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Panel approves Airborne Road rezoning to allow landfill expansion after landowner raises water‑seepage concerns
Summary
The commission recommended rezoning roughly 126.7 acres near the Damaskill landfill to Heavy Industrial with conditions to allow future cell expansion; an adjacent owner opposed, citing potential water seepage and property devaluation, and engineers described multi‑agency permitting and modern liner and leachate systems.
The Zoning Advisory Commission voted May 6 to recommend rezoning six parcels near 101 Airborne Road from agricultural to Heavy Industrial (with conditions) to permit expansion of the Damaskill sanitary landfill.
Kenneth Miller, Solid Waste Agency Administrator for the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency, told the commission the parcels are contiguous with the existing landfill and that rezoning now will simplify permitting for a future cell expansion. "We're doing this in conjunction with permitting for future cell expansion," Miller said, adding the agency seeks to preserve local disposal capacity.
Carissa Troke, an owner of an adjoining property, spoke in opposition. She said the proposed pond location would lie on her land and expressed concern that changes could "push that water and that damage back into our property" and devalue her land; she said she has considered placing her acreage into a conservation easement for protection.
Assistant Planner Jason Duba told commissioners the parcels total approximately 126.69 acres and that, according to the applicant's plan, incorporating them into the landfill footprint would increase estimated capacity to roughly 193 years. Miller and agency staff said actual landfilling on the new parcels would be phased; Miller said preparatory earthwork could start earlier, but "actually using it for land filling wouldn't... occur for about another 10 to 13 years." The agency estimates about 13 years of capacity remain in existing cells.
Will Nicholson, the project's engineer from HDR Engineering, walked the commission through the permit and engineering requirements: jurisdictional reviews by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (wetlands and stream impacts), Iowa Department of Natural Resources oversight for stream design, and FEMA floodplain requirements. Nicholson described modern liner construction standards—"a minimum or equivalent of 2 feet of recompacted clay" with a 60‑mil HDPE liner and leachate collection systems—and said wetland and stream mitigation would likely occur off‑site and that any new stream channel must be engineered to meet watershed flow needs.
After questions and discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval; Chair noted the item will proceed to City Council on May 18. Staff and the agency confirmed several additional state and federal permits will be required before any filling occurs.
