Rod Sullivan, Supervisor, Johnson County, Iowa

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SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

February 7, 2014

Sullivan’s Salvos     2/11/14




In this edition:


*Congrats CCA!
*Swisher Mayor
*Inclusionary Zoning
*Voting in Schools
*Bowl For Kids’ Sake
*Did You Know?




*Congrats CCA!
         Congratulations to Clear Creek Amana on passing a $48 million dollar bond issue. The City of Tiffin is booming, and having a new elementary school there makes a lot of sense.

         Meanwhile, a tip of the cap to all the folks (past and present) who have helped to manage this fast-growing school district! You have done a remarkable job of handling all these challenges! Be proud, CCA!




*Swisher Mayor
         In other electoral news, Chris Taylor was elected to the vacant Mayor’s position in Swisher.

         I do not know Mr. Taylor, but I have some friends who think very highly of him. I do know that he will need help!

         There is much discord in Swisher right now, and one person cannot fix it. Here is to hoping that the people of Swisher step up to the challenge, get involved, and smooth things out.




*Inclusionary Zoning and Johnson County
         You have heard me speak at length about inclusionary zoning. Inclusionary zoning is an ordinance requiring that a set percentage of new housing be affordable.

No municipality in Johnson County currently has inclusionary zoning, though it has been discussed for over 25 years. During that time frame, most of the affordable housing clustered in 4-5 pockets throughout the metro area. Meanwhile, new developments avoided building any affordable housing at all.

Now we are in a housing crisis. The people who work here simply cannot afford to live here. Those that have located affordable housing find themselves all in the same couple neighborhoods.

The cities can go a long ways toward fixing this problem by simply adopting inclusionary zoning. That will require that new affordable housing be added to the market, and spread it wherever development takes place.

There is no cost to the cities; developers simply earn a bit less on each development. Why cities cannot simply do this is beyond me.

While inclusionary zoning is very important for our cities, it is not a good fit for Johnson County. “What’s that?” you say? How can it be good for the cities but not the county?

This sounds like a cop out if you stop listening right there. But the situation can easily be explained.

         The county Land Use Plan calls for the protection of agricultural land first and foremost, followed by the protection of sensitive areas. Residential growth is extremely limited and directed. Commercial and industrial development is even more limited, and must specifically serve the surrounding area.

         We aren’t looking to do much housing, period. Rural housing only takes place in a couple of cases. One is farms, which are allowed to “split” off one lot for development, ostensibly to allow a child to return to the farm.

Another case where development is allowed is certain areas that are already zoned. Purchasing development rights in those cases would be incredibly cost prohibitive.

The final situation where development is allowed are the designated “growth areas”. This exists to funnel development into a small area, leaving the rest of the county to farms and natural areas.

So again, the county does not do much housing, period. Affordable housing in the rural areas is the worst possible plan.

         Affordable housing does not work when it is isolated out in the county, away from public transportation. (See Regency Mobile Home Park for an example.)

Affordable housing does not work when there is no public water supply. (See Regency Mobile Home Park for an example.)

         Affordable housing does not work when there is no public sewer system. (See Regency Mobile Home Park for an example.)

Affordable housing does not work when it is isolated out in the county, away from fire and police protection. (See Regency Mobile Home Park for an example.)

         Those four factors are critical to any successful affordable housing project. If you lack any one of these things, affordable housing will not be successful. All four factors are missing in rural Johnson County.

Johnson County does this zoning thing pretty darn well. If you do not believe me, ask the experts at the UI Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Johnson County is closer to the “best practices” in land use planning than any county in Iowa.

Johnson County could have spent the last 25 encouraging rural housing development. We have not done so, thereby leading to tremendous housing growth where we want it – in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin, Solon, etc.

         Johnson County could have spent the last 25 encouraging rural commercial development. We have not done so, thereby leading to tremendous commercial growth where we want it – in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin, Solon, etc.

Johnson County could have spent the last 25 encouraging rural industrial development. We have not done so, thereby leading to solid industrial growth where we want it – in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin, Solon, etc.

         I’m incredibly proud of the way we do land use planning in Johnson County. I stand by it, and I stake my reputation on it. I will gladly discuss it with anyone at any time.

         Inclusionary zoning? Yes, absolutely – in our cities. That is what makes sense.




*Voting in Schools
         There is a move afoot by some administrators in the ICCSD to prevent the Auditor’s Office from using schools as polling places.

         This proposal makes me so angry I could scream! I hope the ICCSD Board does not buy into this line of thinking. More importantly, I hope our Legislators step in and prevent overzealous school administrators from unnecessarily harming our democracy!
        
         Why is this so bad? Let me count the ways!

1.   This is fear mongering, plain and simple. There are ZERO cases of voters harming children at school on Election Day. Period. Pretending that this is a threat is misleading at best. One could even argue that the increased number of adults present makes the children safer!

2.   Administrators do not own these buildings. The public does. How DARE a principal (who is just putting in his 3 years until he can move to a newer building) tell a 50-year resident of the neighborhood that it is not her building? Her kids went there. Her taxes paid for it. It belongs to her!

3.   Taking away school buildings will make elections more costly, and make voting more difficult. Do we really want those outcomes?

4.   Election Day is a PRICELESS educational opportunity! How can we expect to educate the next generation of citizens unless we teach them what citizenship means?

I sincerely hope the ICCSD will do some sort of resolution instructing their administrators to cooperate with the Auditor’s Office. If you feel the same way, contact ICCSD Board members!




*Bowl For Kids’ Sake
         We are once again Bowling For Kids’ Sake to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County.

         BBBS is a great organization that helps hundreds of children across Johnson County. Please consider making a pledge to this very worthy organization.

         You can donate online by visiting the BBBS website at: http://bbbsjc.kintera.org/  or, just come out and join us at 1:15 on Sunday, March 2nd at Colonial Lanes.




*DID YOU KNOW?  Inclusionary zoning is mandated by law for every city in New Jersey, and has been since 1985.



Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-

"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.

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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!

---Rod






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