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Residents, conservationists urge Rock Island to protect Milan Bottoms from proposed truck stop and cannabis development
Summary
Multiple public commenters and task-force members urged the council to protect the Milan Bottoms wetlands, raised flood and climate risks, and urged written protections and stronger developer liability before any land sale or TIF-related action.
Dozens of residents and environmental advocates pressed the Rock Island City Council during public comment to protect the Milan Bottoms wetland complex and to separate wetland-protection decisions from development approvals.
Several speakers said they opposed a proposed truck stop and cannabis dispensary on or near the Milan Bottoms site, citing habitat loss, threats to wintering bald eagles, and flood vulnerability. Curtis Lundy of Bettendorf urged the city to require robust financial guarantees from any developer — suggesting $10 million to $30 million and specifically recommending a $25 million liability requirement in writing — to ensure money would be available for mitigation or cleanup if an accident occurred.
Nina Struce, a community resilience organizer at the Prairie Rivers Network and a member of the wetlands task force, asked council to treat wetland protection as a community benefit separate from development approvals. Struce said environmental representatives on the task force did not support expediting TIF timing and noted climate and flood concerns, citing an extreme heat advisory the same day and a Quad Cities climate assessment that identified 6–8 foot flood risk for a 10-acre parcel within the wetland complex.
Other speakers asked that specific parcels be excluded from project areas, thanked councillors who toured the conservancy district, and urged conserving 540 acres of city-owned land within the Milan Bottoms as a Land and Water Reserve through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Speakers said preserving the wetlands supports tourism, outdoor education and long-term stewardship of natural resources.
Council did not take formal action on the development or on TIF approvals during this meeting; the public comments were recorded for council consideration and task-force members urged more transparency and slower timing for TIF-related votes.
