcome the City identifying an independent party to conrm our water use against these commitments on an ongoing basis, funded through the escrow described below, so this remains a standard the City can check for itself rather than take on our word alone. Wastewater Protection • The facility will comply with all City wastewater requirements. • Discharge from the initial cooling-loop ush will be sampled and coordinated with the City's utility beforehand. Any water exceeding discharge standards will be hauled o -site for permitted treatment and disposal—rather than discharged to the City system. Outdoor Lighting • All xtures will be fully shielded, with no light emitted above the horizontal plane. • A full photometric plan will be submitted with the Site Development Plan and revised as needed until it meets City requirements. • Maximum point illumination after 10:00 p.m. will not exceed six foot-candles — roughly the brightness of a well-lit parking lot, well below typical commercial lighting levels. Noise Monitoring and Accountability We propose a project-specic noise framework that exceeds current industrial zoning standards and provides the City with ongoing transparency and accountability. Technical commitments include: • Binding limits of 70 dBA / 65 dBC during normal operation — comparable to the sound of a normal conversation or household air conditioner at the property line — with temporary limits of 80 dBA / 75 dBC, closer to a passing truck, permitted only during scheduled maintenance or utility power instability. • A permanent acoustic monitoring system tracking dBA, dBC, and octave-band frequency data — di erent measurements of loudness and pitch — feeding an ISO 9613-2 propagation model, an internationally recognized method for predicting how sound travels outdoors, that estimates our facility's contribution at surrounding locations via continuously updated noise maps. • Near real-time City access to both raw monitoring data and modeled maps, with post- commissioning eld validation of model accuracy. • If validated data shows an exceedance: an interim report will be given to the City within 10 days, showing identication of cause, as well as corrective action within 30 days. If unresolved after that cure period, We will support enforcement penalties up to the maximum allowed under Iowa Code § 364.22 (currently $750 for a rst violation, $1,000 thereafter, with each day a separate o ense) — beyond what Ames Municipal Code Chapter 16 currently provides, subject to legal counsel review and nal agreement language. Escrow for Independent Review Lightedge will establish a $30,000 escrow account to reimburse the City's consulting and professional services needed to prepare and nalize this agreement, including independent verication of the water and noise commitments described above. These project-specic commitments are part of a broader company-wide approach to environmental stewardship. Lightedge has adopted Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)- validated greenhouse gas reduction targets, including a commitment to achieve net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2050 and signicant near-term emissions reductions. While those commitments apply across our operations, they reect the same emphasis on responsible growth, resource e iciency, and long-term accountability that guides this project. In closing, we recognize that trust is earned, not requested. That is why we are voluntarily o ering commitments that go beyond existing zoning requirements and that provide measurable standards, transparency, and accountability. We believe these commitments demonstrate how seriously we take our responsibility to both the City and our neighbors — and we believe a facility built at this scale, with this level of accountability and resource e iciency, reects the same commitment to responsible stewardship, long-term accountability, and thoughtful community investment that the City has embraced through its Climate Action Plan. We look forward to continuing to work with the Council, City sta , and the Ames community to ensure this project reects the values and expectations of Ames. Respectfully, Rob Carter CEO 4 1 2 1 NW UR B A N DA L E D R I V E , UR B AN D AL E , I OW A 5 0 3 2 2 • P 5 1 5 + 3 6 9+ 4 4 0 0 • W W W . C D A- E NG . CO M July 24, 2026 Honorable Mayor & City Council City of Ames c/o Justin Moore, Planner 515 Clark Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010 RE: 3500 360th Street – Story County Parcels 1019100105 & 1019100210 Waiver – City Subdivision Requirements Honorable Mayor & City Council; On behalf of Des Moines Heavy Industrial LLC and Ag Land Specialist, LLC, we respectively request that the Ames City Council grant a waiver from the City’s subdivision requirements and Urban Fringe Land Use designation of Natural Area to allow the properties listed above to be final platted. We understand that the City’s policies generally discourage land divisions resulting in parcels smaller than 35 acres and the city has subdivision jurisdiction over properties with a two-mile radius of city limits on parcels less than 35 acres. Our request to waive these