MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
OCTOBER 10, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:01 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said the County adopted zoning in 1960 and at that time they mass zoned 15,000 acres as non-agricultural use land, the majority of that for residential use. He said the non-agricultural growth area zoning was in Iowa City around the Iowa River up to the Lake Mac Bride area. Moore said the 1998 Land Use Plan added villages. He said the whole North Corridor and the villages were unphased in 1998. He said around 2000 and 2001 when Neuzil and Harney were elected to the Board phasing was established. Neuzil said the farmstead split had already identified the North Corridor as established.
Moore said the planning staff came up with the phasing concept. He said a big percentage of the current Phase 1 established in the Corridor was historically developed and zoned for non-agricultural uses. He said Phase 2 had spot zoning that was primarily being used for agricultural purposes. Moore said they do not want to increase the cost for services by doing leap frog development and spot zoning. He said should concentrate on a single area. The concepts prior to 1998 that were also included in the 1998 Land Use Plan was to grow out from the cities as opposed to growing inward toward the cities. He stated the phasing concept was based on a New York Supreme Court case idea called concurrency. He said concurrency means that Planning and Zoning does not have to allow development prior to the development of infrastructure in an unidentified growth area. Moore said Planning and Zoning identified the area and the Board adopted the concept of phasing. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said originally there were three phases. He said Phase 1, the immediate growth area, was considerably smaller but the Board at that time chose to expand it. Moore said the original Phase 2 would have run south along Highway 1 towards Newport Road and the Prairie Du Chien area. He said the current Phase 2 north of Solon area was Phase 3.
R. Sullivan asked for clarification. Moore said the first proposal was three phases and Phase 1 than was smaller than the current Phase 1 because Phase 2 south of Newport Road was coming down on top of Iowa City. Stutsman said the northern part of Phase 2 was Phase 3. Moore said that area is even more agricultural than the Phase 2 area below Newport Road. R. Sullivan said he never understood why Phase 1 does not go closer to Swisher because it does not seem to follow 965 to 120th Street. He said that area seems like prime development area. Dvorak said that is because Swisher wanted control of that area and phasing was done by a fringe agreement rather than the Land Use Plan. R. Sullivan said he knows they have fringe area agreements. Moore said it was a growth area for Swisher along 965. Stutsman asked if it was mostly commercial. Dvorak said both sides of 965 are commercial. He said they have an agreement with Cedar Rapids and the majority is commercial. R. Sullivan said it seems arbitrary if the area is not in Phase 1 because that area is a place the County expects development. Moore said the fringe area agreement with Swisher took care of the phasing. Dvorak said Swisher would prefer annexing than having County interference. Moore said committees and citizens wanted the plan to respect the original borders that had been identified in the 1980s with the first North Corridor plan. Neuzil said that was part of Highway 1 and Highway 965 being unidentified. Moore said originally Swisher had a spear of inflow that could go either direction.
R. Sullivan asked if there is a gap between Highway 965. Neuzil said it stays on the right side of Highway 965. Moore said it follows right along Highway 965 and a commercial corridor from 120th Street to 140th Street that is between the County and Swisher per a fringe area agreement. He said north of 120th Street is under agreement with Swisher and Cedar Rapids. R. Sullivan said if he had property in that area and property on Seven Sisters Road he wanted to build on it does not make sense to him, because one is in a growth area and the other is not. Dvorak said the County zoned most of that area. County Engineer Greg Parker asked if Swisher annexed up to the County line. Dvorak said no.
Harney asked if the boundary line was in the fringe area agreement between the City of Shueyville and Swisher. Dvorak said Interstate 380 is the boundary line for their agreement. Dvorak said Swisher was going to annex to the county line but could not provide the services in time so they stopped at the corner section. Moore said that Phase 1 goes comes to Sugar Bottom and up along Newport Road. He said if the County improves the road, they decided not to cut off development in Phase 2 because there was a quarter mile and there is a 1,000 foot requirement for cul-de-sacs. Stutsman said she wants to see if the County has been consistent with residential zoning in Phase 1, 2, and 3. Moore said Planning and Zoning can track zoning from 1998 where the Board has been zoning in the Corridor and the County has not entered Phase 2 areas at all. He said the only time there has been zoning in Phase 2 was to clean up lots sizes not matching their zoning package.
