Iowa City commission weighs development of downtown parking lots

IOWA CITY - For the second time this year, the Iowa City Council soon could take up a staff-recommended amendment to Iowa City's Comprehensive Plan that would add three near-downtown blocks to the Downtown District of the Riverfront Crossings Plan.

On Thursday, Iowa City's Planning and Zoning Commission deferred a vote on recommending the amendment in an effort to gather additional information, particularly whether added private development on the city-owned lots would limit future growth for city departments such as police and fire.

'I think it's about the details here and, for me, I need to take a clear, careful look at everything,” commission chairwoman Ann Freerks said. 'I'm not prepared to make a decision on this this evening.”

Commission member Charlie Eastham echoed Freerks' sentiments.

'I think the city, including this commission, have some obligation to try to talk with the public about what ... potential uses that commercial development or private development on these parcels precludes,” he said.

The commission will take up the matter again Sept. 17.

Earlier in the summer, city staff approached the council seeking direction after an increased interest among developers to build on two city-owned parking lots within a three-block area - east of Gilbert Street and between Burlington Street and Iowa Avenue - often referred to as the Civic District. The amendment would add the three blocks - now largely zoned for public use - to the Downtown District and eliminate the need for future amendments to the Comprehensive Plan.

Earlier this year, a similar Comprehensive Plan amendment - which did not receive a recommendation from the commission - failed to achieve the required supermajority vote from the council.

One lot is north of City Hall and east of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City building, while the other lot is just east of the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center.

Jesse Allen, of Allen Homes, has signed a purchase agreement with the Unitarian society for the site and is looking to build a multiuse structure while perhaps preserving the original sanctuary.

The building would include residential units and adhere to the zone's 75-foot height maximum - although a height bonus could be offered in exchange for historic preservation.

The plan would trade roughly 100 surface parking spaces for more than 200 spaces in a parking structure, It also would allow firetrucks from the nearby fire station to enter the structure from the Van Buren Street side, creating better traffic flow.

'Part of that conceptual development proposal was to preserve the Unitarian church property, but allow development on the city-owned parking lot east of the church,” said John Yapp, development services coordinator.

The amendment would allow for four to to six stories in height on the lot near the church, with additional height available in the event of historic preservation or the inclusion of affordable housing.

On the other end of the three-block area is the recreation center parking lot, where New Pioneer Cooperative officials have been talking to developers about creating a multiuse building above the parking lot.

Both projects are being designed by Neumann Monson Architects, but Dave Zahradnik, a principal with the company, said bringing those projects out of the conceptual phase requires an investment and therefore hinges on a commitment from the city about a Comprehensive Plan amendment.