Iowa City passes first reading to rezone former Kirkwood site to industrial

Procter & Gamble (P&G), a Cincinnati-based multinational corporation that recently purchased the former Iowa City campus of Kirkwood Community College, is inching closer to its goal of expanding its Iowa City operations. The Iowa City Council passed a first reading Tuesday, March 19, after a public hearing – the first step in considering an ordinance rezoning the site of the former campus. The ordinance would rezone approximately 6.8 acres of land located at 1810, 1816, and 1828 Lower Muscatine Road from neighborhood public zone to general industrial zone, to accommodate P&G’s expansion goals for Oral-B Laboratories, a brand of oral hygiene products.

P&G bought Kirkwood Community College’s Iowa City campus in August for $6.4 million, nearly $675,000 less than the listed sale price, and plans to tear down the existing buildings, said Joe Townsend, Oral Care site engineering director. “(We have) been working to return the land to a green space until our future plans are aligned and developed. At this time, we have no concrete plans for any future development,” he said at the March 19 meeting. Mr. Townsend told the CBJ the company doesn’t have a start date for demolition yet, since they have to submit demo permits to the city and zoning issues are still up in the air.

The section of land slated to be rezoned is a triangular-shaped area between northeast Lower Muscatine Road and the Iowa Interstate Railroad, with neighborhoods sprawling immediately to the west and east. Residents are concerned about the potential for air pollution, and several attended the public hearing to urge the council to deny P&G’s rezoning request.

Residents express concern

Iowa City resident Perry Lenz said he lives within a mile of P&G and the issue affects him personally, since he has asthma. “I ask the city council not to rezone this property. I don’t think Procter & Gamble needs to expand,” he said. “I think it would hurt too many people. It’s a large multiracial area. It would affect a lot of the working class families.”

Tracy Daby, who lives one block behind the proposed rezoning site, gave a slide presentation on research she conducted on air quality, manufacturing plants and environmental laws. “Air quality is exactly relevant and requisite to rezoning and land use, especially when it’s near children, and we know for a fact there are seven schools within one mile of this facility,” she said, receiving applause from audience members. Julia Buchkina, a 15-year Iowa City physician, also gave a slide presentation on the effects of air pollution, claiming that Oral B’s primary manufactured chemicals are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which account for the odors emitting from the plant, as well as the heavy metals and ignitable waste, that can trigger autoimmune diseases among other ailments. Symptoms can sometimes take years to manifest, she said. “We know that if this rezoning proceeds, VOCs will increase in the groundwater and stormwater, and I expect local chronic diseases among our residents will increase,” she said. The only supportive public comment came from Mackenzie DeRoo, who represented Greater Iowa City, Inc. “We should not take Procter & Gamble’s presence in Iowa City for granted, as they have many options for where they should locate their operations, and only a few years ago considered leaving our community,” she said, pointing out that the company employs 1,200 people. “This growth will create more jobs, bolster the business ecosystem that revolves around P&G, and increase tax revenue the city needs to fund critical services.” Mazahir Salih, Iowa City's mayor pro tem, expressed concerns about immigrant families who reside in the adjacent neighborhoods, pointing out that none of them came to the meeting – either because they work second jobs, or English is not their first language, making communication difficult. She suggested a motion to continue the public hearing and defer first consideration to April 16, but the motion failed 5-2.

'Least intensive industrial zone'

Danielle Sitzman, development services coordinator with Iowa City’s Neighborhood and Development Services, said general industrial zoning is the least intensive industrial zone in the city’s zoning code, and there are air quality regulations in place to protect adjacent development. “P&G is classified as a minor (air) emitter,” she said, according to National Ambient Air Standards. Of the three P&G plants combined, they emit only half of any one limit, which is 100 tons per year.

  "What I would like more than anything, for the neighborhood and P&G, is to be able to have communication with one another," said Council Member Megan Alter. "It's about learning from one another about what the concerns are, and where there might be some mitigating factors." Addressing concerns about underground pollutants, Council Member Alter pointed that there will be zero carbon emissions because P&G runs their electrical system underground. "There are gas stations in that same radius that the map shows. Some of this information that seems causal is also indicative of a larger area. It (doesn't have) P&G as a bright red warning sign." Council Member Alter also pointed out that there is an active union at P&G, and that they would not allow factory workers to operate in an unhealthy environment. "Let's keep this open so there can be conversations," she said. The council voted to add the issue of air quality on their pending list of topics for their upcoming work session. The next two readings for the zoning request will occur April 2 and 16.