Plan to boost development, preserve church gains approval

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Council has approved a comprehensive plan amendment that aims to allow bigger development near downtown and preserve a 107-year-old church.

The council Tuesday unanimously approved, with council member Kingsley Botchway absent, the amendment to add three near-downtown blocks to the Downtown District of the Riverfront Crossings Plan. The blocks - east of Gilbert Street and between Burlington Street and Iowa Avenue - had been part of the Civic District.

The three blocks have been in the public eye for several months after a similar amendment proposal failed this summer. The fate of Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City's 10 S. Gilbert St. church also drew attention to the issue. Without the amendment, the church would have been demolished.

'I think this gives us an opportunity to preserve a significant building in our community,” council member Susan Mims said.

While he agreed, Mayor Matt Hayek said he was troubled by UUSIC's handling of the matter, which included the application last year for a demolition permit so it could sell the site to a developer. Hayek described the move as an exploitation of community sentiment surrounding historic preservation.

'Many of the church wanted to save it ... but what bothers me is the church acted by taking out a demolition permit earlier this year,” he said. 'I just don't think it was community-minded. It bothers me.”

The amendment, which already received unanimous approval from the city Planning and Zoning Commission, is tied to two proposed development projects that call for multiuse buildings on parking lots - one near UUSIC and the other next to the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center.

The amendment doesn't green-light any projects, but allows for more in-depth discussion between the city and developers, said John Yapp, Iowa City development services coordinator.

'A comprehensive plan does not obligate the city to rezone the property. What the comprehensive plan amendment does is set the stage for future development,” Yapp said.

For the space near UUSIC, a project proposed by Jesse Allen calls for a multiuse structure on the parking lot, trading roughly 100 surface parking spaces for more than 200 in a parking structure. The plan also would allow firetrucks from a nearby station to enter the structure from the Van Buren Street side, creating better traffic flow.

The amendment would allow for a building four to six stories tall on the lot near the church, with additional height available if historic preservation and/or affordable housing is pursued.

On the other end of the three-block area is the recreation center parking lot, where officials with New Pioneer Cooperative had been in talks with developers to create a multiuse building above the parking lot.

Jake Christensen, one of the developers with that project, said his proposal will go no higher than six stories on that lot.

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