Minutes_Long Range Planning Advisory Commission Dubuque
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MINUTES
CITY OF DUBUQUE LONG RANGE PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR SESSION
5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
City Council Chamber, Historic Federal Building
Commissioners Present: Chairperson John Pregler; Commissioners Alan Vincent,
Joshua Clements, and Chad Darter.
Commissioners Excused: Commissioners Jim Prochaska, Craig Beytien and Charles
Winterwood.
Staff Members Present: David Johnson, Eric Van Buskirk, and Maurice Jones.
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Pregler at 5:30 p.m.
CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE: Staff presented an Affidavit of Compliance verifying
that the meeting was being held in compliance with the Iowa Open Meetings Law.
MINUTES: Motion by Vincent, seconded by Darter, to approve the minutes of August 20,
2014 as submitted. Motion carried by the following vote: Aye — Vincent, Pregler,
Clements, and Darter; Nay — None.
ACTION ITEMS
Creation of North Cascade Road Housing and Urban Renewal Area: Economic
Development Director Jones reviewed the North Cascade Road Housing and Urban
Renewal Area Plan. He noted the Urban Renewal Area will allow the City of Dubuque to
capture tax increment revenue from improvements made in the district in order to promote
economic development activities. He explained the district will be created for the
development of Timber Hyrst Estates as well as improvements along North Cascade Road.
He reviewed the district will help finance the development of infrastructure within the district
as well as provide funding to assist with low and moderate income family housing
anywhere within the city. He reviewed the life of the district is 10 years. He stated the
project will generate$11.3 million in increment with approximately$4.3 million going toward
affordable housing throughout the community.
The Commission noted the district will help offset development costs for some of the most
expensive housing in the community and questioned how low and moderate income
housing will fit into the development.
Minutes — Long Range Planning Advisory Commission
November 19, 2014
Page 2
Staff Member Jones explained while the developer will benefit from the offset costs of
infrastructure improvements, Timber-Hyrst Estate's pre-development base values and
post-development assessed valuations present an ideal opportunity to create a larger
increment, which in turn will provide more revenue for low and moderate income housing
that can be built anywhere in the city of Dubuque.
The Commission reviewed the North Cascade Road Housing Urban Renewal Area Plan,
noting the plan's consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and the community's need for
affordable housing opportunities.
Motion by Vincent, seconded by Darter, to recommend City Council approve the North
Cascade Road Housing Urban Renewal Area Plan as it is consistent with the 2012 City of
Dubuque Comprehensive Plan. Motion carried by the following vote: Aye — Darter,
Vincent, Clements and Pregler; Nay— None.
Comprehensive Plan Update: Staff Member Johnson reported the Planning Services
Department is in the initial stages of updating the 2012 City of Dubuque Comprehensive
Plan. He noted a proposed outline and timeline has been provided to the Commission. He
noted it is important to understand that the content and timeframe for updating the plan
must be flexible. He reviewed updating a Comprehensive Plan is a dynamic and
complicated process with many moving parts, layers and unknown outcomes. He
explained the content and schedule of the plan must also be dynamic,flexible, responsive,
and inclusive of all people within the community. He explained the timeline will likely
change in response to input from residents, changing demands of the project, as well as
new opportunities that may arise throughout the process.
He explained staff is concluding stakeholder interviews. He reviewed the meetings helped
develop community indicators relevant to the elements of the Comprehensive Plan. He
explained they examined past and present conditions and identified key issues and
opportunities to guide development of the plan. He reviewed Planning Services staff met
with stakeholders for the Diversity and Human Services elements. The meeting included
staff members from the Human Rights Department, Community Foundation of Greater
Dubuque, and the Multicultural Family Center. He noted an important outcome of the
meeting was the unanimous recommendation of the stakeholders to combine and
reconsider renaming the Human Services and Diversity Elements of the Plan to a new
Equity and Empowerment Element. He explained the stakeholders recognized that many
of the diversity goals are related to civil rights. He noted these rights should not be goals;
rather they are something every person is afforded under the law and should be an
expectation. He explained that the stakeholders believed the topic of diversity is best
discussed as issues and opportunities relating to equity,empowerment, and inclusion, and
recommended a new element which combines the Diversity and Human Services Element
into a new element called Equity, Empowerment, and Inclusion. Staff Member Johnson
reviewed the new element would address providing equitable access to human services
opportunities for all members of the community. He noted Planning Services staff and the
I
Minutes — Long Range Planning Advisory Commission
November 19, 2014
Page 3
stakeholders are developing definitions for equity, empowerment and inclusion that will be
presented to the Commission at a future meeting.
The Commission discussed the recommendation and agreed that the issues relating to
diversity and human services are basic rights and should be considered an expectation of
the community.
Staff Member Johnson explained Planning Services staff is recommending a significant
change to the format of the Comprehensive Plan. He reviewed the format of the
Comprehensive Plan has largely been the same since the adoption of the 1995 plan. He
reviewed the current plan has a policy statement, goals and objectives for each element.
He noted over time, the plan has accrued over 250 goals and 670 objectives. He
explained while the general message of many of the goals and objectives are relevant,
their quantity dilutes the message and meaning of the plan. He reviewed that past
outreach efforts have indicated a lack of meaning and relevancy is a significant contributor
to the disconnect between people and planning.
Staff Member Johnson noted staff would like to take the Comprehensive Plan in a new,
more focused and meaningful direction. He noted each element would discuss existing
conditions, opportunities and goals, with less narrative and much more graphics. He
explained the plan will continue to be structured around Sustainable Dubuque with all other
elements previously tested and approved by the Commission and City Council.
The Commission discussed the recommendation and agreed that the volume of goals and
objectives in the Comprehensive Plan takes away from the message and meaning. The
Commission noted the goals need to be more actionable items instead of self-evident
truths. The Commission agreed the plan is a living document and needs to be dynamic
and responsive to the needs and goals of the community.
Motion by Vincent, seconded by Darter, to recommend combining the Diversity and Human
Services Elements with a new element to be recommended to the Commission at a future
meeting, and approve the proposed outline and format for the updated Comprehensive
Plan. Motion carried by the following vote: Aye-Vincent, Clements, Pregler and Darter;
Nay— None.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager Adopted