I.C. council holds off on proposed zoning changes

IOWA CITY – Developers interested in student housing projects in Iowa City got some relief Tuesday night, but it likely will be short lived.

The City Council delayed setting public hearings on two proposals aimed at addressing concerns over large apartments in neighborhoods near downtown and the University of Iowa campus.

One would prevent construction of multifamily dwellings with more than three bedrooms per unit and limit the number of three-bedroom units allowed. The other would increase the number of parking spaces required for three-bedroom apartments in neighborhoods near campus.

By not setting the public hearings, the council put off required 60-day moratoriums on projects not already under construction that would have run afoul of the proposals.

Moratoriums are still likely, though. The council sent the items to the Planning and Zoning Commission, which will consider them and make recommendations back to the council. If the council wants to move forward, it would then set public hearings, and the moratoriums would kick in.

The proposals are expected to be back before the council March 20.

The delay could be significant for developers with projects nearly ready to start construction. If they can get foundations in before the public hearings are set, the projects would not be subject to the moratoriums or any zoning changes the council eventually enacts.

The most prominent of those projects is a planned four-story building with 30 apartments of up to three bedrooms each at the 500 block of East Washington Street. The project led to last month's demolition of the building that housed the Red Avocado restaurant, a move that generated public outcry and a petition drive.

Tom Kaut, one of the partners in the project, said he believes construction could start within a month.

“I want to commend the council for taking the proper process and vetting” the proposals, he said.

City staff said they know of three other housing projects that also could try to beat the clock on a moratorium and possible zoning changes.

Council members said they did not think it was fair to change the rules on developers who had made investments based on the current zoning code.

“There's a set of rules they were operating under when they bought the property,” Jim Throgmorton said.

Council members did not debate the merits of the proposals Tuesday night. But the council has named neighborhood stabilization as one of its goals, and individual members have expressed a desire to reduce the number of apartments with four or more bedrooms in neighborhoods that also are home to full-time residents.

Those residents say parties, vandalism and parking are problems. Sarah Clark of the Northside Neighborhood Association said the owners of large student apartments have burdened the rest of the community.

“Our community can no longer afford this burden,” she said.

The council on Tuesday night did vote 4-3 to set a public hearing for March 20 on an ordinance that would not allow more than three unrelated people to live in one unit.Terry Dickens, Susan Mims and Rick Dobyns were in the minority, saying they opposed the council bypassing its normal process of sending zoning proposals to the Planning and Zoning Commission first.

Glenn Siders of Southgate Development Services and the Home Builders Association of Iowa said limiting the number of unrelated people to three would effectively stop construction of four- and five-bedroom units. He also said the city seemed to be rushing through the proposals by avoiding its normal process.