Erie Street rezoning returns to Missouri Valley council in two weeks
By Don Harrold
News Editor
Lee Zion contributed to this story
A proposal to rezone the Erie Street corridor to central business returns to the Missouri Valley City Council in two weeks. A public hearing Tuesday drew opposition from residents.
Asked whether the city intends to zone the corridor commercial, City Administrator, Turri Colgazier corrected the premise. "So if it's residential currently, it would not necessarily mean you have to change it to commercial," Colglazier said. "But in the future, if you were to sell your home, it could be used."
When asked if a property that becomes commercial can revert to residential, Colglazier referred the question to the city's building official, John Harrison, who said "It'll always be commercial at that point," Harrison said.
Harrison said the ordinance includes provisions that allow lesser uses to continue. He described a tiered structure he calls a waterfall: the C-1 central business district permits anything allowed in C-2 neighborhood business — barber shops, parlors, car washes — and permits R-3 multiple family residential as an accessory use. R-3, in turn, reaches down to a single family house.
"So there is a pathway already designed in there," Harrison said. "You would just have to, once it's a C-1, to look at how is that property being used now, and does a single family house still fit there, to allow that building."
Harrison said the rezoning is directed at future land use. "I personally don't wanna try to change anybody's current use of their property, or tell anybody that they need to move," Harrison said. "That's not the intent of this. That's not the purpose of it."
The proposal grew out of the city's comprehensive plan, completed this year and the first since 2012. Colglazier said the corridor came up during those meetings, and that the discussion was for future planning.
Harrison said the 2012 plan went unused. "It was just identified that it was older. We really hadn't followed it," he said. "Past administrations and stuff really hadn't followed it."
The new plan was completed through the Southwest Iowa Planning Council, or SWIPCO, the regional council of governments serving Harrison County and seven other southwest Iowa counties.
The change affects 54 properties, he said at the July meeting.
Commercial zoning allows construction to the property line. Colglazier said homeowners raised the prospect of a neighboring house being torn down and replaced by a building at the edge of their lot. "There were several against it. They don't like it," she said.
Cheryl Hillstrom wondered about the reasoning behind the change.
“Is there, like, a big need for commercial property? Because I know there’s a lot of empty places along there. Businesses that are sitting empty. I think the city needs more residential than commercial,” she said.
Also, the proposed U.S. Highway 30 bypass might change the look of Missouri Valley. The change give future more flexibility.
One resident spoke in favor — a buyer interested in a city-owned house on the 800 block of Erie, between Eighth and Ninth, which the current zoning limits to a duplex.
Chris Cleaver, meanwhile, spoke in favor of the proposed rule. He told the board that he is looking to buy some land in the proposed zone. The change would allow him to build six apartments on the property, while current zoning would allow only a duplex.
Harrison said the city has heard little from the owners in the corridor through the entire process.
"It's the outside of that arena that has the voice," he said. Harrison said everybody has a voice and an opinion, and that all of them should be heard. "But I think in matters like this, the actual ground level resident is the more important voice," he said.
Colglazier said the public hearing is complete and the next step is a resolution, which goes to the council when Harrison delivers it. Harrison said it should have been on Tuesday's agenda, and that he did not send it to Colglazier in time.
Asked how the city moves from a divided hearing to a decision, Harrison said agreement is not required. "Well, at the end of the day, everybody doesn't have to agree. It's what the final decision is," he said.
Harrison said the council can proceed over objections or hold off on the proposal. "It's just a proposal. Either it passes today or it fails today. And if it fails, we move on to the next project."
Harrison said he expects it to pass from a government standpoint, but that the decision should weigh on residents. "I think it should weigh on what the citizens, particularly the actual property owner that's being rezoned, and what their concerns are," Harrison said.
Asked what she considers the highest and best use of the corridor, Colglazier said, "I believe business," and added, "It's tough, because I never wanna take anybody's rights away from them. I want people to be able to do whatever they want with their property type of thing, for the most part."
