Tuesday, the Davenport Plan and Zoning Commission passed St. Ambrose University's rezoning request for a 2,500-seat stadium and sports complex.
Commissioners voted 7-3 to approve the request in front of a standing-room only crowd at City Hall. The plans now head to the City Council, which is expected to hear the issue at its June 4th meeting.
"We're happy with where the Plan and Zoning Commission came out. We spent four years listening, developing our plan, and putting our study together, so we're happy that we're at this point in the process," said Mike Poster, St. Ambrose's Vice President of Finance.
City staff have recommended 17 conditions to the SAU plan, including requiring the University to remove trash after events and hire police officers to control traffic on game days.
Poster said the school is comfortable with all the conditions, and even suggested many of them itself. Some neighbors, though, remain unsatisfied.
"I'm disappointed," said Betzy McLeland.
McLeland said the neighborhood intends to bring its concerns to the City Council as well.
"We're eager to participate in the process that is ahead of us with City Council, and we feel it's our right to educate the City Council aldermen on our views, so yes, we definitely will pursue that," said McLeland.
Poster says St. Ambrose will continue to work with neighbors in the weeks and months to come.
"We've said all along that we're willing to work with the neighbors and work on things that concern them. If we are successful and we can build this complex, we're not going to stop," said Poster. "We think a strong St. Ambrose is a strong Davenport, is a strong Quad Cities."