The Rock Island City Council approved a resolution on Monday, July 28, to advance its commitment to register 600 acres of the Southwest Rock Island Wetlands as a land and water reserve with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
That vote was initially prompted by public outcry over the ongoing development of a cannabis dispensary and gas station across from Bally’s Casino & Hotel at 777 Bally Blvd., Rock Island, and near what is commonly known as Milan Bottoms.
In response to environmental concerns and protests about that project, then Mayor Mike Thoms created the Wetland Task Force in March to explore how best to protect the land, the city’s news release said. On June 23, the task force recommended permanently placing the area in a conservation easement. In all it will protect more than 600 acres which includes most of the 528 originally donated to the city in 2022 by Riverstone Group plus 72 additional acres Rock Island leaders added later.
The addition would create one of the largest municipal land and water reserves in the state, the city said in a recent news release.
Advantages created by the new land and water reserve, the release said, will include the flexibility to draft terms tailored to the area in the final agreement, development of a wetland management plan as part of the registration process, and the ability to access IDNR expertise throughout the process. Once the land and water reserve has been established, a new name for the area will be chosen.
What comes next?
City leaders said the resolution also represents a significant achievement for the city’s environmental stewardship and long-term sustainability planning. In addition, it fulfills the Wetland Task Force’s directive to develop a recommendation on a conservation easement for that area, the release said. The panel has been meeting bi-weekly since April 16 to establish the conservation easement within six months and within a year to develop a wetland management plan in coordination with the IDNR.
The wheels were set in motion to create the protected area after environmentalists learned of the plan to develop 10 adjacent acres that are not part of the wetlands and had been deemed suitable for development.
Today, the release said A Hana Illowa LLC. is moving forward with plans to construct the dispensary, gas station and perhaps a retail space on the site.
Task force members include: Rock Island Mayor Ashley Harris; Second Ward Alderman Randy Hurt, City Manager Todd Thompson; Community Development Director Miles Brainard; Economic Development Director Tom Flaherty; Community Engagement Manager Sarah Hayden; Planning and Zoning Manager Tanner Osing; former Mayor Mike Thoms; Missy Gasiorowski, general contractor with Hodge Construction; Hannah Alexander, regional director and community relations manager for NTI (Nature’s Treatment of Illinois); Nina Struss, Prairie River Network’s river health and resiliency organizer; Jon Duyvejonck, retired wildlife biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Sierra Club member; Kathy Wine, executive director of River Action; and Tim Pressly, landowner.
