Dubuque council approves reduced rezoning for landfill expansion after neighbor opposition

The Dubuque City Council voted 7-0 on May 19 to rezone part of property at 101 Airborne Road from agricultural to heavy industrial with conditions, approving a reduced option that removes a 40-acre parcel that neighbors had objected to.

The narrower rezoning — supported by the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency board and recommended by the Zoning Advisory Commission — allows the landfill agency to proceed with state permitting for future cells while preserving the parcel covered by a restrictive covenant that prevented landfill use.

The decision matters because the rezoned footprint establishes where the landfill agency expects to plan future cells over the life of the site and because local property owners raised concerns about notice, environmental impact and proximity to homes and wells.

City staff said the property at issue is roughly 103 acres of hilly terrain that was annexed into the city in 2011 and is adjacent to existing landfill operations. Ken Miller, solid waste agency administrator for the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency, told the council the agency selected a contiguous expansion option and that state and federal permits would still be required before any new cells are…