Cedar Rapids Planning Commission approves preliminary plat for old Transamerica site

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The planning commission for Cedar Rapids City investigates the plans for the former Transamerica location at Edgewood Road and 42nd Street.

The preliminary plan from EOP Development was authorized by the City Planning Commission (CPC), although the commission requests that the city council take potential drawbacks into account.

“The resolution that the CPC just gave would require that the developer increase the buffer width and or preserve trees if they are going to be asking for some development incentives like TIF,” said the Project Manager for Haul & Haul Engineers, Inc. Loren Hoffman.

The purpose of the meeting was to begin discussing potential development at Edgewood Rd. and 42nd St., but it ended up lasting almost two hours as community members spoke and asked to be heard.

“I know something’s going there and I’m looking forward to it, but also let’s just be smart about this. We could have something great, let’s foster that as a community rather than just giving someone a blank check to do what they want and hope they do the right thing,” one resident said.

While the bulk of those who spoke opposed the plan, other locals are eager for the property to be developed.

“I’d rather see something with roads and divisions and multi-use than a big box store or something like that. I think that would be an absolute disaster,” said one proponent.

The primary worries are about possible environmental effects and traffic problems, but proponents assert that a new development would bring in more revenue for the city.

Some locals believe they don’t know enough about the plan and what the developers are building, even after the protracted deliberation.

“Everything is extremely vague as to how it’s going to move forward and what it is they’re actually expecting from being able to put these streets in. So we’re not the only ones that are nervous about what’s going on,” said resident Dave Wilson.

The roadway network will be designed in the upcoming stage of the project, and more details and possible tax incentives will be worked out with the city council.
There won’t be any progress very soon because the approval procedure is anticipated to take a while.