MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
MAY 6, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Land Use Plan North Corridor Growth Map
Chairperson Neuzil called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 2:02 p.m. Members present were: Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan. Member absent was Pat Harney.
Assistant Planner Josh Busard said the Board asked him to bring updated maps. He said the first is the North Corridor Development Area, which shows a reduced current Phase One without the Phase Two. It would now all be one phase for the North Corridor Development Area. The current map was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission in March of 2009. Language changes in the Land Use Plan are outlined. Assistant Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore said the changes aren’t language changes but are references where the Land Use Plan is speaks to the North Corridor. Stutsman asked if the proposed plan includes the request made by county resident Kevin Kidwell. Moore responded no. Neuzil said the North Corridor Development Area (NCDA) Plan addressed the area on Highway 965 the Board agreed to change. He clarified the current plan generally took out phase two. Planning and Zoning Administrator said correct. Neuzil asked if the Kidwell issue should be added or if the Board should address the area within a certain distance of the NCDA as a potential growth area to allow a zoning change.
Stutsman said the Board still has the right to approve something, even if it is outside of the area. Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said having a clear plan makes it easier for staff. For a rezoning application, Planning and Zoning could approve it based on the Board’s discussion. He said he would not like staff to go through that process, if the Board is going to turn around and vote it down. He said if everything is in a Phase One and other tools are used, such as LESA (Land Evaluation and Site Assessment), applicants will know there is at least a good chance. Neuzil said, if the Board approves the NCDA and uses the cul-de-sac rule, then staff would recommend approval. The cul-de-sac rule refers to being 1,000 feet from a hard surface. A hard surface means chip seal or better. He said, if that is the case, then the Mehaffey Bridge Road area on 180th Street would be resolved as a hard surface. Stutsman asked if all of Newport and Sugar Bottom would be included. Neuzil said only Newport, if the Board feels the southern portion should be included. Stutsman said the 1,000 feet rule is used on either side of a hard surface road. Neuzil said only if it is in the growth area. Busard asked if the Board would say the parcel can be developed as an eligible part of this, if the 1,000 foot rule is used. Busard asked if a person who owns a 250 acre farm would be allowed to develop all of that land. Neuzil said he is just thinking of 100 feet from a hard surface.
Stutsman questioned the distance of 1,000 feet. Busard responded it is almost a quarter of a mile. Meyers said if that plan is used, the County will end up with areas full of cul-de-sacs, and the interior areas will not be able to be reached. Neuzil said only if the Board allows for cul-de-sacs. Stutsman said she agrees with Meyers. Meyers said he is thinking of the area from Newport down to Interstate 80 and then between Highway 1 and Prairie du Chien Road. That area is four miles long north to south and a mile or two wide east to west. The 100 foot cul-de-sac rule does not account for what may happen in the future. Neuzil questioned why there would be development on one side of the road and not on the other side. A line has to be made somewhere. He asked if it should be made in the middle of the road or on the other side of the road. Stutsman said she would like to include more of Newport Road south. Sullivan said that part used to be part of Phase One. Neuzil said it is the only area that was taken out of Phase One. Moore said yes. Neuzil thinks many people were upset, because Phase One was taken out.
Meyers said he recalls that the people who made comments at the Planning and Zoning meetings had property in Phase Two. He can only recall one person in Phase One. Sullivan said he is more sympathetic to the people in the Phase One area, because they potentially lost something. The people in the Phase Two area did not. Meyers said there was never a promise made to the Phase Two people. Neuzil said he is trying to find a way to make the Kidwell situation fair. Stutsman said that is where the Board gets into trouble. It does not have to be fair for somebody and has long-term impacts, but it should be manageable and practical. Neuzil said his proposed rule would be instead of selecting individual tracts of land. Sullivan said his concern is that Kidwell’s suggestion makes sense, but it does not account for all of the other people. Neuzil said his concern is that it will get approved just because he came in and made a fuss. Stutsman agreed. Sullivan said if the Board thinks Kidwell's suggestion makes sense for that piece of property, there are two ways to do it. It could be included on the map or not include it and rezoning could be discussed. Neuzil said Kidwell's argument is interesting, because it is the only lot that is not included on Sugar Bottom Road.