requirements is based on the unique circumstances of this property and the development that has occurred between this property and the city of Ames corporate boundaries. Properties along the eastern side of the 560th Avenue corridor have been developed into mineral extraction operations that are used in conjunction with concrete and HMA paving companies. In October of 2025, CTI Ready Mix had a site plan approved by Story County to allow for the construction of a concrete batch facility located on property owned by Des Moines Heavy Industrial LLC. For CTI Ready Mix to purchase the property for construction a final plat is needed to split off 3.6 acres of property. CTI Ready Mix is owned by the same individual that owns the property to the east which is under the ownership of Ag Land Specialist, LLC. In lieu of purchasing the property the property owners have agreed to a land swap which necessitates the creation of a second final plat to create the second parcel which is the same size for the land swap. Future plans for the property owned by Ag Land Specialist, LLC would include mineral extraction similar to the two adjacent properties to the north. There is currently an agreement in place between Des Moines Heavy Industrial LLC and Ag Land Specialist, LLC to allow CTI Ready Mix to utilize materials out of the current extraction occurring to the north. These uses would be complimentary businesses to what is already in place along the corridor. Before the site plan was approved, city staff indicated that the properties along this roadway are not expected to be annexed into the City of Ames in the foreseeable future, if ever, and that city utilities are not expected to be available for connection. Based on that guidance, CTI Ready Mix proceeded through Story County to obtain approval of a site plan with private utility improvements. For the reasons outlined above we would like to request that the Ames City Council grant a waiver from the City’s subdivision requirements to allow the proposed final plats to proceed without requiring compliance with the City’s full subdivision improvement standards. We appreciate your consideration of this request and would be available for any questions you might have. Thank you. Sincerely, CIVIL DESIGN ADVANTAGE, LLC Erin K. Ollendike, P.E. 1 Hall, Renee From:Mike Frisk <mike@fpmofames.com> Sent:Thursday, July 23, 2026 12:03 PM To:City Council and Mayor Subject:North Ames Flooding Concerns [External Email] Mayor and Council Members, Thank you for reading this. I know you receive many emails from people who wish to vent. I do appreciate what you do and know that you are looking out for our great City and its people. I am a concerned citizen of Ames. I am frustrated with the flooding that occurred in North Ames on July 3rd and 4th, 2026. I fully understand that stormwater retention can only handle so much before flooding occurs in areas that normally don't flood. I was out of town for the 4th of July with family, but I know many residents and friends in Somerset where I live and North Ames experienced flooding in basements and on streets, and saw storm drains overflow in ways we haven't seen before. This raises concerns about the next significant rainfall. I met with Mindy Bryngelson, City Engineer at one of my problem areas, 2713 Luther Drive. Mindy is working with City Staff to have the city-owned drain televised to better understand 1) the drain's size and 2) whether the pipe has an issue or simply couldn't handle the volume. This has been a recurring problem that has often come close to causing bigger issues. I have previously added in better drainage around our building and installed sump pumps outside of the garden-level apartment accesses to help mitigate this recurring situation. We got over 2 feet of water in all 4 units. I have had to cancel leases and I am currently gutting the 4 units and starting over without insurance coverage. I estimate the damage at just this one property to be over $150,000. I need help finding answers regarding this drain and what can be done to resolve this problem or I fear I will have to deal with this again. I had another complex just North of the mall where 6 of the 8 garden-level units flooded; at 3000 Regency, a duplex on 28th Street, the furnaces and washer/dryers were ruined, and at a beautiful house on Taft, the furnace, carpet, pad, drywall, trim, doors, were ruined in the basement. I know Ames Ace Hardware had over 2 inches of water in their building as well. I ask the council for two things today: I request that the City Council include the North Ames area around the North Grand Mall in the existing flooding study. I understand that a study is currently underway regarding flooding in other areas the council has deemed necessary. Some people who received this message don't often get email from mike@fpmofames.com. Learn why this is important 2 Please prioritize and place on a future agenda item to discuss the issues affecting residential homeowners, rentals, and commercial flooding in the City of Ames. Please utilize City Engineers or Private Engineers to make sure we as a City are doing our part to keep the