Breckenridge proposal adjusted again.
The Ames City Council begins at 7:00. The agenda includes:
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Item 28. Hearing on Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). Community Development Block Grant projects are evaluated with this report. Last year 545 families benefited from these federal funds.
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Items 31. Hearing on rezoning with Revised Master Plan for 601 State Avenue from Special Government/Airport (S-GA) to Residential Low Density (RL) and Floating Suburban Residential Low Density (FS-RL). Breckenridge makes another pitch to council to create the largest rental housing development in Ames History. The Ames City Council and the Ames Community School District came together years ago to create land uses intended to achieve 2 goals:
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Yield owner occupied single-family housing intended to increase students served in the district, and consequently total school operations funding.
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Produce densities, and consequently impacts, compatible with the adjacent single family neighborhoods.
The project now being considered, achieves neither of these goals. Other communities have found that unit density designations alone are not capable of achieving compatible uses in the face of large rental housing demand. The Ames City Council could explore other solutions to limit such unforeseen impacts on our core neighborhoods.
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Item 32. Discussion of rezoning 601 State Avenue to Residential Low Density (RL). Another alternative to the Breckendridge proposal would be to initiate a Land Use Policy Plan change to RL on the southern most parcel.
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Item 33. Discussion of concepts for 28E Agreement with Government of the Student Body to establish joint task forces. While the Student Affairs Commission's impact varies from year to year, its existence establishes a mechanism, which can be leveraged at a moment's notice, to bring staff resources to bear on important town and gown issues. To lose it would be a great loss for Iowa State University students.
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Item 34. Resolution approving Economic Development Tax Exemption Incentive Agreement with Workiva. While the City of Ames, does not currently have an independent mechanism to evaluate the difference between great economic development and boondoggles, our City of Ames goals have "Review and update the economic development policy" as an objective. Utilizing existing national best practices from the subsidy evaluation industry, will give the council tools to make better decisions and determine the difference between economic development and corporate welfare. This tool cannot come to soon.
Thanks for reading,
Matthew Goodman
City Council At-Large
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