Linn County Supervisors to discuss nuclear zoning code

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Linn County Board of Supervisors next week will discuss the creation of the county’s first nuclear zoning code.

The county’s Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved the draft code at its July 21 meeting and moved the matter forward for supervisors’ consideration.

Supervisors will hold the first discussion and a preliminary vote on the matter at their Monday work session. The second and third readings will take place Wednesday, Aug. 27, and Wednesday, Sept. 3, respectively.

All three meetings will take place at 10 a.m. in the formal board room at the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center at 935 Second St. SW in Cedar Rapids. Meeting recordings can also be found on the Linn County website.

Public comment will be heard before all three votes and/or can be submitted ahead of time on the county’s nuclear zoning code webpage.

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Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols previously told The Gazette that the county began to discuss the creation of a nuclear energy ordinance after NextEra Energy this winter announced its intent to reopen the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo.

NextEra is currently taking steps to receive regulatory approval for the restart from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has created a Duane Arnold Energy Center Restart Panel to consider the proposal.

The center — which closed in 2020 after more than 45 years of operation as Iowa’s only nuclear plant — previously operated under a county-issued conditional use permit that predated any set zoning code.

But with the recent "resurgence" in interest around nuclear energy nationwide, Nichols said county staff opted to create an official zoning code to apply to a possible Duane Arnold restart or any other potential nuclear energy operations in Linn County.

The code itself outlines application requirements, review procedures and host community agreement requirements for nuclear energy generation and/or waste storage facilities in Linn County. It can be reviewed online at bit.ly/LinnNuclear.

Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com