Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting

Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting August 27, 2025 Cedar Falls, Iowa MINUTES The Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission met in regular session on August 27, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The following Commission members were present: Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen, and Watkins. Henderson and Stalnaker were absent. Karen Howard, Planning and Community Services Manager, Michelle Pezley, Planner III and Chris Sevy, Planner II were also present. 1.) Chair Hartley noted the Minutes from the August 13, 2025 regular meeting are presented. Sorensen made a motion to approve the Minutes as presented. Grybovych seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. 2.) The first item of business was consideration of the Cedar Falls Park Master Plan. Chair Hartley introduced the item and Ms. Pezley provided background information. She noted that Jodi Rader from HKGI was available for questions. Ms. Pezley discussed the community engagement that has taken place during the feedback phase of the project and spoke about the things discussed at meetings. She provided an overall summary of revisions since the draft plan was released to the public and spoke about implementation of the plan. Grybovych thanked staff and the consultant for their work on the Plan. Hartley spoke about the positive impact of parks and their effect on the community. Grybovych made a motion to approve the item. Alberhasky seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. 3.) The next item for consideration by the Commission was Zoning Code Text Amendments regarding parking requirements for studio and one-bedroom apartments. Chair Hartley introduced the item and Mr. Sevy provided background information. He explained that an application was submitted requesting a parking requirement change. The current code can cause sites to be overparked since one-bedroom and studio apartments require 2 parking spaces per unit. Mr. Sevy provided reasons to reduce the parking requirement. He discussed what other cities are doing regarding these parking requirements, showing that Cedar Falls has higher parking requirements than other cities in Iowa. He used the Cedar West Apartments as a practical example for why the reduced parking requirements is needed. Mr. Sevy discussed the proposed solutions, and summarized the amendments. He explained that the applicant was present. Staff recommends that the Commission hold a public hearing, discuss and make a recommendation to City Council. Moser asked about any potential differences between the size of the apartment/studio that would affect the parking. Mr. Sevy explained that there was one city that based their parking on the size of the apartments, so were not included in the comparison. All other cities all had parking based on the number of units or the number of bedrooms. Chair Hartley opened the public hearing. There was no public comment during the hearing. Watkins made a motion to approve the amendments. Alberhasky seconded the motion. The 1  motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. 4.) The next item for consideration by the Commission was Zoning Code Text Amendments regarding land use permits. Chair Hartley introduced the item and Mr. Sevy provided background information. Chair Hartley introduced the item and Mr. Sevy provided background information. He gave a brief review as the item was discussed at the last meeting, explaining that the land use permit requirement is insufficiently and inconsistently defined in the Zoning Ordinance. It was discussed by City Council last September and staff is proposing to clearly define in the Code the requirement to obtain a land use permit. He discussed the proposed solution, noting the summary of changes. Staff recommends that the Commission hold a public hearing, discuss and make a recommendation to City Council. Chair Hartley opened the public hearing. There was no public comment. Grybovych made a motion to approve the amendments. Johnson seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. 5.) The next item for consideration by the Commission was Zoning Code Text Amendments regarding accessory dwelling units. Chair Hartley introduced the item and Mr. Sevy provided background information. He gave a brief recap of the information provided at the last meeting regarding these amendments and the State Law that has created a need for said amendments. He explained the proposed solution providing a summary of changes. Staff recommends that the Commission hold a public hearing, discuss and make a recommendation to City Council. Watkins asked about the utility requirements regarding whether it needs to be metered separately if it is beyond a specific size. Mr. Sevy explained that according to the State Law, separate utility lines cannot be required unless there is not a way to separate the metering. Sorensen made an original motion to approve the code amendments. Watkins seconded the motion. Moser commented that she doesn’t agree with the increase in the number of bedrooms to two since the State has limited the local government’s ability to regulate the size of the ADUs in that they can be larger than the principal dwelling. Limiting it to one bedroom will help keep these in keeping with the idea of an accessory dwelling. She asked if she could amend the motion accordingly. Howard indicated that she could make that motion and it would be up to the Commission to vote on the amended motion. made a motion to amend the ordinance to limit accessory dwellings to one-bedroom. Moser made a motion to amend the proposed ordinance to limit accessory dwellings to one- bedroom. Alberhasky seconded the motion. The motion failed with 3 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Moser) and 4 nays (Hartley, Johnson, Sorensen, Watkins). The Commission then voted on the original motion to approve the code amendments as presented by staff. The motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. 6. As there were no further comments, Sorensen made a motion to adjourn. Moser seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously with 7 ayes (Alberhasky, Grybovych, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen and Watkins), and 0 nays. The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. 2 Respectfully submitted, Karen Howard Joanne Goodrich Community Services Manager Administrative Assistant 3