Neuzil said the only property he thought of where the County was swayed is Mottinger’s on Highway 1. Meyers said most of that area is still undeveloped with only two houses there. Dvorak said the developer said there was so much demand for lots, so although the County was not happy they approved the zoning. Neuzil said one application wanted to put low income housing in. Moore said he told staff to inform him Planning and Zoning would remove it from deferred status because the fringe area agreement is complete.
Stutsman clarified there have been two rezonings in Phase 2. Moore said the County has not had many requests, but they approved Mottinger’s and they did not approve Dennis Burns’ application the first time. Harney said the Board approved zoning at Newport Road. Moore said that development was in Phase 1. Neuzil said it was also within two years of the 5 Year Road Plan so it passed the ordinance. Moore asked if Harney was referring to Westcott Heights. Harney said he was referring to the land on Highway 1 and Newport Road. Moore said the person inherited the land, which is contiguous to his own. Meyers said the individual has no intention of developing it. R. Sullivan said he remembers a farmstead split in Big Grove Township that alarmed him because it had no reason to be zoned residential. Stutsman asked if it was in Phase 3. R. Sullivan said it was in Phase 2. He said the areas are too big because if a certain percentage of a built-up area could trip the system, allowing someone to start building in areas the County does not want development for 50 to 60 years. Harney asked if it is zoned, how the Board would stop it. R. Sullivan said smaller phases would have forced them to wait.
Moore said Planning and Zoning has to allow development on zoned ground in any Phase if they can meet subdivision requirements. Meyer said except for the Road Performance Standards the Board just doubled. Dvorak said the one building request from Bill Leefer was on zoned land with nothing but agriculture on a gravel road. R. Sullivan said he is within the Solon fringe area. Moore said he is within the two miles, but was in the area specified as County per the agreement. R. Sullivan said the County can make people wait with phasing. Dvorak said the County cannot if a property is zoned. Meyers said the only way the County has been able to is through the Road Performance Stands. Neuzil said he does not like phasing.
Neuzil recommended development be allowed in land zoned residential that meets the Road Performance Standard Ordinance. Secondly, to infill within areas zoned residential. The third area is land identified within an unincorporated town or village, but needs to have defined boundaries. He said the fourth area is land contagious to or within a city’s defined growth area as long as the city agrees to that form of development. A fifth area is farmstead splits. A sixth area is land identified within an economic development zone. He said that should be the focus, removing the Phases because the areas are too large and the Board must infill the mistakes of the 1960s. Stutsman said what Neuzil suggested is what the Board has done and it enhances what Neuzil suggested. She said phasing is another management tool. The Board has not allowed development in Phase 2 because the developers, land owners, and the engineers know the Board will not allow it. She said it provides all parties information about what the County will allow. Stutsman said before the Board had requests for development throughout the Corridor before the phasing was put in place.
Neuzil said his main difference was with his fourth point, land contiguous to or within a city’s defined growth area, which the County does not currently require. Moore said the County does allow development within a cities growth area, but fringe area agreements are restrictive. Neuzil said Lower West Branch Road and Rapid Creek Road are examples of when Planning and Zoning did not support development. He said both examples were defined as within a city’s growth area with the city’s approval, but outside of Phase 1 or 2 so the County was against it. He said because it had the city’s approval it eventually passed. R. Sullivan said it did not meet the Road Performance Standards at the time. Neuzil said when the developer came to the Board it was outside the parameters. He said he does not want development to occur off of Highway 1 outside the cities growth area. If the County wants to do phasing, then the areas he identified should be the first phase. Stutsman asked what Planning and Zoning will tell individuals who ask to develop. Meyers said the land is zoned agricultural so they would have to request a change to residential zoning. Stutsman said previous Boards who considered development along Highway 1 approved it because it is on a hard surface road even though it is zoned agricultural. There was no tool to say no. Neuzil said these guidelines would be tool the County would use. Stutsman clarified that instead of phasing the County would have these specific points. Meyers said there is a famous quote from a former Board member that said they never saw a rezoning they did not like. Dvorak said Planning and Zoning has experienced that.