Moore said he has talked to Kidwell numerous times. He told Kidwell he would look at where the property is located. The property is in Phase Two, which means there is less chance of approval. However, Kidwell's application, based on LESA, is more positive than negative, because the land is surrounded by residential use. Kidwell has developed contiguous property with the thought of making the connection and developing. He thinks Kidwell has a good chance, but there is a risk anytime development proposals are given to the Board, according to the Board’s plans and ordinances. Moore said the line could be moved a quarter of a mile so a 1,000 foot cul-de-sac would fit, but construction could not go beyond that line.
Harney arrived at: 2:23 p.m.
The Board discussed a recent rezoning that was approved because it was in Phase One and fell within the 1000 distance required under the Road Performance Standards. Sullivan said he does not want to make promises. If Kidwell falls outside and wants to rezone, he can come in and ask to rezone. Neuzil said it seems like Planning and Zoning was proud to have only one exception. He asked if Planning and Zoning wants more exceptions or if they want to take care of it with the plan now. Dvorak said Planning and Zoning employees view Land Use Plans stronger than Board members in regard to digression. However, the Board gave a reason for digressing in this case. It is not indiscriminant, and it is fairly consistent. He is more comfortable making special exceptions based on a logical reason. Neuzil said if Moore thinks there will be a lot of people requesting exceptions because the line stops at the road, he would like to change it now. Moore said it would be more difficult to go on the north or south side of Newport. Neuzil said he means adding the south part back in. He asked what people on the north side of Newport Road would be told if they did that. Moore said he would tell people they are out of the growth area, but they are also contiguous to the growth area. There could be positives, depending on the development they are proposing. Neuzil said he wants to make sure people would not get an absolute ‘no’ due to being outside of the growth area. Moore said correct.
Neuzil said an area on Highway 965 was filled in. If the Board wants to fill in an area off of Sugar Bottom, which would encompass Kidwell’s property, they should. Meyers said the Board keeps zeroing in on Newport and Sugar Bottom. He said situations in other areas will arise from only focusing on those areas. Neuzil said to solve the rest of the areas, the Board should put a restriction on feet. Stutsman said she is very comfortable with what has been done in the other areas. Sullivan said his concern is there will be cul-de-sacs lined all the way around the neighborhood. Neuzil said that has happened already. He asked if there is any written policy or design to avoid cul-de-sacs. Stutsman asked what property owner Tom Bender did with Westcott Heights. Moore said there had to be a separate connection to hook the two subdivisions together. There is not an ordinance for that, but adopted land use policies encourage rural developers to make roads that connect in subdivisions.
Moore said if a property was subdivided, the road would have to connect to the adjoining property. The subdivider’s agreement will have to state that the road in the new subdivision will be allowed to connect to the road and be used as a network. Neuzil said he is fine with that. Moore said a new ordinance is not even needed to do that, but it needs to be added to the subdivider’s agreement. Neuzil asked whether or not it would be advantageous to have a rule involving a distance from the line. Moore said if the rule is made, people just outside of the line will ask to be included. He suggested the Board decide what they want and if someone is contiguous to the NCDA and a hard surface road, they can gain points by protecting environmental features of the land, giving a clustered subdivision, and minimizing the wells and wastewater system. Neuzil asked if something could be added to the language about favorability of contiguous lands. He asked if Moore would want that. Moore said he would rather not have that language in there.
