MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

OCTOBER 6, 1997

SITE REVIEWS FOR THE OCTOBER 9, 1997 PLATTING, ZONING, AND CONDITIONAL USE PUBLIC HEARING

Chairperson Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:13 a.m. Members present were Joseph Bolkcom, Jonathan Jordahl, and Sally Stutsman; absent were Charles Duffy and Stephen Lacina. Staff present were Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore and Recording Secretary John Deeth.

The Board and staff proceeded by van to the following sites:

Application CU9706 of Tom H. Williams, owner, signed by William L. Meardon, representing S & G Materials of Iowa City, requesting a Conditional Use Permit to operate a sand and gravel excavation as allowed in Chapter 8:1.34 (H2) of the Johnson County Zoning Ordinance on property located in the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 and Government 2 and the West 1/2 of the South 19.10 acres of Government Lot 1, all in Section 34; Township 79 North; Range 6 West of the 5TH P.M. of Johnson County, Iowa. This property is located south of the Izaak Walton Road SE and east of Oak Crest Hill Road SE in West Lucas Twp.).

Site neighbors Rebecca Boyd, Dwight and Vicky Tardy, Murvin Hull, Marietta Gill, Loren Southwick, Kevin Snyder, and Janet Hesseltine met with the Supervisors at the site and expressed opposition to the proposed sand mine. Also present was Iowa City City Council member Karen Kubby.

Bolkcom noted there were safety concerns at the site of the mailboxes at the end of the public right-of-way. This was the school bus stop, and would also be the site where trucks would be turning. He said moving the mailboxes has been discussed.

Hull referred to the minutes of the informal Board of Supervisors meeting of July 28, 1987 and said the old mining site was to have been cleaned, leveled and mowed, but this had not been done. He said proponents of the mine had stated that there had had not been blowouts in the area, but that this was not true as there had been blowouts in the 1993 flood. Bolkcom said proponents have stated they will do some cleanup at the old site. Jordahl said agreements about the previous site had been reached on Friday, October 3, and thus did not appear in the applicant's printed materials.

Hull said the neighbors all expect the mine to move further to the south. Kubby said if that were the case, the applicant would need another Conditional Use Permit. Hull said the applications should have been automatically denied as soon as it was stated that the mine would not be on the Williams property.

Stutsman asked how the mine developers could be held to their agreements. Moore said they could be required to post a bond. Kubby said Iowa City would vote on a recommendation on Tuesday, October 7. Bolkcom noted that if 60 percent of landowners within 500 feet of the project are opposed, the permit would require the votes of four of the five Supervisors.

Hull said the site should be 1000 feet away from residences. Jordahl said Bob Barker has contended that the houses had never been zoned A2; Hull said they had. Jordahl said this point needs to be clarified. Moore said the proposed site was zoned A3 and A1, and mining would be permitted under a Conditional Use Permit. He said he thinks the Board is obligated to grant the permit if the proponents meet the conditions. Bolkcom noted that the proponents are volunteering to meet additional conditions, but nothing should be done unless the agreement is in writing. Stutsman said the permit could be reviewed annually. Bolkcom said a sunset provision could be added; if the operators did not live up to the agreement, the permit could thus be terminated. Jordahl asked what level of bond could be set to reasonably cover clean-up costs.

Gill asked whether the developer or the County would be responsible if the operation and associated traffic harmed someone. Moore said the applicant had not really shown that there was a strong need for the product or that the operation would significantly benefit the county. Bolkcom said many of the details were still up in the air.

Gill said the residences were taxed as residential property and thus should be granted the same protection as residential property. Jordahl said the Board often discussed conflicting land use, and in this case it appeared conflicting road use is an issue. He said that, even though the residences in this case are non-conforming homes that pre-date county zoning, the clear intent of the zoning ordinance is to keep mining operations away from residences.

Application Z9737 of Betty Grabin, Oxford, owner, signed by Lane Lacina, Oxford, requesting rezoning of 1.99 acres from A1 Rural to RS Suburban Residential of certain property described as being in the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 9; Township 80 North; Range 8 West of the 5th P.M. in Johnson County, Iowa. (This property is located in the north side of 255th Street NW, approximately 1/2 mile eat of its intersection with Cemetery Road NW in Oxford Twp.).

Moore said neighboring farmers had argued that the site of Application Z9732 was an inappropriate area for housing, and the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended denial of that site. For the sake of consistency, Application Z9737 was also denied. The commission had asked Lane Lacina if he planned on helping with the farming operation, and he had said he would not.

Bolkcom said there was a long history of letting farm families subdivide lots for family members, and asked how suitable the site was for agriculture. Moore said the lot was probably not prime cropland, and was mostly used as pasture.

Application Z9732 of Cy-Hawk, C/O Ben Meisner, requesting rezoning of 3.98 acres (2 lots), from A1 Rural to RS Suburban Residential of certain property described as being in the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 9; Township 80 North; Range 8 West of the 5th P.M. in Johnson County, Iowa. (This property is located on the west side of Cemetery Road NW, approximately 1.5 miles north of Oxford, Iowa in Oxford Twp.).

Jordahl noted erodible ground on the site.

Application Z9741 of Mary Dlouhy, Swisher, owner, signed by Wesley Dlouhy, Swisher, requesting rezoning of 10 acres from A1 Rural to RS10 Suburban Residential of certain property described as being in the NE 1/4 of Section 14; township 81 North; Range 8 West of the 5th P.M. in Johnson County, Iowa. (This property is located on the west side of Falcon Avenue NW, approximately 1/4 of a mile south of its intersection with "L" Road NW in Monroe Twp.).

Moore said the proposed lot was located in the middle of a soybean field and that the CSR was good, and that this contributed to the recommendation for denial.

Application Z9740 of Wesley Dlouhy, Swisher, requesting rezoning of 5.0 acres from A1 Rural to RS5 Suburban Residential of certain property described as being in the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 13; Township 81 North; Range 8 West of the 5th P.M. in Johnson County, Iowa. (This property is located on the east side of Falcon Avenue NW, approximately 1/4 of a mile south of its intersection with "L" Road NW in Monroe Twp.).

Moore said the site was very similar to Application Z9741, located directly across Falcon Avenue, and that the same objections had been raised.

Recessed at 11:33 a.m.; reconvened at 11:41 a.m.

Application Z9718 of Richard Barta, Solon, Iowa, requesting rezoning of 1.14 acres from CP2 Planned Commercial to RS Suburban Residential of certain property described as being in the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 15; Township 81 North; Range 6 West of the 5th P.M. in Johnson County Iowa. (This property is located in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Polk Avenue NE and Iowa Highway 382 NE in Big Grove Twp.).

Moore noted that access to the lot from Highway 382 did not look possible, and that Polk Avenue was a Level B road. Jordahl said the lot appeared to be low and swampy.

Adjourned at 12:39 p.m.

By John Deeth, Recording Secretary

Sent to the Board of Supervisors on October 15, 1997 at 11:30 a.m.