IP2 of May 8 Info Packet

CITY CITY MEMORANDUM

OF IOWA [J;J Date: f:O!Pt May 5, 2014 To: Tom Markus From: Ann Freerks, Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission

Re: Incorporating a walkability clause into the school district diversity policy

At our meeting on May 1, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to request the City Council to send a recommendation urging the Iowa City Community School Board to adopt a "walkability clause" into its diversity policy. The Commission requests that the City Council forward the following message to the school district:

The City of Iowa City would like to work collaboratively with the school district to promote a more sustainable community by supporting and investing in our core neighborhoods, which exhibit many of the attributes we are striving for in our new subdivisions: a mix of housing types that support families of varying incomes; a highly connected pattern of sidewalk-lined streets; and a layout of lots and blocks that places as many homes as possible within walking distance of neighborhood schools, parks, and shopping areas.

It is well-documented that when a significant number of children can safely walk to school, it increases the health and welfare of those families and of the community as a whole. It not only reduces transportation costs for the school district, it reduces living costs for families. Unfortunately, not every neighborhood in the school district is designed in a manner that makes it comfortable, safe, or even possible for children to walk to school. So when a family chooses to live in a compact, walkable neighborhood within a safe walking distance of their child's school, we feel that choice should be supported.

Since walkability is a key indicator of healthy neighborhoods, and the City strives to preserve and sustain the long-term value embodied in our walkable neighborhoods, we urge the school district to adopt a walkability clause into its diversity policy that states, "Elementary students that live within Yz mile walking distance along safe routes of one or more elementary schools are guaranteed enrollment in one of said elementary schools. Further, residential areas within Yz mile walking distance along safe routes of one or more elementary schools shall not be redistricted to another elementary school outside said Yz mile walkable distance."

Inserting a walkability clause into the diversity policy will provide encouragement to all jurisdictions within the district to build more compact, walkable neighborhoods. The sustainable development pattern that results will reduce costs to the cities, to the school district, and to families and will help make our future neighborhoods more affordable to all families.

Planning and Zoning Commission May 1, 2014 Transcript- discussion of walkability and diversity:

Freerks: I have one other thing under "other" that I would like to bring up. I know that there has been a lot of talk of the redistricting or whatever they've called it recently and I would like to propose that we ask the City Council to send to the school district a letter or something to request that there be some type of walkability clause included with the diversity policy so that (and I'm not here to put parameters on it) the City and the School District can discuss that every school, not just certain schools, have an amount of walkability which is supported in our Comprehensive Plan and everything that we lay out-not competing against, but making sure that it's a part of that so that we can support schools and walkability in our schools. I would hope that is something that people would support here.

Theobald: I think that sounds like a great idea.

Eastham: I would be happy to support the notion of walkability to neighborhood schools. It is something that we enjoyed when our kids were young, although sometimes they had to walk longer than they wanted to. I also would like the City to be a little more candid in its use of its policies and practices that are trying to preserve or enhance neighborhood stabilization. City Community Development people wrote a memo to the City Manager which got to the School Board that said that the UniverCity program was increasing stabilization in the Lucas-Governor Street area, which is perhaps true but that stabilization is achieved by putting people of higher incomes in that area not people that have kids that are eligible for FRL status.

Freerks: What I'm asking about though is about walkability and I think if you want to bring something -

Eastham: Walkability is fine as long as it is walkability for all households.

Freerks: --and that is what I'm asking is for walkability at every school. I am not singling out anything.

Eastham: Not for all households at all schools?

Freerks: Weill don't know that every house that goes to every school is walkable. Windsor Ridge is bussed as an example. What I am talking about is that every school has an area that is a walkable area and that's important to our comprehensive plan and to what we develop in our communities. I don't want to spell out what it is. I want them to communicate with each other about it and I want the communication to happen between the two.

Dyer: It seems like in newly developing areas that means that we also need to have diversity of types of housing.

