St. Ambrose master plan amendment moves to second consideration after campus representatives outline stormwater and landscaping plans

An ordinance to amend St. Ambrose University’s campus land-use plan moved to second consideration Wednesday after university representatives described how new projects would handle stormwater and perimeter landscaping. The first-reading motion (ORD 25-01) passed on a roll call and will return for a second consideration at a later meeting.

The amendment covers the campus bounded by Harrison, West Locust, Brown and Lombard streets and describes how future projects would manage stormwater and landscaping. Christopher Waugh, identified as a St. Ambrose University representative, told the council that “stormwater detention will be handled on a project-by-project basis as proposed features are added to the campus,” and said options include expanding existing underground detention, adding new underground detention in parking lots and installing a surface feature such as a bioswale south of a proposed academic hall.

Waugh said perimeter fencing and landscaping for new parking lots between Gaines and Brown streets would “mimic the Locust Street edge conditions” and that interior parking-lot landscaping would follow the city’s chapter 17 requirements, which the submittal cites for perimeter location, shrubs and required parking-island plantings. He also told the council St. Ambrose currently owns about 17 properties west of Brown Street and 18 properties south of Locust Street and said there are no current plans to expand the institutional campus boundary or to demolish the houses within that boundary in the next 10 years.

Neighbors asked whether the university intends to keep buying properties beyond the current campus edge. Chris Woodard, a Fifth Ward resident, and other residents said they worry past patterns of property acquisition could reduce long-term neighborhood housing stock. “There’s always a plan… and in the past it’s been when they have parking lots they turn into buildings,” Woodard said.

Alderman Rick Dunn and Alderman John Newton pressed for clarity on expansion and enrollment. The St. Ambrose representative said national college enrollment trends have been down but that the university’s enrollment was “up” this year with the largest first‑year class in several years and higher retention. The representative said the master plan is a 10‑year visionary document to guide possible future projects and that decisions about actual purchases or demolition would involve community engagement and depend on funding.

The ordinance passed its first consideration on a roll call; council action moved the measure to second consideration. No formal land purchases or demolitions were approved as part of this vote.

If adopted, the amendment would update the campus land-use plan but would not itself authorize property acquisitions or individual construction projects; those would require separate approvals and permitting.