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Waterloo council authorizes right-of-way acquisitions for La Porte Road reconstruction, stresses work remains negotiable
Summary
The City Council approved a resolution to proceed with property acquisition steps for the La Porte Road Reconstruction Phase 2 project, including authority to use condemnation if negotiations fail. City engineers and the design firm said driveway locations can still be adjusted; affected business owners pressed for guarantees on truck access.
The Waterloo City Council on Tuesday voted to authorize property acquisition steps, including the use of condemnation procedures if necessary, to move forward with La Porte Road Reconstruction Phase 2, a project stretching just south of Plymouth Avenue to Hawthorne Avenue.
The vote came after business owners and city engineers discussed access and driveway concerns. Jamie Knutson, city engineer, said the city is proceeding with the schedule required by grant timelines while continuing negotiations with property owners. “We don’t want to go to condemnation. We want to work with the property owners to adjust things and come to a reasonable agreement,” Knutson said.
That assurance came after a business owner raised alarms that the current design could “landlock” his property and prevent semi trucks from making deliveries. The owner said the proposed access would place a turn into his site with only about 25 feet of turning radius, which he said is insufficient for 70- to 80-foot semitrailers. He told the council, “I’m all for the beautification project, but I’m landlocked if we do the design the way it is right now.”
Michelle Sweeney of AECOM, the project design consultant, told the council the city and AECOM can and will try to modify the plan to accommodate business access. “Just because we have a project plan that we’re proceeding forward with acquisition does not mean that we cannot make adjustments,” Sweeney said, adding AECOM will attempt changes where feasible.
Council members pressed staff to keep dialogue open with affected owners. Knutson said AECOM and staff had discussed moving one driveway slightly north and that the city had asked the property owner to meet with staff so designers can “minimize even more the impact” on business operations.
The resolution approved by the council directs staff to proceed with the actions necessary to finalize the project location, to authorize funding for the public improvement, and to use condemnation procedures only if an agreement cannot be reached. Councilmembers repeatedly emphasized the preference for negotiated solutions and fair compensation: “We want to do everything in our power to be on the right side of this and not have to go to condemnation,” Councilmember Bozen said during debate.
What happens next: staff and AECOM will continue design adjustments and individual outreach with affected property owners. The action authorizes the city to begin statutory acquisition steps, needed to meet federal and state schedules tied to the project’s grant funding.
The council approved the resolution by roll call vote (Bozen: yes; Nichols: yes; Creighton Smith: yes; Chiles: yes; Simon: yes; Wilder: yes; Foyce: yes).