Freerks: Yes. And that is something that we support.

Thomas: I think Charlie is only saying that this walkability concept be integrated with a diversity policy.

Freerks: That's what I'm asking- for it to be part of it. I want to make sure that it's a part of the discussion. Is that something that people agree on?

Commissioners: Yes.

Eastham: As long we are clear that what we are suggesting exactly what Thomas said.

Planning and Zoning Commission May 1, 2014 2 of2

Freerks: I don't know that is. What are you saying?

Theobald: My concern is that the walkability trumps diversity.

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Freerks: I'm not saying one trumps the other. I am saying that at the heart of our Comprehensive Plan-and it is supported by our Comprehensive Plan-that we have neighborhoods that have walkability and that neighborhood schools are part of that- schools and neighborhoods. And I want us to support that and I want our school district to support that as well. That's all. Would you do that then, Bob? Talk to them.

Bob: Sure. We can draft something. It might be helpful to maybe have an outline or something.

Freerks: Sure. Yeah. I'll do it quickly.

To: Mayor Matt Hayek and City Manager Tom Markus

From: Jim Throgmorton

Subject: Diversity and walkable neighborhoods

Date: May 13,2014

Item #2 in the City Council's May 8 information packet includes a March 5 memo from Ann Freerks. Her memo involves an important and substantively challenging problem: how to help the School District comply with its Diversity Policy without undermining the city's efforts to preserve and sustain the long-term value embodied in our walkable neighborhoods.

Posed that way, it sounds as if we face an Either/Or choice between walkability and diversity.

It's not an Either/Or choice. We can marshal our creativity to achieve both walkability and diversity.

Freerks' memo states, "At our meeting on May 1, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to request the City Council to send a recommendation urging the Iowa City Community School Board to adopt a "walkability clause" into its diversity policy." The clause would read, "Elementary students that live within % mile walking distance along safe routes of one or more elementary schools are guaranteed enrollment in one of said elementary schools. Further, residential areas within mile walking distance along safe routes of one or more elementary schools shall not be redistricted to another elementary school outside mile walkable distance." Freerks' memo further states, "Inserting a walkability clause into the diversity policy will provide encouragement to all jurisdictions within the district to build more compact, walkable neighborhoods."

Tom's May 8 email to Superintendent Murley indicates our Council is likely to consider the proposed recommendation at our May 20 meeting. Tom copied us on that email so that we could be thinking about how to respond to the commission's recommendation.

I have two preliminary responses, one procedural and the other substantive. In offering these responses, I fully recognize that our staff has far more detailed knowledge about specific programs than I do.

With regard to procedure, I have two questions. First, is the commission legally empowered to make recommendations concerning School District policies? And, second, is the commission authorized to vote on recommendations without giving the public an opportunity to comment subsequent to due public notice that the topic would be considered? (I understand the commission "voted" on the general intent of the clause in its last meeting, despite the fact the topic was not included on its published agenda.

Moreover, I understand that the commissioners did not see the actual language of Freerks' memo until after it had been sent to Tom.)

With regard to substance, I agree with much of the language contained in Freerks' memo. Most of it is fully consistent with my long-term advocacy of more compact, walkable neighborhoods.

But her memo is silent about economic diversity within neighborhoods and about city policies concerning the distribution of affordable housing within the city. (So too was my April25 email to Steve Murley, which appeared in one of our info packets.) This is a crucial omission.

Not all Iowa City neighborhoods are economically diverse enough to achieve the School District's Diversity Policy solely on the basis of the school-aged population that lives within safe walking distance of the neighborhoods' schools.

Moreover, sustainable neighborhoods are not just compact and walkable; they also contain a diverse mix of housing types and costs, which permit economic diversity within each neighborhood's population.