Meyers said the Board talks about how few rezonings they have done, but that is not considering the farmstead splits, which are all rezonings and residential. He said it is an end run around the Board’s development plan. Stutsman agreed, saying the situation is out of control. Meyers said he knows that will be discussed separately, but the Board is sticking its head in the sand if they do not consider it with this because the farmstead splits are scattering houses across the County, which works against what the Board is trying to accomplish. Harney disagreed because the zoning is concentrate development in a specific area that is already growing. He said there is some zoned other than agricultural, but commercial ground like by Morse Road and Highway 1 is also not shown. He said it makes sense to maintain and let the area grow because it is the best use for that area. Meyer said that area is zoned. Moore said Stutsman is correct that the policies the County has have been working well. He said Neuzil identified the six areas, which the County is already accomplishing well, but Neuzil wants to reduce Phase 1 to the zoned ground.
Neuzil said he thinks the phasing is too big and the County should focus on the five areas it has been, but also allowing development in a city’s growth area. He said expansion of growth and development should be next to cities as long as cities have agreed to it, but many will not. R. Sullivan said the cities would want to do the development rather than the County. Harney said the cities are not going to do all development until they are ready so the Board has to tell everyone no. Neuzil said the Board tells everyone no, except in cases like Rapid Creek Road where the city was supportive. Moore said the city did not support it, but once the County rezoned it, violating their fringe area agreement, it met the requirements so the city had to agree. Neuzil said the city sent a letter in agreement.
Moore said the size of current phasing is based on what Planning and Zoning learned over the years. He reminded the Board Planning and Zoning wanted them to identify an infill number. Then if someone in a non zoned area in Phase 1 asked to rezone, staff would see around it what was already zoned or platted and if it did not meet a threshold, it would not be rezoned. He said the Board did not like the idea. Dvorak said the idea was okay, but the Board did not like the number. Moore said they had a number of 30%, which was based on historic evidence showing a vacancy rate of 30% in subdivisions. That is why the area is so big. He said another explanation is people who own zoned ground are not ready to develop because they are still farming so Planning and Zoning wanted to allow them options.
Neuzil said Planning and Zoning gave the Board the approach to allow an expanded amount of development, but his approach would concentrate expansion near cities. Development would concentrate if the Board phases out the Phases or concentrates on the areas he identified. Moore said it is simple to redraw the phase lines around the 1960 zoned ground. Neuzil said the phasing was based on the plans to upgrade Newport Road and eventually Sugar Bottom, which was a catalyst for concentrating growth and development in that area. He said there is a lot of infill left to do before the County starts looking at additional infill areas. Moore said Planning and Zoning would rather see the County develop zoned ground before more is rezoned. He wants to avoid leapfrogging. Harney said Moore is saying where there is a piece of non-residential land sandwiched between residential zoned properties that Planning and Zoning would not infill it. Moore said he would. Neuzil said infill within land zoned residential has been done, particularly along Highway 965, and lately they have had several there. Moore said the Klouda application was an infill like Harney described located on Highway 965 by Amana Road.
