T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development Clayton Ender tells the Plan & Zoning Commission about the planned JBS expansion, and the min-warehouse at the Marshalltown Mall. The commission recommended approval for both projects.

The Marshalltown Planning & Zoning Commission, during the regular monthly meeting on Thursday, recommended approval of two development projects which could have significant impact on the community.

The first is an expansion of the JBS distribution center at the corner of Bromley Street and North 10th Avenue, consisting of a warehouse and stormwater management facilities.

Marshalltown Assistant Director of Housing and Community Development Clayton Ender told the commission members the center would be located on the east side of North Tenth Avenue between Lee and Woodbury streets. The area is in the process of being rezoned to general industrial and Ender recommended the project not move forward until that rezoning is complete.

“Provided this moves forward from the Planning & Zoning Commission, it would be tentative for the June [Marshalltown City Council] meeting,” he said.

Commission Member Jon Boston asked for clarification that the expansion would be on an existing building, and Ender told him that was correct.

Ender did have conditions that he recommended are complete before a building permit is issued.

“Nothing really significant, just some clean-up items there,” he said. ” . . . Many of these have been addressed already, but I wanted to make sure these were captured in your motion that the plans had some minor corrections that had to be made.”

The conditions Ender recommended included:

• Placed the detention basin easement area within a stormwater detention and overland flowage easement for the benefit of the main JBS campus;

• Document compliance with off-street parking and off-street loading requirements;

• Install a sidewalk adjacent to the development site along Lee and Woodbury streets;

• Identify the proposed fence height and location;

• Increase variety of understory trees along the northeast lot’s eastern buffer and;

• Update landscaping plans to identify all required new plant materials.

Mall

For the Marshalltown Mall redevelopment project, the commissioners discussed a mini-warehouse for the facility. Ender said new mall owners Reserve Development brought the petition forward for the land to be used for a min-warehouse.

“They have provided a concept drawing for how they intend to redevelop the mall property with a potential CubeSmart interior access,” he said. “Bear in mind this zoning text memo would apply to all properties in general commercial, not only the mall, but it’s being brought forward because of current plans for the mall.”

Ender said the location is important. The mini-warehouse would be placed on the east side of the building with individual storage units to be accessed from inside the facility and no outdoor storage would be allowed. The east side lacks quality visibility from the primary road, which is a requirement of the city.

“As they’ve drafted it, it would be compliant on the east side of the facility and is not visible from the roadway,” he said.

Boston asked how a facility such as Marshalltown Self Storage on Lincoln Way was allowed, since it is fully visible from an arterial road.

Ender told him when the Lincoln Way storage facility was permitted, it was in general industrial zoning. The zone was changed to general commercial in 2022.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.