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Cedar Falls panel votes down Morris rezoning; next move unknown
Waterloo Iowa Courier ^ | 12/23/2015 | Pat Kinney

Posted on 12/26/2015 5:26:52 PM PST by iowamark

CEDAR FALLS | Disabled Afghanistan war veteran Taylor Morris and his wife Danielle are pondering their next move regarding building a new home on a site in northwest Cedar Falls.

The Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday voted to recommend the City Council deny the Morrises residential zoning to build their house on about 1.5 acres off North Union Road and along the Cedar River in the extreme northwest portion of the city.

The Morrises may take their proposal to the council or appeal to the city Board of Adjustment. Commissioners also urged them to present any new pertinent information that may arise from discussions with the property owner they have been working with.

Because of the zoning commission's vote, a 6-1 supermajority vote of the City Council would be required for approval, city community services manager Stephanie Houk Sheetz said. She also noted they could appeal to the city Board of Adjustment. "Given the unique lot configuration ... staff feels that the approval of a variance may be possible," a staff report to the commission said.

Taylor Morris said after the meeting he did not yet know which course of action they would take.

Most of the land around the site is zoned agricultural, undeveloped and not served by city sewers or streets. The home's proposed 1.5-acre site is much smaller than the 20-acre minimum residential lot size required in an A-1 agricultural zoning district, the site's current zoning.

The Morrises requested R-1 residential zoning for their site. The city's land use does show the area "transitioning into low density residential" in the long term, according to a city staff report. However, the Morrises noted in a request to the city, they "cannot reasonably be expected to have the required city services extended to the site," as it is cut off by railroads and the river, and the surrounding area "will not likely have services extended to it in the foreseeable future." A septic system would be installed.

"Please consider the unique situation in regard to the building site we have selected, and grant this rezoning request," the Morrises wrote. They would build an iPad-controlled "smart home" to accommodate quad-amputee Taylor's disabilities. A Navy explosive ordnance disposal expert, he lost portions of all four limbs in a May 2012 bomb blast.


TOPICS: Local News; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: cedarfalls; iowa; taylormorris; tommythistommythat; veteran
Taylor and Danielle Morris

with his father and Danielle in 2012:


1 posted on 12/26/2015 5:26:52 PM PST by iowamark
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To: iowamark

This breaks my heart.


2 posted on 12/26/2015 5:29:58 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

Why? It is zoned 20 acres and they were denied a variance.


3 posted on 12/26/2015 5:35:27 PM PST by SatinDoll (A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN IS BORN IN THE USA OF TWO USA CITIZENS)
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To: iowamark

I guess I have mixed feelings. Thems the rules. I have requested exemptions and been denied so you move on. These rules have been fought over long and hard and in some ways make sense.

On the other hand if exemptions were as common as Obama did with Obamacare, this should get one.

Should he be given an exemption because of his exemplary service? I don’t know.

The purpose of the rule is to stop building in rural areas, thus the 20 acre rule. But all the 20 acre rule does, is stop rich people form building..................

Take out the service factor, would you give him an exemption? and would it be in the news?


4 posted on 12/26/2015 5:45:08 PM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: iowamark

Build where you want, how you want, get your friends to help defend the place. It truly is the American way. Too bad the nation is now so mortified of freedom that they celebrate the restrictions. It reminds me of my friends who smoke cigarettes, praising laws against smoking in bars. A majority of people will leave their beers and things behind and step outside for a smoke, and tell you “it really is the best thing”...... IDIOTS ..... Freedom means the bar owner can choose what he allows, patrons can choose what place they go, and a third party has no say in it. Yes, and that includes a liquor license.


5 posted on 12/26/2015 5:58:00 PM PST by Glad2bnuts (Go Cruz GO, scare the RINO's to death)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
The home's proposed 1.5-acre site is much smaller than the 20-acre minimum residential lot size required in an A-1 agricultural zoning district, the site's current zoning.
He should have got the "hot wife" special zoning approval, probably the zoning commission is loaded with bulldagger feminists.


6 posted on 12/26/2015 7:50:09 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Yes, of course I'm not serious all the time.)
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To: iowamark

I wonder what the percolation test was for that land. It has to be a septic tank and a well from the article. 1.5 acres is marginal for land with good percolation if it has a well on it.

The city around here changed the rules (which required 10 acres for a septic tank) down to one acre about 15 or 20 years ago. They have had nothing but problems with septic tanks polluting downstream homes in that area. Lots of lawsuits. They upped the acreage recently for new construction with septic tanks and wells. I think it is 5 acres now.

Keep in mind that septic tanks can get by with less land if the water is pumped in in a pipe, but it does not sound like that is the case here.


7 posted on 12/26/2015 8:37:27 PM PST by jim_trent
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To: PeterPrinciple

The purpose of the rule is to violate peoples property rights. These people who support these rules have one thing in common, they believe the purpose of a local government is to collect taxes and provide for it’s employees. The last thing they care about is individual rights.


8 posted on 12/27/2015 3:24:10 AM PST by Mark was here ("The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam" - Obama.)
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To: iowamark

if some ragheads wanted a mosque there, it would be ok.


9 posted on 12/27/2015 3:27:23 AM PST by Palio di Siena
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