Neuzil said it is hard to draw a line around these points, but it can be distributed as guidelines. He reiterated the area is just too large. Moore said Planning and Zoning can redraw the phase lines to show Phase 1 as only the 1960s zoned ground and Phase 2 would be everything outside the areas. Neuzil said Phase 1 ought to be these points because the County should encourage growth in areas contiguous to or in a cities' growth area. Harney and Moore said they thought the County already does that. Neuzil said the Oaks development was hitting roadblocks from staff outside the Road Performance Standards. Dvorak said Neuzil was using the broad sense of a growth area where in reality a growth area is an area that can be serviced while a fringe area is up to two miles. Neuzil said to him, a city’s growth area is not just within a corporate boundary, but within a city’s growth area, which is outside the boundary. Dvorak said Rapid Creek Road was in Iowa City’s fringe area. R. Sullivan said Iowa City’s growth area is to the west and south. Dvorak said the brown area is in the fringe area, but is not in the growth area because Iowa City could not service it. Stutsman said that is a huge difference. Neuzil reiterated only with the cities approval would development be allowed.
Dvorak said with the fringe area agreements the County has made with the cities in the last five or ten years, the cities have said no to growth there. Neuzil said it would not matter then, but if growth and development occurs, it should occur in the fringe that a city will eventually incorporate. Stutsman said she can support the growth area, but not the fringe area. That is leapfrogging because of how far it is from the city. Meyers said yes. R. Sullivan said he agreed with the growth area rather than fringe. Neuzil asked to see the growth areas for cities. Stutsman asked to see the fringe area. Moore said the area in between is a non growth area. Neuzil reiterated the fringe area would allow flexibility if the city agreed to a development. Dvorak said if three Supervisors agree it could be added to the Land Use Plan. Neuzil said it does not change what the County has been doing, other than to open the area to residents to apply if the city and County agrees. Meyers asked what happens if Iowa City says yes to a proposal because it is so far from their boundaries it will be the County’s problem. Neuzil said the County should work with Iowa City to see why the area is in their fringe. Dvorak said Moore and Assistant Planner Josh Busard just completed the fringe area agreements. Neuzil said Iowa City has an interest in that area. R. Sullivan said he likes the idea of allowing development within the growth area with city approval, but just the growth area.
Neuzil said he can live with that, but asked if the Board believes it is enough. It is a compromise because it gets rid of zoned agricultural land, but adds the growth area within the fringe identified with the city. Moore said the fringe area agreement with Iowa City is a good example of how cities feel about development. He said the cities realize the Board is still going to allow rural development to occur so have compromised with a two mile area identified as a growth area based on their ability to sewer and a 20 year need for land. He said in growth areas, a development prior to annexation has to be built to city standards. Moore said the development also needs private facilities until it is hooked into the city; anything outside the growth area within the two miles is outside the non growth area. He said cities do not like fringe development because it stresses their infrastructure so roads need to be upgraded to meet new traffic counts, but the city does not get the road use tax funds or property taxes. He said the cities allow it to occur if it is done a certain way. Meyers asked if the cities can enforce city standards in the fringe area. Moore said the fringe area agreement requires the County to enforce them. Dvorak said every community has a different emphasis. Neuzil said he would be amenable to less. He asked if the development near Solon was within Solon’s growth area. Neuzil said the Board denied Streb Investments recently on Rohret Road, which was not supported by Iowa City in their fringe area so the Board concurred. Moore said it was on the edge of the growth area. Either way, the Board has been following the strategy he outlined.
Stutsman said the Board is hung up on semantics. As long as the County has management tools to communicate to the public, she would agree regardless of what it is called. She noted from another meeting an attendee commented that the County does not have sprawl, which was refreshing to hear from someone on the outside. Neuzil agreed, considering the County’s situation prior to 1997. Harney said growth has been concentrated in certain areas. Stutsman said the County’s strategy has been working. Neuzil agreed, adding it is the tools given to buy in with staff and the current Board. Stutsman asked what the consequences would be of getting rid of Phase 2 and 3. Dvorak said if there is a strong Board, he does believe there would be many consequences. He said backing previous Board eras it would open up development again. People knew in advance what to expect because the Board and staff have been consistent. He stated the economy and Road Performance Standards have impacted development.
