Cedar Rapids council approves first reading of country club tennis court ordinance

A controversial proposal for a new outdoor tennis facility at the Cedar Rapids Country Club, including a temporary inflatable bubble to facilitate year-round use, cleared a key hurdle with the Cedar Rapids City Council Tuesday, Aug. 8. On a 5-2 vote, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance regarding a modified site plan for the four-court development at 550 27th Street Drive SE, at the west edge of the country club’s property. The plan was supported by council members Tyler Olson, Scott Overland, Dale Todd and Scott Olson, along with Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell – a longtime Cedar Rapids Country Club member who declined requests to recuse herself from voting on the plan. Council members Patrick Loeffler and Ashley Vanorny voted against the plan, and council members Marty Hoeger and Ann Poe recused themselves due to potential financial conflicts. The country club purchased, and has now demolished, seven homes on Fairview Terrace SE to make way for the project. The project first came before the council in June 2022. After a series of hotly-debated meetings, the council voted unanimously to approve a development proposal for the construction of an indoor tennis facility and reconfiguration of parking areas and the club’s driving range onto 185 acres along Fairway Terrace and Country Club Parkway SE, on property already owned by the club, and a separate proposal to vacate a portion of Fairway Terrace SE. However, the Cedar Rapids Country Club later withdrew the indoor facility plan, a brick building designed to blend with the country club’s main clubhouse, after members determined the building wasn’t financially feasible. The country club’s new proposal comprises four outdoor tennis courts, a temporary inflatable bubble structure to enclose the courts for up to six months per year – essentially from October through April, to facilitate year-round play – and a permanent tennis clubhouse near the courts. Under the modified proposal, construction of a full indoor tennis facility would remain an option for the future. The Cedar Rapids Planning Commission voted 3-3 on the proposal in early June, recommending denial of the project. Since the Planning Commission’s meeting, the country club changed key plan elements, moving the tennis courts slightly east and adding a half aisle of parking between adjacent homes and the tennis courts to address concerns about noise and proximity to homeowners’ properties. The council voted July 11 to table the issue to allow country club leaders to further modify their plan, and Country Club representatives met with neighborhood residents and council member Scott Overland, who represents the area, to address ongoing concerns. After that meeting, the club made further modifications to their plan – removing an access road to 27th Street Drive and adding a full six-foot privacy fence with vegetation to minimize the facility’s visibility from adjacent properties. “The country club is really working very hard to ensure that the neighbors understand what we're doing,” said Lydia Brown, representing the country club’s board of directors. “We want to listen to their concerns, while still meeting the needs of the members as well as creating additional community assets and amenities in order to attract and retain top talent in the marketplace.” Several neighbors have said the new project would cover a larger area than the original plan. Some also said they felt the inflatable structure wouldn’t conform to the neighborhood’s historic character and expressed concerns with site configuration and potential noise and lighting. “It's insulting and ridiculous to be told by pro-bubblers that we neighbors will not be able to see the bubble,” said TL Thousand, who lives near the country club. “A majority of us will be able to see the bubble just fine. … It's not our fault that the club's own members refused to pay for a permanent structure. Installation of an alternative inflatable circus tent does not benefit us or serve the public good.” Council member Loeffler also said he opposed the plan based on the temporary inflatable structure. “We don’t define temporary,” he said. “That's my only holdup. They've improved the parking, they've closed off that street. But it's the bubble that's an eyesore to me.” One debate that emerged during the meeting involved the height of the bubble and its impact on the area’s viewshed. City officials originally indicated that the bubble would be as high as 40 feet, and even though the courts would be located 10 feet below ground level, it would rise as much as 30 feet above the adjacent 27th Street Drive SE. Country club representatives later clarified that the bubble would rise about 22 feet above the surrounding terrain. “I really think this is less about the bubble, and more about neighborhood change and trying to avoid conflict,” said council member Dale Todd, who voted to support the project. “We saw that the club made some adjustments to their plan and met with neighbors. I would hope they would continue to do that …It's certainly going to have an impact, if you’re used to a view that has been (the same) for years. I'm not trying to minimize it. It will make a difference. But at the same time, we all have a tendency to adapt and to work to try to seek solutions. And the club is trying to sustain themselves, the same way the neighborhood is.” The plan still requires two more readings before full approval.