The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Revisiting a controversial issue discussed in a meeting in late April that was benched by a split 3-3 vote, the City Council discussed again the residential growth possibilities of Ames, which resulted in another 3-3 vote.

The issue before the council dealt with examining the city’s policy on land usage, and in what direction the city would be best suited for residential growth.

“The target area for population is around 62,000 by the year 2030,” said Charlie Kuester, of the planning and zoning department. “Current city limits would accommodate – at most – around 2,277 people, the city will have to annex land to some degree.”

At a council workshop on April 1, the city staff were asked, after a tie-breaking vote cast by Mayor Ann Campbell, to examine a scenario that had Ames annexing or working with developers in the southwest, northwest and northern parts of town. This brought many concerns from northern residents about how Ada Hayden Lake would be affected.

Ten citizens waited patiently through the staff discussion to be able to voice their opinions, with the majority of them in support of expanding to the north.

“This is a very rare situation here,” said Kirk Frederick, of Ames. “Everyone, the developers, environmental groups, citizens, are in agreement about what to do.”

Each member of the council had their own comments to say, but even with some the time off to rethink the situation didn’t change much.

“People can’t be afraid to learn and change their mind,” Councilman Matthew Goodman said. “However, sometimes no matter how you think about something, you always come down to the same conclusion.”

That was the case for the vote on the resolution to change the land use policy plan, as Goodman, Dan Rice and Jim Popken voted no, while Riad Mahayni, Jami Larson and Ryan Doll voted yes, meaning the resolution can still not move forward.

“These kinds of decisions are always tough, and never final,” Rice said. “I just feel now may not be the right time for this.”

After the resolution failed, Popken tried to move a motion preventing any future residential growth in the north part of Ames, which failed.

Goodman, wanting to hear about other growth alternatives, tried to pass a motion for more discussion of the topic and directing staff to examine any other alternatives that would preserve the water quality of Ada Hayden Lake, which also failed.

So, after two and a half hours of listening to staff presentations, citizen concerns and voicing their own, the council was back to square one.

“The status quo prevailed tonight, apparently,” Campbell said.