Community Notes: Lots happening in Charles City, now and coming soon

By Steven Diers, City Administrator, Charles City

Hello everyone. At any one time there are any number of projects or planning going on in the city. Here are some of the highlights of what is happening now.

Housing and “Thriving Communities” Designation:

You’ve heard about this and things are really busy right now in terms of working with housing developers in doing an affordable housing project in Charles City. We’ve been working with about five developers on a potential project as the tax credits (Low Income Housing Tax Credits) are a significant incentive for them.

At this point the potential projects appear to be from three different developers looking at four different properties around town.

Some would need Planning & Zoning Commission review and ultimately City Council approval to change zoning, and those processes are starting. None of them will finish zoning changes until after the developers make application to the state in April.

Out of all of this only one developer max will be awarded tax credits for the affordable housing round. Once we know who that selection is, we will look to move forward with completing any zoning change, the developer would look to secure the property and ultimately construction would start in 2025.

All projects being proposed are multi-family housing units i.e. apartment/townhome style construction.

We also have started having a couple of conversations with “market rate” or “workforce” housing developers. We were awarded tax credit bonus points for those tax credits as well, and that application is due in June.

These conversations have been early but also have revolved around multi-family housing style development. We have the need for all types and styles of housing. We’re hoping to find a developer to do some single-family style development too.

We’re looking and trying various approaches to growing our housing stock in Charles City.

Home at Shaw Avenue by WRRF:

The city has been working closely with an individual who is acquiring the three bedroom home out by the wastewater plant that the city acquired when we purchased ground for the WRRF expansion.

This summer they will be moving that home to a vacant lot that the city had acquired when the nuisance structure was taken down. This provides needed housing, makes use of a great home, eliminates the on-going maintenance the city had to provide and adds one more home to the housing stock.

Tax Abatement for new construction & additions:

The program is in place and available. If you’re looking to build a new home or an addition to a property that will add at least 10% to the taxable value, then complete the tax abatement form that will come with your building permit.

Once in place you will receive 10 years of 100% tax abatement on the new value. All value that can be abated will be, but know that there is some amount that cannot be abated by law.

Wildwood Clubhouse:

The city completed our recent capital improvement plan (CIP) process in the fall of 2023. One of the major items on the list was to determine what to do with Wildwood Clubhouse and a project was generally slated for fiscal year 2028.

What we do for a project is the question. Wildwood Clubhouse is an iconic structure and needs some significant repairs made to keep it a viable structure.

Do we rebuild what we currently have, build new, or take it down and do something else? These are all questions that will need to be answered.

The early reviews show that it would likely cost more to save the current structure than it would to build new. Is that the case? Are there other options available? Perhaps so.

It is certain to be a long discussion and the City Council is open to looking at all possibilities. We’ll probably need to have more investigative work done, but the overall review process has begun.

North Main Street Project/Charley Western Trail Extension:

Two of the major projects this summer will be the repaving and realignment of North Main Street as it makes connection to North Grand Avenue. We are also looking to extend the Charley Western Bike Trail from where it suddenly stops at the intersection of F Street without any means to connect back to the trail or give direction on where to go next.

As we look to build on amenities, this has often been cited as a problem that needs to be addressed. Now, with help from IDOT Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) we have been awarded funds to help extend the trail from F Street to North Grand.

We’ve obtained easement from the railroad to extend the trail west along their property from F Street to D Street where it will then connect to 11th Avenue at the intersection of D Street. From there this project takes it along the south side of 11th Avenue past the recently moved train depot and to North Grand.

Then the North Main Street project will pick up the Charley Western Trail from there and it will go through the green space on the north side of the area, directing trail users ultimately to Johnson Street to head toward the river where it ultimately connects back into the trail system off of Riverside Drive.

City Hall/PD building work:

Also in our capital improvement plan we discussed doing maintenance work and improvements to the City Hall and  Police Department building.There are issues that come with a 50-year-old building.

There are all sorts of maintenance issues, addressing lack of ADA accessibility, addressing safety concerns as well as making the most out of the space we have that need to be considered.

Over the years there has been discussion of moving City Hall and/or the Police Department from the current location. I think that would be unlikely. The best approach appears to be doing what we can with the money available to get the most out of the current facility.

It is a real challenge when you have an event such as the 1968 tornado. We now we have many more than 50-year-old structures with a number of them publicly owned that need some help all at the same time. It makes addressing these buildings difficult when they all come due at once.

Spring Clean-Up 2024:

We’ve set the dates for spring cleanup 2024 and it will run from April 20th to April 27th. Similar to last year, you will have from Saturday to Saturday to drop off a truckload of items at the Shaw Avenue Dump. Flyers with details will be coming out soon in the newspaper.

Charles City Facebook Page: 

Search for: Charlescity50616 to find the City Facebook Page. We regularly update here for various happenings and city news.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please let us know at City Hall. My email is: steven.diers@cityofcharlescity.org or you can give me a call at: 641-257-6300.

Have a great day!