Dvorak said farmstead splits are unpopular with the County, but it has lessened the demand for development. He said in the 1990s, the County rezoned everything and the meeting would be full, but they have not had those hearings since 1998. Dvorak said the meetings would last until 1:00 a.m. because neighbors were upset. That is when the County started the phasing concept, fringe area concept, and the Road Performance Standards giving the Board tools to say no. He said Planning and Zoning had guidance to direct people to areas where development could be supported. The farmstead split was added later. Dvorak said he differs on farmstead split because thousands of acres would go undeveloped, but there is a management point that it may be getting out of hand. Stutsman said former Supervisor Jonathan Jordahl said there will be a house on every forty acres, but she did not think it would happen. Meyers said the Board hears those residents every spring about the roads.
Harney said he feels the current system is working because although the County encourages growth around the cities, the fringe areas are dictated by what cities want. Meyers said the Phases are too large because in Phase 1 the Board would look favorably upon rezoning, but there is agricultural zoned land within the lines. He does not approve. Harney disagreed because this area is where growth should occur. Neuzil said growth should occur as the Board has allowed, but by laying out standards. He said phasing works well when the County is willing to develop the roads and infrastructure to meet those needs. He said a majority of the Board does not want to invest in particular roads because they do not want development to occur there. Neuzil said if the Board is concentrating on infilling areas zoned residential or meeting the suggested standards, then the infrastructure should reflect that. For example, Prairie Du Chien Road is going to be weighed higher than Newport Road because there are residentially zoned areas. He said the Board needs to infill areas from the mistake in the 1960s before looking at new ground in Phase 1. Harney said the County has not upgraded any of the roads where growth is occurring or where people want it to. The Board regulates growth by not building that infrastructure. Neuzil said part of that is because there were ten years of State roads to fix, which will be corrected after five more years.
Myers said there has been a lot of construction within the city limits of North Liberty, Tiffin, Coralville, and Iowa City that the County gets tax dollars from, but the cities are paying for it. Harney said that is commercial development, which the cities require with the lot, but the State has given former County road monies to cities. Meyer said the cities still have associated costs, but the County does not. He said letting cities develop inside city limits with attached infrastructure means the County can collect tax dollars without any work. Harney said it is a reduced amount though because a larger proportion is going the city. Stutsman said the County has to fund the improvement of Dubuque Street because of what Coralville, Iowa City, and North Liberty have done. Meyers said the Stewart Road area is densely developed, but there are not other areas in the County trending towards that dense a development. He said there are a lot of large lot and clustered subdivisions with open spaces. Those areas would not be serviceable with mass transit. Stutsman said park and ride lots could make mass transit possible, but agrees door to door service would not work.
R. Sullivan said there is a large difference between city growth and fringe areas. However if the Board stays within the growth area, he would agree to reducing Phase 1 because there are areas within Phase 1 he does not want to see rezoned right away. He said he would like the rest to become Phase 2 and the current Phase 2 to be removed. He said the current map sends a bad message visually. If someone could meet the criteria, the Board would have to consider the proposal. R. Sullivan said he would prefer the existing Phase 1 become Phase 2, the existing Phase 2 be removed and Neuzil’s criteria as Phase 1. Dvorak said if three Supervisors agree. Stutsman said she would, because she never supported the large phases. Neuzil said that would be a compromise. Stutsman said she would like to see an updated map before making a decision. R. Sullivan said this is an opportunity to decide if this is where the boundaries should be. Stutsman said it would have to be put through a public hearing. Moore said a change would also go through the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Moore said the zoned ground currently in North Corridor along the river would become the North Corridor growth area plus additional areas Neuzil identified. He said it would include cities growth areas and villages. Meyer said he has an issue with Neuzil’s proposal specifically saying land contiguous to a defined growth area, because that definition is loose and also with farmstead splits. Neuzil said the Board has gotten rid of the fringe and he can live within a city’s growth area. He said the County is doing these things already, he just wants to tighten the protocol. He said when former Supervisor Carol Thompson asked how long it would take to infill Phase 1 the response of 75 years told him it was too big. Dvorak said Solon wanted the whole two miles as their growth area. Stutsman said that is why she needs to see the area the Board is talking about because there will be consequences. Neuzil asked if the County has any say in determining the growth area size. Dvorak said it depends on the municipality. R. Sullivan said Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty will say what they want whereas Solon, Shueyville and Swisher will turn to the County for advice. Stutsman said that is assuming city councils stay the same. R. Sullivan said he does not.
