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Ames Planning and Zoning Commission recommends alternative landscape plan for Furniture Mart site
Summary
The commission voted to recommend Alternative 1 — an alternative landscape plan for a proposed Furniture Mart on Southeast Fifth Street — citing added shrubs and trees and a stormwater filtration device; a resident urged added sidewalk connections. The measure now goes to City Council.
The Ames Planning and Zoning Commission on March 5 recommended that the City Council approve an alternative landscape plan for a proposed Furniture Mart at Southeast Fifth Street, following a staff presentation, applicant comments and public input.
Commissioners moved to recommend "Alternative 1," and the motion passed by voice vote; Commissioner Matthew Voss made the motion and Commissioner Julie Winter seconded. The commission did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript; according to staff, the item will be considered by City Council later this month.
City planning staff told the commission the applicant has proposed shifting front-yard landscaping toward the west side of the parcel, adding extra shrubs and grasses, and relocating several parking-lot overstory trees away from the building into center islands while still meeting diversity and minimum size requirements. Staff said those changes provide additional low-growth plantings and keep landscaping visible at the site’s main entrance, and that staff can support the alternative configuration.
Roger Thompson, calling in for Furniture Mart, said the store is oriented to the west to align with neighboring anchors and that the design "will fit in well with, with the neighbors." He invited questions from the commission and said the design complements nearby Southeast Fifth Street and the south-side commercial area.
A commissioner asked about stormwater management. John Gady of Strand and Associates, the project's civil engineer, said detention facilities were constrained by an Ames ordinance that limits detention near the city's drinking-water wells, so the design instead uses an approved filtration device (referred to in the meeting as a "storm scepter") to meet water-quality code requirements. "Basically it's basically a funnel that helps separate any type of trash and debris, before it would get into our storm sewer system," Gady said.
During public comment, a resident identified only as Rod urged the commission to ensure pedestrian connections, saying "not having a sidewalk on the West Side that connects up to the Target and then to the Walmart in the South is kind of a really big missed opportunity," and noting heavy use of a nearby bus stop. Staff replied that sidewalk continuity northward is part of broader site-plan negotiations with the adjacent property owner and that current standards do not require a sidewalk from the parcel directly to Target; staff also said upgrades to the nearby bus stop are planned separately.
The commission's recommendation covers only the alternative landscape plan; staff said remaining site-plan details not related to landscaping are still being finalized with the property owner. After the commission's recommendation, the item will be forwarded to City Council for review later this month. The meeting adjourned without further action on the site plan.
Notes: the meeting transcript initially referenced the project address as 329 Southeast Fifth Street in staff materials and presentation; the motion language in the transcript later referenced 3329 Southeast Fifth Street. The record does not include a roll-call vote or a roll-call tally for the recommendation.
