Charles Charles City Council pushes pause on rezoning request after learning inn hasn’t been licensed for 9 months

By Mary Pieper, Special to the Press

The Charles City Council will not consider a request from the Hartwood Inn to initiate rezoning of the property from commercial use to multi-family housing due to a number of issues – including its lack of a valid motel license.

During Wednesday’s council planning session, members expressed dismay at the recent news that the motel at 1312 Gilbert St. didn’t apply to renew its license in November 2021 but continued to operate.

“That’s not really a positive for your discussion with us tonight because we like to have people that are conscientious landlords,” council member Keith Starr told Gilbert Starble, president of Hartwood Hospitality Labs Inc., who attended the council meeting.

The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals told city staff a few weeks ago that the Hartwood Inn is operating illegally.

City Engineer John Fallis told the council on Wednesday that the DIA can’t issue injunctions for businesses that don’t have a valid license. Instead, the agency works with local officials such as the county or city attorney.

City Attorney Brad Sloter said he was waiting to proceed with legal action until after the council decided on whether to pursue Hartwood Inn’s rezoning request.

Starble admitted to having operated the motel without a license since late last fall. He said he did re-apply for a license recently, but then withdrew his application so he could focus instead on applying to the city for the rezoning change. He also said if his rezoning request is rejected, he will re-apply for a motel license.

Even before learning about the Hartwood Inn’s lack of a valid license, council members were concerned about the company’s desire to convert the motel into an apartment complex.

“It seems to me like the police calls there have been pretty excessive,” Starr said. “This has to fall under a nuisance at some point … and it can’t be positive for the neighborhood.”

Carl “Kip” Hauser, who lives within 150 feet of the motel, told the council that he and another neighbor, Pete Kloberdanz, are concerned about Hartwood Inn’s proposal to convert the property into multi-family housing.

“It was bad enough as a motel,” Hauser said. “I have not ever felt the need in the last few years the need to lock my house when I left because of people coming around. I do now, and so does Pete.”

Currently 90% of those staying at the Hartwood Inn have signed contracts for 30 days or more, according to Starble.

He said if the property were to be rezoned for multi-family housing, he would create studio or one-bedroom apartments for senior citizens and the disabled.

This segment of the population is not prone to causing problems, so it would reduce the number of police calls, according to Starble.

He said the United States is in a “near-crisis mode when it comes to the lack of affordable housing, particularly for those with disabilities and the elderly.”

The one-room apartments would be created by combining two or even three motel rooms into a single unit, according to Starble. He also plans to widen some bathroom doors to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

However, council member Patrick Lumley said Starble has not submitted an actual long-term business plan for his proposed project.

Fallis said multi-family housing is not a good use for along Gilbert Street because it is an arterial street.

However, it is entirely up to the council members to decide whether to pass a resolution at their next regular session on Monday night to forward the matter to the city’s planning and zoning commission, Fallis said.

“Frankly I’ve not heard anything that makes me feel any better about this than when I walked in here tonight,” said council member DeLaine Freeseman. “The fact that you (Starbles) know you’ve been out of compliance with your license for that long, we’re getting close to a year that you’ve been out of compliance, and I start thinking about that now becoming an apartment complex, that just doesn’t give me any warm, good feelings about this thing.”

He said he would rather support other projects, such as the one at the former middle school building, that can provide the additional apartment units the city needs.