Historic Preservation Commission_W. Locust & 17th Street PriorityPlanning Services Department
City Hall
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001 -4864
(563) 589 -4210 phone
(563) 589 -4221 fax
(563) 589 -6678 TDD
planning@cityofdubuque.org
The Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Dubuque
50 W.13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
RE: W. Locust & Bluff St. Area
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
August 19, 2011
Introduction
The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) has been discussing impediments to both
personal and financial investment in the W. Locust & Bluff Street Neighborhood. This
neighborhood is located in the Jackson Park Historic District, is highly intact and
contains some of the finest examples of residential architecture in Dubuque. It has
enormous potential, rivaling iconic residential neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. or
Boston. Without a planned approach, we are at risk of losing portions of this
neighborhood which will accelerate its decline.
Discussion
A recent demolition permit request has brought the issue to the forefront, but the
Commission feels the W. Locust and Bluff Street Neighborhood has been an issue for
the neighborhood and community for a number of years. The Commission has been
approached by numerous property owners within the neighborhood who have
expressed concern over the neglect and lack of investment from which many of these
properties suffer. Many of these property owners have been impacted emotionally and
financially over the state of the neighborhood but continue to live and invest in it.
The Commission feels that at this point, a comprehensive planning and investment
approach similar to that taken with the Washington Neighborhood Revitalize Initiative, is
the only approach that will reverse the decline from which the neighborhood has been
suffering. A similar initiative would be consistent with many of the enclosed objectives of
the Safe Community Task Force, and also would align with several top city priorities,
including:.
•
Workforce housing (several multi -unit dwellings remain vacant);
Transportation (the neighborhood's walkable distance to downtown businesses);
Sustainable city (preserving existing structures).
Without a coordinated effort, buildings, and eventually a neighborhood will be lost. We
believe that with a planned, community approach we can address this neighborhood's
W. Locust & Bluff St. Area
Page 2
issues in a positive manner and turn it back into an asset for the community, rather than
a liability.
Requested Action:
By a vote of 8 -0, the HPC respectfully requests the City Council make the W. Locust
and Bluff Street Area a top priority during this year's goal setting session.
Respectfully submitted,
David Klavitter, Chairperson
Historic Preservation Commission
cc: Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
F:\Users \djohnson \Council Items\ W. Locust and Bluff Street Revitalize Initiative
THE CITY OF
DUB
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
Making Dubuque a
Safer Community
Mayor Roy D. Buol and the Dubuque City
Council hosted a community forum in
September 2009 to initiate open dialogue
on crime issues in our community and how
to address them. The forum was attended
by more than 130 citizens. In response to
this high level of community engagement,
the Mayor and City Council appointed 25
volunteer citizens to a "Safe Community
Task Force."
This diverse group of volunteers was
asked to holistically look at both the causes
of, and solutions to, crime in Dubuque and
provide recommend goals and objectives to
the leadership of Dubuque. Beyond the 25
appointed members, the Safe Community
Task Force utilized sub - committees and
work groups to get all interested parties
involved. The sub - committees were: 1)
neighborhood engagementlsocial capital,
2) enforcement, 3) management of physical
environment, and 4) research and facts. A
series of meetings were held and a number
of recommendations were submitted to the
City Council for further action.
The following recommendations were
developed by the Safe Community Task
Force (SCTF) and subcommittees over 17
months and 35 meetings and submitted to
the City Council from January 2010 through
March 2011.
1) Reduce the time between rental inspections
for problem properties
2) Do not allow property owners to receive city,
state or federal funding unless their properties
are in compliance or the owner is actively
working towards compliance
3) Conduct crime study
4) Allow the Task force to act as a conduit for
accurate information to public
5) Create ways to encourage people to light
up their own property and surrounding public
property
6) Install surveillance cameras in high crime
areas in public places
7) Install 911 emergency kiosks
8) Reduce the time allotted for correcting
property violations from the current two years
9) Encourage development of planned
communities through mixed -use zoning
10) Develop and implement a juvenile
curfew ordinance to use as a tool to help
reduce crime. Research utility, efficacy and
enforcement issues, taking the following
suggestions into consideration:
a) The police department would not conduct
curfew sweeps of the community
b) There would be designated and staffed
location to hold juveniles who violate the
curfew. Contact with parents or a responsible
adult would not be handled by police.
