Communication_Mike Sullivan_Bluff Overlay District OrdinanceJune 24, 2008
Zoning Advisory Commission
City Hall, Second Floor
50 W. 13~' Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Sir/Madam:
The purpose of this correspondence is to provide you with our objections and concerns
regarding the proposed zoning ordinance change to create a Bluff Overlay District which
in our opinion will adversely infringe on our rights as property owners within the
proposed district.
We have resided at 838 Althauser for the past 23 years in a single family residence. Our
property is bordered between Althauser to the west and Thomas Place to the east. We
believe that it is our border to Thomas Place and our eastern facing vista that has led the
Bluffland Advisory Committee to define our property as a bluff. The fact of the matter is
that the east side of our property is a hill that as recently as the 1970's was covered in
grass that was mowed on a regular basis. The hill had a handrail and steps so that the
former homeowners could walk down to Thomas Place. In order to keep neighborhood
children from cutting through the property, the previous owners installed a chain link
fence which still stands today. By the time that we purchased our residence, the east
hillside was overtaken by brush that we have been managing and clearing ever since.
Our objections to this zoning change are numerous. The first one is our property's
inclusion in the definition as a bluff. We attended the public open house regarding this
issue on June 23, 2008 and had occasion to speak with Assistant City Attorney Tim
O'Brien who informed us that the bluff definition was essentially borrowed from a
number of other communities that developed similar ordinances. How many properties in
those communities had properties such as ours that were classified as bluffs when they
are clearly only hills? Common sense should guide your judgment here. People know a
bluff when they see one and likewise know a hillside when they see one. Bluffs typically
are shear with a wide face, much like the bluff at Eagle Point Park. In fact the definition
of a bluff from the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: "rising steeply with a broad flat front:
a cliff." It's quite a stretch to define our hillside as a cliff.
Our second objection is the proposed language in the "Erosion and Sediment Control"
language of the ordinance which states in part: "Preceding any activity in the filling of or
disturbance of land on any lot in the Bluff Overlay District, erosion and sediment control
measures approved by the City Manager shall be employed." Based on this language, we
would be unable to insert the blade of a shovel into the surface of our property without
first receiving a permit by the City-to includethe portions of our property that have
nothing to do with the section of our property that has been incorrectly defined as a
"bluff." As I indicated previously, the east side of our property had been overtaken by
brush prior to our purchase of the property. As such groundhogs and raccoons have made
their homes in the hillside from time to time. As they burrow up the hillside, we have to
take corrective action to fill their nests and sub-surface trails in the earth. This corrective
action would no longer be permissible under the proposed zoning changes because it
would include the act of "filling of or disturbance of land."
Additionally, although Mr. O'Brien assured us that this would not occur, we have serious
concerns that the City of Dubuque could use this zoning change to impose their will on
property owners with respect to how they manage their property. For instance, the City
could decide that it doesn't like the way we manage the brush on our hillside and insist
that we take some other measures, which of course would be at our expense. Perhaps this
would be no concern with our current city leadership but we have to be thinking about the
impact of such a zoning change on future generations when different city leaders are in
place. We believe that to the greatest extent possible, the individual rights of property
owners must be both respected and protected.
In closing, it is clear that a couple of fairly recent events in the City with respect to the
bluffs, in particular, the two A.J. Spiegel construction projects were the genesis of the
Bluffland Advisory Commission and the work that they have engaged in for the past 18
months, to include their recommendations for this zoning change. We implore you to use
your common sense as you consider their recommendations and apply the appropriate
actions that you deem necessary to protect the integrity of the actual bluffs that constitute
a much smaller portion of the Dubuque landscape than the vast area that has been
included in the proposed Bluff Overlay District. To do otherwise would impose
burdensome regulation on private property owners who are not situated on those bluffs.
Lastly, the language in the proposed zoning change is dangerously vague and we would
contend, practically impossible to enforce. It seems impractical and unwise to create an
ordinance that would be unenforceable by City staff and one that would create a
tremendous amount of ill will to a number of hardworking citizens of this community.
Please feel free to contact us with any other questions or comments and thank you for
taking the time to consider our position.
Respectfully,
Mike & Cheri Sullivan
838 Althauser
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
(563) 557-7416