The property owned by Shane Amundson at 724 Fifth Ave. came under discussion at the Mount Vernon City Council Wednesday, Jan. 4, and will be further discussed at future council meetings.
Amundson noted he was very upset that the development on his property had been vetoed by the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission (MVHPC) in December. Amundson had been working with Eric Gutschmidt, a developer from Cedar Rapids, on a low to moderate income home to be built adjacent to his property.
“I’d visited with the board of adjustment and had a survey done on the lot and had the property separated into two lots,” Amundson said. “I went to every house within eyesight with what my plan was for development, and none of the neighbors voiced a problem with it.”
Amundson had also had the plan approved by the planning and zoning commission and the housing commission prior to the plan going through the MVHPC.
With the denial by MVHPC, however, the sale and the development plan fell through.
“This is an $80,000 jab to my wife and my property that this didn’t move forward,” Amundson said. “I have a very low chance to sell this in the future because of the publicity surrounding the denial.”
Amundson said since moving into their home, they’ve spent $30,000 making needed repairs to the historic house.
He outlined several previously allowed properties that were non-conforming to the district in the Ash Park neighborhood to the double standard he viewed.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said the decision came down to the timing of the project and a December deadline for funding from the Community Block Development Group Disaster Relief funds.
“That federal grant had a mid-December timeline,” Nosbisch said. “Amundson and the developer did not have the needed time to appeal this decision to council to determine if the building fits the best interests of the community prior to that deadline, and East Central Iowa Council of Governments wasn’t willing to move forward with this project without the MVHPC approval.”
Nosbisch said he would be happy to visit with the developer and Amundson about a potential low to moderate income housing project on the lot that could be developed, as the city has potential funding for a project like that.
“The city’s money is not on a timeline, and if the developer and Amundson are still interested, we can see if an LMI project in that space lines up,” Nosbisch said. “This project is an example of how government red tape can sometimes hinder a project. Shane had to visit with four different committees or commissions, when most projects have to go through just two. The Historic Preservation Commission was the last hurdle, but the timeline for any changes or appeals became very scrunched up to the deadline.”
Nosbisch said the city may be able to offer a forgivable loan or grant to assist with the LMI construction, but they wouldn’t be able to provide the tax credit program that might have been offered through the CBDG-DR plan.
Nosbisch said that the MVHPC doesn’t have set standards the way other boards have that says homes have to look a certain way. Mount Vernon is different than other smaller communities in having a historic preservation commission, but the commissions are required by law to oversee historical districts.
MVHPC president Suzette Astley said that she had failed to invite Amundson to the meeting, believing Gutschmidt was the owner of the lot.
“I didn’t realize that Gutschmidt’s ownership of the lot was contingent on the development of the property being approved, and we should have invited Amundson to that meeting,” Astley said. “We had no issues with it being a duplex, or the low to moderate income housing status of the project. Our issues were that the design of the building was not doing enough to blend with other buildings in the district with some aesthetic considerations.”
Astley noted that one of the homes referenced by Amundson in the district constructed in 2011, the Applebee home, included the homeowners working closely with the MVHPC on the project, including determining appropriate materials for the mission style home. The tight time table between what was proposed by Gutschmidt and those considerations not being presented again to the commission left the project stymied.
Council member Stephanie West said she felt Amundson’s frustration with the development not moving forward, that the council has made it clear LMI housing is a need in the community and that it’s hard to move those projects forward.
“I do understand where MVHPC was coming from as well with their concerns,” West said.
Council member Paul Tuerler recommended reviewing the minutes and the plans for the development and see if there’s a way for the project to move forward.
Council member Scott Rose said that one of the concerns that this process had brought up was the appeal window being 10 days when council meetings are held every two weeks. Nosbisch said making an appeal within 10 days of a decision to the council is usually enough time, it was just running into a deadline with this particular project.
Tuerler also reminded citizens when they have concerns for building issues, bringing the matter to the council is a good course of action.
“Just because an ordinance is read one way today, doesn’t necessarily mean it is right,” Tuerler said. “By bringing concerns to the right people, we can work at seeing if there’s a remedy we can provide.”
Amundson property development under discussion at Mount Vernon City Council
January 12, 2023
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.