Furthermore, many parts oflowa City, especially those built after 1970, are not "walkable" in a strong sense; that is, they are not neighborhoods in which it is easy and safe for residents to walk to elementary school, grocery stores, neighborhood parks, places of employment, and other activities. In these post-1970s developments, it is simply not possible for many elementary school children to walk to school, at least not safely. In some cases, a substantial fraction of these children come from lower-income families.

To be walkable in this strong sense, neighborhoods have to be dense enough for people to walk to desired destinations, and they have to be designed well enough to make them want to walk. As architect-planner Peter Calthorpe puts it, "a well-designed city is ... a place where your destinations are close enough to walk to and where you feel safe enough to walk. And it's a place that is interesting enough socially to make you feel that walking is perhaps something more than just getting from point A to point B."

In order to consider Freerks' recommendation wisely, therefore, we need to assess the fairness of the proposed "walkability clause." Put simply, the question is: who can walk safely to school? To answer this question, we need to generate/obtain factual information about the diversity of the school-aged populations that live within Y2 mile safe walking distance from each of Iowa City's elementary schools. Perhaps this question could be answered using the District's FRL data.

We also need to explicitly state or improve policies that promote economic diversity within Iowa City neighborhoods. The most important step would be to adopt policies that distribute new affordable housing units throughout the city, partly though inclusionary zoning and partly through economic incentives.

We need to ensure that all new neighborhoods built in Iowa City are designed to be walkable in the strong sense. This is especially important for the areas surrounding the new elementary schools.

And we need to enhance the (srong sense) walkability of existing post-1970s neighborhoods, especially ones that currently have a disproportionately high concentration of very low-income households.

This is a complicated and politically challenging issue. I look forward to learning how you and the five other members of the City Council think we should respond.

Marian Karr

From: Sent: To: Cc:

Subject:

Tom Markus Tuesday, May 13, 2014 8:14AM 'Charles Eastham' Tuyet Dorau; Patti Fields; Sally Hoelscher; Brian Kirschling; Chris Lynch; Jeff McGinness; Marla Swesey; Stephen Murley; Council; Ann Freerks; John Thomas; Jodie Theobald (ICTheobald@mchsi.com); Paula Swygard; Phoebe Martin (phoebe@skogman.com); Carolyn Dyer (Carolyn-dyer@uiowa.edu) RE: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community School District diversity policy

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I will take it up with the city staff and share with the city council.

From: Charles Eastham [mailto:eastham@mchsi.com] Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 10:17 PM To: Tom Markus Cc: Tuyet Dorau; Patti Fields; Sally Hoelscher; Brian Kirschling; Chris Lynch; Jeff McGinness; Marla Swesey; Stephen Murley; Council; Ann Freerks; John Thomas; Jodie Theobald (ICTheobald@mchsi.com); Paula Swygard; Phoebe Martin (phoebe@skogman.com); Carolyn Dyer (carolyn-dyer@uiowa.edu) Subject: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community School District diversity policy

Date: May 12, 2014

To: Tom Markus, City Manager

From: Charlie Eastham and John Thomas, members, Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission

CC: Iowa City Community School District Board of Education, Stephen Murley, Superintendent of Schools, Iowa City Council, Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission

Subj.: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community School District diversity policy

We are writing as members of the Planning and Zoning Commission to inform you that we do not agree with the "walkability clause" contained in a memo to you sent on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Commission dated May 5, 2014. The clause calls for guaranteeing attendance assignments to all elementary schools to elementary students living within a specified distance from each school.

Purpose of the ICCSD Diversity Policy

The ICCSD adopted a diversity policy in February, 2013. The policy's purpose is to "provide equitable learning environments for the students attending ICCSD" and states that "enhanced learning will be the result" of establishing the diversity goals of the policy. Prior to adopting the diversity policy the District received research reports demonstrating improvements in student learning for all students resulting from reducing socioeconomic concentrations in schools, The District is now engaged in developing attendance zones necessary to put the

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policy into practice. The District proposes that altering attendance zones will result in improved student learning for all students.

