Digging in

The ground may be frozen solid, but debate over soil is about to heat up in Cedar Rapids.

On Wednesday, the City Council's Infrastructure Committee will take up a proposed ordinance requiring developers and builders to create soil quality plans detailing how they'll restore topsoil or other organic soil mixtures on finished construction sites. It's a key part of a much broader stormwater management plan aimed at easing costly stress on the city's stormwater system by reducing runoff.

Lots with a healthy layer of soil, compost or other mixtures soak up water far more effectively than yards that have been stripped of soil, with just a thin layer of sod clinging to compacted clay subsoil. The latter scenario has happened far too often in local housing developments, leaving homeowners with dysfunctional yards where even grass is difficult to grow without heavy watering and loads of fertilizer.

Reducing runoff lessens the threat of destructive flash flooding and its costly consequences. It improves water quality in streams, rivers and other waterways that otherwise receive rushing runoff carrying an array of pollutants. Functional yards where residents can grow grass, trees and gardens improve a community's quality of life.

'The council members I've talked to know the importance. This is one part of our stormwater plan and it has an impact,” said council member Scott Olson, a commercial realtor.

'I can't believe all the emails and people stopping me and saying, ‘Scott, I haven't been able to grow grass for years and it's cost me a small fortune. This is the best thing that could ever happen.' It's amazing how many positive responses there have been,” he said.

But not everyone is sold on the soil ordinance. A number of local builders and allies are wary of what they contend could be the high cost of restoring soil, a cost they say would be passed on to builders buying lots and homeowners buying finished homes.

So Wednesday's 1:30 p.m. committee meeting, moved to the city council chambers downtown to accommodate what's expected to be a sizable crowd, will give city staff a chance to explain research behind the ordinance as well as builders' and developers' analysis of how much they contend the change would cost.

It's a key moment en route to what could be full council consideration as early as March. If these are issues you care about, now is the time to get involved and weigh in. The ordinance still is taking shape.

'I think the biggest thing is things need to be transparent so everybody sees what the issue is and figuring out a reasonable solution. And the key word is reasonable,” said newly elected council member Scott Overland, who campaigned on the idea of tapping a broad number of stakeholders to address the topsoil issue.

What would be unreasonable, in our view, is a process that looks anything like what happened at the state level, where the Environmental Protection Commission scrapped a state rule requiring builders to restore four inches of topsoil on finished sites. That decision came after a process largely dictated and dominated by building interests. The concerns of homeowners, water quality advocates, city governments and others fell on deaf ears.

Council member Olson told us that several local builders have been lobbying city council members behind the scenes hoping to stop the soil quality ordinance.

'Of course, at the last developer's council meeting, the builders were saying that if we put this in place, everybody's going to build houses in Marion and no one is going to build in Cedar Rapids,” Olson said.

We understand and appreciate why local builders are seeking to weigh in on the proposed ordinance. Clearly, their cost estimates - which are expected to be finalized in time for Wednesday's meeting - should have some bearing on the council's ultimate decision.

But we urge the council not lose sight of the soil quality effort's broader benefits amid concerns about cost. Although the proposal's cost impact on an individual lot is relevant, equally relevant are the costs associated with failing to reduce runoff, save soil and improve water quality. Also relevant are the costs passed on to homeowners who must struggle to maintain a dysfunctional yard.

And unlike the old, rigid four-inch rule, the city's proposal would give builders eight scientifically tested options for restoring a finished lot's capacity to soak up runoff.

Coralville and North Liberty, among several Iowa cities, have similar soil quality ordinances on the books. Hiawatha City Engineer John Bender said his city is in the midst of its own stormwater study and will be watching Cedar Rapids' debate. Marion Stormwater Coordinator Steve Cooper told us that city, too, is watching to see how the Cedar Rapids discussion unfolds.

So rather than putting Cedar Rapids at a competitive disadvantage, a reasonable move to protect soil and reduce runoff could, instead, make the city a regional leader for neighbors to follow.

And there's no reason this process has to be another tired showdown between builders and environmental interests. It can and should be a cooperative model that seeks and values input from a broad array of citizens, not just those able to wield clout behind the scenes.

It will be a key test for the council, showing whether a city that's 'open for business” can also be open and forward-thinking when it comes to preserving and protecting our natural resources. We think it can.

' Comments: (319) 398-8469; editorial@thegazette.com