MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
APRIL 15, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 12:06 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Carol Thompson.
Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said staff is starting the process to review the Land Use Plan adopted in 1998 because planning policy should be reviewed every 5 to 6 years. He said that staff feels the Land Use Plan has been working, but during this process they can determine if they are correct. Dvorak said goals and objectives are important to these types of plans, so the County needs to revisit them because most of the current document’s goals have been achieved. He said that in the review, staff also wants to add village policies because they are areas the Board would like to see growth in. Dvorak said there are some representatives present from the Amish community who feel there have been inconsistencies in how the Land Use Plan treats their community and the Amish community wants to participate in this process. Dvorak said there is a difference in the Amish Community, which is affected in the definitions of farms and in the application of building codes. Dvorak said that in this review, staff wants to recodify the Land Use Plan to incorporate the amendments into the document itself. Dvorak asked for direction from the Board on how to proceed. Dvorak sent a letter to the Board in February with options they could look at. These options included: 1) staff reviewing the Land Use Plan in-house, 2) the Board forming a committee to assist the staff in the review, 3) hiring a consultant to assist staff, 4) work entirely with the Planning and Zoning Commission, 5) work entirely with the Board or 6) any combination of the above, 7) hire a consultant without any staff involvement, or 8) leave the plan as is with a few exceptions.
Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said that staff feels the current Land Use Plan is working. Moore said an indicator of the plan’s effectiveness is the rezoning and platting data from Planning and Zoning’s annual report. Moore said the Board wanted direct growth in the North Corridor and the villages. He said all the indicators show that the growth is proceeding in the area the Board desires. Moore said the Board is preserving agricultural land and has stopped rezoning in the rural ag areas even though they take heat from the public. He said that the County needs to strengthen policies if the villages are going to be identified as growth areas in order to give direction to the Board and the public. Moore said the unique Amish Community is threatened by traditional society, so it needs to be considered in this plan. Moore said that he would like the opportunity to explore a Cultural Protection Overlay Zone, which protects cultures that are threatened by today’s culture. He said this could help preserve the Amish society.
Stutsman said she was the only Board member who was present during the original Land Use Plan. She said that the time was not right in 1998 to complete a comprehensive plan, which would include recreational areas, human services, and economic development. She asked if they should complete a comprehensive plan now because a benefit of working through the whole plan is that it allows the public to address the Board about their desires for directing growth and development in the North Corridor and protecting rural land uses. Moore said Planning and Zoning feels that the Board is doing comprehensive planning in their strategic planning. He said that if the Board wants a comprehensive plan that includes land use planning, it could be incorporated into the strategic planning. Stutsman said that the Board has talked about these things before, but wants to use this opportunity to bring it all together in one package. Moore said that comprehensive planning is possible through strategic planning. He said the Board previously had the staff review the North Corridor plan and addressed each issue. He said staff can go through the Board’s goals and objectives for the Land Use Plan and quantify their progress. Thompson said the agenda item for today is the process the County would use to review the current land use plan, but comprehensive planning could be one recommendation that comes from this meeting. Neuzil said he envisioned identifying areas of concern with the current plan and putting it through a committee process, which would include staff and the Board. Stutsman said she wants to hear from the community on the Land Use Plan.
Dvorak said Planning and Zoning would facilitate how the Board desires the review done, whether that is in-house, a committee, or working with the community. He asked how much involvement the Board wants in the review. Harney said he would like to see a committee put the plan together and then have the Board review it. Dvorak said that in the past Planning and Zoning recommended groups of people for the committee and then the Board would take applicants to fill those positions. Neuzil said he would like to see one Land Use Plan document with amendments before going through the committee process. Lehman said all the changes could be in a supplement, instead of recodifying the document before final changes are made.
