Cedar Rapids City Council advances modified Country Club expansion project

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids City Council on Tuesday advanced an expansion project at the Cedar Rapids Country Club, an issue that has revived questions about whether some council members should recuse themselves because of ties to the club.

The council signed off last year on a proposal for a new indoor tennis facility at the club, but the project has since been modified to be an outdoor complex. The Country Club, 550 27th St. Dr. SE, asked to amend conditions of its Public-Institutional zoning after deciding it was not feasible to build a permanent building now.

Instead, the club plans to use a 38-foot tall temporary, inflatable “bubble.” Its use would be limited to 180 days a year, from Oct. 15 to April 30.

The nine-member council voted 5-2 to advance the project on its first ordinance reading Tuesday. Council members Ashley Vanorny and Pat Loeffler voted against it, and two members recused themselves.

Lydia Brown, speaking on behalf of the Country Club’s board, said the club worked with immediately affected neighbors for a neighborhood meeting and provided neighbors with information showing changes being made. Those changes include a commitment to a 6-foot solid fence and greenery to shield noise and light pollution, removal of a previously proposed access drive and situating the tennis courts as far as possible from homes.

“The Country Club is working very hard to ensure that the neighbors understand what we’re doing,” Brown said. “We want to listen to their concerns while still meeting the needs of the members as well as creating additional community assets and amenities to attract and retain top talent in the marketplace.”

Resident TL Thousand, who has opposed the project, asked Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell to recuse herself again. She has taken issue with O’Donnell receiving campaign contributions from club members during her 2021 bid for mayor.

This year, council member Marty Hoeger said he is recusing himself because his company is supplying construction materials to the Country Club. He also is a club member.

Council member Ann Poe, who lives near the site, said she is recusing herself because of the impact the project may have on her property values. She consulted with the city attorney, who advised her to recuse herself.

O’Donnell and council member Tyler Olson, both club members, asked for an opinion from the city Board of Ethics to determine whether they should vote before considering the project in 2022.

But since then, through the once-a-decade process of reviewing the city charter, the council has narrowed ethics rules to limit a conflict of interest to financial ones. Elected officials cannot vote on a matter where they may face personal financial gains or losses under the policy.

Thousand said neighbors fear bosses and clients who are club members will retaliate if they speak out against the project.

“It’s not our fault that the club’s own members refuse to pay for a permanent structure,” Thousand said.

In voting against the project, Loeffler said, “I don’t see that fitting in” with the Country Club Heights neighborhood’s character.

Council member Scott Overland, who represents District 2, which includes the club, said he attended the neighborhood meeting and studied the issue and found many clubs nationwide are adding “bubbles” as a winter enclosure to provide year-round recreation.

After last month indicating he did not plan to support the project, he said Tuesday it’s tough because of the club’s proximity to the neighborhood, but that “part of the reason it’s cool is because the Country Club is there.”

“I’m hopeful … that both parties can coexist with the winter enclosure and continue to work together over the next decades to make their neighborhood as best it can be and cooperate on any and all issues that come up,” Overland said.

The council at its next meeting will consider advancing the project on a second and possible third reading to fully approve the modified conditions.

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