The Des Moines City Council convened on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, for a study session focused on crucial community development projects.
Key discussions centered on the Redondo fishing pier rebuild and the redesign of the marina steps, including funding strategies, design modifications to manage costs, and the permitting process.
The council also explored the potential reinstatement of a public planning commission, examining its past iteration, potential benefits and drawbacks, and its role in city development.
This session highlighted the city’s commitment to infrastructure improvements and community engagement, while also addressing the challenges of balancing project costs and community needs.
Redondo Fishing Pier Rebuild
At the beginning of the meeting, City Manager Katherine Caffrey explained the funding sources for the Redondo pier and marina steps. The city has bond funding up to $25 million for a handful of capital improvement projects. The money can be shifted among those projects, but it cannot be used for staff salaries, public safety, or other non-capital projects. In addition, there are grants awarded to specific capital projects.
The redesign of the Redondo Pier is currently underway. This redesign should make it a bit cheaper to construct than its original design, which came in a few million over budget. This project will need to await permits, and the critical timing of those permits will determine if construction can be started this year. The Redondo waterfront restroom, currently under construction, is nearing completion and should be open in April.
Marina Steps Redesign
Council heard a presentation on “value engineering” of the marina steps project, with the aim of making the steps cost less than bids had come in for. The new design will likely remove the planned spray park, and change out some costly materials for a more economical design.
Councilmember Yoshiko Grace-Matsui said that no one she has spoken to wants to see the steps built, while Mayor Traci Buxton said nearly every person and business owner she has spoken to is in favor of the project. It was explained that “place-making” and public investment in cities can take a long time to pay off, but they help to increase quality of life for residents, build thriving businesses, and bring in tourist dollars.
Split Approval For Both Projects
Council voted 4–3 to move forward as quickly as possible to get permits and then bids to finally rebuild the long-awaited Redondo pier. In addition, they allocated $100,000 in order to value-engineer the marina steps project. It is likely that both projects will have a more competitive bidding process now, with recent market changes. It was mentioned, however, that construction costs tend to escalate faster than consumer inflation rates, so the sooner these builds are undertaken, the further city funds will go. While everyone present seemed to be in support of the Redondo pier rebuild, Councilmembers Grace-Matsui, JC Harris, and Gene Achziger voted against this motion.
Planning Commission Discussion
According to a presentation on the history and potential of a public planning commission in Des Moines, the former commission was dissolved by the council in 2013. It sounds like it was disbanded in part because of the additional staff time required to keep the commission going. The commission had seven members, serving 4-year terms, and met 4 or 5 times each year.
Besides the expense of additional staff time, one downside of having a planning commission is that it can take quite a bit longer to process development requests, so developers do not typically like them. In the last two years, there have only been 4 items that would have been under the jurisdiction of a planning commission, if one existed. Most cities the size of Des Moines do have one.
During public comments, one person said there should be a planning commission to discuss the planned demolition of the historic Masonic Home. However, according to the presenter, demo projects are not in the purview of planning commissions.
Things a planning commission would discuss include housing ordinances, ADU policies, and business park plans. If there was a planning commission, public hearings on development would be held at commission meetings, rather than in front of the council. This topic will be added to a future council meeting agenda.
