Iowa City council votes ‘yes’ to new Procter & Gamble facility

A new Oral-B facility will join two other Procter & Gamble (P&G) locations in Iowa City, following the adoption of an ordinance that will rezone the former Kirkwood Community College campus to a general industrial zone to make way for the company’s expansion. At its April 16 meeting, the Iowa City council voted 6-1 to rezone 1810, 1816 and 1828 Lower Muscatine Road from neighborhood public zone (P-1) to a general industrial zone (I-1). The issue has been sticky with controversy ever since August 2023, when the Kirkwood Board of Trustees approved a purchasing agreement with the health and hygiene corporation for $6.4 million. Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods have expressed concern about the air quality resulting from the expansion. “Petra chemical manufacturing should never, ever be allowed to expand in a town near 15,000 residents,” said Tracy Daby, Iowa City resident who lives one block behind the rezoning site.

At the March 19 city council meeting, Oral Care site engineering director Joe Townsend said the plans are to demolish the existing buildings on the Kirkwood campus and return the site to a green space while further developing plans. “At this time, we have no concrete plans for any future development,” he said. Representatives from P&G did not address the council at Tuesday’s meeting. Council member Andrew Dunn, who participated via Zoom, acknowledged the council’s awareness of air quality issues on the southeast side, suggesting that the city partner with the companies and with scientists to pinpoint sources of pollution, and work with organizations that can help fix the air quality issues. “I believe everyone in this council is just as invested in ensuring that the people on the southeast side’s air is just as clean as the air on the northside, “ he said. “No matter what, we’re still going to be working as a community to try and address this core problem, which is the air pollution that is noticed on the southeast side,” he added, before being heckled by an audience member. Mayor pro tem Mazahir Salih, also participating via Zoom, urged the council to defer any decisions and conduct a study on how an additional manufacturing facility will affect the air quality of the area. “I urge us to consider the well-being of our community above everything else. Our residents have already suffered from the affected pollution of the existing factory. Adding another factory, especially in this area, will really make it worse,” said Ms. Salih, who was the sole vote against the ordinance. As the next step, P&G will submit demolition permits to the city in order to tear down the existing buildings on the former Kirkwood campus and return it to a greenspace.