The Iowa City Council has given initial approval to rezoning the former Kirkwood Community College site, now owned by Procter & Gamble.
The vote was 6-1 on the initial rezoning, with Council Member Mazahir Salih voting no. The proposal needs to be approved in two more readings before becoming effective.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble bought the property, at 1832 Lower Muscatine Rd., for $6.4 million in February and is requesting the city rezone the 6.8 acres from neighborhood public to general industrial.
The Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the rezoning Jan. 17, but the final decision is up to the council.
Neighbors have spoken against the rezoning and possible P&G expansion, citing environmental impact, odor and possible health concerns.
Among the 10 residents addressing the council at its Tuesday night meeting was Perry Lenz, who lives near the two P&G facilities already operating in the neighborhood. He said he has asthma and his concern is that the air quality would get worse, which he said would affect a lot of people.
Also, he said, “it's a large, multiracial area, the whole area there, and it would affect a lot of the working class families.”
Council members Salih and Megan Alter suggested the council defer its vote on the rezoning, but the motion failed, 5-2.
Alter, before the vote, also proposed having residents complete a tour of P&G as a way to establish better communication.
“It's about learning from one another about what the concerns are and where there might be some mitigating factors,” she said.
Council members Andrew Dunn and Laura Bergus agreed better communication was needed.
Salih said she wanted to defer the item to get the voices of immigrants in the area, pointing out that none of them had attended meetings.
Salih, who works for the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, said the group had moved its office near the P&G plants and that she’d noticed some symptoms since that move.
Council members who voted in favor of the rezoning said they understood the complaints but believe they weren’t enough to defer the rezoning, with member Shawn Harmsen suggesting the city could put together a task force to look into the neighbors’ concerns.
Joe Townsend, site engineering leader for P&G, told the council Tuesday the company hasn’t finalized plans for the site, but the current plan is to use it to expand its Oral-B production.
The company is planning to demolish the Kirkwood buildings on the property. Townsend said P&G will turn the property into a green space until its plan is finalized.
Resident Tracy Daby showed the council a presentation about the impact a P&G expansion could have on air quality and also go against environmental justice.
Daby said she is passionate since she lives a block behind the site and experiences the smells from the two P&G plants.
Anne Marie Kraus, a 40-year resident of southeast side of the city, said the council is within its rights and should consider the rezoning from a health and environmental standpoint
“There's been a long history of previous city councils who have acted to systematically denigrate the southeast side with placements of buildings that no residents and other sections of the town tolerate,” she said.
Julia Buchkina, a doctor in Iowa City, spoke in opposition of the proposed rezoning, saying the chemicals used by existing P&G plants are volatile organic compounds, which create the odors residents are reporting.
Not all of those compounds have an odor, she said, but all are a health hazard. Besides asthma and cancer, she said, people could develop autoimmune diseases, chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome.
According to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, fine particulate matter, toxic releases to air, traffic, lead proximity, among others, are all above the 80th percentile in a 1-mile radius around the P&G plants on Lower Muscatine Rd.
When asked about odor concerns, particularly in regards to acetone, Townsend, from P&G, said the Oral-B plant uses only one to two gallons of acetone a month for the cleaning of equipment.
He also said the P&G sites in Iowa City are considered low emitters of greenhouse gases, meaning the sites emit less than 19 tons.
Not everyone spoke in opposition.
Mackenzie DeRoo, senior director of advocacy at Greater Iowa City Inc., said the organization supports the rezoning, seeing it as the first step toward further investment in the surrounding area.
“Our organization is excited by the prospect of collaborating with city leaders, Procter & Gamble, and other area businesses as well as residents to create a vision for a vibrant neighborhood supported by strategic investment as well as targeted incentive programs,” DeRoo said.
The proposed rezoning for the site would make it general industrial, which is the least intensive industrial zoning type under the city’s zoning code. The code provides regulations to protect adjacent development.
Some of the regulations speak to noise, air quality standards, and odor. For air quality, the regulation states that any emissions must comply with standards and permitting of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa EPA.
For odor, any operations or activities producing “offensive odorous matter” cannot exceed a threshold beyond zone boundary lines at ground level or habitable level.
The current zoning for the property is neighborhood public zone, which is primarily used for housing, schools, parks, fire stations and other public use.
The Iowa City Council has given initial approval to rezoning the former Kirkwood Community College site, now owned by Procter & Gamble.
The vote was 6-1 on the initial rezoning, with Council Member Mazahir Salih voting no. The proposal needs to be approved in two more readings before becoming effective.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble bought the property, at 1832 Lower Muscatine Rd., for $6.4 million in February and is requesting the city rezone the 6.8 acres from neighborhood public to general industrial.
www.thegazette.com
The vote was 6-1 on the initial rezoning, with Council Member Mazahir Salih voting no. The proposal needs to be approved in two more readings before becoming effective.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble bought the property, at 1832 Lower Muscatine Rd., for $6.4 million in February and is requesting the city rezone the 6.8 acres from neighborhood public to general industrial.
The Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the rezoning Jan. 17, but the final decision is up to the council.
Neighbors have spoken against the rezoning and possible P&G expansion, citing environmental impact, odor and possible health concerns.
Among the 10 residents addressing the council at its Tuesday night meeting was Perry Lenz, who lives near the two P&G facilities already operating in the neighborhood. He said he has asthma and his concern is that the air quality would get worse, which he said would affect a lot of people.
Also, he said, “it's a large, multiracial area, the whole area there, and it would affect a lot of the working class families.”
Council members Salih and Megan Alter suggested the council defer its vote on the rezoning, but the motion failed, 5-2.
Alter, before the vote, also proposed having residents complete a tour of P&G as a way to establish better communication.
“It's about learning from one another about what the concerns are and where there might be some mitigating factors,” she said.
Council members Andrew Dunn and Laura Bergus agreed better communication was needed.
Salih said she wanted to defer the item to get the voices of immigrants in the area, pointing out that none of them had attended meetings.
Salih, who works for the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, said the group had moved its office near the P&G plants and that she’d noticed some symptoms since that move.
Council members who voted in favor of the rezoning said they understood the complaints but believe they weren’t enough to defer the rezoning, with member Shawn Harmsen suggesting the city could put together a task force to look into the neighbors’ concerns.
Plans for site
Joe Townsend, site engineering leader for P&G, told the council Tuesday the company hasn’t finalized plans for the site, but the current plan is to use it to expand its Oral-B production.
The company is planning to demolish the Kirkwood buildings on the property. Townsend said P&G will turn the property into a green space until its plan is finalized.
Speakers
Resident Tracy Daby showed the council a presentation about the impact a P&G expansion could have on air quality and also go against environmental justice.
Daby said she is passionate since she lives a block behind the site and experiences the smells from the two P&G plants.
Anne Marie Kraus, a 40-year resident of southeast side of the city, said the council is within its rights and should consider the rezoning from a health and environmental standpoint
“There's been a long history of previous city councils who have acted to systematically denigrate the southeast side with placements of buildings that no residents and other sections of the town tolerate,” she said.
Julia Buchkina, a doctor in Iowa City, spoke in opposition of the proposed rezoning, saying the chemicals used by existing P&G plants are volatile organic compounds, which create the odors residents are reporting.
Not all of those compounds have an odor, she said, but all are a health hazard. Besides asthma and cancer, she said, people could develop autoimmune diseases, chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome.
According to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, fine particulate matter, toxic releases to air, traffic, lead proximity, among others, are all above the 80th percentile in a 1-mile radius around the P&G plants on Lower Muscatine Rd.
When asked about odor concerns, particularly in regards to acetone, Townsend, from P&G, said the Oral-B plant uses only one to two gallons of acetone a month for the cleaning of equipment.
He also said the P&G sites in Iowa City are considered low emitters of greenhouse gases, meaning the sites emit less than 19 tons.
Investment hope
Not everyone spoke in opposition.
Mackenzie DeRoo, senior director of advocacy at Greater Iowa City Inc., said the organization supports the rezoning, seeing it as the first step toward further investment in the surrounding area.
“Our organization is excited by the prospect of collaborating with city leaders, Procter & Gamble, and other area businesses as well as residents to create a vision for a vibrant neighborhood supported by strategic investment as well as targeted incentive programs,” DeRoo said.
Proposed zoning
The proposed rezoning for the site would make it general industrial, which is the least intensive industrial zoning type under the city’s zoning code. The code provides regulations to protect adjacent development.
Some of the regulations speak to noise, air quality standards, and odor. For air quality, the regulation states that any emissions must comply with standards and permitting of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa EPA.
For odor, any operations or activities producing “offensive odorous matter” cannot exceed a threshold beyond zone boundary lines at ground level or habitable level.
The current zoning for the property is neighborhood public zone, which is primarily used for housing, schools, parks, fire stations and other public use.
The Iowa City Council has given initial approval to rezoning the former Kirkwood Community College site, now owned by Procter & Gamble.
The vote was 6-1 on the initial rezoning, with Council Member Mazahir Salih voting no. The proposal needs to be approved in two more readings before becoming effective.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble bought the property, at 1832 Lower Muscatine Rd., for $6.4 million in February and is requesting the city rezone the 6.8 acres from neighborhood public to general industrial.
Iowa City Council gives initial OK to rezoning of former Kirkwood site
Neighbors raise concerns about environmental impact, health
www.thegazette.com
