Iowa City Council votes against public hearing for cottages

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Council has voted down a request to speed up the process of setting a public hearing to discuss historic landmark designation for three Dubuque Street cottages.

The council voted 4-3 - with Mayor Matt Hayek and Councilors Susan Mims, Terry Dickens and Michelle Payne the majority - against setting a public hearing to discuss seeking historic landmark designation for the mid-19th century cottages at 608, 610 and 614 S. Dubuque St.

Despite the vote, efforts to preserve the cottages are far from over, as Iowa City's Historic Preservation Commission will meet Thursday to discuss a Friends of Historic Preservation application seeking historic landmark designation of the properties.

While several area residents spoke Tuesday in favor of setting the public hearing, which would have initiated a 60-day moratorium on the city's ability to issue demolition permits for the properties, several council members expressed concern over how historic preservation concerns had not been raised until property owner Ted Pacha expressed desire to rezone the property and later filed applications for demolition permits.

'This is the 11th and a half hour. I think the right way to do preservation is through incentives or orderly process, but not this process,” Hayek said. 'I've got a problem with the fairness of all this, so I feel compelled to vote no.”

Council member Jim Throgmorton agreed that concerns over the historic value of the cottages had been basically nonexistent until the rezoning request had been made, but said he still felt a public hearing would be the best decision.

'We absolutely should schedule a public hearing without, at this moment, considering the merits of whether or not we should approve historic landmark designation or not,” Throgmorton said.

The early morning meeting only lasted one hour, but several area residents spoke both in favor and against setting the public hearing. Supporters spoke to the historic value of the three cottages, which are roughly 150 years old, while opponents argued that the buildings are structurally unsafe for inhabitants and cited property owner's rights.

Following the council's vote, Iowa City Transportation Planner John Yapp said the city could issue demolition permits for the cottages as soon as Wednesday.

However, following the Historic Preservation Commission meeting this week, the Planning and Zoning Commission will take up the matter at a later date and then it will go back to the council for another public hearing vote, Yapp said.

The 60-day moratorium on demolition would then begin as long as significant progress to tear down the cottages had not been made.

Once demolition permits are issued, the matter is in Pacha's hands, Yapp said.

'It's up to the property owner as far as if and when to actually demolish,” he said.