Des Moines Sun

The Johnston (Iowa) City Council discussed a proposed commercial development project during the council's Feb. 21 meeting.

City Planner Aaron Wolfe detailed some of the plans for a proposed single-story, six-tenant commercial building at 5260 Merle Hay Road. Developer Chris Christenson submitted the site plans to the city planning and zoning commission Jan. 30, and the commission gave its approval to the plan with some conditions. They included that the city council must accept some of the proposed building materials, the site plans be revised to alter their ingress and egress, as well as modifications to access on Merle Hay road.

The commission also must hear input from the city engineer and fire chief, improve the landscaping plans, and finally, submit a storm water management facilities' maintenance agreement, Wolfe said.

Council member Rhonda Martin, however, expressed concern for the look of the building, noting that the side facing Merle Hay Road wasn't very pleasing to the eye.

"It's a beautiful building and I have no issue at all with the composite materials that were presented or the metal siding," she told Wolfe. "But it's almost like the front door of this building faces south, which kind of makes sense because that's where the major traffic will come from. But the Merle Hay Road is our major road. I feel quite protective of Merle [Hay] Road."

Martin added that the road needs to be beautified and expressed concern that the proposed plan wouldn't do that.

"If you show us the east elevation area, it's kind of bland. I'm wondering if there's anything that could be done to make that look a little more appealing," she said. "And maybe the plant material could be perhaps more a four-season [kind] because the Iraqi black beauty shrubs are not evergreen."

Wolfe said the architectural material will include brick veneer, vertical metal siding and vertical composite siding, all of which have previously been accepted by city council on a case-by-case basis. Composite siding is not normally an accepted material to the degree in which it was proposed for the building.

The council also sought improvements to the handicap access points on the sidewalk and building, noting that those in a wheelchair would have to go too far to find a ramp to access. Developer representative Tom Trapp agreed to that as well as other beautification conditions.

The developers also submitted a storm water drainage plan and maintenance agreement to the city as requested. It showed a plan for drainage, including infrastructure and a parcel adjacent to the development to aid in drainage. The agreement will hold the developer liable for failure to maintain drainage systems.

The council agreed to both proposed ordinances and voted to send it back to the planning commission for final site approval.