Iowa City Today

City of North Liberty  issued the following announcement on August 6.

Included in each City Council information packet is a memo from the City Administrator offering a summary and context of items appearing on the agenda. We will begin publishing these memos here in our news feed to make them more accessible. You can sign up to be notified of news items, agendas and more by email.

This meeting will be held in person and may be accessed live by the public in person or on the internet 

This meeting may be accessed live by the public in person or on the internet at at northlibertyiowa.org/live, on Facebook at facebook.com/northliberty or on YouTube at youtube.com/ northliberty. Meetings are rebroadcast on cable and available on-demand on northlibertyiowa.org/meetings.

Meeting Note

Tuesday’s meeting will be held in person as well as live streamed at Watch Meetings Live. As of this week, the CDC and Johnson County Public Health are recommending masks be worn in public indoor settings regardless if COVID-19 vaccination status.

Consent Agenda

The following items are on the consent agenda and included in the packet:

• City Council Minutes (07/24/21)
• Claims
• Liquor Licenses Renewals
  • Sushiya
  • Liberty View Wine & Spirits

CDBG Housing Rehabilitation Application

Staff has been working with Tracey Achenbach at ECICOG on a CBDG Housing Rehabilitation Application. Prior to submitting an official funding application, staff solicited potential applicants from the community. The City’s CDBG application is in the amount of $207k which consists of funding for five housing rehabilitation projects and costs for program administration. The agenda includes a public hearing, a resolution awarding the technical services contract to ECICOG, assuming North Liberty is awarded a grant, and a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute documents related to the CDBG Housing project. Ms. Achenbach will be at Tuesday’s meeting to address the Council and take questions. Staff recommends approval of the resolutions.

Board of Adjustment Appointment

The Mayor is recommending appointment of Beau Brown and Laura Hefley to the Board of Adjustment.

Solum Lang Architects, LLC Site Plan

This commercial site plan, located on Jordan Street, directly east of Top Shape Gym (formerly Core Fitness), proposes a 4,080 square foot dental office and related infrastructure. The building elevation shows a substantial amount of window glazing, along with gray masonry and board and batten siding. Additionally, the site contains a dedicated pedestrian walkway to Jordan Street and outdoor seating area. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the site plan at its August 3, 2021 meeting. Staff also recommends approval the site plan.

Urban Renewal Plan Amendment

An Urban Renewal Plan Amendment is needed to include St. Andrews Drive into the Urban Renewal Area, which will allow a portion of the project to be funded with TIF dollars. This amendment also adds several other projects into the plan, including potential Penn Meadows Park projects, Ranshaw Way, Phase 5 and Dubuque Street, Phase 1. The agenda includes a public hearing and a resolution approving the Urban Renewal Plan Amendment. Staff recommends approval of resolution.

5 E. Cherry Street

The City solicited offers from the public to purchase the old police station at 5 E. Cherry Street, and considered the offers received in closed session on July 13th. The City Council agreed to move forward with the offer from Paul Park in the amount of $305,000.00, which was also the highest offer received. Staff recommend approval of the resolution authorizing the sale of the property, following a public hearing.

Lot C, Beaver Kreek Third Addition

This parcel is the site of the abandoned municipal well #2, located at the western point of the eastern intersection of Juniper Street and Juniper Court. The well has been plugged and properly abandoned. The property no longer serves a useful public purpose, and costs thousands of dollars per year for the City to maintain. The City has received an offer of a nominal sum ($50) for the purchase of the property. Since there is an extremely limited number of possible purchasers, and because the costs of maintaining the site last year exceed the difference between the offered price and the appraised value, staff recommend approval of the resolution authorizing the sale of the property, following a public hearing.

City Hall Project

The agenda includes an addendum to the City Hall design services agreement with Shive Hattery to include the extra design work for the pedestrian plaza as well as commissioning of the project. These services, which total $125k, were not contemplated in the original project scope. Staff recommends approval of the additional services and related agreement.

The Preserve Part Two A

Part Two A of The Preserve consists of 14 duplex lots near the center of the subdivision. Staff recommends approval of the developer’s agreement, outlining the developer’s and city’s respective responsibilities for this piece of the subdivision.

Hate Crime Ordinance

The packet includes new information from City Attorney Lientz, a memo offering analysis of historical police department call data as well as a further review of the scope of the sample ordinance. Also including is a draft statement crafted by the Mayor that could be considered for a preamble of an ordinance, if that is the direction of the Council. Staff is seeking guidance from Council on whether to bring forward a Hate Crime Ordinance.

Recordation Ordinance, 1st Reading

This minor ordinance amendment clarifies the duties of the developer to record certain documents along with a final subdivision plat. Minimum Low Opening (MLO) tables were previously included on a plat, and a previous ordinance amendment requires that the table be provided in a separate document. This amendment does not represent a substantial change from current practices, but instead merely serves to codify current practices since the MLO tables were moved to a separate form. Staff recommends approval.

JT Properties LLC Rezoning Ordinance, 2nd Reading

This is a City initiated request for a zoning map amendment from I-1 to C-2-A to allow 1.72 acres – southwest corner of Ranshaw Way and 240th St, formerly Suburban Landscape – to achieve consistency with the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map designation, which is Commercial.

The Zoning Ordinance authorizes the City Council to consider a zoning map amendment on its own or on petition. Comprehensive Plans in Iowa are advisory; however, staff is initiating this request for the following reasons:

1. Staff agrees with the Commercial Future Land Use Map designation and believes the Commercial designation will not change with the upcoming Comprehensive Plan rewrite.
2. The property is along a prominent location on the Ranshaw Way corridor.
3. Without a zoning map amendment, the City Council would be compelled to approve a development proposal consistent with I-1 standards.

Staff spoke with the property owner prior to initiating the request. The property owner indicated that the I-1 zoning was more desirable but shared that the sale of the property is not actively being pursued. Notices of the Planning Commission and City Council meetings were sent to the property owner via certified and regular mail. No formal objection has been received. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the request at its July 6, 2021 meeting. Staff recommends approval as well.

Original source can be found here.