R. Sullivan said his concern with the growth area suggestion is with cities that do not have a fringe area agreement. Moore said the County does not have an agreement with Hills. Neuzil added Oxford. Meyers added Tiffin. Stutsman added Lone Tree. Dvorak said Planning and Zoning is currently working on an agreement with Hills, but Tiffin does not. Meyers said Tiffin has not been mentioned, but the County needs to watch it. Moore said the County is working on a metro fringe area agreement with them, but it may not work because of turf battles. He said the County needs an agreement with Oxford. Neuzil asked if cities need to have a growth area identified. Moore said they do not. Neuzil said he thought it was a requirement for the Annexation Board. Moore said State law says cities have the right to review and deny or approve subdivisions within two miles based on their subdivision ordinances, the cities must adopt and record an ordinance saying they will require that review. Neuzil said he thought it was similar to the County’s requirement under the Land Use Plan. Dvorak said in counties where there is no zoning the county has more authority. R. Sullivan said the only reason the County requires action is their own ordinances.
Stutsman said she would like to see what the plan will look like. Although the County wants growth to occur around the towns and villages there will be opposition from people like the hog farmers around Oasis. Those farmers were furious with the County for allowing a subdivision within the jurisdiction. She said even by concentrating development there, it imposes on the agricultural areas. R. Sullivan said he wants to focus on North Corridor issues and then address the issues Stutsman raised. Moore said Planning and Zoning can redraw a new Land Use Plan map reducing the corridor area to the zoned ground and the cities’ growth areas, and remove the phasing. Neuzil said Planning and Zoning does not need to remove the phasing, but make Phase 2 into the Phase 1 are to give direction to future Boards where to develop once an area has been infilled. Dvorak clarified that already residentially zone land would be Phase 1 and area outside that within the Corridor would be Phase 2.
Harney said if the County is going to reduce the area within the current phases the agricultural land owners who thought about developing in the future will make agricultural improvements like hog confinements on the land because they cannot develop it. R. Sullivan said it is within landowner’s rights to make those improvements in agricultural areas. He said he would rather see farmers in Phase 2 do what is needed to stay on the farm. Harney agreed. Moore said Planning and Zoning can redraw the borders. Dvorak said they provide statistics on development since 1998 as well. R. Sullivan asked Planning and Zoning to look at the exact locations of the boundaries. Moore clarified R. Sullivan would like true markers instead of having a line through 40 acres. Dvorak said that is why Planning and Zoning got rid of circles. Neuzil said it is the same with unincorporated villages.
Meyers asked if there will be any meetings on the joint fringe area agreement with Tiffin soon. Moore said they have not gotten back together yet. Meyers said it did not seem to be getting anywhere after the last meeting. Moore said North Liberty did not attend the meeting. He said Busard has been mapping watersheds and drainage to determine where annexation lines should be. Moore said he believes another meeting will be held in November but to encourage the parties to work out their annexation boundaries. R. Sullivan said the Board appreciates Moore's attempts to work out the issue, because he has seen how it can turn out if issues are not addressed.
