Iowa
Julián Castro, Democratic candidate for president and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, chose a side regarding the controversial rezoning proposal making its way through the Des Moines City Council.
Des Moines Register
The city of Des Moines is working on a new zoning code intended to ease the process of developing homes. The proposed regulations have triggered warnings from affordable housing advocates as well as local and nation home builders.
Des Moines Register
"Urban Green Spaces" is informative, even for practitioners, and a good read, according to a book review by L.A. County park planner Clement Lau.
UrbDeZine
For four years, the city has worked to make public projects compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Rather than granting an extension, the Department of Justice says it is closing the case.
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)
President Trump made good on his promise last October to lift the E15 ban in time for the summer driving season. Not mentioned by the Des Moines Register are the downsides to allowing the higher ethanol blend to be sold during the summer, e.g., smog.
Los Angeles Times
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that found that the Iowa Utilities Board was justified in giving the private owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline the use of eminent domain. Climate change was considered in the ruling.
Des Moines Register
The city of Des Moines is hoping to update its zoning code for the first time since 1965.
Des Moines Register
A new law, signed by Governor Kim Reynolds this week, will require extra steps of local officials before they can raise property taxes in the state of Iowa.
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Cities across the country are developing floodplain construction standards that are more stringent than those required by FEMA.
Inside Climate News
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Jingoli Power, and Siemens Financial Services are pitching underground electricity transmission infrastructure for the midwest.
Des Moines Register
Feature
The plans, they are a-changin.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is part of Project Civic Access, a federal initiative to make public facilities accessible. Making the changes necessary for compliance has been challenging for the city.
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)
President Trump announced at a campaign rally in Iowa that he would lift the ban on summertime sales of a 15 percent blend of ethanol, expected to increase smog levels. Both environmentalists and the oil industry oppose the action.
PBS NewsHour
Iowa state law requires tax increment financing to sunset after 20 years. Cedar Rapids is in the process of evaluating some of its TIF districts after they expired this summer.
Cedar Rapids Gazette
The city of Cedar Rapids has traditionally struggled to generate funding for flood control projects from local sources. As flooding increases and federal support decreases, the political calculus for flood control infrastructure has changed.
The Gazette
A proposal for a facility that converts septic waste to compost will have to find another home, after a decision in Linn County, Iowa.
The Gazette
The Iowa State Supreme Court recently sided with a resident of a mobile home park over the city of Des Moines, which had worked to shut the entire mobile home park down.
Thomas Reuters Foundation
Developers are adding an unprecedented level of new multi-family residential construction. Most of the projects are examples of missing middle housing typologies.
The Gazette
New details of an ambitious infill project in Des Moines were released at the end of 2017.
Des Moines Register
Republicans and the American Civil Liberties Union back bills to ban red light and speed cameras in Iowa, while Democrats and law enforcement want to allow cities and counties to retain automated traffic-enforcement tools.
Sioux City Journal