flooding down where it is not affecting people places they live or visit. This is devastating and affects more people than we all think. I coach HS girls basketball and I always remind my players to control the controllables. Some things are out of our hands and some things are not. I am just wondering if we are doing everything we can and should be doing. I don't know that answer but I think we as a City and Council need to ask the questions to feel confident about what we can control. If you have questions please don't hesitate to ask. Sincerely, -- Mike Frisk 2425 Kingston Drive Ames, IA 50010 First Property Management Broker/Owner mike@fpmofames.com Office: 515-292-5020 Cell: 515-231-7150 B#38441000 1 From: IFC VP of Recruitment [SFE] <ifcrecruitment@iastate.edu> Sent: Friday, July 24, 2026 9:20 AM To: Schainker, Steve <steve.schainker@cityofames.org> Cc: Canaday, Casey R [SFE] <canaday@iastate.edu>; Olberding, Austin [SFE] <aolber@iastate.edu>; Boulden, Billy [SFE] <bboulden@iastate.edu>; Van Dyke, Kipp J [D S O] <kipp@iastate.edu>; Michael Newton <mrnewton@iastate.edu> Subject: Golf Cart Request [External Email] Mr. Schainker, You don't often get email from ifcrecruitment@iastate.edu. Learn why this is important 2 We are writing as the Vice Presidents of Recruitment for the Collegiate Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council, which govern the sororities and fraternities at Iowa State University. Each year in August, we host our formal recruitment processes, which take place this year beginning on August 14th and concluding on August 20th. Last year, during the formal recruitment process, we welcomed approximately 750 incoming students to Iowa State between the Collegiate Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council. To participate in the process, these students move to campus early, allowing them to focus on formal recruitment prior to the school year starting. The purpose of formal recruitment is to allow these students to find the sorority or fraternity that matches their values and provides lifelong opportunities and connections. Over the course of this recruitment process, these incoming students travel to and from sorority and fraternity houses to Seasons Dining Hall, the Memorial Union, and their residence halls. For this experience to be fully inclusive and accommodate varying abilities, we are requesting the use of golf carts as a means of transportation for official business purposes only, as outlined in the plan below. The large majority of golf cart use will be on Iowa State’s campus and in “Greekland”, directly south of campus across Lincoln Way. The roads that will need to be used for transportation outside of Iowa State’s campus include: Beach Ave. north of Lincoln Way to get to and from Seasons dining hall and south of Lincoln Way to Sunset Drive Along Sunset Drive, Gray Ave., Greeley Street, Pearson Ave., Gable Lane, and Knapp Street Ash Ave. from Lincoln Way to Knapp Street Lynn Ave. from Lincoln Way to Storm St. and Storm St. From Lynn Ave. to Wallace and Wilson Halls (Towers) If a student living in Wallace or Wilson Halls requires transportation accommodations, we will need to pick up and drop off at their residence hall. If no students living in Wallace or Wilson Halls require transportation accommodations, golf carts will not go beyond Knapp St. from Lynn Ave. We recognize that Lincoln Way is a heavily trafficked road and would like to implement a plan to cross Lincoln Way as few times as possible. While the Memorial Union is our “Recruitment Headquarters” and where golf carts will be parked overnight, once the golf carts have crossed Lincoln Way to start the day, we intend to keep them south of Lincoln Way until the events have concluded for the day. The only exception of this would be to transport students requiring accommodations to dining halls for meals. Along with this, we would like to reduce driver access to a small, designated group of people: seven Sorority and Fraternity Engagement staff members, and six members each from the Collegiate Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council each for a total of 19 potential drivers. All potential drivers will complete a motor vehicle records check through Iowa State University. Additionally, we would only use golf carts between sunrise and sunset, intentionally scheduling students requiring golf cart transportation during daylight hours. Additionally, due to construction on Sunset Drive, it will be very difficult for participating students to get to and from sorority and fraternity houses in both a safe and timely manner. In previous years, students have easily traveled around the Sunset Drive, Gray Avenue, Greeley Street, and Pearson Avenue loop. The closure of the roads and sidewalks at the cross streets of Sunset Drive and Gray Avenue require students to take a much longer route to get from one house to the next, and we would like to use golf carts to help with transportation in order to avoid the construction. 