Residential High-Density Evaluation Tool
- The Ames City Council begins at 7:00 PM Jan 13th. The agenda includes:
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Item 31 -- Staff report on Independent Hydraulic Analysis of Riverside Manor at 1209 S. 4th Street. A developer is working with Riverside Manor to develop very close to the squaw creek. Part of the plan is to create a retaining wall impacting the previously unimpeded flow of river water on occasion during flooding. Council has requested a hydrologic study of the area. There has been a study previously as a result of Grand Avenue Extension planning, but not a more detailed analysis that is site specific. Council will decide if using the existing study, which only accounts for 100-year floods, is sufficient.
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Item 32 -- Presentation of Residential High-Density Evaluation Tool. When growth north of Bloomington Rd. was originally discussed, concerns were raised on the basis of cost. Costs of roads, water, sewer, transportation, fire service, police service, etc. increase as land is far from the core of a community. As one can see from the map below, our existing CyRide transit services would be making very long expensive trips into Iowa State University campus from many of the potential developments shown below. While Campustown redevelopment has been valuable in relieving this pressure to the outskirts, it has not been enough. The Government of the Student Body's decision to fund free student bus rides with student fees since early 2000, in conjunction with Iowa State University's decision to provide little parking for its nearly 35, 000 students have made every square inch of undeveloped land in the Ames community, no matter how far from the ISU Campus, a possible site for high density housing. The City must work with land speculators in a way that allows returns on their land while protecting the quality of life and long-term fiscal health of the Ames community and its services. This is never easy to do. We will do our best to balance all this and more when charting a course on Tuesday night.
Thanks for reading,
Matthew Goodman
City Council At-Large
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