IOWA CITY
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved the vacation of a portion of 530 th Street SW during its formal voting session May 12.
The action, requested months ago by …
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IOWA CITY
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved the vacation of a portion of 530th Street SW during its formal voting session May 12.
The action, requested months ago by landowners with property located along the 530th, transfers the roadway to property owners and takes it off the county’s roads system. The affected portion of 530th Street SW begins at its intersection with Hazelwood Avenue SW, located north of Kalona, and goes east for less than a mile.
Another portion of 530th, beginning at its intersection with Sharon Center Road SW and heading west, is still in the county system as a “Level B” dead-end road. It begins as a dirt road, then turns into rocks and then a field as it goes west to the portion that is now vacated.
A number of landowners requested the county vacate the road in February, but the decision was tabled when several cycling enthusiasts from Bike Iowa City and elsewhere voiced their opposition to the county letting go of any “Level B” road because those are the roads cyclists like to use for rides and racing events.
Since the public hearing, the county’s Secondary Roads Department has been organizing a working group representing cyclists and landowners so that recreational cycling along such properties is still possible.
Also at its formal session, the board approved a preliminary and final plat for Jenn Bayertown Second Subdivision, located west of Hills on the south side of Bayertown Road SW in Sharon Township. The action creates a two-lot subdivision consisting of one residential lot and one outlot.
The board also approved a rezoning from agricultural to residential and a final plat for Calkins Ridge Subdivision, splitting out one buildable lot and an outlot over 1.99 acres. The property is located north of Black Diamond Road SW and west of Calkins Avenue SW, northwest of Frytown.
At its May 11 work session, the board heard an update from OPN Architects of Iowa City on the proposed renovations for Johnson County’s administration building, Health & Human Services building and Ambulance & Medical Examiner Building. The extensive upgrades could cost $28.8 million.
The project, which is now in the design stage, is slated to go into 2027. The work will include redesigns and renovations inside the buildings, new plaza and walking areas outside the buildings, an all-glass vestibule with an elevated outside seating area at the Health & Human Services building, and multiple ADA improvements.
“This is really transformational for us” as county employees, said Ray Forsythe, Special Projects Manager.