Editorial: Decorah residents aren't talking much about Menard's plans to build in the Freeport floodplain. Why not?

This is what the proposed entrance to the Menard's development looked like on August 24th of last year

(The following is a decorahnews.com editorial):

There was one part of the recent Candidate Forum that surprised me.  The candidates for Decorah City Council and Mayor were asked about Menard's interest in building a new store in Decorah.  They gave what I refer to as a "two-handed comment"—you know, "On the one hand, it might hurt existing businesses, but on the other hand it could be good for the local economy."
What shocked me is that not one of them spoke about what I believe is the central issue about a proposed Menard's development—WHERE Menard's wants to build.

decorahnews.com has continued to investigate the Menard's proposal and can report that Menard's was shown several other possible locations for a new store, including a parcel of land right across from the Decorah Airport, on the top of the hill.  Of course, the developer wanted to build in the floodplain instead.

Have we not been paying attention to the news lately?  Did we not see the example of Houston, Texas, which allowed development in floodplains and suffered terrible damage in this fall's hurricane?  Did we not see the examples of Florida and the Keys and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and all the other cases in which rain has fallen in larger and larger amounts recently?  Most of all, did we not see the examples from our own back yard—the very property Menard's wants to use for a new store was flooded last August.

Menard's is applying for permission to fill in part of the floodplain.  decorahnews.com has been told the impact of that would be to increase the odds that flood waters would back up toward Decorah.  Those of us who lived here in 2008 know how close Decorah came to having floodwaters go over the dike system.  There have been stronger rainstorms in our area since then.  Do we want to risk having the dike compromised?  Wouldn't it make more sense to persuade Menard's to build on top of the hill? 

Furthermore, decorahnews.com has learned that other big box retailers have learned of Menard's interest in Decorah and have now begun to explore their own big buildings—in the floodplain in Freeport.  That, of course, would further increase the odds that flood waters would be higher in Decorah.

In 2012, the Decorah Planning & Zoning Commission did a comprehensive review of the community's zoning master plan.  It showed the area along Old Stage Road as being appropriate for commercial development.  However, it showed only the property right along the road—not the 30-acre parcel Menard's wants to build on.  And 2012 was before the 2016 flooding, of course. 

If Menard's wins approval from the Iowa DNR to fill in 30 acres of floodplain, it will have to win approval from the Decorah Planning & Zoning Commission and from the Decorah City Council to change the zoning on the property to Highway/Commercial.  That's why the bland reaction from candidates for mayor and Decorah City Council is not a good sign.  Amazingly, people in Decorah will fight about sidewalks and a truck route through town—but will shrug their shoulders about an issue which will affect whether homes get flooded.

If there is major flooding in Decorah after a Menard's is built, we'll never be able to draw an absolute conclusion that it was because the entire floodplain was filled in.  And, ironically, some of us would then head to the Menard's store to buy pumps and construction materials to replace the flood damage to our homes and businesses.

None of this, however, has to happen.  There's no good reason to allow building in the floodplain—it's called a "floodplain" for a reason!  Now is a good time to put down our "two hands" and tell city officials not to do something that will increase the chances of flood damage in Decorah—especially when there is a viable option to have the store built across from the Decorah Airport and keep the Freeport property as valuable floodplain property.

(We welcome your feedback.  E-mail comments to: news@decorahnews.com)