Residents urge delay as North Liberty council adopts UCD East rezoning

Residents from the city’s older neighborhoods urged the North Liberty City Council on Dec. 9 to postpone decisions on the Urban Central District (UCD) East project, arguing the public has not received sufficient information about zoning, flood‑plain depiction and developer payments. The council voted to adopt Ordinance 2025‑22, which rezones portions of the district to central urban commercial (CUC3) and public (P) uses.

At the start of public comment, Arty Stoner, a North Liberty resident, asked the council to “evaluate the validity of the zoning change for UCD East” through an impartial third party and to delay any votes. Stoner said residents had been told the city had committed $20 million to the development and that an additional payment of $2.9 million was sent “to Jeff Schwitzer of Nimble,” information he said raised questions about transparency and contract defaults. “Therefore, I respectfully urge you again to acknowledge your fiduciary duties to the citizens of North Liberty,” Stoner said.

Other neighbors echoed those concerns at the podium, warning that high‑density development would change the character of the town’s older area and raise traffic and parking pressures. Alan Sha said residents felt excluded from the process and asked the council to “table up the vote tonight and have another meeting with us.” Karen Johnson urged stronger screening between the new commercial zone and existing homes, citing Iowa City’s screening standards as a possible model.

Mayor acknowledged the public’s concerns and said staff had responded to questions about the preliminary plat, flood‑plain depiction and the timing of planning steps, but asked staff to review emails residents said were omitted from the packet. “As you continue to have questions I want you to make sure that you ask them,” the mayor said, adding that some project changes reflected public input from earlier ‘good neighbor’ meetings.

During council discussion on the third reading, a councilmember emphasized the purpose of the public comment period and defended the process and council members’ integrity, saying council had discussed residents’ concerns in one‑on‑one meetings and through staff. That member said changes had been made after neighbor input and that rezoning was intended to enable reuse of land that otherwise would remain underutilized. After that discussion the council adopted Ordinance 2025‑22 on a roll‑call vote.

What happens next: the rezoning now allows the developer to proceed with subdivision and site plan steps already in staff review; several preliminary plats and site plans tied to the UCD area also appeared on tonight’s agenda and were approved contingent on final technical steps. Residents and councilmembers said they expect continued conversations about screening, flood mitigation and traffic as project designs move to preliminary site plans.

The council vote was recorded on the final reading; the ordinance text is Ordinance 2025‑22 and was adopted after the third consideration.