Moore said they need a majority vote from the Board to determine if the plan is working and the steps that need to be taken. Dvorak suggested that Planning and Zoning create a proposal with several options for the Board to consider with a comprehensive plan as one of these options. The Board expressed their current concern with the lack of communication with the school districts, with Stutsman citing the current situation with the Iowa City School District planning a new school north of Coralville and then the municipalities scrambling to get the infrastructure in place. Dvorak said that Solon is the only school district who interacts with Planning and Zoning regarding their concerns and desires. Moore said that communication changes with the schools can be a change within the plan. He suggested the Board send out a public survey to find out what the public feels is important before reviewing the plan. Harney said he wants to take it a step further by including members of the community who are involved in planning and zoning issues.
Thompson said she envisioned a simple approach to review the Land Use Plan. She suggested the County review the plan by working with the Planning and Zoning Commission and focus groups; then establish a goal with the Land Use Plan to have a comprehensive plan in the next 5 years. She said that a comprehensive plan is not something the Board should rush through. Dvorak said that is an excellent idea because he does not envision adding many goals and objectives for the next 5 years. He said that making this a goal within the plan would allow the Board to budget funds and allow staff time to work on the comprehensive process. Stutsman agreed, saying that would get the process rolling. She added that she hoped the County would look at multi-housing in the rural areas. Dvorak replied that Planning and Zoning has been working with developers encouraging those developments through the Clustered Subdivisions Ordinance. He said currently there are not many multi-housing units because of the infrastructure that is required. Stutsman said she was not aware that is allowable in the County, but it is a good example of the Board needing to respond to changes in the community.
Harney asked what Planning and Zoning defines as a Cultural Overlay Zone. Moore replied that it is a zoning overlay that targets a resource that is threatened. He explained that if development trends continue, the Amish community will begin to disintegrate and possibly disappear. Harney asked if the overlay zone targets an area or a culture. Moore replied the County would have to target a specific area. Harney said the Board may have to set aside land for other cultures if land is set aside for one interest. Moore replied that Planning and Zoning will have to research overlay zones further to see if they are viable in this area. Thompson suggested they look at other communities for examples.
Stutsman asked Thompson to recap her thoughts on the review process. Thompson said that the Planning and Zoning Commission has set aside part of their meeting for public discussion in the past. In addition, the Board could utilize focus groups that staff could manage along with a subcommittee with community representatives. Thompson explained that the Board would then have a plan stating how they would develop a comprehensive plan, as well as adding proposed goals to the Land Use Plan for the next 5 years. Assistant Planner Dan Swartzendruber asked if she is suggesting a work group committee including the Board and staff to develop a recommendation for the overall Board. Thompson agreed. Dvorak asked if the majority of the Board felt that approach was viable. The Board agreed, but Neuzil asked if there is a complete and updated Land Use Plan document. Dvorak said they can provide a working document. He said Planning and Zoning will formalize the process in writing and submit it to the Board. Moore said the Land Use Plan took 3 years to develop, but the Board hoped it would only require fine-tuning in the future. Dvorak said they will draft a recommendation for the process and resume the discussion during an informal meeting.
Amish Community Representative Eldon T. Miller said the Amish Community appreciates the regulations that Johnson County currently has in place. He said they are to the point where families are making a living from smaller acreages and families have been able to succeed with 20 to 30 acre goat dairies or raising organic chickens. Miller explained that they have recently run into problems with zoning regulations regarding these endeavors by having new structures deemed commercial instead of agricultural due to the size of the farm. Miller was concerned that they would run into more of these situations in the future, so he wanted to bring the concern to the Board.
Neuzil said Johnson County wants to help the Amish preserve their small farms and their heritage. Miller suggested a committee that would review small farm proposals from the Amish community, which would be comprised of Amish businessmen and community members. He said that if the committee found this to be a reasonable request, then it would fall into the County’s regulations for farms above 40 acres. Miller said he appreciates the concern from the Board. Lehman said that changing regulations would allow an individual to put a house on a tract of land smaller than 40 acres, which the Board now requires to be rezoned. Moore said livestock can be raised on less than 40 acres for personal use but not for commercial use. Stutsman said this issue should be looked at with a cultural overlay, otherwise hog confinements could be established on 10 acres. Dvorak agreed, but said it would not be an easy challenge because the County would not want to discriminate against other groups. Moore said he wanted to review United States census data to identify Amish areas, but the United States does not identify the Amish community in that way so Miller offered to help identify the size and population of Amish families in Johnson County through church records. Dvorak said Planning and Zoning will get back to the Board within 2 weeks with an overview of the process.