R. Sullivan said there are other growth areas in addition to the North Corridor including the economic development areas laid out. He asked if the Board is satisfied with the current locations. Harney said the areas do not go far enough because no commercial areas have been designated. Neuzil said there are seven locations. Harney said there is not a commercial area per say where the County could direct interested developers. Stutsman said there is more commercial area than most people realize. Harney said the County had no where for the trash hauling service because the cheese factory did not want them. Stutsman said the Board wanted him to go into Streb’s location on the east end, but the hauler was not interested. Harney noted Highway 1 West is a mess with commercial locations. Moore said showed the Board the commercial economic development area, which included the villages. He added chip seal roads are a development issue that needs to be resolved. Moore said at Ely Road and Highway 382 the Board approved Craig Stark’s 2005 rezoning application for boats and campers, which turned out positively.
Harney said businesses do not want to be so far from the concentrated population they serve. R. Sullivan said the County wants most businesses to be in the cities. If a business such as ACT came to the County, he would ask them to consult the cities. Stutsman said the map does not show the four way stop east of Hills that is commercial. Moore said that area was not designated for development because Hills should annex it. R. Sullivan said there are highway commercial zonings that are not preferred in the growth area. Moore agreed, saying the areas he showed were adopted by the Board to consider development. R. Sullivan said there is industry supportive of the agricultural community that ought to be in the rural area like grain elevators and the Board needs to provide for that. Stutsman said a perfect example is on Highway 1, which started as a car dealership and is now a trailers facility in the middle of nowhere. R. Sullivan said that business should have gone to a city. Moore said Dvorak told the Board that. Stutsman said it was during the days when the Board never saw a zoning they did not like. R. Sullivan said in terms of what the County has to offer, it is appropriate. Dvorak said the commercial agricultural zoning does not require an economic area because it is supported by the rural ambience as stated in the ordinance. Moore said it can be case by case.
Neuzil said if the Board creates a more defined area for growth and development there will be opportunities for staff to say a proposal makes sense or there is a worthwhile tradeoff. He said he does not want it to become so restrictive there is no movement, but it can be up to staff. Harney said the County has to be consistent. R. Sullivan said he had an issue with Land Use Plan Committee wanting to take the word ‘goals’ out because he thought that was exactly the Board’s purpose. For example, an owner had a right to have two house lots on a poor road, but instead she traded those two lots for one lot on Sharon Center Road. The Plan does not lay that out, but it does fit within the Plan’s goals. R. Sullivan agreed with Neuzil that kind of thing does more good than harm. Moore said the Land Use Plan cannot account for every situation, which is why it is a guide and can be deviated from. Neuzil said there should be an economic development committee to assist Planning and Zoning with requests. If there are areas it makes sense to concentrate development in, they should be suggested. He said he grows frustrated when there is an identified growth area within an economic development area zoned a way the Board does not like, it would be nice to change the classification with landowners approval.
R. Sullivan suggested returning the discussion to the villages. Dvorak said Planning and Zoning has Frytown defined and are working on Sutliff. He said Moore asked the University of Iowa to help define Sutliff, but they declined. Meyers asked why. Dvorak said the small class size with an overload of projects was the reason. R. Sullivan said Sutliff residents are anxious particularly because of the damage. Stutsman asked if East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) should take on the project. Moore said he would prefer to. Harney asked if Kirkwood has a group that could help. Moore said between Planning and Zoning’s new intern, Busard and himself, the three should be able to meet with the residents. Neuzil said Planning and Zoning did not have to reinvest the wheel either. R. Sullivan said the Frytown Plan needs to be clearly defined because it is a potential minefield. He said the day will come when the County is challenged so he prefers to do the work sooner rather than later. Neuzil said it would help the County motivate because once the State roads are finished in five years it could help the Board look at where their investment should go. Harney said the money would be needed to repair existing roads. Moore said once Sutliff is finished, Planning and Zoning should define borders at Cosgrove, because there are issues in the area.
