The Des Moines City Council is working on dramatic updates to the zoning codes in downtown Des Moines with the hopes of revitalizing the downtown.
The zoning changes are just one part of an ongoing process to revitalize Des Moines that has been going on for several years.

The Des Moines Marina recently finished undergoing the largest renovation in its history. And the city is currently working with Water District 54 to upgrade the water system downtown by putting a 12-inch water line down Marine View Drive to allow for new development.

There will be two open houses before the public hearing on May 12 to give citizens an opportunity to look at the proposed changes and give their input.

The first open house will be on Saturday April 30, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Des Moines Activity Center. The second open house will be on Wednesday May 4, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the activity center.

The public hearing on the zoning code changes will be on Thursday May 12 at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

The broad goals the city wants to achieve with the new design codes are "removing development obstacles, providing more flexibility n the city's development regulations and identifying tools and incentives to spur economic development."

To that end the city is looking at going away from their prescriptive design guidelines and using a more flexible method. Councilman Matt Pina compared some of the buildings downtown, which followed the city's prescriptive design guidelines, to wedding cakes.

In that vein, being looked at is the possibility of using floor area ratios to regulate building height and how much of the lot the building covers.

For example, a building covering the entire lot could only be one story. However, if it only covered half the lot it could go up another story and so on.

One of the more controversial changes being discussed is raising the allowed building heights.

Right now the city is looking at raising the base building height on 7th Avenue to 45 feet from 35 feet.

Also being discussed are establishing height bonus areas that would allow some buildings on 7th Avenue to go to 65, and even 75 feet in certain places. Some buildings along Marine View Drive (MVD) could go to 45 feet with height bonuses.

At a previous council meeting, Pina said he wanted to start the discussion of height at 55 feet instead of 65, saying that was a height he felt the citizens would be more comfortable with.

Because of the grade between 7th Avenue and MVD buildings on 7th Avenue sit 20 feet lower than buildings on MVD.

Councilwoman Carmen Scott, at the previous meeting, expressed concerns about the building height, saying she wanted to make sure what they do remains in line with the character of the city.

However, she said she is not completely opposed to the idea of raising building heights.

The city is also looking at establishing a 20-foot setback from street corners to enhance visibility and create a pedestrian space.

Also being discussed is the possibility of turning 7th Avenue into the main street of Des Moines. 7th Avenue is within close proximity of MVD, but it handles much less traffic and has more opportunities for on street parking, making it attractive for a pedestrian main street area.

To encourage this the city is discussing not regulating where the buildings have to sit on the lot, allowing for outdoor seating etc. There would be no parking allowed between the sidewalk and the building, so a restaurant with outdoor seating would not be next to their neighbor's parking lot.