Iowa City Council defers on Chauncey rezoning vote

IOWA CITY - Following more than three hours of public comment, the Iowa City Council has deferred on a vote for the first of three readings to rezone the site for a divisive downtown high rise.

With the decision, made unanimously by the entire council except for council member Michelle Payne, who recused herself, means the public hearing on the Chauncey remains open until a future public meeting.

'We will complete the public hearing on June 2, it will close on that date and the council will take its first vote on the matter,” Mayor Matt Hayek said. At Tuesday's meeting, four of the six council members who will ultimately vote on the matter expressed support for the rezoning.

While the deferment adds yet more time to what has become a 28-month debate over plans for the 15-story, 175-foot tall Chauncey building on the corner of College and Gilbert Streets, council member Susan Mims expressed a desire to keep moving forward.

'I think the community is absolutely entirely engaged, whether they're for it or against it,” Mims said. 'I think to move forward while people are paying attention and can give their input to the council is very important.”

The council's Tuesday decision followed more than three hours of public input - both in support of and in opposition to the tower - that reflected many of the sentiments made over the last 28 months of discussions, a lawsuit, amendments and debates surrounding the Chauncey plan.

Marc Moen, Chauncey's developer, noted how much the changes to the project - the height was reduced from 20 floors to 15 stories - since it was first proposed more than two years ago have impacted the project.

'It has made it almost financially impossible to build this building,” Moen said, citing the reduction in height. 'We did it as a compromise, there is nothing good for us as a developer that comes out of that.”

The Chauncey's height, shadow, cost and impact on nearby buildings and area parking were common themes brought up by the roughly three dozen people who spoke at the meeting, with tempers flaring at times.

The rezoning request reached the council without a recommendation from the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission, which voted 3-3 on the request earlier this year. Two more readings are required to pass a rezoning and the $14.2 million in public assistance requested for the $49 million building, and the project's development agreement, will need to pass future council votes for the Chauncey to become a reality.

Staff estimates show all votes on the Chauncey to extend into the summer.

Attorney Christopher Warnock represents the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church, which filed the lone formal objection to the plan. He indicated it's likely a number of factors surrounding the Chauncey will find their way to the courts.

'It's not going to be over until the courts decide the legality of these issues,” Warnock said. 'We need to make sure that we've crossed our T's and dotted our I's legally.”

Royce Peterson, business manager with carpenters union local 1260, touted the number of jobs the Chauncey's construction would bring to town, as well as the impact on reducing urban sprawl.

'We can't keep going out, we have to start going up,” he said. 'I really think this is the direction to go in Iowa City.”

However, area resident Brandon Ross criticized the Chauncey's height and raised questions about the affordability of its 66 residential units.

'How many of those units are going to be affordable for people who are working in this town?,” he said. 'This building is a land grab for those who have money.”

On the flip side of that sentiment, several area residents expressed a desire to live in the proposed building and officials with the Downtown District, Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce touted the Chauncey's positive impact on the local economy.