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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes_CCSpecialMeeting_04272011CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 27, 2011, 6:00 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING ROCKWELL PATIO HOME DENIAL APPEAL, IONA COMMUNITY CENTER PRESENT: Mayor Brad Andersen, Council President Jane Shaw, Council member Bruce Case, Council member Dennis McArthur, Council member Dan Gubler, Public Works Supervisor Zech Prouse, City Clerk Robyn Keyes, Police Chief Shannon Basaraba VISITORS: Greg Hansen, Gary Ivie, Gerry Kirkpatrick, Mark Glenn, David Jones, Wes Jones. Mayor Andersen welcomed everyone and explained the procedure for the hearing. The Mayor explained the hearing was to hear an appeal by Rockwell for the denial of allowing patio homes in the R-T zone. The Mayor turned the time over to Mr. Hansen from Rockwell. Mr. Hansen said his current choices for building within the R-T zone were town homes, which were not a popular choice with buyers, town homes six feet apart from each other with the common wall connecting them in the very back of the house, or an R-1 style house. Mr. Hansen said none of the choices were good choices; the town homes were simply not selling and the R-1 home would not be cost effective. Mr. Hansen said in order to make Mr. Kirkpatrick happy, Rockwell sold the property next door to Kirkpatrick's to someone who wanted to build town homes. Mr. Hansen said he still believed the Patio home, also called a rambler, was the best choice for sales and holding their value. Mayor Andersen asked if anyone who was against the initial request to allow patio homes in the R-T zone would like to speak. Mr. Kirkpatrick said he was still against the idea. Kirkpatrick said he did not like the idea of the Council rezoning the area. Kirkpatrick said he also talked with the City Attorney who said there was not a right to appeal with ordinance decisions made by the Council. Mr. Kirkpatrick was very unhappy with the idea of building patio homes instead of town homes in the R-T Zone. Council President Shaw explained that the City would not rezone the R-T zone, but rather make an amendment to the zone to allow patio homes to be built. President Shaw also explained that what the City Attorney meant by no right to appeal was that the law did not provide that right where legislative action was taken such as adoption of ordinances. However, the City reserved the right to allow an appeal to take place. Shaw explained that the Council had run out of time to make a decision at the last hearing and could not table the decision, so the request was denied. Several people in the audience at the last hearing asked for time to do more research regarding patio homes. Wes Jones said he was still opposed to patio homes. Mayor Andersen asked if anyone who was neutral would like to speak. 1 David Jones said Rockwell built a quality home that held its value well. Jones said there appeared to be a demand for smaller homes and asked Mr. Hansen what the price differences were for the homes he was allowed to build in the R-T zone. Mr. Hansen said town homes started at $116,00 but they did not hold their value very well, the town homes connected in the back were a bit more costly than a regular town home, R-1 homes would be the same priceas the other R-1 homes Rockwell built in the area, and a 1,200 square foot patio home with a basement would start at about $125,000. David Jones said the current selling trend seemed to be smaller single family dwellings. Mayor Andersen asked if anyone in favor of the request would like to speak. Mark Glenn said he looked at some patio homes in Blue Ridge on the west side of Idaho Falls and they were various sizes and values. Mr. Glenn said he did not like the idea of building town homes that connected at the back. Mr. Glenn said he did not want to see small homes in the area that would bring down the value of his home. Mr. Glenn was in favor of patio homes that were at least 1,200 square feet with a basement. David Jones asked if a 1,200 square foot patio home with a basement was realistic. Mr. Hansen said it was, and it would be foolish for Rockwell to build anything smaller that would lower the value of the neighborhood. Mr. Ivie agreed that adding a basement to the patio homes would be wise for value retention. Mayor Andersen thanked the people for their comments, closed the public portion of the hearing, and opened discussion for the Council. President Shaw said she agreed that more people were looking for smaller homes with less maintenance, and she was in favor of patio homes. Shaw said offering the patio homes would be good for the neighborhood and good for the economy. Shaw also said that Rockwell had done a good job of addressing all of the issues and concerns of the people involved in the zone. Council member Gubler said he was still concerned with the six foot side setbacks proposed for patio homes. Gubler said he did not have an issue with patio homes, just the side setback required for patio homes. Gubler also said he did not like the idea of three different varieties of homes in one area. Council member Case said he also went over to Blue Ridge in west Idaho Falls. Case said the homes were nice, they were fairly big, and the side setbacks were at least seven feet. Case said he saw some connected homes, they were at least 12 feet apart, but they were the least desirable in his opinion. Case said if the City was going to allow patio homes, the R T zone seemed most appropriate instead of the R-1 zone. Case agreed with at least 1,200 square feet with a basement for a patio home but he was concerned with the side setbacks. Case was also not in favor of different types of homes in one neighborhood. 2 Council member McArthur said he also looked at the patio homes in Blue Ridge, and there was a mixture of home types, which looked ok. McArthur said he would rather see single dwellings built than connected homes, and he was in favor of the patio homes. Mayor Andersen said he looked at the homes in Blue Ridge and was concerned with the townhomes as being a high -end rental property. The Mayor said the City's Comprehensive Plan addressed housing issues, and according to Smart Growth, the best communities were ones with a mixture of housing choices. By offering a mixture of houses it helped eliminate segregation and problems between socioeconomic inequities. Mayor Andersen said the Council had signed and supported the Fair Housing Act as well. The Mayor said he thought offering patio homes as a choice in the R-T zone was a good idea. Council member Case asked Mr. Hansen what happened for him to change his mind about building R-1 homes in the R-T zone; at the last hearing Mr. Hansen said he would build R-1 homes in the R-T zone and now he was saying he would not. Mr. Hansen said he had time to conduct a cost analysis and it would not be cost effective to build R-1 homes since the infrastructure was in place for twin homes. Mr. Hansen said if Rockwell did not have the choice to build patio homes they would be forced to build town homes connected in the back. Council member Case asked Hansen if Rockwell could build patio homes with 10, or even eight foot side setbacks. Mr. Hansen said they could, but the homes would look funny because in order to meet square footage requirements the house would be long and skinny, which would grossly limit the floor plan choices and effect on the curb appeal. Mr. Hansen said the six foot side setbacks actually offered more green space than the current town home layout. Council member Gubler said he wanted Quaky Aspen to stay town homes. Council President Shaw made a motion to amend the R-T zone to allow patio homes provided the patio homes met an eight foot side setback, and the homes were at least 1,200 square feet with a basement. Council member McArthur seconded the motion. Roll call as follows: AYE: Council President Shaw, Council member Case, Council member McArthur. NAY: Council member Gubler. Motion carried 3:1. Hearing Closed 8:07 p.m. 3