Zoning Comm. seeks meeting on new hospital
By Tracy Runneberg — Daily Freeman-Journal Staff WriterMembers of the Webster City Planning and Zoning Commission are attempting to schedule a time for a special meeting between the commission, Hamilton Hospital trustees, and engineers working on the new hospital plans.
The new hospital will be constructed where future city streets had been planned. Because of this, the Commission must decide to allow the vacating of the future streets, or to relocate them, and the changes will need to be made to the future street map.
City Planning and Zoning Coordinator Karla Wetzler received some dates and times from the commission, so she may begin coordinating with the other entities on a time for the meeting, which will most likely occur early next week.
Once again the commission looked into the ordinance on home occupations, per the request of Jeromy Estlund. After discussion the commission members agreed to an amendment, which will allow additional employees for home occupation businesses, so long as the work of those employees takes place off the premises of the home. The actual amendment reads: "Home occupations that involve an exterior activity or work that is performed off site, where work done in conjunction with the home occupation does not take place within the confines of the structures on the premises or otherwise at the specified property, may employ an unlimited number of individuals. Such employees shall not gather, work, park, or otherwise associate at the actual residential home and/or property of the home occupation."
Wetzler stated that this amendment should go before the council at their August 18th meeting.
The commission also agreed to re-zone part of a property, to create a contiguous area at 3690 Millards Lane. The property, almost five acres of land in the Bob Brown addition, lot 1, has both a home and a 65' by 85' metal building that has been used to house businesses and storage over the years. Wetzler stated that the building is too big for a home occupation, and the current residential zoning does not allow an actual business to legally locate there. The building in question is currently located right next to an M1 zone, which allowed the commission to rezone the building area to M1.
"This will assist the owners, Bob and Patricia Brown, as they attempt to sell the property. New owners will have a greater opportunity to use the building legally, and place the area in compliance. Neighbors seemed to support the change and agreed to it by signing a petition."
Commission members are finding it a bit more difficult to create a fair solution to the current sidewalk situation. The City Council asked them recently to come up with some ideas on how to create a fair and just way to satisfy the problem recently brought to light-as some homeowners have sidewalks, others don't, and newer subdivisions are not required to install them.
"It may not be possible to find a completely equitable situation. It wouldn't be fair to ask people who've been allowed in the past to take their sidewalks out, to suddenly be faced with the costs of replacing them. It's also unfair to force those in subdivisions to now put in sidewalks," said Wetzler. She added that use of LOSST money would not work long, as those funds are currently set to run out in five years-and would not satisfy everyone.
Commission member Kerry Carleton, stated "it's really a safety issue to me. I think that busy streets and through streets should have sidewalks, so people don't have to walk in the streets."
Commission member Doug Bailey stated that one way to create an incentive to property owners without sidewalks may be to offer tax breaks, which could help alleviate the costs of putting them in.
The commission will continue to look into the comprehensive plan, and look at the sidewalk situation as a quality of life issue. Wetzler stated that she would also stay in contact with her peers in other communities to find out how they've solved similar problems.
