ENCORE: Passions Ran High As City Considered Fate of North Cedar, Comprehensive Plan

Gary Froyen handed out North Cedar Association pens to each member of the city council Wednesday night, asking them to use the pens to take notes during a special hearing to consider a comprehensive plan update for the city.

"Symbolically and literally, you have northern Cedar Falls in your hands," he told the council members.

The packed city council meeting room and speaker after speaker who addressed the council illustrated the level of passion brought to the debate over zoning in the flood plain.

The comprehensive plan update, a 201-page document that lays out a guide for the future development of Cedar Falls, includes a land use map that some at last night's meeting found contentious.

The council had to decide whether a large chunk of North Cedar should be designated "greenway" instead of residential use on the map. The map would not officially change the zoning designation, but the comprehensive plan is meant to guide how the city approaches such issues in the future, and many at the meeting seemed afraid it would lead to official changes.

Losing residential designation would not mean that people currently living in the effected area would have to move, but it would limit the type of future development that could occur.

Though the council voted unanimously to adopt the comprehensive plan update as a whole, the decision about North Cedar’s designation was more contentious. Council members Frank Darrah, Tom Hagarty, Mare Madsen-Schmidt and Nick Taiber voted against the motion to label the area “greenbelt,” while Dave Wieland, Susan DeBuhr and John Runchey voted in favor.

North Cedar wasn't the only thing debated at the meeting. Read about the comments by the group Cedar Falls Citizens Against the 2020 Plan and the Black Hawk County Green Party .

Legacy of the flood

In 2008, much of the North Cedar neighborhood flooded or was cut off by the rising waters. The legacy of the flood is something the council - and the residents of North Cedar - have been grappling with ever since.

"I think its time to move past the flood. The flood was devastating. It devastated the lives of many people," Froyen, who lives in North Cedar, said. "People need to hope and believe that things will get better and that this city will support them as they try to improve their conditions and their lives."

He and others argued that North Cedar has plenty of developable land - 500 year flood plain or not - that could provide economic stimulus and a larger tax base to the neighborhood. Other residents raised concerns over their property values or the fate of lots they bought in the neighborhood, hoping to someday sell or develop, if the land was designated greenway.

Mayor Jon Crews argued the issue was about safety first.

"Four years ago this room was packed. People asked, 'How could you let us do this? How could you let us build there?' We couldn't get out the door," he said. "It’s kind of a convoluted dichotomy here. We shouldn’t put people in harm’s way."

Fire chief John Schilling and police chief Jeff Olson argued that future development of North Cedar would put people, including first responders, in danger if another flood occurred.

"I believe there were other areas that were at risk of high waters," Hagarty responded.

North Cedar Not Only Area In Flood Plain

In 2008, a huge volunteer sandbagging effort protected downtown Main Street from the flood. Much of State Street and part of Main Street are also in the 500-year flood plain, but some in the room pointed out development of those streets has been encouraged by the city.

Mark Miller, chair of the North Cedar Neighborhood Association, accused the council of not valuing the neighborhood.

"It is a long shot for this land to be developed," he said. "But taking it off the map? Our neighborhood is absolutely passionate about staying on the map."

In the end, after 3.5 hours of comments and at times heated debate, the council decided not to change the designation.

"I would ask my fellow council members to join me in denying this motion," Darrah said. "I think we need to demonstrate in good faith to the people that are here tonight that we do care about you."