3 The Collegiate Panhellenic Council will use the golf carts as follows: 3 golf carts equipped with proper signage and flags will be used to transport students requiring accommodations on August 14-20. The Interfraternity Council will use the golf carts as follows: 3 golf carts equipped with proper signage and flags will be used to shuttle men to and from fraternity houses with great distances between them. On Sunday, August 16th, this will be a shuttle service from Sigma Nu fraternity house to Seasons dining hall. On Monday, August 17th, golf carts will not be used unless a student requires transportation accommodations. On Tuesday and Wednesday, August 18th and 19th, we will provide a shuttle route from the eas Nu (ΣN). A map of the sorority and fraternity chapter facilities is included. We strongly believe that the use of golf carts is the safest and most appropriate means of transportation to make frequent stops to pick-up and drop-off students. If we are unable to use golf carts, we will have to use vehicles or large passenger vans to transport students, which is far more challenging to navigate with other drivers on the roads unknowing of the frequent stops we need to make. We kindly ask that you consider our request to use golf carts for the dates of August 14th-20th to make the recruitment experience possible for all students with varying needs and abilities. Thank you for your time and consideration. We are more than willing to comply with any regulations or policies needed to accommodate this request. Sincerely, Nora Graening and Maycin Sansgaard - Collegiate Panhellenic Council Braydon Foster and Aaron Verdun - Interfraternity Council CC: Casey Canaday, Coordinator of Chapter and Council Operations, Sorority and Fraternity Engagement Austin Olberding, Coordinator of Chapter and Council Operations, Sorority and Fraternity Engagement Billy Boulden, Assistant Dean of Students for Student Leadership and Development/Director of Sorority and Fraternity Engagement Kipp Van Dyke, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Chief Michael Newton, Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police Aaron Verdun & Braydon Foster Interfraternity Council Vice Presidents of Recruitment Aaron: 815-419-8320 Braydon: 319-213-3252 Caring People  Quality Programs  Exceptional Service 515.239.5146 Legal Department To: From: Date: Subject: SF 2378, enacted this year, made some changes that the Council may wish to address. ZONING PROTESTS SF 2378 repealed a paragraph in the state law (Iowa Code section 414.5) regarding zoning, eliminating the language that stated that if a written protest, signed by twenty percent or more of the area of the lots included in the proposed zoning change or repeal, was filed with the City Clerk before or at the public hearing, it would trigger a requirement that three-fourths of the Council would have to vote in favor of the zoning change (instead of a simple majority of the Council). We have the same requirement in our municipal code, at section 29.1507(8). It is likely that the only reason that we have this provision in our municipal code was because of the state law requirement. Now that the state requirement has been repealed, the Council may wish to consider repealing the Ames Municipal Code requirement or can choose to retain the municipal code language. APPEALS TO COUNCIL OF VARIANCES APPROVED BY ZBA The legislation also grants a right to an “affected person” to appeal to the City Council the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s (ZBA) approval of a variance. A longstanding provision of Iowa law (Iowa Code section 414.7(2)), has allowed a city council, on its own motion, to review a Board of Adjustment’s granting of a variance. Under this law, the Council could only review the variance and then can choose to remand it back to the ZBA for further study -- no other action by the Council is allowed. This provision requires an ordinance to be in place detailing the process before the Council can exercise this authority. There has never been such an ordinance in Ames, so the City Council has never exercised this authority. The new legislation creates a right for “a person affected by the variance” to appeal the ZBA’s granting of a variance to the City Council within 60 days of the ZBA’s decision. (Note: this is only for variances that have been approved by ZBA, not for variance requests that have been denied by the ZBA). The new law states that the Council, by a 2/3 vote, may overturn a variance approved by the ZBA. The Council would be able to overturn an approved variance whether the Council reviews the variance through an affected person’s appeal or whether the Council reviews the variance on its own motion. There are two things the Council may wish to consider: 1. Whether the Council wants to enact an ordinance giving the Council the authority, on its own motion, to review variances approved by the ZBA, or continue with the status quo of the Council not giving itself that authority. 2. Regarding the new provision allowing an affected person to appeal a approved variance to the City Council, it seems prudent to have an ordinance in place detailing the process for such appeals. Staff recommends that the Council adopt a motion to place these issues on a future agenda for consideration.