Council waives sidewalk requirement for Danfoss daycare site at 2800 E. 13th

The Ames City Council approved a request from Danfoss to waive the city’s sidewalk installation requirement for a daycare facility to be built at 2800 East Thirteenth Street, after staff told council that the parcel sits inside a limited interchange right‑of‑way that makes a usable sidewalk infeasible. Kelly (staff member) explained the project’s history and said public‑works engineers concluded a pedestrian facility could not be built to a usable standard at the site given the adjacent divided arterial and interchange geometry.

Nut graf: The waiver applies only to the daycare project on Danfoss property at 2800 E. Thirteenth; it does not prevent future pedestrian improvements should the city prioritize construction of a shared‑use path or other crossing at a later date.

Staff described how the daycare was originally planned for a different parcel and that Danfoss obtained a state grant to build a new facility but that site negotiations changed the plan to place the daycare on the company’s existing industrial parcel. Ames municipal code requires construction of missing sidewalks when a new principal building is constructed; public works recommended a waiver because no practical pedestrian route or safe crossing exists at that portion of Thirteenth Street without a larger corridor project.

Council voted to approve the waiver; staff noted the waiver applies to this specific building permit and that future Danfoss improvements or a city‑led corridor project could trigger sidewalk or shared‑use path construction at a later time.

Ending: The waiver clears a permitting hurdle for the daycare project while leaving open the possibility of a pedestrian facility in the corridor if the city or Danfoss pursues a future corridor improvement.