The Ames City Council unanimously approved incentive requirements for ownership housing on Tuesday following the recommendation from the Ames Economic Development Authority (AEDC) Short Term Housing Task Force for a residential property tax abatement to increase housing construction.
The city council had previously reviewed a request from AEDC on Dec. 12, addressing a wide range of issues, including housing constraints and needs of the community, but no action was taken during the meeting. However, on Tuesday the council expressed the intention to look into potential tax abatement options.
The initiative centers on promoting new housing construction, specifically vacant lots. The lack of housing, combined with tax incentives, encourages building more homes creating more living opportunities in the area.
“You’re encouraging revitalization of a larger area, not just one person’s property,” Kelly Diekmann, director of planning and housing for Ames, said.
The approved plan focuses on ownership housing, including single-family homes, townhomes, condos and two-family units. The program will apply city-wide and the abatement applies to the first $500,000 improvement value.
City council members unanimously approved incentive requirements for ownership housing only, city-wide development project basis and will be constructed in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.
At-large Rep. Amber Corrieri was the sole opponent of a motion to prohibit tearing down an existing building to receive abatements.
“If rental isn’t in the system, which it’s not right now, the tear-down rebuild motivation is extremely low,” Diekmann said.
Rezoning at the ISU Research Park
The Iowa State University Research Park sought to change the land use designation of two properties from industrial to residential. Ames city staff gave the council three options.
The first was to start with recommending changing the land use of the properties first and dealing with rezoning later. It’s a two-step process where the overall approval for land use is obtained first, followed by a separate review of site-specific details during rezoning.
The second option given to the council suggests changing the land use and reviewing detailed plans for rezoning with a Planned Unit Development (PUD) Overlay simultaneously. According to city documents, the approval timeline can be shortened with an “upfront investment in design.” The third was to have both properties remain residential.
Ward 2 Rep. Tim Gartin expressed concern about having more land options for housing than research park facilities.
“I don’t want to look back in 50 years and go, ‘Man, we screwed that up,’” Gartin said. “What we’re doing is fairly consequential.”
Many people in the community also expressed concern about the buildings needing to be put in the park, bike paths and waste management.
“We would want to see something that looks like it was planned to be around this park from the beginning, not an afterthought,” Linda Murken, vice chair of the Story County Board of Supervisors, said.
The city council members voted unanimously to change the land use and review detailed plans for rezoning.
Additional measures
The council supported a zoning text amendment for the Iowa State University Research Parks to allow mixed-use development within its designated Hub Activity Area.
Additionally, they approved the request of the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center to increase the Story Construction contract for Construction Support Services by $978,886 and additional items, including solar panels and improved features.