Role oflowa City in pursuing its Comprehensive Plan goals and supporting the ICCSD Diversity Policy

Iowa City has legitimate interests in establishing sustainable neighborhoods. Achieving walkable distances to common destinations is important to creating and maintaining such neighborhoods. The City also has interests in achieving actual income diversity in neighborhoods. Indeed, the lack of such economic diversity in certain neighborhoods is contributing to the need for the ICCSD to adopt a diversity policy in the first place. So we wholeheartedly support walkable, mixed income neighborhoods and agree walkability should be considered by the ICCSD within its Diversity Policy.

However, attempts by the City to have the District guarantee enrollment in elementary schools for students living a specified distance from schools places the interest of the City in walkable neighborhoods above the District's responsibility for creating equitable learning environments for all students and risks hampering the flexibility the District may need to fulfill its responsibility. We urge the City to instead develop robust programs to address imbalances in economic diversity and thereby achieve the ICCSD's diversity policy goals and the City's comprehensive plan goals by providing a mix of housing and incomes within all neighborhoods and school attendance areas.

Planning and Zoning procedures leading up to the May 5 memo

At the Commission meeting ofMay 1, under the "Other" part of the meeting agenda, a member of the Commission proposed that the Commission ask the Council to communicate with the ICCSD for the purpose of including a walkability provision in the District's diversity policy. During the discussion that followed we voiced the viewpoint that any walkability concept should be compatible with the District diversity policy. Other Commission members talked about various other issues, including a concern that walkability not trump diversity. No motion was made so there was no vote on the proposal to communicate to the Council. The discussion ended with the staff agreeing to draft a possible memo to Council. The "walkability clause" proposed in the May 5 memo to you was not introduced at the meeting and in our view the clause is not consistent with the tone and content ofthe discussion at the meeting. We say again, we do not support the clause as it appears in the May 5 memo and we would not have voted for the clause had it been put before us.

Respectfully,

Charlie Eastham

John Thomas 2

Marian Karr

From: Sent: To: Cc:

Subject:

May 13,2014 To: Tom Markus

ictheobald@mchsi.com Tuesday, May 13, 2014 12:49 PM Tom Markus eastham@mchsi.com; Tuyet Dorau; Patti Fields; Sally Hoelscher; Brian Kirschling; Chris Lynch; Jeff McGinness; Marla Swesey; Stephen Murley; Council; Ann Freerks; John Thomas; Paula Swygard; Phoebe Martin (phoebe@skogman.com); Carolyn Dyer (Carolyn-dyer@uiowa.edu) Re: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community $chool District diversity

,

From: Jodie Barry Theobald, Planning and Zoning Commission member Re: Walkability clause

I am writing to add support and agree with the concerns expressed in the memo sent by Charlie and John. While walkability should be one ofthe goals ofthe district, it should not be privileged over diversity in our schools and neighborhoods. I would not have supported the walkability clause as written in the memo. Respectfully, Jodie Barry Theobald

-----Original Message-----From: Charles Eastham To: Tom Markus Cc: Tuyet Dorau , Patti Fields , Sally Hoelscher , Brian Kirschling , Chris Lynch , Jeff McGinness , Marla Swesey , Stephen Murley , council , Ann Freerks , John Thomas , Jodie Theobald {ICTheobald@mchsi.com) , Paula Swygard , Phoebe Martin (phoebe@skogman.com) , Carolyn Dyer (Carolyn-dyer@uiowa.edu) Sent: Mon, 12 May 2014 22:16:39 -0500 {CDT) Subject: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community School District diversity policy

Date: May 12, 2014 To: Tom Markus, City Manager From: Charlie Eastham and John Thomas, members, Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission CC: Iowa City Community School District Board of Education, Stephen Murley, Superintendent of Schools, Iowa City Council, Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission Subj.: Incorporating a walkability clause into the Iowa City Community School District diversity policy

We are writing as members of the Planning and Zoning Commission to inform you that we do not agree with the "walkability clause" contained in a memo to you sent on behalf of the Planning and Zoning Commission dated May 5, 2014. The clause calls for guaranteeing attendance assignments to all elementary schools to elementary students living within a specified distance from each school.