Neuzil said property owner Leo Shima is another example off of Highway 382. Moore said that is contiguous on the other side of the road, which the County invested in. Sullivan said he saw a difference between Shima and Kidwell, because Kidwell built something in preparation to develop. He thinks Shima is saying he may want to develop in the future. Neuzil asked if Kidwell would be added. Stutsman said no. Neuzil asked if it is more advantageous to say he would need to comply with some requirements. Moore said when Kidwell did the prior subdivision, Moore begged Kidwell to do a clustered subdivision. Kidwell would not do a clustered subdivision, because he argued he has made a fortune doing five acre lots. Kidwell is now seeing the advantage of clustered subdivisions, and he wants to redo the current subdivision and add the new one in the same way. Moore would prefer Kidwell be left out. He believes Kidwell will follow the Board’s adopted policies, and he told him his staff report will be favorable if he does so.
Moore said he would rather leave it out, because it is an incentive for people close to the area to cluster, reduce wells and wastewater systems, and to enact land protection measures. Moore said the Board can say no if they do not like Kidwell's proposition. Stutsman said if Kidwell is included, the Board loses bargaining power. Moore agreed. Harney asked about the area along Highway 382 and 180th Street. Moore said they could apply for rezoning, but their argument for those areas is not as strong as Kidwell's, because the properties don’t have much contiguous residential property. R. Sullivan said those areas would have agriculture on three sides while Kidwell has residential areas on three sides. Harney said there is a lot of development on Highway 382. Moore said yes, on the south side, until the defined growth area. Dvorak said there is nothing developed to the east of Ely Road.
Harney said Shima and Kidwell wanted to be zoned differently. Moore said the area on Highway 965 was added as the Board asked. Stutsman asked if the area south of Newport Road and west of Highway 1 would be in the growth area. Meyers said he has not changed his mind about the area between Highway 1, Prairie du Chien, Newport Road, and Interstate 80. He was in favor of pulling that area out from the beginning. The Board has not discussed what will happen in that area. He said Oakdale Boulevard on the lower edge near Iowa City is completely tied up, and they will jump 4 miles into the country and put in cul-de-sacs. They cannot fix a mistake in land use planning. Harney said he thinks Oakdale Boulevard is planned for in a general course, but if the area will be developed, the Board will make sure to know exactly where the road will be. Meyers said that is the problem. It is penciled in, and no one knows what they can and cannot do in that area. He said there have been people asking about the road since before he was a County Supervisor. There is a corridor but no exact boundaries.
Moore said when Jeff Davidson was Executive Director of Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG), he told Planning and Zoning that if a proposal was received for that area, he would identify it on the development plans to protect it. Harney said that may have been before Meyers was on the Board. Stutsman said that road corridor is preserved, but nobody has made a proposal to develop that land. Sullivan said in the area Meyers is describing, the Board could make a stipulation that builders have to contribute to the future extension of Oakdale Boulevard. Moore said developers should dedicate the right of way, if nothing else. Sullivan said he means putting money in escrow for the County to build the road someday. Moore said developers can even build the road and use it to access their property. Stutsman asked what that is called. Moore replied impact fees. Sullivan said it would be nice not to be in the same situation in ten years. Moore reviewed the location of proposed extension of Oakdale Boulevard across Dubuque Street.
Stutsman said there probably will be a proposal soon in this area. Stutsman said she thought that was great planning, because the County does not have to worry about a house in the middle of the roadway. The County has never done anything with impact fees and maybe now is the time. Dvorak said they investigated impact fees extensively five or ten years ago. Moore said they can be good with a big bureaucracy. They are difficult to administer, however. Sullivan said lot purchasers wouldn’t notice the difference in the lot price of the added impact fee. Dvorak said the biggest conflict with impact fees is that the money has to be spent. It cannot be saved for twenty years. Moore said the County has to associate the use of the property with the impact. Harney said it could be done in sections. Sullivan and Stutsman agreed. Moore said he mentioned earlier that as a property is developed, they can tell the developer to add a section of road.
