The Dubuque Zoning Advisory Commission on Sept. 3 voted to recommend that the City Council rezone a 0.53‑acre parcel at West 30 Second Street from R1 (single‑family residential) to OR (office‑residential) with conditions, sending the matter to council for final action on Sept. 15. The owners, Rick and Sherry Ehrlich, and their representative, Patrick Norton of Biesing & Associates, presented a site concept and agreed to limit permitted uses.

The rezoning matter was remanded to the commission by City Council after an earlier 0–5 commission vote; the applicants returned with a conditional rezoning proposal and additional neighborhood outreach. “Office residential would provide a good transition and a good buffer between the higher uses right on the other side of the overpass bridge to this land,” said Patrick Norton, the applicant’s agent, while presenting a layout that would keep a single office building facing the arterial and a residential appearance along West 30 Second.

Neighbors who spoke at the public hearing generally favored the applicants’ preferred option A (a single office building that could later revert to a single‑family residence) over alternatives that would subdivide the lot into two parcels or allow multiple accessory dwellings. “A minimum. That means I could build a village in my backyard if I so pleased,” said resident Joni Heitzman, describing concerns prompted by the new state accessory dwelling unit law and why she and others prefer the single‑building option with conditions limiting uses.

City planning staff clarified the legal context. “The new state code … does not require that either the single family residence or the accessory dwelling unit be occupied by a property owner or by family,” Associate Planner Sheena Moon told the commission, summarizing the state law that preempts local ADU restrictions and allows units up to 1,000 square feet or 50 percent of the primary unit, whichever is larger. Moon said the law has increased the potential density on otherwise single‑family lots and that the applicants are offering conditions to remove many OR uses, leaving only general office and the ability to convert an existing structure to a single‑family residence.

Staff and the city engineer recommended one point of access to reduce safety issues on the curved section of West 30 Second. The applicants estimated traffic from the proposed 2,000‑square‑foot realtor’s office at about 14 trips per day, and noted that the lot could be split under current R1 rules but that the owners preferred the conditional rezoning to avoid the more intensive residential layouts depicted in the alternative concepts. The conditional proposal also includes limits on signage and a commitment to landscaping intended to shield adjacent houses.

Following discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval; the recorded vote during the meeting included commissioners voting in favor with one abstention. The recommendation will be heard by the City Council on Sept. 15, where the final rezoning decision will be made.

If City Council approves the conditional rezoning, subsequent development would require site plan review for the office use; conversion to single‑family use would be limited to the structure on the lot. The commission noted that landscaping, setbacks (a 20‑foot minimum front yard was cited), and access could be further conditioned during council consideration or in later site plan review.