REVIEW OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY SENSITIVE AREAS ORDINANCE
Moore said the Planning and Zoning staff started researching and preparing draft ordinances in 1997 for the Clustered Subdivision Ordinance and Sensitive Areas Ordinance. In April 1998, the Board appointed an 11-member citizens advisory committee whose purpose was to study research and prepare draft ordinances for the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board. Both drafts were completed in April 2000 and sent to the County Attorney’s Office for review and comment. He said Assistant County Attorney Andy Chappell reviewed, commented, and redrafted the proposed Clustered Subdivision Ordinance, which was approved by the Commission following public comment in April 2002. The Board of Supervisors then approved the Clustered Subdivision Ordinance in May 2002 following public hearings.
Moore said that currently the Sensitive Areas Ordinance has not been through the review process. Thompson said that the Attorney’s Office has had this Ordinance for 2 years. Chappell said he has not reviewed the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Stutsman said she wants to know Johnson County Attorney J. Patrick White’s concerns before they proceed with this ordinance so the Board should have a work session to discuss the Ordinance with White. Chappell said White has reviewed the ordinance, but he is not sure to what extent. He explained that White turned the Clustered Subdivision Ordinance over to him, which he then redrafted. Chappell said that when he mentioned this agenda item, White suggested the upcoming site visit with the Board as a time for discussion or he could also ask White to turn this ordinance over to him for review. Thompson said the Sensitive Area Ordinance could use the same restructuring as the Clustered Subdivision. Chappell said he would inform White that the Board intends to discuss the Sensitive Area Ordinance at the May 5, 2004 site visit.
Thompson asked if the County could enforce this Ordinance without any additional budget or staff. Swartzendruber said this ordinance would be difficult to enforce, but it could be done with other agencies’ involvement. Stutsman asked if this ordinance is really needed. Swartzendruber said this is a good time to review it in order to solidify goals for the Land Use Plan if the Sensitive Areas Ordinance was important to the Board. Dvorak added that this Ordinance was the number one topic that public wanted addressed in order to protect sensitive areas. Moore said this ordinance was part of the Board’s Land Use Plan implementation schedule. He said he feels the County is doing a great job informally protecting the environment and sensitive areas through development. Stutsman asked if the Board gets involved in problems where development has affected sensitive areas. Thompson said development will be opposed between Prairie du Chien Road and the Iowa River because it is an osprey and eagle nesting site. Swartzendruber said the State Archeologist’s Office is involved in larger plats. He said there are mechanisms to protect areas, but it is not formalized. Stutsman said she thought the Sensitive Areas Ordinance was oppressive. Dvorak said there are new directives coming that every building permit will have to be reviewed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for storm water and erosion issues. He said it may be good timing to review the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. Lehman said there will be 2 sides, those who want to protect the environment and those who want to build and education is needed to bring together a happy medium. Lehman said he thinks the general public will want a review. Moore said the Sensitive Areas Ordinance Committee was very diverse, and he believes all on the committee voted for the document. Lehman asked who would enforce this ordinance. Swartzendruber said there would be more involvement from NRCS and may require more manpower. Moore said the proposed ordinance states it is the applicant’s responsibility to hire an approved environmentalist to inventory the environmental sensitivity of the land. He said the cost is put on the developers, but Planning and Zoning is required to verify. The Board agreed that the issue will be revisited during or after the May 5th site visit with White.
Adjourned at 12:59 p.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary