Beyond the Legionella talk, the other big topic at the Marshalltown City Council Meeting last night was the conversation around rezoning a plot of land in downtown Marshalltown. The plot is the corner of 3rd Ave. and State St. and developers would like the change from Urban Core to Mixed Use.
That is Assistant Director for Housing and Community Development, Clayton Ender. He says the Planning and Zoning Committee recommendation is to rezone this plot to Mixed Use. City Councilor Melisa Fonseca spoke out against this plan with the Planning and Zoning Committee and again last night.
Fonseca says no other business in downtown would have the drive-thru access that McDonald’s would get. She reminds the council that she is for development but the right development.
Much of the conversation was around access to McDonald’s on 3rd Ave and how that would look. That would need to be approved by the Iowa Department of Transportation as they own that stretch of 3rd Ave. as it is Highway 14. There will be a total of 3 readings on this measure. Councilor Thompson suggested tabling this topic and says he may do that in a later reading. The rezoning passed on a 5 – 2 vote with Fonesca and Thompson against.
Zach Tomesch, News Director KFJB