Charles City’s new comprehensive plan nearing finish line

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” exclaimed “Doc” Brown in the 1985 hit movie “Back to the Future.”

But the fact is, cities still need roads 30 years later and the future is now for Charles City. 

That future — how the city will develop — is broken down in detail in the city’s comprehensive plan, which will be reviewed once again by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

“We’re laying out our road map for the next 10 to 15 years,” said Charles City Administrator Steve Diers. “It is a big deal. It’s a pretty important base document for any community.”

Should the P&Z board recommend approval of the plan, it will then be brought to the City Council and deliberation will begin on whether to approve the proposed outline for city development.

“For the most part we’re going to lean on this as we move forward,” said Diers.

The most recent comprehensive plan for Charles City was an update in 2002 written by Veenstra and Kimm Inc.

The P&Z Commission held a public hearing on Oct. 22 where Myrtle Nelsen and Matt O’Brien of NIACOG (North Iowa Area Council of Governments) broke down the plan. NIACOG, along with the city, helped author the plan.

With a little over two months left in 2018, passage of the plan is something that Diers hopes can get done soon.

“I’d like to think that we’re going to be able to do that here before the end of the calendar year,” he said.

The plan has been in the works for more than three years, but progress was slowed because of the flood that took place in the fall of 2016 and the shifting of focus to recovery and reconstruction.

The planning process is now back up to speed and ready to move forward, Diers said.

NIACOG conducted four separate focus groups as part of putting together information for the plan. NIACOG also conducted a community survey where Diers said there were more than 750 responses — almost 10 percent of Charles City’s 7,652 population.

Diers said the survey demographics were like a bell curve, with an even balance of youth and older members of the population.

“Myrtle (Nelson) was really impressed with how much community participation we had,” Diers said.

NIACOG also presented the draft plan at community events like Party in the Park where residents could ask questions and find out more details.

Just what is entailed within the plan?

“All of our decisions — how areas are zoned, how land is utilized,” Diers said. “You use this to make determinations on planning, zoning, code, city policy. All will come back to this document.”

The focus groups selected several priority strategies in the plan such as restaurant recruitment, bike trail development, faster broadband internet and the creation of a new events or community center.

A need for improved housing, the relocation of the fire station out of the floodplain, and technical skills training for jobs such as welding, plumbing and electrical were also mentioned.

Expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which is scheduled to begin in 2019, is also touched on in the plan. The equalization basin will be able to handle flows of up to 6.1 million gallons of water.

The plan is also a prospectus on what the future may hold for business, residential and industrial areas in Charles City.

The Code of Iowa provides the basis for city planning and empowers cities to plan and regulate their physical development. The plan’s development is guided by Iowa’s 10 Smart Growth and Sustainable Principles:

1. Collaboration.
2. Efficiency, transparency and consistency.
3. Clean, renewable and efficient energy.
4. Occupational diversity.
5. Revitalization.
6. Housing diversity.
7. Community character.
8. Natural resource and agricultural protection.
9. Sustainable design.
10. Transportation diversity.

Diers took over as city administrator in Charles City in March 2014. Prior to coming here he was city manager in Independence, working on that community’s comprehensive plan. 

“We were actually working through it when I took the job here. I didn’t make it to the finish line. They finished without me,” said Diers.