Penalties for curfew violations could include
fines, community service requirements and
parenting classes (See recommendation #43)
11) Provide additional resources for the
Community Oriented Policing (COP) Program
12) Direct Police Dept. to enforce noise
ordinances more aggressively
13) Direct Police Dept to enforce traffic
ordinances more aggressively
14) Give the SCTF and Police Dept. the
opportunity to respond to the crime study
report and recommendations
15) The SCTF recommends its continued
existence to monitor the implementation and
progress of its recommendations through
quarterly progress reports from city staff, and
special meetings as necessary. The SCTF
further recommends that the City Council
consider creation of a Safe Community
Commission
16) Support landlords in evicting problem
tenants for cause
17) Mandate that landlords conduct renter
backgrounds checks, using the City's free
service
18) Establish threshold number of complaint
calls that wit place a problem property in
priority category. Establish policies and
processes for immediate response and
resolution of problems involving those
properties
19) Tie frequency of property inspections to
landlord's history of cooperation with code
compliance. Establish a threshold number
of problem complaints that will trigger a
meeting among the landlord, the tenant, and
representatives of the Housing & Police Depts.
20) Intensify exterior code enforcement efforts.
Encourage city employees across depts. To .
identify and report property code enforcement
problems and establish ways to reward
employees
21) Create a data clearing house limited to
verifiable and factual information that landlords
and tenants can share and reference when
making their rental decisions
22) Develop and offer frequently a training
program on code enforcement and property
management for all landlords. Require all
landlords to attend the program; issue only
temporary occupancy permits /licenses until
training has been completed
23) Address community concerns about the
real or perceived impact of the Section 8
Program on the community by:
a) Decreasing the desired number of Section 8
vouchers in the program to 900
b) Limiting voucher eligibility to Dubuque
residents
c) Increasing the staff capacity of the Family
Self- Sufficiency (FSS) Program
24) Increase public understanding of the
Section 8 Program
25) Increase participation of Section 8
residents in effective self- sufficiency programs
26) Provide training to housing commissioners
to increase their leadership, public relations
and community building skills
27) Implement an exception rent program to
avoid concentrated pockets of poverty
28) Develop a stronger role for the Resident
Advisory Board to encourage residents
of subsidize housing to give feedback on
proposed new policies and procedures and
to cultivate leadership within the low income
residential community
29) Provide community service credits for
participation in effective programs that foster
self sufficiency
30) Continue to provide resources to Family
Self- Sufficiency (FSS) Program based upon
evidence of success
31) Human Relations:
a) Increase tolerance and mutual
understanding among the diverse segments
of the population. The adoption of educational
initiatives that foster community solidarity and
global citizenship should be among the first
practical steps taken by our City
b) Implement appropriate measures that
safeguard the rights and opportunities of all
32) Develop a Neighborhood Watch Program
33) Increase resident participation using such
vehicles as clean up campaigns, neighborhood
picnics, new neighbor welcome events and
other strategies developed by residents
34) Intercultural Competency Training should
be offered periodically to businesses and the
community at large. It should be mandatory for
city board and commission members as well as
for city staff
35) The Human Rights Dept. should receive
continued support. In addition the city should
devote resources to a human relations initiative
that could include programs in the arts, cultural
programs and other strategies that promote
respect and understanding among residents
36) Support a welcoming program for all new
renters through community -based organizations
37) Install street lights in the middle of the block
to brighten up the streets at night and increase
visibility for residents
38) Improve neighborhoods by:
a) Encouraging home ownership
b) Encouraging a mixed - income approach to
neighborhood development
c) Creating (or re- creating) a sense of place
through good design. All buildings using city,
state or federal dollars should be required to
meet these objectives and all projects should
