Report on Landlord/Tenant Relations
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The Ames City Council meets immediately after the Ames Conference Board meeting, which begins on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. The agenda includes:
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3 (Ames Conference Board). Motion to hold Closed Session as provided by Section 21.5 (1)(i) and 21.9, Code of Iowa, to discuss candidates for position of City Assessor. The Ames Conference Board is the legal entity that employs and oversees the Ames City Assessor. It includes entities that levy property taxes within the Ames city limits, namely, the Ames City Council, the Story County Board of Supervisors, and the School Boards of Directors of the Ames, Gilbert, Nevada and United Community school districts. After this closed session discussion regarding candidates for the City Assessor, the Conference Board will return to open session for the subsequent agenda items and the Ames City Council regular meeting.
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29. Campus and Community Commission: Memo and Presentation of report regarding Landlord/Tenant Relations including the revamp and promotion of Rent Smart Ames website and expansion of Story County mediation program; Motion directing Commission regarding next assignment. The Commission recommends consolidating the Rent Smart Ames website into a simple presentation of information that focuses solely on rental information and best practices for signing leases and ending rental agreements, while removing its little-used rental property search function. The Commission further recommends that an informal complaint structure be explored and if feasible, instituted as a first step community referral location for mediation of tenant and landlord disputes.
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32. Resolution approving Joint Use Parking Plan for 414 Lincoln Way and 119 Washington Avenue. The proposed joint parking plan would allow parking spots at Grandon Funeral and Cremation Care to be used to partially fulfill parking requirements for an adjacent proposed banquet hall on Washington Ave, taking care to avoid situations when both facilities simultaneously hit their peak parking demand.
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33. Hearing on Zoning Text Amendment to establish a new Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay zone within the Zoning Ordinance along with private street standards in the Subdivision Ordinance (Continued from April 27, 2021). Last June, Council discussed the possibility of a new Planned Unit Development (PUD) zone as one way to provide for smaller lot sizes and to increase the diversity of housing types. Following outreach to the developer community and consideration and unanimous approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission, Council will now consider adding the new PUD overlay zone to our municipal code. Using this new PUD tool, a developer of two or more acres in certain residential base zones (including RL, RM, and others) could request the addition of the PUD overlay if they also submit a Master Plan showing the relevant details of a defined development concept for the project. This would allow adjustment some of the rules in the base zone regarding lot sizes and widths, setbacks, and open space, but would not change the density requirements of the base zone. The PUD request would still be subject to staff and Council review and approval. Although the PUD overlay would be most obviously useful for entirely new neighborhoods, it could be applied to certain redevelopment situations as well.
Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially. This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.
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Campustown Façade Grant Memo and Revision Ideas. Observing that the Campustown Façade Grant program has had few applications in recent years, the Campustown Action Association proposes some ideas for adjusting the grant program to encourage more improvement to the streetscape.
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Memo Responding to University Blvd. and Mixed Use Trail Requests. Staff responds to requests that the City consider improving the pedestrian crossing at University Blvd. at S. 16th St. and extending a mixed-use path through the nearby South East Recreation Complex.
Thanks for reading,
David Martin
Ames City Council, Ward 3