City staff proposes rezoning 4-acre Glen Cove Road parcel to allow higher-density housing; formal public hearing to be scheduled

City planning staff on Jan. 23 asked the Independence Planning Commission whether the commission would be comfortable directing staff to consider rezoning roughly four acres on Glen Cove Road to a higher-density designation to support a proposed Polk County Community Development Coalition (Polk CDC) housing project.

"This would change the zoning along Glen Cove Road for the 4 acres associated with that, and I'm pointing to it," staff member Fred said, describing a parcel currently owned by a local landowner and located adjacent to the Legacy Oaks apartments. Fred said the state awarded the city money to assist infrastructure for a development in that corridor and Polk CDC is the consortium working with the landowner on a potential development.

Staff presented maps showing existing parcel sizes, topography and a floodplain channel that runs near the site. Fred said the current medium-density residential zone limits the site to lower-density building types (townhouses or duplexes) and that rezoning to a higher-density residential zone would raise the allowed density from about 12 units per acre to approximately 20 units per acre and permit apartment-style buildings similar to the Legacy Oaks complex north of the parcel.

Commissioners and staff discussed site constraints, including the floodplain and the project's anticipated ability to design building footprints outside the floodplain boundary. Staff also said a rezoning could simplify the approval path for Polk CDC because allowing apartments on a single site may avoid subdivision and lot-by-lot land division proceedings. "Ultimately, if we did allow this, it would allow them to go through their approvals in a much simpler way," Fred said.

Fred told the commission the city will follow the standard process for any rezoning: staff analysis, required notices and a public hearing before the commission. "I'll just run it through our normal process and all that sort of stuff, and it will come to you for a public hearing at some point in the future," he said.

Why it matters: The proposed rezoning would enable a denser housing form than currently allowed on the parcel and aims to leverage state infrastructure investment to increase unit production on a city parcel adjacent to existing apartments. No formal rezoning application was filed or voted on at the meeting; staff’s statement describes the next procedural steps.

Next steps: Staff will process the rezoning request through the city’s standard review, including public notice and a public hearing before the planning commission.