The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission denied an application to build a new home in a historic district in Mount Vernon.
The commission was denying the request because of a tight time table turn around and not enough information on the project to proceed forward.
Eric Gutschmidt, a developer from Cedar Rapids, was proposing a new home in the Ash Park Historic District in Mount Vernon.
Gutschmidt has built more than 60 Craftsmen home remodels in historic districts in Cedar Rapids, and has been venturing into other communities.
He was using funding from Community Development Block Grants (CBDG) to increase the amount of low to moderate income funding streams in communities.
The state is offering more than $58 million for affordable housing options using CBDG funding. There are a ton of strings attached, but the goal is to increase low to moderate income housing by more than 350 units in communities.
Gutschmidt was looking to start spurring conversations in Mount Vernon in developing low to moderate income housing options. He approached the historic preservation commission with a design for a craftsman home to be built in the Ash Park Neighborhood. The home would have been a duplex, with rent caps set at roughly $1,475 to $1,485 for the next 15 years. The lot cost would be $80,000, and additional funding could come from Mount Vernon’s tax incremental funding. The building he is proposing would have tight construction costs and being a president of the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association in Cedar Rapids, he understood developing in a historic district would have more requirements than usual that might make the budget untenable.
Gutschmidt needed a letter of support for the project from the commission ahead of a late December deadline for the project to move forward.
Commission member Guy Booth said that the commission would be willing to work with developers to find support and work within their budget if it didn’t harm the rest of the historic district, but the commission needed more detailed plans than were provided.
Items that would need work on the project included the building façade and trim around windows, as well as an exterior porch that would help the building blend in with others in the Ash Park neighborhood. Gutschmidt said the porch proposed would increase the project by $15 to $20,000 alone.
Commission member Duane Eash said he was uncomfortable with the project moving forward as it stands, as there wasn’t enough information or detail to show the building wouldn’t detract from the historic district.
“At this point, it feels like we’re fighting upward to get something done just to do the project,” Eash said. “It could drastically change between the rough plans we have now and what is finally constructed, and that’s not something we can sign off on.”
Commission president Suzette Astley asked if it would be possible to get more detailed plans on the proposed building by the Dec. 14 meeting.
Gutschmidt said that he wasn’t sure if that would work in the timeframe. He was looking to start a conversation on development in the community, and city staff directed him to historic preservation with this first site.
Astley said that the commission, while supportive of development moving forward and understanding the need for low to moderate income housing, couldn’t approve the design in its current standing, as it would potentially damage the historic district.
Booth also recommended Gutschmidt would approach or talk to the Mount Vernon Housing Commission to find areas they would recommend for potential development.
Gutschmidt said he will continue working with city administrator Chris Nosbisch, mayor Tom Wieseler and Linn County’s Charlie Nichols on other development, as he viewed this as the start of a bigger discussion for the city.