Dvorak said he sent letters to bordering cities to determine interest in fringe area agreements, but only Ely replied. Negotiations have begun. He said this is the second time he sent a letter to each city. Stutsman asked if the cities do not understand what the County is asking. Dvorak said he met with Riverside a couple of times, but they had no interest in a fringe area agreement. At that time Planning and Zoning was short on business so they considered contracting out building inspections. Neuzil said that spurred Riverside to think more professionally and are now hiring more individuals. Meyers asked if the surrounding counties have fringe area agreements. Moore said Linn County is similar to Johnson County. Stutsman said Washington County is just beginning to zone. R. Sullivan said Iowa County does not. Neuzil said it brings up another issue of communicating with other counties. Stutsman said the Board used to meet regularly with Supervisors from surrounding counties and suggested meeting again. Moore said smaller counties such as Iowa and Washington counties view any growth as positive for their tax base. Stutsman said the Board just wants to manage that growth when it impacts the County. Meyer said a good example rose through a driveway issue west of Swisher because there is a subdivision across the county line in the middle of nowhere. Harney said it is the only place developers can go to build. The Board is pushing them out of the County and will see a large financial impact.
Stutsman said south of Riverside there is a ton of development, literally in pastures. R. Sullivan said the Board and Planning and Zoning deserve a lot of credit because when it was implemented people said developers would go elsewhere. The census said Johnson County is growing much faster than any other county because of building in North Liberty and Coralville. That is where the County wants them to build. The tax base has increased while maintaining agricultural use. Harney said that growth is attributed to commercial and industrial growth in those communities. R. Sullivan said he is referring to 20,000 people that moved here. Harney said the people moving in are from opportunities developed commercially and industrially. Stutsman said there are individuals commuting in. R. Sullivan said there is nothing the Board needs to apologize for or feel they have done poorly because it is going well. Dvorak said as long as the County maintains some form of growth area, it will be positive.
Neuzil said he wanted to add there are a few 1960 zoning spots like on southern Dane Road. He said he is unsure of any other way to handle it. Stutsman said if the County tries to mandatory down zone, they will be in court but suggested incentives for owners to down zone. She said even then few owners will want to down zone because residential land is valuable. R. Sullivan said one possible advantage is land could be a forest reserve, then they are paying much more in taxes than if they chose to down zone. R. Sullivan clarified Planning and Zoning will bring back something that incorporates the specified areas and a reformed Phase 1 on a map.
Stutsman asked Parker for input on what these will do to roads and where he believes the County should invest road dollars. Neuzil said the Board has tried for years to bring Secondary Roads and Planning and Zoning closer together. He said currently the focus is fixing the state roads and then there will be road repair. There will be a time when the focus will be upgrading roads in areas where there has been growth or where the County wants growth. R. Sullivan said during the Road Performance Standards discussion, the most problematic is Sandy Beach Road, which will have to be addressed given it is an outlier to Board policy. Moore said as it is a dead end road and is a good area for infill, but when the map is redrawn it will be taken out of the equation. R. Sullivan said it would not meet the Road Performance Standards, but would qualify as infill. Moore said Planning and Zoning is not always on the same page as the Department of Public Health as their requirements do not align with Board goals. He said the first goal under residential says the County’s preferred style of development is clustered subdivisions that requires shared wells and waste water systems. Since Public Health Environmental Health Coordinator James Lacina took the role, it has been smoothed out some. He said Busard and he put together a new clustered subdivision district. Moore said in any of the identified growth areas if someone wants to rezone it would be to the clustered zoning district that requires shared waste and well water systems. R. Sullivan clarified Lacina tells developers the County wants those features, but State law does require it.
R. Sullivan said what a timeframe would be with Planning and Zoning to return with a revised map. Moore asked for a couple of weeks because of a large number of projects they are working on. Neuzil said it would be nice to adopt a policy at the beginning of the year. Stutsman said this issue needs to go through a public hearing. Moore said it is not probable, but they could finish it in a month or less. The Board set a meeting for November 14, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.
Adjourned at 10:36 a.m.
By Gina Kasowski, Recording Secretary