Joint Council and Planning & Zoning Meeting Minutes May 17, 2011

North Liberty City Council
Minutes
Special Session
May 17, 2011

Call to Order.  At 6:30 p.m. on May 17, 2011, Mayor Salm called the Special Session of the North Liberty City Council to order. Council members present: Chipman, Donahue, Kuhl, Wayson; absent – Hoffman.  Planning Commission members present: Anderson, Detlefsen, Frost, Mausser, Moore, Wilkerson; absent – Haack.

Others present: Ryan Heiar, Dean Wheatley, Scott Peterson, Tracey Mulcahey, Erika Harper and other interested parties.

Agenda Approval.  Chipman moved, Kuhl seconded to approve the agenda. After discussion, the vote was: ayes – Wayson, Kuhl, Donahue, Chipman; nays – none; absent – Hoffman. Motion carried.

Land Use Plan Update.  The Council with the Planning Commission discussed the proposed changes to the Land Use Map. The consensus of both groups was to move forward with the changes to map. The changes are places that have been rezoned and/or developed differently than the map in the Plan.

The Council and the Commission reviewed and discussed the Land Use presentation. Wheatley summarized the packet.  Discussion items included statistics on single family housing in North Liberty, the State of Iowa and the entire country; direction for staff when working with developers regarding multifamily development proposals; definitions of multifamily; and rollback on property.

Councilor Kuhl presented information he gathered from two mortgage loan officers, buyers and sellers in the community and demographics of the typical zero lot line home buyer.  He presented information regarding the ECICOG downpayment assistance program.   He reported that the definition of affordable housing in North Liberty according to the bankers is the $150,000 price point.

Councilor Donahue led discussion regarding branding of the community.  He asked to whom do we want to appeal. He suggested that North Liberty is a community that wants to be family oriented.  He further suggested that the community should focus on family growth, development, and retention.

Realtor Mike Bails spoke regarding financing of condominiums in North Liberty, Fannie Mae’s requirements, selling loans on the secondary market, and financing options from local lending institutions. He offered additional information about the ECICOG downpayment assistance program.

The groups discussed potentially rezoning areas from commercial and industrial.  It was stated that multifamily development needs to focus on being accessible for safety services, providing ample parking, quality snow removal, attractive construction, and well built for the future.  The discussion then went to densities.  The groups talked about defining what types of construction would be allowed in the zoning districts. Discussion turned to design standards and the costs.  Gary Watts spoke regarding minimum costs of construction with design standards.  He stated that the minimum he can construct a zero lot/duplex is $170,000 and single family detached is $190,000.  The discussion then turned to the price of land. The types of buildings to be encouraged and excluded and building standards of those structures were discussed.

The final consensus was to clean up the Land Use map and have another joint meeting to discuss additional changes to the map.

Adjournment. At 8:07 p.m., Donahue moved, Wayson seconded to adjourn. All ayes. Meeting adjourned.