Iowa City Planning and Zoning denies rezoning for Chauncey project

The Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission denied a motion, 5-2, on Thursday night to recommend a piece of land intended for a 20-story building project be rezoned in a way that would cap the building's height at 75 feet.

After almost two hours of public comment, most commission members said they chose to vote against the rezoning recommendation not because they support a CB-10 zoning, necessarily, but because they didn't feel that CB-5 was the most appropriate, or felt that it was premature to rezone the parcel of land at this point in time, before the city has signed a contract with the developer regarding the details of the project.

"I don't think we're going to lose our character that easily," said commission member and secretary Tim Weitzel, adding he felt it was inappropriate to re-zone the area at this time. "Iowa City is more resilient than that."

The denial comes after the city council voted 5-1 to negotiate a development agreement with the building's developer, Marc Moen, in January. Over the last few months, the $53.8 million development has drawn criticism from a group called the Iowa Coalition Against the Shadow - which holds issue with the building's size, the fact that it does not include New Pioneer Co-op like some of the other options, and that it will likely require $13.45 million in city financial assistance. Members of Iowa City's Trinity Episcopal Church have also spoken out against the development, primarily over the shading effect the large building, dubbed the Chauncey, will have on the church's access to natural light.

"What it comes down to to me is what is the best use of this parcel in my mind," said Ann Freerks, chair of the commission. "And I'm not sure that I can say that a six story building on that piece of land is the best use of that parcel, now I'm not saying that I feel that a 20-story building is the best use of that parcel either - I feel that would be completely out of character with that area - so I don't feel like we are at a point where we have to talk about one or the other."

Rockne Cole, John Fogarty, and Mark McCallum, opponents of the development, filed an application to have the site re-zoned CB-5, which would limit the building's height to 75 feet, in an attempt to prevent the development from moving forward as-is. The site would need to be zoned CB-10, which has no height limitation, in order to accomodate the Chauncey building.

Before the commission issued its decision on Thursday night, opponents iterated their concerns over the building's height, the shadow it would cast, and their belief that a building of that height does not fulfill the city's comprehensive plan, which calls for proper transition between the intensity of the central business district and surrounding residential neighborhoods.

The commission also heard from members of the community who support the Chauncey development at CB-10 zoning, citing market forces and the importance of downtown Iowa City's vitality. Right now, the parcel is zoned for public use.

The commission only votes to make recommendations to the council. Both zonings would allow a variety of retail, office, personal service and residential uses. Though the council has already voted to enter negotiations with Moen's team to start the project, the details are not yet final.