Coralville residents concerned about encroaching development

IOWA CITY - A requested rezoning to expand Coralville's mixed-use Town Square Development project concerns at least a few area property owners.

A request from Iowa City's Skog Development seeks to rezone just shy of one acre of land on the corner of Coralville's Fifth Street and Tenth Avenue to allow for the development of a three-story building at the current site of U.S. Bank, 506 Tenth Ave.

Anne Salamon, who has lived in Cedar Rapids since 1986, but grew up at and still owns a house near the Coralville bank, argues the proposed brick structure would encroach on existing homes on the east side of 10th Avenue.

'It's too harsh, there's no transition,” she said. 'It's too abrupt.”

Coralville's Planning & Zoning Commission approved the rezoning request in February and the Coralville City Council - which unanimously passed the first reading to rezone the site - is scheduled to vote on the second and third readings Tuesday.

Chuck Skaugstad, with Skog Development, and the project's representing attorney, Michael Pugh, had not returned phone calls by deadline Monday.

Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said last week a development agreement between U.S. Bank and Skog Development had not yet been reached and a project timeline was unavailable.

Amy Frantti, with U.S. Bank Corporate Communications, said in a Monday email bank officials are still in discussions with the developer and there was nothing to report at this time.

A document in the council's information packet states the bank is planning to temporarily relocate to Second Street to allow for demolition of the existing bank building.

Proposed for the site is a three-story building with underground parking, two floors of office space and five condominiums on the top floor.

The building's ground floor would include a drive-thru on the west end to accommodate a possible new bank, according to the information packet. The document does not specify if that would be U.S. Bank.

The proposed building is the fourth part of the larger Town Square Development project and would bear similarities to Town Square buildings erected to the west in the mid-90s, including those at 1105 Fifth St. and 501 Twelfth Ave.

But while development to the west of the U.S. Bank site includes similarly-designed red brick buildings, to the east is one of Coralville's older residential neighborhoods, which includes a large number of small houses.

It's that proximity to long-standing homes that concerns at least two neighbors who spoke at the February P & Z meeting.

Salamon, 57, said she isn't anti-development, but thinks the proposal is unsuitable for the location.

'The area did need to be developed and they're trying to do it in a coordinated fashion, but I think they're getting carried away,” Salamon said Friday.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com