CEDAR FALLS - Cottage Row residents strongly object to the idea of "phasing out" their neighborhood.

Every seat was filled in a City Hall conference room for a Planning and Zoning commission subcommittee meeting Wednesday night. The most popular item on the agenda: floodplain ordinance regulations and revisions.

The city must adopt federally mandated basic minimum standards to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program so property owners can purchase flood insurance. However, some city officials have suggested a more tightly regulated ordinance following record flooding last year.

"Last year was sort of a wake-up call," said city planner Marty Ryan. "Do we want to change business as usual and make these standards more explicit?"

In a memo Ryan sent to the commission, one recommendation explores greater restrictions on redevelopment within the floodway, generally located nearer to the main channel of a river or stream than a flood plain. The nearly 75 homes along Cottage Row fall entirely in the highly flood-prone floodway district.

"This is an area of great flood hazard where existing buildings need to be on a track for phasing out over time," the recommendation states. "Routine maintenance should certainly be allowed. However, removal of one structure with construction of a completely new structure will not achieve the long-term open space goals of the floodway district."

As it currently stands, Cottage Row residents aren't allowed to build new structures or make improvements to their properties unless the city's board of adjustment grants an exception. Some homes in the area have been demolished and rebuilt, although the new structure can't be larger than the original building's footprint.

Bill VandeHaar, of 2810 Cottage Row Road, said it's clear the city doesn't want houses on Cottage Row.

"I guess the way I see it is if our city planners ran Italy, they'd be trying to shut down Venice," he said. "I'd prefer not to be a part of this city."

The city backing a phaseout of the neighborhood also bothers Roxanne Stone, of 1712 Cottage Row Road.

Stone, a 35-year resident, takes pride in the historically rich area and doesn't complain about occasional high water.

"This river is the heart of this city, it's where the settlers arrived," she said. "That community doesn't ask anything from the city. We scrub up after a flood, we rarely collect money and we go on. We know what to do."

But living in a floodway creates a public risk and public expense, city planner Ryan argued.

"The fire department has to go out there in boats (to save residents)," he said. "You don't want to put people in harm's way, that's the bottom line."

Rollin Hoffert, of 1020 Cottage Row Road, is afraid stricter rules would affect property values. Lee Potter, of 2628 Cottage Row Road, hopes the term "phased out" refers to dozens of decades down the road.

Ryan said a decision likely will take two to three months.

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.