Stutsman said impact fees will also deter developers who do not know what they are doing. Moore said it is tough to develop incrementally, because it is such a big project. He said larger developments can pull resources, and it creates a better development. He is comfortable with doing zoning applications and feels he can give citizens good advice on the Board’s decision-making, based on historical decisions. The Board generally accepts and approves good planning efforts. However, Meyers has raised issues the Planning and Zoning staff have also questioned. That is why the cul-de-sac issue is in the Land use Plan. It is tough for emergency service people to provide service in the rural area due to the terrain and numerous cul-de-sacs. An ordinance is not necessarily needed if good planning is used. He said for Oakdale Boulevard, cul-de-sacs can be used until the next property develops and then connections can be made.
Stutsman said Moore can give communication to the developer. She said Westcott Heights is an example, because the second area was easy to connect. Moore asked if the Board has seen the letter from Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey about the Wonick application on Buchmayer Bend Road. Stutsman said no. Moore said the letter has four conditions dealing with road improvements. He does not think Iowa City would approve anything that would conflict with extending Oakdale Boulevard. Sullivan said Iowa City is never going to pay for it. It will be paid for, and then Iowa City will annex it. That is why the Board should be thinking about developers paying as they develop. Meyers said he does not want this issue to become a standoff between the County and Iowa City. It seems like the perfect project for JCCOG or a joint venture. Moore said Iowa City wants developers to do it. Sullivan said his goal would be for neither entity to do the road extension and for developers to pay for it instead.
Meyers said, even without the bridge across the Iowa River, extending Oakdale Boulevard from the river to Highway 1 would be a pretty expensive road. He said the other thing to consider is the density and fees for each developer. The Board should map out exactly where the road is going, because there are wetland issues that are not going to get any easier to deal with. Harney said part of the hang up was indecision regarding where to bring the loop down to Highway 1. Stutsman thinks development will determine where the alignment will be. She thinks that is why it was left so broad. Harney agreed, but thinks the Board needs to decide fairly soon, because people are buying property near it. The Board should know where it is going.
Sullivan said there should be a study to determine where the bridge should cross the river. Stutsman said developers should not do a bridge across the river. A bridge should be a Federal and State project. Sullivan said the Board should know where it will go across. Meyers said a bridge is being built across the river on the south edge of Iowa City, and he was surprised that money was available. Harney said Federal money has been applied for that bridge for several years. Stutsman said the Board should start putting that into place, but there has not been a need for it. Nobody has wanted to develop that area. Meyers said a bridge across the river would not have to go in as a first step, but they do need to know where it is going to be located.
Moore said there are a number of ways Oakdale Boulevard could be built. Normally when a subdivision is built, all the roads are put in to the city’s standards. The road is then dedicated to the city. There are times when the area developed is not a residential road, but a much larger standard and right-of-way. The developer can be required to pay for the residential portion of it, and the governmental entity picks up the difference in cost. That is something that could be worked out with JCCOG, Johnson County, and Iowa City, if development occurs. Each would pay a percentage of the road, and JCCOG would pay the difference in the size of the road. Sullivan said twice as much right of way can be dedicated.
Neuzil asked if there are additional arterial roads, particularly off of Buchmayer Bend Road ,that should be thought about. There have been preliminary designs when talking about the Newport Road Projects. It seems like that would be the opportune time to put in an arterial-type of road. Otherwise, developers may put houses right where there is potential for the road to be expanded. Harney said the Board should plan for the primary connection. Stutsman said the corridors can be preserved just like Oakdale. Secondary Roads can give the Board an idea of where they think an arterial system should go. Although it is controversial, it is always easier to put a road in before the houses are built than after. Meyers said it is at least important to know specifically where the road will go. Harney said, if they know where the road is going, they can control access.