Purpose of the ICCSD Diversity Policy

The ICCSD adopted a diversity policy in February, 2013. The policy's purpose is to "provide equitable learning environments for the students attending ICCSD" and states that "enhanced learning will be the result" of establishing the diversity goals of the policy. Prior to adopting the diversity policy the District received research reports demonstrating improvements in student learning for all students resulting from reducing socioeconomic concentrations in schools, The District is now engaged in developing attendance zones necessary to put the policy into practice. The District proposes that altering attendance zones will result in improved student learning for all students.

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Role of Iowa City in pursuing its Comprehensive Plan goals and supporting the ICCSD Diversity Policy

Iowa City has legitimate interests in establishing sustainable neighborhoods. Achieving walkable distances to common destinations is important to creating and maintaining such neighborhoods. The City also has interests in achieving actual income diversity in neighborhoods. Indeed, the lack of such economic diversity in certain neighborhoods is contributing to the need for the ICCSD to adopt a diversity policy in the first place. So we wholeheartedly support walkable, mixed income neighborhoods and agree walkability should be considered by the ICCSD within its Diversity Policy.

However, attempts by the City to have the District guarantee enrollment in elementary schools for students living a specified distance from schools places the interest of the City in walkable neighborhoods above the District's responsibility for creating equitable learning environments for all students and risks hampering the flexibility the District may need to fulfill its responsibility. We urge the City to instead develop robust programs to address imbalances in economic diversity and thereby achieve the ICCSD's diversity policy goals and the City's comprehensive plan goals by providing a mix of housing and incomes within all neighborhoods and school attendance areas.

Planning and Zoning procedures leading up to the May 5 memo

At the Commission meeting of May 1, under the "Other" part of the meeting agenda, a member of the Commission proposed that the Commission ask the Council to communicate with the ICCSD for the purpose of including a walkability provision in the District's diversity policy. During the discussion that followed we voiced the viewpoint that any walkability concept should be compatible with the District diversity policy. Other Commission members talked about various other issues, including a concern that walkability not trump diversity. No motion was made so there was no vote on the proposal to communicate to the Council. The discussion ended with the staff agreeing to draft a possible memo to Council. The "walkability clause" proposed in the May 5 memo to you was not introduced at the meeting and in our view the clause is not consistent with the tone and content of the discussion at the meeting. We say again, we do not support the clause as it appears in the May 5 memo and we would not have voted for the clause had it been put before us.

Respectfully,

Charlie Eastham

John Thomas

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Information Packet Cover SheetIP1 Council Tentative Meeting ScheduleIP2 Work Session AgendaIP3 Memo from the Asst. City Manager: Proposal for Food Truck I Cart Pilot ProgramIP4 Incorporating a walkability clause into the school district diversity policy: Memo fromPlanning and Zoning Chair; transcription of May 1 Planning and Zoning Commissionmeeting; letter from Council Member Throgmorton; Email from Planning and ZoningMembers Charlie Eastham and John Thomas; Email from Planning and ZoningCommission Member Jodie Barry TheobaldIP5 Pending Work Session TopicsIP6 Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Radio ShowIP7 Email to City Council from Erica Bried: Longfellow Walking StudentsIP8 Memo from Transportation Services Director: ALDI Bus StopIP9 Copy of letter from FEMA: Increase to Class 7 in the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS)IP10 Email to City Manager form Executive Director of Iowa City Downtown District: National PollDispels Popular AssumptionsIP11 Police Department Bar Check- April 2014IP12 Invitation: Dream Center benefit at the EnglertIP13 Invitation: Open House Housing Trust Fund of Johnson CountyIP14 Airport Zoning Commission: May 1IP15 Planning and Zoning Commission: April 3 (formal)