A unique housing opportunity for students in southwest Ames has been axed by an Ames City Council change to zoning laws.

Last November, Brent Haverkamp, owner of Haverkamp Properties, purchased the four-building West Towne Apartments development along Mortensen Road, where zoning laws permit commercial businesses on ground floors and apartments above. The developers who constructed the buildings, Eller Enterprises, were unable to sell most of their commercial space, and when Haverkamp acquired these buildings, he came up with a solution.

“I wanted to build short-term housing units where you could have monthly leases,” Haverkamp said. “It would be great for students that are graduating early or don’t want to live with their roommates any more, or other situations like those.”

Haverkamp spotted one exception to the rule that only commercial businesses could occupy the ground floor: short-term housing.

“Short-term housing typically occurs in commercial districts and allows people to have an average stay of no more than 60 days,” said Steve Osguthorpe, Ames planning and housing director. “Think of hotels and motels. Those are like short-term housing.”

After conversing with the city’s planning and zoning staff, Haverkamp was told these new designs were legal and that he could go ahead with his plan. However, when he made changes to the building plans, the issue was brought up before the City Council, and the text allowing short-term housing in that area was removed by a unanimous vote.

“The three buildings that I had put in the plans for already, I can use like this – but I can’t do it again because of this,” Haverkamp said. “I’m just a little disappointed. The city took away something reasonable for reasons I don’t understand.”

Under the council’s ruling, Haverkamp can still develop the first three buildings he submitted plans for according to his original intent.

Dan Rice, city councilman for Ward 1, said the concern was the planned use for that land.

“It wasn’t the intent of that land to be residential – it is supposed to be commercial,” he said. “If we start making it residential, the whole area will slowly turn that way.”

Another concern of the council was the 60-day stay limit and how to properly enforce that.

“It wouldn’t be hard to have people set up a system so that they could have a renewable two-month lease, when that isn’t the way the system works,” said Ryan Doll, city councilman for Ward 3.

Bob Kindred, assistant city manager, said the city was trying to develop more commercial space and had chosen southwest Ames as a prime growth area because of its proximity to U.S. Highway 30.

“I don’t think the council ever envisioned this particular type of use,” he said.

Kindred said the council had been receiving criticism lately.

“They’ve heard people saying to them that there are too many apartment buildings and the landlords were trying to keep up,” he said. “That’s another reason the council is sensitive to this issue.”

Haverkamp said having commercial businesses in that area is good, but the prior property owner mismanaged the space and gave the land a stigma.

“The developer who built these buildings put too much space online too fast,” he said. “If I am a business, and I see 20,000 square feet used and 75,000 square feet vacant, I would ask myself, ‘What’s wrong with this land?'”

Some businesses currently in the area include Ames Racquet and Fitness Center, Ames Family Martial Arts Center and Haverkamp Property’s offices.

“Some of these spaces, like the ones at the south end of the buildings right next to Highway 30, are just not sound commercial space, period,” Haverkamp said. “The city wants commercial business, but I can’t get it out here. What else could I do?”