Neuzil said he would feel more comfortable returning the area south of Newport Road and west of Highway 1 to Phase One, knowing that some of these things are going to be done. Moore said this gives the emphasis to do it. Sullivan said he does not think rural taxpayers, in general, should pay for the road. It is important that developers pay for it. Stutsman and Moore said right. Moore said they will simply preserve the corridor. Sullivan said the Board will have to be strict that developers with land within about a quarter mile are expected to contribute to it. Otherwise, the tendency will be to develop down the road and avoid contributing. Then Oakdale will need to be done at the County's expense, and taxpayers will be upset. Meyers said they could bypass Newport Road with an arterial road. Harney said there had been discussion of a road from Buchmayer Bend west.
Neuzil reviewed that it has been proposed to use the NCDA map and to add the area south of Newport and west of Highway 1. The Board would not add anything beyond those lines, but there is a general understanding that contiguous land would have a more favorable chance of approval than land further away. Stutsman said the Board should start working toward the development of some kind of impact fee or subdivision ordinances. They should then start working on an arterial street plan. Dvorak said there was a study done on impact fees by the University of Iowa. It was five to ten years ago. Moore said it was closer to ten years ago. Harney said he does not want to close the door on 180th Street and Highway 382, which are approved roads with a lot of residential area. Neuzil said he would also like to see some language. He asked if there is enough interest to send this to the Planning and Zoning Department. Sullivan asked Neuzil for clarification. Neuzil said Phase One will be returned to where it was originally, and the NCDA will now be used.
Sullivan asked to add the infill numbers. He said Assistant Planner Josh Busard did that work, and it was dropped at some point. The Board will have the map, but they should also have numbers. Someone might say they need to rezone, because they think there are no lots for sale. Moore said the Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) system is a great tool, because it looks at the ground and determines the ability to be developed and support wastewater systems. It also looks at what is around the proposed parcel and at how much of that land is contiguous, agricultural, residential, and other non-agricultural use. A work session could be held in the future to look at a couple of examples. Meyers asked if infill is a factor in that. Moore said yes. Sullivan said LESA may not account for lots in a different area. Moore said Sullivan is right. He said LESA does not look at the whole area, only the specific area in question.
Dvorak said when the Land Use Plan was adopted the vacancy rate was 33%, and it is currently 25%. He cannot envision how to break that down for the whole North Corridor, but suggested Busard may be able to come up with a tool to analyze it. Sullivan said he wants to make sure people are not forcing development, because there is pressure in a tiny area. Neuzil said this is a five year review that will take place. If the arterial roads are mapped out better in five years, it will be clear how much land is available to grow in this area. They are currently deciding where growth and development should occur during the next five years. Moore said the Board has currently adopted a growth map and a Land Use Plan Policy. The next step is working on the adopted policies, such as protecting corridors for roads.
Neuzil said language for item three needs to be revised. The words North Corridor need to be removed and replaced with the NCDA. Planning and Zoning Commission needs to review that during the public hearing process. Harney asked for clarification. Moore said Phase One will be put in south of Newport Road, west of Highway 1. He said the current map will be left as it is. Harney said he misunderstood. He thought if land is not zoned as residential now, it won't be zoned as residential. Moore said no. It will become the immediate non-agricultural growth area like Phase One was, and rezoning will be considered. Moore said a LESA report will be given, regardless of where it is. Sullivan thinks it can be done better in some cases. Moore said the Board has adopted policies that talk about clustered subdivisions. Sullivan said he thinks there are things that restrict property use, even in Phase One. Moore agreed.
Sullivan thinks some people in Phase One feel like they are safe from restrictions and can do whatever they want. Moore said in the past, once people got the zoning in place and the applicant made changes but met the subdivision ordinance, they had to be approved. Sullivan said hat is why he thinks more conditional zonings should be done. Moore said the Board will be asked to do more conditional zonings. Neuzil said to give the proposal to the Planning and Zoning Commission and bring it back to the Board. Dvorak said the plan should be back to the Board in July.
Adjourned at 3:09 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By:
On the _______ day of _____________________, 2009
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on September 1, 2009.