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Commission hears public concern as city seeks rezoning to light-industrial; motion dies for lack of second
Summary
City staff presented a request to rezone several C2 parcels to I1 to support logistics/warehousing identified in the Port District Master Plan. Residents raised historical promises that the large borrow‑pit parcel would become parkland and questioned the legal status of a concrete-processing operation; a motion to approve the rezoning received no second and died.
City planners told the Rock Island Planning & Zoning Commission they are seeking to rezone several parcels from C2 (commercial) to I1 (light industrial) to better align zoning with the Port District Master Plan and the city's 2024 regional port district designation.
Eunice, Community Development staff, said the parcels are identified for employment land use in the comprehensive plan and that rezoning to light industrial would support distribution, logistics, and warehousing uses. Staff noted nearby properties are already zoned light industrial and recommended the commission forward a favorable recommendation to City Council.
Public commenters and several commissioners raised concerns about an existing concrete-processing operation and large piles of concrete visible from Interstate 92. Jim Davies, who identified himself as a Rock Island resident of nearly 74 years, said the site was promised to become a park after serving as a borrow pit for Highway 92. "It was guaranteed by the alderman to be a park when it was done being a borrow pit," Davies said, urging the commission to check whether the current concrete plant had ever received a special-use permit.
Staff said they found no record of a special-use permit on file and explained that long-standing operations may be legal nonconforming uses; Tanner (staff) told the commission the rezoning itself would not change existing legal nonconforming uses and that heavy industrial activities would still require separate approvals. "The rezoning isn't gonna impact any uses that are already there," staff said.
Commissioners also asked whether rezoning would require stormwater detention or prevent development in flood-prone areas. Staff responded that development would be subject to site-plan review, applicable stormwater/detention requirements, and floodplain rules and that specific mitigation would be evaluated when a development proposal is submitted.
After debate about whether to split the large parcel (keeping the portion near Lake Potter zoned C2 and rezoning the remainder to I1) and wider discussion of floodplain protections and the visible concrete piles, a commissioner moved to approve the rezoning request. That motion received no second and therefore died for lack of a second. Commissioners asked staff to return with additional clarification and more targeted parcel options.
