Planning panel approves rezoning for small commercial uses at 52030 Fifth Street

The Des Moines Planning and Zoning Committee on Sept. 18 voted to recommend rezoning a property at 52030 Fifth Street from an NX3 neighborhood mixed district to an RX2 mixed‑use district and to amend PlanDSM from high‑density residential to community mixed use. Planning staff presented the request and recommended approval, saying the existing one‑story building is suited to “small scale commercial users” such as offices, salons or studios.

Planning staff member Sriyoshi Chakraborty said the building has been vacant, previously housed a hair salon and a massage studio, and once operated as a small church that triggered a code enforcement case; because the structure has been vacant it “has lost its legal nonconforming use.” Chakraborty also told the committee that some future uses would require full site compliance, and that an assembly or place of worship would trigger full compliance requirements.

Applicant Caroline Metzger told the committee the space already functions as offices and that approval would allow the owner to “open up the individual offices.” Metzger said there are about five offices upstairs and “ample parking in the back,” and that she did not foresee meaningful changes to traffic or operations from the current condition.

Resident and property owner Dana Lovett spoke in opposition. Lovett identified herself as the owner of a large adjacent parcel and said the properties immediately surrounding the site are primarily residences. She told the committee the notice area included mostly multifamily or residential addresses and said she worried about “extra traffic” and disruption to tenants, and that she had not heard “an articulate answer” about what future businesses might occupy the space.

After public comment the committee closed the hearing, discussed the item and took a vote. The committee’s motion passed. The transcript does not record the mover, seconder or a vote tally. The committee’s approval is a recommendation to the Des Moines City Council, which holds the final decision on rezonings and PlanDSM amendments.

Staff files show a small number of written comments were received: two in support and one in opposition, though Chakraborty said those counts are small relative to the number of notices mailed. Chakraborty noted the property sits within a community node along the Ingersoll Avenue corridor, an area the staff described as a mix of higher‑density housing and commercial uses.