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Pella council clears multiple rezoning requests, amends zoning map and adopts updated building and electrical codes
Summary
Council held public hearings and approved first readings and several ordinances including apartment and industrial rezoning requests, an institutional zoning amendment for Pella Regional Health Center, and adoption of the 2021 International Building and Residential Codes and the 2020 National Electric Code.
Pella’s City Council advanced a slate of land-use and code items at Monday’s meeting, moving multiple rezoning requests through public hearing and first-reading steps and adopting updated building and electrical codes.
Zoning: Staff presented and the council held public hearings on several rezoning applications. Items included rezoning several parcels from agricultural (A1) to two-family residential (R2) and multi-family (R3) to support planned housing development; a request to rezone property to limited light industrial (M1) to accommodate industrial development; and a conditional rezoning to expand institutional zoning along Monroe Street for proposed P Regional Health Center expansion. Planning & Zoning had unanimously recommended approval for multiple items at a prior meeting. Several conditional rezoning approvals included a 12-month final-plat deadline and conditions tied to fire-flow and water-service infrastructure pending evaluation by the regional water provider.
Codes: Council also moved to adopt updated construction codes. By roll-call votes, the council repealed local chapters adopting the 2015 codes and placed on first reading (and subsequently set aside rules for final readings) the 2021 edition of the International Building Code and International Residential Code, and the 2020 edition of the National Electric Code, to be ready for the 2025 construction season. Staff noted an estimated average build-cost increase of roughly $2,000 per new home tied to updated safety requirements but framed the updates as safety improvements.
Other ordinance actions: The council granted first readings or adopted ordinances that amend boundaries for multiple zoning districts (R2, R3, M1 and institutional) and authorized procedural steps to note ordinance numbers on the official zoning map.
Next steps: Conditional rezoning approvals require final plats or additional site planning steps within stipulated timeframes; code-adoption actions will be published and communicated to local builders and inspection staff.