be required to meet the City's sustainability
goals
39) Create an ordinance prohibiting the
boarding of windows and doors facing streets
40) Develop and enforce policies consistent
with the "preservation briefs" to maintain
historic properties
41) Increase the number of trash receptacles
on the street
i
42) Increase the number of neighborhood
clean -ups and educate the community on City,
waste disposal policies in an effort to clarify the
purpose of neighborhood clean -up programs
43) Modify the recommendation for a juvenile
curfew ordinance and focus instead on
creating a parental responsibility ordinance
that is modeled after successful programs
that includes engaging parents and teens in
prevention efforts
44) Encourage and engage parents and youth
in out -of- school -time programs and parenting
classes by ensuring the programs are designed
to matter to the participants
45) Encourage the Dubuque Community
School District to develop a meaningful
intercultural competence program for students
at all levels
46) Create a conduit, such as a speakers
bureau, to continue conveying accurate
information to the public on crime and the
perception of crime in the community. Include a
broad group of informed residents on the panel
and focus on reaching a broad cross - section of
the community with the information
47) Use the information from the crime and
poverty study to create a formal way to
continue tracking data for the community in an
ongoing manner, and investigate the potential
for using crime mapping software.
48) Encourage the Telegraph Herald to run an
"I'm a Dubuquer" series
49) Raise awareness among the general public
and develop individual ambassadors through
Intercultural Competence Training, the Bridges
Initiative, and similar programs, who can then
talk with others about what they have learned
50) Expand the recommendation for a
neighborhood watch program to include efforts
to build relationships amongst residents within
the neighborhood
51) Expand the emphasis on community -
oriented policing and consider expanding
the number of non -sworn employees,
including interns and volunteers, in the
Police Department in effort to assist with
Community- Oriented Policing (COP) efforts
and to coordinate with other departments and
organizations in the community policing effort
52) Engage community volunteers of various
races and income levels in a monthly "Days of
Caring" initiative by encouraging businesses to
allow volunteers to participate on work time
53) As exterior code violations are identified
in neighborhoods, identify volunteers who are
willing to assist with helping property owners
remedy those violations, which will address
the property conditions while also building
relationships and a sense of community.
54) Encourage community -wide support
of initiatives that support self - sufficiency
(i.e., beyond government and the public
schools), with a particular focus on existing
programs: Circles, Project HOPE, Intercultural
Competence Training, Every Child /Every
Promise, and the work that the Colts are doing
with community outreach. Engage colleges,
churches, businesses
55) Support economic development efforts to
create opportunities
56) Connect new residents, particularly those
who may not be referred by an employer, to the
welcoming program at the Greater Dubuque
Development Corporation
57) Challenge all departments within the City
to develop and maintain a model Section 8
Program for a city of this size, meeting the
needs of the elderly and disabled and also
developing self - sufficiency for families
58) Expand the lighting recommendation to
"Brighten up the streets and alleys at night and
increase visibility for residents wherever lights
are needed."
59) Emphasize hot -spot policing and focus on
problem solving within those crime hotspots
60) Publicize the owners, numbers and types
of complaints /violations in the top problem
properties
Many of these recommendations have been
implemented and others are being reviewed
for implementation.
In October 2010, the City Council approved
(upon recommendation from the Task
Force) the creation of a Safe Community
Advisory Committee. This committee
has been commissioned for a year to
oversee the implementation progress of
the recommendations submitted to the
City Council by the task force. The current
committee members are:
• Anthony Allen
• Mary Rae Bragg
• Diane Callahan
• Jonathan Cheatham
• Rachel Daack
• Amanda Elkins
• Ann Ernst
• Doug Stillings
• SusanStork
The Safe Community Advisory Committee
meets regularly to monitor progress and
offer additional recommendations. For
more information, call the City Manager's
Office 563-589-4110 or visit:
www. cityofdubuque .orglsafecommunity.